Less than 48 hours in?

Hi y'all! Just to say it is ALOT easier to acquire an accent this time because I already know a lot of the words so if you phone me when I get back you may then be able to be amused by my accent and my interesting choice of words.

So now all the "people-that-are-coming-for-the-first-time" are here (they arrived on.... (I have lost track of the days..today is Saturday morning) ....Thursday evening!). It was insane, cars were arriving all the way from as far as Minnesota, lots of shouting and screaming on our part. My girls arrived =D, they are Rachel, Jo, Kelli and Libby! They had to got to Walmart to get their paperwork in for the job so basically they arrived after a 2 day car journey (car ride!) and had to shove their stuff in the room, get changed into something presentable and pile into the van and go to Walmart! It didn't take too long and they got back and we had dinner as a Project (as in, they gave us a meal), went to an Intro meeting and then went to Walmart to buy food and stuff for the room! On Friday we were all at Okey's church (one of the churches we will go to here) at 7.30am to hear a talk on "Perspectives on Jobs" and then they went to Walmart for the drug tests and Ben, Zara and I (two friends also from the UK! - Northern Ireland to be specific) went to look for jobs! The boss dude wasn't at Piggly Wiggly so we left, and went into Krispy Kreme = it was national donut day so we got free donuts and the guy said they would call us (at first they said no, then they decided we looked nice so changed their minds) and then we went to Kroger (a "grocery store"/ supermarket) and they said no, and just then Judy from Krispy Kreme phoned and was talking about hiring us and filling in our forms to get our work visas.. not sure if it will work out, we are looking at Garden City Inn pizza place and working on the cafe in the Pier because they are closer but I am starting to hope that we may get a job! Today is a chilled day, the girls are at Walmart working and I'll be going to the pizza place to see if they need someone in a bit.

On Thursday we had a leadership talk and one thing that was said is that there is a vertical reality and a horizontal reality. In the vertical reality, the way we relate with God, we can come with trust. In him is our faith and identity and there is NOTHING we can do works-wise in that relationship, it is rest, dependance. And in our horizontal reality, with others, we don't put our trust in them, but work, and serve and love - that is where we toil and struggle, out of love for others BECAUSE of our vertical reality, we have been served and loved by God. The problem comes when we blur the lines of these realities and put our trust in others for fulfillment. Or when we start to work to try to please God. ....
It made it so clear to me and was so FREEING. Nothing I do this summer is to make God happier with me, but as I see more and more of his love, I am freed and overflowing and can overflow into others lives, not seeking my identity in them but serving them, knowing I have been filled by him.

So that was massively encouraging. These days have been less of a routine and more getting stuff set up, but tomorrow we will start to get into the swing of things... in a quiet time, pray for the room, that our relationships may go deep but that ultimately, we would be pointed to Christ and see the truth of the vertical reality. It is HIM and what he did that makes us acceptable, not anything we can do. And that will result in the overflow. =). I am very excited about the summer now, hopefully will get a job too!
Thanks for your support and for reading!
Love, Kat =) xxx