"Come and listen to what He has done"

Now that I am about a week removed from my summer in Philly, I feel like I have had some time to reflect on everything that happened and to bask in the blessing and working power of the Lord that I experienced. Here are some of my thoughts, though these will not even begin to describe all that God did or all that he will continue to do through my experiences.

Some of my favorite moments of the summer:
- Worshipping the with the adult team at the art museum ... we were having such a good time with the Lord that lots of other people came to join!
- When I almost set the kitchen ablaze helping Jenna cook perogies and I started an oil fire (this was only funny because we put it out in time)
- Watching one of the teams raise their hands in worship and experience the Spirit in a way they never had before
- Climbing on rooftops to watch the filming of Transformers 2
- Butchering songs in the kitchen with Sammi and Jonerik
- Connecting with an awesome little girl named Brittany at VBS and teaching her some sweet dance moves (and learning some in return)
- All the times I got to hang out with the awesome people who have devoted themselves to working in Philly
- Every moment of New Orleans
- sitting in the middle of a beautiful stream and singing my heart-song to the Lord
- Getting to spend one-on-one time with Rocky when he came to Home Depot with me
- Worshipping at the Indonesian church in south Philly ... I don’t think the smile on my face could have gotten any bigger!
- Seeing how AIM is impacting a family in our neighborhood by watching the grandpa tear up as he talked about the way his grandkids are loving Jesus
- Making ridiculous videos with Sammi
- Watching Trish handle a delicate (and ignorant) conversation with grace and authority
- Seeing the Lord transform a trashed lot into a safe and beautiful space for the community
- singing with Nick while washing dishes at the Salvation Army (we were having so much fun and blessing the staff there at the same time)
(and that's just a few...)
It was a tiring, stretching, hard summer .... but it was awesome.

So what now? The lyrics of a Hillsong song pretty much describe how I feel at this point;
"Standing here in Your presence
Thinking of the good things You have done
Waiting here patiently
Just to hear Your still small voice again"
Transitioning is really hard, but I know that God desires for me to be in Waco again for this season of my life, so I am just listening for his voice. The fact that I live 3 pretty separate lives (school, home and Philly) means that there is no one except the Lord who understands ALL of who I am. I am so thankful that the God I served this summer in Philly is at work here in Waco, and that he is ministering to my lonely heart.

I will close my thoughts on this summer with these two things:
(1) I got to spend a morning last week just sitting in Love park, watching people and gettting excited about the day when God calls me to live full time in Philly. It's looking like it will be probably 3 years before that happens, but I am just excited for the new phase of ministry that God is calling me into. I am ready to disciple students for more than a week at a time, to not have to say goodbye to the kids after 3 months and to commit myself to a more long term ministry.
(2) When a team was praying about God's will for their ministry one morning a couple weeks ago, a girl had a vision of a totally deserted Kensington Ave. She said it was God's dream for the street to look like that after he calls his children home....what a beautiful dream! That is the vision I choose to work for in Philly, knowing that God desires for all the broken to find healing in His heart.