Finishing Strong and Final Reflections

Sorry about not updating for the past few weeks. Our final trip we were time-pressed and tired, so I didn't have much of a chance for blogging.

Quick amusing story about our final backpacking trip:
Our second day we were hiking in a spot where it was pretty much straight steep on both sides up and down, so not really a good chance for an escape route. As we were walking, I heard a rumbling sounds, like rocks falling. I looked up and at first thought a bear was running down the mountain to attack us. It actually turned out to be a cow BARREL ROLLING down the mountain, with its legs straight out. And it rolled for a long time.. I would have had enough time to get out my camera and video it if I hadn't been so shocked. Then he landed on the path stunned for a second and just walked right back up the mountain. I felt bad for him, but it was seriously one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life.

Our final week we had a good amount of worksite stuff to finish up, so we made a big checklist and put it on the wall in order to motivate ourselves to finish strong. I honestly was having doubts that we would finish it all, but through a lot of hard work, enthusiasm, and prayer we made it.

It was pretty hard to say goodbye to Montana. There were so many little kids at VBS that I had fallen in love with, and knowing that we were just leaving them here in their rough home situations was really rough on me. It was sad to leave a place that was my "home" for 6 weeks.

It was even harder to say goodbye when I left Chicago. I had to leave Steven, Beth and Abby, who I had become so close with while we all worked together. They motivated me to push myself and encouraged me in the rough moments. We shared so many good times and several harder times, and worked through everything together: worksites, backpacking, buying food weekly, car breakdowns, trials, memorizing Scripture. I also had to leave several of the other interns who I became close with through intern training and staff members at LeaderTreks whom I really admire. It was a hard plane ride home.

And then a week after I got home, I left once again to move back to Baylor. It's been hard transitioning back to the "real" world. I had such an amazing time this summer. I have never felt as invested in as I did this summer. I have never lived so intentionally. I was renewed spiritually. I learned what it looks like to sacrifice for Christ. But honestly it's been hard sacrificing myself back home with all the comforts and distractions. So I'm just going to have to constantly remind myself what God did IN and THROUGH me this summer, and I'll start by sharing the most important things I learned this summer:

- God is really really really really really really HUGE! And I can't understand that. I went through some doubting and some rough patches this summer because this fact really scared me for awhile. But now it's cool to think that He who rules the world is the only one big enough to take care of everything. And, I encourage you to listen to Louie Giglio's talk, "Indescribable." It rocked my world this summer.
- Being a disciple of Christ is HARD. It takes sacrifice and it's not always fun. Read about the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10:17-31 or about Counting the Cost in Luke 14:25-35. But it's oh-so-worth it. God wants us to experience life, and life to the full.. and being his disciple is the way to do that.
- Community is so important! They hold you accountable, provide encouragement and support, help you discern where the Spirit's leading, and it's just plain fun to have that solid group of people.
- Memorizing Scripture is life-changing. Romans 12:2 talks about being transformed by the renewing of our minds, and that renewal happens by soaking our hearts and minds in the Word. Scripture is living and breathing and constantly can guide us. As I memorized Scripture this summer, I saw my attitude and mindset improve dramatically. It really helps you to become more and more like Christ.
- Living life with a purpose, mission, and intentionality is so much cooler than just floating along aimlessly. When you set goals, you can achieve your dreams and can do really HUGE things for God when you're living with a mission mindset.

This summer was more impactful and life-changing than I could ever possibly describe. Thanks for following my journey and providing a lot of encouragement and support. If you want to hear more specifics about what I did this summer, let me know and we can get together and chat.