"There's no such thing as perfect people..."

I never quite know how to jump back into blogging after a big trip, but I'm just going to add a few pictures, take a stab at it, and then put it out of my mind. Because the problem is, if I never blog about it, it's constantly whirling around in my head! So here's my stab at trying to sum up my incredible week in Florida.

Last week we had our annual Beach Week for our high school students. Every year we travel to Panama City Beach and this year did not disappoint. On top of an awesome trip, we did not see one lick of oil. Can I get an amen? Apparently they were seeing some tar balls roll in today, but the Lord spared us of that until we got back. Give Him some praise!

Our theme of the week was Biggest Loser and was based off of Matthew 10:39. Losing your life for His sake is so hard, but so sweet once you grasp it. And I think a lot of our students "got it" this week. We really honed in on pride versus humility which was challenging, yet so needed for our group as a whole. There are so many areas of pride that need to be broken down in each of our lives, so we just took it night by night. Humility isn't thinking less about yourself, but thinking about yourself less. Good stuff!

Because of finances, we had to choose between either bringing in a worship leader or speaker, and when a few of our speakers didn't work out, we decided to bring in one of our favorite worship leaders, Tom Edwards, leaving JJ and I as the speakers.

Y'all, I was so anxious for many, many reasons, but all I can say is the Lord is good! I don't know who prayed Tuesday evening when I taught, but they were FELT and so appreciated. The minute I got up to teach, all anxiety left and I just shared my heart which was losing your sin and leaving your fear of man behind, because that in itself is pride. I'm not saying it was the best ever, or that I'll do that the rest of my life, but He was so faithful. He certainly blessed my studies and obedience to share and He was exalted, glorified, and hearts were moved. Praise God and God alone! So, I can't say thank you enough to those of you who prayed. I'm forever grateful. JJ hit a few home runs himself and the students were focused and attentive, which is exactly what we prayed for!

Every minute of the week was perfect. This was truly my last hurrah with my senior girls and we ended with a bang! Not only was our time hanging out absolutely, side-splitting laughter hilarious, but our small group times topped any small group time we've ever had. The girls wanted to purge pride in the worst way, and the Lord showed up. We invited Him in condo 1710 and He so faithfully, like He always does, came.

We also enjoyed a little senioritis iron chef competition, laying on the beach, wading in the water, dancing (or at least attempting to), singing, balcony time (we spent more time there than anywhere else), Waffle House at 2 a.m., long smelly bus rides, tears and so much more.

As tiring as ministry can be sometimes, as much as I have to lean on the Lord for strength I don't have, as much as I come back completely drained in many ways, and as much as I have to die to myself to serve these sweet things (which is far from easy since I'm such a selfish human being), I always come back in awe that the Lord allows me to do this for a living. I'm truly not worthy or qualified, but I'm willing! Nope, not even the littlest bit perfect, but there's no such thing as a perfect person, and I think that we all learned that this week. Praise the Lord we're each being changed and sanctified by a perfect God!

I'm not a fan of heights! The 17th floor is beyond intimidating. Hence why my picture taking skills with my phone leave me looking like this. Pictures don't lie! I'm a scaredy cat!


Typical boys.

Matchy, matchy! Not planned, but cute.

Party time in the condo! Good, hilarious times.

Mmmmm...Ice Cream!

Basically one of my girls stole my camera for the evening leaving me with some very interesting shots. I think I was in the middle of dancing here. Or maybe throwing out my back.

A very pensive shot. But it totally fools you into thinking we were being all serious this night, when in fact we were being the complete opposite.

These girls constantly torture me. I'm going to assume it's out of love. ;)

I love this picture because something was apparently funny! I think we were actually preparing to scare the next group that came to our room. Sweet memories.

Beauty.

My girls. Plus Mark, who totally photo bombed our picture.

So we took another! I love them to pieces.

At this point the wind was getting out of control! Which means I need to warn you that these last pictures could potentially scare you. Let's just say the wind is not a friend to hair.

All of the Seniors plus their fearless leaders.

Some sweet sophomore girls!

Michaela and Dana!

What treasure these ladies are, and what faithful servants! Love them!

I love this woman. But I don not love my hair.

The annual leader picture.

We're a mess. And completely fail at taking jumping pictures!

High five mid air! Love it!

Smile, girls!

All in all, it was a wonderful week. One I will forever cherish and carry in my heart. I absolutely love camp! And quite frankly, this blog post didn't even scratch the surface of how amazing the week was! Thank you, Jesus!