Debrief

Well, I'm back. True, I've been back home for almost two weeks now, but three weeks is a long time to process and get caught up from, so I think my short posts are, at least, partially excusable.
So, first things first... what was I doing???

First two weeks I was staffing TeenPact, which was, of course, amazing! While it was exhausting, it was definitely a time of encouragement for me, as I watched God use my friends and I in ways I never thought possible. The students were awesome. They were all smart, and caught on to whatever was happening right away. It was so much fun to staff my own state! I was nervous at first, because I knew so many people in each class, but it went fine, and I think God really used the TeenPact Oregon I and II in big ways.
Not to say it was all sunshine and roses. There were definitely hard parts too. There was lots of stress, and even grief at times, but pulling through it together was perhaps part of why I learned so much those two weeks.
The staff team was amazing! Joe, Brianna, Jonathan, Jennifer, Valen, Jimmy, Quin and Lauren are an amazing group of people. I love y'all! :)

The third week I was in Mexico. Talk about running non-stop! I left the Neumann's house (where the staff team was staying) at 6:00 Friday night, and climbed on a plane to Mexico 6:00 Saturday morning. But God is faithful. He'll never take you somewhere and abandon you there. If He is leading you to go somewhere, He'll walk the whole way with you.
It was so amazing getting to know the kids at Rancho Santa Marta. We got to play and do a little "carnival" with them. The Ranch is a really special place of healing, and getting to be a part of it in our small way was absolutely incredible.

And... now I'm home. As I've told a couple of people, geometry and biology aren't nearly as exciting as TeenPact and Mexico. The transition is was difficult, to say the least. But I will say this... just because you're not somewhere exciting doesn't mean God won't keep stretching you. I'm still learning new things. Which brings me to the last few days.

Just a quick explanation on the last post: I completely believe that, and have been finding it out. Monday, if you had asked me, I would have told you that I didn't know anything I wanted to know. And it would have mostly been true. It was definitely a time of learning to trust God, and I learned I had a ways to go. Things started to ease up Tuesday afternoon, but there are still a lot of things that I'm trying to understand.

And, one last thought. I'm learning to play the song "Hosanna" by Hillsong right now. The line that just struck me really heavily was "Break my heart for what breaks Yours."
As my music teacher pointed out, God's heart must be broken constantly.
I was wondering recently why witnessing to people was so hard. It seems like whenever God gives me an opportunity, I choke up and can't say anything, and I couldn't figure out why that was. And as I was singing that song, I realized that it was because my heart didn't break for the things that broke God's heart. If even one lost soul truly broke my heart, like it does God's, witnessing would be almost a necessity. So that is my prayer for this week. That my heart would break for the same things that break God's heart.

So, that is my longer, if rather jumbled, post on the past few weeks. May God bless you as you strive to be more like Him!
Stand strong,

~Rachel