Everything around me is screaming the end of summer.  School is starting.  A new year in youth ministry is beginning.  My seniors are leaving for college.  And I’m not ready.  It has been the busiest summer.  As some of you know, I was gone for nearly four weeks in a row with back to back mission trips.  This past weekend was my last little retreat trip for the summer and I’m glad.  Don’t get me wrong – I loved all the experiences, opportunities and people I met this summer but I’m in need of some structure, some routine, some downtime.  Yet I’ve got much to do before the new year begins for youth ministry.  I worked 10 hours today on the youth room and although I’m not finished yet, it is coming along.  One of the things I miss about teaching is a clear start and end.  That is not possible in ministry. As you finish one season, you must prepare to immediately enter another.  As I get older, it gets more difficult to keep the pace.  January will be the start of my ninth year in youth ministry at FBCJC and some days I really feel it.

Speaking of years, today is my parent’s 41st wedding anniversary!  For obvious reasons, I’m pretty thrilled that they got married. But I’m just as thrilled with the family that they have created.  They are wonderful parents, grandparents, lovers, followers of Christ, and best friends.  They are my heroes and I am blessed beyond measure to be their daughter.

I returned home from Lithuania Thursday morning aroudn 5:30 am.  It was a long and tiresome journey back to the US with flight delays due to weather.  We were up for about 34 hours but I’m mostly recovered now.  Which is good because I leave in the morning on the youth mission trip to Chicago.

Lithuanian was a wonderful experience.  It is beautiful country in many ways.  Although I need to keep reminding myself that I went in late June and that the cold seasons there are brutal.  At least they are to me because I’m not a fan of cold weather.  The people there are beautiful as well.  The believers that we worked with were some generous and hospitable.  They made it a wonderful trip and taught us a lot about Christian community.  It was humbling to see how God is at work there and how they are responding.  We were humbled that they would allow us to work alongside them and join them in what they are doing in their communities. We were taught quite a bit.  We were also taught the joy of slowing down.  Being there for two weeks allowed us to really set aside some of our culture and embrace theirs.  Meals rarely finished sooner than an hour. It is a slow pace and people enjoy the communion together.  I’m sure we are being idealistic in some regards because of the short time we were there and because of the people we shared our time with.  But God blesses us through all kinds of experiences and we were truly blessed during our time there.   

One thing I was most excited about was the opportunity to share this with seven individuals who had not been to Eastern Europe before.  They were able to experience why I and others have fallen in love with the people there and now feel the same feelings.  Which makes me hopeful for further wonderful relationships with our brothers and sisters in Eastern Europe.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip. You will see about 50 of the 850 photos I took. If you want to see the rest of them, click here.