So it begins...

So it's the first week of classes! So thankful to be here in the beautiful land of Kauai!

DAY FIVE

Well, I was very excited to go to church for the first time in Kauai today but unfortunately...I got SICK this morning just as the service was about to start! Huge bummer! I won't relay in detail all that befell me, but suffice to say that I spent pretty much the whole morning inside or laying outside the port-a-jon in girl's camp, and then I was transported to a staff member's house to lay on her bed while everyone watched the SuperBowl in the living room all afternoon. Fun times. But my favorite part of today was the end of the evening, when everyone was pretty much winding down and Heather's dad got out a guitar and starting singing worship songs. It was a really great time of togetherness and a wonderful reminder of God's goodness, even when all I'd had was a pretty crappy day! Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness and grace.   

DAY SIX

Praise be to the Lord, the worst of my illness has definitely passed and I was well enough to attend my first class (1&2 kings) today. I think it is going to be a really cool class; I definitely enjoyed it and am already pondering which subjects I will choose to write about in my two future papers. 

I also had my first M199's today. I was blessed to be able to clean all 4 of the church port-a-jons, the first half in sunny weather and the second half in pouring rain. Totally cool! And then I got to help cook dinner with Victoria and Emily: we made Chicken Fajitas and a small salad. It was tasty and I love the way this camp is set up. We have great people, great food, and a great God!

Also got to bandage up a tent-mate's leg after she got snagged with some barbed wire while working the land. I love Gabby - she's so much fun! 

DAY SEVEN

I try really hard not to let food consume too much of my thoughts, but the french toast and fruit we had for breakfast this morning was AMAZING! It was so good! 

All right, moving on....I was also able to spend some extra time in prayer today concerning a verse that I think is going to kind of be my "theme verse" for this semester. It was actually really cool how it came about because one of the pastor's here had mentioned the passage and it stood out to me, so I went and found it later. The passage is Proverbs 19:21, and it says, "There are many plans in a man’s heart, 

Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand."

During my Bible reading and devotions this morning I found a card in the back of my book from one of my pastors back home, and he had written down Proverbs 16:9, which says "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." 

Both these verses are really stating the same truth, and I feel like it really relates to the season of life that I'm in right now, because over the last year I've definitely been very preoccupied with planning and setting goals and figuring out what my future is supposed to look like....sometimes so much so that I haven't really considered if my plans are matching up with what God sees for my life. So...I really want to use this semester as a time of prayer and laying it all before the Lord, to see what his Counsel is on what my "plans" and hopes are for the future. I know that He has given me different gifts and abilities and passions, and I want to use them in the best that I possible can. I'm so excited!

And just for the record, I had Disicpleship101 class today (which was awesome!), Life of Christ class (which, unfortunately, I'm probably going to drop because it's ending up being waaaay to many tasks in one day), we cleaned out our tents, and then I had Apologetics class out of town - a 35 minute drive but so worth it! 

DAY EIGHT

Everyone got up a little earlier today to meet up at the big white tent (AKA the church) and have a time of worship, a short message on prayer, and then some super awesome prayer time using Psalm 145 as a guide. I am so thankful for this beautiful land and the time set aside to really focus on God and to build relationships with my fellow students. I am already seeing growth in friendships and spiritually. It's been raining on and off for the last few days. Very windy, but apparently that's the norm here. 

Good Morning Kauai! The sun isn't up yet, but the moon is still out!