He opens His hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing

Can you think of a time where you went somewhere or did something, and you came back really refreshed, like you were full of life again? Can you think of a time where you left a place or a group of people and your heart felt sad because it was over? That's really how I felt today, as we left Austin's farm in Leona. I can't put into words how much fun I had this weekend!

Carolyn and I drove for an hour and ended up in this beautiful little town, if that's even what you would call it. 7 other people came too (4 boys, 3 other girls) and we stayed in this little red house for the weekend.

We all got there on Friday night, and we hung out for a while before Erin and Ryan made dinner. Amazing! The guys even did the dishes afterwards, which I thought was wonderful. There's just something about a guy doing dishes that makes every girl's heart melt!
(This is everyone except for Carolyn)
After dinner, we went fishing. I had never been fishing, so it was quite an experience! I had a lot of fun catching grasshoppers.

Here's the fish that I caught! I was so excited!

Later that night, we went out and made a bonfire, then proceeded to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. Austin brought his guitar and played and sang (we sang too, sometimes), and we just enjoyed each other's company.

The next day, Austin gave us a "Gun 101" lesson. He explained things very simply, including gun safety and such. Then we headed to the field where we had had the bonfire the night before. The boys set up some cans as targets, and we practiced shooting. I was SO SCARED! I had this strange fear of guns (probably because I never was around them, growing up in England). After I shot the pistol, I got more relaxed and started to enjoy shooting.

Here, Austin is teaching me how to shoot. I stood really far away because I was so scared...
Here I am shooting the pistol!
Then we took a little walk to another target practice area. That's where I learnt how to shoot a shotgun! It was actually pretty fun, once I got past the freaked out stage.

We ended up taking a "boys with guns" picture and a "girls with guns" picture:


Austin ended up shooting a bunny, and then someone shot a caterpillar in half. It was pretty neat!

After shooting, we found a spot where we could swing on some vines that hung from trees. It was so fun! I thought this was the coolest picture that resulted from all the pics taken of the vine swinging:

That afternoon, we watched a movie and then most people left. Carolyn and I cooked dinner for Austin and Kyle, and we ended up talking for hours. And when I say hours, I mean over seven. I had so much fun talking to everyone! We talked about quirks, passions, ideal careers and dental hygiene. I probably could have talked for a few more hours, but I got really tired and had to go to bed. We left this morning after breakfast, and I got really sad. That's the bad thing about being an extrovert -- you have a lot of fun with some people, and the moment you have to leave them, it gets really depressing. I didn't say anything in the car for a little while, because I was so sad. It's kind of pathetic. And I only spent two days at the farm... When we went to Juarez, I was depressed for about a month afterwards because I missed everyone so much. But that's kind of going off track. I guess I just like people a lot!

Last night when we were talking about what we were passionate about, it really got me thinking. I know that I am passionate about serving other people... but what other deep desires has God placed in my heart? I felt a little weird answering that question because it made me want more passions. I am a very happy person who gets excited about a lot of things, but I wanted to know what really made me joyful and enthusiastic. What were those deep desires? I know that I desire to grow and learn about Christ. I want to fall more in love with Him every day. I want my life to be reflective of God and His glory. I strongly desire to do God's will and go where He calls me. I really really want to be obedient to Him (it's very difficult sometimes!). I guess that maybe this is something that God will develop in my life... I've definitely been thinking a lot about it, though.

I guess I should go study now. I hope you all enjoyed the pictures!

-K