Meet My Team!

me, Madi, Abi, Meg, Juanita, and Sarah 

My team is finally all here in Brussels! So super excited that we are all together. Tonight we went out for Belgian fries which were the bomb dot com and I pretty much ate my body weight in fries and dipping sauce. SO GOOD. Anyway, this is a little post to meet the girls that I am working and serving with this month! I asked them all the same questions and you all can get to know them!! Enjoy! 

Madi: 
If you could go anywhere in the world for two weeks, where would you go? I would love to hike the Alps! 
If your house was burning down and you could only save one thing, what would it be? I would save a handmade photo collage that a girl I nanny made for me. 
If you could talk to any person now living, who would it be? Bono- I've always wanted to talk to him.


Abi:
If you could go anywhere in the world for two weeks, where would you go? I would go to Asia. 
If your house was burning down and you could only save one thing, what would it be? Probably my journal. 
If you could talk to any person now living, who would it be? Meghan Trainor. 

Meg: 
If you could go anywhere in the world for two weeks, where would you go? Europe! (well that works out haha!)
If your house was burning down and you could only save one thing, what would it be? My photobook! 
If you could talk to any person now living, who would it be? Emma Watson. 

Juanita:
If you could go anywhere in the world for two weeks, where would you go? South Korea. 
If your house was burning down and you could only save one thing, what would it be? I would just make sure my family is safe! 
If you could talk to any person now living, who would it be? Any South Korean band. 

Sarah: 
If you could go anywhere in the world for two weeks, where would you go? New Zealand. 
If your house was burning down and you could only save one thing, what would it be? Probably my wallet... 
If you could talk to any person now living, who would it be? Phil Dunphy from Modern Family! 

There you have it!! These girls are awesome and we have had a great few days together. Thank you again for all your support!!

We Made It!

After a 7 hour flight from Philly- we have successfully made it to Brussels!!! The flight went well and even though I didn't sleep- it was a great time to journal, relax, and try to unwind after an emotionally draining day. Saying good-bye to my family and friends was so hard- I had a really hard time adjusting to life without them and am still learning! I'm thankful for new friends and kind people who have been so sweet. After the flight we went through customs which we are all a little nervous about, just because it's scary to think about the idea of being turned away from entering the country. But we made it!!

My other teammates are awesome!! Four of us are here and we are waiting for two more who will get here later. It's been great to get to know them better, and I will be introducing them in an upcoming post. So stay tuned! :)

Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement! I am excited to see what God is going to do in the next four weeks as my team grows closer to each other and who we will get to impact and be impacted by. I will keep you all updated as much as possible!! Now it's off to unpack and find something to do before crashing in a little while. Au revoir!

Belgium, Here I Come!!!

wellllll, I decided to revive my old blog from my freshman year of high school (I kept a few of my old posts for your own amusement, because they are definitely something... throwback to 2012 Maddie haha!) for the sake of some super exciting news!!

I am going to Belgium this summer!!

From June 27-July 28, I will be serving as an intern with Mission to the World and I will be running a daycare for missionary kids. It's an incredible opportunity, and something that I am very excited about. I am one of six interns who will be working together, and we are from all over the world. I absolutely can not wait to meet them, and it is just a little more than two weeks until we are together. It is starting to feel so real and so very exciting!! :)

I would be so honored if you would follow along as I will try to post as much as I can about my adventures in Europe, what I am learning, who I am meeting, and whatever else God shows me in the next month. I will post pictures, prayer requests, praises, and struggles as I see what God has to show me in the next month or so.

Thank you for all your support and I will update soon with what is happening and going on as I get ready for Belgium 2016!!!

As of right now: I am currently trying to figure out what to pack, and how to best prepare both physically, spiritually, and emotionally. To be honest, I am not sure quite what to expect, but I know it will be an incredible month. I would greatly appreciate prayers for my preparation! Thank you so much!!

Cherry Blossoms + Washington D.C.

Last week my family and i went on a little adventure to Washington D.C. to see the cherry blossoms. It was so so so cold, and there weren't many flowers blooming, but it was ok because we made memories and had a good time. Enjoy some snapshots of the day!

Have a wonderful Sunday! 

-Maddie

fast-forward

Do you ever feel this way? You're reading a book and it just seems to be droning on and on. Nothing's really happening, but you know there's a good ending coming. So instead of patiently reading every page, you eagerly skip to the end of the story to see the outcome. I know I do. I just want to get to the happy ending, no matter how much I have to skip.

The same is true in life. Lately, I've found myself desperately wanting to find and hit the fast-forward button. Sometimes I just want to skip right through high school, and get to the "good stuff." College, marriage, raising a family, etc. I don't want to wait. I'm not a really patient person, either, and on my own, I want to fast-forward and see what my life is going to be like. Who will I marry? What college will I go to? How many kids will I have? The future is so big, yet I find myself wanting it to get here faster and faster.

Then I think of my Jesus, and what He's called me to be. He is the Giver of Life, and am I using the life He's given me by wanting to fast-froward certain parts? Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to dream about the future- in fact, I do it all the time. Seriously guys, I lay in bed at night and think about what my life could be like and what I might accomplish. However, don't try to live your life for the future. That stuff'll come eventually. Live for today. I know it's hard- i struggle with it too- but think about it. You are where you are for a reason!

-Maddie

A Year in Review- 2012

2012 has been a great year! (I know it is not over yet, but I thought I'd get a little ahead on blogging, since New Years' Eve is going to be crazy!) I learned so much and it was full of lots of memories. I have created a photo collage for each month of the year to see all that happened in the past 12 months. Enjoy! 

January

ok, so January was a pretty slow month. This is the only picture that I could find that was "blog-worthy." :)

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

~Maddie

// Pittsburgh //

hello everyone! sooo, this past weekend, my family and I went to Pittsburgh to go to PirateFest. First of all, let me jnust say that my family loves Pirates baseball. I mean, we're the kind of fans that drive 6 hours to stand in long lines just for a chance to say hi to our favorite players. We love going out to the city in the summer to catch some ball games. So anyway, this past weekend, we went to Pirate Fest, where you can meet your favorite players get autographs, eat, play games, and have a good time. It was a fun-filled weekend with lots of memories made!

us with ken tekulve, former world series pitcher

me and my favorite player, michael mckenry

my brother and I pretending to be tv announcers. we're cool. 

~Maddie