life lately

It has been a while since I updated here about what is actually going on in my life so here's an overview of some of the fantastic things the Lord has been doing since last year!  (I'm sorry this post runs so long, there's just a lot to catch up on!)

In November I officially accepted the position of girls ministry associate at First Hurst. Since then I've been working alongside the student ministry staff to develop relationships, plan events and work towards in depth discipleship for our students. I have really loved getting to learn from the fantastic leadership and to work with the students. I even taught on a Wednesday night about the gospel and Frozen! :) 

My holidays were crazy and included a lot of work, the flu and then hosting Christmas in my one bedroom apartment. I'm so grateful that my parents made this year special. Even without extravagant gifts or meals, their presence made my little space feel like home! 

After an absolutely insane day barista-ing on Christmas Eve, we attended the midnight candlelight service at church, showering peace and perspective all over my weary heart. 

Thankfully I had Christmas Day off so we enjoyed brunch, bowling and the annual event where I force my family to watch It's a Wonderful Life.

In January I taught two sessions at the SAGE girls conference in Tyler! I am so blessed to be part of the SAGE team, which equips women to effectively lead girls and creates fabulous events for girls to come together and learn more about Christ and who they are in Him.  (BTW if you're in Central or Southeast Texas check out the website ASAP for awesome events coming up near you!)

In February we held a brunch and clothes swap for the girls- which was super fun! I'll be sharing more about this soon because it was truly a labor of love! It combined my absolute favorite things- Jesus, thrifty fashion, iced coffee, waffles,  and pink + gold. 

In March I was able to leave my barista job to fully focus on school and ministry. Although it makes budgeting much much tighter, I am so grateful for the extra time to do classwork, actually sleep all night, do much needed household tasks like laundry and grocery shopping, and to rest in the Lord. I really enjoyed my time at Starbucks and love all of my coworkers, but I am so glad to be able to fully pursue these passions the Lord has placed in my heart! 

 Over spring break, I visited my love in the valley and hung out with Kerrie and Wade in Mexico for a couple of days! I will share more about this later but it was just such a refreshing week, relaxing with David's family- thrifting, puppy sitting, eating delicious food, getting to know his sisters better- and watching God at work in the colonia with Kerrie and Wade!

After Spring Break, Annie came and spent the week before Hope Spoken with me! Although I was basically just working and doing homework all week it was so fun to have her here.

I  began sharing about my weekend at Hope Spoken and will definitely share more later :)

And this past weekend, we wrapped up Youth Ministry Lab, a conference to train, equip, and refresh anyone who works in student ministry. YML is hosted by my school (swbts) and planned and organized completely by grad student volunteers. This year I was a committee chair and took on a lot more responsibility. At the end of the weekend, though, seeing so many student pastors, girls ministers, wives, volunteers and even student leaders walk away refreshed and challenged made all of our hard work worth it! I'm a huge supporter of this event. It was such an effective training conference for me when I was serving as our full time student minister, and I'm grateful that now I have an opportunity to give back!

Whew! I think that just about catches us up on what's been going on over here. It's good to be back, y'all!