June 7. Happy Birthday to my wonderful Mother! So glad you were born! No seriously, really glad you were born, because if you weren't, well, wouldn't I be in a fix!?! J I love you a whole, whole lot.

Today I'm running on minimal sleep, in desperate need of a shower, find myself sleeping in two chairs pushed together (thank you Michael Hindes for your comfy office chairs!), and feeling incredibly excited for the next 25 days of my life. And if you know me at all, you know exactly what time it is....training camp time! Day 4, to be precise. Sometimes I wish I could record each moment so you could see exactly what all training camp includes, but I'm sure the only person that would watch that entire video would be my Mom, so I'll refrain. But I do want you to know how special this time is. 3 days ago I watched 14 college students arrive at the Atlanta airport, shy, unsure, awkward, and full of questions. That night we went out on the streets of downtown Atlanta and asked God to direct us to the right people at the right time. I challenged my team to "let God be bigger than what you've allowed Him to be in the past." We had some incredible experiences!

2 days ago we arrived at the AIM base and jumped right in to all kinds of good training. We've talked about laying down our rights and expectations, surrendering our fears and uncertainties to God, getting the most out of community living, and interacting with other cultures.

1 day ago I watched God break barriers in our students as they began to worship freely, to open up and be vulnerable with others on the team, and begin to feel a sense of family. Only God could bring that much growth in 3 days! One girl told us last night that she's experienced so much in the past 3 days that she feels like she could just go home now....which scared me at first but then I realized what she meant.

All of this, and I get the privilege to be a part of it. I have repeatedly felt a sense of guidance from the Father, giving us wisdom and insight, and a heart full of love for these students. Frank Laubach, one of my heroes in the faith, referred to this as being "led by an unseen hand." I absolutely feel that way. We've had to make some hard calls, speak some difficult truths, and been bold in what God has called us to do, but God has faithfully shown His hand in every moment. The result has been beautiful! Nick (my co-leader) and I didn't waste any time going deep with these guys (hey, we only have a month with them!), and in return, they have jumped into this journey themselves.

Tomorrow we head to Israel and begin our ministry there. But clearly, God doesn't want to wait until Israel to start His activity among us. No, He started that long before we all met 4 days ago. I don't consider these summer trips as a "break." I believe that they are an intricate part of the journey that God has each of these students on, and their lives will be forever impacted by this time. I have full confidence that He will continue to move among us as we extend His Kingdom to the people there.

These students might have expected to go on this trip to see some cool sights and accomplish a few service projects, but I see something else. I see the greatness that God has called them to, and a large part of this trip is about what He's going to do in them. Shhh. Don't tell them yet. I enjoy watching their looks of amazement as God rocks their world and leaves them...forever wrecked for the ordinary.

Shaping up to be a miraculous month. J