Praise God!

For my last four day break I went to Iowa with Jack and Jim and had an incredible time. We were able to spend time and encourage fellow believers, pray for those the Lord lead us to pray for and we spent time with the Marr's (Augie's family) and Johnson's. These families have taught me so much and it was such a blessing to spend time with them. Then we drove to have lunch with my cousins and their sons, and then to Wildwood Hills Ranch where I showed the guys around. After Ranch we drove to my grandparents and spend the rest of our time with them absorbing as much as we could. Watching other people appreciate my grandparents reignited the love and appreciation I have for them and it all has started making me realize how incredibly blessed I am by the people God has surrounded me with. 


All of this made returning to work at Rawhide difficult. It's not that I don't love my job- I do- but in Ames and Durant it's easy to be loved and love. I generally don't feel opposition about anything. But God didn't call me to comfort and ease, He called me to Rawhide.


These feelings lead to a stinky-stuck-in-a-rut attitude for most of my morning. Fortunately I didn't work much with the guys and my feelings weren't infiltrating their moods but I knew I wasn't glorifying God with mine. Around noon the Lord convicted me to go to prayer with other RI's so I did. Normally prayer has turned into me and Jack but this morning there was four of us there to pray and it was anointed! God used that time to show me to take the focus off of myself and return it rightfully back to Him. Shortly after prayer I worked with the guys in my house and God guided and blessed the conversations- I was able to be used to answer questions about God's righteousness that THREE of our guys had. I was able to be used to encourage one of our guys that is a believer but has been struggling. He was so encouraged he was near tears- it was absolutely incredible to watch God work...and all to think that I could have chosen to be in a stinky mood. 


Praise God His work isn't dependent on my moods. 

All Glory to God

I went to Wildwood tonight for a volunteer appreciation dinner and the entire way there and back I couldn't stop thinking about all that God has divinely lined up for me in my life. I can't even begin to put my awe into words, and the two times that I've tried I've just ended up rambling and screaming (out of excitement.) It's kind of frustrating that I can't share this feeling with others, but I'm also thinking it's pretty sweet that God and I get to have this moment together.

Tomorrow, at 2:30, I have part two of my interview process with Rawhide. Oh boy. This is all happening so quickly! Probably a good thing- God knows I get ulcers.

All of this caffeine and God-excitement is making it even MORE difficult to write my paper for feminist class that I haven't really done much for the entire semester anyway. Poop.

Picture for the day:

Obviously it's not from today, it's from a Wildwood Bounce back I went to in Dec. but this ranch has shaped me so much that I feel it's appropriate.

P.S. If you're reading this (and probably unfortunately being in my head along with me) please find time for us to hang out. I'm feeling disconnected from people.

Excitement!!

Today I had my phone interview with Rawhide, step 1 of 3 of the application process. They seem to have a really good vibe about me, and even slipped up in accidentally calling me a staff, rather than a candidate (!!!!) So now that I've sent in the 14 pages of paperwork I had to fill out, (and learned how to use a fax machine in the process) I will now have a conference call with ALL of the board members for another interview. That part is a little more intimidating, but today I felt very prepared (by God's glory only) and spoke without thinking (also God's glory that I didn't destroy it.) I simply feel confident that God has prepared me so well for this position and I'm so excited to be a part of what Rawhide does.

I've always realized recently that I need to do better at being relational and staying in touch with people that are important to me. I know that my schedule is crazy but I can't be selfish....I need to be able to have the ability to balance work and friends because without my friends I don't have that fellowship to help me grow. I'm becoming rather secluded to the people I work with, which include Steve from CASA and a two year old. But how much sleep do I sacrifice? Or what else do I need to sacrifice that I'm just using to fill time that I could be using engaging with people? Something for me to ponder on for sure.

Today's picture:

The sunset that I saw driving home from CASA. After a slightly long day, I was driving home and saw this amazingness. The reality was more pink than the color shows but I had to drive all the way to the end of town onto a gravel road, but it was a great end to a day filled with joy and God's glory. I'm definitely learning that the more I open my eyes to God and the more I delve into His word the more He's exposing Himself to me- excitement just seems to be overflowing in my heart all the time!