This, my dear friends, is life.

I found myself to be rather exhausted this morning...I didn't know how exhausted I was until I had slept through my alarm for first service at church. Oops. So I decide that second service it shall be. I walked in to church a few minutes late and was promptly greeted with a huge and long hug from a sixth grade girl. So I sat next to her, who is one of the most energetic people I have ever met. During our coffee break, she informs me that she's going to get coffee, because "I'm tired and I want to be bouncy." me-"Are you sure that's a good idea?" "Yeah! Get some with me so you can be bouncy as well." "I can't be bouncy during service..sorry." "Why?" "Because I have to be civilized for service..we can be bouncy together tonight at the Christmas party though!" "Oh. I'm not civilized." Oh boy. Sure enough, approximately three minutes into the sermon, she started to grow very fidgety and

We sat around the table, immersed in conversation as we had so many times before. We planned out the series for next semester and challenged each other to dare to speak about the topics that intimidate us. We talked about our thoughts regarding the internship this semester; our fears, trials, and triumphs. My mind flashed back to the couple of day span whenever I had an offer to be a middle school youth leader back home and then a couple days later, finding out that the internship I had committed to up here, Living Hope Church, would no longer have a youth pastor. I was so torn that I took some time to be alone and went hiking in the Ozarks. During that time, I received a strong "no" as I sat upon a rock after a 15 mile hike. Even though I had literally spent that whole time asking for a strong answer, once I received it, I questioned God so greatly. Why, God? I have an offer with a church that I'm familiar with, a youth pastor I'm close with, the teens that I know,