JUST MABRY: In awe.

First off, I hate that I haven't blogged in so long... Time has literally gotten away from me multiple times. Last week was probably the worst week of my senior year school wise. After monday and tuesday passed my week became so much better though! Wednesday: new laptop (!!!) and sushi date with sister. Thursday: oh darn..I just forgot why thursday was awesome.... Just know that the rest of my week rocked! Thanks Lord!

Now, for London updates. Last week, I received a letter from my aunt and uncle (who live in Nevada now) and I was so ecstatic to see what was inside! With the biggest smile on my face, I pulled out a little encouraging note with a check for $250!! It was such a surprise and I am still grateful that they want to be involved in my life and that they would send me such a great amount of money. It may not seem like a lot to some people, but anything I'm given for this trip is a huge blessing. Thank you so much uncle D and aunt Stormy, I love you guys!!

I'm not done yet! Last weekend (I can't believe I'm just now getting around to this) was our annual Missions Festival weekend. Also known as my favorite weekend of the year. Our church is really big on missions, so we as a congregation support numerous missionaries from various place in the world; from Taiwan, Haiti, Turkey, Mexico and place in between. Therefore, this weekend is much anticipated by our church.

Included in this weekend was a silent auction, hosted by the London team, where every penny earned is going towards our trip's funds. We had anything you could've imagined donated - dentistry, paintings, swim lessons - anything that would help us get to England. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, this is our biggest fundraiser. So, with that being said, it's with a craaaaazy amount of gratitude that I can say we raised $4,381!!! God is so gracious to His children!!! The fact that we raised that in basically two days is so encouraging to me. The majority of the team was sort of nervous in a way as we thought it wasn't going to be very successful this year. Turns out, we raised more this year than last year! God knows what we need to get to London and He is in control of all of it. How comforting is that? We took action by serving at the dinners, calling donators and preparing various things for that weekend, and God completely blessed our efforts.

That entire weekend, our guest speaker was Dr. George Murray, chancellor of Columbia International University in South Carolina. His passion for missions is constantly burning and it was an incredible blessing to host him during that time. That sunday, he delivered the sermon. I honestly can't put into words how powerful the message was and what it stirred in my heart. We'll just leave at the fact that it left me in tears and I am the farthest thing from a person who cries all the time. I highly encourage you to listen to this sermon. It can be found on easternshorepca.org under the "Sermons" tab. It may or not be listed yet as the man in charge of doing so is in Haiti right now. Keep checking though! I really want to see what this does for other people. Feel free to leave comments below when you've listened to it. I was shook up all day by what the Spirit moved inside of me that morning. I feel so passionately about what Dr. Murray preached on that I can't help but share it with others! My life is forever changed by the message I heard on Matthew 28:19.