a glimpse into last week~

-last thursday for the furnace we had the kids write down what their first impressions were of the furnace and what they think of when they think of the furnace. This was our favorite one that gave us a lot of laughs:

"a furnace reminds me of a death trap. But God saved Meshak, Reshak, and Abendago from it. Proving God can save us from anything. Even the eternal furnace, hell." HAHA Reshak! so great!

-I tried honey in my coffee and I liked it! For some reason I feel like it's a lot healthier than sugar- and for sure healthier than sweet n' low and equal and splenda!

-Risa and I found a new favorite spot in the church to steal away too this afternoon- I can't tell ya'll (the texans and georgian are wearing off on me!) where, but let's just say i felt like a little girl in the boxcar children books, or a character from Sandlot going to the secret tree house! We get a big cup full of animal crackers from the children's building, and go there and have girl talk. I LOVED IT! And i love her- what a blessing! I am so thankful for this season- when else am i going to be able to live, work, and serve with someone, let alone one of my best friends. What a blessing!

planning an event with brandon...

me: "BRANDON! can we do a hoe down?! i really want to throw a fall party for the high schoolers- line dancing, two step, hay rides, bobbing for apples, face paint...."

brandon: "that's not my ideal event, but okay alyssa...let's see how to work this."

me: "K, well, martin and ryan can do the dancing, jena can do face painting, hay rides in your truck. Maybe the O'briens can bring their horses for rides?"

brandon: "I'll catch a goat!"

me: "a goat!?"

brandon: "ya yea...it can be our mascot for the furnace. We can keep it in the youth room in a cage"

me: "how bout we give it away as a door prize!?"

brandon: "the kids wouldn't know what to do with it."

me: "True..." (i'm thinking of cleaning up after this goat- poop...smell...hmmmm...)

me: "okay, so it's going to be so fun! we can have the horse rides, and dancing..."

brandon: "we can do cardboard surfing behind the go cart"

me: "haha- what!?"

brandon: "and we can have skating behind the church- you know, harvest skating"

me: "let's save the skating for the skate park event!"

brandon "i don't think we should call it a hoe down"

me: "oh yea, i wasn't going too...a fall party? fall frenze?"

brandon: "what about a red neck theme!?"

me: "hmmm....."

brandon: "red neck night-red neck extravaganza"

me: "hmmm....fall frenze?"

brandon: "red neck"

me: "fall frenze"

leslie: "red neck hoe down"

yeah!

brandon "but red neck is more cargo theme..."

me: "hillbilly hoe down"

brandon: "but i really want to say extravaganza"

me: "hillbilly hoe down extravaganza"

done! and we're off....

This past weekend

OH MY GOODNESS! Risa introduced me to Melona Bars- only the best thing you will ever put into your mouth! They're ice cream bars, melon flavored and they're INCREDIBLE!!! Here's us in our kitchen all enjoying them :)

On our Sunset Cruise- it was beautiful and so fun to hang out with all the Rise people. However, apparently I did not get my Grandpa and Grandma's good genes (the avid fishermen in our family! Or I guess I should say, avid fisherman and fisherwoman :) I definately get sea sick...ugh. After talking for as long as possible, I went to the back of the boat and laid down- but it was so wonderful! There was another girl really sick, so we just sat there together and talked, and then Dave and Steven serenaded us with the guitar as the sun went down :) Haha I loved it- also, I thought of Jonah and the crew on the boat- how they were in the middle of that storm. How awful that would! Not only would you be so incredibly sea sick, but also fearing for your life...anyways! here's us girlies after the boat ride-see, the ginger pills and dramamine and gingerale kicked in after all!

Monday night the Atlan's took me out to sushi for my birthday- so delicious! The best was the dynamite shrimp. They are so sweet! I just love these girls, Amanda and Kayla. Kayla is such a comic relief for me! ha A month ago or so we were at youth group and I was talking to a couple of new girls when Kayla came in and dramatically grabbed my arm, and as she pulled her shirt down she said, "ALYSSA! I was getting into the car to come here and my pants ripped- right down the zipper! And I am wearing my star panties!!!" haha make my life Kayla! i love her!
Leslie made my mama's famous strawberry cake- so delicious. It was a bit different than my mama's- she made it using an old fashioned mixer- the one you have to turn to mix! Crazy girl! yum it was so good! Thanks for the ingredients mama!

Yesterday Jena and I decided to do life journaling for our devotions every day- it's a bible reading plan where you read different passages each day, eventually reading through the bible in a year- you write a verse that sticks out, observe it, apply it and pray about it. All the interns wanted to do it too- I'm so excited! I read Ezek. 38-39, Ps. 145 and Rev. 20 today- it was amazing to see how they all coorelate.

"On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, i will meditate" Ps. 145:5

Risa and I with our PACKED van for the beach baptism!

Jena and I at Big Beach

Dinner at this beautiful home at Makena Beach with the staff

Shell finding at Bigs

Beach Baptism!! LOVE THIS DAY!

Sorry I haven't written in quite some time- a lot has been going on! I'm not quite sure where to begin-so i guess i'll just give you a run down :)

-home was amazing- so restful, healing and just a delight. God poured out His gracious love on me. Highlights: praying and processing with my mama, camping trip with my pops, seeing nene and baby violet!, visiting Caitlin and Nick at the airport, cherry pie!, coffee with Danice, and panera with my sweet Olga.

-meeting the new interns! We have one new girl, Lisa who is just a doll. She's from Michigan "don't ya know" and loves people and africa. She grew up on a maple farm! (how cool is that!?) We girls just adore her- she's such a blessing. Then we have 3 new guys: Blake (children's ministry, from Texas), Martin (young adult's, from Georgia) and Ryan (junior high, Texas). YES! We have some southern boys indeed :) I love it- I love how close the guys are getting too! We girls will come over to hang out and they'll be sitting down drinking tea together- haha! I'm really excited for our group- they just all really love the Lord and are hungry to know Him more.

-the moment I landed, I hit the ground running! They threw me a party at the Cove (surfing spot) for youth group- it was so sweet. Brandon had me sit on a cooler and had the kids and leaders share encouraging words about me and then Brandon gave me a word- that his prayer for me is from Eph.6- that I will rely on the Lord this year fully and depend upon His strength. (Which was such a blessing- the exact prayer I need and exactly what i feel like God is teaching me)

-Samantha, a junior, asked me to go to coffee with her last week (of course! only my FAVORITE thing to do!!!) and she shared with me how she wanted to rededicate her life to Christ- she's so hungry for him and longs to be "pleasing in His sight"!!! Oh man, this was the coolest thing ever! How sweet it was- I felt so blessed to be able to be with her and share some scripture with her and pray with her- to hear her surrender to the Lord and long for Him. My heart was completely overjoyed. There's is nothing sweeter than being a part of God's work- what a joy and delight it is!!!

-I turned 23!!! And it was the best birthday ever! Really it was a whole birthday weekend- friday-monday! Friday night the interns threw me a surprise party (i had NO idea!) which included balloon animals, carrot cake, a princess balloon and card, and my sweet sweet friends. Saturday Risa and i went to the Marriott with our starbuck's drinks and read our bibles as we overlooked the ocean, heard the pool waterfall behind us, and birds chirping all around- ah! The sweetest morning ever. Then we had a sunset cruise that night :) I got sick, but that's okay- it was still so sweet to be there. Sunday we went over to Jake's for homemade chili and football and then over to Leslie's for my girl's birthday night! We had delicious food and I got to spend the evening some of the dearest girl's in my life- Risa, Jena, Lisa, Leslie, Amy and Jill. Amy got me my first kitchen good- a apple pie pan but it's so cute! It's martha stewart, red, and has the apple pie recipe in it- oh! words can't do it justice- it's so adorable! Then tonight, two of my high schoolers took me out to sushi with their parents- so fun!!! They go all out!

Anyways, it was just the sweetest birthday. God's love overwhelmed me and i was so humbled at His and other's love.

-I've been learning a lot and really drawing closer to the Lord. I love Him so much. My prayer for this year is that He will be my best friend and my choice Love. I long to adore Him and give Him the worship and praise that He is so worthy of.

-Also, I am so thankful to be in Maui. It really has become home to me. Hope Chapel is my family- I LOVE my family here and the church body. And I praise the Lord for that because i have been so homesick this summer, but really I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love the high schoolers, my friends and family here, Maui itself- and I LOVE what I do. It's certainly not always paradise- but I love it and know God has me here for His good purpose- He truly has given me the desire of my heart.