2010-2011 – Year 24 of Lydia’s Life

There are so many, many things I am thankful for in this past year of my life. So many that I could write about and expound upon … so many things I could list off. God continues to bless me in amazing ways, and every day He uncovers His grace to me in new ways – through the difficult times and the easy times.

This year I was incredibly thankful for the opportunity to go to Russia and experience God’s work there firsthand with an incredible team from Faith Bible and from the Russian Bible Church. I met wonderful people and had the experience of a lifetime … and I will forever be grateful for it.

But more than anything this year, I became more and more thankful for the spot God has given me as HYPE Adviser, and for those amazing student leaders that I get to work with who have blessed me more than I can say.

Two years ago, the position of HYPE Adviser was rather sprung upon me unexpectedly – but ever since then, I’ve grown more and more into the role, and learned more than I ever imagined I would. More than anything though, I’ve come to love these kids and their amazing leadership skills. They’ve proved that they can exceed expectations, rise above the low standards that people hold for teenagers, and “do hard things.” Their excitement and passion is infectious, and I love every single moment that I get to spend with them. “High School Youth Pursuing Excellence” … yes, pursuing excellence and service and love and humility and Christ and everything in between. Yes, we have boatloads of laughter … quotes galore … silly Boundary Breaker questions … and crazy ideas. But we also have a desire to make a difference in the world, and I couldn’t be more thankful to be a part of it all.

Talk about God having plans for you that you could never dream of! I never knew I could come to be so passionate about such a cause … but now that it’s a part of my life, I couldn’t imagine life without it, and I simply adore getting to work with these kids … my “HYPE babies.” I pray that God would keep me faithful to the task He’s called me to, and that the years ahead would bring even more great things and exciting accomplishments.