Thinking of you, Dad

Since I am not home today and don't get to spend Father's Day with my dad, I wanted to dedicate this post to one of the people most dear to my heart.  I feel so blessed to have a father who has loved me and supported me all my life, and someone that I can go to in any situation.  To one of the smartest and most hardworking people I know....I love you Dad and am so grateful for you.  Thank you for the sacrifices you have made, the love that you have shown, and the influence you have had in my life.  I love you!

 

 

 

Also, in memory of my granddaddy today... another one of my favorite people who i love and miss so very much...

Thinking of you both on Father's Day. So thankful for my father and grandfather.  I am  also infinitely grateful for my Heavenly Father, who is the ultimate Helper, Sustainer, Provider, and Comforter, and who has allowed me to see more of Him through the earthly "fathers" He has placed in my life.  Thank you Lord.

Power of Prayer

Dear family and friends,

There is something that is heavy on my heart that I would love to share with you and invite you to be part of.  This is something that I have been thinking of all week, and something that I certainly cannot do alone.

You see, this coming Saturday we are hosting an outreach event for our friends and co-workers that we have met here in Santa Cruz.  We will be having a Barn Party Saturday evening after we get off of work, and we are so excited!  There will likely be over 100 people here (including students & staff) to enjoy BBQ, line dancing, corn hole, country music, awesome southern desserts, sweet tea, games, and the like.  Our co-workers are so excited to come to this event, and look forward to this particular opportunity every year, where the locals get to experience a little taste of the South.  I am soo pumped to see everything come together, and to invite our new friends over and to begin bonding with them more outside of work.

This is where I need your help...your prayers.  At some point during the evening, I will actually be sharing my testimony with everyone, and will have the opportunity to share the story of how God has changed my life.  During these few minutes, I will be before a crowd of over 100, and to be completely honest, I am starting to get nervous.  If you could please pray for me...that God would give me boldness, courage, and strength to share the story that He has written in my life...that He would power my words with the Holy Spirit, and that He would pull from my heart things that would resonate and speak truth to those listening...that He would hide me behind Him, and that others would not see me but that they would see Jesus and His glory.  Friends, please pray that God would calm my heart and give me peace, gentleness, and direction, and that He would guide me in presenting the Gospel in a fluid way, and that others would seek a relationship with Him and desire to know Him.  Prayer is the backbone for anything and everything, and I truly believe that the Lord hears our prayers.  I so deeply desire for others to know our Savior, and will continue to pray that God does radical things this summer in hearts and lives.  I cannot thank you enough for your prayers...they mean everything!

"And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him." ~ 1 John 5:14-15

"pray without ceasing" ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Picture perfect

I wish that a picture could capture everything...that it could convey all emotion, friendship, memory, and situation to its fullest, and that I could translate the conversations that took place along with each image.  Here are some snapshots of some my favorites from the past week and a half!

 Me and Anna in our hammocks under the Wharf (a pier with lots of shops and restaurants).  Surprisingly, people in California have never seen or heard about hammocks like these.  It was so funny to see people's reactions to us suspended there in our "cocoon-like" hammocks.  We had a lifeguard walk by us and say "I'm pretty sure that's not allowed, but I'm not going to say anything!"...and then about 30 minutes later, 2 policemen drove down the beach on 4-wheeler things (we were afraid at that point that they would surely stop and tell us to take them down) but they looked at us and said, "That is SO awesome!!" haha, I thought that I would be learning about new trends while in California, but it looks like we are setting them! ;)

 This was on my day off of work...beautiful

 Our Project director is friends with a couple who owns a winery, and they invited our group over for dinner last Friday night-- the night before we started our first day of work and met our co-workers.  We grilled out burgers, had veggies, watermelon, potato salad, chips, and baked beans.  We then finished the night with lots of prayer-- for our co-workers that we would soon be meeting, for our employers, for our interactions, and for the Lord to use us and grow us this summer.  We also praised God through worship, and saw the sun set over this amazing landscape.  This is a picture of our view that evening.

 My sweet friend, Carlee

Me and Rebecca

Another picture from the winery

These pictures do not even begin to accurately describe all that has happened in 2 weeks, and I hope to be posting more stories of interactions with people here and also many of the ways that I have seen the Lord work recently.  I could seriously write for hours.  We are insanely busy (in a good way!) so I will do my best to post as much as possible.  Love you all and so excited to share what is happening here with you.  Stay posted for more soon!! :)

The Son sets on a beautiful week...

 (the Boardwalk from a distance)

We have already been here for over a week, and time has flown!  The people I am on Project with are amazing, and I already feel so close to the group.  We have spent a lot of time bonding with each other and it is such an encouraging community.  I can't imagine how close we will all be by the end of the 10 weeks.  I love Mike and Sharon, our Project Directors (who are also the directors at NCSU).  Their love for the Lord just radiates in every area of their lives, and their marriage is such a beautiful picture of Christ's love.  They are so much fun, and have been part of the Santa Cruz Summer Project for many many years, so everything is just so organized.  This week, I have been blown away by the ways that I have seen the Lord's hand in this project.... it is amazing.  There has been a Summer Project in Santa Cruz for 20+ years, and it is beautiful to see all that God has done up until now.  Since one of the main focuses of our ministry here is building relationships with our co-workers, we all work jobs during the day on the Boardwalk, and are hired when we get here by the Boardwalk employers.  Normally on Summer Projects like this one, students trust the Lord to provide jobs when they arrive to Project, but at our particular location (Santa Cruz) we have been so blessed by what God has done over time--  Mike (our project director) has built relationships with many of the employers here over the past few decades & they love the "Crusaders" (as they call us).  Many of the Boardwalk companies reserve jobs for the Summer Project students every summer.  It is such a blessing...We all walk in to this project having a job.  That is amazing to me.

Last week during our training, our Employers went on and on about how much they loved having "Crusaders" come every year, and that they have been so impacted by the students, and many of the employers and employees have actually come to know Christ through their interactions with students on Summer Project.  Even after the employers told us these things, I was interested to see how our co-workers would view us.  I was so excited to get started and to meet the awesome locals that I would be working with for the next 9 weeks!  Here are some pictures of the "first day" of work for me and some other students on Project who also work for the same food service company I am working for :)

I have learned so much through working in food service, and it has been much more challenging than I had originally expected.  The first day of work, I was trained in a ice cream sundae-making place and mostly worked the register and made ice cream cones full of just about everything you can imagine :)  It was fun and also stressful at times-- juggling duties, remembering orders, remembering to greet and smile, give change, make the right order & obey specifications for orders without "this" or with "that".  Haha, I learned so much!  After working for a few days, I have determined that those who are good at multi-tasking make great food service employees.  It helps to have a focused mind and to be a quick learner.  It is also humbling, because you are in a new setting where the satisfaction of the customer is the priority, and it is obvious when you make mistakes or forget to do something.  I have experienced many of those moments over the past few days!

The second day of work, I worked at a burger place, and had a lot of fun.  The company that I work for switches me around every day to different food locations, so there is always a new atmosphere. I work with all different types of people, and am serving different types of food and combo meals at each place.  While it has been challenging trying to learn the specifics to each store, I have come to appreciate the change and the challenge that each day brings.  My co-workers have been really helpful, and have really been gracious in instructing me on how to do everything.

Today was especially difficult because I worked in a place that served the more "greasy" food, and there were only 2 employees working there for the whole day: myself and another girl.  The morning was great because it was slow, and I was able to ask questions and get acclimated before the lunch crowd came through.  As lunch approached, we were bombarded with tons of customers, and I was at the register taking orders and getting drinks, while the other girl was cooking the food in the back.  Although it was so incredibly busy, we were able to tackle it all together.  Everything was great until she told me that she was required to take a 15 minute break and a 30 minute break during her shift, so I would have to operate the store by myself for those periods of time.  That is when I got nervous.  I had only been there for a few hours and we were bombarded with customers.  I had no idea how I would cook all the food and take orders, all the while having no one there to answer questions or help me if I messed up, or instruct me on how to handle various situations.  I was scared to death.  I was afraid to be left alone in this situation, and how I longed for the comfort of someone to walk me through it....to not leave me alone...to show me how to operate in this craziness.  To help me through it all.

This situation relates to our lives in so many ways. While I was in the Word tonight I realized something.  In John 14:15-16, Jesus promises that when He leaves the earth, He will send the Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts as our Helper.

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you."
(John 14:16-20)

When we accept Christ into our hearts, we are born again, and the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us.  God gives us everything we need through Him.  His Spirit takes residence inside of us, and we are not alone, but are guided, comforted, and helped by He who came for us.  He is our Helper, our Guide.  Now that I have been working in food service, I have seen the reality of the comfort of a helper (a person who knows what they are doing) by my side.  It is so much more assuring and comforting having someone there with you to guide you through, to show you what to do, and to help you through mistakes and hard times.  The moment that that was gone, I realized how hopeless and helpless I felt-- I no longer had the sure and steadfast guarantee of someone who knew everything and was willing to stand by me.

While my co-worker did have to leave for that short time period today (and things were crazy), I am glad to have experienced that because I have been drawn to praise and appreciation this evening in a deeper way.  God is that guarantee in my life.  And He promises that He will never ever leave my side;  that He will walk with me, and will pave the way for me in this life.  Experiencing a relationship with Christ is not an emotion. My relationship with Him is not based off of my feelings that change every day, but rather, it is based off of His promises and His overwhelming love that He has for me and for you that never changes.  The more I realize this, and the more I learn about Him, the more in awe I am of what He did for me, and how much I don't deserve it.  He sent His only Son to take the place of my sins on the cross...all so that He could have a relationship with me...so that I could know Him and have a personal relationship with Him. Praising Him for his unfailing and steadfast love, and for the gift of knowing Him, the Creator and Savior of the universe.  He is head-over-heels for you...He's head-over-heels for me.

Have you experienced a relationship with Christ?  Have you ever fully placed your life in His hands?  Have you surrendered yourself to Him completely?

He promises a full life...one of abundance.  He knows you inside and out, and wants the best for you. More than anything, He wants you to know Him.  He has the most incredible plan for your life!

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

(John 10:10)

First few days!!

Hello hello! Ahhh SCSP (Santa Cruz Summer Project) has officially begun, and I could not be more excited and happy to be here! We all arrived on Monday, and have been settling in & getting used to our new home.  I have so many pictures already that I will post on here to try to illustrate a little of what I have been seeing and experiencing.  Let me first say that it has already been such a blessing to even get to this point, and I am so thankful for the support, prayers, and people that have helped me to get here!

I got one hour of sleep the night before leaving for Project (bad idea...haha) but my excitement helped sustain me through the day and across time zones!  This picture was taken in the airport around 5:45am before I left...sooo sleepy.

 My friend Carlee (see previous blog post) accompanied me on my flight (above picture), along with my friend Anna (below) from State!  We could not wait to get to SCSP.

We arrived in the early afternoon... and then we went on an adventure and checked out the Boardwalk, where we will be working! 

The beach beside the Boardwalk

 The Boardwalk from a distance

 One of my favorite pictures...beautiful!

There are a lot of surfers around this area

DAY 2 :)

 My view on my way to dinner...we walked downtown and ate mexican food (yum!)
such a pretty view, oh my goodness.

These are my roommates! From the left:  Charlie, Melinda, Brooke (Staff member), me, Delana, and Michelle.  In the middle is Brooke, our Action Group leader, who is a CRU staff member at UNC-Charlotte.  Yesterday was her birthday!  We celebrated by going out to dinner, and then surprising her later by delivering a card and some gummy bears to her doorstep and then singing to her.  She was so surprised :)

The first day we settled in, met everyone, had an AMAZING dinner together and made trips to Ross and other places to gather forgotten items (i picked up a pillow & cheap comforter).  We all slept hard that night after traveling!  It has been so awesome getting to know the people that I have seen on the SCSP Facebook group for the past 4 months!  It is only the 3rd day and God is doing some amazing things.  On Tuesday (yesterday) we spent most of the day in "orientation", talking about the Project as a whole, and some of the details that we will need to know for the summer.  We also spent time together with our roommates, or "Action Group", and had some praise and worship with the full group.  This morning (wednesday), our action group got together and did something called "Soul to Soul".  We spent 5 hours learning about each other, and taking turns sharing our life stories-- the hard times, pivotal times, learning experiences, and times where we have felt the Lord's hand in our lives.  It was seriously one of the most beautiful times... my roommates are such beautiful women, and I am so thankful for their openness and their willingness to share their trials and joys with us, as we just met.  We have already bonded so much, and I cannot imagine what our relationships at the end of the summer will look like.  This kind of community is so vibrant, and I am so looking forward to the ways that the Lord will change us, mold us, and work in us this summer.  

Another blessing that I forgot to mention-- I went to a local grocery store yesterday to pick up some breakfast items with some of the girls on Project.  I am so used to having coupons to shop with (I have learned from my awesome mom :)) but I did not have any with me here, so I knew that I probably wouldn't get any of the deals or price cuts that I am accustomed to.  Haha i was disappointed, because I saw all of the deals featured around the store that the "VIP" customers could get if they had a card, but I didn't have one obviously because I'm not from here.  So I get up to the checkout line, and the lady asks me if I had a card, and I said no.  She asked if I was from around here, and I told her I wasn't, and she proceeded to ask where I was from.  I told her "North Carolina" and her face lit up.  She said, "My sister lives there!" We chatted for a minute, and she said, "Ya know what, I'm going to give you my sister's discount that she would normally get."  Wow.  I was so excited.  It's completely different when you do grocery shopping on your own :)  any bit of money you save is glorious.  I definitely saw a little bit of the Lord in that moment.

I cannot wait to tell you more about this week!  We are all still learning and getting used to being here, but everyone is having a great time and we have all started to get close.  I will be sure to keep you updated!  

Prayer requests:

My friend from back home has a brother named Josh Rominger that is having a major surgery today.  Please pray for him, as he is battling cancer and has had multiple surgeries over the past few months.  His family is so dear to me.  Also, please pray for our team of 58 students and 20 staff members.  We will be starting our jobs this weekend and also meeting our co-workers!  Please pray for hearts to be opened and relationships to be formed.  We are so excited!  Thank you so much for your prayers and for your involvement in all that is going on here.  

PS- the weather has been wonderful-- warm and breezy during the days and chilly at night.  Love it!

Love,

Molly :)

Blessings along the way

Over the past year, I have seen evidence of God's hand paving the way for Summer Project in so many ways.  It is amazing to see how sovereign the Lord is in providing for us, even in the most minute details. Through this experience, I have grown so much as I see the how He has taken care of me... I look through my journal and reflect over the tiny ways that He has confirmed everything leading up to Santa Cruz, and I just marvel at His timing, gifts, and blessings that all seem to just say "this is where you are supposed to be."  I think this experience that I'm about to tell you may be one of my favorites.

In the middle of March, I received a Facebook message from a girl named Carlee that I did not know.  She had seen my name on the "Santa Cruz Summer Project 2012" group page online and she messaged me, explaining that she had also been accepted to the Project, and said that she had noticed something on my profile and was wondering where I was from.  From her profile, I saw that she was a student at UNC-Charlotte, and we had no mutual friends in common.  She went on to explain that her family had just moved to NC from out of state, and based off of what she had seen on my profile, she thought that we now lived in the same county!  I replied, telling her about the area where I lived, and after a few messages, we realized that our houses were only 2 miles from each other!  What a God thing. Of all places, she moved here, and of all things to be doing this summer, she's going on Santa Cruz Summer Project! 

Her family's recent move to North Carolina brought them to our small town.  God has blessed us abundantly through His divine placement. And...to make things even more awesome, without even arranging it, our moms discovered each other through a mutual friend!  Needless to say, this has been the start of some beautiful friendships.  Over Easter, Carlee and I were able to meet up in person for the first time at Starbucks, and 2 hours later, we had a hard time leaving the conversation and the friendship that we had begun to build :)  Through this, the Lord has also provided my mom with a friend (Carlee's mom) to meet up with, relate to, and grow with over the summer while I am away.  Carlee and I were talking about it tonight, and she mentioned that the Lord had completely answered a prayer that she didn't even know she prayed.  Now that is the kind of God that we serve...amazing.  Tonight, the 4 of us met up for a "Pre-Santa Cruz" dinner, where our moms were officially able to meet, and we all chatted for just under 3 hours :)  So thankful for the blessing of new friendships, and for the God who knows our hearts.  Feeling so very blessed.

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always."

~Psalm 105:1-4

Start of Summer!

Exams are over, and it is official.... that I am halfway through with college.  This reality is so sad to me, but I cannot help but rejoice in the many blessings in my life over these past 2 years.  My experiences in college have brought me so much joy, and I am so thankful that the Lord placed me at NC State and surrounded me with so many amazing people, so many incredible experiences, and so much love.  I have been home for about a week, and am just now beginning to catch up on everything.  I am still in the midst of unpacking all that I have brought home from college, and am now just trying to figure out where I can put all of the stuff! :) At the same time, I am also getting ready for my summer in Santa Cruz (super excited!), and working on packing and preparing everything before I leave in 2 weeks :)  Needless to say, I have lots to keep me busy, but sooo very much to be thankful for!  I cannot help but reflect on all that has happened during this beautiful year, and especially most recently.

I want to extend a HUGE "thank you" to everyone that has supported me, prayed for the Santa Cruz Summer Project, and for all of the encouragement that you have sent my way over the past 2 months.  You should be receiving a note from me in the mail very soon, if you haven't already! :) The Lord has truly blessed me through your sweet notes, conversations, and prayers, and I just stand in awe of Him as I look upon the letters you have sent and witness your responses of support.  I am so deeply grateful for your generosity and for helping to make this trip possible!!  I know that the Lord has so much in store for our hearts this summer, and I cannot wait to see how He will change lives and draw others to Him.  Your involvement in this mission is such a blessing to me, and you each hold such a special place in my heart.  I love how the Lord has brought us together through this experience to unite under one purpose-- to spread the Gospel and the love of Jesus Christ to the world.  It is my prayer that God would use every ounce of what He has blessed us with and every gift that He has placed within us to bring Him glory! Thank you so much for taking time to read this blog and for your prayers and support!  Please continue to pray that God would prepare the hearts of our co-workers, and also prepare our team of 60 students-- that we would lean on Him, and that He would use us as vessels of His love!

More updates to come! :)

Love,
Molly