AUGUST!?!?! where did you come from?

did we skip July or something? There is no possible way its already August... this has been such a long summer but then I can't believe its almost over. July has turned into a month of fundraising, I guess. The lost month of postage. Lately God has been exploding onto the scene in ways I couldn't have imagined though. My favorite way happened a few mornings ago as I was driving to work praying about how to budget out the money I made from my garage sale over the weekend. I made a good amount to send directly to the Forge but I was praying over whether I should pull out some of the cash to use on my books. For the program we have a large reading list to buy before we get there... another little cost that can really add up. I'm chugging along NASA Rd.1 trying to avoid the road-raging rocket scientists, just asking for God to make his plan really clear. I don't want to spend a cent in the wrong direction. Not two minutes later I get a text from my friend Allison. Allison? Its like... 8:30 in the morning... why in the world are you up? and texting me? strange. I kid you not, her text lets me know that her fiancee, Jon, who was in the Forge last year has all the books I need for the Forge and would be willing to let me borrow them if I want to wait on buying all those books.

um. YES. thanks Jesus for that answer nearly IMMEDIATELY after my wondering. Sometimes the waiting is part of learning what God is saying, and sometimes He'll just flat out answer us. love it.

Last weekend my dear friend Melissa and I visited an Ethiopian church. I know... random, right? It was. She was going and I thought it sounded like an adventure. Melissa is always a wonderful source for adventure, that girl has more connections than Oprah. We NEVER could have expected the blessing that the service was. Church is really difficult sometimes, but this body of believers really brought me back to the BIG picture of our faith. HELLO.... people all over the world worhship the same God that we do. In so many different langauges and forms of worship. We couldn't understand a lot of the service, but that was a beatiful part all on its own. I just got to worship God without the boundaries of words attached, it was blank slate worship. Talk about refreshing. The youth group did a contemporary worship set about halfway through and even though they had a lot of technical issues, God's anointing was SO evident and present. Melissa and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes and one point and I think we both knew that we wouldn't have chosen anyone else in the world to be share that moment with. My friend is a world changer and I'm so excited to see where God takes her...

and indian food is delish. its been a while since I've been so "diverse" in one day and it just made me itchy to travel.