first blog post ever.

I have always enjoyed the thought of blogging and admired those that write and read blogs; yet, I had never caught on to the whole blogging concept..until now. I have seen people use it as way to express feelings to an unknown mass of people but also as an opportunity to allow family and friends to follow one as they travel or go off to do missions. The latter is why I have joined the vast blogging community.

This whole summer I will be venturing off to Southeastern Europe to be the Hands and Feet of God to a dark and ritualistic world. I cannot express to you how excited I am to be given this opportunity..yes, one might say--why not come here and stay in the US?--that is a logical question but this people group [Roma] I hope to encounter and minister to has been a burden on my heart for nearly four years when I first heard about them at Fuge.

(sorry, for the randomness--but that is how my brain operates)

You might be wondering how I came up with a weird title---so I'll tell you.

James 4:14 "You don't even know what tomorrow will bring-what your life will be! For you are a bit of smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes."  While a stranger to the Good News might think that verse is insane, I find complete comfort in it. My 20 years of life has had some rough and smooth parts but compared to eternity, it is nothing! My life that I sometimes consider boring or hard or joyful is like snapping your fingers. The 'bit of smoke' in the verse is translated as a 'mist'..hence the title of the blog..a mist of a life.  When considering the two months that I will be gone--who knows what I'll be doing, who(m) I'll be coming into contact with, or when this body of mine flies Home? My God knows the answer to each of these questions. Each of them have troubled me in this process since I loveeee to plan everything out. However, I must daily deny and carry the cross and forget about these meaningless issues. God continued to comfort me when He spoke through a Sister: Philippians 4:6-7 "Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Give it all away and His peace while be the best comfort possible. In this mist of a life, I cannot fret over these small things but be concerned with the bigger picture that has been set in front me: the eternal life of these Southeastern Europeans.

So please be in prayer for my summer partner, Bethany, and I as we join the family already there and the people we will be serving to have an open heart.

Sorry it was long..hopefully the rest will be short and sweet and filled with stories of God is working over there.