Back In San Angelo

So I'm back in San Angelo. Not gonna lie, it was a little bittersweet. Snyder definitely became home for me over the summer. I was really sad to leave it, which is unusual. Usually I can't wait to get back to school. But I'm kind of glad that I feel that way about Snyder. I'm glad that home is much closer now (only an hour and a half!) and I can actually go home when I want.

My mom came up for a few days and helped us get our apartment all decorated and everything-it looks pretty sweet, if I do say so myself. Some of it was frustrating (stupid wall decals), but worth it in the end. Although I'm still putting off finishing a picture collage cause it just overwhelmed me. But it's sitting out on my kitchen table, so I can't put it off for too long. At least it's almost done.

I start work on Monday...it should be interesting. I've already gotten back into the swing of things with running Seth's life. It's pretty much like I never left. It's funny. At least now I'll get paid to do it :) I also did some major shopping for work clothes, and I'm not done yet. I have to actually dress up and look nice for this job....grrrrrrrr. Oh well. I might as well get used to it. I'm sure this won't be the only job in my lifetime where I'll have to dress nice. It's part of being an adult-lame. But it's all good. My life is pretty sweet :)

Family Camp

I've been in Galveston, TX since Tuesday evening for our church's Family Camp. It's a new concept for me...I've never heard of a church doing a camp for families instead of youth or children, so I was interested to see how it worked out. It was amazing. I have absolutely loved it, despite all the things that have gone "wrong." I have had such a good time, and have learned a lot.

First of all, I got to spend 6 days (counting tomorrow) near the ocean. How much better can life get? Seriously. I love water. Don't like the humidity so much, but if I'm near water, I can handle it. I didn't get to spend as much time on the beach as I would have liked, but that's ok. I got a full afternoon there a couple days ago, and I saw a gorgeous sunrise there this morning. Normally I'm not awake when the sun rises, but I made the effort to get up and go watch it with Traci. It was worth it...it was so beautiful, and I got some amazing pictures. God is so awesome to make such beautiful things in nature.

Second, my phone has disappeared. Strangely enough, it's been both a frustration and a blessing. Obviously, it's frustrating because I can't really communicate with anyone, and I'll have to pay to replace it...which I can't really afford right now. It also upsets me because it disappeared from a room that was full of church people. I think that disappoints me more than anything else. I'm still hoping that it will turn up when we pack everything up tomorrow, but at the same time I've pretty much just accepted that it's gone. But it's been a blessing in the sense that I've realized that I don't need to depend on having it as much as I did. Normally, losing my phone would freak me out. But for some reason, it didn't this time. I've been strangely calm about it. Well, it's not really that strange...it's God keeping me calm, not me. He's teaching me what's really important and what's not. My cell phone happens to be one of those things that really isn't that important in the grand scheme of things.

Yesterday was a rough day, but God sustained me through it. Like I said, my phone disappeared, but there were also several other stressful things on top of that. But God held me up through it all. I didn't lose it like I might have before. He's done that all summer, really. This has been one of the greatest summers of my life, and also one of the craziest. But I'm so grateful for it. I can truly say that I know what it means to be sustained by God. I wouldn't have made it without Him. I knew that before, and I had some experience with it before, but this was on a different level. And God came through. Sometimes I hate that I'm so human, and that I have to have proof of God's love for me. But at the same time, I'm so glad that He gives me that proof and assurance that I need, even though I don't deserve it. My thinking about so many things has changed this summer, and I look forward to learning and growing even more.

Thank you, Jesus, for all you do for me. For sustaining me through the difficult times, and for loving me enough to make me stretch and grow and not leave me where I am. For showing me what's really important and giving me such amazing family and friends to help me along the way. I love you.