Thursday, August 6, 2009

And The World Keeps Spinning!

My eye finally seem to be seeing straight since the world started spinning so fast! There has been a lot of changes, a lot of surprises, and a lot of "HELP" prayers to God in the past month! Yet it seems as though God always has the perfect solutions and perfect timing to get things back on track.

The summer in Las Vegas is here to stay with temps in the 110's - 120's the last few weeks. The other night I was driving home from the Strip showing some visitors around after midnight and the thermometer his 104! No wonder Las Vegians stay out so late at night... you can't go out before the sun goes down! And I feel funny when I say it's a beautiful day when the temp is just below 100. I think I'm finally setting into that "local" feeling.

I completed a WONDERFUL week of camp with 40 amazing Camp Mend-a-Heart kids. The week was filled with some of the hardest playing I've every done in my life! Water fights, high ropes, dancing, tshirt contests, arts/crafts, and some of the best cooking in Alamo! I've been able to meet some amazing people and build some great friendships through this experience. And, i'm looking forward to what next years camp holds!

After just getting settled into my 2 bedroom apt with my roommate in June, things have taken a sudden shift. Lindsey has decided to move back to Kentucky to live with her family. This means I GET TO MOVE AGAIN! Woo hooo! (little sarcasm). This will make it move number 5 since I graduated from college only 14 months ago. And looking at the situation now that things are falling into place, I believe God has a great plan for my days on independent living :) I will be moving into a 1 bedroom apt in my same complex at the end of this month. Just at the right time for Mom to be visiting and help with the packing :)

Work is going very well and continues to be a fun part of why I moved out west! I continue to learn more about things I love to do and the things I love for others to do! ha! In just a few weeks we are distributing the 700 backpacks that we have put together for a local elementary school. And, i'm proud to say that we are official a Non-Profit organization of Las Vegas: Power Packs 4 Success! Aug 26th I will be doing an assembly for all of the students and passing out the bags for a great school year! My friend Chris who is doing the project with me, looks at me everyday and says, "Vanessa, can you believe we actually did this?" He and I are both shocked that it came together so easily!

I took a surprising trip to the hospital by myself a few weeks ago as the Urgent Care Dr told me he thought I needed my appendix removed. Many tests, an allergic reaction to medication, and a few too many drugs left me quite a site to see in the ER. My mother now says we have basic protocol for future trips to the ER since I was knocked out and unable to tell anyone what was going on. Apparently you are never supposed to drive yourself the ER. Who knew?! The news, my appendix stayed in and I was sent home with medication for a virus in my lymph nodes... does that even exist!?

I had quite a surprise about a month ago when my two worlds collided: Rapport and Hope! My church is hosting the REAP Conference in Cairo, Egypt and invited me to be one of their speakers. I was very excited and have been attending meetings for the conference. THEN, i received another surprise! My wonderful friend Jacob "Dinka" Atem, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and a great college friend, told me the great news that they have received enough money to travel back to Sudan and bread ground on his dream: a medical center for the Maar Village. He invited me to go and there was NO WAY I could say no to a dream I watched grow over the past 4 years. So after much prayer, I can confidently say that God has a great plan for my trip to Sudan with Dinka in December! I'm not sure what it all looks like yet... but I do know that I get to join in on God's activity in the world!

You can imagine with lots of changes and decisions and projects the world was going round and round faster than I could keep up with it at times. But in the end, God has been there the whole time! I've been attending a Women's Bible study every week about the book of Nehemiah. The entire book ran side by side with my life for the past 8 weeks. Times of confusion, times of disappointment, times of rebuilding, and times of celebration! God has placed in my life people who are support, encouragement, and friends!

I am blessed... and i'm okay with the idea of slowin' things down!
Let's be honest... i wouldn't know what to do with myself if they did!! :)

Sending lots of love from Vegas!
Vanessa