i've always heard it said that "times flies when you're having fun". well evidently when you're having one of the funnest times of your life, it hits warp speed. i can't believe a fourth of my time with X squad is in the past. it feels like 2 days ago that we were rolling through JFK airport, drawing all sorts of crazy looks as we rocked our giant backpacks on our backs and daypacks on the front, our lives shoved into any and every square inch of packing space available. i can honestly say this month has been nothing like what i expected. it's been more. so much more. leave it to God to take my expectations, throw them out the window, and give me things that are even better. here are a handful of photos to try and give you a [small] glance into what the past 38 days have looked like.
week one.
bucharest, romania.
launch with the entire squad.
worship, teachings from staff, and commissioning the teams.
[some of the team leaders and finance crew hanging in the warsaw airport]
[team seed sowers on their team-scavanger-hunt day]
[the whole squad right before heading off to their ministries]
week two.
cornesti, moldova.
with teams firestarters, eucharistea, and seed sowers.
hoeing/gardening, playing with kids, preaching/teaching, and sharing poetry
[kendall loving on one of the kids]
[myself trying to talk her into being my bestie]
[a bit of moldovan food]
[team eucharistea showing everyone how to kill some chickens]
week three.
vidin, bulgaria.
with team rise up.
visiting gypsy churches, preaching/teaching, playing with kids, and praying over people.
[jill preaching on God's love at a gypsy church]
[a friend i made at one of the services. we clapped together alot 🙂 ]
[the pastor leading worship in one of the gypsy villages]
[sarah playing with some wonderful kids]
week four.
dobramircea, bulgaria.
with team wonder.
painting, playing soccer, cooking, bible studies, and manual labor (for the dudes).
[team wonder on their way to ministry]
[logan and logan demolishing walls]
[on our way to play soccer with some of the youth]
[logan preaching at a church in sofia]
week five.
petrich, bulgaria.
with team sozo.
stripping lumber, working with teens, and prayer/worship around the village.
[team sozo after church last sunday. aren't they gorgeous?]
[bri stripping logs like a champ.]
[garrett playing with some of the kids at the church]
[on our way to hike a mountain]
thank you Lord for having plans that are so much bigger than my own. thank you for making each day even more amazing than the one before. thank you for a family who wants nothing less than everything you have for them. thank you for worship. thank you for guitars. thank you for women of God who show me every day how to fall more in love with you and what it means to be a gentle woman yet fierce warrior for your kingdom. thank you for men who refuse to settle for the world's definition of a man any longer and who lead with their heads held high and their voices raging with a battle cry that echos out before us. thank you for mountains and nature that declare your beauty and remind me of how big you are. thank you for sweet conversations that grow and stretch my view of you. thank you for tears. thank you for laughter. thank you for haikus and pumpkin pie. thank you for impromptu downpours of your holy spirit and impromptu dance parties. thank you for letting me get close enough to you wrestle. thank you for unanswered questions that keep me endlessly at your feet. thank you for letting me be a part of something so much bigger than myself. gosh, lord, just thank you for answering our prayers for more. thank you for the more you have provided. thank you.
and now, for month two, i just beg you for even more…
