No Left Turns

"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- The Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you." John 14:16-17

I can hardly believe that I have only been here for almost three weeks. The way I have gotten to know these awesome people amazes me because I feel like I have known them my whole life, yet it has been such a short time. These past couple of weeks have been busy with my work schedule and I had my first day off last Saturday. Since it was the weekend, everyone had to work, so I enjoyed my day by relaxing by the beach right by myself. Once Kaitlin got off work, we went and rode rides! It was one of the funniest things I have ever experienced considering she is not a fan of roller coasters. Haha

(At my work haha)

(Doing laundry, which occurs at a laundry mat downtown)



(On the Giant Dipper with Kaitlin)

One of the things I really look forward to each week is MNL (Monday Night Live), and it is like our “crusade” for the project. The whole project goes to a church and we have praise and worship, games, testimony sharing, and then a message. This is a great opportunity for us to invite co-workers, and I was SO excited when my sweet friend/co-worker, Riley, wanted to come on Monday. She is such a fun girl, with a great personality, and I loved working with her and I hope I get to a lot more during these next 8 weeks!

(Riley and I at MNL)

On Wednesday the women on project were serenaded by the guys and each given a rose, it was so sweet! Then we were treated to a candlelight dinner for just the ladies! It honestly was so fun and girly, and nice to get away for girl time. I love all of these wonderful ladies and am so thankful to be serving along with them here, they are such a blessing to me!

(I love this girl)

(The North Carolina women)

 My rose :)

(Mrs. Sharon, such an incredible woman)

(I seriously love these ladies!!!)

I was so excited to have a week day off from work this week and was determined to find other people that were off the same day as me, so I could plan a trip somewhere! So I found 12 people that had Thursday off and we started planning. I decided it would be fun to go to San Francisco for the day, so we rented three cars that could transport all of us. As silly as this may sound, I really felt like a true adult being able to rent a car. haha! Anyways we had a blast and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. We were able to see the Golden Gate Bridge, ride the Lombard Road, and spend some time at Pier 39. It has been one of the best days so far, and I can’t wait to do it again soon. I laughed so much and just enjoyed being around my friends in such a neat city.

(our group at the Golden Gate Bridge)

My roommate, Samantha

(Anna, Breanna, and Ethan all rode with me to San Francisco)

We have a big event on Saturday that we are hoping to have a lot of co-workers and people we have met come to, so please pray that this opens an opportunity to share the gospel. Please also pray for me as I will be sharing my testimony at MNL this Monday, and that the Lord will speak through me! Thank you for praying for me, I have seen so faithfully many prayers being answered.

Soli Deo Gloria.

First Day of Work

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:17

I experienced my first day of work on the boardwalk yesterday. I am working in food, which is something I have never done before, but I really did enjoy it! We stayed fairly busy, which I LOVE because it makes the time go by much faster. I was positioned at a funnel cake place and it was so much fun. I was blessed with an awesome “leader” worker, Raefel, who was really interested in getting to know me and Ethan (another Crusade student). He kept saying that we Crusaders were cool, and that he enjoyed working with “our kind.” Haha Because this past week I have been around my project, I have forgotten about my accent, until yesterday. I asked a customer, “would ya’ll like whip cream on your funnel cake?” and Raefel said I like that, in confusion I said “what?” He said I like the word “ya’ll.” My southern accent sticks out a LOT, but it is a neat tool to draw people into telling them why I am here and why I love the Lord! I was also reminded how much I love to make people smile, and how fun it is to do simple things that will bring such joy to them. A simple smiley face of whip cream brought them joy and in turn made me happy. I am so excited about where I work, how I can serve people through my job, and the relationships that are already starting to build through my job. Please continue to pray for me and my team as this will be our first full week of work!

My roommates!! (Emily, Stephanie, Anna Joy, Me, Samantha, and Danielle)

Sweet Dawn :)

Kaitlin, me, Christin, and Brandon

Soli Deo Gloria.

Santa Cruz, California

“For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5

First, I am safely in Santa Cruz and LOVING it!! J Second, I am so sorry it has taken me a few days to update my blog…we have been SO busy! When we got here on Monday, we were greeted by staff and students with hugs and excitement which made me feel right at home. We spent the rest of the day meeting everyone and getting settled into our home at the Peter Pan Motel. These people are amazing, and I am overwhelmed by God’s goodness in providing me with some awesome roommates and dear friends already!

(Me, Elizabeth, Christin, and Kaitlin)

Our first true day is Santa Cruz was much different than I imagined because it was rainy and very cold (there is usually no rain here), so it was sort of a bummer. However, we spent most of the day in training, so if I had to spend the day inside it was a perfect day to! Kaitlin and I did do some exploring and it was so cool to explore this city that we would call home for the next 10 weeks.

(view of the boardwalk)

(Samantha, Danielle, and me)--two of my roommates!

Wednesday was a wonderful day! I got up early and ran with a few girls up to the cliffs, which was a breathtaking view. We spent the morning and early afternoon with our roommates, getting to know each other. THEN we got into these groups and had an awesome pirate scavenger hunt around Santa Cruz, and our group won!! Whoop whoop! Because the day was pirate themed, we ended the night watching Pirates of the Caribbean and making s'mores (which are my favorite!).

(Kaitlin, me, and Abbey)

(Kaitlin, Emilee, me, and Kaylie)

I am so thankful for incredible staff and awesome students, and I am already so blessed by these people. Thank you for continuing to pray for me!

“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare if fearlessly, as I should.” Ephesians 6: 19-20

Soli Deo Gloria.