Back in the Saddle...

Well friends, my super long break from the blog was not intended, but I am back and ready to be in the habit of blogging again.  I could throw out a million excuses about why I ran away from blogging for a while.  Here are just a few:  my National Boards had to be renewed and turned into much more of a project than I intended, school year was coming to a close and was CRAZY, summer started and I have literally been home for maybe a week.  Oh yeah, and I went to South Africa for 10 days.

It is hard to figure out where to even start with catching up on the blog, I want to continue the book study of Made to Crave (sorry for leaving you hanging).  I want to share what has been going on in my heart and life.  I want to share tons of pictures and stories.  But it makes the most sense to start with what is most recent in my life.  My trip to South Africa.

I have been blessed to be able to spend the next week with my family at the beach to relax which will allow me some great time to begin to process all that God did with our trip to Cape Town, South Africa.  So over the next few days, my goal is to share with you the many memories, stories and pictures from my amazing trip to South Africa!

For those of you who know me well, you know that South Africa holds a very special place in my heart.  One of my very best friends, Beth, lived there for several years and I had the honor of going for two summers to volunteer in the children's home where she worked.  From the moment I stepped foot in the country, South Africa felt like home.  During my two previous trips there, I fell in love with the culture, the people, the beauty, so when the opportunity came up to serve in Cape Town this summer, I was quick to say yes.  The Lord provided in such amazing ways to allow for this trip from finances, to the team of people, to the individuals we met along the way, it was clear that the Lord intended for me to make this journey this summer!

So, on July 14th I boarded a plane, well several planes and traveled to Cape Town, South Africa!

After about a million 30 hours of travel, one stop in Senegal, one missed flight and no sleep, we arrived in Cape Town around 11:00 pm on July 15th.  We were greeted at the airport by Steve, the missionary we were serving with, and he took us to our cottage where we would be staying!  After a great night of sleep, we were ready to head to our first day of ministry!  Can't wait to share with you about our time in the township, Masi and how a bible study in a shack taught me more than I could ever imagine!

One of the great joys about going back to South Africa is that I have a few connections there.  So it was a great joy to catch up with my friend, Nicole who was on holiday in Cape Town and hear about her ministry and to see my friend, Sarah who was on the World Race who just happened to be in Cape Town as well!  God is in the details my friends!

My prayer for the entire trip was that God would just show up big and bigger than I had seen or imagined and He sure did!  I prayed this verse over and over and God was faithful.  So excited to share more with you all tomorrow!  Be blessed!