Camp 2012

I went to WyldLife camp for the first time ever. It was the same week as my high school week of camp that I usually go to, but it was great to have a new experience with awesome people!

We went banana boating:

 8th grade girls:

 These are three of the girls in my cabin. Absolutely LOVE them... and this picture pretty much describes each of us perfectly.

 The boys:

 Group picture:

One month

Four weeks ago I was boarding a plane with people I did not know. I still remember that awkward feeling I had of traveling with people I did not know well. Meeting in the parking lot sooooooooooo early that morning. I still can't believe my trip to Haiti has come and gone. Almost like a weeklong dream. I remember waking up in Haiti (or even the nights when we went out to the school area to stargaze) thinking "IS THIS REAL LIFE"? I just do not know how a place so beautiful can see so much devastation and poverty. One time during the sunrise, Lacey pointed out that what we saw and heard (mountains, sunrise, and all the noises from the animals) were probably what the Garden was like.

I have had the opportunity to share with several people about Haiti. It helps to go through pictures with people. God is doing great things down there.

financial freedom

I am 27 years old and I AM DEBT FREE!

While talking to my roommate early last week about life and the readjustment to culture in America after returning from Haiti, I told her what I really wanted was to be debt free... then I said I could empty most of my savings account to do that right now...

And then I realized it was a reality.

My savings has not been this low since high school.

But I am completely DEBT FREE.

May 31, 2012 I made my final loan payment.

Yep. That is quite the payment and significantly larger than any amount I have ever paid.

Today I got the confirmation email that they received my payment. So I logged in just to make sure my balance really was $0.

YEA!!!

Special thanks to GOD for providing me with a variety of jobs these past five years.

Thanks to all the jobs who provided me the money to pay off this sucker.

Said jobs would include: KGBC, Walmart, Joann's, GFS, Sunset Shores, First Church of God, Storyline, WyldLife, Macomb Christian, substitute teaching and little odd jobs for people I am sure. (Yes, I realize that's a lot of jobs in the past five years, but each experience has helped me in some way figure out more about myself. I am thankful for each opportunity.)

Encouragement for people still in the battle with loans:

• Pay as much as you can. Thanks to Sarah V, my co-worker at Joann's, who was talking to a few of us one day about making payments on her car every time she got paid. Don't neglect needs but also don't be stupid with "extra" money that comes your way.
• Learn to say NO to yourself. My guilty pleasure is not clothes... it's books. Or travel. I look forward to taking a trip now that I can save up money for it. Dr. Rob Ford taught me in personal financial management class that saying no now (and having self-control) means saying YES later.
• Live within your means. I always laugh when my mom says that ministers do not make a lot of money. It CAN be true, but in my case, I was able to pay off my loan. I made ENOUGH money to live on and now I have even more freedom to choose jobs based on things other than money. I am blessed.
• BUDGET. Seriously. Do it and stick to it.

THANK YOU, DEAR JESUS.
IT IS FINISHED!

Haiti... meet Shalando and Mawoule

While I do not think I can ever truly put into words how much this trip to Haiti has meant to me, I am so thankful that I have pictures to remember moments throughout the trip.

Meet Shalando. I remember seeing him standing next to the fooseball table by himself. So, I asked him to play. Eventually, we sought each other out so that we could battle over fooseball. It was so awesome because during our first game (which turned into the best out of 5 games), he started singing Jesus Loves Me. So we sang worship songs while playing fooseball. He is 10 years old and simply awesome!

Meet Mawoule. She is simply precious. She is 12-years-old (have you noticed that even in Haiti I'm drawn to those who are in the middle school age group?!). The day before this picture was taken, our entire team went on a hike down to a waterfall. I am not much of a hiker and my asthma was acting up during that hike, so on Tuesday when they wanted to go to another waterfall, I chose to stay at the house. I wanted to read but ended up searching out water to take a shower. Mawoule saw that I wanted to wash my hair, filled a bucket with water, and proceeded to help me wash my hair. She was the perfect example of a servant, reminding me of John 13 when Jesus washed the disciples' feet. I am just sad that the next day I had to say goodbye. What a sweet heart she is.

 

While at House of Blessings Orphanage, we did work on the school. Sam (pictured with me below) was a great teammate. We learned rather quickly that we did well working together and basically did these two bathrooms while the rest of the team worked together on the other rooms. Our combination of perfectionism usually meant we wanted to measure the sheetrock right on the first try. I am glad I got to know him better.

I have more pictures and stories to share, but here are some reminders that I brought home with me.

The first is a bottle to add to my collection.

The bottle I kept was a fruit champagne bottle on the far right. Fruit Champagne is the Haitian cola. It's basically all sugar and I only drank half a bottle the entire time I was there. It was so super sweet! I also have two rocks from the orphanage.

It is so fitting that I found this banana bark artwork at the Baptist Mission the day our group went out to shop/barter with people. I shared several times with my team about my attitude with investing where I am at RIGHT NOW. Matthew 25 and the Parable of the Talents continues to convict me. This is the perfect piece of art for me.