Matthew 9:29 "According to your faith let it be unto you."

It has been nearly a half a year since I blogged. Yikes. I'm officially a terrible blogger. I was so good at this in Cambodia. Now, it's seems I simply do not have time for petty, frivolous things such as blogging. My time is more suited for sleeping eating and cleaning my house. How can I possibly recap six months in one tiny blog posting? Only a good writer can do such a thing, I'm striving to be better. I guess that's how I could sum up my life these past few. Striving...reaching..anticipating....not really knowing what was or wilt what could or would what is and is not. In six months, I gained three jobs, a car, a house a new friend, a niece and a year older. In just under 200 days I lost a best friend, lost some memories and in many ways lost how much I cared about any of it.

I'm now doing exactly what I did in Cambodia (teaching international college kids ESL) except from the comfort of my own home town. And frankly, I love it. A year ago, I was dripping in sweat as the hottest weather I'd ever experienced blew into Southeast Asia. I was spent, after 10 months in the unknown I was ready for the familiar. Never would I ever dream that the father would unexpectedly bless me like He has. It just kind of happened. Do I miss the 'Bode? Of course. I think about Cambodia everyday. In fact most afternoons, a spurt of memory will rush through my brain and I'll reminisce a sweet moment with my student, a laugh with a Khmer friend a tear I shed on the hot dusty roads of Phnom Penh. The great thing about experience is that we take it with us, we either become better or we forget and we grow worse, jaded cynical...or all things which do not reflect Him. When I decided not to return to Cambodia, I decided to use every experience there to shape my future. Little did I know the father would use it to propel me into jobs I didn't deserve to have, opportunities I didn't merit to experience, and a heart that could never come without any of it.

Yesterday, My student, told me she is moving to Kentucky to be closer to family, "no" I said, in a joking way, "I won't let you go." She wrote me saying, "Teacher you are the only reason I would ever stay in West Virginia. I love you." The day before my student sends me another email saying, "I hope all my teachers in America are like you." How can students be the same in Cambodia as they are in Saudi Arabia? The Father makes my experience the same. He gave me the exact same experience of Cambodia right her in the heart of West Virginia.

My heart if full of gratitude, my life filled with joy, my work load ridiculous, my spirit at peace, and my experiences to come can only be greater.

Erin

"There's a blog shaped hole in all of us."

After a year of blogging from half way around the world (I was in Cambodia). I decided to give this blog thing another round. This time, maybe to your disappointment, my blogs will probably not include, geckos, gangsters and crazy student quotes. However, I hope it will be just as exciting. My life has never been one thing: boring. That I can say with much confidence. Since high school, it's been one giant leap of faith to the next never knowing what the following year would entail, yet embracing every uncertain moment as an opportunity to trust my Creator. Thus comes the name of this blog "Faith." Webster's defines faith as a complete trust in something or someone. hmmmm... complete. BIG word. These past few months (since leaving Cambodia) have been a testing my faith and a building of perseverance. Everyday I remind myself that God is in control. (period). He has brought me thus far and will continue...end of discussion.

Faith is kind of unseen, in a lot of ways. However, my freckles have been seen all my life. I hated coming in from the sun and my friends would say things like, "wow, you have so many freckles." I called them ugly spots. Now, I realize they are not going away (especially with my terrible addiction to the sun) and I have embraced it. Perhaps it's a sign of maturity or just plain surrender, but now I love them. They make me, me.

Faith is what makes me on the inside and Freckles are what make me on the outside....come along with me as I trust the Father day by day, week by week...


**Oh, and props to my little brother for the title of this blog. He said that quote years ago and I've never forgotten.**Love you, Matty.