Miami - Day 1 and 2

Day 1

Today started out very early at 3:00. JT picked us up so we didn't have to drive to the church that morning. We went through check in, security, boarding, and flying x2 without problems. That was a blessing in and of itself! So thankful!! We got to Ft. Lauderdale at 11:30 and didn't stop running around it seemed like. We went over to the pastor's house had pizza for lunch and lasanga for dinner (which was amazing!), we played corn hole, painted finger nails and toes nails, sang and worshipped in the den, some watched the UNC/Duke basketball game - I fell asleep, and then came back to the church who is housing us! It was a long day and full of new adventures!

I think the team really bonded and were able to get to know each other before jumping out into the mission field, which is nice! We had lots of fun! And I'm so glad that I'm not a leader for mission trips after seeing what has to go on to keep things running smoothly! I like my sleep too much! haha! But seriously, props to the leaders and van drivers!

Day 2

Much more relaxing than yesterday. We all woke up and went to church at the new church plant! It was a awesome sermon! I loved the 'feel' of the church! I'm so excited to spread the word of God this week to the people of Miami and I left church even more ready! Such an inspiring and convicting service! Convicting in a good way!

Pastor Ross spoke about serving God and living your life in a way that the Lord would want you to. I'm just going to list a couple of quotes that sum up the sermon pretty well!

"You'll never change anything unless you step out of your comfort zone." Basically he was saying that as Christians if we stay in our comfort zone we will never serve the Lord and spread the Gospel with our full ability.

"Create not criticize" Instead of telling people what we don't like we need to formulate a solution to fix it. This takes work and prayer many times in our own lives. The pastor's example was how people many times view Christians different than we see ourselves. This is a time in which we need to "create instead of criticize."

This two points ROCKED me to the core. I seriously feel like I have been way quiet today because I have just had to sit back and focus on myself and how I'm responding to everything. Today has been lots of prayer and focusing on Jesus and why I'm in Miami.

Tonight we went to South Beach to eat and walk around. I opted to go to the beach with a group and I loved sticking my feet in the water and talking with people I normally wouldn't have. A lot of this trip is going to be about me stepping out of my comfort zone and expanding my horizon, so to speak. I'm more excited than ever.

Tomorrow is our first day on campus reaching out to the students! Prayers are appreciated!!