The end is near.

Hey family and friends!

We are quickly approaching the end of project and due to that, things have been incredibly busy! Last Sunday we had a $10 prom. What this entailed was going to a thrift store and finding the trendiest (or not so trendiest) outfit you could find for under $10. The outfits were hilarious and the night was filled with non-stop dancing and laughter. I love how goofy we all are around each other and that we feel comfortable enough to embrace our weirdness.

Andrew Kelleher spoke at our weekly meeting on Monday night. I felt like staff had come back, he was such an amazing public speaker, his delivery was phenomenal. I really enjoyed listening to him. He spoke about unity compelled by grace. He made three great points: there is power in unity, sin hindrances unity, and Jesus Christ is our unifying factor. Like I've said in multiple blogs, we were never made to live the Christian life alone. Community is so important, it helps maintain your enthusiasm and within a community you have the ability to expand your knowledge/wisdom. The community I have here is one that can never be replaced, but can hopefully be replicated. My hope is that the six others from Chico and I hold tight to what the community on summer project looks like and return to Chico with a huge passion to have that on our campus. Unfortunately community can be broken, when sin creeps in, it takes our focus off God and puts it on one us or negatively on others. When that happens, it's so important to bring focus back to the one who knows unity best: Jesus. "Our eyes have to be fixed on Jesus in order to unite."

Obviously project is ending within this next week and I have to return to Chico. With that in mind, I have to start focusing on my community there. I definitely struggled last year feeling like I didn't fit in and not making many friends. This year, I am going to get involved and really being intentional with the relationships I form. I feel like Chico CRU needs to regroup and remind ourselves of the purpose of CRU. I have a very positive feeling about this year, my excitement is very high. Many individuals from our movement went on summer project, and I guarantee they share the same vision I do. 

On Wednesday night we had Men's and Women's Time, so we split up according to gender and had a night devoted to fellowship. The women in charge of women's time did a great job. The theme of the night was carrying each others burdens. We started on the beach and filled out a "yes or no" survey then received someone else's survey and stood up when they answered "yes" to a question. It was heartbreaking to see the sin and hurt that my sisters in Christ have gone through. We then filled up gallon size bags with sand and trekked all over the city. Each of us were carrying three or four full sand bags, this was not an easy task, but the representation was amazing. Plus, we had a chocolate fountain after. It wouldn't be women's time without the chocolate! But ultimately, that night reverted back to the importance of community. For me, I want to return to Chico with a huge desire to seek strong woman fellowship. I want to have women I can share my burdens with and can help me work through my sin, and vice versa. That not only strengthens your relationship with your sisters in Christ, but also with the Lord! It's a win/win situation. :) 

At the Thursday night meeting, Lauren Bonanno talked about the importance of community. I won't go into great detail, since I'm pretty sure you've gotten the picture: COMMUNITY IS KEY! But it really is a healthy reminder to see how important community is. I know those of us from Chico that are on OCSP want to pursue deep community when we get home because we have really seen how valuable it is. 

Moving onto Friday, I love Fridays because they are always so relaxing and fun. After work, Katelyn and I went jet skiing in the bay. The water was so choppy, so it made for a good time. That night the McDonald's crew went to dinner at Outback with a few of our coworkers, a last hoorah before we leave. It has been insane to see how far our relationships have come with our coworkers. We are all so close and we have very genuine friendships with them. We only have three more days of work and are all very sad about that. I never really thought about how hard it was going to be to form these relationships and then have to leave. It's worth it though, I will forever cherish these past eleven weeks that I had the time to spend with those wonderful people. 

What else has happened this week...? Well, this weekend was probably the best weekend I have had on project!! Saturday night we held a talent show and it was so much fun to see how many talented people I have surrounding me. Some were just plain goofy, but the number of legitimately talented individuals was amazing. After that, I stayed up all night with a few people on the Heritage Team and we painted the Heritage Room, made homemade donuts, and chatted a lot. I don't understand why I think all-nighters are a good idea, clearly they're not, but in the moment, they're SO fun. It's nights like those that I want to have back in Chico. It was so spontaneous, yet such an amazing time spent together. That night created a friendship that will last a very long time and I'm excited to continue it past project.

We are now in "Blessed to be a Blessing" week. The last week before project ends for semester students. I really have been asking myself where this summer has gone. I would not be here if it wasn't for the Lord's planting the desire to apply in my mind. I still don't understand how I ended up here, it was pulling teeth to get me to leave May 31, but now it'll be pulling teeth to get me to leave August 14. I am very excited to come home, though. I'm excited to use all that I've learned this summer throughout this school year. It's about time to transition from remembering I'm in OC and this is where my focus should be, to I am in Chico and my focus should be on the community there. Before I wrap it up, I want to thank all my supporters again. If it were not for you, I would not have been in New Jersey this summer. I truly cannot express my immense appreciation for your generous hearts. This was a summer that will forever change my life and I am extremely thankful it was in God's will to send me here. I love you all, and thank you so much for allowing me to share my experience with you over these last eleven weeks.

$10 Prom!

Jet skiing. :)

All-nighter, baby.