Well, I'm back in PA. North Carolina was awesome, even though it rained for the first four days. When the sun finally came out, we spent every waking moment on the beach.. which explains the sunburn. It was nice to get away for a while and spend some time with my friends. Now, I have Maine coming up on June 19th (for 10 days) and Kenya on July 14th (for two weeks).

When I got home, I checked my e-mail and saw a message from Transformed International letting me know that I will be going to Kenya this fall for the internship program! Most of you probably know about my heart for Africa and my long-time desire to travel there and interact with the children and people of the nation. It's been something that I've talked about openly with my friends and family and I'm happy to announce that, quite literally, my dreams are coming true.

My whole passion for Africa started with a dream. It was during my freshman year at college, some time in March, I had a dream where I was surrounded by African children all smiling and dancing and hugging me. I woke up from the dream in the middle of the night, crying. I felt at that moment the Lord say "This is where your life will lead you." Since that night, I've never doubted that I would some day visit Africa and this oppurtunity is... I want to say unbelievable but nothing with God is unbelievable, so I'm going to go with AWESOME! My heart for Kenya was developed more recently, but just as profoundly. I was at Creation Festival this past summer and decided to sponsor a child through Compassion International. I went up to the tent and began looking at the faces of hundreds of little boys and girls. They all touched my heart, but only one grabbed it and took hold. His name is Jackson and he lives in a small village in Kenya. When I saw him, I felt God say "This one. He's yours," and just like that, Kenya engulfed my heart.

I know most of my friends don't fully understand my passion and heart for this country. I know it might seem crazy that I'm willingly giving up two weeks of my summer going to a place where I won't be able to take a long, hot shower every day and then take a semester off of school to go back for three more months. It's something that most 20 year olds don't exactly put down on their "to-do list" so I totally understand the reactions... "Wait, you're going where?!" and "Aren't you scared?" and my personal favorite.. "Dude, are you gonna be like living in a grass hut?" (just to clear things up, no.. I will not be living in a grass hut).

So, in conclusion to this lengthy blog - My life is changing, drastically, but I love that I can feel God in every decision I make and I know that all of this is what I'm meant to be doing.

This is mostly for my school friends who I (unfortunately) won't see very much/at all this summer. I know some of you wanted me to keep you updated on my travels... so here you go! I'll let you know when interesting things happen, or when I just feel like filling you in on the mundane parts of my summer.

I'm leaving for the outer banks at midnight on Friday (well, Saturday technically) and I'll be there until Saturday the 23rd. It should be a fun week of beachin' it up and relaxing with my friends. It's my first ever serious vacation without any parents! I'm a big girl now.

Speaking of being a big girl, I have to go get my license renewed tomorrow... and who doesn't love the DMV?