Joyful Missions

A Starry Night

2008-08-16T01:10:00.001-04:00

Tonight, I felt like driving - no destination in mind... Only one thing I wanted - to see stars!! Call me weird, but rainbows and stars fascinate me to no end! I could get lost in rainbows or stars for hours and never find them old or boring.

I was thinking though... Why can't I see stars in Brandon? Why do I have to drive to some random place in order to see stars? It's because of all the lights and busyness and man-made things, right? In order to see stars, you have to get away from all of those thing that distract you from seeing the stars...

So I started thinking... Why can't I see God in my everyday life? Why do I have to go to camp, or on a retreat in order to see God? It's because of all the things in life like relationships, money, jobs, school, etc - right? In order to see God, you have to get away from all those that distract you from seeing God...

A song we sung tonight at IMPACT really spoke to me ("Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"), particulary one phrase "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it / Prone to leave the God I love". We get so caught up in the distractions of everyday life, we forget about God - the God we so very much love!

My challenge to you - go for a drive - get away from the thing(s) in your life that is distracting you from seeing God in his pure holiness and overwhelming light. Go seek some stars - you will find them (and get lost in them)! Go seek Him, the God whom you love - you will find Him (and get lost in Him).

James 4:8 "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

Peace, love, and JOY!

Tough Act to Follow

2008-08-05T03:05:00.002-04:00

Jesus did some pretty amazing things on earth. And he asked us follow in his footsteps. Ever feel so unworthy because that was one tough act to follow? God totally laid out for us what we were getting ourselves into when we became Christians in Luke 14:25-35. God doesn't want to trick us into salvation. He wants us to follow him because we choose to - but it demands a lot: it demands our everything.

I have always read this passage in Luke and been perplexed. Prior to this passage, Jesus has told us to love our parents, siblings, friends, even ourselves. Now he is saying that if you don't hate them, then you can't be his disciple?! That's crazy! It seems like a contradiction, right? Wrong! It means that if we aren't willing to put God above every relationship in our life, then we can't be his disciple. He should be our #1, the most important person in our life. Not our mom or dad, a sibling, or even a spouse. We should love God so much, that even if all that was stripped away from us, we would be okay because we still love God. Talk about a high demand. But He also won't ask us to do anything He won't help us overcome.

The next part in the passage begins talking about building a house, then stopping half way through. And going to war only to lose in battle because you didn't calculate the cost. My first reaction was why on earth is that in there? It has NOTHING to do with being a disciple!! Wrong again... It has everything to do with being a disciple. Have you ever wanted to be something (doctor, teacher, police man) and not looked at what would be required of you? Or have you ever set out to become one of those people and quit half way? It's the same thing with being God's disciple. He doesn't want you to accept Him blindly. He wants you to know what is required of you before you get into. God for sure does not promise this life will be an easy one. It requires a lot: it requires your everything!

The passages ends talking about salt. Salt? What's with the salt? Salt is good - it adds flavor... It heals... It preserves... It has many purposes. But if a salt looses it's saltiness - it's worthless. How does that have to do with being God's disciple? Well, we must have our heart in it. We are meant to add flavor to people's lives... Bring healing by pointing people to Christ... We are meant to preserve life, not destroy it! Ever met a person who is doing all the right things but their heart isn't in it? What's the point right? God wants us to do good things, don't get me wrong. But He wants our heart in it! If our heart is not in what we do to serve God, it's worthless to Him!

If I might say, this is the most random 3 paragraphs in scripture that seem to have nothing to do with each other, but they are all intertwined with such beauty, it blows me away. God requires a lot from us to be His disciple: he requires us to make Him our #1 in our life, He requires our everything to follow Him, and He wants our hearts...

Have you given Him your heart? Have you given Him your everything? Is He above all your other relationships?

The Call to Live for God (1 Peter 4)

2008-07-30T13:28:00.001-04:00

So Satan really is not happy with me. I have felt it this morning since 6 and he totally just deleted this the first time I wrote it...

Yesterday was an AWESOME day and I don't know how it could have gotten any better. Many of you have heard my life motto (J.O.Y. - in order to have true lasting JOY, you need to put JESUS first, then OTHERS, then YOURSELF). Yesterday was the perfect example of that. I spent some sweet time with Jesus yesterday morning. Took a walk through the park and had coffee together. Really cool (try it sometime - it's worth it!). Then a friend and I were working on a project to serve others yesterday. Then last night, I took time for myself by having a fun night at my apartment (sorry Beth if we were loud...). I went to bed about 2:30 this morning and woke up at 6 feeling this oppression from Satan like none other. He isn't happy when someone is doing the will of God and he will try anything possible to prevent you from doing so. So I started praying... And praying... And I asked someone else to pray for me... Then I opened up His word. I have been doing a leadership study on Peter (through LeaderTreks, great study!). Today was the last day in it, but God knew WHAT I needed, and WHEN I needed it.

Every day you do a different Bible study method - today was paraphrasing. Not my favorite, but that is how God spoke to me this morning... Here's my paraphrase of 1 Peter 4.

Christ suffered, so must we. We shouldn't live this life for ourselves, but for God. You have already been like the world: sexually, drinking, idolatry, among others... The world thinks you are crazy for not doing these things. Remember, God will hold them accountable on judgement day. You will be held accountable too! The gospel is preached to the saved and unsaved so that we all have the same standards.
You don't have much time here on earth! Stay focused and PRAY! Most importantly, love each other! Help each other willingly, don't complain about it. God has given us all unique gifts for the purpose of serving each other. Remember, when you speak, God is speaking through you. God will provide you with the strength that you need while you are serving. This is all so God can be praised and glorified. Glory and power truly belong to HIm forever!
Don't be shocked when you experience hard times. Rejoice in it and be on the lookout for how God will bring glory from it. If you are insulted because you are a Christian, blessed are you because someone can see Christ in you! Suffering for sin is not the same as suffering because you are a Christian. We need to re-evaluate ourselves and make sure we are doing what God wants us to. Can you imagine if we aren't doing what we should be doing?! If the righteous can't live out their faith, why would a sinner want to be saved?
*****If you are suffering because of something you are doing for God, draw near to your Creator and keep going! FINISH STRONG!*****

So often when we start living the way God wants us to live - with a purpose and intentionally. But then when we begin to feel oppressed or experience discouragement, we give up or we become less purposeful or less intentional. Can you imagine what this world would be like if every Christian just lived one day with complete purpose and intentionality?! Holy cow! Keep going! FINISH STRONG! You aren't done with this race until you get to heaven!

Wow... What a summer!

2008-07-27T01:56:00.002-04:00

Updates... Wow... What a summer!

Started off with Pawley's Island which was amazing. Then interpreted at a vision camp for a deaf child. Cool new experiences working with deaf and "blind". Then my more permanent summer job "interpreting" for a group of 8 deaf pre-k kids. I learned that is not my cup of tea. I like older elementary (1st grade and up). I am still waiting on my school assignment for next year. Still waiting on my NIC test results. I sent my wonderful 8th grade girls off to high school and have moved back down to a new group of 6th grade girls that I am very excited to get to know and pour into these next 3 years of their lives!

God has been teaching me so much about his love. And being content in Him. And teaching me patience. And learning how to balance serving people and building meaningful relationships with people.

I've just started my 2 weeks of vacation (yay for a vacay!). I want to have fun, but I want to use my time wisely. It will end with middle school camp (whoot!). I have a few service projects for people recently added to my schedule that I am super excited about! But I also want to focus on just loving my God. Spending time with Him.

Pray I keep my priorities straight. Many of you know my motto to have my genuine "joyful" personality: serve and love (J)esus (O)thers (Y)ourself. Sometimes it's so easy to flip Jesus with my others (friends and family) and even myself... So yeah...

Love to all my faithful blog readers and to those of you who might be new to my blog or haven't checked in for awhile. It's all good :)

Would you recognize Jesus if you saw Him walking around today?

2008-07-08T22:23:00.001-04:00

Okay - so I have been doing a study on Peter and his leadership experience.

Today I was reading John 21:1-23. It's the passage where Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, three times. But something else stuck out to me. Verse 4 says, "Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus." I started thinking, why didn't they recognize who Jesus was? They spent 3 years together - almost every day, serving together, learning together... So how could you not recognize someone you spent that much of your life (especially so recently) with?

I started thinking... I remember last summer I did an internship with LeaderTreks for 11 weeks. I am very involved with the college ministry and middle school ministry at my church - and I am good with faces (not names so much). Anyways - while I was gone for almost 3 months, I only kept in touch with about 3 people and they were my informants of news and passing messages along for me. I remember coming back, and seeing this guy who seemed like he knew me... After some awkward "OH my goodness! I feel so stupid" thoughts... I realized it was Cory Dunbar - he had chopped his long locks of hair off, but I hadn't kept in touch with him or heard any updates... So I totally didn't recognize him...

Same idea with Jesus - Peter and the other disciples hadn't hung out with Jesus lately... They hadn't kept up with him (we have the blessing of having the Bible now). They didn't recognize him! I'm sure they had the same "OH my goodness! I feel so stupid" thoughts I had... But we don't have fall away so far that we wouldn't recognize Jesus if he walked by today... It's sad, we have so many resources - many of us have several Bibles at home, and yet for some reason we don't use them to get to know our Savior, friend, redeemer, comforter, daddy...

That led me to thinking - have I recognized Jesus lately? Last night, I saw Jesus! I was out getting ready to go to my next interpreting assignment. I had just driven through TONS of rain... But Pinellas county was starting to clean up. I looked back towards Tampa and I saw the most beautiful rainbow! I went inside and when I came back out - there were 2 (a double arc!). It was so beautiful - it felt like God had written me the most beautiful love note! I got a picture on my phone if anyone wants to see it...

Anyways - the only reason I believe I recognized Jesus in that rainbow is the fact that I have been trying to stay connected with Jesus - having daily dates with him. When I am not connected, I miss God's messages to us or the glimpses of Jesus we can see if we are looking!

So - anyways... If Jesus were to walk around here today, would you recognize him? Get to know him on a deeper level - no matter where you are right now, you can always go deeper!

Love and hugs,
Joy

Pawley's Island ROUND 2

2008-06-22T21:52:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone!

So it has been a while since I updated this blog site - have been updating the team site (www.ignite-pawleys.blogspot.com) for my mission stuff... Since my last post I have graduated and received my AA degree (3.98 GPA!). I finished up the school year (finally!) and have led a mission trip back to Pawley's Island. Tomorrow I start back to work (praise God for summer school!) and thus begins my saving for my house down payment!

Anyways - I just wanted to type up my story from Pawley's. What God did IN me and THROUGH me during 1 week full of challenges, joy, frustrations and growth. Debbie Humphreys (my college pastor's wife) and I took 11 girls up there. 10 hours in a mini van with 5 girls will teach you a lot of things, let alone, a whole week of intentional relationship building! It was so good to see everyone from last summer (Jess, Van and Van, Horace, the Halls, some kids from VBS, and mainly the Smith family whose house we are working on). Anyways, so here's my story!

God did a lot of things IN me this week, even if it was directed towards my girls. God taught me a lot about humility and depending on His strength to get me through the challenges that come way. One of my spiritual gifts is believing (being a prayer warrior) and through humility, God took my prayer to a whole new level. We had some issues with team unity throughout the week. Renee and Franny were great and all of the adults were being used by God to speak words of truth into these girls lives. But even doing that, I wanted to take it deeper - God could speak through me, but He also could simply work on their hearts. Thursday, instead of speaking more, I prayed when I wanted to say something. That was a day some of the girls started to get it. It wasn't anything I said or did... It was totally God working in their hearts. God really worked on my pride this week. The team Bible study was on Daniel and God broke the proudest man on earth - He can certainly change anyone's heart. I also became refocused on being intentional with building relationships with my girls. I had forgotten some of the power of being intentional with things and God reminded me how much I love that daily student interaction.

God also did a lot of things THROUGH me. Through being intentional, I got to have some good conversations with some of the students. Some deep conversations were with Nicole about prayer, Mollie about worship, and Amber about friendship. I also feel it was a good week to encourage Franny because now is a time when you start needing God's supernatural strength (she is an intern for 10 weeks like I was last summer). I also could see the joy in the Smith family (especially Doniella) when she saw I came back. It is so exciting to be a part of God's big picture. I have set a goal to contine letting God use me in that I want to be intentional with one student every week (that ends up to 52 students a year! Imagine what being intentional will do!).

The trip definitely was a hard growing experience in many ways - but God did some awesome things in these girls lives and I believe many of them owned their faith in a powerful God who is on our side. If He could make King Nebuchadnezzar crazy like a wild man, He can do some pretty awesome and mighty things through the youth of today!

Thanks for all your prayers and support along the way. This definitely will not be my last mission... Keep checking back to make sure I am living on a mission all the time!

Love,
Joy

I'm an Author!

2008-04-28T20:50:00.002-04:00

So, at the end of my internship last year, I set goals for myself... Short-term, long-term, and some life-long goals...

One of my goals was to write a devotional...

Well, I did just that and had it printed at church this past week for the Ignite Pawley's team. It's a 40 day devotional through the book of John. I am so excited to do this study with my girls! And it is so cool to see your dreams and goals come true!

Excitingness that I just thought I would share :o)

Hugs,

Joy

Life's Sweet Moments

2008-04-28T20:38:00.003-04:00

Wow, so this year has just flown by! I can't believe that in 2 days it will be May already!

So, during Spring Break I went up to Atlanta and interpreted the PASSION 08 conference. That is always an amazing experience! And God definitely brought together some cool interpreters. And I think I met my long lost sister - Stacy - she is a red head, graduated high school early, a young sucessful interpreter... So many things alike, it's crazy! And of course it was great to see Beth again! The two of them were such an encouragement and a God send to hang out with right before I took my national performance test the very next day. I don't have the results - they said between 3 - 11 months... But I can call and check the status after 150 days (Sept 10th). So... You know that is circled in red on my calendar!

PASSION '08: Me, Beth, and Stacy

My Mom had a birthday last week and we got all dressed up and I treated her to a yummy dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. YUMMY!

What a Beautiful Mother and Daughter Pair!

This past Sunday we had a middle school baptism service which was amazing. We had 15 middle schoolers baptized! One of my girls that I worked with for 3 years now and been on mission trips with was baptized and I got to be in there with her! She is a huge blessing and encouragement to me!

Me and Michelle

Last bit of exciting news for now... I am graduating from HCC this Sunday! Then the only way I will ever set foot on that campus is if I am being paid to interpret something! Our church is having a graduation service, so here is the picture I took for that! I am graduating with a 3.99 GPA (stupid Geology class!). Not sure yet if that is considered "Honors" or "Highest Honors". But, still very exciting! I have decided to take a year off from college in order to save money to buy a house at the end of this year. I am applying for freelancing jobs in the community for my evenings and summer vacation.

No More HCC! Hallelujah!

Ta-ta for now!

Love,

Joy

Yay God!

2008-03-27T21:33:00.003-04:00

Hey to my faithful blog readers:

So, huge praise report! I got a statement from the church for how much money I have raised so far and I have OVER the amount I need! I am super excited - all extra money will go to support the rest of the Pawley's team and then other middle school trips. I helped planned my first big event for 125 people (St. Paddy's Day Ball - fundraiser for the Pawley's Team) and it was a HUGE success! Check out the team's blogsite (www.ignite-pawleys.blogspot.com) for pictures and more info about the team!

I also was just looking at houses online (one of my goals is to buy a house once I become nationally certified) and I found a CUTE townhome in Valrico that is a steal, but still trying to figure out if it might go down even more...

I am taking my national interpreting test in 2 weeks! YIKES! Pray that I pass it! I have to wait 3-6 months to find out the results, which sucks, but patience is a virtue, right?!

My geology class sucks - I hate studying rocks... I thought it would be a breeze, but it is a little more challenging than I thought (in that I have to drive 45 minutes to look at rocks, maps, and minerals for my labs). Grrr... I wanted it to be an ONLINE class for a reason... Oh well - a little over a month and I will be officially DONE with HCC!! I am hoping to graduate from HCC with Highest Honors again (4.0 GPA) as long as I get an A in this geology class.

Trying to decide for sure if I want to do this teaching program in the fall which will take 3 years or if I want to keep working as an educational interpreter and get a BA on the side, then tutor afterschool or something... I don't know - trying to figure out the best thing that God wants for me.

I thinks that is about it...

Peace out,

Joy

Chilling at Applebee's with the Ladies: Stephanie - Joy - Teresa - Kaylin

Beautiful Wind-Blown Ladies: Allison - Stephanie - Joy

Hayley's Wedding: Teresa - Hayley - Jennifer - Joy

Best Friends: Joy - Teresa

Life is full of surprises!

2008-02-26T20:08:00.002-05:00

Greetings to my faithful blog readers!

So, Sunday night I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Casting Crowns Concert at a World Vision booth. I got the amazing opportunity to go onto the floor about 7 rows from the stage - that was stinking awesome! I also ran into a former co-worker and made a business connection with one of her friends. He knows the marketing director at the Ice Forum and is going to give him my contact info so that I might get the hook-up with some side interpreting jobs - or maybe even a full-time job. Who knows?!

Be praying for my middle school girls. We have been talking a lot about heaven and how to be saved. I have several that I think are almost there, so pray for their salvation! It is also looking like my Pawley's Island team might end up being an all girl trip - how fun is that?!

Work has gotten better for me. Which is a huge praise report!

Been challenged with something I am not going to post for everyone in the world to know. But it's funny how I have been following one of those read through the Bible in a year plans, and right now I am in Leviticus. I love you, Jesus, but that book can get boring! But one thing God has been teaching me in the midst of all the details and numbers is that God cares about all the LITTLE details! If He cares about clothes and the tabernacle like that, how much more does He have to care about each of the details of our lives?! He knows how He is going to work in this situation. I just have to trust Him.

Also had the opportunity to have a relaxing weekend with the girls. Hayley is getting married in less than 2 weeks, so our life group gave her a bachlorette party - it was small, just 5 of us, but it was perfect. We gave ourselves pedicures (yay for french ones!) and ate pizza and ice cream sundaes, and watched chick flicks and just had a good relaxing time hanging out. Good times :o)

Well, till next time!

Peace out,

Joy

What's New?

2008-02-08T18:07:00.000-05:00

So what's new...

Didn't get the Coordinator job at HCC - bummers!

Geology class is in full swing - rocks are extremely boring no matter how interesting you try and make them!

The Pawley's Island team has started meeting - I am so very excited about the adults going on this trip as well as all the students! It looks like it might end up being an all girls trip too!

Work has been extremely rough lately - pray things smooth out soon!

I am taking my national interpreting test on April 13th!

Hmm... Getting over a cold... So I think that is pretty much it :o)

Love you guys!

Joy

Stockings for the Homeless

2007-12-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

So, I am so proud of Lisa and my middle school girls!

They came up with the idea to make stocking for the homeless. To buy hygenic products, snacks, and bake Christmas cookies and then stuff it all in a stocking to spread some Christmas cheer to those who might otherwise not get anything.

It was a 3 part process that spanned over 3 months. We let the girls take charge of it all - money, budgeting, deciding what to buy and what not to buy... They did an amazing job owning up to this project.

The most exciting part was Chris Groover (our middle school pastor) spoke about being a Good Samaritan at church last Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon we had planned to make the cookies and deliver the stockings. The girls gave them all away - Lisa and I and Cory Dunbar supervised in order to make sure everyone was safe. Every one of the girls I believe walked away with a deeper understanding of God and the poor.

Here are some pictures of the process - shopping, baking, stuffing, delivering, and celebrating!

Merry Christmas!

Joy

Shopping at Wal-mart

Baking Cookies

Stuffing the Stockings

Look! They are so stuffed they are bursting at the seams!

Delivering Some Christmas Cheer

Celebrating and God is Smiling

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2007-12-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

So I'm going to start updating this more regularly!

I finished school for the fall semester! Wahoo! I maintained my 4.0 - yippee! I'm taking an intercession class right now about Life Decisions... Yay...

So, December 1st I went to the Student Ministries Christmas Party - how nice it was to see everyone from middle school, high school and college! So often we are focused on interacting with students, we don't have as much time to socialize with just each other!

Here is a pic of me and 2 of my best friends!

(L to R: Stephanie, Me, and Teresa)

Also, On December 7-9 we had out annual dessert theater at our church. Beth and I interpreted on Friday night and then I went with my Mom to the Ladies' Christmas tea on Saturday morning. Good times - one of my 8th grade girls, Jacquelyn, was Tiny Tim (and a few other characters). I am so proud of her! And she looked adorable as a little boy!

Here is Tiny Tim (Jacquelyn) and me!

And my beautiful Mom and me!

Update: 3 Months Later

2007-11-03T18:47:00.000-04:00

Okay so I did this huge internship - but how long will it last, you might ask?

Here is a life update on me...

Life is actually pretty good - I have definately had many challenges and struggles since I have been back... But none that I haven't been able to face and conquer with God on my side!

I felt like God was calling me away from leading a college life group - taking a backstage leadership roll in the college ministry at my church (IMPACT). I am praying for the leaders of IMPACT as well as trying to find ways to encourage them, and then teaching people about prayer through example.

Only leading one life group, I can pour all my focus into my middle schoolers now. I started off the year with 25 girls by myself. Definately a huge challenge, but one thing I learned this summer is that if I am intentional, I can make the most of it. God did bring a wonderful co-leader to me, Lisa! So we have split - it was rough at first because of the change... But we still do things with all the girls. In fact, I have been having them over almost every Saturday for Bible study (I have taken up writing devos - currently working on the book of John). We have also started a project where we are stuffing stockings for the homeless. I have let the girls take charge in this. Some who have not experienced LeaderTreks thought I was crazy but they have owned this project and I am excited to see over the next couple of weeks how this unfolds!

I am working at the same school as last year. I work with Kindergarden and 3rd grade. It has been challenging but I am trying to keep my attitude and heart in the right position - looking up to Jesus! I am trying to make an IMPACT on my co-workers as well as some of my students. It is hard, day to day though, I won't lie!

School has been actually farely easy going this semester. I am taking a proficiency exam this week, an interim class, and one class next semester. So I should be done with Hell's Community College in the Spring! And then off to St. Pete College to begin my teaching degree.

Trying to keep up with my Bible Study. It is hard, but it is so worth getting up early to spend time with God. He wants to spend time with us! He takes the time to listen attentively to us (how often do I listen attentively to Him?). His unconditional love is overwhelming at times. I am in awe of God! He has created so many wonderful things that we forget to look at each and every day: from a beautiful sunrise, to a blooming flower, to a starry night... Wow - God is truly amazing!

So yeah, that's me! I have taken the first part of my national interpreting test... I am waiting to take the performance portion... So yeah, that on top of everything else!

Love you guys!

Joy

LT Intern Debriefing and Summary

2007-11-03T18:28:00.000-04:00

So, yeah... To close out our summer all the interns went back to Chicago to hang out with all the LeaderTreks staff (except Greg who went and got married!) and talk about our experiences this summer.

I feel truly blessed to have had this opportunity and to have gotten to know so many wonderful people! I feel like I know some of the interns better than I know some of my friends back home because we were so intentional about our relationships this summer. I look forward to these life long friendships and to see all the wonderful things that God is going to do in all of our lives!

Since I have been back, I have shared with many people my experiences and even talked with the youth workers at my church about things I have learned about working with students. Here are some of the top things that I though I would share!

Some things I learned about God this summer is that He truly loves us uncoditionally. I had never felt that so deeply loved by the people I worked with as well as by God. God loves me just the same as when I served Him this summer as when I was at my worst and running from Him. I also learned the power of prayer. At the beginning of the summer I discovered that God has given me the gift of believing. So I decided to put it into action and prayed for a specific request from each intern through out the week all summer. It was amazing to hear how God answered prayers in so many different ways. I am attempting to maintain that here at home as well. I have started a prayer team in our college ministry and are trying to get people to see prayer in a new light.

I think one of the biggest thing I learned about working with students is that we underestimate their power and capability. They can do so much but America doesn't let them! I also learned something the very last week with Angie. We asked each of the students who the most influential person in their life was and not one person said "their friend". They each said someone who challenged them to be more than they ever thought they could be. Looking back, I can say the same thing in my life. My middle school pastor, Russell Migl, believed in me no matter what. And that means the world to me. I want to be a person of influence in peoples' lives. I think one other thing I learned a lot about as well is the power of words with students. This generation doesn't hear encouragement enough. Sometimes, as youth workers we need to speak challenges and words of truth into their lives, but we also need to tell them how we see God working in them and using them. We can see things in them that they don't see sometimes. We need to build this generation up - it is beated down my the power's of this world. But it doesn't have to be that way!

I thank God for this experience. It has taught me a lot about myself, life, God, students, people... So many things - it is an internship well worth it!

Below is a video - a glimpse of what I experienced this summer. A picture says a thousand words, but this still doesn't do my summer justice!

Love to you all!

God's hands and feet,

Joy

LeaderTreks Video

Trip #8: Lakewood Baptist

2007-11-03T18:15:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! So I finally am sitting down to write about my last trip - I never intended for it to take me this long!

This was a different trip for me in that it was a new Bible study (Daniel) and Angie was my trip leader (I love you Angie!) and yeah, I kinda knew the run of things so I got to put a lot of input in this week...

It definately had it's challenges - the church had problems with their bus and didn't have transportation for Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday. That meant Angie drove everyone everywhere - it took atleast an hour to transport everyone from the church to the worksite to the VBS site and back to the church and bathroom breaks in between.

It was an awesome week though - I loved teaching this week! I learned so much about Daniel that I never knew before. And Sharack, Meshack, and Abednego were our age and stood against the crowd. Daniel was our age and stood against the crowd. Change requires someone to stand up and voice their opinion. Change never happened by sitting around and waiting for it.

It was so sad though at the end of the week... Saying good-bye to Donella and her family... And Jess and all the wonderful people at All Saint's that I got to know this summer. And Van Arrington who helped with our VBS. It was truly a summer I will always look back on with fond memories and I pray that next year I have done even greater things than that. I don't want that to be my high mountain top experience in life. I am 22 years old and the world is before me, I want it to be the base of a life full of adventure and exciting ways that God will use me in His kingdom.

Thanks to you all for all your prayers and support and encouragement this summer!

Joy

Lakewood Baptist

Working on the Front Deck

Donella and Her Daughter Sierra and Her Son Rahiem

Watermelon to Celebrate an Awesome Week and a BANK Summer

Trip #7: Willow Creek

2007-09-01T15:40:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone!

Trip #7 was an amazing trip! A lot happened that week - it was Greg's last week before he left that Saturday to go get married... Angie came in who was going to be the last trip with me... And Doug Franklin - the founder of LeaderTreks also came down! He gave me a huge compliment on one of my teaching nights! And he doesn't give those away lightly :o)

This was a great group to work with - the youth pastor and his fiance were both former LT interns and they were just phenominal! We got a lot done on the house! We finished the front deck. We got the roof all the way on (the last gable we had to wait for a big group to help raise it). We also started demolitioning one of the 2 bedrooms in the trailor... You couldn't use it because the floor was rotting through... So we started getting rid of it so t hat we could connect the front and back decks! It had a lot of speak to my heart moments as well...

One in particular was a boy named Sam on the trip... One of my goals this summer was to reach out to a guy student and know I had left an impact on his life. There were lots of guys all summer I know I left an impact but this one stuck out... After our last team time, he pulled me aside from an adult meeting... And he told me how much he appreciated me encouraging him to not give up... He said that when I told him I had no construction experience before this summer and I had come this far (we were hammering some nails in at the time) and surely he could learn, too - that really challenged him... And then also for the fun - hanging out - celebrating time at dinner... I really got to have fun with the kids but then I always tried to steer the conversation back to how they are going to use all these experiences when they get home... In the dark, it almost looked as if he teared up a bit... Wow! What a major yay God moment for me!

It was so sad to see Greg go - I managed to hold back the tears with most of my good-byes, but not his... Yikes! He taught me so much this summer and I am so grateful for that!

Staying strong,

Joy

The Gang from Willow Creek

Working on the Front Deck

Demolition of Part of the Trailor

Trip #6: Carmel Presbyterian

2007-08-23T18:56:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone!

So sorry for the delay in blogs! I literally just got internet access after a month of none!

So looking back to Trip #6... I can't believe it has already been a month!

This was my group of middle school boys! They turned out to be pretty good! It was definately a huge change from intense high level high schoolers to newbies in middle school but it was actually a lot of fun!

We started work on the rest of the foundation holes! Yay for digging! We also cleaned up A LOT of trash! The adults worked on the roof putting about 75% of the plywood up... We couldn't allow middle schoolers up there just yet because it was still unstable...

This was a fun week of teaching! Greg and I split it up a lot since it was just the 2 of us... We did the Hardline study - I love that one! The hard sayings of Jesus Christ! He says some pretty far out stuff!

Here are some pics of the week!

Next blog coming soon!

Joy

Carmel Presbyterian

Working on the Roof

Digging Holes

Trash! Trash! And More Trash!

Trip #5: BentTree Bible Fellowship (2)

2007-07-20T08:48:00.000-04:00

Hello to all my wonderful blog readers out there!

So our month of BentTree is officially ended... They are such great students! This month has been absolutely amazing!

This trip begand with the holes in the back of the house dug and posts in them... Yeah, now we have holes and posts and beams in the front, the flooring in the back, the exterior walls, as well as all roof trelices (sp?) except for the last gable up. It actually looks like a house! I found out from Jess that when this lady asked for help, she originally just wanted a couple of broken windows replaced... She doesn't know what is in store. And Jess hasn't told her to what extent we are fixing up her house because we don't want to promise anything we can't perform. Eventually, Jess wants to have the trailor enclosed and rip out the trailor from the inside... But that won't be til next summer.

This was a major high performing team. Some great students that I won't forget about it!

One thing God has been working on me this trip is trusting Him to take care of things back home... The night before this trip came I found out that I have to stay another semester at HCC (bleh!). My sister-in-law also had surgery and is actually in the hospital (so please keep her in your prayers). And then some other things going on as well... All of which I wish I could be there for to help encourage support, but I am limited to phone encouraging and emails and such... And prayer - God has been teaching me a lot about prayer and how important it is to be bold. We have been doing a study of Nehemiah and he asked God boldly for things and got them.

Another concept I realized while challenging a student this past trip is that God doesn't need me to be serve Him. God wants me to serve Him. There is a huge difference in those 2 words. If God wants something done, He will get it done with or without me. But He does want to provide me with the opportunity to serve Him to show Him how much I love Him.

I was so sad to see this group go. The youth pastor, Dylan, used to work for LeaderTreks so he was totally on board with things. He is an amazing teacher and I learned a lot from him as well.

I am kind of sad though because Shannon (Greg's fiance) and Allie are both leaving today. Shannon is absolutely amazing and will do an awesome job next summer with Greg where ever they are sent. Allie has been a huge encouragement to me and taught me a lot too. Both of them will be greatly missed!

This next trip is 7 12-year old boys. 2 adults males and 2 adult females. Should be quite interesting! Going back to a level 1 trip! It is going to be so very weird after having a month of level 3! Pray that everything goes well and everyone is safe. This is only a one week trip - I have 3 of them left then I fly back to Chicago on August 11th and then back to Tampa on Aug 13th at 5 PM.

Much love to you all and thanks for all your prayers and encouragement!

Joy

P.S. I may not be online as much because Allie is taking her laptop with me... So if I don't respond, don't take it personally! I love you all!!

BentTree Bible Fellowship (2)

The Wall Goes Up (Just Like in Nehemiah)

This Land Has Been Claimed for Jesus

Working Hard and Playing Hard

Where the Next Team Gets to Start!

Trip #4: BentTree Bible Fellowship (1)

2007-07-08T16:56:00.000-04:00

Warning: this might be a long blog because a lot happened this week that I want to share with all of you readers out there!

Okay, so this was our first 10-day level 3 trip. INTENSE! But oh so awesome! These were freshman and sophmores from BentTree near Dallas, TX. The funny thing is that they are from the church that 2 of my pastors are from! And their youth pastor, Dylan, used to work for LeaderTreks for several years, so that is pretty exciting! We have another BentTree trip coming in this evening - so it is the month of BentTree! But they are great kids, and very hard workers!

A level 3 is mostly student lead - they planned the menu, did the grocery shopping, decide what we do at the worksite each day (with the guidance of Jess, our construction guru). This team was VERY organized. The first week they put on a Sports Camp VBS. That was absolutely amazing. The first day we hardly had any kids, but by Thursday, we had a lot of kids to love on. I got to reach out to one girl Tamara - and totally just love on her. She is the sweetest girl and has gone through so much! It breaks my heart!

So, we did VBS in the morning and then worksite in the afternoon. We finished Ms. Micey's house and received her CO (Certificate of Occupancy) on Friday. How exciting! Monday, a couple of us went over to do the great clean and that afternoon we were able to give her the keys to her "new" home! She hasn't been inside for 2 years - she told herself that she didn't want to see it until it was finished. This is the house she grew up in - which later became a crack house, and a prostitute house. People from All Saint's Church have been doing prayer walks around the house everyday because we want this to be a safe haven for her. What an amazing thing to be able to give a lady keys to a house she has never seen in such great condition. Only one team gets to experience that moment, and this was the team!

We started on a new house this trip as well. Ms. Smith is 26 years old and had 5 kids (I believe the oldest is 9). She lives in a 1 bedroom trailer that is falling apart. In order to meet all the codes, instead of tearing it down, we are enclosing it - building new rooms around it. We dug 18 holes (2' x 2' x 2') and then hand mixed cement and filled all those holes in a matter of 3 days. We went through 3 palets of cement bags (about 216 80 lb bags). The neatest part of that is we are not only impacting the family we are helping, but the lumber store (whom we bought out all their cement) is noticing there is something different. When we ran out of cement and went to order more, they could not believe that a group of high schoolers had gone through 3 palets in 2 days and mixed it all by hand at that! What an awesome testimony!

The other project we have been working on at Ms. Smith's house is the woods behind her house. Apparently here in Pawley's, they don't have a scheduled trash pick up; you take your trash to a dump. Well, there was trash in the woods knee deep and who knows what all was really back there. We cleaned it up - yay for huge crap piles! There were parts of a car from 1972... Craziness!

Even more exciting than helping these families, to me, is being able to touch these students lives and show them a whole new way to serve and follow hard after God. This week was a mile stone for me in that I am half way through the summer. But even more, I learned something about confidence. It's a choice. I have grown so much in that area this past week, and God gave me the opportunity to speak into several students' lives this trip. What an amazing feeling to know that God allowed me the opportunity to influence these students in change that will bring a huge impact on His kingdom. There is no better feeling to me in the whole wide world!

Well, I guess this is about long enough... Greg's head is doing much better. Thank you for your prayers! Pray for Allie as this is her last trip with us :( She leaves on the 20th as well as Shannon, Greg's fiance. Shannon flew in after our last trip and is here for 2 weeks - she is so amazing! I have learned so much from her already! And she and Greg are so cute together!

Well, I love you guys all very much and thank you for all your prayers and encouragement! I can't wait to tell you all stories face to face!

Staying strong,

Joy

BentTree Bible Fellowship

Ms. Micey Walking into Her New House for the First Time

Ms. Micey's New Kitchen

Ms. Micey's New Living Room

Crafts at Sports Camp

Mixing Cement at Ms. Smith's House

Me Flying Over the Battery in Charleston, SC

Trip #3: Mayfair Bible

2007-07-01T22:47:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

So I know this is long overdue... But here is the recap from our 3rd trip last week.

They were from Flushing, Michigan. It was a group of mostly high schoolers - one 8th grader. They were great! Very high performance team! We managed to get pass the electrical inspection which Jess (our construction manager) didn't think likely. God can do the impossible! We got that on Thursday so we had electricity on Friday. We had hoped to finish the house last week, but the inspectors found a couple of other things that Jess didn't know had to be done... So that tacked on another week of work.

There were some graduating seniors that were really amazing young ladies. It is so neat to get to pour into students lives and challenge them to live up to their potential.

Allie and I got the opportunity to start teaching during this trip. We each did a growth journal and a Bible study. It was amazing. I am still working on my confidence in front of new groups of people, but it is so cool to know that God is letting me be a part of changing students' lives.

This trip did an amazing job getting so much done on the house. They were such a joy to work with!

Quick update about this week - I won't say too much until my next blog about this current trip... But we did get our Certificate of Occupance on Friday! Major YAY GOD! Now Micy can move into her house! Pics soon to come!

Thank you so much for all your prayers and encourgement! Please continue to pray for strength. Level 3 trips are intense in that we are with them for 10 days straight and I am realizing how important personal time at night is... So, yeah! Strength is my main prayer request right now...

Love you guys, miss you all very much!

Joy

P.S. Pray for Greg - we were at the beach for a fun restful day and a wave overtook him and something nicked his head. He had to shave his head and has a big scrape on his forehead. Seems to be doing fine... But pray for healing and not a lot of scarring since he is getting married in a little over a month!

Mayfair Bible Church

Kitchen Cabinets and Tiled Floor (ALL installed by students!)

How LT Staff Keep Our Sanity!

Quick Update

2007-06-26T23:11:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

Sorry this will be short - we have our level 3 (10 day trips) here now. The youth pastor came up early, and I loved getting to meet him and talk with him before his team arrived... But that took away my time for my blog this weekend... This is an intense trip - but I am hoping for some down time one night soon so I can tell you about my last trip which was amazing!

Keepy praying - we are still in Micy's house - hope to be finished by the end of this week. We are doing VBS this week. Pray for strength for me as this is this half way trip and usually the hardest one to get through... Also for confidence and wisdom in how to challenge students to be more like Christ.

Pics and a blog about last week will be up soon! Can't promise when, but I will try in the next few days!

Love to you all - thanks for all the prayers and encouragement - they mean so much to me!

Joy

Trip #2: Baylife Church

2007-06-17T22:20:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

So I had my kiddos this past week and I am so very proud of each one of them! They drywalled their little hearts out, painted, worked on the ramp, put up trim (window, baseboards, and crown molding), sanding, mudding... They did an amazing job! I saw so many of them grow in so many different ways. I can't wait to come back home in August to see what they have done with their growth.

Greg let Allie and I take over the work site on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We got to plan out all the teams, figure out what work was to be done, etc. We decided the team had worked really hard one day and went to the beach in the afternoon. That was fun - Greg found a dead fish with teeth which was really freaky looking.

Saturday after we sent off Baylife, we went to Charleston, SC and explored down there. We went to the market - and Sticky Fingers for lunch. And we saw Ratatouille (spelling?) which is a hilarious movie! We went grocery shopping - getting good at planning food for large groups!

Our new group is from Michigan - high schoolers (and one 8th grader). We are hoping to finish Micy's house this week so she can move in. Greg is also letting Allie and I teach different parts of Team Time - Tuesday night I am teaching the growth journal and Thursday night the Bible Study. So pray for that. Allie is teaching Wednesday night and doing growth journal on Thursday so pray for her as well!

I love you all and miss you all! My birthday is a week and a half away - then I'll be 22! Yikes! Where does the time go?

Hugs,

Joy

Baylife Middle School Team

Baylife Adult Staff and LeaderTreks Staff

Praise and Worship on the Waccoma River

Breaking the Rules in Charleston, SC

Allie and I Looking at Each Other's Amazing Muscles!
(and Sticky Finger Tatoos!)

Trip #1: Southside Christian

2007-06-09T21:46:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone!!

So trip #1 is finished and was a sucess! Definately had it's challenges... Learning the ropes, and trying to be confident in everything you do... And pour into kids lives, and try to promote the word "bank" (the interns at LeaderTreks are trying to start a trend one student at a time), and being a great leader for the students to model after... Oh my goodness - this is going to be such a bank summer!

We had 7 students and 2 adults from Southside Christian in Orlando, FL (not too far from me!). It is one of our smaller trips. They arrived Sunday and left this morning. They are a good group of kids. They worked hard (most of the time). We are working on finishing a house that was started last summer. This house was falling apart, and some teams before us stabalized it... We hung so much drywall this week, and mudded, and built half of a wheel chair ramp. It was amazing how much different the house looks! It is for an 80+ year old lady who is living in an over crowded house right next door. We are hoping to finish this house in the next 2 weeks so we can start working on building a house from the ground up for a family of 6.

In the afternoons, this group had planned a VBS so we did that Monday-Thursday at a park. It was so awesome. There were usually about 15 kids - just enough for each one of us to give enough attention to the bigger and little ones. Almost all of us are sore from giving so many piggy back rides and carrying them on our necks. But how awesome it is to be able to love the unloveable. It is so sad to think that the attention they received this week is probably more than they have seen all year.

There were some challenges along the way, no doubt. I thought it would be tough working with the students and getting them to work, but this trip was hard at first because the adult leaders weren't on the same page as LeaderTreks. It got a lot better towards the end of the week though. I definately think there were some major "Yay Gods" this week.

I am really excited about our next trip because it is my middle schoolers - I am so very excited to see them! Pray that I challenge myself continually and that I am intentional in my relationships. This is a larger group 16 students and 4 adults. But it is going to be so amazingly BANK!

I have included some pictures below... Enjoy! Feel free to message me, send encouraging notes - they do mean a lot! I wish I could respond to all of them, but my internet and cell reception isn't very good here...

My love to you all!!

Joy

Trip #1 Pictures

Southside Christian Team

Yay for pink tool belts while working on drywall! And challenging students!

This is Nazzia who literally rode on my shoulders for a whole 2 hours almost every day - and styled my hair every day... Hmm, thank you Mom for giving me a tough scalp! Oh, and yes, that's playdough she is putting in my eye...

Mailing Address

2007-06-02T22:31:00.000-04:00

Yeah, so many of ya'll are asking for my mailing address - internet acess is limited to sitting in the middle of the hall late at night...

All Saint's Church
LeaderTreks - Joy
3560 Kings River Road
Pawley's Island, SC 29585

Feel free to send love! I like love :o) Things are going fantastic - our first group comes tomorrow afternoon. We went shopping and I have never spent so much in my life for groceries - 3 "buggies" (yes, buggies - not carts for all you northern people) FULL of stuff! But it's for 12 people for one week... So yeah - fun times and the people at Wal-Mart LOVED us! haha

Rained most of the day today but been getting ready for the students - Allie, Greg and I are so excited. We all feel so blessed to have this opportunity that we so don't deserve. We won't accomplish anything this summer without God on our side.

Thank you all so much for your continued prayer and encouraging emails/messages. I love you all very much and miss each of you!

Can't wait to get this party started!

Joy

Pictures!

2007-05-31T02:19:00.000-04:00

So here are the pics I promised!

On my way to Chicago...

Our "bank" group of interns for the summer!

My awesome fellow intern for Pawley's Island...

Yay for falling in the mud in the bog!

I'm safe!

2007-05-29T23:43:00.000-04:00

Hey friends!

So, I am safe - in Chicago at the LeaderTreks office right now. I arrived in Wednesday safe and sound and met some pretty awesome interns that I got to hang out with all weekend at the Intensive "Ocean Identity". There were 13 of us altogether - 5 guys and 8 girls. There is one more who couldn't come to the training. I learned so much about leadership! And we got to practice a lot of it. We climbed a straight up 12 foot wall (team building) and then swang on ropes across a bog (a very muddy one at that). I totally fell all in along with 4 other people. I have pics, but haven't had a chance to upload them yet...

We got back in Chicago on Monday and got to see the sights of downtown Chicago. Pretty neat! We have been helping out in the office and most of us leave for our sites on Thursday (I do).

So yeah, pray for continued strength and just that I will keep my focus on God. God has blessed me with many new friends and it will bad sad to part for the summer...

More updates to come later!

Love you guys and miss you all!

Hugs to you all!!

Joy aka "Gozo" (my name in Spanish, according to some of the spanish speaking interns...)

Only 1 week left!

2007-05-16T16:25:00.000-04:00

Only 1 week left until I leave for Chicago!

Keep me in your prayers!

As retarded as this sounds - pray for my toe... Last weekend I surprised my Mom for mother's day weekend and we went to my Aunt's new horse farm. Well, one of the horses stepped on my toe and straightened it out. My toes normally curl, so now that it is straight, it looks normal, but it feels really off and I can feel something move when I step... Really gross - am wearing a splint, but even with that my kindergarteners still manage to step on it atleast 3 times a day!

Love you guys!!

Joy

Praise Reports

2007-05-08T15:57:00.000-04:00

Yeah so 2 weeks left of work and 15 days til I am in Chicago! Wahoo!

So 2 praise reports for ya!

I just found out that Ignite (the middle school group at my church) won't be meeting for small groups during the summer (June/July). They just do fun events and such to give the small group leaders somewhat of a break. So God answered a major prayer request about who would be covering my group while I was gone :o)

And my other praise report is that I did really well on my exams - I have managed to maintain my 4.0 GPA with 91 credits :o)

Yay God!

Love you guys!

Joy

Whether we win or lose, we praise Him!

2007-05-05T22:36:00.000-04:00

So just something to chew on for you: words of wisdom from someone I greatly admire and have a lot of respect for. And I am feeling like a cow that chews and chews and chews on grass with this, so yeah - I warned you!

So, I have been struggling with an issue lately... Just something I really want, but God keeps saying, "It's not time yet, I want you to wait patiently." And I keep telling God, "I am waiting patiently, but when is it actually gonna happen to ME?" Yeah, so much for really waiting patiently... Anyways, I was talking about this with one of my friends and thought I would share her response... She didn't start off giving me an answer, rather a question that challenged me...

"If you could have this *insert "thing" that you really want here* tomorrow, and God told you that you would receive it tomorrow, how would you feel about today?"

It really made me think... I still haven't been able to find the right words, but something more peaceful and yet I would want to make the most of today and not worry about tomorrow because I knew that the "thing" would happen tomorrow...

So then, to make my brain hurt even more after pondering on that for awhile, she challenged me again. God wants the best for each of us every day, right? Well, maybe tomorrow, it will be the best for you to have your heart's desire (whether it be that promotion, a new job, a boyfriend/girlfriend, etc) but if not, God has given you something that is even better for you that day! Instead of looking at life as I didn't get what I wanted today (which is selfish anyways), we need to look at life as, "Okay God, what was your gift for me today? What was your best for me today?" And then we need to ask ourselves the question, "Did I give YOU my best today?"

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase: "there is a reason its called the present."

So my gift today was time to spend with my friends, celebrating accomplishments; as well as precious time with my nephews in Land O' Lakes since I won't be able to see them for 3 months! God didn't give me just one gift today, He gave me two - and probably more if I sat down to think about it!

So just a challenge, seize the day! And if God gives you your heart's desire tomorrow, great! And if not, great - God had something better to give you!

"Whether we win or lose, we praise Him!" - Facing the Giants

Peace, love, and JOY!

Joy

P.S. Praise report - I finished school for the semester - did well on my exams! Yay God! There are only 17 days left until I leave! Now I can actually focus on packing and such! I am so very excited!

Work Project this Summer and More...

2007-04-28T14:45:00.000-04:00

So I had this really awesome opportunity to meet Greg Suiter - my site leader person dude last night. He flew down to do some LeaderTreks training for our church's high school trips, but they worked it out so I could come too - it was pretty awesome! He seems like a really nice guy with a great sense of humor - which you have to have with me otherwise I make absolutely no sense! I am so excited! Only 25 days left til I am Chicago for training and then off to Pawley's Island!!

Greg also let me know what our work project will be - a lady with 5 kids in this old trailer like house where they all sleep in the same room. So we are building them a new house. Jess - our construction person dude - has a construction ministry called Nehemiah Project and he will be guiding us with that! What a cool opportunity this will be and such a blessing for this family!!

The Pawley's Island adult leaders from my church are hanging out tonight - so I am gonna go "chill" with them for awhile. I am so very excited!

Hope you all are doing well!!

Joy

Prayer requests:
1. The family we will be building a house for.
2. The students on these trips.
3. Greg and Ally and Myself
4. I have finals this next week - so pray I do well!
5. Someone to come along who can take care of my middle school group while I am gone.
6. That things at work will smooth out - I haven't told them I am taking the last 3 days off yet...

Yay God!

2007-04-19T16:06:00.000-04:00

Okay, so here is a huge YAY GOD!

Many of you know I was in a car accident last year in April. And the past 5 months have been a major headache because USAA couldn't seem to "close" my case. And I have been playing phone tag with my insurance agent to pay this one outstanding bill for my MRI for the past month. Well, I finally got a hold of him on Tuesday. And he tells me that he crunched the numbers, and if I agreed, he was going to be sending me a settlement check for the MRI bill, plus pain and suffering. Yeah, so that check is a lot more than I ever wanted... I just wanted the $800 to cover my MRI, but yeah, God totally provided so much more!

God's timing is interesting in it all, as well. About an hour before I talked with my agent, I had crunched the numbers to see how much money I would need to cover my summer bills while I am gone to see how much money I still needed to raise... I also was trying to figure out how I was going to pay for my national interpreting test (about $700 total) this next year so I can get a pay raise and work anywhere... Then I talked with the agent and this check covers more than it all!! I had told God just an hour earlier that the support letter checks had basically stopped coming in, and I was running out of fundraising ideas, but I knew He would provide because I know He wants me to do this and an hour later, I am told this check is being mailed to me! How awesome God is!

And on top of that, I mentioned before in one of my blogs about how I was reading through John and never realized how much the purpose of everything is plastered all in that book: everything is made for God's glory. Yeah, a year ago, I had no idea how this car accident could bring God glory - it seemed to bring me a headache and lots of physical pain more than anything... And now a year later, He used the car accident to help fund my missions trip. And I am praying about how else I can give some of it back to Him to be used for more of His glory!

So, yeah! Thanks so much for your prayers - the past couple of weeks have just been "gloomy" and I kept finding God's light...

So a major YAY God!

Love you all,

Joy

P.S. Bought my plane ticket too :o)

Updates

2007-04-12T15:36:00.000-04:00

Greetings everyone!

So it has been a little too long and no blogging! Things have actually been kinda crazy for me... Been struggling with some things, so please keep me in your prayers. Actually, the things I am struggling with have nothing to do with the mission trip - more personal thatn anything...

I am really excited about the mission trip! I talked with Greg yesterday and he seems really super nice. Got to know more about what we will be doing: construction work and building relationships with people - 2 things I like to do! I can't say I know how to use too many power tools, but I love learning! And you know me, the city girl, gets excited over getting mud up to my knees while I was four-wheeling! haha I love trying and learning new things!

I just finished reading through John. God's word truly is the Living Word because no matter how many times you read a book in the Bible, you can always get something new out of it. Brenton Shephard preached a sermon to the college group a little while ago about everything being for God's Glory - that's why we live and breathe. I had never seen that before, and as I was reading through John, it seemed plastered all over the book! It is amazing! And I think it was Pastor Mark who said that Yaweh (sp?) means something like breath - so every time we take a breath, we are saying God's name. So even our breathing is for His glory.

I also learned something really cool this morning - actually from Brenton again! Weirdness... Anyways: so he had this quote on his page "Laminin is what holds us together". I never liked science, so no idea what that was. It is apparently the center of every cell in our body and looks like this:

Just how need how Christ holds us together - even to the core of us, everything is for His glory! The other thing I think is so neat about that is that God cares about even the smallest details of our lives - and He has a plan and is in control. I needed a reminder of that because lately it seems I have been bombarded with experiences to challenge me and things I have been struggling with... And sometimes I begin to feel discouraged... I am trying so hard to find the good in all of it - and even if it is small, I have been able to find it most of the time... But yeah, gentle reminders are always nice.

So anyways - nothing else too new here - still haven't entered the dating world. Have 3 weeks left of school (pray that I keep God first even during my last 3 weeks because they are the most stressful). Pray for where I work and guidance for where God wants me next year (which school). And pray for someone to come to lead my middle school girls while I am at Pawley's Island this summer.

Hope you all are doing well! Feel free to comment, call, text, or email me any time!

Love you guys!!

Joy

P.S. Finanical status is still $1750 - only need $150 more to secure my internship for the summer although I still am praying for atleast $2500 to cover other expenses associated with the trip.

Pawley's Island

2007-03-28T16:01:00.000-04:00

So, I just got the call from LeaderTreks!!

I am off to Pawley's Island, South Carolina! Yippee!!

That is where my 7th grade girls are going so I am excited I will get to see some familiar faces!!

More details to come about what I will be doing - Greg (the site leader) should be calling me the next couple of days to let me know what we will be doing and there is another intern who is 18 years old who will be with us, too!

I am so excited!

More updates coming soon to this blogsite near you!

Joy

Update

2007-03-20T15:04:00.000-04:00

Hello to all my blog readers!

So - financial update is that I am at $1750 - wahoo! Major YAY GOD!

Still waiting to hear on March 28th where I will be! I am so excited!

Prayer Requests... Pray that this week while I am on spring break from work, that I put God first (so far, so good). I know a tendency when we go on break from something (atleast for me) is to plan to do more Bible Study but it actually ends up hardly happening... Weird, but true! So far this week has been good - have been studying in John and Proverbs. Really good stuff!

Another prayer request I have is to keep God as my number 1 in life. Pastor Mark preached about finding "the one" last week - but really our future spouse should be our number 2! It was a really good message. I had kind of decided that I wouldn't really date anyone til after I get back from my trip - just because that would be hard on a relationship to be gone all of a sudden for 2 1/2 months. Yeah, nice idea! But it is kinda hard when there is someone you are kinda interested in... So yeah, I have been trying to keep God at the forefront of my mind, and not get carried away with all those "girlie" thoughts... But yeah, it is hard sometimes... So just pray God is my number 1!

Also, continue to pray for my work situation. It is that time of year when you let people know your plans for next school year, and i honestly have no idea what I want, let alone what God wants... Or more specifically, where I should be (you float schools as an interpreter).

Well, that's all I can think of for now... I have been trying to thank people individually for the encouragement and blessings you are to me - but if I am a little behind, know that I appreciate every single one of you!

Love in Christ,

Joy

P.S. I edited my account settings on here so you can now comment on my blogs without having a Google Account - just click on the _ Comments and type away - and check Anonymous - and then you can sign your name (or not!) in your comment. Comments are always welcomed!

March 28th

2007-03-16T18:20:00.000-04:00

So, after much questioning Lauren at LeaderTreks...

March 28th is the day they are planning to tell us where we will be for the summer :o)

Yippee!

So yeah!! March 28th - keep checking back!!

Love you guys!

Joy

Prayer Requests

2007-03-10T00:17:00.000-05:00

Hello, hello!

Just wanted to let everyone know I have reached the $1,450 mark - half way there! God is totally awesome!

Also, I have a prayer requests - pray for 2 more interns to come to LeaderTreks this summer. We are waiting on 2 more before they give out our assignments (so, no, I don't know yet...).

Love you guys and may God bless each of you!!

Joy

$1000 Mark

2007-02-27T23:26:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that I have reached the $1,000 mark! Only $2,000 left to go! God is pretty awesome! That includes the raffle money, but is about 2-3 weeks behind with personal donations - so!!

And next week is MARCH - which means I will find out my assignment for the summer! Can't wait to see where God wants me to be!

Hope you all are doing well.

Joy

PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. Work - a lot is going on at work, so just pray that I will have wisdom in handling certain situations and patience. God has been teaching me a lot about trusting that He is in control of everything.
2. My Middle Schoolers - that God will bring someone to lead my small group while I am away and that my girls will grow in their walk with God and that I will be a good role model for them to look up to.

Raffle Winner!!

2007-02-18T21:59:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to the raffle winner: Chris Groover!!

Definately a deserving fellow who gives a lot to serve God and he is totally appreciated even though he may not hear that a lot...

Thanks to all of you who are helping support me this summer through your donations from the raffle tickets!I

raised $215 to go directly towards my trip!!

YAY GOD!!

Thanks again,

Joy

Public Speaking Debut?

2007-02-15T22:41:00.000-05:00

So I am still trying to soak everything in from my "public speaking debut" last night - haha! Thanks to everyone for your prayers! You guys are awesome!

I had been preparing for about 2 weeks - rolling over different life experiences I might want to share, lessons learned along the way, words of wisdom, stories, jokes... Yeah, thought I had it pretty much planned out with some flexibility in there.

Funny how when you get up there, you can use some of the same stories, but totally emphasize something else. I didn't even realize how much I used to say, "No, God; I can't..." until tonight. Holy cow, like I never would have thought I would be where I am today: standing in front of MY youth pastor (Russell: you are da bomb, man!) and his youth group giving my tetsimony about what great things God has done in my life and how I am serving Him in so many ways. I always wanted to be the Sunday morning, Wednesday evening, picturesque Christian.

God kept nudging me, wanting me to serve Him with youth ministry. And with my signing ability... And I kept saying, "No, God... You can't choose me... I am not good enough... I am not the person you want..." Wow, even tonight I was so nervous but I knew God wanted me to do it and I had some awesome people that believed in me... I tried to say no so many times because I thought I knew the big picture and I just couldn't comprehend how it would all work out in the end. In reality, I didn't know anything about the big picture. I only knew a skewed minute fraction of it.

Now, I am finally to the point of saying, "Yes God! No matter how crazy this may seem, I am trusting you to equip me to do Your work." Like agreeing to speak tonight, and especially this 2 1/2 month internship (mission trip) where I have no idea what the big picture is. This is totally opposite from where I used to be... Wow... God has brought me through so much and brought me so far... I can only imagine what things will be like down the road if I continue to trust Him and seek Him first and continue to say, "Yes, God! No matter the cost!"

Just say, "Yes, God!" Whatever the reason you are holding back, it isn't worth it! Our time is so short, we don't have time to say, "No!"

Peace, love, and JOY!

Support Letter

2007-02-15T22:37:00.001-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

As you know, last summer I was blessed with the opportunity to go on not just one, but two missions trips: one to Memphis, Tennessee as a middle school leader and one to Moose Pass, Alaska with my church's college group. Each mission's trip touched my life in a different way. In Memphis, words can't even begin to describe what it feels like to see a teenager serving God and drawing closer to Him. I also realized that I struggle with living in the future (ex. planning different ways to serve God next month and next year, but forgetting about today). While living in the future, I was forgetting to make the most of today – and reach out to people today, even if it as simple as listening to a teenager talk about their day or answering their questions about God. I had forgotten that I can serve God with the little things in my life. The mission's trip to Moose Pass taught me that God can use anyone if we just say, "Yes!" I had never done street evangelism before or just gone up and started talking with homeless people, and one of my group leaders challenged me to be the first to start up a conversation. I shied away at first, and then I noticed a deaf homeless man. I was the only one on my team who knew sign language. I didn't see him come into a saving faith with Jesus Christ, but I can tell you that many of the homeless people, who had discouraged me from talking with the man, noticed a change after I just "listened" to him talk about his life. I was scared and nervous and inexperienced, but God will provide and equip you in your time of need.
I say all this to you because last summer, I began to feel a call on my life to serve God through LeaderTreks (the company that organized my Memphis trip). LeaderTreks is for youth groups (middle and high school) across America to go and reach the world and to develop strong Christian leaders from this generation. I have such a burden for the youth for today. It is hard growing up in today's society and maintaining even an ounce of faith because it seems everything is against you. I was hesitant at first because of all of the "details" but once I said "Yes!" to God, I have seen Him take care of almost every detail I once worried about.
I have no idea where I will be as of yet, I should find out in March. I could be in one of several places in the United States or I could be sent to another country. I will be working as an intern and will be building relationships with students and challenging them to become more like the awesome God we serve everyday from the beginning of June through the first part of August.
I don't know all of the details right now, but I do know God knows them. I have to raise my own support (this helps keeps the cost lower for youth so that they can experience a mission's trip). My goal is $3000 to cover food, housing, transportation, and other essential costs for this 12 week internship program. Please carefully consider if God would have you donate. A response card is enclosed with more details and all gifts are tax deductible.
More than finances, I also need your prayers (there is also a section on the response card to become a prayer warrior). I learned this first hand at the Passion Conference that I interpreted the first week in January this year. Two prayer warriors prayed for our interpreting team for strength because we were absolutely exhausted and I can't even begin to describe how God came over us and gave us His supernatural strength. Without prayer, this mission's trip won't be possible.
If you would like for me to keep you updated, please send me an email (joyful_in_christ@fastmail.fm) so that you can receive any future updates and prayer requests.

Thanks again for your time and may God richly bless you,

Joy

Welcome and THANK YOU!

2007-02-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone~

So this is going to be my blog site!! I am so excited!!

I want to post updates about my fundraising progress and most especially prayer requests. I always found it hard to pray for some missionaries because I never knew what to pray for. So, by creating this site, I hope to provide you guys with more specific prayer needs along the way leading up to my internship and also throughout the summer! Prayer is a powerful tool and so often we save it for last but I know that it needs to be first in our lives.

So anyways... Check back every so often for updates!

Love you guys!

Joy