a handful of rest

funny how fast a semester can go by and i haven't posted anything else. whoops. well, now i will have little more time to get some different things done since the semester is winding to a fast close. tonight is my last bible study with my sophomores, thursday is my last study with my freshmen and the last primetime. i already had my last day in whitewater and my last staff meeting with my amazing staff team. weird.

it has been an interesting semester and i've experienced a lot of things that i never expected. it has been a rollercoaster ride in my walk with the Lord, but it has been a good learning period as i've dealt with ministry struggles and my mom being diagnosed with breast cancer. one of the passages that i have been meditating on is psalm 103:

¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

² Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

³ who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

⁶ The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

⁹ He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

¹² as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;

¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-

¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹ The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.

²¹ Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.

²² Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.

i love the emotion and the examples that are described in here, but more than that i love the reminders of God's character. that above all, he is still good and he is still worth it. i've needed to be reminded of that this semester.

i'm sure i will write more soon, but i'm going to go attempt to run since i plan on running the race for the cure at the end of the month despite my severe dislike of running. it is also an absolutely gorgeous day, so as much as i want to share my life with you, the sunshine and tulips are calling my name today.

here are a few pictures from this semester:

these were my roommates at big break for the first week i was there. kristyn is a student whose mom was also diagnosed with breast cancer about the same time as my mom. shanti is one of our student leaders who will be leading my sophomore girls next year! stephanie is one of my good friends and anna's roommate. then there is me. anna is one of my good friends and another intern with crusade. holly is my roommate who decided to tag along for the week!

these are two of the senior girls that i discipled this year. katelynn is next to me and she has been student teaching this year, so it has been fun to walk through that with her and relive my student teaching experience. lindsey is a woman who i was able to disciple last year too and it has been amazing to see her grow and lead women and decide to give a year of her life to serve in east asia with campus crusade!

this was my 2nd week at big break and in the white tank top is rosie who is a girl that i have discipled at whitewater since her freshman year. she is now a junior, but will be graduating in 2 weeks! she is a great friend and it has been so fun to walk with her through college and see her grow in the Lord. Kelly is in the grey sweatshirt and has been evangelism leader at whitewater. she is amazing and i love working with her because she is so teachable and has such an amazing heart for the Lord and for the campus!

here i am at big break with 2 girls that i got to lead when i went to puebla, mexico last summer with crusade. stephanie is a sophomore at oshkosh and is a sweet woman of the Lord who will be leading a bible study at UW-O next year! Jen is a senior who will be graduating and doing an internship with crusade next year at iowa working with sorority girls! how fun to see how they have grown a year later and how the Lord is using their lives!


this is a group of us at the whitewater spring retreat. mark, carrie, becky, nick, me, jen mac, and stuart. most of us are oldies who still come to hang around and have some fun! but it was so great to see them and hear how the Lord is still using each of us and the things we learned as students at these retreats. we also gave pastor russ a little scare as he was a little more than surprised to see all of us there!


this was just a couple of weeks ago. bethany lemieux on the left is one of my dear friends and fellow interns at madison. bethany broughton (formerly baker!) is in the middle and is one of our great intern friends who obviously was getting married that day! the three of us have interned together for 2 years and have become very close through our internship experiences! guess i should have been in the middle so it would have been a bethany sandwich! :)