Ministry and Mayhem
This update was sent as an email on September 1st; sign up for Leah’s letters to get the inside scoop!
Summer came and went in a blink, and we’re already two weeks into the fall 2023 semester! As usual, I have so much to update you on, from trips to Puerto Rico to gallbladder surgeries, so let’s get right into it.
I love Puerto Rico, and I hope to go back every year to visit family!
Last update, I had just gotten back from a trip to DC to visit a friend and was anticipating attending lots of weddings this summer. The weddings were a BLAST, of course! I love celebrating love and dancing the night away! I spent a lot of my time this summer at the Recreation Outreach Center at First Baptist Church, working the front desk to save up for my trip to Puerto Rico. I worked there a few summers ago, and it was nice to reconnect with old friends and meet some new ones. On the weekends, I traveled a bunch (almost all the weddings were out of town) and spent a few of them kayaking and swimming in quarries (separately). It was so fun to spend time with so many friends who I don’t get to see during the school year. I went climbing in Nashville with some of my climbing friends, which was so awesome. Olivia and I did a “Freshmen Tour” at the end of July to visit a bunch of the previous year’s freshmen in their hometowns, and it was the sweetest thing for them to be so excited that such weirdos like us were visiting them! And then at the beginning of August, I went to Puerto Rico with my cousin Natalie. We stayed with our Tío Fernando and Titi Marta, and we visited family, had lots of pool- and beach-days, and went zip lining on the longest zip line in the world! It was so crazy and a perfect way to end the summer before hitting the ground running at CSF.
Beyond that, I had a lot of medical appointments this summer, trying to get my health squared away before my insurance ends in October; turning 26 sucks so far! I found out I have pretty severe vitamin deficiencies, chronic gastritis, gallstones, and a plethora of food allergies. No wonder my stomach always hurts! I’m having my gallbladder removed Tuesday, September 5th, at 1:00 PM, and I’d appreciate all the prayers—knowledgeable and capable surgeons and nurses, a successful surgery with no complications, and a swift and easy recovery! My mom is coming to town to take care of me for a few days following, and Conny set up a meal train for me. Everyone has been making me feel so loved as I prepare for this routine but still a little scary procedure!
At CSF, we’re already a few weeks into the semester, and we’ve had so many new faces around the house! …
If you want to hear more about my ministry and life (and see LOTS of pictures), sign up for Leah’s Letters! I send out an email update every three months—the next one will be around December. Sign up now so you don’t miss it!
