From One State to Another, and Then Another...

Last week was spent in Alabama. We had a team from Carlisle, Pa come down and build a house from the ground up for Miss Karen, whose home was destroyed by the March 2nd tornadoes. It was a challenging week for sure and full of growth. But seeing Miss Karen's excitement light up her face and her smile grow bigger with every passing day was worth it all. I'm praying that we had an impact on her life and that she will see Jesus because of it.
Plus, I was able to get up on a roof, which is always fun!! :)

Earlier this week I was in New Orleans with teams from Maryland and North Carolina. And the nice North Carolina guys let me help them put in a ceiling. They even took pictures for me! :)

Right now I'm in Missouri visiting the husband-to-be and his family, talking about wedding things and picking out classes for when I attend Southwest Baptist University in the fall! Also, Mark Lewis and Katie Hooks made the trip to SBU to train a team of college students who are soon leaving for Japan on a mission trip! I was able to take some pictures of the training session and also them as a team. Please pray for them! 

Katie, Mark and the Japan team

I have 2 more weeks of school left. There is light at the end of this tunnel. I'm so pumped for summer and lots of volunteers and hard work! School is the only thing standing in my way :) Please pray that I finish out this semester strongly!

Also, please continue to pray for my support to come in. Unfortunately, it has not been as regular as it should be, and I am getting about half of what I should be receiving I would love to get a new camera before this summer is over so that I can do my job better, but at this point I will be using my support for just food and housing.

As always thank you for your prayers. They mean so very much to me and they keep me going! I'm praising God for the people that read this and continue to support me financially and with prayer!

Love,

Chelsea

ENGAGED

I'm sure most of you have heard the news by now :)
Needless to say, I had an excellent Easter weekend in Pennsylvania with my family and Dustin!
On Thursday morning, Dustin and I went for a hike. During it, he asked if we could sit down and read some Scripture and listen to music. When we sat down by a pond, he told me he bought me something and pulled out a very pretty journal and said that he would like me to use it when we get engaged, to write my thoughts down, etc. (As if he wasn't going to propose in about 5 minutes) Of course, I thought this was very sweet and gave him lots of compliments about the idea.

After that he read to me 2 Chronicles 34:31-32:

"The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord -- to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors."

Dustin told me that he wanted these verses to apply to his life, then mine and then our family's. Then he played the song "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real. After that, he told me that he also wrote me a letter. He read out loud to me how he felt about me and the past 8 and a half months of pursuing me and how he wants to cherish me, protects me and love me in the future. At the end of his letter, he explained that he talked to my parents that morning and they gave him their full blessing to marry me. And with that, he asked me to be his wife!

As you can probably tell from the picture, I was very shocked and excited and I said YES :) :)

When we got home he had a dozen roses waiting for me along with a framed picture of the two of us.

I'm so excited to begin this new adventure with my amazing fiance! God has truly lavished his love and grace and blessings upon me and I will always be praising him for that!

Thank you for your prayers and support, as always. But please include Dustin and I in your prayers as well, that we will continue to abide by HIS statutes and rest on HIS promises!