Let's start with graduation. Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Gran-gran all came up. Mom and Dad got here last Tuesday for graduation on Wednesday. We went to Stefano's (definitely the best pizza in Knoxville) to watch some of the Mavs game after they got here. It was fun and they enjoyed getting to see the strip on Cinco de Mayo! My graduation ceremony was really nice. Very surreal. It honestly is unbelievable to me that it has been four years since I finished high school. It has FLOWN by!! We went to Olive Garden afterward to celebrate.
We graduated!! Me and one of my good friends, Hannah.
With the parents.
And the grandparents.We hung out on Thursday, moved some, and went to dinner before Dad had to head home. Friday we went to the Appalachian museum and Saturday we had lunch with Diana, went shopping, went to the Chocolate Factory, and viewed Knoxville from the Sunsphere. I was sad to see everyone go, but I'm so thankful they had the opporunity to come up. Hopefully they'll be able to visit again with the rest of the fam or I can go home for a weekend. Conner is definitely coming for a visit at some point, and I can't wait to see him!
I started an internship at JustLead, an urban youth ministry in Knoxville. I will be an AmeriCorps member there as well as a volunteer. I have to complete 510 hours by August, so I will be working insane hours, but I absolutely love is so far. It is such a blessing to be able to work with other Christians each day and get to share Jesus with kids. I feel like I'll be in a great position to really impact these kids' lives and I am praying that I take advantage of my time with them and that I have opportunities for great spiritual conversations with them!
Anne and I moved in with our friend Carli and her dog, Darcy, for the summer. We still have a bunch of boxes to unpack and nowhere to put all of our stuff, but I think we'll have a fun summer here. Darcy was kind enough to help wake Anne up this morning and is currently snoozing next to me. She will be ridiculously spoiled by the end of the summer, I'm sure.
Still looking for opportunities in Eastern Europe. Praying about it and trusting that the right doors will be opened and the wrong ones closed. The waiting game is something I'm horrible at, but this has been an excellent lesson in patience and waiting on the Lord. However, I still catch myself praying almost daily for Him to hurry and reveal His plan for the next year....I think I still have a long way to go on the whole patience thing!
And just so I don't end on a dull note, here's a super-cute picture of Anne, dressed as a flower for YOKE camp. :-)
P.S. I got some awesome deals on books from McKay's recently: Don't Waste Your Life, Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, The Pursuit of Holiness, and Crazy Love. I'm way excited to read them all. I started Crazy Love and The Pursuit of Holiness is up next. Can't wait!
