and so it begins...

-hey everyone

I've finally made it! Vail is just as breathtaking as I heard it would be. Coming out of the Denver Airport and traveling through all of the mountains, many which still have snow caps, was incredible. The beauty of the Lord's creation is seen in it's true fullness in the Vail Valley and makes it undeniable that He has prepared a great adventure for my team and myself this summer!
After arriving on Saturday afternoon, all of the team members and directors (total of 45 people) introduced themselves and had a short summer orientation cookout at a beautiful home in the valley. I must admit that I was very overwhelmed by the size of the group at first being that I thrive more in a one-on-one situation, but each day we seem to become closer and make those numbers seem much smaller. Later that night we went for a short scavenger hunt of the valley area and then headed to bed, because we were all exhausted. (side note--Vail sits at an altitude of 8150 ft. and it has been quite an adjustment for everyone)
Sunday morning our team got up and attended The Vail Church, which the church we will be partnered with this summer and where we will be worshiping on Sunday mornings. The community within the church was very solid and they were all very inviting and excited to see us. Sunday night we were broken down in our family groups, which are our small groups that we will be having Bible studies and prayer times with in the evenings throughout the summer. We spent our time sharing our life stories with each other and it was incredibly encouraging to get to know the people in my group and the lives that they came from. But more importantly it was so amazing to see how the Lord has healed each of them in various areas of their lives and how He has brought us together this summer, to grow together and to love the valley area.
Today has been a fun filled day of job searching. Can you sense the excitement in my writing? It was a very long day, and in some ways a discouraging day for the team, as places in Vail were not needing as much help or hiring as much as we were told they would be. But, the Lord is faithful and He is sovereign. I applied at several places and I actually had a call back from a local resort, so we'll see how that unfolds.
Now for how I'm really doing... I am really enjoying the Vail valley area. It is extremely beautiful and the weather has been wonderful. Through a lot of prayer and sharing with our family groups I have been so encouraged about the summer and how the Lord is going to show up in some incredible ways. The last 6 months have been a time of incredible growth for me, and I am continuing to pray that the Lord would change and mold my heart and life.
Please be praying for our team as we are all searching for jobs and trying to find where it is that the Lord has called us to minister this summer. Please pray for our soon-to-be coworkers and employers, that we would love them radically and that we would show Christ to them.

I have been very long winded, but I hope you are all doing well! I will try and update as much as time permits.

-Lauren