Home.

My title is "Home." because today I felt as if I came home after a year long trip. Today was the first time in two weeks that I served on the worship team and it felt good to be back. In rehearsal before service, I got all teared up looking around and hearing from Him "You are back home, right where you should be, because this is where I called you, stop running". I was wrecked today at church, in a good way. At that moment, hearing those words, I just happened to look to the right on stage while we were in the middle of playing through Friend of God, and I saw Mike and we made eye contact and just smiled at eachother, then I saw Tishala and we made eye contact and smiled, then Ricardo....and I just remember still looking around and thinking "God I have truly missed this, this is where my heart is". The sermon today was incredible. It was about the trials that we go through day to day and how we approach and handle them. One of the points that was talked about was how our past does not count as an excuse for the present. The past "us" do not come in excuse for the present "us". Don't allow what has happened in the past, destroy you today because with God, we are his children and we are brand new, we are changed with His love for us. Another point had to do with a story that was told about a dog that was ugly with no hair, with ticks and fleas. They related it to God's children, us, and how we are just dogs with ticks. God comes and heals us, and pulls everything off of us, EVERYTHING! and reassures us that we WILL be ok. Such a great message. I am so blessed by everything. I am soooo LOVED by everyone. Today I have realized that. I am "home", back with my WHOLE family and HAPPY. Thank you God. I had a wonderful morning at church and then I got to spend the rest of the day with church family at the beach. I was with the Martinal family and Trey and Tonya Hannah. I love them all. The Martinal family has taken me under their wing and I am so blessed, heartened, encouraged, loved, thankful, inspired, grateful, and strengthened, for them and by them all the time, every day.

Jackie's House (Day 4 - DR Trip)

Today was full of emotions. We had the privilege of working with children all day today. It was amazing. I didn't quite know what to expect, I just made sure that I kept my heart open to anything and everything that came my way. Going to Jackie's house was eye opening. To see these beautiful kids in the orphanage was reality. One little boy named Isaac, really touched my heart. He clung to me and I held him in my arms as Ricardo and I sang to the kids. Another little boy, Carlos, he was so cute. He is the leader of the pack so to speak. He led all the other kids in prayer, in singing, everything. Every child had a story, and a unique personality. After we went to the orphanage, we went to visit a Haitian village at a garbage dumb. Driving through the village and being in that moment of seeing the way people live, I was stunned and wrecked. The children had nothing, but JOY was just overflowing. These people literally lived within a garbage dumb. I can't even imagine. I don't have a lot of words currently because I am still taking it all in. Tonight after we went back to SCORE for dinner, we had devotion time. It was unexpected and nice. Ricardo secretly got one person who truly loved us and had them write a letter to us about our mission trip. My letter was from Jess. It was probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Jess was the person who helped save me and her letter was so not what I was expecting. I love Jess so much and this letter truly touched my heart. Along with the letters, we each had to write something about each person on the team. We had to fill each other up. It was a sincere moment. Aside from that, we struggled as a team with many insecurities. I pray that God will fill our hearts with his love and spirit and word. God will show us truth and love for everyone.

"Your love is pure, your love is precious,
Your love is all I need...
your love surrounds me, your love astounds me,
your love is everything..."
-Kari Jobe