There's no place like home for the holidays...

Once again it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. My only excuse is that it’s been crazy busy since I got back from Thanksgiving. =) Right now I’m sitting in the St. Louis Airport, waiting for my flight back to Portland. (with a small stop in Phoenix) I found a pretty sweet place to chill for the next hour as I wait to board. Laptop plug-in and all! The only downside is that this stool is TOO tall for me and my legs can’t reach the ground =( AND there’s someone sitting RIGHT in front of me….pretty sure we’ve made awkward eye contact at least fifteen times in the last five minutes. *gulp*

It sure has been an amazing couple of weeks though. God has done some amazing things!

I THOUGHT that going home for Thanksgiving would give me clarity about whether or not I’m supposed to stay in the Lou after year team. However: that did not happen. =) I will say that I for sure HAVE fallen more in love with this place and the people here in the last 3 weeks. But…no decision as of yet.

I’m ok with that though. The last few weeks have just been so packed full of God and His faithfulness. I’m not really all that worried about it. I know that HE knows my need to plan things…and I really feel like He’s gonna let me know…when I need to know. =) And probably not a minute sooner. =) (or later)

I guess to sum it all up, right now, I’m just…..chill. =) I was stressing….quite a lot. (typical of me) But in the last few weeks, God has LAVISHED his love me in a way I haven’t felt before. Let’s talk about it, shall we? Alrighty then =)

So…my Birthday was last Wednesday. The big 21. I’ve been looking forward to this for years and I was a LITTLE disappointed when I found out that I wouldn’t be in Oregon for it because Paula, Nancy and I have had this grand plan for a LONG time. BUT God corrected my attitude, showing me once again that HE placed me here at this moment for a reason.

The night before my birthday, Seth and Shannon suggested that I stay up till Midnight. =) BRILLIANT idea. =) They stayed awake with me, playing cards….playing more cards….then playing cards again. I really don’t think they know how much that meant to me. (well…if they’re reading this, I guess they do now) Anyways, that’s just like something that I would do back home with Gina or Nancy. And THIS is one of the things that God has been speaking to me about lately. I’ve suddenly felt like I can be my 100% ridiculous self around all these people here BECAUSE He’s placed me here and BECAUSE He knows what He’s doing! I guess that part of me was afraid of not fitting in…and another part of me was afraid of fitting in too much and wanting to stay.

SO…back to the birthday…we stayed up till Midnight, went and bought champagne. Yum. =) The next day I was supposed to be at the building until 4 and then head to Union, MO for our weekly youth group. We were having a Christmas party there that night. Renee and Samantha surprised me with kolaches. If you don’t know what those are, you have not lived. They are heavenly. For real.  So, they brought lunch not only for me but for the whole office! Everyone in the office hid in the lobby…behind pillars, behind garbage cans….And when II entered the room, they yelled surprise. Err wait, maybe I yelled surprise? Haha… =) Lunch was delicious. Amie, Dillon, Ryan, Josiah, & Jason had gone to Target the night before and bought me 21 gifts! =) AND a pile of cards signed by a bunch of different people. Yes, I definitely felt loved. =)

SO…I thought the party was over…and I was thoroughly surprised…and happy. HOWEVER, I was wrong. =) Samantha and Renee surprised me with a scavenger hunt all across the building! To find 21 items! AND….what’s even cooler than that is that most of the items were cool things that they had heard me mention at some point that I liked. Things like, the purple bag of skittles, a COLORING book with Crayola crayons, hand sanitizer, office supplies, a red spatula, and much much more. THEN we ended the hunt with the last clue, leading me to the roof of the building (where I’ve always wanted to go) AND I GOT TO RING THE BELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =) It was pretty amazing.

Then we had the Christmas party in Union, it was blast. Exhausting, but fun. =) I think the kids liked it which was important.

This ended my birthday DAY….only to be followed by a family birthday night the next night in the Hein household. This ALSO was a blast. =) Seth and Shannon got me this awesome St. Louis coffee mug. =)

The next day we had “Year team Christmas” =) We exchanged gifts…it was pretty cool. =) Josiah had my name. He got me the St. Louis starbucks mug that I’ve been wanting since I got here. AND a cd! (Sidenote: I just love those boys. More in the last few weeks than every before. I feel like we’ve really bonded!)

Hmm…what else. I’ve started a notebook (thank you Dillon for the idea) with all of the prophecies that people speak over me…and words that God gives me. It’s been really helpful to look back over them and see all the promises that God has given to me. =) You should do the same. =)

Alright….time to take a quick restroom break and come back here to board my flight. This really has been a delightful way to pass the time. =)

Love love love you all. =)

Brit