Quickly Approaching

As a college student, summer time is a break, a 4 month prize for 9 months of hard work, but this summer has been different. My life has speed up with things including summer school, work, babysitting, fundraising, lunch dates etc. While all these things are wonderful, they have kept be busy. So busy in fact that my second trip to Fundaninos has snuck up on me. I have not had time to really sit back and think about this trip, but with our departure date only 4 days away, all the emotions come flooding in. My heart swells when I think about the little smiling faces running up to us as soon as we step of the van. One thing that really hit me the first time I went was the power of redemption. Every child has a rough past, but they also have so much joy. They have so little, yet share everything. As orphans they have been provided a family through the staff at Fundaninos and have been adopted into God’s kingdom. They are His and He is their Father. This is why I return, to share in the love and joy that Jesus has brought these people. To be an ambassador of the Gospel simply by loving on some kids.

The Joy of Camp Life

This past week I took some of my high school friends to YoungLife camp and as the tagline goes, “it was the best week of my life.” From the pool to the zip line to the ropes course to the dancing and singing, it was an amazing week. However, all those things are not what made this week so great. Every moment at that camp, the love of Christ was being displayed in some form or fashion; that is why camp is so incredible.


Looking back, I feel that there are so many thoughts that I cannot put them all into words. Serving alongside some great people and watching my girls process different characteristics of God make the whole week worth it. Being away from the stress and distractions of home allowed me to revel in the joy that the Lord provides. For the joy of the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus died on a cross. Wow, I truly believe that must be some intense joy if He was willing to endure death for it. And while at camp, I was able to catch just a glimpse of what that joy is like. A joy that is so powerful you would give everything up just to attain it and once you have it, nothing else matters. His joy is enough to captivate you for the rest of your life. With that said, I want to leave you with two quotes that came from my devotion that week.


“Just give me Your love and Your grace and that’s enough.” –St. Ignatius

“The mystery of ministry is that we have been chosen to make our own limited and conditional love the gateway for the unlimited and unconditional love of God.” –Henri Nouwen