on my way back to Georgia!

our second trip to Laikipia with megan and hannah. we rode camels and camped in the bush!

i'm getting ready to be Stateside for a while. right now there are sticky notes with to-do lists and to-buy lists all over my desk, there are two half-stuffed suitcases in the floor, my clothes from this morning and yesterday are lying between the floor and the bed, and i am halfway perched on the chair at my desk frantically trying to finish things up. and the scene is a perfect illustration of how i feel right now on the inside. it's pretty crazy. and this is no excuse for not updated you all, i know, but life has been pretty busy here lately. but it has been so good. so good.

we had our kick-off parties for both middle school and high school youth groups. it was so fun. we bowled with the middle schoolers and did the water slides with the high schoolers. we had more kids at both parties than we expected! and yesterday we picked back up with middle school youth group while the high schoolers are on their week-long cultural field studies trips. i had the middle school youth group all to myself! we talked about friendships and i am so thankful and blessed to have some beautiful friendships to draw from as i teach these young believers. friends, thank you for loving and serving Jesus first and then me as a friend. and i've been working so hard to get everything ready for me to be gone. i'm pretty anxious about leaving everything here for 6 weeks. but i know i don't control things.

middle school youth group at bowling alley

high school youth group (part of them) at water slides. it was cold!

the cheerleaders with whom i've been working are doing so well. they were so sad to hear that i'm headed to the States. we made firm plans to continue working together when i return. they are getting so good! and they are so cute! we have practice two days a week now and have had two all day saturday practices. i'm learning how old and out of shape i am. i was sore yesterday from dancing all day saturday. :)

most of my time right now is spent getting ready for camp and recruiting. i'll be in the States for 6 weeks, but that doesn't mean i'll be in ONE states. my 6 weeks are almost booked full of traveling to recruit, go to a conference, and see another camp. thank you all so much for praying for my trip. things are working out really well. please pray that plans continue to be ironed out and that i will rest in the Lord.

i am so excited about being the home! i can't wait to see all of you, spend time with my family, go to my home church, see friends, and meet our camp staff! thank you all so much for keeping up with me and for the love and prayers. hopefully we can catch up face to face soon and i will work hard to keep you updated here!

lingering holidays

so i promised to give more details of my Christmas and my mom's visit, but i've been trying to figure out my thoughts on the whole thing and a clever way to present it to you. my head is spinning with thoughts AND i'm sitting at a busy coffee shop in the middle of an even busier mall on a sunday afternoon. there are more than 200 people rushing around me, a little girl singing over my right shoulder and another one laughing on my left, and i swear there's a band playing nearby and a telephone that won't stop ringing. this isn't the nice quiet spot where i'd love to sit and write a quick update.

and now some kind of kids concert has begun on the floor below us. i can't tell what the guy is saying, but the kids are responding with wild screams! it's a great day in nairobi! haha! AND santa is still sauntering around the mall. the holidays linger on around here. i think we strictly follow the Christian calendar and Epiphany isn't for a few more days. until then, we're still wishing each other a "Happy Christmas!" and "Blessed New Year!" it's like what happens before Christmas in the States happens after Christmas here!

so momma and cass left on tuesday night. it was so sad saying goodbye. but i'll see them again in a few weeks so it wasn't terrible. we decided to celebrate Christmas again together at the end of January. we're going to bake cookies and exchange gifts. something small. it was just too weird not doing our normal routine. i took them to Maasai Mara, Naivasha, lukenya, bracken, and around nairobi. we went to church, had a small party at our house, celebrated Christmas, shopped, got pedicures (thanks mom!), and toured Nairobi. it doesn't matter how old i get i still want my mom to be proud of me and watch me. i LOVED showing her my life here. oh, and she kissed a giraffe and petted some baby elephants. AND we went to an orphanage where we exhausted ourselves playing with toddlers all afternoon. it was a packed week. THANK YOU to everyone who prayed for us during her visit. God is faithful. and now they are back to "normal" life for them.

after they left we went camping with some guys who used to be in our youth group, but are now in college. it was wonderful to spend time with them. some of them i hadn't seen in years. we picked up where we left off except now we're talking about potential mates and careers instead of homework and prom. i am truly blessed to still be a part of their lives. God is good. as a youth worker, you always wonder what will happen in students lives when they leave your ministry and start to "grow up." what a blessing to see them again and hear about their joys and struggles!

after the camping trip we had a small new years eve party. many people are still traveling for the holidays and many spent time with family, but some students were able to celebrate with us. we spent the night playing rock band and sitting around a fire on the back porch talking. it was a great ending to '09 and a sweet beginning to 2010. i stayed up 'till 3 a.m. (way late for me) playing and dancing in the dining room.

since then i've been recovering from all the festivities. and i plan to get back to work tomorrow, even though school doesn't start for another week. most of the students i usually spend time with are traveling this week with their families. i plan to use this week to prepare for my Stateside time. please pray with me that i will be able to speak to many college students about our summer opportunity. please also pray with me that God will give me wisdom and discernment in support raising. and, maybe it's a little selfish, but i am really really really looking forward to reconnecting with some friends. please pray that i will have sweet stress-free time to spend with those dear to my heart.

i'm also preparing to be away from youth group for about 6 weeks. i'm already missing them like crazy since we've canceled youth group during the holidays. let's pray together about that too. :)