This summer has been very interesting. I am definitely learning more about myself, the world, and God’s character.Typed out, that seems pretty good. But, what I know, is the struggles I have gone through grappling over what it means to live faithfully and have what breaks God’s heart literally break yours. I am not where I thought I would be right now. According to my freshman idea of where I would be: I would be off to med school working my way towards becoming a gastroenterologist. (Today I can say Amen God for changing my heart’s desire…I have loved almost every minute of where He has taken me since changing that idea a few years ago.) Acording to my senior idea of where I would be: I would be living in Pittsburgh delving into Christian community and working in a non-profit or some kind of organization and be close to getting married. Neither of those ideas of mine panned out. I am definitely thankful for the first (Perhaps I will share some of that story as time goes on). But the second, I am still working on. In the meantime, the Lord has taken me to places I thought I’d never go and shown me sorrow I knew existed, but not the extent to which I have witnessed. My heart hurts nearly everyday where I work now. I work with children, sweet precious children. But most of the time I find out a new horror story or witness a new situation that makes my stomache churn and I ache. Why do so many parents not care? Why is it the mom’s prerogative to lay by the pool all day while her five year old still is not potty-trained. Why is it ok that a child has teeth completely rotten because the child was fed iced coffee instead of milk as a baby?  And, unfortunately my previous examples is one small glimpse. I feel helpless. I want to adopt them all. I want to change the fact that their Daddy doesn’t love them. I want to tell them they have a Daddy who loves them unconditionally. I do not want to hear “Mommy tricked me again” or see that “Daddy” didn’t bathe them again. But I can’t. So, I have been feeling helpless. Helpless because I have no control over their lives, and even hopeless for what might become of them. I have even been feeling hopeless about my own situation- back home, lacking a real post-college job, and feeling like I just came off of a four-year high. And that’s when God winked at me- when I was feeling hopeless and alone. I was at Church just kind of mumbling the words to songs. Forever (Christ Tomlin) started. I was lipping the words “Forever God is faithful,” when the sun shown through the blinds and nearly blinded me for a second. It was as if God was saying, you see, Get with the program…look around… “do not give up…⁹ Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (Galations 6:9). I am committed to not giving up. Don’t you love that God is not too big to wink at His children?