Simple Joys

I had such a great weekend! I drove over to Nashville to visit my little brother who moved there about two weeks ago. There was a bonus to this trip, my brother had a lady friend that he had met and hit it off with at camp this summer visiting him for 5 days. So.. I jumped on the opportunity to check her out. I started out the day visiting a good friend of mine, Nicole, who lives in a beautiful home with her husband and two kids. She and I have a real connection, we picked up right where we left off. I just love those kinds of friends. After a great visit with Nicole, I drove to the Nashville zoo to meet Jonathan and Sarah. The day was beautiful!! A great breeze. It's amazing what simple pleasures like going to the zoo and being in good company can entertain you and create a great memory. I really enjoyed getting to know Sarah. I am so happy for my brother and his new found interest. I wish them both the best!

AFter a wonderful weekend in Nashville, I came home to finish up house sitting. I love house sitting, but this couple was gone for two weeks and I was definately ready to get to my own house. It's tough moving between two houses.. You loose things! =)

Last night I went with the youth of First Assembly to a park near downtown Memphis. In England, we were inspired to reach out to our city. We don't want to just hand them tracks and say "Jesus loves you", we want to build relationships and show them love, simple as that. Audrey and I were able to talk with and pray with a lady named Shirley who has had her share of troubles in life. She really opened up to us and said after our prayer, a burden was lifted. That experience really lifted me up.

God has been showing me in such a real way how fulfilling reaching out really is. I could sulk in my not so ideal circumstances, but I don't. When i'm reaching out and loving people, that is when i'm the happiest. I am in my element. Nothing can bring me down. Sunday night I had a slump. But when I got back into loving people and diving into the word through prayer and spending time with the Lord, I was ok. Reaching out is the best guarantee to find joy. I pray that God continues to give me opportunities to look beyond myself and see the needs of others. That is one of my greatest desires.