simple helpings of joy

today is the first monday where i am not staying at the YMCA of the Rockies. which also means that i do not have project group. however, in substitution to that, i am sporting the t-shirt of jdc to holler at my fellow project group members. i hadn’t mentioned anything in depth about my project group this summer, so this is a post dedicated to them to show how much I miss them & how proud of all of them I am.

i’m going to start with a short prologue: when we first met as leaders of the project group, i think we all just laughed our pants off because the project group leader and the two life group leaders were all named Michelle. how crazy and hilarious is that? the first day we gathered as a project group was awesome. there was so much chemistry between us all that you can start a spontaneous reaction. we were all so unique, but we all clicked so well, i knew it was going to a great fit.

the following are the beautiful people in my project group, Jesus’ Dusty Chacos.

Merle: the only person i knew before project group. he’s great. the funny thing about him is he might come off as the quiet “twinkling eye” guy as mark says, but merle can play the funny card when you least expect him to. what struck me most about him this summer is his testimony. i absolutely love how honest he was, but mostly how redemptive his story is. i’m so excited to see him do God’s will this semester. his desire to see the Father everyday is inspiring, i’m so encouraged by the faith he has to have the Lord come into his life.

Josie: this girl’s smile can light up any room. it was so great meeting josie. i can see that God is doing some amazing things for her at BG and really teaching her a ton over the summer. her receptiveness to receiving the spirit and her ability to discern God’s voice is awesome. she is one of the sweetest girls ever.

Macklin: holy smokes is this girl is gifted with an amazing ability of creating whatever vision God gives her. she is a girl on fire on paper and the Lord truly had given her a gift to help out with ministry though creativity. she’s a pretty amazing person. i love that she has a strong will power to fight for God even when it’s hard. she is not going to let a brick wall keep her from pursuing the Lord. 

Michelle W.: once upon a time, michelle and i were siamese twins. kidding, but we were pretty close. we worked together, we were in the same project group, we were life group leaders together, we had the same days off, we were supervisors of walnut together. there were so many things. i love this girl a buttload. she is one of the most beautifully passionate woman of God i’ve met. her heart is always set on fighting the Good Fight. i’m so glad i got to know her because we got along so well. i am so thankful for our conversations with one another.

Joe: oh joe. my fellow asian friend. if you didn’t know, joe is actually korean, he might not look like it, but he totally is. joe is one of the funniest people i’ve ever met. sometimes i couldn’t take him seriously because he was just so goofy all the time. i loved that about him, he never kept anything too serious. his testimony was an amazing story of transformation and i absolutely loved how God changed his heart and his life through so much pain, but come out so much beauty.

Andrew: it’s been so awesome getting to know this dude. him and kirstin are super cute and an amazing example of marriage through Christ. his aid to guide me though worship was so encouraging and he always knew how to make me a better singer, i really appreciate that. 

Brittany: this girl has the most compassionate heart for her friends. i’ve heard so many stories about how much she cares about her friends and how much she means to people. and it’s not a joke, she care about people like crazy. i love her for that. she always comes up, says hi and asks how my day went. gosh what a beautiful girl with a heart for people. 

Doona: oh goodness, if there was anyone to compare my loudness and craziness, it would be with this girl. i love her sense of humor and how much she speaks truth into my life. she’s an amazing girl with so much love for people. she always wanted me to be the best that i could be and would help me fight lies. she is a strong beautiful woman of God with perseverance that can banish any evil that came upon her. 

Dale: this dude is intense. with a passion for the mountains, this guy can move every mountain on earth with his heart to pursue what God is speaking to him.  a fine young gentleman that is ready to do whatever the Father tells him to do. no challenge is ever to big for dale. dang it, dale.

Ben: the giant teddy bear. he might look super intimidating on the outside, but on the inside ben has a tender heart within his protective outer layer. i can tell God is going to do great things though him. i can tell he really wants to change his life for the better and trust in Christ with all he has, that is something i totally admire. he’s a great guy and his exclamations are definitely ones to love.

Eli: you can see the light of God radiating from this guy everywhere he goes. his desire to see God do great things is awesome. you can totally tell he wants to see the Lord change people’s lives like He did with his. his heart for community is evident in his interactions with people. i’m excited to see God work in his life after the Y. go and get it, eli.

Jason: this guy’s heart for sports is crazy, especially for the texas rangers. however, his desire to see God in people is amazing and definitely cancels the rangers obsession. haha, i am so excited to see where God directs him with his leadership abilities & his faith in what God is doing with him. i’m so excited for him to hopefully be going into campus ministry with collegiate churches. and i cannot wait to support him in mtd. 

Kirstin: oh my, this woman’s heart for broken women is something to admire. she was my amazing staff guide and a great role model as a woman after God’ heart. conversations with her were so natural and i can tell she always cared about me and what i was going though. she was excited to see how God was working in my life and where support was needed. she was a great encourager and always looked for the best in people. i loved her tender heart for people and her craftiness to make anything off the ground into something beautiful.

Thomas: although he was a quiet character, i know with familiarity, thomas would open up. his ability to patiently wait for God to work in his life is something that really inspires me. he’s fighting to keep the desire for the good Lord is awesome, i know his faithfulness to the Father will take him to great places.

Sam: sammie poo. gosh, this girl is beautiful from the inside out. her acknowledgment of people was always so encouraging. i loved our small, but meaningful conversations we would have. she has an quieted heart, but her desire to focus on God was so amazing to see. i am so proud of her for opening up to people even though it was something that was hard to do. i can see her doing some pretty glorious things with the help of the Father.

Michelle C.: one of the most amazing project group leaders ever, probably comparable to jason. LOL but for real, i am so inspired by her ability to seek and hear God’s voice. she has an amazing heart to help women though what God has taught her in her story. i am seriously super excited to hear what God does through her at BG this semester. her beautiful girfts are going to take her far & i can’t to hear about the works that God is going to do in her life. 

Rose: she was the first person that i really connected with out here. he heart was so sweet and tender, i absolutely fell in love with her love to care for me and the intentionality & honesty we had with each other. seeing her brightened my day because she genuinely cared about people and that showed every time she gave you a hug. she had a mom quality about her, which every one loved. i’m so glad to have met her.

Jessica: oh gosh, this girl’s heart & gift to share the Gospel is completely mind blowing to me. give her a person and she can easily share Jesus Christ to that person. it was so inspiring to see her ability to just go up to someone and right off the back be straight up about what she wanted to convey to them. i have no doubt God is going to straight up knock people over when jessica crosses their path. i’m super proud of her.

Benny: her desire to search for God and completely desire Him in her life was something that everyone could learn from. she wanted to see everything through God. i loved her ability to put faith in God to help set the things that went astray in her life, back on path. i’m so glad that God is really seeking to help benny find out where she should be! 

so this is my project group. i love them so much & i miss them like crazy. they are some of the most beautiful people i met and i’m so glad God placed them in one project group so we can all share our experiences of His presence to each other. i’m so thankful for each and everyone of them. hopefully we can all get together someday and have a dusty chaco reunion. :)

*disclaimer* i actually finished writing this yesterday. i was just too tired to edit to make sure everything was okay. whoo!