Veselé Vánoce!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope that you all had a wonderful day celebrating the most wonderful birthday of all time!

Here is what I’ve been up to…
My best friends bridal shower was on Saturday.

Last night I went to Christmas Eve service & did the advent candle with my parents. And today, of course, was Christmas.

This time next week I will be in Atlanta at Passion.
 26 days until my best friend walks down the aisle.

And last, but certainly not least…

Exactly 5 weeks until I leave for the Czech Republic! 

Me busy? Nahh!

God is so amazing in the ways that He provides for me. Friday I received a letter and a check that made me cry. A woman that I grew up knowing as an “Aunt” passed away several years ago. When she did, people gave money in her memory, and it was put into a special fund for mission trips. This woman was such a blessing when I was a child (used to take my brother and I out to museums and lunch), and still is to this day even though she is no longer here on earth. Thank you Aunt Ruth for your wonderful example in my life as a child and for being apart of this huge step in my life. I miss you and can’t wait to see you again some day! 

As for how I am doing on raising the funds I need to go on my trip, I am sooo close! The fundraiser was such a success! I am just a few hundred dollars away from my goal. YAY! Thank you Jesus for all of the wonderful, supportive people you have put in my life!

I feel as though if I were any happier that I might explode! With only 5 weeks left until I leave, I am continually in shock over how fast the time has flown by! But I am so excited to see what God has planned for my life in the new year!

Anyways, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!


:)

The Wonderful Whirlwind

With only about 60 days left until I leave I must say that the past month has been a total whirlwind, and I am sure December and January will be the same! I am overwhelmed with the amount of love and support I have received from everyone. Slowly but surely I am raising the funds I need to make this happen. I still have a ways to go, but I am trusting that God will provide everything that I need. Yes, I have my control freak moments, but I have amazing people around me that are always there to remind me that I am not in control.. God is. Another fun little bit of news... I've connected with a facebook group for the trip and have gotten to chat with a girl just a few years older than me that lives in Australia! I am super excited about all the new people I am going to get to meet!

I spent last week surrounded by my amazing family up in NJ (and PA), and spent a couple of wonderful days in my favorite place... New York City! I was also able to visit Hillsong Church, which was incredible! Coming home from being gone for a week was a bit insane, but I am back on my feet and in full swing of working on emails, letters, flyers, tickets and many other things to make this fundraiser a success. This week and next are also my finals weeks, so please be praying for me! My fundraiser falls smack in the middle of all of my final exams and papers. I think God has given me some extra brain space the past few weeks, because I don't know how else I could be remembering all that I am! Haha and thank goodness for calendars and phone reminders! :)
Speaking of school, I must say that it is an incredibly weird feeling to not be signing up for Spring semester with all of my friends... But I am sooo excited for where I will be!

That being said, there is not much to update besides the constant busyness and "go! go! go!" chant in my head! I am a human pinball at the moment, but that is okay because in the end it will be worth every chaotic moment and overwhelming day spent preparing for this trip! I must say an huge thank you to Iley because without him the "concert" portion of my fundraiser would probably have fallen apart! So thank you for jumping in and saving it!

And to close... a verse I read today.
"Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4-5
This is my prayer for everything that lies before me.

:)