First and foremost, I'd like to apologize for not posting any updates for you since the camp. I can only plea forgetfulness on this one, and would like to make up for it now, as well as update you on what's been happening in my life since my return to America!
It's been almost 3 months since Lift Kamp happened, and I'm still at a loss for words to explain the big ways that God showed up during that week. In fact, I think anyone who was there on our final night of camp would agree that God was sitting right there among us, moving the hearts of so many campers, leaders, and of course myself and the other planners.
The InsideOut team was exceptional this year -- I can't imagine a better group of people to help bring Lift Kamp together. They were truly a perfect fit for Risttee's Lift crowed, and we will never be able to thank them enough for all they did that week for the youth of our church.
I spent my last week and a half of being in Estonia wrapping up post-kamp affairs and spending some relaxation with as many of my amazing friends as I could. Our church also put on a picnic open to all of the people of Tartu, which ended up bringing in hundreds of people from the surrounding neighborhoods, bringing awareness to Risttee and everything God has to offer the city through us!
My sweet friends threw the best goodbye party for me the night before I left Tartu! It was definitely a night I'll never forget, and I couldn't imagine a more perfect closing to the best summer of my life with my favorite people.
I spent my last night in Estonia in the capitol, Tallinn, with 4 of the people I grew the closest to this summer, and I'm still so grateful to have had them with me right up until I went through security at the airport.
It was such a bittersweet goodbye. On one hand, my heart was breaking knowing I'd be so far away from these people that had become such a huge part of my life. But on the other hand, I knew that although the next 9 months were going to creep along, once they were over, it would feel like I'd never left.
2 months down, 7 more to go, and it's safe to say I'm kind of dying a little bit here.
But before I get into what exactly is going to be happening in about 7 months now, let me tell you about a few of my more humorous struggles since I've been back to America.
First of all, I stopped reading signs and posters and notes and all that, since I stopped reading them all summer because I couldn't understand a good 97% of them. So for a good few weeks after my return, I found myself lost in a lot of places, or breaking rules, or trying to pull open doors that were clearly marked "push." But wait, it gets better. I started completely tuning people out when they talked to me. Although my friends spoke English to me on a regular basis, there were many social situations where only Estonian was spoken for the most part, so I ended up tuning out everything people were saying around me, because what was the point of listening? If you were one of the people that had to repeat yourself for me like 12 times when I came back, I sincerely apologize. I also lost quite a big chunk of English vocabulary, since I got used to using simple adjectives and such to make translation easier. "really," "very," and "SO" became my most used adjectives, and I'm just now being forced to re-expand my word bank, 6 weeks into college. Also, don't get me started on the first time I tried to drive my manual car again...let's just not talk about it at all...
There have also been some less humorous side effects to being back in Georgia. The thing is, when I came back, everything was the same. My friends were all the same, and my family was the same, and it was all just how I'd left it. But I was different. I had changed, in a lot of big ways. The things a lot of people here find important, just aren't to me anymore. It was really hard for me to spend time with friends, because most of the topics of conversation seemed shallow or offensive to me. It was so conflicting to be sitting with people I used to spend days at a time with, and suddenly not want to be around them. In a lot of ways, I've felt very isolated since I got back. I went off and started a whole new life, one with a higher purpose, and that's been hard to explain to a lot of people I spent my high school years with. They don't get it, they weren't part of it, and they don't really know how to respond to it, which was to be expected, but it still hurt.
The time alone hasn't been all bad though. I've used it to continue to grow in my faith and continue the relationships I created this summer. All in all, I'm thankful for all of the changing I did. It was good changing, and I feel like I'v aged years of life experience ahead, which I'm really thankful for.
So now its time to talk about the future...
God has been crazy good to me, and I can't imagine doing anything with my life other than serving him and spreading his love and forgiveness all over the world, and thankfully he's making that possible for me. There was no doubt in my mind that I'd be getting back to Estonia next year, not going wasn't an option! I'm so blessed that God has given me my call at such a young age, so how could I possibly ignore Him and try and live out my life with according to my crappy plan? I'm doing a great work, and I CANNOT come down. So before I left Estonia, I committed to the task of gathering a team of interns and bringing them back with me for summer 2015. Sydney and JP, two former attendees of North Point InsideOut, as well as members of previous IO GlobalX teams to Estonia, have happily answered God and I's call for interns! I'm overflowing with excitement for them, and I'm ecstatic to share this experience with them and watch God work in their hearts the way he's worked in mine.
We plan to leave all together in mid May of 2015, and return during the 2nd week of August. We've already fundraising, and getting super pumped about going!
Another change that will be taking place in my life soon will be education. I've begun college at Georgia State University, and though its a good school, it is not the right fit for me and what God's telling me he wants for my life. I'm currently in the process of transferring to Toccoa Falls, which is a private Christian college in north Georgia that offers an online degree in Christian Organizational Leadership. After a lot of praying, I've decided that this was the right degree for me, and that I need to be saving money by living at home and working part or full time.
Additional opportunities to serve in Estonia have been presented to me within this past month as well. I've been in contact with a member of the YWAM Estonia team about long term work over there through them, and will be taking these next few months, or however long it take for God to give me his answer, to pray about if this is the next step he wants me to take in fulfilling his plan for my life.
In my whirlwind of a life, with so many unexpected twists and turns, which have been both beautiful but also painful, I want to thank every single one of you for your continual support, donations, prayers, and words of encouragement. I can't begin to express my gratitude, and hope at some point I can thank each of you personally for everything you've done for me. I'm so blessed to have the amazing community of North Point Church, as well as my friends and family, by my side from the very beginning of this adventure I started on 3 years ago.
Thank you all for your time, and God bless!
http://www.youcaring.com/mission-trip-fundraiser/risttee-internship-in-estonia/228485
