Update!

Hey guys,

I have not posted a new blog in a LONG time!!! I have started my senior year at WSU-V! Wow how time flies! I will hopefully be graduating in May if all goes according to plan! I know that God is watching over me every step of the way and is guiding me! I love WSU and the Human Development degree program is amazing! I am applying to the Masters In Teaching program at WSU and hopefully I will be able to start that in the spring.

I have also been doing my nanny job for over a year now! The baby I nanny for, Evie, has grown SO much since I started working there. She is now 15 months old, and walking and talking up a storm! It is amazing to see and hear what is she is learning each and every day!

I had a great summer of working and hanging out with friends. I also went to GRIT, which is Summit View's middle school summer camp. We took about 122 middle schoolers to a lake for 5 AMAZING days! We got to spend a lot of time with God and each other. Now we have started our fall, and I am SO excited to see what God has in store for our students and leaders! I love working with the leaders and the students, and they have been like family to me for almost a year now!

I will try and post blogs more often! Stay tuned!

Morgan

Life

I have not posted a blog in awhile, so I thought I would update you guys! I have been busy with school (WSU-V) and working two jobs. I am a nanny to a 9 month old who is growing bigger everyday! It seems just like yesterday that I started working for them. I love watching her grow! I am also involved with the middle school ministry at my church. God has truly blessed me with the opportunity to lead a small group of girls :D They are awesome and I know God is working through us to grow these students to maturity in Christ! We went on our winter retreat in February, and it was AMAZING! 17 students came to Christ that weekend! I have also been going through an awesome bible study, about the Parables. I have never gotten too deep into them, and they have so much to teach us! I am blessed to be a part of a small group of women who are going through this study and who are praying persistently for one another.

I am so excited that I get to go visit my Dad's family in May! They live in South Carolina and I have not been back there since I was seven. A few of my relatives have come out here when my sister and I graduated, but I really miss all of them. I am also going to Atlanta to watch my cousin graduate and spend time with my half sister and my nieces and nephews. I have only met one of them so it will be great to finally meet all of them!

God continues to give great blessings everyday, and I am praying for everyone!

Morgan

A New Year

Hey everyone,

Just thought I would give you an update..It is a new year after all! I am now in my second semester at WSU and so far so good! God has truly blessed me with the gift of an education! My sister is in school as well and I hope she is enjoying it as much as I do.

I have been going to Summit View for over a year, and I have been truly blessed by what that church has done for me! They are amazing group of people who have a real sense of community and serving God! I have recently become involved in the FOCUS middle school ministry, and I absolutely LOVE the students! We have an upcoming retreat called SnowWhat and I am encouraging the students to invite a friend who does not know Christ and to have a great time skiing, snowboarding, or tubing! This is going to be quite the adventure for me, considering I have never been on the mountain before! I hope I can go tubing! Not sure about skiing and snowboarding! I ask for everyone to pray for the retreat and the students! As well as Summit View as a whole! Several people I know are on a mission trip to Nicaragua right now, and I pray for the mission and their safe return!

I am a nanny, and I have been working for the family since the baby was about 8 weeks old or so. She is now 7 months old, and she is the most awesome baby! She is now crawling and getting her first teeth! It is amazing how fast they grow! I can't wait to be married and have kids of my own someday! God has truly blessed women with the ability to have children!

I pray that the new year has found many blessings for everyone!

Morgan

Happy Holidays!

Wow it has been awhile since I have posted on here! It is around this time of year that I think about family, taking a break from school to breathe and relax after studying hard for finals. I have four of them next week! I have already turned in all my papers, now I just have the exams to complete. As I look on this semester, I can tell you that it was challenging and rewarding at the same time. I got a new perspective on what poverty is, I learned a lot about how children develop physically, emotionally, and cognitively from birth to adolescence. I also learned how to write a research proposal (final product was 12 pages, not including the review board form!). I also learned how to manage clients in a human services situation.

I also just completed the Beth Moore studies at Summit View. If you have not heard of her, you should go to lifeway.com and look at her studies! They are amazing! They have taught me so much more about Jesus my Savior! And how amazing He really is! It totally related to my life, and it was just what I needed to hear! I would like to thank Vicky Dillion and all the women at Summit View, especially my small group,who are helping me slowly better understand Jesus and how to deepen my relationship with Him everyday.

I have also been speaking and hopefully building a relationship with my half-sister Oneida. She is my Dad's daughter from a previous relationship before he met my Mom. She found me on Myspace, and we have been talking and sorting things out that happened in the past. Hopefully if all goes well I might be seeing her in May when I go to South Carolina to visit my Dad's family, and drive with them to Atlanta to see my cousin Jeremy graduate from Morehouse! I am SO proud of what he has accomplished in his life. I wish he and the rest of the family lived closer!

Last but not least the election was a historic event! The part that saddened me,however, is all the negativity that both candidates spread throughout the election, and how their personal issues overshadowed the issues that the American public needed from them in order to make a decision that affects ALL of our lives. I think that we have come a long way since the first elections in this great country of ours!

With Christmas around the corner and in the economic times, we are all struggling. Lets remember that Christmas is not all about gifts, and parties. It is about celebrating the birth of Jesus and all that He has done for us. If Summit View is going out on Christmas Eve to Downtown Portland and serving food to those less fortunate, you can believe I will do it again! I did it last year and it was a very humbling experience. The stories I heard and the connections I made were incredible.

I hope that this sees everyone well, and may you be blessed this Holiday season!

Morgan

Serving

I went to a class at Summit View last night called Summit View 301-Serving at Summit View. The pre-work for the Class helped us find our SHAPE- or our Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences. We worked a lot on the spiritual gifts and I realized that we all have been given them by God and that when we use them to the best of our ability, we are going to be rewarded in a big way. I love the fact that the whole class was based on His word and that I think it helped me figure out that I want to really help out with the middle school ministry by being a mentor to them. I think that if I had a mentor when I was their age, it would have helped a lot. My past experiences will also help in the fact that I can better understand what they are going through and either just listen and if they ask, give them advice. I think that by taking this class it really is telling me that I need to work with kids in some way. So I encourage everyone to take the classes that Summit View has to offer, and find their own unique SHAPE!!

God Bless,

Morgan

The Beach

Yesterday after church the Blais family decided to go to the beach and invited me along. I haven't been to the beach in awhile so I was really excited to go. I love going to the beach and being away from all the stress of work and school. With the water and the wind blowing in my face, I felt free and had a chance to get reconnected with myself...to recharge my batteries so to speak. The water was so calm and warm. It was sunny but windy. I think the beach is a great inspiration for prayer and some serious Bible reading! I recommend taking a day and going..or an entire weekend! Morgan

Getting Started

Hey everyone I am new at this blog thing but I was inspired by Aimee and Casey to start one! I think it is a great way to keep in touch with people and let them know how your life is going. Well I am 21 and I am a student at Clark College. I will be graduating from there hopefully after this quarter and in August I will be starting at Washington State University Vancouver. I am excited to begin this new chapter in my life. I will be getting my bachelors degree in human development, and my masters degree in elementary education. After that I will be a teacher! I am also a huge believer in Jesus Christ and I do not know what I would do without Him in my life. Since joining Summit View Church in December, I have devoted myself completely to Him and plan to do so for the rest of my life. My family is also hugely important to me. I have the best mom anyone could ask for and a wonderful sister who I love to death! My grandparents have been a huge support to me as well, especially my grandpa after my dad passed away almost 15 years ago now. He has been the male role model in my life. He takes me to lunch and the movies, and, yes if you can believe it, taught me how to drive! (that was quite the adventure, just ask him). My dad's family lives in South Carolina and even though I do not see them very often I talk with them on the phone and they are also a huge support system for me.

I love to read my Bible and write in a prayer journal that I have. I can look back at the journal entries and go wow, I have changed so much in my relationship with Jesus! I went to church growing up but after my great-grandmother passed away my mom, sister and I stopped going to church. I rarely read the Bible and then last year Kris took me to a college group called The Way. Then he invited me to Summit View and I have been going ever since. I can't wait to see what God has planned for my future, but I know that if I follow His path, He will be with me and guide me always!

I would love comments and will be giving updates regularly!

Morgan