To put it lightly this past winter/spring has been HARD! Every. Single. Day has felt like a ginormous task to get through, and somehow not just live in survival mode, but also find a way to thrive, and lead my family to do the same (even when they won't get with the program), and adore the Lord fully not apathetically, and still make sure I show up with the bandwidth bear my people's burdens (ya get the idea). I spent a solid four months in 'mom' mode, and in between two family members who had significant surgeries. The only time I saw my friends was at church, I worked on support-raising in between doctors and physical therapy appointments, and tremendously failing at learning Spanish and connecting with my spanish-speaking church (duolingo notifications are my biggest opp).

But God truly showed up and showed off in the month of May! Starting off strong; my sister had her twin boys! Of course I'm biased, but they're absolutely perfect, and holy cow they love to give us a dirty stank face! In the middle of the month another sister came off the mission field, me and Ashley were tasked with picking her up (iconic duo roadtrip!). We immediately headed back to Rome, GA to spend a vacation week with the whole family close to the twins.

Our vacation house was on a wedding venue property with a pond and beautiful green lawns surrounding it. One morning I took my bible and met with the Lord by the pond; how could I not think about Psalms 23? "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." I learned a lot about refinement this year, but around the end of April I felt the Lord tell me He was going to take me out of the refining fire for a while and lead me into a season of joy. Sitting by that pond I felt exactly that; He was renewing my soul. I looked around and there wasn't a single thing that I lacked, His scripture is still alive and breathing. Every single line of Psalms 23 became less like distant flowery notions, but more of a testimony.

Which is exactly what I am doing right now; I'm testifying. Because the goodness didn't stop there. This past week I met with different friends every single day for seven days straight. Normally I am an introvert, refilling from time alone, and being drained by social interactions, but I truly left every meet up refreshed, full of joy, and ready for the next hang out! To finish out "Friend Week" many of those friends came forward to commission me at my home church before heading to Guate for the summer! Not to mention spending a week of orientation in Gainesville with my future Guate teammates. We had so many great giggles and cartwheels together!

We overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, and this is just a bit of mine. God's word is active and breathing, alive in my life! He shepherded me through refinement, and I wanted for nothing. He brought me to green pastures that I did in fact lay down in. He led me beside real life still waters, and He didn't just talk about metaphorically restoring my soul, He actually did restore it so well after such a difficult season. I can't believe after all this time His goodness and mercy is still following me!