The Gift of Life

"...So we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of Christ, but our lives as well."

- 1 Thessalonians 2:8

If you've never memorized scripture you should totally start trying it! ;-) This is my memory verse for the week and I will be so excited when I have it logged in my memory. It's fun when you have something memorized and how the Lord can use that in certain situations. What I love about this scripture is that it's not just about sharing your faith with people, it's about living life with them too! This past summer I had the chance to live with my Aunt Kim and Uncle Mac in Chapin, SC, which is right outside Columbia. They have three girls who I have mentioned before Emily, Mary, and Sarah. That summer we started two bible studies for some of the little girls in the neighborhood. A middle school girls bible study for Emily's friends, and a 1st-3rd grade bible study for Mary and Sarah's friends.

Not only did we have the bible study once a week, but of course all of the girls in the neighborhood were friends and played together every other night of summer. It's important to have time set aside to be focused on learning more about God, but sharing your lives and having fellowship is important too!

I know I said I was planning on posting more frequently and then here I go taking a couple of days break! What the heck Katie...right?! Well we actually had a bit of a family emergency this past weekend. I don't want to go into details, but the situation brought me down to Charleston to spend the weekend with my Dad's side of the family including my three sweet cousins. We had a family member that was getting a pretty intense surgery on Monday, but we had the weekend to relax before the surgery on Monday.

My Aunt Nancy has a horse on John's Island and the family who owns the farm where she keeps her horse took all of us in for the weekend. They had an extra "guest house" of sorts that was on the water, near Aunt Nancy's horse, and was just beautiful! It was almost like a family retreat. We went cast-netting, crabbing, played wiffle-ball, kickball, and board games. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

As far as the family emergency goes: All is well, and we can Praise the Lord for that! He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us and I can affirm this truth. This is a scripture that I prayed after spending the weekend in Charleston and thanking the Lord for how he can overcome any situation.

Now it's back to work and every day life! I was thankful that I reached 88% of my fundraising goal for my job, so I was able to leave Clemson for a few days without feeling the pressure of needing to get work done -- what a blessing!

XoXo,

Southern Saving Grace