Yep, I'm still here

So I've been living in a tent for 90 days now....pretty crazy. It's funny, too, because I'm starting feel like I don't want to live in a house anymore after this. Sure, it gets pretty loud when it rains, and if the wind blows hard enough sometimes my tent-flap will slap me in the face in the middle of the night (I like to keep my window unzipped), but all in all it's really a rather nice place to dwell! Well, except for the mold too. That's not good. But minus the mold - living in a tent off the land is really quite a profitable experience. Not only does it make you appreciate the things you once took for granted, but it also shows you that you don't really need a lot of the things you once valued, and you start to value different things instead.

The gentle breeze rustling through the grass and trees. 
Crickets serenading in the night. 
The sun slowly creeping over the horizon every morning. 


I'm learning to see the world in a way I had never really thought to before, and it's been such a great experience. The people here are great too. My two tent-mates are a blessing, and the relationships I've formed with fellow students, church members, and even the random meetings of people in town have touched my life in an unexplainable way.

My relationship with God has also been put through some times of testing while here, but it's only served to deepen my love and commitment, and for that I am and will forever be grateful. I'm also excited to share that I was able to be baptized in the ocean yesterday morning, as a symbol of my re-commitment to Christ and the act of regeneration that has already taken place in my heart! I was baptized as a child, but it was at a point in my life where I didn't really understand its significance, and it happened before I really entered into an active relationship with God. Now that I've been able to have a true relationship with God for several years now, and having been able to finally claim victory in some areas that I was living in defeat, I wanted to be baptized to show outwardly the renewal of commitment that has taken place inwardly in my heart. I can't even begin to describe how much I cherish being able to have that opportunity, and I know this memory will serve as a reminder to me for when things get tough again in the future.

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me." - Galatians 2:20