Not Goodbye, Just See Ya Later.

The past week and a half has probably been the busiest, craziest, but one of the most exciting times of my life. It has been filled with classes, work, events with The Rock, and time with all of these cuties... And MORE.

I have been extremely busy. In a good way, but still busy. Which leads me to what I really want to talk about.

So, during my time at LT, I felt like I was learning a lot about time management. I was working a lot and had to try and balance everything that was constantly going on at the Y, all while making sure that God is #1 in my life. I'm so thankful for this time because it has already been helping me a lot this semester. HOWEVER, there is still never enough time in the day to do everything I want to do, which is why I have decided to do a social media fast for the month of September.

But why?
I have realized how much of my time it consumes... Really. We don't have WiFi at our house, so it's not as much of a problem there, but I still have it on my phone everywhere I go. I want to commit a good portion of time to this so that it hopefully has some sort of lasting effect, so September it is!

What is this going to look like?
Saturday night I will be deactivating my Facebook and Twitter. I will also be deleting the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Blogger apps from my iPhone. Because of class and work I clearly can't give up my email, but basically everything else has to go! I will be back in a month!

How can you get ahold of me?
I'm really not trying to block people out of my life, I promise. Haha. I will still be available to call or text at any time of the day! I like mail too :)

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Anyways, I'm excited for this. I think it will be a challenge, but I really do believe that it will be worth it. I'm excited to be away from all of those distractions and fully be able to focus on more important things. This will be my last blog post for a while! It's been real, folks.




Anna

Until We Meet Again, Colorado.

This past week has been one of the most bittersweet of my entire life.

Here's why:

It has been such a challenging summer. There have been many evenings that all I wanted to do was drive back to Columbia, back to Ash Grove, back to Missouri. Something about "home" just sounded comforting. Easy, really.

At the end of it all though, I wouldn't change a single thing. I have been pushed in ways I never would have been without this experience. I have been challenged. I have been tested. Most of all, I have met God this summer. I knew Him before, but all of this time has made it especially special. So with all of this mind, I have to just reiterate myself: I wouldn't change a single thing. I wouldn't change a thing because I know that He has been working. I know that He has been, and still is, shaping me into a stronger, more faithful woman.

I have been incredibly sad to leave some of the friends I have made this summer. My project group, my coworkers, other fellow LTers... God truly blessed me with a pretty awesome community in Estes Park. I never would have imagined myself feeling this way about people I have knew for such a short time, but I will really miss all of them. I am pretty sad about it, but I am comforted because I know that I will have some great memories to hold onto until we meet again.

So it's bittersweet because it's sad, but goodness, I have so much to look forward to. There are so many great things planned for this fall semester. I just know it. I am excited to start my new job. I am excited to be back  and fully invested in the church that I really found God in. I am excited for fall outreach. I am excited for my classes. I am really excited to see how God moves through our church, through our community group, and through my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ this fall. I'm just excited, alright? Haha. I know that being back in Columbia wont mean that I'm free of challenges. I think that's okay. I hope after this summer, that it will be easier to remember that we aren't put through trials for nothing. He can use anything for good.

Being back in Columbia is so many things. It's comforting, it's familiar, it's warm, it's good. So far, it's everything I wanted it to be, but nothing will ever be quite the same as the summer that changed my life in Estes Park, Colorado.

And until we meet again, Colorado, I'll hold onto these:

Thoughts.

Today is the three year anniversary since we lost Miss Shelby Lea Estep. Man, there are so many things I miss about that girl. I miss her sweet spirit. I miss the way she would say, "Peeaaaanutttt!" every time she would see me. I miss her love for cowboys. I miss her love for everyone, and especially her love for The Lord.

It has been three years since Shelby left us to be with her Savior, but I've never stopped thinking about her. Constantly, I am asked, "What does your bracelet say?" Over time I have came from saying, "It's for my friend Shelby who passed away," to saying, "It's for my friend Shelby. She passed away, but she's with her Lord in Heaven now." It doesn't make me miss her any less, but it sure does give me a sense of hope and a sense of peace to remind myself that she is somewhere far better than here.

Today, Shelby's dad posted on facebook:

"Its been three years and I'm just now coming to grips with the fact that your not coming home. The pain gets easier to handle but the hole in my heart never goes away. See you again soon girl in the big big house that He has prepared."

I have no idea what it is like to lose a child, but I really like the way Coach Estep put it. I am starting to understand that God has taken Shelby to sit with Him up in Heaven and watch over all of us. While I'm sure that is true, there was something about Shelby Lea Estep that could never be replaced. Because of that, even I am left here on Earth with hole in my heart because death is something that I can't exactly understand as a mere human being.

My prayers today are with the Esteps and all of our Eclipse family. I sure do love you guys.

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My family left yesterday after a week long visit. I had the best time with them. I hated that I had to work most of the week, but we still got to spend a lot of good time together. Thursday we went rafting. Here are some pics!

It was sad to see them go, but I will officially be back in Missouri in three short weeks. Goodness, how this summer has flown. I am anxious to be back at my school, with my friends, and close to my family, but Colorado has been such a good experience for me. But I'll save that for the next post. I'm going to finish the summer out strong and I'll be back on here soon writing all about it!

Love you guys.

Anna

My Chains Are Gone.

My chains are gone

I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

Love you guys.

Anna

Maybe a Little Overdue.

So, if you follow my blog regularly, you're like, "Man Anna, you've been slacking." That or you are now thinking, "Ha, yeah Anna that's a little narcissistic of you. I didn't even notice." Either way, well, that's okay because you're reading now, aren't you? :)

Well, if you are a regular follower, you know that I tend to post when exciting things happen in my life. I tend not to post when I am having a hard time or dealing with anything even halfway difficult. No one wants to read about that, and quite frankly, I don't want to write about it.

So the last couple of weeks have been rough. I have been homesick and really missing Missouri summers. Every summer up until now has been roughly the same for me. They have consisted of the lake, swimming, softball, family, friends, etc. BUT, don't feel bad. These last couple of days have been so reassuring. Why? Well, because God is good, that's why.

Last week my mom got a random ride to Colorado with two of my former high school teachers, also my mom's co-workers, also my brother's friends. Kind of funny how that all works. The Houps so graciously gave my mom a ride to Colorado Springs where I picked her up and brought her back to Estes with me. She stayed until Monday evening when she flew home to Missouri. I felt a little bad because I work 8 hours a day, which meant she had to find things to do from 10:00-6:30 all four days besides Monday when I was off work. We spent a lot of good, quality time together in the evenings though, and that was pretty great. I just want to give a big thanks to the Houps for driving her out here, my momma for coming on such short notice, and my daddy for being so supportive of my mom's adventurous decisions.

So between that visit from my mom, my LT workshop that started Sunday, and Project Group yesterday, I have had an attitude change. I am feeling much better about my summer here. I have been reminded that God really does provide. Learning to surrender to Him and trust Him with my whole life is a challenge. There's no doubt about that. I feel though, like I am learning more and more on how to do that every day that I am out here. No one ever promised me that it would be easy here. But it will be rewarding, and (I think) worth every second.

Love you guys.

Anna

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew 6:33-34