Joy in the Presence of Others

So tonight I was reminded of one of the greatest gifts God provides us, and that is joy. In the truest sense of the word. It is amazing how in the most unlikely of times and after the most stressful of situations, God brings joy. And between school getting in full swing, plans for Kenya starting and my increasingly failing effort to find a job, joy just wasnt happening. But God is great and he always knows how to use impeccable timing. I had alread been looking forward to Ichtus all week, as I hadnt made it to it yet this semester. And it did not disappoint. There is just an indescribable energy (as John said tonight, a power) about taking part in a community of God like that. As soon as I walk in I am just overtaken with joy and hope and a sense of calm. It really is indescribable which means there probably isnt a point in trying haha but I just really felt the urge to share this. And added on to the joy of being apart of an incredible community of people who share a love of God and a true sense of faith and purpose, getting to know my team that I will be sharing 8-10 weeks of my summer with has been awesome. I am getting more excited by the day and truly feel like this experience could be life changing and something that stays with me forever. In addition to my summer team another group has really been tickling my fancy lately and that is my life group. Again this comes back to joy in the presence of others. Between our Sunday night get togethers, the trip to St. George, dinner at Little Apple Brewery, and Wednesday lunch it has been a week full of community in the true form that God intended for it. I'm really excited for what the rest of the semester has in store and am encouraged/hopeful that some great things will come out of all this.

p.s. I hadn't blogged for awhile so it all sort of just came out just now. I'll try not to make it so incredibly long ha.