Tuesday, July 22, 2008

From April to July- my oh my. :)


Good grief- the last time I wrote anything was April. The days tick on and I am now nearing the end of July- almost time to head back to Bangkok for year number three! Crazy! I guess before all of that starts, I'll share a bit of what the last 4 months or so have entailed.

April and May brought the end of another school year. I celebrated the end of the year with good friends and had to say goodbye to a few especially dear ones...namely Jaime, the girl who came over to Thailand with me 2 years ago. It was a time of realizing just how super thankful I am for the family God has entrusted to me in Thailand.

This summer has been a flurry of driving all over Colorado (the best state in the Union :) to connect with dear family and friends. The busyness has been interrupted by sweet and tender moments and conversations with people I love so much, along with dear times I have been able to spend with God.

One of the highlights was going backpacking for 4 days in Never Summer Wilderness with my friend Jenn.






God knocked my socks off with gift after gift, especially designed just for me. I went on a day hike one day with the hopes of seeing fields full of columbines (purple-ish blue flowers) and indian paintbrush (red flowers). I had remembered a particular basin nestled between two huge mountains that was full of such flowers 2 years before, so I set off in hopes of finding the beautiful treasures once again. I found the fields of flowers, but was a bit disappointed to find yellow and white flowers instead of the purple and red ones for which I had hoped. But upon closer examination, I realized that the white and yellow flowers were daisies, which are my favorite flower!






It was a beautiful picture of how God's provisions for me aren't always what I would hope for or quite what I expect, but they are good and beautiful- and uniquely chosen just for me, often in ways more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed of on my own.

I also loved all the time we had just to rest and enjoy the sun setting over the water, and quiet stillness that let my heart rise and allowed me to connect with HIS heart in ways more deep and beautiful than I even knew to hope for. It was a sweet gift.



So yeah- that's a bit of what this summer has been like. I'm excited to return to Thailand for another great year, getting to be a part of his plan for that part of the world. I feel refreshed and ready to go, excited to see what other sweet presents lie in wait for me to discover.