THUNDER!!!!!!!!!!

Dear friends,

Outside there is a beautiful thunderstorm. The rain is pouring in buckets and the thunder sounds just above our heads. My family just said our goodbyes to my brother John who was visiting with us for the long weekend. We stood out at the end of the driveway huddled under umbrellas, my sister and I just with our socks on.. It was sad, but probably one of the most memorable and beautiful ways to say goodbye.

Ashley! I am so delighted that God has revealed Himself so much to you through these last several weeks in the Adirondacks! LaVida is an amazing challenge and it definitely sounds like you invested entirely into the adventure, coming away with an incredible spirit of joy and a double portion of passion for the wilderness! :) I can't wait to hear the details of your trip, and I'm sure you have some incredible LaVida tales.. (you too Hannah Becker!)

Do you remember Ashley, that day we were running back on that road behind the ponds? I had talked to you about some of my struggles witnessing to my non-Christian friends. Just Saturday, God opened a door for me to share His amazing message with one of my dear friends. In that moment I prayed and through His strength I faced my fears of offending her and we had an amazing conversation about God, creation, and the God-given hole that every person tries to fill but can only be filled by God. I know His hand was on me and that what I said was from Him and exactly what she needed to hear. I let Him use me in a way where I realized the obvious fact that He knows what she needs to hear; I shouldn't worry about saying the wrong thing when it is something that He desires me to say!! She is not a Christian and still not even sure if she believes in God, but I am awed to report that my friend Katherine, who has always been a cement wall, is opening up her heart in an incredible way! If you think of it, I would really appreciate it if you would all keep her in your prayers.

And now, Hannah and Genny! I can't wait to hear from you and will be keeping you all in my prayers. I miss you all terribly, but I am striving to be in the moment instead of looking back or to the future. I am excited for the summer, I am enjoying time with my family so very much and God has blessed me with a not-so-glamorous office-help job, but one where I am working with incredible, encouraging people.

Much love,
Sarah

So friends, I decided to use this lazy Sunday evening to go ahead and write the first blog full of updates from my life. Right now I am sitting on my couch listening to the tick of the clock and my mother's voice on the telephone - I am wearing my favorite skirt and marveling at this concept of having nothing that I have to be doing. I am still quite weary from La Vida and all of the other events that have been tumbling one after another since the end of the semester, but God is good and life is beautiful.

I want to tell you all so much about La Vida - if only I could invite you all over for tea and scones and talk away the day. I do not know quite how to sum everything up in a blog entry so I will probably just be really general. Maybe I can write a letter to tell you more sometime, or just remember everything to tell you in the fall :)

To begin, a messy little "poem" I scrawled last night - I meant to revise it but have not yet done so. . . this is how I feel when I think of describing La Vida to people:

In times like these and experiences such as those

I wish I was a painter so that I could properly display

the awe and joy of my heart-

with colors and line to my hearts desire.

But if I were a painter that too would feel

insufficient and I'd wish to be an architect (to build you the mountains) or a singer (to sing you the songs of the birds in the morning)

oh to accurately portray this trip!

that my heart would be seen on my lips....

I am not one to quickly say that an experience "changed my life" but my dear sisters, I think La Vida changed my life, or is in the process of doing so at the very least. God taught me so much on this trip about his power and love, his grace and who I am in him, he taught me about being dependent on him and prayer and his goodness and faithfulness, he taught me about my heart and revealed to me desires and passions that I never even knew were there. As I share about this adventure with people back home my heart continues to feel new things and my mind is continually processing and learning more and more from the past two weeks. It is incredible to me that God took my frightened little heart going into this trip, wary and unsure that I could even survive this trip on day one, and transformed it into a confident, joyful, and passionate vessel overflowing with joy. La Vida has changed the way I look at the world. La Vida has left me wanting to minor in outdoor education, wanting to do the Oregon Extension semester and intern in Romania at Viata, wanting to begin La Vida in another country overseas. It is exciting! And it makes me even more excited and encouraged to realize that just as God is continuing to reveal to me more things that are in my heart, there is so much more for me to find out and learn about HIS heart for his heart is a million times bigger than my little one!

My team was oh so wonderful and encouraging; my sherpas were just the people I needed. I loved the simplicity of our days, the realness and truth that existed in every activity, I loved pushing myself and seeing how much I could do in God's strength. I loved running the 8.6 mile run at the end. I loved sleeping outside: going to bed with the sun and waking up with it too. Believe it or not, I loved the food haha I even liked being dirty (kind of) and not having to worry about ANYTHING. Sarah my dear you were right, I really did like it. I want to be a sherpa someday... (Genny I cannot wait for you to go in August and come back and tell me all about it in our DORM ROOM! :) )

And now I am home, eating delicious food and laying in the grass. (I forgot how nice the grass was when I was in the Adirondacks haha) I am anxious for all that summer holds and all that God wants to teach me. I fear it might be busy and I must be sure to take time to rest. You can pray for me in that way - pray that I take time to rest and learn and read and fix my heart on God. Please pray that I would not forget all that I learned on La Vida and that I would not get sucked back into everything that I want to simplify my life of. I want to make it a priority to continue running and eating well, setting aside time for both solitude and community. I want to fill my summer with things both real and true. I want to continue trying to live wholeheartedly.

I scrolled up and realized how long this is so I should really go. haha I don't know much about blogs but I bet there is a rule about not writing a novel, that will be hard for me.

I love you all so dearly and miss you very much. Someone else update soon because I want to hear about your lives! I think of you often and anxiously await the day when we are again reunited : ) ... but don't worry, I'm trying to "be here now" too, I just know what a wonderful fall awaits us!

Much love my friends, much much love.

P.S. I hope your summers are "SO GOOOOOOOD!" :)

Hello, World!

Hello. This is the first post on this blog, a new blog, called FIELD DAY!

It is for us, to tell each other how the summer is going.

Begin!

Love,

Hannah Jeanne