Hey all.

Well this day has been a weird one. It started out pretty crummy....and around lunch got even crummier....and then we had our school buy out..and after i left school...it was really good. I went to my schools football game..we made it to city championships for teh first time in 37 year lol. Wedont suck that bad...haha but ya it was soo cold and rainy and i got totally soaked...and they lost..BUT! the brightside was that i hung out with grace and david the whole time almost and wow...i dont think i have ever laughed so hard....my stomach hurt soo bad after from laughing soo much lol. But it was great. So my day was good...i am doing really good..i am kinda confused about some stuff....and some people in my life...i hate it when you loose things. Like when you are a kid and you put your favourite toy down somewhere and loose it. I remeber when iwas about ...6 i think i was at my grandmas and i had this toy cat thing..that i loved..she was my favourite out of the cats i had (they were these little...toy cat things) so somewhere in my grandparents house i put that cat down...and i lost it. It was my favourite toy..i spent hours playing with this thing....and i couldnt find it anywhere. So i told my grandma and she told me to look everywhere for it...she helped me...we looked everywhere...and finally right when i was about to give up...we found it. It had fallen in between the cabnets in her appartment. BUt i remember how worried i was that i would never find my cat...i thought i had lost it forever...but just when i was about to give up i checked one las tplace and found my cat. So....i guess its not about loosing it.....its about not giving up until you get it back...because in life...stuf gets screwed...life gets bsuy sometimes we loose stuff....but its not the loosing of the stuff that matters...it never giving up...not letting anything get i nthe way of finding it...and keeping it. So if you think you've lost something..whether it be a toy..lol or a friendship..or your boyfriend or girlfriend....or relationship with your family.....whatever it may be...dont dwell on that fact that you lost it...think about how you can get past that and find either new things..or work on rebuilding what you lost. Either way its not about how you lost it...or what you could have done to preven you loosing it that matters...its finding..and fixing..and rebuilding. So dont give up just yet....there's always one more spto to look..to fix...to build up.

-abbey<3

Hey all.

Well...i dont think i could be...well....more content right now. Well maybe if i didnt have a mountain of homework still to do tonight..that would make life a little better...but other than that i am very very happy. My thumbs are up..lol actually i just liked that picture..so i had to include it somehow lol.But anyways..i am happy because....not only is one of my friends getting baptized on sunday!!! yay! so exciting..i am so happy for her....but i have got my life so on track...i have never felt so good. You know.....God really has just really blown my mind. It really became clear to me this weekend. As much as this weekend has its ups and downs i have never felt so blessed. I was sitting in church on sunday...first of all i had soo much fun being back in canada and worshiping god..it was the funnest worhsip i have had in a while. So that was amazing..and then i sat and was listening to this guy speak...we had a guest speaker.....and he was talking about how things in your life can put chains on you....and nothing can undo those chains except the love and peace God puts in your life when you say..you know what...God i need you to come into my heart and guide my life...i need you to forgive all the stuff i have done..and just give me a new start...with you as the guidance in my life. And i mean..i asked God to come and be in my life when i was a kid...i have been a christian my whole life..but thats not to say that i have always stuck to that. I had a point in my life where...i was so far from God that i didnt even want to live.....in my messed up head..i thought you know what..not even God could love me now. And then.....something happened.....that to me at the time felt like the worst thing that could have happened...but looking back now it probably saved my life...i got caught. My parents found out the way i was living.....the things i had done....i had to go to my friends and be like...i totally betrayed you....i had to fix major problems in my life..and i had and am still having to build back major trust...but without that.....i dont know what i would have done. I was telling my friend the other day..we were talking about it...and i told her..that if i hadnt have gotten caught that day.....i dont really know what i might have done to myself. But by the grace of God.......and his love for me dispite all the sin in my life.....he stepped in and saved me. He forgave me and unlocked the chains that sin had put on my life. And i really...just sat down...listening to this guy and i totally felt everything fall away....i had been forgiven for the things i did by others..but i had not forgiven my self up until that point.....and i prayed..and i was like..right there....God...i need you to take this from me...its not something i can fight on my own and you need to take it and help me forgive myself for this....i want to love you full out..forever and ever...no chains..nothing holding me back. It was one of the most freeing sundays ever! lol I just feel so blessed..and thankful that God loved me that much ......and that i can live my life for only one purpose....him.

We sang this song on sunday too..and one line of the song was....

Your grace has found me just as i am...empty handed but alive in your hands. Without GOd..i have seen my life...and its horrible...its nothing...i am empty handed.....but with God and his grace....i am alive. But without him......i dont know where i would be.....it truly amazes me how empty i can feel without him. But i tell you one thing..i've been there...emptier than empty....and i am never going there again.

psalms 107:1<3

-abs

Heyy all.

Well i just wanted to post something..however short it may end up being because i didnt want it to be too long since the last one. Mind you i dont even remember when the last one was so it could be like..yesterday lol. i am a little out of it....really tired and stressed i have sooo much to do. its crazy..like missing two weeks of school...not so much fun. Catching up is brutal. But whatever i am managing..i know God wouldnt give me the chance to go to africa and then let me come home and not be able to manage...i realize he gives me nothing i cant handle..so am much as it seems like i cannot do this lol...i definatley can with his help! So pray for me guys its going to be rough. Anyways other than school..life is pretty good...its just to be home....we are still not totally un-packed either..but getting there. I was thinking today...about helping. You ..people often ask me..why i do so much.....why i cook..why i help at church..why i clean...why i am always busy helping out someone or doing something. And i had a friend ask me the other day..dont you ever just get tired? And the truth is....YES! I do...i get so tired sometimes....sometimes half the stuff i do i dont want to but i know that it has to be done. I think its not a matter of what i am doing anymore..or how i am helping..as long as i am helping in someway than im good....i mean its little compared to what my parents ..and other people in my life do for me.....its almost nothing in comparison to that ...but still....stuff needs to be done sometimes..even if you think you shouldnt have to do it..or its not your job. I find too that when you help others..you really appreciate it when others help you too...it gives you a perspective on stuff..it lets oyu see just how hard the people around you work....and sure..i get tired. All the time....but that will never stop me from doing stuff that has to be done. Think about it...really if everyone just stopped doing there job because they got tired of it..we wouldnt ever get anywhere. It has really helped me to see that even in al lthis stress of homework and work and what not....that i mean....it doesnt matter how much you get done...how much you help...as long as you are working hard at whatever it is your doing...then you're set. And i was think too today about all the stuff i have to do....and how i am am so sure i am going to like fail and i thought of this verse......its a very popular bible verse but it always gets me when i start to think that icant do stuff. It goes like this

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jer. 29:11

Talking about how god knows all the plans and things he has for you..and no matter what you should always remember that...that he will bring you through whatever you are about to face. That God will bring you through and give you a hope and a future! uh i love how the God always gives me those verses right when i need them. So yes..after stressing all day i sat down and got an email from and at the end of it was this verse. It was just what i needed! So right about now..everything i got to do..really ...just doesnt seem too big...cause i know God is bigger!

lots of love

-abbey<3

Hey all.

Well i am officially home. Back in Canada. I am soo happy to be back it was soo amazing in africa but i really just missed home. So yes today was my first day back at school it was soo nice. I got to see everyone...uh i missed all my friends sooooo much. It was so nice to see them all. SO ya my day was awesome..i have homework....like..crazy amounts of it..i really dont know how i am going to get it all done ..but i am praying that i do. lol SO ya everything is great...my house seems huge ..lol compared to my tiny little appartment..lol Its just realy nice to be home. What else to say...well i officially MISS JADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! seeing her was soo great...but leaving her wa shard...we had quite the tear fest going on at the aiport. But i am doing better now...still missing her but i know that shes having a great time in africa so i am happy for her. Umm what else to say.....lalalala i dont really know..theres nothing really going on in my life....kinda just loving being home and resting...being tired..cause of all the time changes and what not...doing lots of homework....nothing special at all really....so i dont think iw ill stay and bore you with anything else lol.

byye for now

-abbey<3

Heyy allwell i am sorry i havnt posted in a while i have been sooooo busy. Between going on safari over last weekend...then all this week..eveyrday i has somewhere to go...uh its been crazy busy but so much fun. i have been to soo many places..feeding programs..orphangages...street homes...churches...out for various meals with various people. i am having such a great time.I would go into detail but thn this blog would be soo long and i dont want to type everything out lol. But this has been such an amazing trip....God it just blowing my mind....teaching me...he has totally taken my heart and shaken it all up...its been so great and eye opening to be here. i was looking at this stream of water today.....and i was thinking about the water....how it carries things..with it and inside it...for miles...for days and months maybe years...maybe forever...how it can hold the good and get rid of the bad...how it is essential for basically evrything to survive.....how it has no boundaries...how it flows freely wherever it pleases (somtimes when we dont want it to) how it can wash things away.....how it can let things that were once hidden be seen, how it can refresh..how it can warm...how it can help and how it can hurt. I mean when you think about it...there are soo many things water can do. And i got thinking about me...and about how....in my life..i wish in alot of ways i could be like water...i wish i could flow freely..without a care i the world.....i wish i could hold on to the good stuff..and get rid of the bad...how i wish i had no boundaries....you know...i wish that i could do all the things that i want..without letting fear get in my way...and in others i wish i were less like water....you know...sometimes you "flow" to far...sometimes you can do more harm than good...sometimes i hold on to things i should let go of. But then i also got thinking you know..all of these things are things that make me .........well me. Some bad things i can change and over power with the good... the good things i can hold on too...and take with me to unimagnable places.....how i can in so many ways..be so many things....and how even if they are bad..or good..or in between they are ll there or a reason and all work together...to make me. And just like water sometimes messes things up...and sometimes makes them better....i will do alot of both of those things in my life..and the more i flow....the i grow and learn...the more i am filtered...the less of the bad will be there. So i guess what i am trying to say is...sometimes we srew things up...sometimes we helps things...but take everything as it comes..dont look at the bad as the end of the world...think of it as another thing to be filtered..another thing to be taken out..another lessoned learned....eventually leaving you a little better than you were before.-abbey<3

Heyy all

Well today was a really great day. a little slower than yesterday....didnt really go too far..lo lbut it was great never the less. i Hung out most of the day with my new african buddies..Julius and Kurea. they are actually jades friends but i have been getting to know them lots....and they are the sweetest guys in the world. They just love God...and are just so sweet....fthey are always bringing you stuff and just are always like..you want to go for a walk? lol so i went for a walk with them today..and jade and katie..and two other girls named christa and Kathryn. we walked just in town around PAC and then we left town..and got like into the country a little..man it was absolutley ...BEAUTIFUL!!!! breath taking..with the sun setting over hills and purple trees...(they have these trees here in africa..that only bloom one a year at this time and they are this crazy shade of purple ) so man i loved it i wanted to stay there and just stare at it lol. So we walked back..got a little lost..cause Julius said he knew a short cut..and then the road was closed..so we walked all the way back the long way lol. but that was fun i talked to Kurea alot of the time....hes such a sweetie!! gotta fly
-abbey

Heyy all.
well if i havnt emailed you today i apolgize you see...in the morning when i came to email...my computer was all messed up so i dont even know if all the emails i sent worked.but then i went to a home for street kids..to visit them its like an hours drive from PAC so i didnt get a chance to come and re-send all the emails. But anyways! as for my day....well i went to this home..for street kids. so these are kids from ages 10-21 all rescued from the streets of nairobi and kisumu and places around here. It really touched my heart to spend the afternoon with them. they are the sweetest kids i have ever met. I was talking with this one guy named martin. he is 14....he was such a sweetie. we talked alot...and he told me about all the things he has been blessed with...how God rescued him from the streets and gave him this home to live in...with al lthese other kids..and where he can go to school and learn about god...he leads the worship at this home..he has such a beautiful voice. And such a love for God. he was telling me how he used to think that he had nothing...and that even now what he has...to me might not seem like much. But he said..i have God...he saved my life...he gave me this place to live..this family and i am forever thankful to him..... and i know that the things i will face in life might not be easy..money comes very rarely...for this home..but he knows that God has provided all he needs this far....and that God is going to take care of him forever and a day. It blew my mind..to hear about what he went through...what he still goes through..i saw how he lived..and then i saw him....totally in love with life..with God....trusting and believing that God his creator and maker would never let him go. it left me speechless.....i am still in total amazment.....this boy changed my life. he showed me...who has "everything" compared to him that with God..life is never to bad..never to big..never too hard. that nothing i have will ever be too little...or too much..because everything in this world could fall away from me..and if i still had God in my heart...none of that would matter. It totally changed my heart around. its amazing what you see here..and how even these people and children..my age..who have nothing..have so much joy. and love. its amazing. i mean i went to this home today..thinking i would impact their lives..but in the end..it was them who changed mine.
So next time i feel like everything is going wrong..like life is hard...i will think of martin...i will think of the constant and overflowing joy and love for God that he had..and i will know that that is all i need....God will bring me through anything anytime..anywhere.
God is just soo good!!
-abbey<3

Heyy all!!
well its day....three of being in africa and man i am just soo at home. everyone makes you feel soo welcome. i absolutley love it here. Its soo beautiful and the people are soo nice....i am learning so much..growing tons..Gods really blessing me..and showing me how blessed i am. It honestly blowing my mind that i am in africa. lol this week has been pretty slow so far. its basically just hanging around doing stuff..going to Happy Life. which i was supposed to do this morning but didnt end up going.....so i am going this afternoon !!YAY!! lol i get to see my baby mark<3 lol hes such a cutie..honestly i want to take him home with me lol. But ya i am loving it..i just went to chapel ...which was great...church here is so cool..they start dancing before the music even starts...and like the way the worship...its crazy they dont hold back..they are all so in love with God ...i mean hes all they got. ...they trust him with everything...i soo wish i had their mind set all the time. But ya...i miss home too..i miss everyone at home..and the food at home lol.the food here is soo diferent..like it just tastes different... even the Coke...tastes different lol. it still tastes good but wayy different but over all trying all the new stuff...it soo much fun..its like an adventure at every meal...stuff like..bread...that your like..ya ok its bread same old same old...then you put it in your mouth and your like.....hmmm this is odd lol. but i love it its half the fun!Oh ya the wild life here is crazy...i am seeing birds and stuff that i have never seen before in my life!!lol i love it. no like lions or stuff cause im on campus but i goon safarilater ths week so i will being seeing all those then!! hehe lol SO ya i am really having the time of my life here. and im taking TONS of picutres for you all to see.lol i wish i could put them in my blog..but they arent on the computer yet. so you'll have to waitlol. anyways i best be off.
all my love
-abbey<3

Heyy All!!!
well this is a first.i am writting from africa!!! AH!! crazy i know. I thought i wouldnt be able to write while i was here...but i am. Yay!! lol So ya.. to start at the begining.....the first flight was really..well i dont want tosay bad..but it wasnt very good either. it was very crowded and uh i dont know i didnt like it lol. All our bags and stuff got through security and customes ok..which was very good. So the first flight wasnt that great. WE landed in London at around 6:00 am ...but to my body it felt like 2:00 am. so i was very tire and i didnt feel like getting on another plane lol. But never the less i had to. SO the second flight rolled around and it was much nicer..maybe it was because we were flying in the day or something but wow i like its so much better. So two flgiht..and 18 hours later we landed in Nairobi. WE got our bags..all of them!! yay!! lol and appearently the security was supposed to be really tough here..so we thought they were going to like open all our bags..but theydidnt even open one. wich was amazing. such a blessing! So we got our bags and as were are walking out the door. appears JADE!! ahh i was so excited. we like tackled each other lol it was hugs all around lol so ya shes doing very well, i missed her soo much it was soo nice to get here and see her. SO now we've been here two days. Sunday was nice...we had church in the morning which was really cool, different but still really nice. In hte afternoon i basically sat around with jade laura and katie ( laura is jades roomate) and we just talked and caught up and stuff it was nice. Then we went for the Kaufelds for dinnre they are the owners of the college. so ya sunday was good...kinda layed back.
So monday...well today my friends i fell in love. You see i went to the orphanage today. Its called Happy Life Home. Its an infant orphanage. and you see there was this one little baby. named Mark. CUTEST LITTLE BOY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love him soo much hes such a little sweetie..hes like 7 months old...aw i totally love him i didnt put him down hardly at all lol.so ya it was such an amazing experience togo and help out there...feeding babies, changing babies, bathing babaies. uh it was sooo sad...like heartbreaking to see how they live..and how they have no parents to love them....but it was also just amazing to see how even the smallest amount of love shown to them makes them so happy. it was just amazing.there are no words. So ya..i just ate lunch...the foods kinda good here...icant complain its kinda of odd...sometimes lol but still overall not that bad. So ya i am just having the time of my life!!!!!! gotta fly though
all my love from Africa!!!
-abbey<333

HEY ALL!!!well today will be my last blog for a while since i am off to PAC bible college in AFRICA!!!! ahhh i am soo excited....like wow what a blessing. its blowing my mind. God is really just so good!! Wow like i am going to come back totally changed and with a total different outlook on everything and i mean al lthat exciting stuff in between!! Like wow....i am out of words to describe how excited i am. its crazy!!!!!! I am going to miss everyone to though...thats bumming me out a little...but i mean its only 15 days!! I am just so exicted there isnt a way to describe it!! So goodbye for now all, have a great two weeks and i will write when i get back with all my stories!!lots of love!!-abbey<33333