General Update

I just wanted to update y'all on how everyone's doing since Haiti. :) I went to the airport to pick up my family on Monday night. There were about 20 of us (family and friends) waiting outside the Security Check Point with signs and cameras. We ended up waiting about 45 minutes for the group to come walking out, but it was worth it! We first spotted Derek Walley (go figure) among the group and then a few seconds later, the whole group started clapping and singing a haitian song they learned over the past week! It was so cool, and what a witness to the bystanders and the workers to see how overjoyed our two groups were when we were finally reunited! I didn't realize how much I had missed my family until I saw my dad (videotaping our responses), my mom (leading the singing), and my two brothers (with their arms around their new friends from different FL churches) walking towards me! I am so grateful to God for bringing the entire team back home safely (minus the awful injuries that Eric and Ian bestowed upon themselves)! It was so neat seeing them all treating each other as family in the airport, not wanting to say goodbye yet, goofing off and joking around.
I also realized how much I had wished I could've gone with the Haiti team. I'm totally excited about going to Wales still, but my heart has been for the poverty-stricken countries...so this will be, needless to say, a very different "mission year" for me. As my family and friends have been sharing the many amazing stories of the trip, I've had to fight and pray for God to sustain my joy that is NOT circumstantial...though my flesh would try to convince me otherwise. I truly am looking forward to seeing how God allows us to serve the church in Wales, and I am not taking lightly the fact that we will be representing SGM. Please pray that God will unite our team immediately so that we can serve the church and community more appropriately.

I am so excited for the Ladies Retreat this weekend, because I know God is going to speak to me through the messages, the worship, the ministry time, and the fellowship. There has been so much time and effort put into making this retreat as enjoyable and beneficial as possible, I am so grateful to all the ladies (mainly my sis) involved! Please continue to pray as the retreat kicks off tomorrow, and continue to prepare your hearts so that the Holy Spirit can work in and through you this weekend!