I work part time at the Hyatt Bakery. It's the best job ever.

These are the things I want to do before I leave:

• Go a whole day without having to ask how to do things or where to find the right type of bowl.
• Make bread all by myself in the gigantic mixer…without the flour flying everywhere because I don’t understand the speed settings.
• Eat a flourless chocolate cake. (It’s a little cake - about as big around as a cookie – and I’ve probably made about a thousand already, but I’ve never tasted one and they look so good!)
• Stop being afraid of the cooler (seriously, it’s sooooo cold in there).
• Break my dependence on coffee in the mornings.
• Eat a cookie. Before it’s been baked.

I LOVE my team!

This picture is from a group date at the Landing in downtown Jacksonville. Next to me is Hannah from Northwest Missouri State, then Cassie who also is from Northwest, and then Trista who goes to school at the University of Northern Iowa. These girls are seriously the best! They came to the program with a genuine heart for God and a desire to grow. Any one of them could probably be the leader for our team, so it is a huge honor that I get to have the job. We've all learned a lot from each other and it's so wonderful to see how God really put us together for a reason. Thanks God!

Things I've been Learning

• What does love mean? Well, God is love, so the most loving thing that I can do for someone is to help them grow closer to Him.
• Waking up early to be at work by 5:45 builds a whole lot of character...and dependence of coffee.
• People are imperfect. So why do I cry out to God and feel like he's 'forsaken' me? He never leaves me.
• The beach is full of endless possibilities.
• Living out Philippians 2:3 and doing nothing from rivalry or conceit is pretty much impossible, especially apart from the Holy Spirit. It seems like even the littlest things are somehow rooted in some kind of ambition.
• The Navigators sure love their illustrations.
• The wheel illustration is great, but it's not how we get to know God. You can have a perfectly balanced wheel, but still not be in sync with the Lord.
• Commercial Baking is incredible. You need 50 dozen muffins? No problem!
• Control is an illusion. We don't have control over anything. If you think you have control over something, just wait.
• Toasted Marshmallow coffee flavor takes early morning so much better.
• The Bible is better than Toasted Marshmallow coffee flavor. Way Better.

Welcome to Relationships week at Jax STP!

I am so blessed. It's really just unreal how blessed I am. First of all, the God of the Universe decided that he wanted to have a relationship with me, which is pretty awesome. And then He decided to give me the resources to be able to read his scripture, and on top of it all, He gave me the opportunity to be at Jax this summer. Wowzies.

My team is just the best. I love those girls soooooo much! They all came to the program with open and teachable hearts and it has been so wonderful to watch them grow in the Lord and in relationship to each other. We’ve all been able to be very honest with each other and it's been great to be able to share wisdom and learn from each other.

So, this week is relationships week at Jax, so we're looking at everything from our relationship with God, to guy-girl relationships and all that fun stuff ;)

Dating scene at STP: short summery, there is none. We’re really encouraged to put that part of our lives aside for the summer because it can be such a distraction sometimes and it really allows for us to learn how to treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. If people are in dating relationships they don’t have to break up, but program members aren’t allowed to begin any type of relationship for the duration of the program. But in order to help us understand how to treat each other with care and consideration (and because it's so much fun) we have a lovely little thing called group dates. Every other weekend, the guys teams ask the girls teams out on a group date. The guys have the challenge of coming up with a creative date and a creative way to ask us out. For our first group date we had dinner together and then went and flew kites on the beach. I can't even explain how much fun it was. The guys that we went with were so great. They really treated us with so much respect and we had such a great time with them.

Today I have a Team Leader meeting. These meetings are one of the best parts of the program. It's so awesome to hear wisdom from the staff members and to work with other leaders and learn from them as well. We also have large group worship and teaching tonight which I'm also super excited for. Basically it's a great day to be a navigator!

Long time, no post. Sorry!

Hello everyone!

So sorry that there haven’t been any updates. The internet at our dorms is a little patchy and I’ve been super busy so the times when I’m free and I can get online have been limited.
I’ll try to at least make an update once a week from here on out.

I arrived in Florida at the beginning of the month and had meetings and orientation with the other team leaders and we had a fabulous time! The team members arrived a few days later and I got to meet my girls.

Every team is a group of 4 or 5 students and every leader chooses a name and central verse. It was so much fun doing that with the other leaders. There were so many awesome names. There’s the Kingdom Strikes Back (in the spirit of Star Wars), Earth Wind and Fire, Transformers, Fight Club, Body Builders, Signed Sealed Delivered, just to name a few. And for all you twilight fans, there’s even a Team Jacob because in Genesis 28 God tells Jacob that his offspring will exceedingly numerous and be a blessing to all the families of the earth. Plus it’s just hilarious.

My team is Team Jubilee. It comes from Leviticus 25 where God tells the people of Israel that every 50 years to have a year of Jubilee where they set all there slaves free, cancel all debts, and let the land rest. It’s basically a celebration of God’s salvation. So, our theme verse is Isaiah 61:10 which says, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

My team consists of 3 other girls and I love them! They are so much fun and I’m learning so much from them all. During just the first week we’ve all really bonded and I’m excited to see what the summer holds for us all as we live and learn together.


During the mornings I’m working in the Hyatt Bakery as sort of an assistant and I absolutely love it. I wake up super early, drive to downtown with my new friend Allea (pronounced like Ally), help chop fruit, knead dough, bag cookies, make whip cream and all sorts of fun bakery things. In the afternoons I have team leader meetings and prep time, and then in the evenings we have program events like workshops, speakers and Bible studies.



We've had some sweet social activies like a sand castle/sand art competition. the theme was “something unseen” We won with our anchor and a heart as a representation of Hebrews 4:19 - “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”

I'm running out of time for more, but check back soon! I'll give you the inside scoop on dating at the program, beach evangelism, things I've been learning, and the group of students from the University of Iowa who are involved in the program.