Catching up...

This past week:

paddleboarding- L-O-V-E it!

sunbathing in the wind! haha covered in sand- and burned

Beach baptism!

laughing hysterically with the interns

sweet conversations with shanny and my mama

surprise packages!

Lahaina

running by the chickens and peacocks

first small groups

seeing God answer prayer with discipleship and fellowship

Sorry I haven't been keeping up! This weekend was pretty packed with events! We had our first beach baptism, and we interns were in charge of setting up, organizing, and tearing down. But it was so worth it to see believers publicly show their committment and love for our victorious Savior! Risa and Christy, two of the interns, got baptized too, and emily one of the high school girls who has had a hard background and family life. I'm so excited to see her grow this year and hopefully to get to know her more on a deeper level.

Last night we had our first small group meeting for high schoolers. It was just an intro to see who was interested and to talk about why we do small groups. Growing up we didn't have small groups in youth group, but after talking with Brandon, I totally see why we do them and the importance of them. You get to meet once a week and talk through a study and share what GOd's been doing in your life, what struggles you have, and to pray with one another. Community...GOd's really been showing me lately how important that is- to have accountability and vulnerability with believers! I was so encouraged by the girls who showed up last night- what sweethearts! I wish you could meet all of them- they are so welcoming and open and excited for discipleship and to hang out. One of the girls, MacKenzie- what a doll- invited me to her birthday campout this weekend :) I'm just continually amazed at God's sweet gifts- how open these girls are. So many come from broken homes or just hard family lives...I was encouraged this morning by a friend to pour out unconditional love on them. They are so hungry for it- so please pray that I would be faithful to shower them with God's abudant love. I think I will have the freshman/sophmore small group! Unless if we can get another girl leader- then i may have a different group...but i'm so excited! Brandon mentioned last night that he was stoked about the kids that showed up last night too- a lot of them are new believers, so the fact that they are hungry for discipleship is awesome! GOD YOU'RE AWESOME!

Sending you all much love~