there and back again... another goodbye

 this past week i have been at pine cove leading a group of extraordinary college students through lifeguard training.  i can say that they are 100% ready to prevent injury and protect lives this summer.  here is a group pic of the faithful bunch.

going back was so fun... good to see some faces that i've been missing and watch all the eager staff arrive with so much excitement.  but, wow, did i have a mixed bag of emotions when i left.  i have had some time to unpack all my thoughts and i find myself wanting to share them.

when lance and i first left tyler, i cried.  i was grieving the loss of a home, friends, church, and familiarity that i had known for six years.  at the time, it was pine cove's retreat season which looks MUCH different than summer time.  when i left this week, i cried.  i am now grieving the loss of a ministry.  does that seem strange?  strange or not... it's true.  for the past six summers i have been pouring into college girls.  i have had the privilege of praying with them, loving them, laughing with them, crying with them, challenging them, and even traveling with them! :) that ministry continues, of course, but i do not get to be a part of it.  what a blessing to have discipleship opportunity dropped at your doorstep every summer.  i could not have asked for something better and my heart hurts to miss out on that.  

however,

(don't you love that word... jesus is the reason for the howevers in my life)

i am firmly planted in the center of christ's will for my life.  i have no doubt that my family is walking in the direction the Lord has called us in.  and because of that, i am doing three things during this time:

1.  being humbled that the LORD will NOT ALWAYS choose to use me... and that is ok.

2. anxiously waiting to see what ministry looks like HERE for me/us/my family.

3. praying for those at PC that continue to pour their lives into campers and staff everyday!

to my pc friends... 

"I thank my God every time I remember you!  In all my prayers for all of you, i always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.... God can testify how i long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ- to the glory and praise of God!" - phil 1:3-11