Happy new year!

This year has definitely been a full one. I feel like I am ready for 2011. New places to go, people to meet, and lots of great opportunities are in store for me in the coming year.

Looking back, I feel blessed by so many things that have happened, how God has answered prayers, and helped me to see His hand clearly in some situations.

I just got back from a week in Nashville, TN. I had hoped to do more visiting of friends and family in Florida and Arkansas, but I and a couple of my teammates ended up driving 9 students down with us. It was a blast!!!! I wish I had gotten a chance to talk to the students a little more and engage with them a little better, but I was pretty busy during the conference.

I was a part of the program team, and this year our conference was set up a little different, so there wasn't a main meeting in the morning and evening, but the students separated into three different tracks. The Chinese Track, Multinations, and EMMO ( Emerging movements - for students that want to learn how to help out with Bridges)

So part of my job was stage director. I got to wear a headset and tell people when to get on and off stage, and be the communication between the back of the room with the audio and video stuff, and the stage and emcees. It was so much fun!!!!! I got to help problem solve at the last minute on a few different things, and help keep everything organized. One of my good friends was the program director, and so it was a lot of fun getting to work with her, and spend time together since she is far away in Boston, and I only see her once or twice a year.

I got to talk to a few students while I was at the conference, but the longest conversation I had was with an American student that was asking about my time I spent in Thailand, and what it looks like to intern with Crusade and and be on staff with Bridges. I felt like he really picked my brain a lot, and I had hoped I could talk to some of the international students more, but I think I was really able to help answer some nagging questions he had, and it definitely seemed like a conversation God orchestrated.

So now I am gearing up to start the semester, and then this weekend I will be in Dallas for some leadership training for the project I will be helping lead this summer!!!! So I am excited to get some warmer weather and possibly some sunshine!

This week I am also home alone at my apartment as I was over Christmas break. For the holidays I stayed at my brother's condo, but it has been a little hard to be by myself for so long. and I hope I won't get antsy this week being by myself before my roommate comes back. I do have a long list of things to get done, it's just nice having another person around to talk to while getting little things done, like taking down the Christmas tree, organizing my desk/office area, and general stuff like that.

I do feel very blessed that I have found a women's bible study to attend. I met one of the girls at the young adults group at my church and she invited me to join her and some others, and it was so nice! I felt like I fit right in and was immediately welcomed in. So now I am trying to get to know some of the girls a little better, and I am able to find time to just hang out with a few of them here and there. So hopefully this week, I will be able to get out of my apartment to hang out for a little bit.