love one another.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:12. My prayer is that I can look at people the way Jesus does. He cuts off our bad branches, keeping only the good ones. It's easy to look at what people don't have or their insecurities but who am I to do that? Jesus looks at everyone as a vine ready to bear fruit and my hope is to be more like him and do the same.

Board games are where it's at. Laurel and I played three games of Mancala before I got owned by my new friend Greg. He was the only one to beat me all day. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty darn good at that game. Jesse led worship today and it was simply amazing. There is something inspiring about someone who can sit in front of a room full of people, play their guitar and sing to the Lord. As Jesse also said, it's awesome to be surrounded by people all singing to the same God, the creator of all of our lives. Jill, the wonderful speaker, keeps telling us that each one of us is created in God's image and that we shouldn't settle for just anyone. It's worth waiting for the one who will love us like Jesus. He takes away all our imperfections and looks only at our beauty.

There was an earthquake in Chile today and because of it we had a Tsunami warning. We weren't allowed to go down on beach for a couple of hours. It's so mind blowing that something half a world away had an impact on what we were able to do today. We went into Seaside and walked around the shops. I found a $13.00 sweater vest at this cute little shop. Laurel and I both purchased the very last two hemp ish like backpacks from Signature Imports. They are amazing. Period. The lady gave us a 20% discount because, Laurel and I, being poor high school students were debating whether to get them. She was the manager of the store and was a very sweet, generous lady. We then went down to the beach and played around, barefoot, feeling the hard sand and ice cold water on our feet. It started to get dark so we watched the sun peeking through the clouds as it went down. I believe that the beach is one of the most beautiful places God has created. Next was diner, club and amazing worship led by Jesse again. The guy who wears Toms and awesome glasses. We went back down to the beach which was completely lit by the moon. We played games and had a bonfire for a few short minutes. The sand was too wet to keep it lit. Most everybody jumped into the ocean so there were cold, wet, half naked bodies everywhere. Laurel, Karyn and I had a great time talking in the cabin before we hit the hay. We ate teddy grams and shared moments. I seriously love my friends. It's so amazing to be surrounded by people who live for the same God I do. I've never quite felt fellowship and love as I have this past year.