drawing near to him-sdsp 09'

As I unwind and process the experiences of this sultry season, I find it a sweet taste in my mouth. I feel like a top 3 list will best describe the epic journey and will satisfy my compartmentalizing tendencies. I hope that you will enjoy knowing me more and just to see how I’ve known life and God this summer

3. San dog for a summer.. can’t be beat. surfing, longboarding by the ocean, la playa’s cali burrito and the Jesus flowers at UCSD just to name a few. a summer littered with trips to scripps, laguna and huntington beaches, eating the best corndog and having the best nap of my life, working a beth moore conference with 3200 moms and kevlar, seeing the Albuquerque city lights backed up to the sandia mountains with my best friend from project, and capping it off with 2 days at the happiest place on earth leaves me at a loss for words.

2. the people from project are just priceless. on paper, people from virginia tech, new mexico state, st. louis, okstate and the dakotas (to name a few) wouldn’t seem that compatible but it’s amazing how our deep love for Christ bonds us. late night trips to in-n-out burger and hours at the pueblo, condo g and the banana boat made for some of the deepest friendships I have in life. sharing a barely queen sized bed and life with a bro all summer gave me my best friend from project and a trip to va tech is in line in the fall to sustain some of the dearest friendships I have. my growth group consisted of 4 of the hungriest and best men I know and I can see nothing but great things coming for these men of faith. as I met multiple women, I was deeply encouraged by the beautiful faith and trust they have in our Lord, especially by one sister like figure I will miss dearly. my discipler k.g. made enormous deposits of wisdom and affirmation into my life that I still feel the fx of. the appreciation I want to portray to these men and women can never be truly put into words, but i like how paul put it in Philippians when he said he “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” because our relationships were just that, centered around Christ and deeply enjoyed.

1. lastly I can’t be thankful enough for what the Lord did in my life this summer. i joked about never hearing the gospel last summer, but i truly heard it this summer. i never really got what Jesus was talking to the woman at the well about living water like I do now. as I sat on the banks of the rio grande yesterday, true love was again revealed to me. God’s undying, compassionate agape love for me consistently stirs my heart and allows me to live and die for him daily. only with Christ at the center can i live a satisfied life.

I’m excited to be back in God’s country with my family and other sweet friends that I miss, but I know that in my heart an Ebenezer (1samuel7:12) has been constructed that will always remind me what the Lord did this last 8 weeks.

-mandy candy