Week 7

What a week! It's been one of the best weeks yet. Fourth of July set the tone for an amazing week, and I loved the memories that were made this week.

A picture from Crab Island with my fruit loop

Monday started off like a normal work day, except that absolutely nobody goes to McAlister's on the Fourth of July. Go figure. Business was so slow that we were sent home over an hour early (and we were happy about it, too!) my Kaleo coworker Madison and I then headed to Seaside where we were to meet the rest of the Kaleo project, and two other Kaleo projects. There, we ate dinner and spent time with friends, ate ice cream, and watched fireworks on the beach. Right when the fireworks were about to begin, I lost my D-group. My phone was on 3%, it was completely dark, and Seaside is about an hour away from where we live. I could not find them to save my life, and there were so many people at Seaside that it took about 20 minutes before a text would load.

The picture that probably caused me to lose my group. Look at that majestic flag tho

 Fear crept in my mind of being left behind or kidnapped, but I just ate my ice cream and watched the absolutely beautiful and amazing Seaside fireworks from the beach. It was such a wonderful experience, and after about 45 minutes of being lost I finally found my D-group and made it home safely! At some point I even saw a friend from high school, Bailie Edwards, who is a participant at the Panama City Beach Kaleo project. It was so wonderful to see all the Kaleo people from other projects and to see hundreds and hundreds of preppy people decked out in red, white, and blue.

Family Photo at Seaside July 4th

Tuesday was for the most part back to normal, and work went by pretty quickly. After work we had our Stumo night, where we chowed down on Honeybutter Chicken Biscuits from Whattaburger! On this day, the message was focused around prayer. While we've been talking about increasing and deepening our prayer life the entire summer, no message has made me want to pray more than this one. The speaker's explanation of the power of prayer made me want to pray for seriously everything. I loved it, and while it's only been a week, my prayer life has already been so much better. I find myself praying for longer periods of time and over things I would never have thought to pray for. I love the time and power in prayer.
Wednesday was pretty normal as well, and work was pretty busy so hopefully it'll show up in my tips :) . It was our free night, and I think I spent most of it trying to get a strong enough internet connection to Facetime Heath, but I failed and spent a good part of 2 hours on little pieces of conversation interrupted by wifi disconnections. Luckily for me, Heath put up with the bad connection and reminded me of how much he cared for me. I'm starting to miss him and my family and friends a lot, but I know that this investment in my spiritual growth is worth it and that it will enrich those relationships, too.  If I remember correctly I think I also worked in a bit of reading (I'm about 100 pages in on two "For fun" books, and I'm really proud of myself for making time for reading. I've always loved reading, and I'm finally learning to make time for it again).
Thursday was another busy day at work. However, one of my Kaleo coworkers told me that he was able to lead two of our non-Kaleo coworkers to Christ the night before at Starbucks. He had just happened to be at Starbucks, which he said he hadn't been to in a really long time, when two McAlister's workers came in and started a conversation with him that happened to lead in to the Gospel. After sharing the illustration we learned at evangelism training, they both accepted Christ. Ray and Shania are their names--praise God for their salvation, and for working out the details that Steven had the opportunity to share with them! When Steven told us this, we invited the girl Shania to go to World Prayer and Girls Night with us, which was on Thursday night. There, we prayed for Syria and for Muslim countries, and for missionaries and Christians in Muslim communities. At Girls' time we talked about materialism, and I was reminded of the importance of contentment, and the importance of valuing people over material objects. Shania was able to come, and she said she liked it! I really want to see Shania grow in her faith in Christ, so please be praying for her and the other McAlister's workers who have accepted Christ.
Friday was very fun. Work was once again crazy busy. After work, my D-group thanked the boy's D-group for taking us on a D-group date. We did this by baking a delicious cake and sending them on a scavenger hunt, which led them to meet us on the beach for "cake by the ocean". It was a really funny time and it was cool to hang out with the boys for a little while before returning to our room for D-group time.

I made something and I didn't burn it

This time, we staying in our little condo and ate scones and drank tea like the sophisticated and class adult women that we are. :) This week, Eliza led the Bible Study, Micaela led World Prayer, and I led the Book Study. I thought it was a wonderfully productive and fruitful time together. The book study that I led was over humility, and boy was I convicted writing out the study. One of the greatest things I've learned here at Kaleo is humility. After this, we headed to Destin Commons to watch Tarzan! I would recommend seeing it, 7/10.
On Saturday, we went to Destin Commons again to shop and eat lunch. I went to Whole Foods, where I bought pizza. I'm not that healthy, okay? It was delicious. Afterwards, we went to Evangelism training, where we discussed how to transition everyday conversations to talk about the Gospel, as well as the doctrine of hell. Honestly, transitioning conversations to bring in talk of the Gospel and of just spiritual things in general is one of my weaknesses. And talking about the reality of hell isn't super fun or happy. However, it was such a good reminder and motivator for the day. We aren't just offering people a cool story that can make their lives better--we are offering people the chance to accept the gift of an eternity with Christ himself through repentance and placing their trust in Christ. It was such a good reality check. We then headed to the beaches and shared our illustration and the Gospel. Pray for Sara, a girl we met who wanted to accept Christ but wanted to work through a few things before making her decision. Pray that she would see that she doesn't have to work through anything but can follow Christ where she is today, no clean up necessary. After beach evangelism, I went to Walmart with Meghan to find her a superhero outfit for a Kaleo Rave that some of the D-groups created as a D-group date. Afterwards, I cooked dinner then headed to the beach, where one of the guys was leading worship. I remember being a little bit angry and bitter before worship for a handful of unimportant reasons, but worship reminded me of the grace of God, and I didn't feel so bitter or angry afterwards. Worshipping God is good.
Sunday was funday for sure. We went to church, and this Sunday they had communion. I love taking communion. For some of the girls in my group, it was their first time taking communion since deciding to follow Christ. I'm not sure how special it was to them, but it made my heart so happy to take the bread and wine (grape juice lol) with them. Communion has meant a lot to me for a long time, and sharing it with this church in Fort Walton just added to the depth and meaning of it. After, we headed to Alvin's Island for some inner tubes and then to Crab Island! All of Kaleo piled into pontoon boats and headed to Crab Island, a sand bar with food-boats and entertainment. I had so much fun exploring the island, and I even tried french fries from one of the boats, and a snow cone from another boat.

The D-Group (minus Stacey who was on a jet ski at the time) in our boat

There was also a DJ at some point and some floating volleyball nets to play volleyball (my team won). It was so fun! I got to know a lot more Kaleo people and I really enjoyed spending the day relaxing and floating around in my inner tube. After, my D-group headed to McGuire's Pub for burgers and soup with Eliza's coworker. It was soooo delicious! If you ever go to Destin, go to McGuire's! It is worth the wait, and my burger was one of the best I've ever had.

Picture this time 50... that's what our group looked like this Sunday. So. Many. Floaties.

Overall, it's been one of the best weeks yet. My spiritual growth was good, I definitely felt more motivated, I had so much fun, and my prayer life has been great as well. I'm getting closer to sharing with a few of my co-workers, and I'm still being challenged and pushed every day. God is beginning to really show me what my sins and struggles are, and I'm starting to see the challenges that I'll have to face this next semester, but I'm gearing up for them all. I'm learning every day. I love being here every day. This week was such a great experience.

Continue your prayers, they're working!
-Pray that more and more McAlister's workers would hear and respond to the Gospel.
-Pray for the people we are reaching on the beaches, that their decisions would stick and that their hearts and lives would be surrendered to Christ.
-Pray for endurance as we finish out our last full week of work and normal schedule.
-Pray for boldness
-Pray for us as we prepare to go back to our campuses
-Continue prayers for Swift, his family, and his girlfriend, Abbi,
-Pray for my grandma, Kathy, who is also fighting cancer and is in the hosptial because she is dehydrated. Pray for healing, comfort, and answers.
-Pray for my friend Eliza, who is leaving Kaleo early this weekend for a family reunion. Pray she would be bold in sharing her experience and the Gospel with her family.
-Pray for Shania, Ray, and Ajonni to experience spiritual growth in their new Christian faith. Pray that God would provide people to disciple them that they may bear fruit for him!
-Join me in praying for DaySpring Villa, for no other reason than that they are doing God's work every day and the Lord has put in on my heart to pray for them.
-Pray for a coworker of mine who revealed to me today that she is in an abusive relationship with her husband. Her daughter has been taken away because of the abuse and she is going through a really hard time. God knows her needs and hurts. Pray that he would heal her and take care of everything she needs.

Thank you so much for supporting me. Not a day goes by that I don't feel thankful for this experience. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Karla