Day One

Wow! London is something else! 

Tyler waiting for our bus

After Tyler and I got to his house, we went out to Central London to get papers ready and mailed out to Ruth, so she could get Galileo's new passport. When we finished up with that, Tyler took me down streets flooded with shops and flooded people. It was so neat! All sorts of shops! We went in huge stores like Liberty and Foyles ,the biggest book store in the world, and small shops like a used book shop and even a quaint little shop where we got some tea and scones!

After we finished up with that, we walked across the river to look at the Eye and Big Ben and had a nice Italian dinner. Running to catch our train, we made it in perfect timing, hopped on the train and enjoyed playing Ticket to Ride on Tyler's iPad. An hour later we made it home and I crashed! I had made it through the whole first day with nothing more than an hour of sleep! This is rare! 

(I took many more pictures, but for some reason it won't let me rotate the pictures....so more to come later!)

Flight

 So, my first flight happened to also be my first flight by myself. The night before we realized that Galileo's passport was missing, so he wasn't able to fly! He and Ruth, sadly, had to stay back. But I decided to come on! Everything went really well! The flight was pretty enjoyable, although I only managed to get under an hour of sleep. The view once we got into the UK was FABULOUS! I spotted several things from the air. (so glad I had a window seat!) I saw St Johns, the Eye, London Bridge, and many other amazing sites from thousands of feet in the air! Lucky me, I had an empty seat beside me...and I only spotted one other empty seat on the entire plane. And to top it off, a super sweet British lady was sitting in the next seat closest to me! So she told me everything I needed to do, and in return, I taught her how to work the tv.

When I got into the London airport, everything went just fine...until they wouldn't let me in the border. Since I'm a minor traveling for the first time they wanted to get a hold of Tyler, who was picking me up, before letting me through. Well, I didn't have his number, but he had called me the night before from his skype. So I gave her that number. She told me to sit and wait. So I sat. And I waited. And I sat some more! After quite some time she came back, telling me the call wouldn't go through. "Can we call him from your phone then?" "uh..no ma'am, my phone doesn't work here" "well...let's see. let me go try again, love" so I sat. And I waited. And I sat some more. And I waited some more! Finally, the nice lady said that her shift was almost over so she would take me to find Tyler. When I went to get my luggage, mine was the only one left from my flight. Well, at least I didn't have to stand and wait more! Then I went out and there was Tyler, thank goodness! Anyway, it was all very kind of them, but I was certainly wondering if they'd let me though before my brother reported me missing!

Preface to a Grand Adventure

Tomorrow I embark on a very grand adventure across the Atlantic ocean. This will be my first time on a plane and I can only imagine what the world will look like up there above the clouds. My sweet sister-in-law Ruth and my adorable nephew Galileo have been with us the past few days so that I can have travel buddies when I depart tomorrow night. 

Packing is going swimmingly! It was a much easier of a task than I hoped. Everything is coming along very well. I've got my camera ready, my computer charged, and my iPod full of music!

I pray that God will bless this trip, keep us safe, and help me to come away with a new perspective and many memories that will last a lifetime! 

Buckingham Palace

Courage: Leadership Camp

Leadership Camp 2011 has been the absolute best way to start off my senior year. Leadership Camp is a wonderful time to learn to be a leader, strengthen friendships, and to grow stronger in your walk with God. This year we used a program by Francis Chan. Courage. We played many awesome games. Then one of my favorite things: we planned a skit with our project teams. I had the grandest team this year! (shout out to the Orange Team!) Our skit dealt with the Race of Life and how to stand firm and be courageous to finish the race! We learned a lot about working together and the importance of being a team player.

She's DJ Sisi. I'm DJ AT.

Francis Chan talked a lot about not sticking with the crowd. Not going with the flow. Standing strong. Being courageous. Sometimes it's tough to be a Christian in this world, but the Lord gives us the courage to stand up for what we believe in, just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 

Mrs. Kathi Millsaps is one of my greatest heroes. She constantly puts things for her own gain behind herself so she is able to further the kingdom of God. Her strength and wisdom never cease to encourage me. Her kindness and love for others never fail to comfort me. Her smile and radiant heart never fail to bring me joy. I love her!

All the Seniors '12

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Seniors <3

TRANSFORMED

This weekend I planned a retreat for the youth at my church. It was life changing. We had speakers who just graduated highschool...speakers our age! You get a totally different view of things when people your own age can share things like these 4 speakers did! They are on fire for God!

God hates sin. I think too often the church is afraid to speak of God's wrath and hate towards evil. We think God OWES us salvation. He doesn't owe us a cent! In fact, every thing we have belongs to him! Who are we not to love him, not to worship him? We should be honored that we're allowed to suffer for Christ! Have joy, even when you're going through hard times, for we get to suffer for Christ! We get to be drawn closer to Him. Happiness may fade away, but the Joy of the Lord can never be taken. Jesus suffered more than many of us realize. He suffered much physical pain. But did He ever say "ouch! Father, these people are hurting me!" "Man, these thorns hurt!" NO! He said "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" His Father turned His back, for God can not look at sin! That's what hurt Jesus the most, that He was separated from His Father. Shouldn't we long to be with God, just like Jesus did? Every time we sin, we're hurting Jesus. God owes us nothing.

We all start out as ugly caterpillars. But God transforms us! And you know what, it's ok if you're still in your cocoon. I know I still am, I'm still being refined like silver.

Dear Lord, create in my a clean heart. Thank you so much for the time this weekend to be TRANSFORMED

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

  

Watch a funny video that us girls made this weekend!