5 YEARS!

Celebrating 5 years with my Jim mug.

I have officially been working at my current church for 5 years.

5 YEARS!

God has blessed me so much that it's hard to put in to words how glad I am that he called me to Fort Worth in August 2007.  And specifically to Altamesa the next month.

It has been a whirlwind.  And I battle back and forth whether it has FLOWN BY or crawled by.  5 years ago I was living with my sweet roomies Lauren and Meredith in 1212 (our apartment's name).  When I started at Altamesa I had about $20 in the bank.  I hadn't worked in about a month.  Instead I cooked and cleaned while Lauren taught theatre during the day and Meredith job hunted.  I applied at every single store/restaurant/etc in our area, but I was praying that the leadership of Altamesa would hire me so I didn't have to fold and refold clothes at Old Navy. 

Praise God that they did!

So without further adieu, the last 5 years in ministry, in numbers:

3- the number of apartments I've lived in.  2 with roommates and 1 with just me. 
4- the number of offices that I've had at Altamesa.  Only one had major flooding issues.
7- the grade my sweet seniors were in when I first started working with them.  Graduation Sunday has gotten progressively worse through the years...
4- the number of mountains I've climbed/attempted to climb with Altamesa
1- play that I've been in since starting Altamesa
6- months that I've been married.  Whoa.
2- the number of dates I went on (here in Fort Worth) before meeting Patrick in 2009.
5- the approximate number of cuss words that one of the guys said on one of those dates.  I didn't see him again.
580- a very rough estimate of classes/small groups/lessons I've taught over the past five years.
14- number of teens that went on Elevations the first year.
2- number of injuries in one day on a mission trip to Crystal Beach
2000- number of times the youth group sang "Accio Love" on a trip to Colorado
1- Girls Gathering Conference that I've helped create- the 2nd GG will be in April of 2013!

So there you have it.  Some random numbers for some random moments of the past five years at Altamesa.  I'm spoiled in blessings being here.

Praise be to a Father who is faithful even when I'm not.  Who loves me even when I'm distant.  Who is present even when I'm in pain.

Love Him.