A break

Sooo...I'm really bad at updating this. So I'm deciding to take a break for now and stop posting because I honestly don't think more than 5 people even look at this anymore and that's my fault!
I'm may come back to updating sometime in the future...whether it's in 5 months or 5 years I'm not sure. For this last post though, I'll write about an experience that I just had that brought me so much closer to God!
Last week, I had the privilege of going to Lesotho, Africa with a team from school. We worked at an orphanage called Beautiful Gate, and I honestly want to live there now! God was so present everyday there, and I strive to have more of His presence in my life now!
On June 10 (the day my mom died) I was in there in Africa. I thought that that day would be hard, but honestly it was one of the best days there. We went to a place called good shepherd and got to hear the stories of so many people who grew up there. We also got a  chance to share our stories. I normally don't like being the center of attention... but I really felt God calling me at that moment to share what I had been through. So I did. I can't even explain how good God was that day! ahh.
Here are some pictures of my time in Africa.

The sunsets there were so amazing!

I miss all the children there so much!

These are the neighbor kids around Beautiful Gate that we played soccer with. 

I'm seriously so changed because of this trip to Africa. God is Good! 

Colombia 2014!

For spring break, my family went to Colombia this year to visit our sponsor child! It has been such an amazing experience to be here, but I'm ready to go home tomorrow! Tomorrow we have to wake up at 4:00 in the morning because we have a flight and then a 10 hour lay over...which should be fun.

Here are some pictures from our trip!

Panama  Canal

We went to the Catedral de Sal and it was so cool!

Looking over the city of Botota, Colombia.

February 28

Well, the winter has not died down at all since my last post. We've had 10 snow days total this year and today we had a 2 hour delay! My dad told me that here where we live we've had around 140 inches of snow this whole winter. The wind chill was -15 when we went off to school this morning but it got warmer throughout the day. Oh and also, a while ago the temp was at like 45! So that was good.
Last weekend my school had a dance, so here are some pictures from that!

Something that I read in my devotional really stuck out to me the other day, so I thought I'd share. 

"I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. I know how confused you sometimes feel-and how much  you long to find the way forward. You have tried so many different things; you have been so hopeful at times. Yet your hope-filed paths have lead to disappointment. I want you to know that I fully understand how hard your journey has been. I also assure you that I can bring good out of every bit of it." 

This is from the devotional Jesus Today. 

Also, on another note....If you haven't read The Fault in our Stars by John Green, I highly recommend it! 

A glimpse of Michigan...

It has been a while, I know, but I'm going to try to get back into the routine of updating. The problem I've been having with updating this is that I never know what to write. I've tried to write entries but every time I write one, I feel like I'm just writing in a journal or something. So I've decided that maybe I should start to post more writings. Or maybe about my walk with God. I want to encourage people to follow God, so maybe if I put more about my walk with God on here it can help at least one person. I'll still write about my family too though.
But, there is one thing that I really want to share with you all....and that is the weather! It's crazy in Michigan! There is SO much snow. We have a foot and a half or even more I'd say. We have been out of school since last Thursday. I thought we would go back today but I woke up this morning and got the call that we're closed again!
Here are some pictures of what it's like here. All of these pictures were taken last week, there's a lot more snow now.

Shoveling the driveway is worse than running a mile...Let me just put that out there.

Our mailbox is basically covered completely with snow.

So yeah, that's why school has been out for so long. I never thought I'd say this but I miss school! 

October 28

My family went on a trip out east last week. We went to Hershey park, Washington DC, and Gettysburg. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of our vacation.

We went to a wax museum and had fun posing with some of the people who were there :)

I liked this guy because he was short :)

These are some pictures from Gettysburg.

My dad locked the keys in our car... so this is what we had to do to get in it (after a special car guy came and tried to get in it for 45 minutes...) 

Such a fun place!