"Start Dreamin!" Assembly Pictures

Hangin out backstage



Opening scene...



What a famous name I have! It's all over the elementary schools!



Me and Ray "Captain Caring"



Rockin' Responsibility



Our stage





"If It Is To Be It Is Up To ME!!"



My faithful friend...my bear "Stinky"

Thanksgiving Weekend

Renee, me, and Chris on Thanksgiving day at Chris's house. (Look at Chris's snazzy suit!)



Chris took us girls cruisin for the day - we saw Cali beaches for the first time!!


It was freezing but who rides with the top up in California?!? We took the "undercover cool" approach.



Surfers at Huntington Beach...I think they look like seals!



Hannah and Chris on our day of fun!!

My homies on the beach - we visited Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach all in one day!

Me, taking it all in...Was I spinning in circles?? Of course I was!

Las Vegas baby!

Me and Ray



Little New York



The Largest Chocolate Fountain in the world; found in the Bellagio Hotel. This is my Team leader, Chris, and my crazy team member, Johny Bussman.



Me



Paris wanna-be



Our newest team member, Jenny!!



The Bellagio Hotel



The water came out all at once and scared me a little...haha.






The Green Team Girls!! Hannah, Stephanie, Me, and Jenny.

The Wreck

This was taken right after the wreck...a couple of day later, all of these shelves were on the ground.
The other car.

Today we were traveling from Las Vegas to Bakersfield, CA on what was supposed to be a 6 hour drive. Well, it turned out to be about a 12 hour ordeal. A little over halfway of driving through grassy hills with a gas station about 30 miles, a blue Honda Civic drove straight into the back left side of our van causing it to spin into our trailor. You see, they had a towel hanging in their window to block the sunlight and didn't even see us coming down the street. It was an older couple in their 60's. The woman was driving and she's okay, the gentleman was taken in an abulance, and their car is completely totalled. Everyone in our van is okay. Our van is a little banged up and a corner of our trailor is caved in. The shelves and cubbies on the inside are all collapsed, leaving our product bins in pretty bad shape! And there's obviously alot of luggage and stuff on the floor. Finally, we made it to dinner with our host familes at around 9 o'clock tonight. It's been a very eventful day and an incredible reminder that God is in control. He knows the very next moment along with the next 20 years. I tell this story not to cause fright but to, once again, ask for your prayers. They're vital to our ministry to strangers, our peace amongst team members, our worship-leading of the saints, and our day-to-day safety. I sit on the back left side of the van where the car hit underneath my window and I firmly believe someone was praying for my safety today. Thank you! Las Vegas was wonderful and I'll be putting some pictures up soon! There's alot to choose from! Thank you again!

Fun Pictures!

This is quite possibly my favorite part of San Francisco!



It's an Ape!...or two!!



Lombard Street - The curviest street in America!



Rainforest Cafe!



I left my heart in San Francisco...



Fall Family Festival in San Ramon, CA




Our new guy team member, Steven!



These are all costumes from our assembly program....they're just a littel rearranged!



My Daddy taught me this face!



We're one funky lookin green team!

Lessons Learned

I’ve found myself asking many times in my life “What is my place here?” What’s my purpose? In the past year a concept dawned on me and is now beginning to brew. Every event that God allows to happen in our lives is just preparation for the next step…or the next many steps. My life these days is full of pondering. I think back on lessons I have learned through various journeys and I think ahead to what God has been planning all along and what their connection is – right now. Patience has always come easily to me because it’s never been really tested. My faith is unhindered because it started as a mustard seed generations ago, having nothing to do with me. My belief is God’s Word is simple because it’s all I’ve ever been taught. My words are honest because lying gets a bar of soap in your mouth. My prayers are heartfelt because prayers for me have been heartfelt. My joy is unending because it gets me through each day. My love is genuine because it’s never been taken for granted. So what does this mean? The security net I’ve always known through my family, friends, and church -my home- has been ripped away and what is in my heart remains. The testimony of God’s goodness causes me to never want to drift away from truth that’s planted in my history and in my heart. His faithfulness allows me to trust Him for the next step. After all, that’s what He’s been preparing me for all along, right? As I consider people God has put in my life and how our backgrounds are so different, I find my momentary place. Easily angered family members causes the idea of patience to be unheard of. First generations Christians are starting from scratch with mustard seed faith. God’s Word was never taught as applicable. Lying is a form of escape. Prayers are cries for help. Joy is misunderstood as happiness which is a wavering emotion. How can a person love if they know not what love is? Lessons I never knew I learned until I tried to understand why Christians around me aren’t on the same page in their faith – I now know that I have to live out those lessons so that they can have an example. My place is to be a Barnabas. My purpose right now is to encourage the discouraged. You cannot give what you haven’t received. This is why a discouraged person is ineffective. Acts 11:23 says “When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord”. We do this because His work on the cross is our only ground for our saving faith, His Word is our only guide for life, His Spirit is our Comforter (2 Corinthians 1:3-4), and His people are our companions. We all have people in our lives who are discouraged…who are we not to encourage? “Be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity” 1 Timothy4:12b.