I LOVE MY LIFE!

I can actually say that with complete truth, yes there are ups and downs and things that go wrong and things that go right, but I know that I am EXACTLY where God wants me to be right now, and I love it. I love that my "9-5" (which is hardly 9-5) is living in a community and serving the people there, I love that it consists of walking 50 kids to the local park for a day of fun, I love that it consists of watching the kids run through the sprinkler on my back porch, I love that it consists of hosting missions teams from all over the United States, and I love that I get to be Jesus with hands and feet in a broken city. I love that I get to hear stories like that of "S" and of "A"!

You see this week at camp we talked about prayer, and last night when we invited the parents to join us for a night of camp, we relived a day of camp for the parents, at the end we invited some of the campers to pray. Well as I looked back "S" was raising his hand and coming to the front. He stood in front of a room of about 60 people including the kids, and he shared the beginning of his story, about how just a few weeks ago he committed his life to Christ and how just last Sunday he followed in obedience to baptism. He also shared that just before a few weeks ago he didn't know how to pray and he said he wanted his first "real" (because I believe all prayers are real) to be with us, and "S" stood there and prayed with all of us the most beautiful prayer, about life changes, about Pastor Tally, about Maurice and Val and the new family to love him God has provided. Mind you "S" is only 17 years old, a senior in high school, he came yesterday and served along side the missions team, he stayed last night and shared his heart about going to college someday and what he wants to be. This is why I love my life, I get to experience these things day in and day out.

You know what else I love, I love that I get to watch teenagers who come from the suburbs, small towns and other place, come to Baltimore, serve there hearts out and leave Baltimore changed. On this trip there were many life changes, but there was one that stuck out the most to me. Last night after we shared late night tacos, and the kids sung one more song and did one more dance for us, we debriefed. It was probably one of the longest debriefs I have ever experienced but also one of the most beautiful. Student after student raised their hand to share how God had worked in them this week, but as "A" rose her hand and begin to tell her story it really touched my heart, coming to Baltimore almost questioning her faith, but knowing God had brought her here, spending time loving the "unlovable" and working along side my team and I, changed her life. As she cried and shared that she felt her faith level went from a 2 to a 10+ it made me smile A LOT especially on the inside. I realized that these students didn't just come here to change our lives, but they came here to allow God to change theirs. I love that I get to be a part of life changes on the regular.

There are so many things I could write about loving, but I will leave you with this final LOVE thought, I love that I get to intercede on behalf of others, so would you please pray with me for a few requests?

- Yesterday at Camp there were about 20 kids who accepted Christ, I want to make sure that we are following up with them, we are sheparding them, and helping them in their walk with Christ, I also want to make sure they understand what it means to accept Jesus to be their BFF!

-"S" he has big plans for his walk with God, he wants to make sure he's doing the right thing, he wants to go to college, he wants to have a family later on in life.

-D.A.- I will write more about him later, however please pray for his life, D.A. is invited to join a gang on a regular basis, he doesn't want to, but says that sometimes he walks away after saying no, wondering if he's going to get shot or jumped. The kicker to all of this D.A. is 12 years old.

-Finally please pray for our new team they are arriving in just short time, and will be leadning Princess Camp this week, and doing some outreach to women, women on the streets, women in the neighborhood and even women like you and I.

Thank you so much for praying, your prayers are HUGELY appreciated!