Sass-a-frass Here

Hello lovely ladies. You have no idea how much I have missed you all. I have been able to spend so much time praying this trip, praying for each one of you and your summer adventures and daily life. I have loved reading where you guys are at with the Lord and have been very blessed just thinking about you guys! Thought that I would update you all on life and all that God has been teaching me over the last five weeks.

- Traveling has been such a great experience...it is not all glamorous, which I did not think it was, but it is far more difficult than I thought. It is exhausting to travel and not have a "home base." Being able to stay in a place for just a few days and then pack up, (all in a backpack), and get on the public transportation...then get off, learn the language in 2 seconds so people don't pickpocket you has been a funny task! haha. I have learned to ask for help more than I have ever done in the past! My sister and I have loved being able to see the world though. We loved seeing the creativity that God has uniquely created in each person in various forms. Whether it be through the art (yes we are museum nerds) the architecture, or the history of the places we went to, I have see how creative and BIG God is.

- Speaking of the grandeur of God...it has been a really neat lesson traveling the world...learning to TRUST the Lord. You guys...it has been crazy with no phone and no friends to find out where we are going...and yet I have gotten to see how God LOVES ME and my sister...HE IS A PROVIDER and has MET OUR EVERY NEED!!! Praise the Lord...far more to come on all of the things I have learned.

- I have been having a really hard time with no knowing if I will have a job. There has been a lot of work drama which I have been missing, but PLEASE PRAY for my heart in this, that I would trust the the Lord will put me exactly where I need to be for next year. With that, Pray for my heart...jealousy has reared its evil head as I keep hearing about what my roommate and one of my clostest teacher friends have...which is a job. Also, my friend that I worked with, who was a solid Christian, has moved schools which makes me really sad...she was a HUGE reason that I made it through the year...so pray for that as well.

- I am going to be home in a few days...so pray that my sister and I make it safely. The Lord has ben providing so far...so I trust that we will, but know that I have been praying for you all. Thank you for the updates! Love you and I will call/text you all for pray requests soon!

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Hi All!
I miss every single one of you and I love hearing about what God has been orchestrating in your lives and what everyone has been going through this summer! I have been thanking God for your praises and lifting up your requests!


Summer has been great so far.  NY was a challenging yet rewarding- got to show my momma the city and see Natasha Anne :) which was wonderful!  Then I started my job at the pool teaching swim and lifeguarding. 6o hours of fun in the sun every 2 weeks. woohoo, no really I do love it though it is draining I have the best schedule since I have weekends off.  Sooo all you in the Cali area lets hang out!! And to finish off I just got back from Maui -- It may be my new favorite place.  It is beyond beautiful and I got to enjoy it with Jon.  He has matured immensely in all aspects of life, and I am grateful for all of you who have prayed for our relationship.  He is a man I admire, respect, and cherish, and I know its cheesy but its true- everyday I fall more in love with him.  OKAY enough of the mushy stuff.... 


Last night after my red eye flight I was laying in bed absolutely dreading work today, because all I wanted to do was sleep.  And after I was done complaining to myself I let my mind wander into what I truly wanted and the phrase that popped into my mind was to, "be happy."  I wanted joy, peace and contentment. All of which describe happiness. I then thought of how the world fills their void for happiness from everything from sports to popularity etc...  I then challenged myself to think of how I strive for happiness.  My answer was from relationships- God, family, friends, boyfriend.  Not really a bad answer until I realized my method involved in furthering these relationships was works based.  I was trying to work to be a better Christian in order to be happy.  Oh my lanta last night God and I had a heart to heart conversation.  I learned that in my desire to "be happy" I have to stop dwelling on the "happy" part and simply drop it out of the phrase so where all is left is "be."  My goal in life isn't to make myself happy-- it is to BE what God created me for- for Himself.  I want to "be"  closer to God but ultimately what I feel God is teaching me is to "be" a reflection of Him, by showing, sharing, and giving Him to others.  This lesson has really changed my life and has given me a clearer perspective of what I want to do with my life.... to be continued.... I will share more of what that entails later but I have probably lost the majority of you since this post is so long.


Anyways, I miss you so incredibly much. can't wait to hear from you all! Here is a picture from Maui- date night. yes my hair is turning blonde from chlorine and YES his hair is gone. i love it i think it looks amazing. kay thee end.

lovelovelove you all, kerry

I miss you girls

First off, before anything, I miss you girls SO much! Like, I really really do miss you! I want to call each one of you and just talk for hours, but sadly I honestly don't have time, so PLEASE keep updating this blog so I feel like I can be somewhat aware of what's going on in each of your lives.

A little update on my life, I am loving camp! It's been super hectic and I've been really busy, and I've been sick the last week (just a cold.. it's been going around the camp staff since orientation), but I am still loving it. I had a meeting with my boss the other day and we got to talk about goals I've set for the summer and we talked a lot about my future and let me tell you, it was great! It was much needed. I am just so thankful to have him and his wife available to help me and give me advice and guidance when I am in such a confusing time. Each time I talk to them, I gain a better understanding of what direction I should be going and, as a result, feel more confident and less stressed.

Another thing that's been super awesome this summer. As a recreation staff, we're going through Psalms (some of them) and really focusing on David and his feelings and the trials that he is going through and how he is able to look to God for hope and guidance. Tonight we talked about how David was hiding from Saul in a cave and how he was so angry at the world but was still able to praise God and thank Him. It's only the 2nd week of the study but I have already learned so much.. I wish you girls were here too to learn it all with me!!

I gotta go but I am praying for you girls! Let me know what you need prayer for!

My request for this week: to have a kind heart and kind thoughts towards others on my staff that I don't see eye-to-eye with.

I love you all! and miss you lots!

Jessa

The first half of my summer :)

Oh boy ... where do I start?!

First off, I miss you ALL terribly and I hope you are having amazing summers! This blog is so great and I'm so happy I can hear about your lives :D

My summer has been interesting so far. I started working in New York just about a week after I came home, so I jumped straight into a busy schedule! I'm working about 35 hours a week so it's very tiring, but I love it because I love NY :) And I really like the organization I'm working for! It's called Goddard Riverside Community Center -- it's a HUGE social services organization that has like over 30 programs helping people of literally every age group. They do a lot with low-income families, homeless, mental illness, elderly, kids, teens .... here's there website -- it describes the organization better than I can myself! www.goddard.org -- I'm working in the development office, so I'm helping out with basically anything they need me to do, but also helping with special events and fundraising things -- so it's not exactly what I want to do in the future, but it's for sure helping me see what working in a non-profit would be like, and there are also a ton of social workers that work there so it's been cool to see what they do.

Other than that, I've just been hanging out with friends/family, having fun, watching fireworks ... summer stuff :) I'm also in a Bible study at my church with the young adults and I think it's gunna be really good so I'm excited for that. I also went to Maine to visit my sister this past week -- it was just me and my mom -- it was so fun! Such beautiful scenery up there, it was so sad to leave!! And oh MY gosh ... the men in Maine .... let me tell you. They are MEN! Holy cannoli, there are some strong, scruffy, manly men in that state!! Soooo I say we all move up there when we graduate ;)

Anywaaaay, back to business!

Praises:

- My job!

- My mom is doing GREAT!! So proud of her :)

Requests:

- Patience with my family -- for some reason it's been really hard to live at home! I love them, but I'm starting to get really annoyed with them easily and I don't like it! Also it's been hard for me to live under my dad's rules again...just so different than college.

- I started drinking again -- Idk if all of you knew this (?) probably most of you did, but I made a decision a while ago not to drink for a lot of reasons, but I've been thinking about it for a while, and I feel as though a lot of things have changed since I made that decision. So long story short, I started drinking again, but it's now really confusing knowing my boundaries especially with my school friends. So pray that I would be able to still be a good witness and that I would glorify God with how I approach this new thing in my life!

Anywho, this is getting super long, so I'll stop now! Can't wait to see you girls, and can't believe summer is going soooooo fast!! Love you allllll <3

-Tasha

Update on Life

Well I leave tomorrow and there is sooooo much still left to do before I leave! Thankfully everything is falling into place for my trip but it's still really really REALLY nerve-wracking. Right now I just want to crawl under a rock and live there for the rest of my life. Or at home with my parents and my dog. Either or works.

But I know that's just the nerves talking. I'm working on getting over the fear of spending money, since this trip is costing more than I planned too. My mom had to tell me that it's ok to spend my money since I have no other obligations right now. So that helped a bit :)

As a side note, my Grampa was just sent to the ICU tonight for blood in his stool. He has a myriad of problems right now so please please please pray for his healing. And joy and peace for him too. My mom said he doesn't smile much these days. Also pray that he lasts a lot longer, I don't want him to go while I'm in Europe. It would be really hard not to be at the funeral.

Now I want to tell you all about the past week! My parents brought a choir tour out to California last week and they stayed at Biola. It was a bunch of high schoolers and middle schoolers and I had SO much fun with them! It was really amazing to see how God worked in my life that past week. I wanted to be a spiritual leader to them so I felt more passion for God. My dad even had me do devotions one of the nights! It was such an experience. I think it went well, my dad said I did good. Personally I think I need to work on my teaching skills but other than that I think it went well.

I just really fell in love with those kids that week. I really felt a passion to be a leader to them and to teach them more about God and help light a fire in their lives for Him. One of my options after graduation is to go live in Midland with my family and intern with the youth pastor. The youth pastor suggested it to me this past winter. This past week made me want to do that more. These kids need spiritual leaders in their lives, especially living in Midland. It's very dead spiritually here. I'm praying to see if God wants me to come back here when I graduate.

Oh, another side note, at the end of every tour they do paper plate awards. I won the "Cali-Phoney" award, because I told them that I had never surfed. New goal for next year: learn how to surf.

I love you all! Keep updating on your lives please :) I hope everything is going well wherever you are!

- Kristen

P.S. Cassi I'm soooo sorry I forgot to call you back! I won't be able to talk until the end of the summer but I'll try and remember to call you then. Hope Europe is amazing for you!

My Last Day

I have been loving being home these past two weeks, soaking in my little time to relax, spend good time with family and friends, but I'm heading out tomorrow to start working at Forest Home and it's my birthday! I am very excited but it's more a bitter sweet feeling. This will be the first time I won't be with my family on my birthday and it's a weird feeling but I am so happy to spend the day with my FoHo family. These past few days (especially today) have been hectic! So much to do and so little time.. actually I've kinda had a lot of time but all I want to do is sit in front of the TV and be lazy haha

I miss you all so much and you have been in my prayers these past few weeks. I hope everyone is enjoying not having any school work to do!

Prayer Requests:
1. school-related stuff. I resubmitted my TPA1 last week and I'm hoping that I pass! I'll probably find out in the next 3 weeks so please pray that I did pass.. and I have to take my RICA test on Saturday (it's another state test we have to take for our teaching credential). So pray that I do well on that also. It's been hard to study since my mind is not in school mode AT ALL anymore.

2. For my summer job. That I would really step up my game and be a hard worker all summer long, even when I'm exhausted. And that I would have a positive attitude towards my job and my co-workers. At time it's easy to get annoyed when I'm doing the same exact thing with the same 25 people week after week. I just want to have a joyful heart and have a smile on my face all summer long, despite the hardships that come with the job.

I love you all and miss you SOOOO much! I will try to check in with all of you as often as possible. Please keep me updated with you lives.

Lots and lots of love,
Jessa

P.S. Here's my address for the summer. I LOVE getting any sort of mail **winkwink**
Jessica Gulino
Recreation Staff
Forest Home
40,000 Valley of the Falls Dr.
Forest Falls, CA 92339

I miss all of you! I've been at Biola for the past week and a half and it's been DEAD here. I enjoyed the quietness and solitude for a bit, but I'm starting to get sick of it.

Anyhooo...I've got a couple of things you could be praying for over the summer :)

1. Europe! Ahhhh it's sooo stressful to plan this thing out! I had my first panic attack about it the other day. I started freaking out because I have never spent this much money at once in my entire life, I'm going OVERSEAS, a.k.a. to an unfamiliar culture (I know I know, I do absolutely love this, but I've been in America for a while so I'm bound to experience some culture shock), transportation is super crazy to figure out, and did I mention that it's costing a lot of money! Ok, so that was the gist of my freak out moment. Praise: I've been doing better the past two days, and have started to get excited again :)

But anyways just pray for safety and that everything will go smoothly and that we'll be wise with our money. And especially pray that God will be able to use us in some way or another while we are over there, I dunno what that'll look like, but I don't want this trip to just be about us. Oh and also pray that Alyssa and I won't kill each other :)

2. My Grandpa. We found out a couple of weeks ago that he has cancer on his spine. As a result various spots off his vertebrae were weakened and they did/are still doing operations on him. I don't know how much longer he has, it could be 8 years or 8 months. But please if you could pray for healing that would be amazing. And especially pray for my mom. She lost her mom to breast cancer when she was 20 and now she's facing losing another parent to cancer.

Oooookkk...those are the 2 biggies, I can't think of any more. But I love all of you and I hope your summer is just splendid. I'll try and update some while I'm in Europe (Cassi you should too!!!)

Kristen

Oh, p.s., I'll be around for another week and a half, so anyone who's in the area should contact me :)