is normal really possible?

September 24- 30

Week three has come and gone extremely quickly, as I am looking at my duffle bag all packed up for our trip to Hartland tomorrow I am starting to wonder where this week went.

This was our first normal week in the building; we had class everyday this week, which was really awesome. Classes went really well, I am really starting to love each class in its own way, and my favorites at the moment are Israel Prep and Life Skills. I love Israel Prep because of all the history and geography in it and Life Skills is just flat out awesome.

This week was special to me because my birthday was on Tuesday, and I have to say it was probably the best birthday I have had in a really long time! Everyone was so incredible, the RD’s decorated my door, Bella took my spot at breakfast KP, Shannon bought me a shake and a ton of people came down to sing Happy Birthday to me. It was so special and it’s a birthday I will never forget.

We also met our Pause families this week, which was so much fun, Jen was not joking when she said Pause Night would be our favorite thing here at Joshua. I was super blessed to have two families, the Fosters and the Johnsons. The night was so fun and we all clicked so well. I have the greatest siblings ever too, I am Taryn, Alex, Eric, Jonah and Ricky. I can already tell that this is going to be an awesome year getting to know them all in a different way outside of the building.

My week ended great as well, I was a HAG this weekend which was so much fun, I was extremely apprehensive at first because the job is a little bit scary, but once we got into the swing of things it was so incredible. Jordan put me as team leader for the first two sessions, which was so nerve racking , I have to say leading and closing those sessions was scarier than actually being up in the trees. We worked with the women’s soccer camp and the ladies retreat. The Ladies retreat was a lot more personal than the soccer camp. It was so awesome to lead older women through the entire Meadow ranch course and to be able to talk them through their fears and tears. I was so proud when all of the ladies went through the entire course even though they were scared out of their minds. God totally kept me calm through the whole day and it was great to be able to rely on Him through my nerves and doubts.

So far in this short time at Joshua week three has been my favorite, it was so refreshing to have some time in the building continuing to get to know everyone and to be able to see that God is bigger than my nerves and if I can rely on Him I will be just fine no matter what the outcome.