Life on a Rollercoaster

So this past week has had a lot of ups and downs for me- physically, emotionally, and spiritually as well. We have a youth group from Pasadena, Texas here doing pretty much everything for us, involving the girls. It is nice having a little bit more time to relax, but in all honesty, I’m ready for next week for it to be the six of us summer missionaries and our girls. It is a little overwhelming with all the people here (15 more than usual) and at times it is pretty chaotic. I have felt so much more worn out this week and practically drained than I was last week when we were running everything. I am so thankful for the youth group coming in and doing everything, but I think we are all ready for our regular schedule.
So physically I have just been drained and part of that may have to do with us missionaries working on completing the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred- gotta do it- it’s on the bucket list. Needless to say it is a legit 20 minute workout. The only other thing I think that is taking a lot out of me is just being surrounded by so many people right now….

Emotionally and spiritually I have just been up and down. I haven’t had to prepare a lesson with the girls or anything like that and with being tired at night I haven’t spent as much quiet time with God as I need to. I have sort of got comfortable where I was with Christ- but this is something I must pursue daily, to dig deeper into scripture and pray and just spend time with God. We can never be comfortable in our relationship; there is always room for growth, so my focus is now going to be relying on that to get me through. God will provide me with everything I need; I just need to go to him more. Emotionally, there has just been recent things that have happened that not only break my heart for my girls, but it also brings back memories of what I’ve experienced and how I can relate so much to so many of these girls. But again, I just need to continually go to God to help me get through the valleys.

So in all I have to say I am having yet another extremely blessed week. Sunday we attended Grace Baptist Church and it was really nice. It was amazing to see how race is not an issue here in New Orleans. Everyone is intertwined everywhere you go, from the streets to the pews. So Grace was a little country Church in the midst of a huge city. There are about 50 members in the congregation and everyone was so loving. The preacher was awesome. He spoke about the Transfiguration and was able to relate it to my life well. After church we went to McDonald’s and then the French Quarter to do a little shopping, I used a ton of self control and only purchased a single belly button ring. However, I did find out about the 9% sales tax which isn’t so fun. Sunday night the missionaries arrived and we got to meet all of them.

Monday-today we have just been supervising a little during the activities making sure our girls behave and respect the youth group. I have to say- I am so so so proud of our girls, they have been patient, respectful, and have participated in the activities. I can see growth in each of them. I am so excited to watch them continue to grow over the next 6 weeks.

Please pray for all of our girls, because most go home to living situations that most of us can’t even begin to imagine. Pray for their safety and comfort each night. Pray for us summer missionaries and staff at BFH that we can have patience through the rest of this week and get prepared for next week. Pray for me in my journey in New Orleans as God continues to reveal his decision and my plans for staying here in New Orleans. Pray that he will continue to help all of us at BFH build relationships that will last forever. And lastly pray that everything we do results in God’s glory and that through our actions Christ can be seen.

<3 Kendall