Pass It On Tour!

Today we're leaving on the road for three weeks to join in the fun on the pass it on tour! We'll be spending each week in a different country towns, towns that people here in Australia have been like, "Why in the world would you go to these towns?" This is because they're in the middle of nowhere, basically. It'll be sweet to see the Bush of Australia, but that's not why we're going. We're going to serve these towns; putting on events in the town during the night and doing service projects and visiting the Schoolies during the day. It doesn't seem like much, but after hearing how the tour has been going for the past few months from other teams, I'm SO excited! We get the opportunity to travel to these random towns (Beadesert, Boonah, and Warrick) with the sole purposes of building relationships with the people there and serving the community.. when people who live here haven't ever gotten the chance to travel to these places to do that. It's exciting! The coolest part is actually that we are pairing this with an intercessory act of running. Each week, there will be groups that instead of driving to the town, they'll be running. Yes, literally running. Whoever is on for that week will be taking 4K each and then rotating until they arrive at the town. During this time, they'll be praying for the land they're running on as an act of taking back the ground of Australia and declaring it God's; praying for whoever and whatever comes to mind. It's an amazing thing to be pushed physically and spiritually at the same time... something really powerful and I'm so blessed to be able to be a part of it. So, yeah that's just a quick lowdown of what my time will be like until we get back on December 9th, it's strange to think that we'll be gone that long, but it'll be awesome! I won't have internet for that time, but I'll post something to update how it went when I get back.

Much much love,
Lyss

Outreach Location!

Although we don't have personal pictures yet of our destinations, here are some pictures to give an idea of where we will be in South East Asia. Smack dab on the equator, temperatures average out to about 90 degrees Farenheit and about 36 degrees Celsius. We will be traveling around and working with orphanages as well as other involvement (to be determined), but here's a sneak peak of what our journey is going to look like!

 Kuching, Malaysia

 Pontianak, Indonesia

Orphanage/Villages in Indonesia

Outreach Location!

Well... that wasn't a long wait! We found out this afternoon-

I'm off to Indonesia/Malaysia with THE BEST GROUP EVER! 

Leaders: Kat and Cory

Group: Me, Paige B, Sarah, and Lesley

I'm seriously so excited! Wahoo!

10/23/12

I'm just so excited, I'm gonna burst! There really isn't even a specific reason besides God is so good! Which is definitely reason enough to be excited. I'm looking forward to getting to know Him more and seriously I've never enjoyed life in this way more than I have the past few days. The funny thing is, these past few days I've been getting more and more homesick, I miss people and home, we're still waiting to hear about our outreach groups, and overall I've been really tired; the few days that nothing has really happened, I have had the best time in company with God and have drawn closer to Him! I've decided to keep pursuing Him even more and it has been so much fun. Yesterday during homework night with the whole class, I was sitting on the ground  working away and was distracted by an ant that kept crawling around my feet so I was intent on watching it, I was intrigued and amused... call me crazy. I was listening to my iPod, and all of a sudden the ant stopped, lifted it's front legs up in the air and literally started dancing... I'm convinced. It was definitely dancing to my music. I could hardly contain my laughter and who knows if anyone was watching me watch this ant, but I knew God was so amused too. I'm finding joy and love for everything, even the little random things that I used to overlook. I was going through the homework and eating up all of the verses and I was seriously SO tired, but got energized from the promises and truth in the bible that by the end of the night, I didn't even want to go to bed, all I wanted to do was spend more time with God. It's like I'm getting a glimpse of Heaven! It's so hard to explain what's going on with me inside, but all I can say is that it's life changing. It isn't life changing because I flew to Australia and decided to take a year off from college, it's life changing because I chose to pursue God and dedicate my time here to getting to know His voice and to fall more and more in love with Him. It's as simple as that. Already, I notice myself growing in joy, in patience, in humility, in hope, a new attitude... all of those things, but most of all in desperation. It's kind of an oxymoron, but it seems like most of what Jesus taught is that way; we have to die to ourselves in order to truly live, that to be a good leader we have to first follow, that in order to really receive we have to give everything away... so just like that- the more I get to know Him, the more desperate for Him I get. It's a beautiful thing.

Just some thoughts... but much love to you all and I'll post an update on what outreach location I'm chose and the groups when we find out!

Outreach locations!

Woooohoooo! Today we found out our outreach locations... it was through "Storytime with Nana" where our school leader, Hannah, dressed up as "Nana" and read to us a book they as a staff wrote. Meanwhile, they didn't specifically tell us that this was going to be the grand revealing of the locations, but we all are smart cookies and assumed. She read the book and it was all full of clever rhymes and hints to each place, while the other staff acted out what she was saying. It's so awesome to have such a creative staff group... they're all hilarious! After they went through all of the options, they told us that we aren't allowed to talk to each other about our decision making process or anything, which I think is really helpful because I would definitely consciously or subconsciously sway my choice to where some people decided to go. SO without further adieu:

India
Germany/Czech Republic
Indonesia/Malaysia
Russia
Peru

Yay! So those are the options... our deadline is Friday morning, so I will update on my final decision then.

Other than that, I've been learning so much... it's so hard to believe our whole week on Father Heart of God is already over, there's so much information to process and I feel unsettled in a way; confused almost. It's a lot to take in at once, but it's still amazing nonetheless. This week is on Hearing the Voice of God, hence why we found out our outreach locations this week. Our speaker this week Jason Solari is in charge of the independent film production here called The Initiative, he's an amazing and interesting guy so I'm really excited for this week. There has been an intense focus here on the importance of the relationship with God, rather than just a religious spirit towards God, which I have always been aware of the importance of that, but today he broke it down and peeled my eyelids back even further to a new perspective... seriously I'm blown away by the amazing teachers here. I say that I love God and am close to Him and that we have a relationship, but when I truly was honest with myself and thought about it, if God was a human being on earth, I would be the worst friend to Him ever. I don't even spend that much time putting in effort to getting to know Him! Only when I want, or when I do take out time, I expect Him to speak clearly to me or do something crazy so that I know He's there... anything for Him to basically prove Himself to me. It's disgusting! But it was such a great splash of ice cold water today because it gets me that much more excited to finally know why I felt so distant to God; it was because I was the one sitting back on the couch waiting for Him to serve me, while He has such a bigger plan! It's like me meeting someone, declaring we're best friends and then expecting them to know my favorite color, my mom's name, my favorite food, everything that's going on my life... and then also expecting them to come hang out with me and do whatever I want to do even if that's not what they like or have planned... Just because that's what I want to do or want from them. How ridiculous does that sound?! Because it is ridiculous, and selfish. It's what I have found I've done with God. We have this tendency to meet Him and declare that He's good and faithful and that we love Him, while we don't even spend time with Him. So, that's where I am! I'm excited to actually know God and know His heart, to grow in relationship and intimacy with Him.

I wish every one of you could be here with me experiencing the classes, community and activities, but am so glad you can still read glimpses here and I also just want to say thank you for being so active and involved in my life, I can safely assume that if you're reading this I miss you a lot and love you!

Much love,
Lyss

Dear... (your name)

God is so thankful for your heart. Although decisions that you've made have affected you, it is not the end. The hardness that has built up around your heart is not permanent. Your confusions about God is understandable and He isn't mad that you have questions. He isn't mad that you've ignored Him or haven't chosen to pay attention to Him. Whether or not you believe He's there doesn't affect His goodness and His presence and most importantly: His love. There's nothing you could do to make Him forget about you like many people have in your life. He's different, He's the exception. His love for you doesn't even seem to make sense, it doesn't make sense that He loves every one of us because we mess up and we make mistakes. But don't let that condemn you and don't let guilt and shame fall on you. Let acceptance of His love and willingness to receive His love pour out instead. Ask Him questions, tell Him your confusion and your worries, cry out to Him, even if it's like a temper tantrum kicking and screaming. He wants to listen. Because He loves you, unconditionally and without hesitation. He's waiting with His arms spread wide for you to turn around and leap into them. He'll pick up your feet when you can't and will never turn away. He isn't scared of your past or intimidated by your decisions. There's nothing you could have done to make Him cringe, because He chooses to only see you as who He originally created you to be. He'll speak to you, in visions or pictures, in a crystal clear voice, or in a simple thought. I promise. Just ask Him your questions with an honest heart and with patience... soon enough you'll silence yourself enough to be able to hear Him. Explore His love. It's worth an earnest try.


Much love,
Me

Ahhhh!

On Monday, we started lectures. Each week is on a different topic, so there are classes in the morning that pertain to that specific topic. This week is on the Character and Nature of God. Although it's pretty basic information, it's amazing how much God is revealing through our teacher, Hannah! The passion and new perspective is awesome and I've never been more confident in my faith until this week, just because of the truth that is spilled out and it seems like all of the pieces of the puzzle are fitting together in terms of the world and why it is the way it is. It couldn't get much better because it's so apparent that God's hand is on each word that is spoken here in leadership. She shared this video with us today during class... blew my mind! I'll link it here and you have to watch the whole thing.. you won't be disappointed.
Also, we had open community worship held here at the base. Whoahhhh! It was so freeing. Everyone went crazy and I loved it! There was such freedom in the room to dance or sing or shout or pound on the djembe or pray or reach out to others, or do all of it at once and mannn oh man. It was packed full of people and packed full of praise.. but the best part is that it was packed full of God's presence. In that time, it finally stopped becoming about me and my worries or me and my insecurities and instead was wholly focused on praising the one who created EVERYTHING. He doesn't need my praise, He already has the ocean and the stars singing Him praise every moment of every day. But that's what makes it so much more precious, and that's what makes it such a blessing to even be able to give Him worship. It's all about Him.

a season of blessing

God has been taking me through a season of not only blessing, but helping me realize how blessed I truly am. The community here is amazing, each person is so welcoming and sweet and so interesting... it's so exciting because we all keep saying how close we are going to get over this period of time, yet we already have bonded in such a close way. The most beautiful part is that God has bonded us altogether. Although it's hard not to have preconceived notions about people (good or bad) by first impressions and such, I've realized that I've been looking at each person with welcoming and loving eyes because I appreciate their purpose here. I can see how much God loves each one and it's incredible how much my perspective has changed towards people now that I've begun to look at them through God's lens. I feel so blessed.

Saying that, I feel blessed because I'm in this fantastic season, but I've realized also that I'll still feel blessed in hardship. Either way, in the good or the bad, I will be in this season of blessing because it's God's way and it'll be for God's glory. The importance of outlook has struck me and I'm just learning that when we praise Jesus and look up to Him as love itself, His peace will be overwhelming. I'm ready. I am so ready. I've trained (however not completely) my mind to turn away from the thoughts that will harm or make vulnerable my spirit, and instead choose thoughts of love. The biggest thing for me is pride; pride not in a manner of overconfidence, but in one of selfishness. My pride causes me to desire to do what's beneficial for myself, to expect God to give me what I want, and to have others' pour out their care onto me. It's so deterring in a way that is sneaky, but God has begun to show me how holy He is and how little I am... I need to lower myself so close to the ground that there is no space between the dirt and my face. He is so Awesome, so Amazing, so Pure and so Holy and my pride is what is keeping me away from a life that is completely all out for Him. I know that when I break myself from that, I'll be able to hear Him so much more clearly. I will be able to stop going off tuition and feeling, but rather start living my life abandoned and wholly entrusted in Him. It's all about God. His presence would reign whether or not I'm alive and that is so humbling in itself. Take me on this journey, God. I'm ready and zealously willing to do whatever you want.

help me find my own flame

Before I left on this trip, I listened to Will Reagan's Live at the Banks' House album... a lot. There was one song that stuck out to me, however; here are some words to this song (Help Me Find My Own Flame) that described my feeling towards this next season on DTS:

I don't wanna ride on somebody else's passion
I don't wanna find that I am just dry bones
I want to live with unquenchable fire,
Deep down inside, see it coming alive
Help me find my own flame,
Help me find my own fire
I want the real thing,
I want the burning desire.

Guess what song we sang in worship at the Welcome Dinner... yep. You guessed it. Help Me Find My Own Flame. Shocker? Nah. God's awesome.

ma space among 12 lovely ladies!

the classic luggage pic and saying goodbye to the fambam :(

Music is so fulfilling. No matter who you are, music can fulfill. Find your own genre and there's something there that has the ability to fill you up and satisfy... it's such a universal concept and has grown with us. We crave it, we depend on it. Imagine a world without music. It seems so empty, so desolate, so hopeless.

Have you ever heard music so good that it hurt? So beautiful and perfect it makes you cry? Think of that song that is so rich and complete to you; one that stops you in your tracks and all you can do is close your eyes and take it all in. Listen to it right now.

It's like time stopped, right? Like nothing else in the world really mattered as much as what that song provided. But there's the thing, everything in that last sentence was past tense. It ended. The song ended and yeah we can hit repeat, but it doesn't change the fact that there was a beginning and an ending and nothing became new. But in that moment, there was a taste of forever and it hurt. It was so beautiful but it was sad because there was an emptiness.

The concept of eternity has been hitting me recently. More like smacking me in the face. It scares me, wakes me up in the middle of the night in a panic, and not because I'm scared of dying, but I'm scared of forever. I can't fathom the reality that after my body's clock stops ticking, I will immediately enter into this place that literally has no end. People think that believing in God is just an excuse to have peace about dying.. I think that is completely opposite. To me it is so much scarier to grasp ahold of this place where time doesn't even exist, a place that has no end; it seems easier to accept that once we die, that's it light's out for years to come.

But each part of us craves this eternity. It holds such beauty at the core that it hurts to understand it, but it fulfills... truly fulfills. Here in this life we can never really be happy; there are always goals and once we reach those, we create new ones, new desires, and new surroundings. Of course we can enjoy what this life has for us and experience it to it's extent, but it is inarguable that we won't ever satisfied. This isn't cynical, it's eye opening and makes the other end shine even brighter; I truly believe that nothing here on earth completely satisfies us because we have that yearning inside of us for the feeling that forever holds. Each one of us has that hole that God fills in eternity.

God is so freaking awesome!

So, the other day I was at my desk at work, sitting in my swivel chair with my headphones on, basically getting my worship on as much as I could being in a professional environment. As I was worshipping, God's presence totally fell on me and it was overwhelming! I could barely contain myself and my laughter so I went to the bathroom, locked the door and laid on the ground. I know I know, gross, but hey girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Quick back story, my right knee has been really bothering me for at least a month. I'm not really sure what I did to it to make it hurt so badly, but it was this daily pain and strain whenever I would walk or stand up and that particular morning I had woken up, gotten out of bed and right when I put pressure on it, it was killing me. Okay, so back to me laying on the bathroom floor. I was laid flat out on the ground just soaking God's goodness in, but in the back of my mind I had this sensation to pray for my knee. Usually I feel like when people pray for healing it is through another person; like it'll only work in groups or something. Boy was I wrong! So, I started praying a short prayer asking God to heal my knee and all the while, I'm smiling at how great God is for just being him, not even really focusing on my knee. What do you know, the pain was gone; literally vanished. When I stood up, I didn't feel any pain at all, but I was pretty nonchalant about it. I was super surprised that the pain was gone, but in my mind I was like, "Oh, I probably just can't feel any pain because I'm so happy or something." Fast forward to the rest of that day... no pain! And still, as of today I haven't had any pain since then! Seriously, God is REAL guys! He didn't need anyone to come pray strength over my knee, he healed it right then and there by myself. I know it seems crazy but all it took was me reveling in his beauty and focusing on him and he blessed me that day with healing of my knee.

Holy Ghost party anybody?! Whoop!

If you think of someone you care about, someone close to you, it's easy to picture them in your mind. The instant that the name comes into your mind, an image can easily be conjured up. When I think of my own name, though, it's really hard for me to picture my face. I have to think about it for a while until I pull all of the details I know about my face and knit them together to form an image of myself in my own mind. It's an odd struggle, trying to picture an image of myself in my own mind. Now, just because I can't picture my tangible face doesn't mean I don't exist because well, I'm the one thinking. When I consciously think about God, it's hard to stay focused sometimes because I can't quite make an image of him in my mind; there's no face to put to who I'm talking to. Then, I think about his qualities; what I know. Sometimes I picture a pitch black cave, with only stalagmites and stalagtites shining light across the space. The cave is filled with a spacious dark pool of water and in the middle is a small, rocky, and cragly island; there sits this beautiful basin made of different clays and stones and perfect gleaming earth toned gems. It is filled with the purest water and looking from the top, it seems like there's a bottom but if you reach in, it would never end. Then I start to imagine God's personality; I think of his qualities and one by one, translucent colors fill the basin of water. He is love; faint pink swirls and sinks down to the bottom. He is patient, a light bluish gray follows. He is thoughtful; purple sinks down. He is intricate and wise; a silver stream of grey swirls around. He is funny and boisterous; orange and red dance down together. He is humble, a mint green glides down like a piece of paper does through the air. He is the light; bright whiteish yellow bursts around and starts to light the room. He is understanding. He is patience. He is kindness. He is gentleness. He is peace. He is steady. He is strong. He is the protector. He is papa. He is healing. And as each color comes out, they reflect off of the gems of the basin and stalagmites and soon bounce onto the walls of the cave; the most vibrant colors filling the cave. His qualities are so countless that new colors never seen or imagined before fill the room. There's no way to ignore the colors, they're everywhere - soon it's all that can be breathed in. I walked into the cave blind and awakened to the most beautiful awe-inspiring artwork impossible to even begin to imagine. As abstract as that is, it's only a picture that gives a glimmer of a reminder me who I get to call Abba, father. Who I know is love. And love is all of those qualities. But a picture explained through words can't even begin to explain the vastness and complexity of God, it's almost a frustrating task because there is nothing that would do justice to describing our Creator. I become so overcome with emotion; His presence is the welling that comes to my eyes and the tickle that crawls up my throat without warning, I just know he's there. I could never claim to explain it, but do and will always know it. And best of all, he isn't just the abstract picture in my mind, he is real. He is a person. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a relationship with the one who loved me before anyone did and loves me more than anyone could ever dream. All of us who deserve nothing instead receive everything without asking, without even thinking of asking. That's who He is. He is love. Incredible, awesome love. Indescribable and self-sacrificing love; in every sense.

Support Letter!

These past few months have been unbelievable for me. Although I would never give back my experience and everything I learned in high school, I honestly feel that I’ve grown more since high school ended than throughout all thirteen years spending at school. That being said, I know that this isn’t true, even though I feel that way. Each day of those thirteen years shaped me into who I am today, in a subtle way but nonetheless incredibly important. I couldn’t be more thankful for that time of my life, but already I find myself looking back on it as if it was ages ago.

A couple of summers ago, I went on a
 missions trip with my church to a small
 village in Haiti called Ti Rivier. We flew
 into Port-au-Prince and since it was
 soon after the earthquake, the
 devastation was incredible. On the news 
at home, it was sad - more of a 
detached sorrow - while experiencing 
the chaos first hand was so impactful
 and was like nothing I’ve ever felt
 before; I felt my eyes open for the first
 time and won’t be able to close them
 again. We stayed in an orphanage and
after spending a week with those kids as
 well as the others in the villages and up
 the mountain, such joy radiated; it was
 contagious! They were so eager for the
Lord and in the midst of a heavily-
spirited place, God’s Presence was the 
loudest; through the voices of those
children. My heart really gravitated toward that pure joy and raw fight to break from bondage and from that experience, a hunger has been yearning for more; I want to be a part of it.

For those of you who didn’t know, I have decided to take a year off and be part of a six-month program with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). There will be a four-month discipleship training school (DTS), which is at a base in Brisbane, Australia and will have an emphasis on music, arts, and dance; I will be partaking in the music aspect. During that period, I will be learning and preparing for a two-month outreach after the DTS. The outreach isn’t determined yet, but I’m anticipating that it will be somewhere in close proximity to Asia or Africa (as non-specific as that is, that’s the gist of it). Overall, I’m so excited for this opportunity and to fulfill a calling of participating in the spread of God’s love and character. It’s a scary thought to be going a different way from the pack and stepping out from the norm, but it’s where my passion lies and where God has sculpted out a path for me.

God has completely rocked my world in these past few months and I think that it’s because after graduation, I finally took the leap of pursuing him and his love above all else. Each person in the WHS graduating class is moving onto a different path, each leading to different places; all over the world. For me, it truly is across the world – Brisbane, Australia. Most of you probably know or have an idea of what I plan to do this fall, but it is starting to become real to me as there is only about two months before it becomes my reality. That’s a scary thing, especially for me. But I couldn’t be more joyful and excited for it. God has already begun to work in my life immensely and has given me so much joy; I’m falling in love with Jesus and that has given me an even bigger heart for mission work and spreading that love everywhere. He has transformed me and I’m starting to find myself in this journey and I want to thank everyone who has supported me through different means; whether that’s through encouragement, prayer or monetary support. It is all very appreciated; I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am for every single penny and thought because it is your support that will get me there. I am working this summer fulltime and have been saving, but the program and travelling costs will reach around $10,000 and that is going to come through complete faith and reliance on God. I trust that this is what I’m supposed to do, so I trust that God will provide. The course begins on September 26^th, 2012 and ends on April 12^th, 2013 and consists of three study periods. During study periods one and two, there will be classes during the day, but also work duties throughout the week as well as involvement in the community; serving others but also learning and growing in equipping for the work that we will be doing on the overseas outreach, which is the third study period. This third period is about nine weeks long and I’m not sure yet where I will be going, but this final period will be overseas mission work. I am so excited for the adventures that this time will hold, but I do ask for your support. I created a blog that I will be updating regularly so I can keep everyone updated on what is going on so you can be a part of this journey with me: http://buhlface.blogspot.com/. I will also send out emails occasionally to keep everyone updated in that way, my email address is buhlface@gmail.com and you can email me if you would like to be a part of that.

All of you have been such key instruments in my life and growth, each impacting me in some way and I’m so thankful for that. Fundraising is a large part of the deal and it is going to be a lot of work; I ask for support, whether that’s through encouragement, prayer, or monetary donations, I would appreciate it immensely. Although it is a lot to ask for, I trust it will be provided; any amount is a blessing. To send money, you can write checks out to Vision of Glory Church and put my name on the information line. We set up an account at my church so all of the money will directly go to my cause, it is just set up as a central place to send the checks for beneficial tax return purposes on your end. I thank you again for the support I have already received and for the encouragement along the way; I am genuinely so happy to have each one of you in my life and appreciate it all. 

With love,

Elyssa Buhl

7/25/12

Jesus is totally romancing me. He is wooing me and overwhelming me with his sweetness; like thick honey covering my entire body. His love is so pure and genuine... so real and so beautiful. It truly brings the most ginormous smile leap onto my face and soon that little chuckle follows, which turns into pure laughter and joy from just the whisper of a touch of his breath. Nothing can compare to the outpouring of love that I feel pressed up against me. I will never walk away from him. I promise. The sun can get covered up by fluffy cotton candy clouds or dark and gloomy clouds, but there will always be a sun that peaks out again; it never left, it was just covered up. God's love is that; always there. It never leaves, because he never leaves. Ever. Jesus truly never ever leaves, it's us that decides to walk or drift or even run away. I will never leave him, because he has never left me - and already pinky-promised to never leave me. He will never break that promise, so how could I? He has written the most stunning love song to each of us and I never will stop submersing in it; for the rest of the days of my life.

Jesus you are so beautiful. You're the most appealing sound to our ears, the sweetest touch. You're gaze is so piercing and immediately brings me to joy; a single gaze is all it takes. I can't even imagine how it will be when I begin to receive your words and hear what you have to say. I pray that you open up all of my senses so I can act as a vessel of your love. I thank you for the love you have submerged me in and can't wait to spend the rest of eternity praising and worshipping you; the most beautiful, awe striking, awesome God there ever has and ever will be. I am honored to be a child of yours, it brings me to tears to think of the love I know you have for each one of your children and couldn't be more proud to call you my Father. Jesus you are SO beautiful. Amen.

stillness

I am so excited for God! It's crazy to look back at these past few months to see how much I truly have grown since graduation, even. This journey seems to have started on the last day of school and although it's a shame that it took so long for me to get on the road, I'm all packed up and ready for the path He has already paved. It's all so appealing to me; the adventure, the promises, the joy, the peace. And I haven't even reached the fullness of those yet, I've only come to the realization that they're there ready to be discovered! What I have gotten to experience, however, is God's peace. At work, I have gotten into the habit of putting in my headphones and listening to worship music or podcast lectures and it places me on this diving board that I bounce up and down on with excitement and sprint off in a cannonball into the water; swimming in the Holy Spirit's presence. I'm so thankful for it. It's not like my day consists of profound situations and miracles in a normal sense, but in a different way it actually does. The stillness and peace of the Lord is as profound as it gets! With the help of others' knowledge and wisdom, I've grown to find out that the closest we can get to God is through His peace and our silence. I'm peeking out from below the dirt and discovering this humongous world that I never knew even existed... it's the most exciting time of my life and I know it (along with my relationship with God) will continue to grow and grow and never stop growing.