where's waldo? (for my momma)

this is where i live.
and these are the people i live with.

100 points to the person who finds me first!

it's been a while.

i recently realized how long it has been since i posted something worthwhile on here. the past two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of emotions, learning, busyness, and God.

we had the privilege of hearing David Gava for not one, but two weeks. he spoke on the holy spirit and spiritual warfare. i have learned so much! it's absolutely incredible how when you open your heart to God how much he will continue to pour out his love and wisdom on you. all you need is willing heart, and God is guaranteed to show up in mighty ways.

the past two weeks have been a week of firsts for me. the Holy Spirit has been moving in such a mighty way. i've never experienced anything like it. we've been worshipping everyday as a community -- not just the dts, but all the base staff as well. the leadership felt that God was leading them into a season of worship because He had some new things to reveal to them through that. boy, did he reveal himself. i've been in worship where i've gotten caught up in all the hooplah, and that it NOT how this worship has been. there was more than one day where i did not feel like being there, and i didn't feel like God was there. however, when you show up and worship with all your heart regardless of what you 'feel' and regardless of what else is going on, God will show up. in the end, does it really matter though? God is always God -- and he is always good -- and he always deserves to be praised. He deserves to be praised in the good times as well as the bad. (and that's what we'll be doing in Heaven, so get ready!)

let's just start with tuesday november 15th. my heart was heavy, very heavy. i started crying during worship and i felt like i needed to pray for my family. after david spoke, i went to my room to just pray. i also felt like i was supposed to be fasting for an unrelated issue. there was just so much going on. luckily, my one-on-one got me a meeting with David for me to baptized int he Holy Spirit. (please don't get hung up on this, it was my choice and NOBODY told me i needed to, just to clarify.) i called my parents to make sure everything was ok, and it was... so i went to work duty and then met with David. in the meeting david prayed for me... and gave me a prophetic word. it was so encouraging and uplifting, i'm not going to type it all out, but i wrote it in my journal. one big thing was just about giving up my control and to quit trying to control my life. if i give up control, Jesus will continue to pour out His wisdom and understanding in me. when i told him i was southern baptist, he was SO EXCITED. he loves that the baptists are so grounded in the word and know the word of God so well. I know you all will love that!! :)

so the next week and a half went up from there. giving control to God and praying, seeking, and thirsting for more. this week also revealed to me a new mentor. she is one of the elders on the base and her name is lucy. she is a woman full of God's wisdom and discernment. she also gave me a word, on wednesday, along the same lines as david's, but more focused on thirsting for God, truly needing him, and finding my identity in him and not in the world.

...and now my brain is mush from trying to think about and process this more.
so there will be more soon. tomorrow.
for now i will leave you with this wonderful picture of me and a few of the roomies.



i cherish you all.
be blessed.

german peanut butter...

...is apparently american?!

a flag AND lady liberty... dream big.


*this week has been so emotional, i am not capable of writing a blog post. what's my way of remedying that? a funny post about nothing important at all.

love and miss you all.
happy friday.

i'm famous!

no. but really....

one of the guys here did a moving portrait project for critique night staring yours truly and seven other people.

check it out:

i swear i do more than skype and take pictures... i swear.

i have been so blessed by the speakers we've had throughout this DTS. i have learned so much and God has definitely changed my heart. so, as promised, here's a few thoughts:

- ebenezer and jehovah girah (spelling) they mean, God has provided and and God will provide. our speaker, Tim Heathco spoke on both of these names during a workshop. with ebenezer he encouraged us to commemorate the things that God has done and the revelations he's given us by something special, like a painting, song, picture, tattoo, etc. jehovah girah is a name to remind us of what he has already done as encouragement for what he will do. it was very interesting.

- conversion vs. discipleship. Tim also spoke on how important it is for us to disciple people. to live among them, meet them at their place in life and show them God's love through actions as opposed to 'turn or burn.' along the same lines, he challenged us with the term 'developing nations'. what is a developing nation to you? most likely, the most economically developed nations are what you're thinking about. what does God view as a developing nation? it probably has nothing to do with money, but the work it is doing for the Kingdom.

- the leader of the base, Jan Schlegal, spoke for a few days two weeks ago. he spoke on passion and the passion we have for our art and through our art for God. looking back on the past 8 weeks, i don't have much art to show for it. i was somewhat discouraged throughout his talks because it made me realize how lukewarm i am. i love photography, but i'm not really passionate about it... so what am i passionate about? i have no clue. this is nothing new for me, i feel like i've struggled with my identity and what i love since i graduated high school. it's discouraging because discovering my passions was one HUGE reason why i decided to do a DTS. this morning God gave me a revelation about that... He brought me here to work on my heart, not my art. You know what? i am so okay with that. i have learned so much about myself, and my heart, i know that the rest will come. i do love photography, but i think it's more of a hobby thing for me, not a professional thing. it is a wonderful outreach tool and it's wonderful to be able to record my story in a creative way, but i need to focus on Him and have a heart for Him before i can be passionate about anything else.

...and that's all you're getting today.

i've been getting so much mail, praise Jesus! i love mail so much. thanks to all of you who have been sending me pictures, encouragements, etc.

skype dates, halloween, and a short update.

i got to talk to granny...

...and joe. mom put him on speaker phone and we chatted for a few minutes...

mom had whataburger! someone send me whataburger NOW!

me and a roomie dressed up as kiss for a zombie party that we had on base.

there has been so much going on around here. i have been super busy and super lazy all at the same time. even though i don't stay up late, or do a lot in the evenings, sitting in lecture and going to meetings all day leaves me really tired mentally.

i have my outreach group so i've also been meeting with them. i can't write anything about that on here, but you are more than welcome to email and i can tell you a bit more, or talk to my parents. i'm very excited about my outreach group - i know God has so much in store for us and has a wonderful plan.

we've had two or three great speakers since i've written on here and i so wish i could write everything that i've been learning. THERE'S JUST SO MUCH!! i'm working on processing right now and i will update as i have time to write all the thoughts down.

i've been getting so much mail, praise Jesus! i love mail so much. thanks to all of you who have been sending me pictures, encouragements, etc.

i know i haven't been keeping in touch with everyone, and for that i sincerely apologize. 

i love you all.

I never knew...

...what fall looked like, until I moved to Germany.

"you make beautiful things. you make beautiful things out of love."