Frizzy Hair, Awesome People and Love

            Today we have a woman staying at the lodge for a week from Austria. She has curly hair as I do and after talking about her stay in the States she mentions the humidity and how she has never seen her hair act this way before. All I could do was nod my head and say, “I feel ya sister.”

 Needless to say, it has been quite humid, but that’s really nothing new for me as Jersey is probably the same way. 

This past week has nevertheless been wonderful and I have really enjoyed my first week of work. I can already sense how fast the summer is going to go. I know I am going to love these people I am working and interning with.

I have really enjoyed getting to know the other workers at TWR. Benjamin and his wife invited us over one night, and Tyler the videographer invited us over to his family’s house as well. We’ve been able to hear their stories and their dreams about what they want to do with their work. I love just being able to be lighthearted as well as have deep conversations. One thing Benjamin said that was awesome was about faith and obedience. I don’t mean to sound cliché but when people say “Jesus has a plan for you” that’s often the reaction I have. But if you think about what that truly means, God knows where I am right now and I not only need to have faith that He will lead me to the next step, but I need to be obedient to where He has me right now. There is a reason that I’m here no matter what I manage to do or not do. I may never even know the reason, but I need to be obedient to where God has me and trust Him. I can’t just attempt to please Him, that’ll never work. I need to follow. And I need to enjoy this fact! Enjoy that His love is not a burden! In fact, when I choose God every day, when I abandon my life and truly commit every day, His love brings overwhelming joy.

It’s been so much fun going shopping (purchasing my first pair of high heels!) and going to church, out to eat and just talking with the other interns and really getting to know them. Watching them and their passion for what they are doing gives me the confidence boost I need to be able to output valuable work and glorify God through the work I am doing. I want to pour out God’s love through my work and I pray God will use me and work through me and help me to see every possibility. He’s brought me this far, I trust He will keep leading to the end!

One verse that has helped me is Proverbs 16:3 which says “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” If I commit my work to the Lord, He will establish my plans! It’s a very exciting statement to realize. I read a quote that says, “Creativity comes when you stop being afraid of being wrong.” Oh my goodness, that opened my eyes. I am constantly afraid of being wrong. I don’t want to put my ideas out there and every time I finish a project I have to tell them I’m sorry, I hope it’s ok, please let me know what I need to change, before they even get a chance to look at it. I wonder why I have creativity blocks, and the reason is I am so afraid of being wrong. By committing my work to the Lord, I don’t have to be afraid. What He wants to be done, will be done.

I’ve been so blessed to be interning with these people- workers and interns. We’ve been able to go the movies and the pool as well as have great conversations and work hard. I just thank God for His blessings and I pray I can use them to pour out love on others.They have been teaching so much as well. Just through their every day lives and through their stories. It's amazing what a simple conversation can lead to. I love people. I love that every person, every personality, no matter what has their own story and their own future. I can learn something from every person I ever meet.

All this to say, work has been going well. I am learning and being challenged. I have been going through the book of Proverbs and chapter 30 just really spoke to me. It is really humbling yet encouraging. I love that about it. I know I can tend to be so anxious despite my laid back personality and I just need to remember what He has done and the people He worked through and just look at these things pointed out in the verse and just stretch out my hands to Him to water my dried up soul. He will bring perfect peace and take away every anxiety if I let Him. If I trust Him to take care of me. Who else would know better than the creator of my soul?

 I'm going to end with this verse in Ecclesiastes 3. I stumbled upon it and just fell in love with it. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil- this is God’s gift to man.”