It's sunny in Charleston!

Hope all of y'all have had a wonderful Wednesday and the weather has been nice back home!

After it rained all night here in Charleston, we woke up to lots of puddles but blue skies and sunshine. One of my roommates, Caroline, and I got up at seven this morning to check out the gym for the first time. (we'll see how long that lasts!) We then got ready and headed to our 9:30 meeting which consisted of some more orientation things...we also found out who we would be working with and which McDonald's we will be working at. Some of our job orientations were supposed to be tomorrow but the corporate office had to switch it to Monday. I am excited to find out I will be working with two other students on project, Abby and Mitch! 

After our meeting, my roommates and I went to the grocery store and grabbed a quick lunch downtown.  When we came back, each Bible study was  given a list of things to photograph on a photo scavenger hunt so we could get to know each other and Charleston better. It was so much fun getting to walk along the battery and waterfront park and explore Charleston with these girls. Needless to save we did LOTS of walking and bonding. :) While we didn't get the most points and win the scavenger hunt, we had a great time! 

 Beautiful day to be at Waterfront Park!

After grabbing dinner in the room, we had a time of worship with everyone and a couple more orientation type meetings. Tonight we had the opportunity to meet with our Bible study and share some of our life experiences and talk about the things God has shown us and how He has worked in our lives over the years. It was so neat getting to hear the different stories of God's love in all of our lives and how He has brought each one of us here! 

It was great getting to meet even more people today. I am so excited to grow closer to one another as we grow closer to the Lord...I am thankful for a free day tomorrow but can't wait to get in the routine of things starting Monday!

All settled in...

Well we are all settled into to the hotel for summer project! I arrived with Mama and Daddy at three this afternoon to check in. I soon met some of my new roommates, Caroline and Laura! After we moved in, I went with Mama and Daddy to look for a bike.  After going to two Wal-Marts we finally found the bike I had been looking for...Bless their hearts they were so ready to get back on the road and they ended up staying an extra hour or two so I was able to go ahead an get the bike now...Thank you both so much for your help and everything you did today. Love y'all!

I arrived back at the hotel where I met my Bible study group for this summer and my other roommate, Elaine! We all had some pizza and introduced ourselves to one another.  I am so excited to grow in the word together with these girls! I was also excited to find out one of our leaders is a UNC graduate I met my freshman year at Carolina and will be back at UNC on Campus Crusade staff in the fall and  will also be helping with the Bible study I will help with this year!

We then had a small orientation to go over some of the logistics for the summer and then afterwards had an ice cream get together with everyone...it was great getting to know a lot of the staff and students! Originally we were supposed to have it outside but because of the rain, we had it under the parking deck of the hotel and it's so funny because the first Campus Crusade event I ever went to at Carolina, Freshman Picnic, was under a parking deck due to the rain!

Afterwards, I went with some of the new people I met to get a few groceries afterwards at my favorite grocery store in the world! It's a Harris Teeter down town that used to be an old train station! It was so fun just getting to talk and go to the grocery store with people from different parts of the country as we talked about the different way we pronounce certain words, whether or not we call a coke pop, soda, or a fountain drink, whether we say "you guys" or y'all" and the list goes on...some of them had never even heard of Harris Teeter so it was our first fun little adventure of the summer. :) 

I am so excited to see what tomorrow brings as we will be learning more about our summer jobs! Thank y'all so much for your prayers and encouragement. I am so excited to fall more in Love with Jesus through this process! Good night. :) 

Almost Time!

I can't believe I leave for Charleston in just a couple of days!

The first few weeks of summer vacation have flown by.  Spending time with friends, family, and the Lord away from the hustle and bustle of school has been so refreshing. I have been so spoiled getting to spend time with my friends from home and school!

I already miss my sweet family and friends but I am also very excited to grow close to the sweet people God has chose to put in my life this summer. Two years ago, before going into college, I would have never pictured myself being away from home for ten weeks.  Before I was "broken into" my homesickness as a college student, I felt like I was the most homesick individual in the world. This meant freaking out about leaving home for a week on a mission trip with the church and even getting homesick at Disney World with my family... Actually all of which were with my closest friends or family...embarrassing, I know. :)

I recently found a journal entry  from one of those very trips in which I wrote about how homesick I was. In that same entry I wrote on this particular trip with the youth group during the summer of 2008 about how I would love to be a part of missions in the future, but I just knew I could never be away from home longer than a week. While on another mission trip the next summer, I was confident God was calling me to missions in the future, but at the time I had no clue what that looked like or what God was preparing for me at this present time, some three years later. While I can't say I won't get homesick or miss my friends and family from home, because I will,  it has been such a sweet reminder to reflect on the fact that the Lord is always working in our lives even though we may not even realize it...His timing and plan is truly perfect!

I am so thankful for this opportunity to learn more about Jesus' love this summer and in turn be able to share that same love with other people. Thank y'all so much for your love, support, and prayers. I will keep y'all updated on the awesome things God does this summer!