What I Am Learning

Summer is officially over for CSM LA. It went by so fast and I can't believe its actually over. Of course, posting pictures took a back seat! I don't know what I was thinking trying to start something like that in the middle of the busiest summer of my life!

I have been learning so much this summer about God, His character, and His plan for my life. As much as I have fallen in love with L.A., it is very much outside of my comfort zone. I have had to really trust God in this whole plan because honestly, I don't know if I would have picked L.A. Thank goodness He sees the bigger picture because it has been the best decision for me right now. I could not ask for a better team of people around me.

I am excited for the plans that we have for our city. I am excited to see this ministry grow and teach kids more and more about God's love for the city and His people. I am excited to continue the relationships with our ministry sites this fall and be able to serve along side of them. I mean, I seriously have the best job ever. I get to work full time with people in the city living out the gospel. How amazing is that? It's so much more than giving money or handing out food. I have the opportunity to build deep, meaningful, relationships with people who teach me every day what real faith and trust in God looks like. I don't know why God has chosen me. I am thankful every day that He did.

Speaking love

"We are sensitive about the words that come into our lives but sometimes careless about the words that come out of our mouths." Pete Wilson

I was going back through some notes today while I was planning for our Sunday devotions. This was one of the first things I read. It was from a message Pete preached about pursuing wisdom in words. How true is this statement? If someone says something to hurt my feelings, I could carry it around with me forever. Yet, sometimes I don't give my words a second thought before they come spewing out of my mouth.

The notes I have for this message are incredibly convicting and rightly so! This is hard for me so many times. I am sarcastic and find humor in it. Sometimes the things that come out of my mouth make me even cringe. Somewhere we started believing that we could say the meanest things we could think of and by adding "just kidding" or "I'm sorry" to the end of it, it makes it okay. It doesn't take those words away. I never want my friends to ever think they can't come to me with real life problems b/c of my words. I want my words to be life giving.

He goes on to say..."God has designed the human soul where your words will either destroy or build up one another." How differently would I chose my words if I lived this out on a daily basis?

Project 365

June 11th
This is how you shop for 80 something people. Its mad chaos!


June12th
One of the cats in our house. She is such a creeper.


June13th
First week of groups!


June14th
Robin surprised me with this in the mail. I have the best friends. I can't wait to start reading it.


June15th
Two of our hosts, Billy and Allie, had birthdays today! Jonathan and I made the cakes. Jonathan made an ice cream cake and I made a red velvet. We are pretty awesome.


June16th
oops..forgot to take a picture

June17th
Can you tell who was playing in the world cup today? South LA was crazy and it was so fun to experience. People were just driving around and waving flags, blowing horns, and dancing in the streets.

Project 365

June 4th
This is the van they let me drive around for staff training. It has been an adventure!


June 5th
Dodgers game with the hosts. Stupid Dodgers lost!


June 6th
My new bedding. I love it and its a nice change for my room.



June 7th
My new friend, Cy. He is way cooler than I will ever be.



June 8th
Debriefing at Echo Park


June 9th
Darin bought himself a Roscoe's shirt. This guy was one of a kind.



June 10th
Enjoying some beach/fire pit time with the hosts.

Project 365

I have decided that I take pictures way more than I blog. So, I am hoping that I will be able to combine the two and blog way more consistently.

Basically, I will be taking pictures every day for the next year. I am going to share these with yall. I want to start really capturing all the things that happening in my life especially now that I am so far away from family and friends. I hope that yall will enjoy this as much as I do. Thank you so much for the support and prayers I have felt since moving to LA. I love each and every one of you so much. Thanks for being a part of my life. Without further ado...my first week of Project 365:

May 27th:
The view from my desk. Love that picture of Peyton getting ready for his first Ole Miss baseball game



May 28th:
Our first day of staff training. We hosted a group from Torrence, CA and had Indian Food brought in before going on the prayer tour.



May 29th:
CSM group working with Faith in Christ kids club



May 30th:
Jordan and I hanging out while our group goes on Dinner Search


May 31st
My new obsession is Yogurtland. The best part is my group from Grand Junction, CO got me a $100 gift card there! So, now I have every reason to go on a daily basis.


June 1st:
Staff Training!!


June 2nd:
JP and Deric were here! So glad I got to hang out with them for a few hours. It was really nice to see familiar faces.


June 3rd:
Cooking at a ministry site. You really don't even want to know what is that pot!

Summer is coming!

Summer is almost here! Actually, our host have started showing up this week. Please be praying for them throughout this week and the summer. Their names are Daniel, Anna, Stasi, Allie, Courntey, Emily, Billy, and Ashley.

I am so excited for them all to arrive and we can get going this summer. Staff training starts tomorrow. Please pray for any fears, concerns, or anxieties that they may have this summer. Also, please pray for their parents. I am sure it is hard on the parents to leave their babies in the inner city. Things are about to get so crazy busy. Please pray for Jordan, Jonathan, and me as we train our host and teach them as much as we know about CSM before they start hosting.

I love yall!

Breanne

How does this still happen?

I read a story today that completely broke my heart. How have we become so desensitized as a culture that we could allow this to happen? People want to blame it on New Yorkers but I know this could happen any place. Our culture has become so self-absorbed that we can't step out of our worlds for one second to see the bigger picture. We don't like to be uncomfortable. It's a hard concept to grasp that this life is not about our jobs, how much money we make, how much stuff we have..etc. It's about caring for and loving people. We have lost sight of that some where. We have become a society where we will walk over anyone to get what we want.

I want this to be a reminder to me to look beyond myself. If my life was truly eternally focused...how different would I be?