Parent's Weekend!

I haven’t wrote in a while because this past week has been super stressful and I’ve been going through a lot.  Last week revealed a lot about God’s character to me.  I discovered that He is a jealous God and will go out of his way to make Himself the center of your life, no matter what is in the way.  He’s also very sovereign and rewards those who take chances for Him and obeys Him.  I feel like a huge amount of growth has taken place since I’ve been in Orlando and I couldn’t be any happier with where I am in my life right now.  I look forward to learning more and more in my quiet times in the weeks to come.

This past weekend my parents came down!!  It was so relaxing and fun to show them around my new home and essentially my new life.  They picked me up from work Friday night (in my Bravo award winning parking spot!) and took me to dinner.  

 On Saturday we went to Magic Kingdom and rode Daniel’s favorite ride Space Mountain (mom will have to tell you the story).  It was so cool to see the castle and everything I did when I was 5.  Saturday night we had a parent’s info meeting and then went back to Downtown Disney and walked around some more before turning in.  Sunday morning we went to New City church in downtown Orlando.  I was so excited for my dad to go to a church like this, with a band and more intense worship, and it was definitely a culture shock for him.  I could tell he felt a little uncomfortable but I’m glad he could experience that.  We then went to lunch at Margaritaville for father’s day and had a great time!  Mom and dad left Monday morning after she helped us clean for room checks!  It was so good seeing them, but I’m glad I can get back into my normal schedule again.

It's time for a Hillbilly Moment!

These past few days have been crazy!!  I started working at Jurassic Park on Monday.  This ain't Carowinds!  I thought the parks might be a little slow since kids are still in school but this is so false!  It is so busy but so far hasn't been too bad.  I didn't work all weekend so I got some time to relax.  On Saturday I went to lunch with a staff girl, Lindsey, and she shared with me Romans 7:14-24, talking about man's struggles with sin.  This week's theme has been sin and repentance and it has really helped me to realize that there's no way I will ever be perfect.  I have made so many mistakes and will continue to just because it is my human nature.  For so long I tried to put on this front that I was flawless but the amazing thing is is that my God is and I dont have to be!

Last night we had our second social, the "redneck hunger games".  Me and Tripp dressed up as the Hillbilly Moment from the Amanda Show.  Guys made chili for a chili cook off and girls made desserts.  There was country music, line dancing, cornhole, and a tug-of-war competition(I have the biggest blisters on my fingers!).  At the end of it we all gathered around and sang Give Me Faith at the top of our lungs.  It was such a magical moment to see 100 college students worshiping and the majority of us walked away with tears in our eyes.  Heres some pictures of what went down!

This is a picture of my beautiful work outfit -___-  I get mistaken for a man on a regular basis..

50th Reunion!!

On Wednesday we had our first Project social.  The theme was 50th reunion.  I just wore my prom dress from 2 years ago but Tripp went for a chubbier approach.  The picture pretty much sums it all up!  Sure hope I never look like that again!

This week I have been overwhelmed with orientation and training for my job at Universal studios!  I am working at a restaurant at Jurrasic Park at Islands of Adventure.  Yesterday after work we got to stay in the park and ride all the rides!  I still can't believe I've only been here a week today..

FEAST!

I've made it to Orlando!!!! and I absolutely love it!!!  It couldn't be any hotter and I know it's only going to get worse but I'm sure I'll get used to it!  So far we've been in tons of meetings doing orientation stuff and getting to know our teams better.  I am a member of the RED team and I love every single person on the team already!  They're so full of energy and on fire for God I LOVE it!  The theme for the summer is FEAST and our theme verse is John 7:37-38 "On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink'.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"  So far I've learned that God prepared this feast for us because He loves us so much.  Anyone is invited to this feast, but we must thirst for him and most importantly whoever comes to the feast will be changed.

Last night after our weekly meeting we had team time.  I haven't had this much genuine fun in a really long time and it was so refreshing to be surrounded by people who want to grow like me!  Below are pictures of our time in downtown Celebration (this community actually created by Walt Disney).

This is my room!!  My room leader is in the middle, from Campbell.  I played volleyball against Lorin (far right), isn't it funny how God works!

When we got back last night we had a water fight and everyone got soaked (I managed to stay dry!)..apparently Tripp needed his rain jacket!

There are gators everywhere!

As I am writing this post, me and Emily are in Chick-fil-a.  So many employees came up to us and told us they were glad we were here and shared prayer requests and verses with us..LOVE this place!

Packing!

I apologize for the cheesy title but this was all I could think of!!  I decided to create a blog for reflection for myself and for others to see what I'm doing along my journey this summer!  I hope more than my mom looks at this but that will be just fine if its only her too.  Right now as I am packing for SOP I am so excited, nervous, scared, and a combination of more emotions I can't quite comprehend.  For those of you who don't know, this summer I will be spending 2 months in Orlando, FL living with 250 other college students, working a full time job at Universal Studios, and growing closer to God.  This really excites me because I've never really been given all the knowledge I'd like to know and boy do I have my questions I need to get answered!  My whole life I've been surrounded by great influences and I've been brought up to live in the light.  Just by watching my mom I've learned about patience, kindness, and diligence and I hope I'm doing her justice with my work.  This summer is hopefully just a beginning boost that will propel me forward and carry on to the next semesters at NC State.


This isn't to say I haven't made my mistakes.  Especially this summer I've learned that maybe I'm not as strong as I should be and there's some influences I don't need to focus on.  Before coming to Project, we were asked to read "Are You Satisfied With God?" by John Piper.  This is the main thing I struggle with and the area I need to grow the most in.  I feel like if I was 100% satisfied with God I wouldn't even consider some of the things I am most tempted to do.  I am so excited to look back at the end of summer and hopefully have this figured out!


So in light of leaving behind my sweet Mebane, I am making a list of things I will miss most:


1) Maw Maw:  I have had the best time these past 3 weeks being able to visit MawMaw during the day and just sit and talk to her.  She is the funniest, sweetest, biggest-heart-having person I know and I'm so glad we have the same genes and I hope I am just like her one day!!!  Even though most of the time she falls asleep on me or I have to repeat myself 16 times or she calls me all my cousins names except my own I'm gonna miss her the most!

2) Honey:  My sweet Honey Bun enough said...

3) Boy Meets World:  I have absolutely loved being able to watch old reruns of Boy Meets World in the afternoons!

4) My scraps:  Gonna miss yall so much!  You probably have no idea half the amount of happiness yall bring to me!

5) THE BACHELORETTE:  This one is gonna kill me!!!!  AHHH I love Emily!

6) Daniel and Allison and the craziness they get themselves into!

7) Of course:  My wonderful parents who I feel like I've gotten so much closer to these past 2 weeks!  Can't wait to see yall in a month!

So thanks for viewing and I hope yall continue to visit and take this crazy journey with me!