Love in LoCo

What a difference a year makes!  As I reflect back on 2016 I can’t help but be in awe of God’s goodness.  One year ago, I was feeling a little stuck and restless in a job that brought me equal parts joy and frustration on any given day.  One of my best friends in the area had just moved and the other would be leaving in just a few months and I couldn’t help but feel a bit hopeless about the coming year.  Much like the Israelites in the Old Testament, I tend to forget how faithful God has been to me when I’m facing a less than optimal situation in my life.  Thankfully, though, our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and 2016 brought so many unanticipated blessings from my Father in Heaven.  Having my two dear friends move away brought me closer to my family, my sisters especially, than ever before.  It is such a blessing to have them living nearby to talk to and hang out with often.  I also got to have a front row seat to watching my sweet baby niece grow into the silly, w

I’ve officially been on staff with Loudoun FCA for 13 days.  Besides the administrative parts of the job like phone calls, emails and familiarizing myself with our database, so far, I’ve met with several volunteers and been able to attend three high school huddles.  One of these huddles just happened to be at my Alma mater, Broad Run High School in Ashburn.  I loved seeing some of my former teachers passing through the hallways and telling them about my new job while getting to know the student leaders for Broad Run’s FCA.  I think a fear we have with huddles sometimes, and youth groups for that matter, is that they can become “clique-y” and not always welcoming to new students coming to check things out for the first time.  I was so pleasantly surprised, though, that the leadership had decided to make last Wednesday an outreach event.  They stood in the lobby of the school with two big urns of hot chocolate to welcome fellow students coming in off of the buses and from the parking