the next pages

Today I am using up the last pages of my journal. It's crazy to think about how much has happened since I started using it in January. . . .
I moved back to Michigan. I moved back to Jackson. Tanya came back from Peru. I got a job. Tanya went back to Peru. I moved in with Thad and Nikki. I ended up staying at my job (much to my surprise). I reconnected with lots of people I'd missed. Friends got married (a lot of them). I saw my best friend Amanda in Chicago. I spent a week in Indianapolis. I went to a conference at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship. I went camping. I've hung out with my family intermittently. . . the list goes on.
Big things have happened, too. God's done a lot in my heart, a lot, I tell you. It's been a time of major growth and healing, because being back from Arizona was not a fun time for a while until I allowed God to teach me about His purposes. I also felt in the spring that while I was in Arizona God opened my heart back up to doing overseas ministry -- it's something I felt God wanted me to do in some form back while I was in college, but really, the longer I was out of college, the more I lost the vision for that, and I found that I'd become too comfortable with where I was in life. But, as I prayed in the months after I came back to Michigan, God really gave me some clear guidance in this area, and so I signed up with VISA ministries through the Free Methodist Church. At this point I am working on fundraising and the like (you can email me if you want more details/want to get updates about what's going on, or if you want to be part of my intercessory prayer team). I won't be posting details here, other than to say that I'm going, I'll probably be gone for two years, and I'm looking to go sometime late this winter (or whenever the funds are raised). I'm excited, but also just sort of holding on, wondering what's happening sometimes, because it's not reality yet.
In more recent months, I've really enjoyed the communities I'm a part of -- at Comunidad Agua Viva, and at Consuming Fire, a prayer ministry at SAU. I am refreshed and challenged by what God is doing in our midst, and I am truly thankful to be surrounded by so many amazing brothers and sisters in Christ. I have an increasing sense daily of God's presence and love and it's been great to see Him not only change my heart in drastic ways, but also touch others' lives and get a glimpse of His heart for people. I'm enjoying how He's reactivated art in my life, as well -- I used to draw, paint, collage, etc., a lot until I went to college, and I just sort of pushed it away, but I've felt inspired in new ways, which is great because I didn't realize how much I missed it and how much myself I feel when I do creative things.
Anyway. I could say more, I probably will soon, but I thought an update was long overdue.
Oh, what things are contained between the covers of a journal! Praise God for the abundance He has poured out in my life!