Silence.

The Virginia Team.

It's strange. To wake up in this house and not hear a sound. Normally there is someone laughing, talking or playing guitar. This week it's been almost empty, only three of us sharing a huge place.

To be honest, at first I didn't like it. I'm one of those people that wants to be around others all the time. But now the silence is becoming more serene. There is space to think, to read and daydream without someone disturbing your peace and quiet. It's good for me.

I've been reading a book called "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. Some people love it, some people don't. What I love is that he is real. He's not full of "high faluting mumbo jumbo" but simply brings down to earth ideas to the table. In one of the chapters he was talking about how man was not made to be alone, how necessary it is for us to be in community. After being almost alone for 5 days now, I completely see that we were not made to tuck ourselves away in a little hidey-hole for days at a time. We were created to live with one another, share with one another, laugh with each other and enjoy each other.

He also talks about self-addiction being one of the worst addictions of all. That we can become so consumed with our wants and desires. Life becomes about us, everyone else is simply a minor role in our movie. I am the movie star. Living in community helps us break free from that. Donald Miller's ponderings may sound so simple, I think they are but yet it is wonderful to read over them and be brought back down to earth. Sometimes I think the simple things in life are the greatest things in life.

Last week we finished our last Mission Adventures week! We had 20 youth sleeping in the triple bunks, Front Porch kids over each day to learn songs and dances with the team, sessions in the evenings consisting of worship, talks and prayer, endless games of Mao (a card game) and work projects out in the sun. I was helping in the kitchen a lot of the time, so I didn't share in a lot of those moments but hearing the stories when people returned to the house was exciting, their faces were glowing with their accomplishment and their love for the people around them.

I think I can honestly say this was a week of transformation for this youth group. They began to get a deeper understanding of who they were created to be and how God longs for them to run into His arms.

This base is in a new season of time and I'm ecstatic about it. We have 12 students accepted for our school with more applying, please pray that God will prepare their hearts for coming here.

Exciting for me...I got to play tennis the other day! :) My friend Seth loves to play so we went. We didn't play for too long as it was 102 degrees outside but it was fun all the same. Later on we played croquet on our lawn and set the volleyball net up. Yay for sunshine, friends and sports.

This whole week has been a vacation for me which I've enjoyed, sleeping in late, practicing guitar and having Jesus time. It's lovely to sit at the feet of Jesus and talk with Him. I always come away feeling refreshed, more passionate and so much more in love with Him. I also realise that I need to be doing it far more than I do.

Please can you pray that I will continue to hear the Lord on the direction of my path, for patience and that the humidity will go down just a little? Thanks.