So much to write so little time!

So first off, I did not go to Mexico as a class outreach due to internationals in our school and visa complications. Which is totally fine! We had a local outreach in the Springs and Denver. We helped move in refugees annnnndddd also rang a bell in front of Wal-Mart for the Salvation Army for quite awhile.. and of course much more!

I am...... done with projects!!! Just finished our last homework assignment last night. Or should I say this morning? My partner and I stayed up until about 1AM finishing it. haha

Anyways, I am doing well! Mom and Nana came to visit me this past weekend and it was really fun. Plus, I got a lot of shopping done in preparation for Nepal too. Good good weekend.

I am spending Thanksgiving in Oklahoma with my friend Beth's family. We'll drive Wednesday afternoon. I'm so excited for a break! But I'm even more excited about going overseas in less than two weeks. I can't wait to travel with Jesus to

Time is literally flying over here... and I don't quite know what I'll do after my DTS but I'll post more when I do know.

FYI I will not have a phone overseas but I will be able to email through 'First Class' download it and talk to me. :) Also, if I haven't been in touch that much it isn't because I've forgotten about you!!! I love you all and miss everyone very very much. And I think of y'all often.
This has just been a time of focus for me.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

-Grace

I'm going to Mexico!?!?!

So apparently the DTS schools take a "mini outreach" trip...
and our location is Mexico! We're going the first week in November and we'll be at the YWAM base for a week there. I'm extremely stoked! I've never been to Mexico before. And the even more pleasant side to this is that the trip is included in our Lecture Phase fee's. :)

Anyway, as far as I know we'll be building houses and such while we're there. yay for manual labor. hah Soooo I had to blog quickly and brag.
Hope y'all are doing great!
-Grace

Hey guys,
First off, everything is going well in Colorado! God is stretching me like crazy though. From praying in front of big groups, for my leaders and friends. Having loads of reading, writing and processing each week. To working with the homeless on the weekends at the park. I must say my favorite part about this whole experience so far is the worship times. I love the freedom and the passion people have on this base. I've had a few opportunities to sing and play for the worship services which is an honor, but I still haven't taken it. God is really humbling me here and reminding me why and how to lead worship. Putting my focus completely on Him before I lead people in worship. Although it's really hard to be in the crowd and not be on stage it's a really needed change... for now. :)

This week was called "Openness and Brokenness". Which is definitely what it sounds like. They split us up into groups by gender and our speaker would basically open us up in prayer and then wait. There was a chair in the middle of the room that one by one we'd sit on and just confess what was holding us back from getting closer to our Father. There were many tears, confessions and healing done this week. The hardest part wasn't confessing in front of a group. (although it was very very difficult) but it will be walking out what we have learned and keeping the pure hearts and minds. This week has been emotionally draining but God is so much bigger and greater to me now.

I officially found out that my outreach will be in Nepal! I'm so stoked!!! We have about 15 on our team. Our first Nepal meeting is tomorrow. :)
It's feeling real now. They are scoping for plane ticket deals now.. I should have enough money at this point. Depending on how many shots I need and how much they cost I may be in need of some funds. Will update when I know more.

Random facts:
I hate doing laundry and I miss my mom. :(
Receiving letters and packages is DEFINITELY the best thing in the world. haha
I'm pretty sure I'll be spending my Thanksgiving in Oklahoma with a friend from school. :)
All the girls received roses at their doors yesterday and it reminded me how much I love receiving flowers for no reason.

Love and miss you all!!
-Grace

Oh How He Loves Us...

Time is flying over here. I feel so close to everyone so it's like I've lived here forever. But at the same time it doesn't feel like I've been gone for two weeks already! I am starting to feel like I'm finding my groove though... which is a blessing. We (the students) find ourselves calling the base "home". hah which makes us laugh.

Lectures are awesome! This week we are studying on "Prayer and Intercession". We've been discussing the different ways God can speak to us, and why sometimes it feels like He doesn't answer us when we pray. I really love how the teachers back up everything they say with scripture. It just makes the teaching even greater. I have almost completely filled my first notebook with notes and we're only in week two, oh my. :)

I'm really enjoying my room. I have the bottom bunk with all my pictures from home on the wall next to me. (bc we moved our bunks against the wall) Elyse, Krystal and I are growing pretty close as room mates. And our first book report was due today. So my room is celebrating and having all the girls over for a party tonight. hah

I found out they have a dance studio here at the base. It's basically just a room with nothing in it.. but a hard floor and mirrors. So I danced around for about 40 minutes this morning in my ballet socks. It was fun. :) I'm planning on doing it regularly.

Random facts:
1.My new nick name is "Gracie-lou" like the girl in the movie "Miss Congeniality"
2.Everyone wears beautiful hats and scarfs all the time here.. so it's given me courage to do the same. lol
3.I've never written so much in my life.
4.I'm not home sick at all. And I mean that in the best sense possible! I miss everyone, but I'm doing better then expected.

There is a rabbit right outside my window... so I decided to blog.

So I made it! I arrived at our base around three on Thursday. Met my room mates, unpacked, got lost a few times in the halls. All that good stuff. Everything is slowly getting easier day by day.
I now know where to throw out our trash bags. Although I still haven't found the storage room for more trash bags... but that will all come with time. :)

We have had a lot of orientation the first few days here and one of the things that we found out about was our "work duty" basically two hours a week Mon-Fri we have a job they assigned us to help out the base here. So as they were calling names and assigning jobs I was praying I wouldn't have to have the "cleaning duty" haha. I mean I was willing but wasn't excited about it.
SO they finally called my name and said I would be..................... the receptionist! Which is awesome. I will be answering phones and helping people at the front desk from 1:30-3:30 everyday. I'm very excited about my job! Ten hours a week isn't bad at all.

Saturday we toured Springs. We visited the "Garden of the God's" really really cool place! And then we walked around Springs town (?) I think is what they called it. lol Which was cool. We walked in and out of shops that were super unique and made you want to buy everything. BUT I resisted the urge. lol So we just chilled at a Coffee shop. After that we got to see the Airforce Base. Their chapel is gorgeous... and apparently they have the largest pipe organ there? so I heard. hah And then our last stop was the "US Olympic Training Center" which was pretty cool too. It was raining so I didn't go to the gym.. but in other news we did see a random fox running around outside that made me scream. And the people from Colorado were like "It's no biggie we see them all the time" sooo the fact I thought it was cool/scary apparently looked stupid to them. hah

Moving on...
today is Sunday and we visited "New Life Church" which is a LARGE, non-denominational church here in the springs. We chose to go there just because YWAM gave us a list of churches we may want to visit so we started with the one everyone had heard of... not for good reasons though. lol But they have a new pastor now. And honestly, I really didn't like it. Walking in I felt like I was going to a concert. The people were nice.. but it was just too big for me and I didn't connect with the pastor. SO we all pretty much decided to visit a new church next week.


Random facts you may get a kick out of:
1. I'm known as the "Georgia girl" and apparently I have a slight accent.
2. My room is known as the "really clean room that has good smelling candles"
3. The majority of the people here have iphones. lol
4. I found out I will be able to bring my laptop overseas and will have internet access.
5. The food is awesome here! :)
6. The girls and I are planning on visiting Focus on the Family soon!


Thanks for reading and supporting I will blog every few days!
-Grace

Flying and blogging.

September 10th has come extremely fast! I am now sitting on the plane to Denver, Colorado. I will then take a shuttle to Colorado Springs and head to the YWAM base from there!!
I'm so excited to meet everyone and see where I'll be living for the rest of this year.

There is a welcoming dinner tonight at the base that starts at 6 pm. :)
Don't know exactly what to expect... but I'll blog about it soon.

I've never been a writer but I will try my best to capture what I see and experience here.
I'm feeling good! Nervousness is past me.. traveling has been good so far. I'm eating skittles at the moment.. which are yummy. Other than the fact the plane is freeezzzziinnggg.. I'm awesome.

write soon.
-Grace

Hey guys,
A lot has gone on since my last update! My last day at work is on Wednesday. Yesterday was my last Sunday home. It was bittersweet. But so so good. I love church family! Can't say that enough. God has blessed me with awesome friends and mentors at both of my church homes. In other news, my $7,000 goal HAS BEEN MET!I appreciate every one of you who have prayed for me, donated toward my mission trip and all who have been there.

Love you all, Grace

Hey guys!
I can't believe July is already at a close and we're saying hello to August. (My last month home..) this is such a bitter sweet time for me.
I've enjoyed this summer so much!
Working at Chick-fil-a has been great as I prepare to leave.
My church families (Eastside and Salem) have been so supportive and loving! Thank you.

I just got back from Tennessee with some talented friends who I sang with. We put a band together to reach the community there and it was successful! The worship was genuine and the people were true.
Isn't that what we're all looking for? truth?
I know I am. I am thrilled that I will be going to Colorado in a month
although It doesn't feel real yet. But it will soon! When I take off in the plane I'm pretty sure it'll hit me then.

This past week my friend Morgen came up to me and said "Please give me specific things to pray for you, and I will." - that just encouraged me so much because prayer is so powerful. All I could tell her to pray for was just for me to keep the fear out of my past and future decisions. That when I get to the airport I'll actually leave instead of being afraid to. Prayer on that would be awesome!

In other news.. my total is up to $3,822.95.
Honestly, I'm not as stressed out about the money as I was before.
God is and will provide the last $3,100.00.
But prayer over that would be appreciated also.

Alright, I'll stop writing a book.
Love y'all!!
-Grace

Update

Hey guys,
I am running a little late on my weekly update...
but God has provided since my last email!
Two weeks ago my total was $2,725.64.
And now it is at $3,150.18!!
So that makes $424.54 in donations.

Just about half way to my goal.
Only $3,849.82 left. =)
Thank you guys so much for the support!!!

Anyways, enough money talk. hah
I hope everyone is well.
Have a happy 4th of July!

-Grace

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart..."

Soooo I sold my car! My eldest brother was in need of one and since mine will be sitting around while I'm doing my DTS I sold it to him. Seth and I have the same work schedule so I will now be riding with him (in his new car) to work.
Strange/awesome how God can provide and how well He works details out?

Although I feel a tad stranded without my trusty 'ole Neon.
I feel so free from bills! My grand total is now: $2,170.00!
Only $4,830.00 left. :)

-Grace

A little update.

So far I have raised $1,225.00
I only have $5,775.00 to go!
I am currently working at Chick-fil-a and that is a big help also.
God is good! Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to trust Him for the funds.
Hope you guys are doing swell.
Only 122 days until I leave for YWAM. I'm so excited. :)

Much love,
Grace

Update!

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile.
I HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY ACCEPTED INTO YWAM! lol As of last week.
It's been such a blessing already. I've had multiple phone calls from YWAM encouraging and praying for me to keep positive! It's exciting to see where God is going with this season in my life.
Today I just finished my letter that I'll be sending out to you guys! For prayer and sponsorship. I'll hopefully get all of them out this weekend. Oh, and I am leaving in Sept. now for the DTS in springs. April is coming too soon and too fast. So after praying about it, I feel Sept. is going to be the time for my departure.

It's a rainy day in GA so I think I'm going to catch up on some reading.
Bless you all!
-Grace

Bonjour

I found a short video that peeks a little more into what I will be doing. Check it out if you want. I'm really just working and trying my best to trust God will provide. Please keep me lifted in your prayers. Thank you so much.

-Grace

Walking on faith.

So I'm starting a blog. I don't know who all knows and doesn't know, but I am going to attend the DTS (Discipleship Training School) through YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in CO Springs. It is such an awesome opportunity that God has placed in front of my path, that I've decided to take! I am shooting to leave for CO April 1st if God allows it. Once I get out there I will basically be discipled for three months then the last two months I'll go overseas on a missions outreach trip and put in action what we learned! So along with my excitement the stresses of raising money is hitting me. And faith is majorly kicking in. hah My original goal to raise was $7,500 that I've now gotten down to $6,500. But if you could just pray that the Lord would provide that would be awesome! I'm already being stretched soo much. Oh, I am having a car wash on March 14th. So if anyone is free that date, help would be appreciated! Thank you so much guys.

"Trust the Lord completely; don't ever trust yourself.

In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you."

~Proverbs 3:5-6~