Today

Today, Christy and I start leading our first and very own Bible study. We're leading 4 freshmen and 1 sophomore at Tech, all super cute ADPi's :) I can't believe it. Who would've thought I'd end up here? Teaching a Bible study.... the Lord is amazing. It's so easy to feel inadequate in these situations but realizing that it's not really me, it's Him and Him all the way teaching those girls. He makes it great.

Keep our study in your prayers. We're doing an ice breaker tomorrow and then Christy and I are going to evaluate where we're at and decide where to go from there. Who knows where the Lord will take us?! Please pray for discernment and direction in leading these girls. Please pray that God will soften their hearts to His message, remembering that He has promised to go before us in everything that we do. He has gone before all of this and He's ready. Please pray that He'll prepare Christy and I and to help us lead in Godly ways, fitting of a Proverbs 31 woman. 

Check out Psalm 100, it's a new fav.

Until next time, mmmk

McDonald's

McDonald's is all about urgency. Clark, my boss, keeps telling me to have a sense of urgency. I've realized that I've started to become jumpy around people because of the intensity at work. It's kind of funny. My favorite part about working at McDonald's is the drive-thru. I get to stick my head out the window in the warm sunshine and greet someone with a smile. It's always interesting to see what people keep in their cars too. I love working at McDonald's. 

Top Twelve Reasons to Work at A-1A McDonald's:

1. The shake machine sasses you at least twice a day. Watch out for him.

2. "Over-zeal" is the most common used word. I love saying it now.

3. After studying the nutritional facts, you have this constant desire to discourage everyone from ordering anything on the menu but you struggle with not wanting to get fired...

4. The uniforms are hot. Ok, kidding but we do get to wear a sweet black visor.

5. Casey, Stan, and John are constantly yelling, "Rebuke!" and then quoting a random verse just for fun.

6. You are constantly being humbled by customer's reactions.

7. Clark wears GT Jackets jerseys to make the UGA kids upset.

8. Jon posts all of Romans and James along the grill and is constantly striving to quote the whole books.

9. Katuschka can't stop telling you about her burn from the fry machine.

10. We all compete to see who can get the most stickers- it's an INTENSE competition.

11. On the 5am shift, you get to watch the sunrise from the counter over the ocean across the street.

12. Everyone calls us the "church kids" and is constantly asking about our lives and why we believe in Jesus- it's awesome!

JC is AMAZING!!

So as most of us are aware, the economy is struggling in varied ways- one being the job market. We encountered some difficulty finding jobs for everyone. Last year, all 95 jobs were found within the first two days! Crazy, huh? As of now, there are still 7 people unemployed. Please pray for them, they are truly wonderful people.

At first, I found myself confused... I mean, how hard is it to find a job? Well, the Lord definitely works in mysterious ways. We struggled to find jobs. We were turned down by tons of businesses. It was really hard being turned down day after day, hour after hour. But now, I'm glad. There's a quote from Beth Moore that I love that basically sums up my job hunting experience.

"God places us in positions beyond our capabilities so that we will be at His absolute mercy, realizing that only He can succeed."

I feel like so many times, when I'm relying on worldly things, God breaks my dependence on them. It's such a tiring process... but the results are so worth it! The job hunt helped me realize that I place such an emphasis upon comfort. With a job comes status, money and security all things I completely took for granted. God brought me closer to Him by relinquishing my great desire for comfort and security throughout the job search. I didn't have a job, money, or the worldly security that comes with those things. However, God was so faithful in answering our prayers, He clearly opened and closed doors so that His plan became more clear to us. It was also a way for us to build a community within the community. We spent 9 hours a day together out on the job search constantly encouraging each other and feeding each other truth in the midst of adversity. Honestly, I am so incredibly thankful that God didn't hand me a job right off the bat. I love that I got to rely on Him and learn most what trusting the Lord really means. 

The verse that I kept playing over and over in my head throughout the job search was: 

Isaiah 42:16

I will bring the blind by ways they do not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them and crooked paths straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.

AMAZING!!! I know, right?! I LOVE that they're all promises, action words- BRING, LEAD, MAKE DARKNESS LIGHT, CROOKED PATHS STRAIGHT, NOT FORSAKE. Ahh! 

Well, I can now say that I am the proud employee of McDonald's! The Lord sure does provide! I start work on tuesday and couldn't be more excited! I get to wear this sweet black visor! Don't worry, pictures are coming! Please pray for our interactions with the other employees and customers, that ultimately God will be shown through us. 

Sorry that this is so scatterbrained! I'll work on writing most clear and concise posts so that y'all can understand! Thanks for reading! Call me with any questions!

Sunday

I've been in Daytona for 3 days and it seems like it's been much longer. We've been going all day everyday. I am exhausted. I'm having a little trouble adjusting to the less-than-10-hours-a-night sleep pattern. They have a saying about complaining on Beach Project. If you want to complain, you have to say, "And that's the way I like it" after each statement of complaint. So.... I haven't been sleeping much, and that's the way I like it!!

It's been amazing so far. The people are so full of energy and thirst for the Lord. It's such an intoxicating community, you can't help but want to love/seek God in everything. It's wonderful because there are 80 people here to encourage you in your walk with the Lord and 80 people to hold you accountable for your actions. It's been very hard already. So far, the hardest thing has been the "mirror of sin." I'm constantly being shown my sin in a mirror everyday. It's already been such a humbling experience, seeing your sin constantly each day. It has helped reaffirm my belief that I'm not perfect and that's one of the reasons that I truly need Jesus and His unfailing grace and love. It's been really great!!! 

Last night, each person in my room shared their testimony. It was very hard, yet again with "the hard" (and that's the way I like it!!)... but it was truly amazing to see God working in each of us while we told our stories. Most people don't like being vulnerable. I don't. However because of of JC's strength I was able to show God to my roommates by being totally honest. The result was truly amazing. My room leader, Katie, actually had many similar experiences and she had such wonderful Godly advice for me. Already, I've told my testimony at least 4 times in 3 days to different people. That's so crazy! God is so awesome!!

Tonight we're having "Girl's Night" and we're learning about guys and their struggles. I'm truly looking forward to it. I pray that I'll walk away with a new found understanding of guys' struggles. Yeah for girls tonight!

I'll post some picture soon! Thanks for checking out my blog. 

Check out Jeremiah 1:5-10. It's wonderful!

Official 1st Post!

Hey y'all! 

Thanks for visiting my site! It's so sweet of you to take the time to check it out! So far, not much is going on for Beach Project (but don't worry I'll keep you posted), I'm mostly just preparing my heart to go. It's only 3 weeks away! Other than that, my mom and I have been getting a few supplies together. 

Thanks for checking out the site! I appreciate your support, it truly means the world!

Love, 

mary kathleen

Isaiah 42:16

I will bring the blind by a way they do not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked paths straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.