What a crazy week this has been! I’m so happy that there were no planes involved. I definitely think I’m retiring from flying for at least three months. ;) Flying is fun and all, but after the 28-hour journey I had, there is no way I’m doing it any day soon.
The week has really flown by! It feels like just yesterday I was writing my last blog post and telling you all about my insane journey. Thankfully, nothing that exciting has happened to me this week, but some pretty exciting things have been happening!
For one, I got an internship with Crown of Beauty magazine!!! If you’ve never heard of this magazine, I highly recommend you check them out. Crown of Beauty is an awesome ministry that strives to help girls through life and encourage them in their walk with Yahweh!
I signed up for the internship on a whim after getting an email saying that they were looking for interns and that one of those positions was an article writer. How could I have turned a blind eye to that? After asking my parents if I should do it, I filled out and sent in my application.
Within a couple of days, I received a reply telling me that they were still looking at the other applications but would like me to read their missions statement and writer’s guidelines to see if they coincide with mine. If they did, they then wanted me to pick a topic and email them, in order to get a deadline date.
The subject I chose was Purity in Relationships. I’m currently reading the book Passion and Purity, so I thought it was a good fit for right now. As soon as the email sent, I started to think of ideas I wanted to include in my article and prayed that YHVH would give me the words. Of course, the words just had to come to me at midnight, when I was trying to sleep! All well, sleep’s for suckers anyway. ;)
However, the next morning I opened my laptop to get the recipe for the carrot cake I was making for my birthday when an email came through. The email was from the Crown of Beauty founder, Livy, telling me that she was excited to welcome me as one of their new interns!
To say I was excited is a bit of an understatement! After re-reading the email, to make sure I’d read it right, I ran up the stairs to tell Leona. We hugged and screamed at the news! Next, I called Anthony, who was very happy for me but couldn’t handle my enthusiasm. I was super excited and wanted to tell everyone close to me, but my mom wasn’t available at the time and Jeremy refused to answer the phone because his brother was asleep in the car, humph. Oh well, they found out eventually.
I’m still in shock that they accepted me without reading my article, but I’m really confident that this was YHVH’s doing. This is going to be a great opportunity for me to share my writing skills with the world and hopefully become more confident in what I have to say. It’s been a struggle of mine to share my writings with other people because I never think I’m good enough, but YHVH is definitely using this opportunity as a learning experience!
Another great thing that happened the same day as getting the internship, was that my suitcase arrived! It had almost been a week since I had arrived and I was starting to get worried about its whereabouts. I was also in desperate need for all my clothes. Thankfully, after making three claims, it finally turned up in one piece!
The day after all that excitement was my birthday! Usually, I would wake up to find presents outside my door and make a big breakfast with my family, but that didn’t happen this year. I did have some cards to open while on FaceTime with my parents and grandparents, which was very fun, but the breakfast didn’t occur.
This year, Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) ended up being on my birthday. At first, I was really disappointed at this, but then I started to see it as a blessing. Last Yom Kippur I turned my life around, so it was really awesome to see how far I have come!
As I fasted and prayed, during the day, I felt particularly close to my Father and could hear His answers to the questions I was asking. I loved being able to rest in His presence and learn more about Him.
Half-way through the day, however, the devil did try to discourage me by showing me that no one had called me on my birthday. Everyone had texted, but no one called and that started to bug me. Gabriella and I always call one another on our birthdays so I think her absence hit me the most. It was very unlike her to miss calling me on my birthday, but she was really busy that day.
Thankfully, my funk didn’t last for long because people started turning up for our celebration. We had over fifty people at the house! It was awesome to see how many people came for a time of worship, prayer and fellowship as the sun set and the Day of Atonement ended! I loved being around all those people, it really boosted my sadness into happiness.
Of course, once worship started, my phone started to ring! I had two FaceTime calls within thirty minutes of the other. The first was from one of my grandfathers and the other was my grandma from Scotland. It was really nice to talk to them and tell them about my day and internship.
Later, as soon as the clock struck 6:30pm, I got out of my chair and made my way towards the amazing cake my friend, Larry, had bought me! I’ve known Larry for at least three years now, he even lived at our house in Israel for three months, so we’re a lot like siblings. I thought it was really thoughtful of him to bring me a cake and candles.
As soon as the happy birthday song finished, I grabbed a fork and tried the chocolate side of Larry's cake. It was delicious! While waiting in line for food, I may or may not have licked that plate clean! haha
After I’d eaten, Jacque finally showed up! I was so excited to see her that I ran to her, hitting my toe on a chair along the way. We hugged and spun each other around, elated to be reunited again.
From there, the night really began. I met new people and had some hilarious conversations. It was the best birthday without my family I’ve ever had. ;) I felt very loved and included with the group who live around here!
Later that evening, long after Jacque had gone home, the boys had gotten out of the hot tub and Justin came to see if I wanted to play Super Smash Bros with them. How could I refuse my favorite childhood game? Once I’d replied to all of the people who had wished me a happy birthday on Facebook, I joined the guys downstairs for an epic battle of Super Smash. It was a lot of fun!
Of course, the reason for my stay is not just pleasure, the chiropractor also needs to be worked into all my fun. My first meeting with the chiropractor was very interesting. I’ve never had such a thorough examination before and was really fascinated to see what the tests showed up.
The day after my birthday, I returned to the chiropractic office to learn my results and to start my treatment. Not much had changed in my condition, but it definitely lessened the amount of time the therapy is going to take. Please pray that I start to heal and that we have the money for all my treatment since it definitely costs more than we wanted it to!
The rest of the week was quite uneventful. I helped around the house, went to the chiropractor, FaceTimed my family, talked with friends, read, and chilled. It’s been nice to hang out when everyone is around, but when I’m home alone, it gets kinda lonely.
I’m still learning how to coincide with life in a busy household. I don’t want to be a burden so I try to help as much as I can and stay out the way when necessary. It’s nice to have people coming in an out, but I do wish there was someone new who would come so I’m not the only newbie. Everyone has known one another for a couple of years, so it’s hard for me to join in with conversations, sometimes.
This next week is the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot. The group over here is going to be camping and having fellowship with one another. I’m really excited about it because it’s going to be nice to spend time away from the house. I’m just praying that my neck and headaches will stay under control since they started to play up this weekend.
It's going to be a lot of fun sleeping outside, in a tent, and having lots of people around in the day. I can't wait to see what we all get up to and, hopefully, I'll make some new friends!
My nineteenth year has begun and I have no idea what is in store for me. My prayer is that YHVH will continue to strengthen me and show me when and when not to speak. I’m still having trouble with keeping my mouth closed and not judging people harshly; but hopefully, by the end of my visit here, I’ll be a pro in both of those areas.
Next week, I’m not too sure there will be a blog post as there is no internet where I’m going. Yikes! Nevertheless, I will be sure to write down all the details and post them as soon as I come home from my adventure in the woods! Happy Sukkot!
Hebrews 10:22, “Let us draw near with a true heart in completeness of belief, having our hearts sprinkled from a wicked conscience and our bodies washed with clean water.”