WPA: Part 6 The Long Awaited End and a New Beginning

"I'm going to take you on the wildest adventure you've ever seen!"

These were the first words I heard this morning while still in that place between asleep and awake. I turned my head a little surprised to hear the voice of my father so clearly. The clearest I've heard it in months. Today I leave Winter Park, CO and go back to California and my very best friend. I already found an apartment to rent, and begun a job search.

My plane doesn't leave Denver airport until 9pm tonight, and the wait throughout this day is agonizing. I caught a ride with a friend who had a dentist appointment in Denver earlier today, and arrived at the airport 3hrs early. The plane couldn't arrive early enough...

In retrospect, This Winter Park Adventure was a very good experience for me. I learned soo much about work, customer service, and people. Because of this I gained much more confidence in myself and my abilities as a worker. I've gained more independence, and I've enjoyed the freedom that comes with having money. haha I met some great people, and got the privilege of loving them, and serving them all season. These are all the good things, but all in all it was very hard. It was hard to be away from Andrew, and all my family and friends. Most of the time I felt alone although surrounded by hundreds of people. It was hard to be in the cold and the snow for 6 full months. It was hard to be surrounded by people who's greatest love and priority was alcohol and weed. I was hard to work my job full time for 6mnths. It was hard to be stuck in an 8mile stretch of slight civilization for 6mths. I left once on a 5hr adventure with one of my managers. We went to Walmart and Qudoba about 1.5hrs away. That was such a big deal for me!! :D It was hard to hear the voice of God. It was hard to listen for it. Most of the time I was exhausted from working so much.

So although most of the time I can say I was rather unhappy, and would never choose to do this adventure again...I gained very valuable experience I'm not sure I would have gained anywhere else.

But with Papa about to take me on this new adventure...there is excitement in my bones! Who knows what is around the corner?? All I know that it will be full of good things, because God, He loves me, and he'll be with me. :) In fact its already started. The apartment I got is a 1bed, 1bath, 5room apartment in Santa Clara, CA for $500 a month including utilities. On top of that the landlord loves Jesus, and shes giving me a month of free rent. Also I got free airfare to Scotland, and Ireland, and will also be going to England. I leave with Andrew on Friday. We are very excited for this adventure, and look forward to see what sort of surprises he has for us there. These gifts we will use fully for him. :) We will follow his heart. :D

Let the new wild adventure begin!:D

WPA Part 5: Seasons/Adventures

I was awakened this beautiful last day of February 2013 by the memories of summer. The memory of green grass, and brightly colored flowers. Of running outside with no burden of shoes or extra layers of warmth to put on. How nice it will be to simply slip on my TOMS again, and not have to sit down and lace up my boots every time I want to go somewhere! To not be cold for months...to have the hot feel of the sunrays all over my skin...to go to the ocean and actually be refreshed by cold water. Oh, summer, you're nearly here!

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying this full-on winter as best I can. Today and tomorrow are my days off. Today I went snowboarding and ice skating until my ankles hurt, and I plan to do that again tomorrow. Its blizzarding outside right now with some of the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen! Tomorrow will be a good day to ride! I can ice skate for free on the village pond here, and I try to do that as often as I can, since I enjoy it so much. I'm trying to practice and learn as much as I can. So that's really exciting for me.
Also I have been practicing watercolor, and slowly improving at that, I think.  I started a story this past summer, and have been trying to work on that as often as I can. I am very excited about where it is going, and I hope to finish it by this time next year. Hopefully by then I will have mastered watercolor as well, and will be able to illustrate it!

Tomorrow is the beginning of Money March! Because of how the weeks play out in March I will be getting 3 pay checks this month instead of 2! I'm sure this works out for most everyone out there who gets paid every other week. This will allow me to save a lil' more money for my next adventure!!

My next adventure will be to the UK! I'm so excited about this because I've never been to Europe. Andrew and I will be spending 3 weeks there in May. We fly into Edinburgh, Scotland and spend 3-4 days there before taking a train down to London where we will meet up with Andrew's parents and their friends. We will spend 3 days there before flying to Dublin with them. From there we will spend two weeks traveling all over southern and eastern Ireland by bus and train, seeing the sights! Its a short adventure, but I'm convinced it will be worth every dollar I'm saving!
After the UK adventure I will be moving back to California, getting a job, and gaining more skills :)
However, the ironic thing is is that I will not get to see spring in Colorado or California. Instead I will be spending my Spring in Scotland, England, and Ireland. :) eeeee!

Sometimes its hard to live in the moment here. Sometimes I don't really want to pursue relationships with people here, because I know I'll most likely never see them again after two months. I already love them, and being in closer relationship can only mean my heart will break even more when I have to leave. Sometimes I don't know what to do. I suppose Jesus would love with his whole heart, because he is not self-seeking. I'm the same way. I'm not here for myself. I cant be. I died, and am alive only in Christ. I cant forget that anything is possible in Christ Jesus, and in his amazing flawless love. If I remember that I cant give up on anything, and will give my whole heart to everything!

Just a heads up. I want to put together a fun/ministry trip within the next year and a half. It would look like road tripping to the South/Eastern states, and all through them, seeing the sights, and preaching the gospel as we go. We would go where ever God puts on our hearts, preaching continuously the gospel of Jesus Christ. :)

WPA Part 4: Christmas Comes to Everyone

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

It hasn't at all felt like Christmas to me, probably due to the fact that I am away from home, family, and close friends, and to the fact that I am working so much including Christmas day. But tonight I joined in on the holiday festivities at the resort, and now it seems Christmas is finally here! :D Winter Park had their annual torchlight parade tonight and it was magnificent! Absolutely b-e-a-utiful! There were probably about 50 skiers and snowboarders that zigzagged in a line slowly down one of the slopes carrying flares in each of their hands. "NOEL" was lit up in flares in the middle of the slope, Christmas music was being played, and throughout the whole show fireworks were being set off continually from the top of the mountain. It was Beautiful! Directly after there was a non-denominational Christmas service in one of the buildings, and I got to go pass out free water to people, and wish them a Merry Christmas! Then I got to worship Jesus with them all. It was so beautifully wonderful! Tonight it hit my heart. Its Christmas time! Its the time to celebrate love! :D

I have been missing everyone so much, and I have a feeling its only going to get worse, but I've been trying to keep focused, and to see all the amazing blessings and opportunities that I have right in front of me. This is truly an awesome opportunity and experience! And the people here are amazing! and its my privilege to serve them, love them, and be here for and with them.

I turned 21 on the 12 month, 21st day, in the 12th year, also known by the Mayans as the day of apocalypse. It was a great day. I didn't work, and I didn't get drunk. :) I got presents in the mail, hung out with friends, got paid, went shopping, skyped with my mom, and talked to the mam of my dreams on the phone. Oh. And I drank a bit. Found out I'm a lil' odd. I like drinking alcohol for the taste of it, not for the side-effects. Most people, I suppose, drink it for the side-effects, and don't care about the taste. Both of my bosses bought me a drink, a friend bought me a bottle of wine, and a lady high out of her mind, bought me a shot. I love the freedom I have in the law to drink and buy alcohol, and the freedom I have in Christ to not let it influence me. Its good to be 21.

One thing, I crave to see a person 150% surrendered to Christ. I've always had someone to run with, and wow! what a blessing that is! It can be hard to be without my brothers and sisters continuously. I suppose that I will have to be that person until I find or create them. I was born to be that person and nothing else, I already know, will satisfy me. But when no one else around you is, and you are working 40+ hours a week at a job that physically wares you out, and you only get a chance two days a week to actually do what you are passionate about, its easy to forget who you are really working for. Bottom line I end up unsatisfied. I did not come to CO just to work a job, yet that feels like my life right now. As if that is all I was created for. But my heart tells me different. My heart has seen soooo much better! and it cant forget! It knows that it was created to directly love another's heart, and to be shared, and to not be hidden! I am created to live passionately for Jesus, and nothing else!

So many people's god here is alcohol and marijuana. That's their life, and that's all they can talk about. But my God is Jesus, the God of love, and that's all I want to talk about. Hes my life and loving is all this heart wants to do. But few people want to listen to my heart, and its easy to not even try, and act like everyone else: guarded, and half-way fake. As if none of us have hearts.
But as always, I know God is up to something. I'm just trusting that he will put doors in front of me when they open, and praying that I will go through them. I'm reminded that God is soo much bigger than me, and he often does things that I don't even know about.

I'm prepared to have an awesome week seeing things from Papa's perspective. :)