To Look Back Upon

It's about time for some form of post! SO many things have happened... God has shown Himself vibrantly in the past months.

Yesterday, I became a licensed driver. The day before that, both Kevin and I had our braces taken off. It was an all day affair which included driving to Uniontown, eating chocolate covered pretzeling, watching Aristocats, coloring with colored pencils, and having lunch in a small Italian restuarant.

Community Day, our last scheduled day of fundraising for Zambia, was all day on Saturday. Though it was an exhausting ten hours, we raised $250 and did have fun in the process. A man from Ndola happened upon our table. He was stunned and honored to see a project taking place in his own town. He didn't want to leave and was eager to get involved. We exchanged information and hopefully can put him in contact with Covenant Mercies.

Last week, I officially graduated high school. The commencement, like the education of each graduate represented, was one of a kind. What a moment it was to hear my name, walk across the stage, and have my mom and dad hand me a diploma.... high school--it's the past.

Our family attended youth camp on June 21-24. I can't even begin to touch describing the pure fun of camp, what I learned, and how the Lord met me. It was monumental! Also included in the proceedings was the traditional group ice cream stop on the way home for some fabulous soft serve and ice cold water... yum!

On June 20th, my extended families came together to celebrate my graduation. LOTS of preparation went into the party the week of--cleaning, cooking, decorating, sorting photos, setting up tents, buying bubbles for the little kids. The food was delicious; all credit to my mom, grammas, and aunts. Knowing that each person at the party came to wish me the best was priceless. Years of sweet memories were represented by each person there. Having a party was a privilege, and the moments with my family were precious.

June 1st was my evaluation, the official last day of my home school education. Ten years of choosing curriculum, field trips, Little House on the Prairie unit studies, co-ops, art classes, Bible club meetings, lunch in the livingroom, and not eating lunch at all because of the workload. A smile always creaps onto my face when I think about my mom's story of how she hestitantly began homeschooling. To God be the glory!

That, my friends, is just a taste. My purpose in cataloging all this is simply to have a record to look back to. Dad and I will be boarding a plane to Zambia in five days. Adventure awaits! More importantly, we have faith that God has glorious stores of grace to pour out in diverse ways. There'll be more stories to tell and more events to catalog when we get home.