4th day in Singapore! Had an awesome day!!! Just a preview from the first couple days I was here......My body wasn't adapting well to anything.  I got here an was shocked by alot of things.  I was scared and felt homesick.  Everytime I ate I felt nauseated.  My body was freaking out over everything.  The only students that had arrived were me, Tim, and Sean, so I could barely wait for Jenn and Sarah to arrive.  I felt like I would feel comforted by the fact that I would have girls here and that I could relate to more.  But I found that even though I felt a little better when they arrived, I still didn't feel much comfort.  I needed something more and I thought that going home might help; not that I would go home or had the choice to.  Finally, after leaning on everything else for comfort in this uncomfortable place in my life, I decided to lean more on God at this time and to completely trust Him.  I had to be reminded that I am coming here for Jesus and to grow in my relationship with Him and that I need to become completely dependent on Him.  He is the air that I breathe but once I arrived here, it was like I stopped breathing for a moment.  The enemy tried to come in and steal from me and discourage me.  But I had to remember that my God is with me WHEREVER I go.  He is protecting me right now and has His hand on me and I need to acknowledge that and not freak out.   I think I'm finally past all the culture shock and getting sick every time I eat something over here.  Thank you JESUS! Singapore is absolutely gorgeous!! I love it here.  Today was Sarah Gauthier's birthday so we celebrated with her waking up to m&ms an a snicker.  Then we went explore! We went see the beautiful Merlion (a lion head with a mermaid tail that had water spewing from it's mouth), which was actually only the second largest in the world.   Across from the Merlion we were able to see the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  It's three huge buildings with a ship built on top that holds some amazing sights at the top that we weren't allowed the privilege to see.  But we were satisfied to be able to capture it's beauty and also take shots of the durean building.  For lunch we ate at Toastbox where we got kaya (coconut jam) toast which we dipped in half cooked eggs with lemon iced tea.  It was de-lish!! We ended the day by coming home, working out with Zumba, and heading out again to a restaurant where I ordered wanton soup which was great.  What a fantastic day!  Can't wait to see what else Singapore has for me!! :)

Hey! I haven't wrote on here in a while, but I will start keeping y'all updated on the days till my trip to Singapore.  I had my jambalaya fundraiser last Friday to help raise money for my trip, and it was a success!! Thanks to everyone who came and donated, I couldn't have done it without y'all!!!  But the reason I am blogging right now is because I want to share something that God showed me today.  This evening, I was walking down my street listening to worship music on my ipod, when I started to feel God's peace and His joy overwhelm me.  I smiled and went to raise my hands, but then I remembered that I was walking and that a car coming down the street might see me raise my hands.  Even though I had the sudden urge to lift my hands, I resisted, because I was afraid of what people might think.  Then God brought my older sister to my mind. She was born blind and can see very little out of one eye, so she walks with a cane to help guide her.  She is 24 now, but when she was younger, I looked up to her a lot.  We shared a room together, and I can remember before even walking into the room I could hear worship music turned up loud, and I could hear her singing to the top of her lungs.  I opened the door to see her arms raised, praising God wholeheartedly.  She never stopped when I entered, but stayed in God's presence.  I didn't understand it at the time, but I still admired it.  Even when I had friends over and we were in the same room she was, she was praising God as if no one were in the room.  We would just watch her because it was just beautiful.  I wished I were like her.  She was so free in worship and didn't care what people thought.  Mostly because she's blind and doesn't see people's facial expressions.  So God brought this to my memory to show me that we as Christians need to be blind.  Not physically blind, but blind to the world.  Blind to people's reactions.   So that when we want to do something for God, it will just naturally come out, and we won't have to think about who is watching and what they might think.  We are called to stand out, and it doesn't matter who is watching or what they think.  God is watching and it brings glory to Him.  The world will think that what we do for God is weird and abnormal,  but it doesn't matter.  The people who are normal are the ones that think what Jesus did was a big deal!!!  How can we not openly praise and worship our God when we think about what He has done for us???!!!

About a year ago, I was talking to one of my mentors and good friends who was preparing to go to Singapore.  It was a few months before he was about to leave, so he was usually either talking about it or preparing for it in some kind of way.  I asked him about the Singapore trip and why he was going.  As he explained the details of the trip, I started to get butterflies in my stomach, that eventually turned into anxiety and I felt sick.   I couldn't help myself.... because I felt God whispering into my heart that I would go on that same journey soon.  I didn't ignore God's quiet voice because a part of me desired to go.  My heart longed to be used by God in other countries and reaching out to the lost.   My mentor kept encouraging me about it.  About 4 months before they would leave for Singapore, I went to talk to the missionary leaders in the church.  I anxiously sat before them telling them of my eagerness to go on the Singapore internship that year.  They told me they thought I was a little young and that maybe I should wait until the next year.  I was heart-broken.  I thought for sure that God would have wanted me there that year, but God kept telling me to be patient for His perfect timing.  So at the beginning of this year I still had that longing to go....except it had grown.  I prayed about it and everything was affirmed that this was the summer to go; this was the year to prepare.  God had reaffirmed it in my spirit, and still is affirming it.  Although I couldn't see it last year, God had the perfect timing for this.  He has brought me through so much fear in preparing me for Singapore.  Only a few years ago, I said that I would never leave the United States, and now I have a heart for the mission field.  Only a year ago, I was scared to death of flying but God took that fear away.  A few months ago, I was afraid of preaching and sharing God's love, but God has turned that fear into peace.  A few weeks ago, I wanted to control my future and make sure everything in it went perfectly; but now, I have given Him control of my future and He is my future.  A week ago, I wasn't sure how I was going to get the money to go to Singapore, but God has given me assurance that it is going to come.  I can't wait to see what God is going to do in Singapore this summer!  If you feel that my story has touched your heart, then I pray that you would help me.  :)  Thank you!!!