Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday:

Starting our day off right with worship and devotions!

Today we were at the University of Miami! The campus here is beautiful! I kept thinking it looked like a resort. I hung out with Bella all day! We did the God test with a girl from Ireland, ate free Cuban desserts they were giving out on campus, and then had lunch with one of the girls she meets with. They are both Korean so we were joking about that and they taught me the “proper” way to use chopsticks!

Elissa and Kristen doing the GOD TEST with the girl on the left!

Bella, myself, & Elissa!

I really enjoyed hanging out with Bella and getting to know her. She is what I would call an instant friend. We just meet this week but I feel like I have known her forever! I was picking her brain about being a part of a church plant. We have several of the same themes from Strengths Finder (empathy, individualization, & harmony) so I could really identify with what she was saying/ feeling about being moving to a new place and starting a new ministry. Bella has already asked me to move to Miami, so we will see about that! I really couldn't move but I could get used to seeing palm trees everyday!

Pool at University of Miami!

Me and Elissa!

Wednesday

Today we went back to FIU! I started out with Durga! The girl we talked to was Muslim. So we shared with her and asked questions. At the end she said she was glad we talked to her b/c it cleared up a lot of things for her! Wow do I need to study up about World religions again. I have obviously forgotten everything I learned! oh no!

After that we went to get lunch and got to know each other. (Durga goes to UNC.) We talked for a while and then talked “girl talk” with Andrea and Sarah who joined us for lunch. Then we met up with everyone and talked about their mornings. I got ice cream with Sarah and Brittany b/c desserts at least once a day is a must! Then I went out with Bella and Elissa!

Elissa does what I like to call “awkward evangelism.” She will say something funny or calls someone out to start a conversation! This time she went up to these three female basketball players and asked them if they could sing the FIU fight song for her! They couldn’t but it was a good way to start a conversation. We talked to them for a while and then went into the God Test. It was really fun to see Elissa in action!

The girls didn’t really open up about a whole lot about their personal lives. But the one thing one of them shared was real personal. She told us how she didn’t go to church anymore bc she was gay. Apparently she had gone to church with her family before hand and didn’t want to go with them anymore.

How sad is that, that she feared the judgment of the people at her church. It really makes you think does the church catering to the 99, or going after the 1. It makes me thing about myself as well. As much as I like to think I’m open minded, I know I can be really judgmental. This is so not good and something the Lord has been working in my heart lately. I can be judgmental about how someone is dressed and looks. God doesn’t look at the outward appearance/ sin/ tattoos/ immoral lifestyle. He sees the heart. He wants the heart; wants to wash it clean, and bring healing to it. Lord help me to see people the way you see them! I don’t want to be the stumbling block for someone to come to know the Lord. Please help me to point people to you Jesus, and not to a more moral lifestyle…

ECU girls and Elissa!

UNC girls hanging out!

The rest of the day was pretty light. We talked with a few more students and then did another cornhole/mess around sesh for a few hours. It started pouring down rain so we packed up early and then went to eat dinner at Versailles. It was delish! It was Cuban food! I ordered some type of steak and I split appetizers with Kristen and Ryan. This restaurant was so pretty and fun. The owner traveled to the Palace of Versailles in France and used that for his inspiration in designing/decorating the restaurant. (That was the one thing In World History I remembered and was interested and when Girl Scout Troop went to Europe in High School we got to go to the Palace! So it was really special to eat at this Cuban restaurant! Then we all went to get dessert at the bakery! I got tres leches cake and almond cookies. Yum! We had so much fun at dinner and the bakery!

Tonight for the first time it really felt like a family eating dinner. The students weren’t all sitting with the bffs they came with. Looking around at all of the table tonight, I had a cheesy elementary ed. teacher moment b/c I was so proud of all of the students for making new friends this week, doing new things like sharing their faith, some of them even getting on a plane for the first time, and stepping out in faith by raising support to get there! Tonight I am in the room with a few girls but the students are outside, some of the girls are getting cornrows for the first time, some wanted to have Bible Study time, other girls are painting their friends fingernails, I can hear laughing, people worshiping, one girl is in here talking to a boy on the phone… It’s a good night to be the big kid!