Sharing and spreading joy can be so fulfilling and addicting. Let’s be honest, watching others smile or laugh is simply good for the soul. It’s good for the heart. That’s one of the many reasons I loved FSY: I got to spread joy and love all day, everyday. In big ways. And in small ways….
Read MoreLine Upon Line
The knock was faint. I am a pretty deep sleeper, but I heard it anyway. Personally, I think the spirit woke me up. Because we were in a little apartment pod with four bedrooms and six counselors, I didn’t hurry to get up. Someone else would get the door, right? That thought process didn’t cut…
Read MoreI Miss Them Too
Leaders of the church and other members encourage you to be still after finishing your prayer. They recommend you stay kneeling, quietly and reverently listening. To be honest, I’m not very good at it. My mind wanders and thinks about all sorts of things. Like the book I’m reading, or what happened that day, or…
Read MoreYou’re Worth it
I remember sitting in a meeting with some other FSY counselors and a few assistant coordinators. We were talking about the chaos that unfolded and the stress that other counselors felt when the flock of sheep trotted by. You know, the stress of trying to keep the youth out of the road, making sure everyone…
Read MoreA Question I Didn’t Know I Had
I love Q&A panels. I had been fortunate enough to take part in two before this one, and they excited me and were always experiences filled with miracles. We sat on the edge of the stage, our feet dangling. Shoulder to shoulder, we faced the girls in the audience. I made sure to wink and…
Read MoreThe Right Place
We were sitting in the hall, near the doors, when she came up to me. Although I was sitting there with my friend (who was also a counselor), I think the young woman came up to me specifically. That’s how I remember it anyway. She had a look of desperation, and there was a sadness…
Read MoreA Perfect Love
My last week in Bowling Green, Kentucky was week three of FSY for me. My co-counselor was someone I already knew and go to school with, so that was fun! It was a bittersweet week, but I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. There were a few main themes that stood out to me…
Read MoreThe Healing Principle
Man, life has put me in a blender and pressed the “on” button. That being said, I am actually doing fairly well. I have just struggled to keep up with everything. One of the things that has fallen behind is my blog. I started “A Perfect Love” forever ago, and it’s still only halfway done….
Read MoreTell Them Why
The tension was tangible. You could feel it heavy on your skin. The tension was palpable. You could taste its bitterness in your mouth. The tension was evident. You could smell the desperation I felt. The tension was unquestionable. You could see it as a gray cloud and in the tense way we walked. The…
Read MoreJust the Beginning
Week two. The week of firsts. Eight girls. Six boys. Fourteen total. The smallest company I’ve ever had and will probably ever have. This week consisted of duck duck goose, playing “snatch it” more than I’ve ever played it before, a tender testimony meeting, Spikeball, some of the most sacred and special hugs, Mormon rizz,…
Read MoreEven if it’s Weird
I’ve decided that since I give/gave detailed recaps of my FSY weeks on my podcast, I don’t need to do the same thing here. I might repeat some of the details, but it makes more sense (and makes me feel less stressed) to focus on the grand picture and on specific stories. Last year at…
Read MoreHope Based
June 10, 2023 The adversary was significantly targeting me earlier this week. I wrote a few journal entries about how I was feeling, and they weren’t pretty. One section that I copied and pasted word for word says, “I feel stupid for being at FSY. What am I doing? Why am I here?” I felt…
Read MoreHow Things Change
You know, I had a goal to write 100 posts before my blog subscription renews in 2025. That hasn’t gone so well, now has it? When I made this goal, I had written 52 posts. I calculated all the words from each post (for fun and because I’m crazy), and there are 69,435 words in…
Read More20 Things for 20 Years
It’s official, I’m 20 years old! I turned 20 two weeks ago, so I thought I would share 20 things I’m proud of, 20 things I’m grateful for, and 20 things I’ve learned. If you’d like to listen to the podcast episode associated with this post, the links are down below! Apple Spotify iHeart Radio…
Read MoreThe Gift of Loving Yourself
I was an FSY counselor for 7 weeks. I feel like I say it so often that it doesn’t sound like very long, but that was almost 2 months of my life. Whoa. And I mean 2 full months…every single day I was working and living and BEING a counselor. FSY isn’t one of those…
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