Last Wednesday we got to have dinner with the Van Patters. Michael is the worship director and Hannah is his wife. They have a daughter, Piper. She is one of the cutest little babies out there. We were treated to homemade pizza (yuuum). After dinner we played games and hung out. It really is a sweet deal we have with all of these free meals and awesome hangout time we get to have with all of these great people. I am thankful for Tuesday and Wednesday night dinners. It is encouraging to me each time we are welcomed into someone's home. It just feels too good to be true. These people sure do know how to love us.
Thursday night we had our second youth event of the summer. Matt, Erin, Patrick and I took 14 of Hope Chapel's youth to paint pottery (most of us made father's day gifts). It was really, really awesome. I felt like everyone got into in and ended up having fun. Erin and I painted our "summer father" a Duke tile. Walker, our host dad, went to Carolina, but is a huge Duke fan. We don't get it, but we are happy to have a fan of anyone except Chapel Hill around (by we I mean me, because Erin doesn't really care).
Friday I got to hang out with Ashley D and sweet baby Canaan (Ashley is my small group leader from high school who now has a baby). We took Canaan to the pool and talked and ate cherries. I love her. I am so thankful for her. I know that I can count on her to give me good advice, to tell me when I'm being dumb, to encourage me, to hold me accountable, to speak truth to me. Watching her cute little family grow, and watching her love so well gives me hope.
Super 8 was so so good. Griffin, Erin and I went and saw it Saturday afternoon. We had originally wanted to go at 12 (when we thought the earliest showing was), but we got there and were informed that the movie didn't actually start until 2 so we had a few hours to kill. It ended up actually being really, really good. We went and got frozen yogurt, and just sat outside and talked. We talked about the types of music we like and our frozen yogurt preferences, but we also talked about some good stuff - our hopes for the summer and our hopes for our relationships with each other. We are all eager to get to know one another, to learn how to best love one another, but we all also have fears, insecurities, brokenness and trust issues. It's harder than just saying, "I want to know you and I want you to know me." I am grateful for these people I am working with. I ask that Jesus would show us how to care for each other, that he would be at the center of the way we talk to one another, the way we work together, the way we build our relationships. Help us to know the right way to do things. Wrap us up in your peace, father, that we might know your love first, and that our love for each other would be in response to your heart.
With another week gearing up to being tomorrow (really today), I am excited. I am excited and anxious, because I am afraid I might not make the best of every opportunity I am given. I want to make the best of them all. I shared with my community group a little bit about how tired I have been feeling recently. Last week was just really emotionally taxing. I hope that this week will be the same. I am ready to be tired, because I am ready to deal with this junk instead of letting it fester. I am ready to walk into the sorrow, so that I may unlock the fullness of joy Jesus offers me. I am thankful that I am here, with these people, in this place for this season. Lord, give me the strength to be honest and real. Give me the strength to love when it's hard. Give me a heart for the hurting. If nothing else, my prayer for this week is that he would make me more like himself.
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