Redeemed I am

My summer ended in a crash. Everything I had planned ended and there was nothing I could do to fix things. My heart had to start back at home base and work its way back around. I was a wreck, a mess, a disaster.

Before the end of July, my life was together. I graduated college, had a job, a boyfriend, good roommates, good family, getting plugged into a church. I had my relationship with Christ. It was all good. That's all, just good. I had everything together. I HAD it all running smoothly. Just me running the ball game but then my relationship with Christ was just there too.

Like I said everything was good, it wasn't great or just amazingly fantastic and just great. It was mediocre, I was just comfortable and settling for how things were. If it was hard, I was handing the stress and just taking it on. I felt like a linebacker walking into each day trying to get everything together but I had it. The things in life that were good, I enjoyed it and was happy with it but something was still missing. I just kept those good things good, I didn't let them get past good.

The thing is, I can't control things. I don't have the puzzle pieces that put the picture together. I can't say how things are going to go or what needs to be done next. But I was handling everything and when I needed God then I would let him step in and pull me out of whatever mess I had gotten myself into. Everything was always just at the emotion of good because that is as far as I could humanly possibly get.

I was missing part of my relationship with Christ. When I was down, hurting, not feeling to par, I would let Jesus in, I would let him take me to the places that hurt. He would bring me out but then when I felt comfortable I would take things from there. "Hey Jesus thanks for helping me but I've got it from here..."

WHAT. How wrong does that sound? How awful, conceited, prideful, idolizing. But God has this story, he uses us as part of the story. He takes us on these places in HIS story to bring GLORY to His name. When I go in and don't let me finish HIS story, life becomes comfortable, mediocre, and just okay good. When Christ comes in and takes you through every single pain, ache, hurt, and chain in your life, He makes things GREAT. He makes things so great because GLORY is seen through his name. But I have to stop trying to play God, I have to let my pride down and know that I am a sinner that knows nothing. I have nothing. God didn't send His son to die on the cross for me so things could be good, He sent His son to die so that Glory could be brought to his name.


I wrote this Psalm during Redemption group. This is where God has brought my heart from the middle of September to now.

I have been sinking under. Trying to hold myself up, each time I reach closer to the surface, I'm pulled back under.
Putting my trust, comfort, and hope in people. Letting them meet my needs. But they fail, pulling me way back under
Chasing and holding onto idols to take my stress away, they become my all. Pushing me way back under.
The waves go over me. The waves of people pleasing, of idolatry, of control. The rejection from man, the hurt he caused. The waves of sin knock me down. I think I have it all.
As I reach the surface, I finally stay above. Only because this time I give it all to Him, my savior, my father.
I see in my heart the love he has for me. It goes on forever and is bigger than any wave.
I am beautiful in Him. As beautiful as I see the wave from a distant. It is over bounding as the ocean.
He has made me a warrior but only as through him through His love can I fight the rejection and hurt of this world.
I continue to fight the waves as they crash over me but this time with my gracious Father.
He pulls me in closer and walks me through each wave, through my days. Loving on me more, giving me the ability to overcome.
And in the waves I rest. Because in Him, he brings me through each wave in peace, in love, His grace overflows so I let him as I follow Him in His great story.

I love you Jesus.

I love you Jesus.

I gave you my soul,

I gave you my heart,

I gave you my love to say,

I love you Jesus.

I love you Jesus.

You bled on on the cross

and died for all of us.

You took away my sin

and my shame.

I love you Jesus.

I see the angles flying

around all over me.

I'm praying to you Lord

please listen to me.

I love you Jesus.

Written and sung by Bonnie. Music played by Elena.

Every Thursday night we have a pre teen girls Bible study which is for 4th through 6th grade girls. The topics for the Bible study have been friendship with Jonathan and David, peer pressure with Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego, modesty coming from the inside, the living water with the Samaritan woman, and this week God knows us with Psalms 139. Tonight, Aunty Sandra went over Psalms 139 and we discussed how God completely knows everything about us. I challenge you to read that and see where God is daily in your life :) We started off in the summer with 9 girls and now have grown to 15!!! God is so good. He is working so much in these girls and i'm so excited to see what God has in store for each of them! Each week, something just brings me to tears in the happiest way ever. Seeing the girls love on each other, show God's love, and seeing them grow makes my heart so happy. God is moving so much in each of these girls. This week, 3 of our girls spent the week writing a song and then performed it for us. The song above is what our girls put together and it was one of the sweetest things I have ever heard! I'm just so incredibly proud of them and I wanted to share the song lyrics with each of you. Pray for each of the girls in this group and that they will continue to grow in God's love and know that He KNOWS our hearts completely and wants us to know Him the same :)

Summer Fun: WEEK 1 COMPLETE!

Wow it has been awhile since I have posted! We have been extremely busy! We just completed our first week of SUMMER FUN for the 4th-6th graders! The week went so so so good. We had 38 campers and a bunch of amazing volunteers. They were such blessings and we could not have had such a smooth week without them, thank you! The week went really smooth, I mean it was stressful at the beginning because we were running around trying to get everyone to each rotation. Here is a typical day of summer fun.

Start off with some energizers to get the kids pumped up like HEY BURRITO, a dance to audio adrenaline, the shark song. Then we played a few games. The youth group that came through to help us this week put a skit about the Bible story they would be learning about that day and then the campers would break up into their small groups and go over questions.

Next its time for Bible study and response time. The kids really enjoyed this part of the day, praise the Lord! The theme of Summer Fun this year was the big redemption story. We took the kids through the story of creation, the fall of man, Abraham and Isaac, Moses and the passover, and we ended with Jesus. Through these stories our goal was to show how God's plan from the beginning was to have a perfect relationship of friendship with us and that everything He has done has pointed to Jesus. The kids went through rotations of hearing the Bible study, then they were able to learn the Bible study in different ways that kids learn such as logic response, visual response, and kinesthetic response. The logic response was filled with awesome science experiences and putting things in chronological order. The visual was making arts and crafts that told the story and the kinesthetic was learning the Bible verse by moving. It was so cool to use the things I've learned in school out in the real world :)

Then kids would go to recreation, snack time, and then everyone was off to the small group challenge. We played a non related game to the Bible study and a game related to the Bible study. Then the kids broke up into the small groups and went over worksheets together that went along with the Bible story and salvation.

After that, LUNCH time! Then we broke up into the elective activities where they chose Marine Biology, Bracelet making, Ultimate Extreme Sports, or Movie Madness. Movie Madness was where they watched a movie clip from a movie such as Peter Pan and then talked about how it related to the Bible. That was the creativity from the UABC youth group!

Then it was off to afternoon rotations which included indoor games, Life Stuff with Auntie Sandra, and Missions. Life stuff was about how you take the stories we learned about and put it into our lives. Auntie Sandra shared her testimony and talked about heaven one day. It was really cool to see how God spoke through her! Missions was led by the UABC youth group and they talked about water in different countries and how its not clean.

Then closing ceremony with trivia questions. Then we sent the kids home and they came back the next day! The last day though was a fun filled day to Wet n Wild Hawaii! The kids LOVED going to the water park and had SO much fun! I'm really going to miss seeing those kids next week but I'm excited for the next group to come in :)

My favorite part of summer fun is a part that you can't see. We have every hour of summer fun being prayed for by members at the church. each 30 minutes, a different person is praying for the campers, volunteers, and that we are glorifying Him. We can see such a difference in the kids attitudes, behavior and even that their were only TWO minor accidents in one week. Praise the Lord! We pray that God uses each of us to reach the kids and to bring all the praise to Him. Prayer is so big and I'm so thankful for those praying each day! The kids really seemed to learn so much and were able to have lots of conversations about who Jesus one on one with the campers. Thank you so much for praying! Pray this week for our K-3 grade Summer Fun camp, that the campers will really understand the Bible stories and see the big redemption story we have set out. Also, that they will see how much God loves us and desires a friendship with each of us :)

Hey everyone! This week has just been filled with lots of errands, planning, and preparing things for summer fun that now starts in 6 days! ah! I'm really excited and ready for it to get going! I just posted a few pictures from the past week for ya'll to see :) love you all! Continue to pray for Summer Fun and our Bible Studies we have coming up, for energy when we need rest! thanks :)

I went hiking on the Judd Trail with Layce and the Crosby family. It was absolutely gorgeous! (Hey mom, these are the rocks I fell)

My favorite night of the week! Pre-Teen Girls Bible study. We played ultimate charades, this was team Abracadabra. (that's why I have my hands up but no one else did...)

Sunset on the Bay with the Geiger Family!

Meet Baron. Daryn Leigh baby sits Baron when his owner was out of town. She decided Baron needed a trip to the beach too :)

Dinner with the Moyers! Such a sweet couple! They will also be teaching at summer fun :)

The Lava Tube adventure with The Crosby Family and Layce.

Scavenger Hunt in Waikiki with the college group. We needed a picture with a man with a beard. This is Rob, the man we the beard!

Friend Mountain.

The past two weeks have been jam packed full of PLANNING! The first week of planning, Layce and I kept saying "Our brains are fried like bacon!" This week, we didn't even have time to notice that our brains were accumulating so much information! But boy have I learned so much about the ministry and all the little inside things that come along with it, I have loved it all!

Let me begin by explaining exactly what "Summer Fun" is. Summer Fun is a day camp that is put on for kids at the church. The first week will be for 4th-6th graders and then the next two weeks will be for kindergarden through 3rd graders. So three weeks of day camp from 7:50am to 2:30pm! We will also go on excursions to water parks and the zoo once a week. So what do the kids do during the day...indoor games, recreation, bible study, visual response, logic response, kinesthetic response (the responses are different ways to learn the Bible study), arts and crafts (my favorite!), electives such as cooking, woodwork, marine biology, and SO much more! The past two weeks, Dani Beth, Layce, and myself have been planning much of this out with help from some AMAZING volunteers including ladies from the church and the youth. We have been writing curriculum for the Bible study and responses and coming up with games for the kids to play during the day. It has been fun and I've enjoyed every moment of it! Also, it has been so good to take what I study in school and from coaching and take it into the planning for Summer Fun! Pray for the preparation that needs to be completed this next week before Summer Fun begins on June 27. Pray for rest and energy as we go through the week. Pray that we continue to seek God's plan and heart for the kids :)

When I first arrived in Hawaii, I felt so unprepared for the summer. In the past 3 weeks, God has completely showed me in so many different ways how he did prepare me to come serve at Hawaii Kai and how he gave me passions in my heart to do so. Isn't just amazing how God works in so many ways? I absolutely love standing back and just looking at what God has done, is doing, and is continuing to do and how it all ties together so perfectly. (I hope that made some kind of sense).

This past Thursday, we had our 2nd preteen girls Bible study. I get so excited when I talk about these girls, it just brings so much joy to my heart! God was working so much in that room this past week. He was just stirring the girls hearts and I could see Him beginning to work in them. We talked about peer pressure and the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego and how they didn't give in to the pressure that King Nebuchadnezzar was putting on them. If you haven't read this story, you should! It is one of my top favorites and is in Daniel 3, and if you have go back through and read it. Peer pressure isn't just something pre-teen girls struggle with but we all do, at college, work, you name it. We also modge podged magize cut outs and tissue paper onto journals to begin keeping prayer journals together! We went over the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6. It was so great to see the youth girls and preteen girls go over the lesson together! Pray for next Thursday night, the youth, the pre-teen girls, and Layce as she prepares the next Bible study. Pray for their hearts to be stirred for questions and a hunger for the Lord.

Well sometime in this week we also found time to eat with several families from the church. It is such a blessing for them to take us out and to get to know them. We ate at Jimmy Buffett's one night and the next, they cooked a home made meal. We also played several rounds of mexican train :)

Thank you all for reading and I hope that I will get to update a bit more this next week :) love you all!

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. INstead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

What do you get after two summer missionaries go to the beach?

two lobsters.

I bet you already knew the answer to that. Layce and I were just SO excited about spending the afternoon at the beach, time just flew by and we didn't reapply our sunscreen after a few hours. But it was such a lovely day at the beach! It would be so hot one moment and then rain would drizzle on us to cool us off. Then another magnificent double rainbow came across the sky! The rainbows in Hawaii are so gorgeous. You can actually see where they start and end! amazing! And a nice strawberry pineapple slushy to top it off :)

Well this week was such a busy week! But it turned out so great! It was awesome to see how all the planning we did for the PreTeen Bible study came through. 9 girls came to the Bible study and we had 4 youth girls to lead them in discussion. We had so much fun playing games and making bracelets for a craft as well as munching on some apple dip :) The lesson also went great! Each girl has something so great about her and I'm excited to get to know there hearts and see the youth girls work with them. God has something amazing in store for the PreTeen girls Bible study and I can't wait to see what the next 5 weeks hold! Please keep praying!

Tomorrow I am teaching the kindergarten through 3rd grade Sunday school class so we will see how that goes, I'm not really prepared right now but I'm not too stressed yet! Also, tomorrow night is the 6th grade Splash Bible study. We are having a Bible study mixed in with some of the youth to help prepare them for the youth group that they will be transitioning into in the next month. And then, Monday I get to lead Chapel for the preschoolers! I'm really excited to see what the next week holds!

Tonight, Donna and Bob Moorefield took Layce, Tyler, the Crosby Family, and I out to dinner at Schooners. The food was so yummy. Even more, it's so great to get to know other families at the church and hear their stories :) Well I will update this sometime in the next few days! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend! Love ya'll!

Let the work begin!

This week has been very busy! Monday was our first day to begin working at the church all day. A typical day starts off with the preschoolers. We get to play with them and just begin building trust with them since next week we will begin leading chapel! I'm super excited about that! The preschoolers are adorable, they are my favorite part of the day! They always have the cutest smiles and are so excited to play with you! And I always have one on each side of me during story time :) they are just so precious!

Well after the preschoolers, we start working on what needs to be done first. This week is our 4th-6th grade girls preteen bible study. So Layce and I got to work on preparing the curiculum for that and I'm really excited to see how the bible study goes TONIGHT! This week it will be about friendship and the Bible story in 1 Samuel about Jonathan and David. Also, we have been preparing another Bible study for the 6th graders as they transition into youth and that begins on Sunday. I also will start working on preparing for my Sunday school lesson i will be teaching on Sunday! So there is always something to do. I've enjoyed getting to learn how the ministry works and all the preparation that comes into it!

I'm also really excited that we will be using Alison Cagle's Apple dip recipe for the girls tonight in the Bible study, just like she used to do for us! I'll keep ya'll posted on how things go! Also, we have Friday off because it's King Kamaiamaiha day (I have no idea how to spell that!) But thank you all and pray for our girls tonight! Love ya'll!