A picture says some pretty fun words

Hi y'all! So I promised you regular updates since moving up here to CO, and I have been lousy at delivering. BUT, here's a peek into the last few weeks here, and the beauty that I see all around! Enjoy!!

My soul sisters (which one is biological, hmm??) came up this past weekend just for my birthday. That's right...two women endured hours of flourescent lighting, bad food, and uncomfortable silences sitting next to total strangers just to say Happy Birthday in person. That is love, y'all. This weekend was better than words can express...I mean, c'mon, you can tell by the picture.

This is a part of our Compassion DTS class! We decided to go explore the breathtaking scenery on the first weekend of coming here, and the weather was perfect. (L-R: Amanda, Kate, Alyssa, Maddie, Stacey, Allison, Erika, Megan, Jacob (the director), Javier, Drew, and then Amy and Sarah)...we climbed up Tabletop Mtn, it took maybe 30 min. Good thing, since the altitude was taking a toll...

This is one of my roomies...Tory. Her hair is the envy of the planet, and specifically the girls in our room. People come by and stroke her head simply because her hair is so luscious. I love it. (She never combs it out like this though...it was just for the camera one late night when we raided the kitchen and were up too late. You know...girls.)

The first week here at YWAM, we all went ice-skating in downtown Denver. It was terrifying, so I wore suspenders to give me extra courage. These gorgeous sweethearts on either side of me (mostly to hold me up) are some of my roomates!! From L-R: Sam (Kansas), Tory (Pittsburgh), and Moriah (NY). It was really cold, and really fun! And I only fell once. *whew*

Anyway, to be totally honest, these past few weeks have been a spiritual overhaul. I've gone from passionately excited about the future to dissolving in tears during one of our past speaker's many "visual aids" which emphasized God's Father heart in very heart-wrenching ways, to laughing with God, and everything in between. It's incredible to hear about all of the different ministry opportunities out there, and I just wish there were more hours in a day to talk to people about what they do and how they do it.

Just to give you an idea of the schedule here, every week we have daily quiet times in the morning to be alone with God, we will have an outreach (usually revolving around downtown Denver), in which we've just walked prayed and talked to people who anyone's felt led to talk to/pray over...lots of homelessness means lots of conversations. Also, there's a lot of emphasis on worship, and we do it almost every morning. We have a lot of sessions, with subjects that change weekly. So far, we've explored the Fear of the Lord with Mark Davies (my favorite week as of now), The Father Heart of God with Jeff Pratt (that made me cry every day, but kind of in a good way), and the Character of God with Pastor Blake this past week. We have intercessory prayer daily for a people group or country, which is more and more showing me the real power of prayer, especially in corporate settings. Also, no new word on the Mozambique mission trip yet, but it is definitely happening and I put down my first payment this past Thursday. No backing out now!! If you want to check out the ministry we will be working with, the link is here:

http://www.irismin.org/stop-for-the-one

I know I've said it before, but I am constantly refreshed to be around people who love the Lord and are passionate to get their hands dirty in the mission field. These people want to spread love and stop oppression, and I can already tell the world is going to change from the love that will pour out of here. In our last session, Pastor Blake called us world-changers and kingdom-shapers, and as corny as it sounds here, it's the truth for every person in Christ's heart. So believe it today. :)

I have some prayer requests (thanks for sticking with me so far!) that include...

*courage for outreach times...I'm shy about just walking up and talking to people, but I need to suck it up and get my heart in the right place so I can feel the Spirit's promptings. I think a lot of people here fit that category, so it wouldn't hurt to just pray for all of us in that area.

*my roomie Abby has battled a brain tumor this past year, and just got an MRI this past week and the results. So please pray for miracles, and that the fluid in her brain would disappear so that she wouldn't have complications. She's really brave about the whole thing.

*safe travel this week, since snow is coming dowwwnnnn like crazy!

*for guidance for our speaker this week, that the Holy Spirit would lead...his name is Don Stephens and it's about Kingdom Worldview.

*finances for everyone, especially Kylie from S. Africa...she's just nervous. And Casey, and Anna.

I pray blessings over all y'all, and am so thankful to have you in my life. Thanks for being there for me, and if you have any prayers, please please let me know! Much love...

p.s. I have now officially fixed a toilet by myself from working on the maintenance crew, and it is shameful how proud I was. But there you go.