BLOG UPDATE

Wow, how long has it been since I was actually able to sit down and do one of my favourite things - write this blog! Oh how I missed it.

The last 20 days were so hectic and so many things happened, so many amazing and not so amazing things gone down in the book of my life...but I digress. There were many moments in each day that I was thankful for. There were also a few moments when I found it hard to find something to be thankful for. In any event, I feel like I should sum up a few moments that I am so very thankful for in the past couple of weeks, specifically the one week that we spent in the Dominican Republic serving and learning a lot, here is just a few things:

• One of the things that brought me unbelievable joy was to reconnect with our friends in Dominican Republic! It was such a mixture of emotions, but there is nothing that can compare to the unbreakable relationships between brothers and sisters in Christ and the way that the Lord was able to use each interaction to minister to the hearts and to uplift and build up one another in a very special way! This is by far the most rewarding part of being on a short mission revisiting communities where relationships and integration is the primary focus. 

• Another amazing thing that I am so thankful for is that one evening when a few of us were just chilling on the steps after a days work at out hostel. It was about 7 of us and we got to unwind and chat on any subject, laugh and eventually our out our hearts on some things that were really troubling some of us. I will never forget that night - we sat there for good 3 hours till about 2:00 am just talking and being super real. I love moments when we can just be real with each other even about our darkest struggles, and yet be there and accept one another without judgement, knowing that at some point or another we ourselves struggled with the same issue. I am thankful for that night in DR!

HERE ARE SOME EPIC DR SELFIES :)

• Aside from many ups and downs during that trip, I am thankful for the opportunity to have the learning experience and being able to go deeper into my own journey, dig deeper into my own heart on things like giving, generosity, humility and being able to stand for what is right, boldly stepping out when it is necessary even if that is the least popular thing to do. This trip definitely provided those kinds of opportunities and for that I am thankful.

Now I am in Jamaica, spending some quality time with my wonderful friend Paula!!! She is the one encompassing thing that I am thankful for right now, but I will leave that for my next blog :)