3 time zones in 1 week = welcome to missionary life

Paris: the "City of Lights"

Just one week ago I was in France, and last Saturday night I was sitting on a park bench in Paris with a nice view of the Eiffel Tower. I had just spent the week leading my first short-term mission trip with OM - 3 teenagers, 3 parents, one teacher and I met up with 40 others from all over the world to share the message of Jesus. We worked in the cities of Nantes and Saint Malo (both on the western side of France) for 9 days; it was a privilege for me to lead our group there and watch God work in and through us during the trip! God just continues to blow my mind by showing me new things about Himself and teaching me to depend on Him more and more. It's hard at times, yet humbling to realize that God cares so much about me that He wants to continually refine me in new ways. I want to become more like Jesus... What a joy it is to serve Him.

I left France one week ago and returned to my current home, Atlanta, where I basically slept for 3 days straight! I needed it after a long week of outreach, and I'm grateful for those 3 good days of rest right after the trip. Apart from sleeping I also spent part of those 3 days unpacking, doing laundry, and then re-packing - this time, for Seattle. Denise (fearless leader of OM USA High School Ministries) and I (her sidekick) flew to Seattle on Thursday morning, and we'll be here until tomorrow. We're taking the weekend as our High School Ministries Retreat, to evaluate the past year and look forward to 2007. We've been talking, planning, praying, and having fun along the way. :-) We're so thankful that God has given us this time to get away and seek Him for the year to come.

Yesterday we went out to Bainbridge Island to spend the day with some friends of Denise's. We had an awesome time just hanging out with them, and I also had a new experience: the family's 12-year-old son and I fixed the plumbing in their bathroom sink! You just never know what you're going to get when you join OM! After that adventure, a few of us wandered around the shops in the quaint little town of Poulsbo and even caught part of the gorgeous sunset. God is so beautiful...
That's all my posting for now... I'll try to do this more often though - just yesterday I was reminded that it has been a month since my last post. Oops! I'll work on that. Have a great weekend, everyone.