Training week in Birmingham, Alabama

Thank you so much for your prayers this week friends! I can tell that God is moving in me because of the amazing prayer warriors that I have as friends and family. This week has been fun, challenging, boring, and exiting all in one. For those of you who have been through RA training week - you know what I mean. Except this job has intimidated me way more than being and RA ever did. This is real world plus Kingdom business all mixed in to 10 weeks of summer. I as the service coordinator for the Atlanta site (with the help of another service coordinator) have to connect youth to service opportunities in the community. We have a lot of paperwork to do, parents and youth to manage and service partners to keep happy. I feel absolutely overwhelmed, but at the same time completely sure that God is going to use this experience to change me for good. For those of you who don't know, the only reason I am hear in this place right now is because of God. Last fall (and into winter) I was very apathetic about my summer plans, so I applied to YouthWorks last minute and half-heartedly at the end of January - near the end of the hiring season for many camps and summer programs. Initially I was received very well, but told that YouthWorks had already sent out the available contracts for female summer staff, so I was put on a waiting list. I waited for awhile and then decided to give-up on YouthWorks and pursue other job opportunities. I searched high and low for jobs, but all the doors were closing on me. One night I was near tears with frustration over not being able to figure out my summer plans, but wouldn't you know it, the Lord came through, and the next day I got a call from YouthWorks asking me if I was still available for the summer. Thankfully I was! This was literally two weeks before I was supposed to go home for the summer... God had a plan the whole time, but I think he wanted to teach me patience and maybe even had to pick after the mess I made by waiting so long to apply. Regardless, it is because of Him that I am here and for as nervous as I am to do this job, I am confident that He has chose me and the people I am working with to be here in this place at this moment in time.

Here are some of the highlights of my week so far:

• I met Dustin Christiansen who told me he worked at camp with Sarah Webb!
• I met a Lindsey Bulger clone named Amy... seriously - same face and mannerisms! We are now pretty good friends :)
• My site staff: Destiny (Site Director), Dominic (Co-Service Coordinator), Micah (Program Staff). They are all super awesome! More info soon to come in the following weeks :)

Verses on my mind: 

• Galatians 1:11 "I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preach is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. Rather, I received it by revelation from Christ Jesus."
• 1 Corinthians 1:10-2:5
• Divisions within the church
• Wisdom of the world vs. Wisdom of God
• 1 Corinthians 2:6&7 " We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming from nothing. No we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began." 
• What does it mean to be foolish to the world and poses Christ's wisdom? Can we uses logic to know God? Can philosophy or history tell us anything about Him?

Thanks for your love and support. I hope to have some pictures to show you guys next week!

Hey everybody!

Guess what... I'm blogging again! I realized that summer is a time when we are all far apart, but I figured I could maintain a little blog to keep those near and dear to me up-to-date with what's happening in my life. I may not be able to talk with all of you regularly this summer, but know that I will be praying for each and every one of you. 

To start, I wanted to share with you guys why I chose El Qanna as the title of my new blog. When I was a senior in high school, a mentor of mine and a few of my close high school friends gave us all cards with a name of God on them and a little description of what the name meant. I was given the name El Qanna -God is Jealous. I didn't really understand it at the time, but since then God has opened my eyes to the jealous love he has for me. We, the church, are his bride and we are individually loved by him so much that he refused to let us or satan get in the way of our living eternally with him. The name carries a message that addresses our hearts and reminds us to seek love from the only one who can fill our hearts completely. You see it when God pleads with his children to think of him as their bride and when Jesus meets the woman at the well and offers her living water. I chose the passage from Hosea because I think it exemplifies the loving, righteous nature of God's jealousy. I hope and pray that with each new day God lavishes you with his love and grace and reminds you that you are loved by a god that is jealous for you and died so that He might be with you forever. 

This summer God has blessed me with an amazing chance to witness and serve in his name in Atlanta, Georgia. I will be staying at Park Avenue Baptist Church in the city and working as the Service Coordinator for my YouthWorks team. My journey begins Monday morning at 7:30 when I fly to Birmingham, Alabama for my regional training. Please pray that this summer I would be able to trust God more fully and that he would grow my faith more and more each day. 

Thank you so much for your love, support and prayers. 

blessings

And here is my address for those who care to know :)
486 Park Avenue Southeast
Atlanta, GA 30312-3452