like gold through fire.

It's about 4pm on my last Sunday here in College Station this semester, and I'm avoiding studying for my final on Tuesday. I can't focus because I'm too busy getting excited about this summer- for those of you who don't know, I'm heading back to Zambia for all of June and July! For the past few months, my mind has been replaying sweet memories from past summers in Zambia, pumping me up for the two months I'll get to spend there very soon! I've had a countdown to my departure going on my computer for a while now (26 days from today) and my soul is so anxious to be back overseas with those kids I have fallen in love with over the years! 

This is the blog that I used for my last summer over there to keep everyone updated and for me to write down my experiences, and I'm going to use it again this summer! So I'm starting it up again today!  

"...so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

1 Peter 1:7

"And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

Zechariah 13:9

I guess my prayer for this summer is that God would challenge me, grow me, and change me for His good. And I know He will! I feel like God has been preparing me for this theme for a few months now and I am ready for it. I genuinely WANT to be "refined like gold through fire" because that means I am becoming more pure. Gold emerges from the fire, and I know that when I come through the fire, all glory will go to the Lord because I couldn't have done any of it on my own. In the verse from Zechariah, it was after the Israelites went through the fire that they were closer to the Lord. The testing of our faith calls us to rely on the Lord and trust in Him, and our God IS faithful and will be during our times of fire. I want to be REFINED and for my impurities to be removed by fire. I don't know what challenges the Lord will put in my path this summer, but I know that in His name and by His grace I will be able to overcome any and all curveballs that Satan tries to throw at me.

I'm ready to see the Lord's POWER, not only in my life in the challenges I experience, but also in the lives of all of the kiddos coming to Camp LIFE! God's POWER is the theme this year, and I know we won't be disappointed. I'm excited to see our mighty and powerful God break the strongest chains that the enemy has wrapped around our kids, and I absolutely cannot WAIT to see how He changes Lusaka this summer. 

Like I said, I have no idea what God has in store for me, for Camp LIFE, or for the kids for this summer, but I know He has some big tricks up His sleeve! I want everyone to be able to know about how God moves in Zambia this summer, so I will do my best to keep this blog updated! 

26 days.

Mariah