time to get to work!

 I just got home from dropping Emily off in Costa mesa. She is going to be there for a few days before heading off to Japan. Surprisingly, it was not a sad time leaving each other. We were both so excited about what God is doing in both of our lives that it is impossible for us to be sad. Being there and meeting the rest of Emily's team that is going to Japan made me want so badly to go overseas. But I am excited to stay in Simi Valley this summer because there is so much work to be done, and I have such a joyful excitement to get going on it! 

  It is not because of a lack of opportunities that I am staying home this summer, but rather, just the opposite. I have so many opportunities to be a missionary here! I am purposefully staying here this summer to accomplish several things... here they are:

1. Build up the Body.    I am confidently expecting that God is going to form a community of believers this summer that looks like something that I have never seen. I have no idea what it is going to look like, but I know that it is going to be sa-weet. I have been praying for it, and now I am starting to take action.      

   I have been playing phone tag with a lady in my community, and hopefully we will get to meet up soon. There is a really neat couple who live a few streets down, and as soon as they get back from virginia next week, we are going to start meeting up. Just stuff like that. 

Also included in this community thing, I hope to serve, serve, serve. I want to serve the Church so much this summer and show Her that I am living missionaly here, so that the members of the Church will see that I am ready to be sent overseas. Does that make sense? Like, If they see that I am being a faithful missionary here, they will be faithful to send me out to the unreached sot that I can be a faithful missionary on the other side of the world.

2. Loving my neighbors.    I love my neighbors! The Indian community in Meadowood is so super fun and cool. I love hanging out with them, and I can't wait to start spending more and more time with them now that classes are out. 

3. Work.     It may sound  like this would be the boring part, but I have a feeling that it is going to be a "No Bummer Summer!" Haha (That's an inside joke with myself. At Imagymnation (my place of employment) our theme is "No Bummer Summer.").  I am taking on more hours since school is out, and I am so stoked to get to  be with my co-workers more! I even signed up as a student for a tumbling class so that I would get to see them for an extra hour! Plus, as a student, I will get more interaction with them than I would if I were teaching with them.

4. Surfing.  I will only live in SoCal for a little while before I head overseas. I might as well take advantage of it while I've got it, eh?

5. Re-discovering God's love for me.     A lot of the time when I picture God looking down on me, I picture a grumpy old man who is dissatisfied with the things that I have done for him. I know that He loves me so much and I want to just rest in his love and remember that He loves me, regardless of what I do. 

So, I am excited to be on mission here this summer! I'll keep you updated!