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I know I’m late on this update, but better late than never! (Plus I have good reasons…sort of) The Sunday I missed was April 16th, otherwise known as Resurrection Sunday. It was my second Easter away from home in my short 19 years of life, but it was oh so sweet. I awoke to a beautiful morning with blue skies and fluffy clouds, so for a day whose forecast promised rain, we were off to a great start. My roommate, Brooke, and I got up earlier than usual to spend time with the Lord and then go for a run before church. I am reading through the One Year Bible and when I finished my reading for the day, I decided to read through the resurrection accounts in all of the Gospels. It was so beautiful to see again all that Jesus went through on my behalf and yours, to read of His victory over sin and death, and His glorious ascension to heaven. ...

It seems like a lifetime has passed since I wrote my last update to tell you all that I was heading to Verbania in 24 hours and yet that was only 7 d a y s ago. We had such a wonderful week with the Di Lecce family and the church that they pastor. We spent Monday traveling and getting settled in. The Di Lecce’s live in a small apartment down the street from their church building and they gave us the entire upstairs loft area of their home for the week while their own daughter slept on the couch (she was only there for two of the nights we were there, but still). The hospitality and love we were shown truly touched my heart. Never once did Antonietta expect us to help in the kitchen, and even when we offered she had very little for us to do because she simply took care of us. Donato, the pastor, and Davide and Daniele (his sons) drove us around Verbania wherever we needed to go during the week and were such a blessing. ...

There is so much to tell you! First things first; Ireland was a success! Our flights there were smooth and we didn’t have any problems. While we were there the Lord protected us and led us around every corner, especially in Dublin which is riddled with pubs (and therefore drunk people, mostly men). We didn’t have any problems with the locals or finding our way around and we were able to enjoy some authentic Irish meals. Let me just say that boxty fries are amazing and you haven’t lived until you’ve tried them. It was worth the trip to Dublin for those alone. ...

Hello my faithful friends! Today’s update is short and sweet and has to do mainly with our OUTREACH WEEK! (I’m early this week because I will be in Ireland this Sunday and won’t be able to write an update) The outreach teams are out and I am so excited to announce that I will be heading to Verbania, Italy in the first week of April with a group of four other girls. ...

Ciao once again on this fine Sunday! God has continued to lead and guide in His mysterious ways this week and there have been quite a few exciting developments that I can’t wait to share with all of you! First things first, the outreach to the Middle East. It seemed to be a wide open door, but apparently the Lord has other plans for me because the door has been pretty firmly closed. I was praying and planning until this past Tuesday evening when Savannah, my missionary friend and traveling companion to the outreach destination, broke the “bad news” to me. Her Italian visa expired this week and her renewal appointment (which is humanly impossible to expedite) is not until AFTER the week of the trip which means that she cannot leave Italy for any reason unless she doesn’t plan on coming back. This news was disappointing and exciting all at once because, obviously I was greatly looking forward to diving deeper into the Lord’s calling on my life and possibly making connections which would allow for future missions work in the region, but my joy for the trip was somewhat hampered by the fact that I would not be a part of the other student groups that were going on outreaches. Outreach week is a very special time when we come together as students and fellow laborers in Christ to seek God’s will in practical service side by side. The way things were shaping up, I would not be a part of any of that because I would be striking out on my own with only one other person and though I know that if I had gone, it would have been the best thing I could have done (because obedience to God is the best thing any of us can do), I was sorry to miss out on the fellowship and comradery which accompanies being a part of a team. Needless to say, when Savannah told me that the trip wasn’t going to happen I was somewhat relieved because I get to make the most of my time here in Italy with the students here and I know that God has a purpose in closing the door at this time. I trust Him completely to bring His will to pass and whether that means I get out onto the “mission field” now or in 10 years, I know that He has a plan for all of it. (I used quotation marks around mission field because the mission field for every Christian is wherever we find ourselves that day, not just some far off, exotic country). ...

March 12, 2017 It is hard for me to describe just how good God is, but for those of you who know Him, you have experienced that goodness firsthand and therefore understand my struggle in trying to relate it. It’s best to give you a little bit of background. I know that the Lord has called me to be a missionary; when I was in high school He captured my heart and gave me a desire to serve Him with all that I am. That desire soon grew to a desire to serve as a full time missionary and the only thing that remained to be seen was where that service would take place. When I began Bible college a year and a half ago, I wanted to serve somewhere where they spoke English, such as England or Ireland, for a few years until I got married. At that point I wanted to settle down somewhere and raise my family while my husband continued to serve the Lord by pastoring a local church or something like that. My plan for my life and for my service unto the Lord truly was shaped and fashioned around the fears that I harbored in my heart. The things I didn’t want to let go of, the dreams that I didn’t want to surrender. My hopes for my future allowed me to stay “safe”, but then God began to call me deeper. ...

“It’s in God’s hands” he said to me as he shrugged his shoulders in a carefree expression of faith. It’s in God’s hands. So easy to say, so easy to believe, so hard to live. I tell myself that I’m in God’s hands and I know that it’s true but I struggle with trying to take my life back into my own clumsy fingers. I grasp and I cling yet it all seems to slip away into the wind like sand in an hourglass, and I realize that is because I was never meant to hold it, it wasn’t made for my little hands to bear. ...

April 23, 2016 It has been a busy few months full of a wide variety of various trials, but through it God has been teaching me to rest in His presence and in His power. October 16, 2016 Fast forward 6 months and life hasn’t been following the speed limit. I am coming to the realization that life doesn’t slow down, it simply teaches you to run faster. When I got home from Italy I was plunged back into a routine of work, family, service, and friends that I had missed, but wasn’t really ready to come back to. I wanted to be in Italy. Over the course of a few weeks I readjusted to life at “home,” but the rest I experienced was far from my mind. ...

July 24, 2016 Sometimes you just sit and ponder life. Your life. Not your life as it has already occurred, but your life as it is yet to be. There are many questions, many musings, many wonderings, and a few absolutes. Today I have been sifting through questions like, will I ever get married, raise a family, and grow old? Musings as to what life will be like with another person by my side, what he will look like, what his story is, how we will meet. Wonderings that cause me to ask what our story will be like and how he could ever love me. ...

March 2, 2016 “Love is not love that alters when it alteration finds…” William Shakespeare (Sonnet 116) Chuck Smith quoted that line three times in the sermon I listened to last night. It was far from the first time I’ve heard it, (Jane Austen also quotes it in Sense and Sensibility) but it was the first time I really stopped to allow the beauty to take root in my heart. As I sat on my bed and thought about love, I was reminded of what my missions teacher, David Downs, said earlier that morning, that “love is intentionally burdened.” ...