Enjoying Christmas and Preparing for Upcoming Transitions

So it's been a little while since I've blogged. Mainly because life has been so busy, full and preparing for transitioning to Orlando!

Christmas was good to see family, buy presents for people (I love gifts! Giving and receiving) and snow! It's been a while since I've experienced a "White Christmas". It was different this year as many cousins are now married with kids and live far away.

New Years was so fun (I also completed my 2012 picture a day album on Facebook)! It was my first time spending New Years Eve in Grand Rapids. The four years of college (2006-2009) were spent at Indy Christmas Conference as a student with Campus Crusade.  2010 was spent overseas while on STINT and last year in 2011, I rang in the New Year again at the Indy Christmas Conference, this time as an intern.

New Years 2010 - Interlaken, Switzerland

I was able to introduce my boyfriend, JP, to many close friends from Grand Valley (though several were also out of town), go snowboarding and show him around Grand Rapids. It's a great city with much to offer. Eventually, we headed back to Northville and spent some time with my family, watching movies, sledding, exchanging Christmas presents and sharing good conversation.

After he headed back to Chicago, I started the packing process for Orlando. And it's quite a process! I've decided against installing a trailer hitch to my little Mazda3, to instead ship a few boxes to my new place in Orlando. I'm really not bringing much, as my new housing is furnished and I am borrowing a bed and dresser for a while. All my other belongings just won't fit in my car :)

Packing up my clothing was kind of exhausting.

I LEAVE EARLY MONDAY MORNING, January 7th and begin the trek to Orlando. My sister, Gracie - who recently graduated from Central Michigan University, will be helping me make the drive! Our goal is to be in Orlando at least by Wednesday, with some stops on the way.

For the first week, I will be staying with friends, as my new roommate's current roommate doesn't leave till AFTER I head out for MidYear Conferences. Logistics of moving my things into my room will be tricky, but I am thankful for helpful friends to make the move happen.

It really won't be until February 1st that I really get to start settling in to my new abode. BUT I would still love getting mail! I feel like that always helps make the new location seem more like home. I will be sending out my new address in an email very soon.

As early January brings fresh and new beginnings, I thought I'd share some New Years Resolutions or Goals.

1. Floss my teeth - I think this has been a resolution for the last 6 years... one I've yet to accomplish.

2. Stretch each night before going to bed. It helps the body relax and be more flexible!

3. No pop. Not that I drank much anyways, but water is always the best choice.

4. Read at least one chapter of the Bible a day and take time to meditate on it. It's the active WORD of God. I totally take it and my freedom to own a copy of it, for granted.

5. Just try to smile more often. 

Happy New Year!

Provision

God provided big this week. Not only is financial support still coming in (praise for that), this week about 10% came in AS WELL AS I finally found a car and bought it- cash. Straight up, the car is just what I wanted: sporty, yet practical; cool color (I think the official name is “Indigo Lights”), sun roof, A/C that works (my old car did not, which made Florida even hotter), an iPod jack, low mileage and a key fob. Those were generally my criteria.

This isn’t to say that God isn’t a provider during “dry spells”. He is the faithful One who knows all my needs before they even exist, and in His timing, and through His ways, somehow ends meet. They may not always look as I would have pictured, or planned for, but His plans are better anyways, right?

And during those down times, He might be teaching me patience, to trust Him, to get on my knees and pray more – and maybe that’s because He desires a deep and daily relationship with me. An effort that I sometimes, too many times, I don’t offer or give my 100% to Him in it.  This is something I think every Christian struggles with – yet God still continues to be gracious and faithful on His side of things. He’s a pretty great Guy to be in a relationship with, if I do say so myself!

During my car search, which started in July… well actually when I moved home from France, and ended up with a temporary Buick (hey, I moved to Florida, “Buick- central” with all the old folks. My brothers now drive it to school and football, which left me car-less for a couple months. My family has been very accommodating and helpful in letting me borrow their cars as needed.)

Soooo… since July, I’ve been praying for a car daily. There were even a few I made offers on. I think God had this car picked out even before I moved to France two years ago. Each time I have walk up to it, unlocked it, I praise God and see my car as a daily reminder of His provision. I am very thankful for it!

ORLANDO!

Hi Friends!

Last Friday, I began my journey down to Campus Crusade headquarters. I got to stay with some friends along the way. Splitting up the drive made it bearable. I was excited to get down to Orlando, meet my team and start my job!

I arrived Sunday evening, meeting all of my roommates (Sara, Erin and Sharon). I unloaded, freshened up, and with my new roommates, headed to the guy interns house for our celebration dinner. It was great to meet my new team and hear a little bit about how God lead them to this unique internship.

The next morning started our 3 day retreat filled with, planning, vision casting, games and team norms. I think we gelled pretty well. During the tail end of our retreat, we met the ministry team serving at Disney (YES, there is a team of people who's focus is Disney. Think about it, over 5,000 international employee's cycling through each year? It's the nations coming to us!). They were every enthusiastic and excited for us to be joining them every Friday. I am looking forward to this too because I am hoping to meet several French girls who I can practice French with, but more importantly show them God's overwhelming love for them.

The days following the retreat have been "unpack and set up life" time. I spent some time at the local DMV yesterday getting my Florida Driver's license (defiantly not as nice looking as Michigan, but I may be biased) :) .

I am looking forward to going to church tomorrow and meeting some of the locals and getting plugged in. We'll see what this new week will bring, cause this last one was jam packed with many new experiences!

Here are a few photos:

Some of my family the morning I left.

The Cline Family - I stayed with them in Atlanta, Georgia.

FLORIDA!

My new bike which I plan on riding to work which is about half a mile away.