Ecuador. Italy. Mexico. New Orleans. Poland. Oblong. And now, Peru!

It has been quite a long time since I have written. And a lot has happened and changed. Since school ended I have seen my best friend get married, my sister and I both break up with a boyfriend, another sister get a boyfriend, God move in four different weeks of camp and God remind me that my life is His. No matter what. It has been a busy summer since finals ended. I have traveled all over Illinois, Iowa and Indiana for various camps and weddings. But I have enjoyed every minute it so far. My best friend Kellye got married over Memorial Day weekend. And I was her maid of honor. We had a blast and I was so excited to be a part of her special day. That same week my friend Caleb came from Idaho to visit. We had a great time and I really enjoyed being able to get to interact with him in person instead of just over a phone. Then camp started and I had four weeks back to back. My team and I had three high school weeks and one junior high week. All of them were good and God did some awesome things in the lives of the campers and the staff. Me especially. There have been a lot of things to wrestle with and God made me face them while at camp. One of them was the dating relationship I was in and just how different his dreams and goals for life are from mine. And it was real hard for a few weeks as I wrestled with Him on it. But finally, it came down to me surrendering to Him and having to say goodbye to my boyfriend. It was hard and heartbreaking as is any break up. But I know that I did what was best in order for us both to achieve our goals and be used by God. Along with wrestling with God on my dating relationships, I wrestled with Him on my internship. I was tired of waiting to hear about where I would be going and what I should do. But once I finally surrendered to Him, He worked everything out for me. And now, I am excited to say that I am preparing to go to Peru next summer for 6 months with Team Expansion. I found out this last week while I was at a week of camp. I was so excited. I immediately called all of my family and told them while dancing around with a big smile on my face. Now that I am home for my off-week from camp, I have begun to study up on Peru. I have learned alot already and am looking forward to learning more once I get in country. I have so much to do in the next 11 months in order to prepare for my time there and I am so looking forward to it all. I know that God is going to teach me some hard but good lessons as I prepare for life as a missionary intern. But I know that it will all be worth it in the end. I am looking forward to how God continues to grow me and to see where He takes me. For now, I am off to 4 more weeks of camp, another year of school and in 11 months, I'll be off to Peru.