so grateful.

There's a song by Chris Tomlin called. "God of This City." I first heard it last year at Local Missions and fell in love with it. Some of the lyrics say:

You're the God of this City

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You are

You're the Light in this darkness

You're the Hope to the hopeless

You're the peace to the restless

You are

As I have been around here, I have seen that God has great plans for Casa Bernabe. I am so excited that He has chosen me to be a part of those wonderful and exciting things. Today, we woke up early + prepared everything for the Westmont kids! :) They arrived around 7:45 and trust me, they were properly welcomed. ;) We had breakfast together and got to know each other. Afterwards, Tori, Heather, and I gave everyone a tour of the place. Some people went to the baby house, some people went up to the fire pit and talked, and others went to run or take naps. Tori, Aubrey, Aaron and I went exploring with Juan Manuel, a house parent here. He took us through the woods on some cool paths and we came out by the beautiful garden they have. Tori, Aaron, and I weeded for a bit (it's actually quite relaxing! ;)) and Aubrey took pictures. I'm so excited that there are quite a few "obnoxious" photographers on our team, myself included! :)

We have been hanging out for the rest of the morning. I'm right outside our room - Tori and Heather are next to me eating granola and crocheting/friendship-bracelet-making, and Aaron is asleep on a chair across from me. Everyone else is resting, they had a long night! Lunch is in an hour - the food is amazing here. Like, what in the world.

God is so amazing. I have been learning to seek Him in a new and fresh way that I have never felt before. Prayer is becoming a more "normal" thing to do, which sounds horrible, but it is so refreshing to always be praying. A few nights ago, Heather and Brooke woke up to noises outside of the room and I felt sick. The only way I could be comfortable was on my back, and I have a hard time sleeping on my back. The next morning, we were talking about our night and found that we all (except Tori ;)) had had some sort of  interesting experience. And then in an instant, we realized we hadn't prayed. I kinda figured that something along the lines of spiritual warfare was going on, but I didn't say anything until we talked about it. Last night we prayed, and everything went smoothly. It is so comforting to know that our God is bigger than any evil power in this world. He is stronger, more great, and so loving. He cares for His children. I am so grateful to be a part of this community that recognizes and celebrates that fact.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. We feel carried. We are excited to pray about our assignments tonight and start work tomorrow. This weekend has been filled with downtime while we waited for the rest of the team, and know that they are here, well we can't wait to get started!!

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day/evening depending on where you are ;) Dios te bendiga!