Priceless

Sorry it's taken forever and a day to update this! I've been feeling a little lazy...:) Anyway, on to the excitement that is my adventure in California...:)

I guess I'll start with Sunday...it was a really good day! Church was so great! Dave's (my supervisor for those of you who might have forgotten...) wife, Kimberly, taught/preached on Sunday morning (She's the Pastor of Worship and Arts) and it was phenomenal! She spoke on the work of the Holy Spirit and how our lives are changed after the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. She talked about allowing the Holy Spirit to take control of things in our lives and asked us to think about those things that we were not letting go of. It really challenged me to think because there are so many things in my life that I want to keep for myself and not let the Holy Spirit have control of because I think I can do it better. There was definitely some conviction happening in my heart! On Sunday night, I went to ICON, the college group @ Clovis Hills and there the topic of freedom was discussed. My friend Hayley gave her testimony and it was so sweet to hear how she is experiencing freedom in her life. It really challenged me to daily ask God to help me experience freedom in my life from things that are holding me back from being all that He created me to be. Afterwards, we went to Starbucks with a few friends (yes, I have friends my own age here now! It's so exciting!!!) and it was definitely good to hang out with people my own age and get to know each other better. (Just so I won't be misunderstood, I have had friends the whole time I've been here, but it was super exciting to have people to hang out with after college group on sunday night...:) I don't know why, it just was...I'm weird, what can I say?)

Anyway, on Monday Kara and I went to Shaver Lake with some more of our college age friends! It's about 30/40 miles from Clovis up in the moutains!! It was so beautiful and so amazing! We had a great time. It was fun to relax and swim in the amazingness of God's creation (and man's too I guess...).

Tuesday began our week of girliness, that which we call Priceless. We played games and did a scavenger hunt of sorts on Tuesday afternoon. It was great fun and definitely interesting. Most of the girls that were there I hadn't had a chance to meet yet, so it was fun to get to know them. Yesterday (Wednesday), we discusses modesty and what that means to us as Christians. It was definitely interesting to hear their comments about what was and was not appropriate and I had to remind myself several times that even though we're all in the USA, culture is definitely different here than back home. I guess the whole modesty issue has always really frustrated me to no end. I know it's hard to find cute clothes to cover up your body, but it's possible. Millions of people do it everyday. I guess it's just one of those topics that I have a hard time finding sympathizing with people about because it's always been so cut and dry for me. I just pray that something we said or did will make a difference in one girl's attitude about clothing. Today we talked about purity and relationships. It was definitely an interesting (and at times awkward) discussion, but one that I feel like is so important. :) After talking about how far is too far (as far as physical purity) as well as emotional purity and the future consequences of it all, we asked the girls to write down some boundaries they have set for themselves as well as some qualities they are looking for in boys. We challenged them to stick to those boundaries and never settle for less than God's best. It was definitely a good reminder for me too as I made my hundredth list of qualities and boundaries. Oh how important it is to know those things before even thinking about dating a guy! Anyway, it's been an interestingly good week of hanging out with the girls and hearing from God's Word about some of these issues that we as girls struggle with especially during the teenage years.



Tomorrow night is our sleepover and even more girliness! :) I'm excited, but know that I need to go to bed so I'll have the energy I need to stay up all night tomorrow night! Whoohoo!!! :) Anyway, the week has been good, exhausting, but definitely good. God is good and it's so much fun to serve Him everyday! :) Love all of you and can't wait to see you in a month!



Kimberly