God Gave Me A Hat...

I've always admired the hat Zooey Deschanel wears in one of my favorite movies, Elf. Its a cream colored knit with a pom pom. However,  I've always been a little iffy about buying one and never decided to spend the money on it. The other day while in Target there was the most perfect hat. Almost exactly like the one worn in the movie. Running up to it I immediately put it on, and knew I wanted it.

Feeling tight on money, I knew it would be better for me to put it back and move on. Maybe ask for it for Christmas. Then I wondered if I had a gift card. Searching through my wallet, I found a Visa gift card for $25. The card had never worked the past few times I tried, those kind of gift cards can easily be a pain when it comes to having a pin number, or needing to know the exact balance on the card. So calling the number on the back I put in all the numbers and information it said the balance was $25! I had enough to pay for it (if the card worked this time). 

Still not sure if buying a hat was a proper use of the money (because it's a hat and almost all hats turn out to be a mistake), I called my mom. Mother knows best. 

Telling her of what had just happened and how I wasn't sure if I should buy it she replied by saying,

"I think that Jesus was saying He thinks the hat looks cute on you, and gave you some money to pay for it."

Sold, I happily got in line. God had given me a hat.

Remembering how He cares about the little things in my life made me feel so loved by Him. The little things do really matter and tend to go a long way.

Thanks God :)

Tomorrow we leave for Crestview, Florida. Not exactly ideal for hat weather, but hopefully since we are in the far northern part of Florida I'll get a chance to wear it.

I'm excited to get to our next church, we are expecting 50-60 kids in Happy Heart City. At least that's what they tell us. I've learned not to believe the numbers they tell me anymore because 9 times out of 10 they're wrong. Regardless I look forward to ministering to a new group and getting to know some more people. I love what I do, and I'm so often reminded of how my obedience to God brings blessing in my life.

"Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Matthew 7:9-11

The Freedom in Surrendering

This has been a very different but good summit. First, some of my lovely family came to visit me for a few days! This is the first time they have been able to come see while I have been traveling in the ministry. So I was very excited when I heard they had made plans to visit. 

My cute family. 

I had so much fun hanging out with them for a few days.

As far as the Summit goes we've been having a lot of growing times here for us as children's ministers. The size of the church is much smaller than we are use too. One of the services we only had one kid come. That was a first for me, but we just did everything like normal and did it to the best of our abilities.

Here's some of us dressed up for a skit we did on honesty.

We decided to hangout on the roof of the church because... we had a key. So, why not?

We've been taking a lot of Starbucks runs this summit. We love our coffee and Pumpkin Spice Lattes. 

I am also greatly looking forward to winter break this year. Life Action has decided it is too difficult and expensive to have another summit after Thanksgiving. Therefore, I get to go home for two weeks longer than normal. I will be home for thanksgiving and my 21st birthday! Which I haven't been able to be home for, in two years and I thought I wouldn't be there for a third year in a row. Not only will I be home for that time but, my good friend Karis is coming home with me for a week.

I'm so glad to be serving here in Life Action teaching children. Whether there are one hundred kids or just one, I know God can do anything. 

Last week I went through a very growing moment in my relationship with Jesus.
I'd been having a few very hard days, and in the middle of one of them I read Psalm 32:3. It said, "When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long."
That so easily related to how I was feeling.
God was telling me I needed to surrender my desires at His feet and trust Him.
Once I obeyed him that "groaning all day" feeling was gone and it was like a flood of freedom had come over me.
My God truly loves me and wants what's best for me.

Thanks for reading and keeping up with the ministry!
Until next time,
Marina