The end is near...

Well sweet friends this week was a good one to say the least. I cannot believe project is coming to a close.  I have seriously fallen in love with this city and the people in it. Last weekend we did an outreach with some people in the tougher neighborhoods. Let me tell you, going out to the beach was fabulous, but going into the neighborhood, where people live, I learned so much about loving people and meeting them right where they're at. We handed out groceries and hotdogs and simply talked to people. It was a true blessing to me. It certainly reminds me that one, God provides and two, we are often times more blessed than we realize. It was such a humbling and rewarding experience.
     I cannot express the way I am currently feeling about returning home in just 2 short days. It makes me want to throw up just thinking about it. We all know Megan does not do well with drastic changes, but I am convinced the Lord is trying to teach me something through them because I cannot seem to escape them. I know I've said this before, but the friendships I have built here are like no others. I want to do life with these people everyday. I want to be able to say "see you soon" But in all reality, that is not realistic at all. I don't know the next time we will all be together, maybe never. But what I do know is the Lord met us here this summer and changed our lives. We will forever be bonded through the work He has done in each of our lives and for that reason alone I can find peace in what is coming. These friendships are based on Christ and I can't express how thankful I am for that.
    I am excited to return home to see my sweet best friends that I have been missing in that sweet little town I call home. I have missed you all dearly. But yet again, that visit will be bitter sweet as I will only be there for 8 days. Oh how life begins to fly. I am now understanding and believing that our lives are flying by and we can either chose to embrace it and use the time we have the way the Lord intended or we can watch it go by simply standing on the sidelines.
   These next two transitions will probably be harder than my first transition to college, but I know that the Lord will hold onto me no matter what. In Lamentations 3:22 it says "The steadfast of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end they are new every morning." This is one of many verses I have fallen in love with this summer. He promises to renew us and never leave. Please pray for me and my friends as we are preparing to leave. It's going to be hard for all of us I feel. Thanks again for all that you do. I wouldn't be here without your prayers and support. Love you all dearly.

Lots of Bitter Sweet Summer Love,

Megan

'Tis so sweet!

Ok so pretty much embarrassing that I have not updated in, oh, you know, like an entire MONTH! Oh please forgive me! I have been having literally the time of my life! Growing close to sweet friends, sharing Jesus' love, and learning something new about his mercy and grace every day is pretty much the cooooolest thing ever. I cannot even begin to explain how much I have grown and what I have learned. It has been so cool to live with three other girls that truly care about me and my walk with the Lord. They hold me accountable and are brutally honest, but yet we can have Ke$ha dance parties whenever we have a free minute (and it's not during quiet hours of course). The more I am learning and experiencing the more I know this is exactly where I am supposed to be this summer. It is most definitely a unique experience, one that I might never have again. I am really looking forward to my time with them in the next/ last three weeks we have here. We have so many things to do it's scary to think the time will fly so fast. I can't believe the summer is nearly over. I feel as if I live in a time warp where time is outside of reality. If i'm being totally honest I feel as if I have only been here for one month. It's kinda funny to talk to people from home or other places and hear about their weeks. I feel like they have had so much more time in their summers than I have. But not complaining at all!!! I would gladly do project again more than once probably. I cannot reiterate enough how much I have fallen in love with these people. It's truly a testament to God's love. I mean let's be honest, 40 college students living in close quarters, it's bound to get hostile. But nope...hasn't been the case thus far! Thank goodness!!
        I turned 20 yesterday...still not sure how I feel about it. Honestly this is the first time in my life I legitimately feel like I'm getting old. My friend Anna calls it my quarter life crisis! haha I think I'll adopt that! It's kinda scary to think about all that has happened in the last decade of my life and then thinking forward to the next. I mean so much can happen in your 20's. I mean I'll graduate college, probably get a big girl job, buy my own house and car, and Lord willing I might just even get married and have kids. WHOA! I know super scary thought, I know. But for now I think I'll enjoy my simple college life, loving Jesus, building sweet relationships, and learning something new everyday! I'm hoping that I will learn to embrace the fact that I am now 19+1 as Anna would also say! =) I'm excited to see what the Lord has in the next few weeks, into my new and exciting school experience, and yes even onto the next ten years of my life. Oh my word I just had a bad thought....I'll be 30 in ten years! Yikes, my life is basically taking off without me! ahhhhh! haha! But for now I hope this finds you in a sweet spot, embracing where the Lord has you, looking forward to what is to come, but not forgetting to enjoy where you're at. I promise, promise, promise I will update in a more timely fashion, but for now I'm going to spend time with my sweet friend Anna! Love you all lots! And miss you too!!


Lots of Hot Southern Love,

Megan

100 Miles a Minute!!

Ok, ok I am soo incredibly sorry it has been like 2 weeks since I last updated. I am literally doing something all the time and honest to goodness loving every minute!! I started working at GAP on King Street on the 31st. I work there every day of the week from 8-5ish, give or take some hours depending on the day. I have been biking from the hotel where we are staying to work. It's pretty fun and it's especially beautiful in the mornings. Sometimes I get to bike with my friend Natalie when I have to be there early. I must say I feel much safer when I bike with Natalie because I know we will not get lost! ha! I can honestly say even after going to work the whole first week this past Monday I did get lost....again! So it's safe to say I'm pretty terrible with directions. I am figuring it out as time passes though.
      But anyway, last weekend we went out onto the beach to do outreach. I got to talk with 4 girls. The first time was especially scary. Luckily, I had Natalie with me and the two girls we talked to were pretty easy to talk to. They were pretty young too...like 14. It was strange, after the initial "hello, my name is Megan do you have a few minutes" the fear was gone! It was a neat experience to say the least. The second time I had the opportunity to share with two girls that have graduated college. Again I was with a friend, Ronnie, who is also from Duke, like Natalie. I must say they're pretty great! But even the second time of sharing again the fear was nearly overwhelming, but quickly passed as our conversations started. I cannot say that any of the four girls know Jesus, but I can say I know a seed was planted and I am fairly certain the spiritual conversation about life after death did not stop when we said our goodbyes. I think that those events have been the highlight so far. Our project socials have been especially fun as well. We had a sandcastle building contest and we went to a Charleston Battery Soccer game. Last weekend on our night off we went "Shag dancing" that was a lot of fun too. All around I feel as if my experience has quite enjoyable and extremely beneficial.
     Today for outreach, we had an ice cream social for international students from the College of Charleston. I don't think I have ever been so sweaty in all my life, it was a scorcher today, but we had a lot of fun playing games and such. Only a few students showed up, but even so it was great.
     It's difficult to remember all of the details, but I think I got the important ones. If you have any specific questions feel free to email me (lill0162@umn.edu)! Thank you again to all of my supporters, I don't think I can ever thank you enough for your willingness to give money or prayers or both. You have truly been a blessing. I love you all and miss you tons! Oh, also I love love love getting mail so feel free to send some snail mail! =)

Lots of sweet summer love,

Megan

Hello Charleston

Hello Sweet Friends,
 I am so, so sorry it has taken me so long to update. I literally hit the ground running on the 17th when I returned to Texas from school. Lots of eating and seeing friends. I am currently in Charleston, SC and absolutely loving it! I am sooo excited to spend the summer here. I will admit I was very homesick the first few days, and will definitely be battling those feelings in some form or another. The group that I am here with is pretty much amazing. I am love love loving everyone I have met! (that is not a lie, I promise) And I will also admit, not offense to my midwestern friends, but I have missed the south! =) In the first week of being here I have learned how to navigate downtown fairly well, I have been to Folly Beach, and I have spent a day doing outreach training and then going out to talk to people for a little bit on Saturday. We have also had a 2 socials and a D-group as well. The entire project will be studying Romans this summer, I'm excited for that, I have three wonderful roommates, they are dealing with my pink obsession extremely well. =) I am hoping to post pictures soon! Be looking for those. It's been great to make connections with people here. I cannot tell you how cool these people are. If you're in Belton, believe me, I miss you! If you're in the midwest, I promise I have been missing you too, and to all of my sweet Minnesota friends in Myrtle Beach, I sure hope you come visit me!! I will start working tomorrow at Gap. There are many student who have not yet found jobs, please pray that the Lord will provide jobs for all of us. Also please continue to pray for the group here doing ministry. We want the people of Charleston to feel a deep desire and hunger for the Lord. We also want that for ourselves as well while we're here! So that's something to pray for too. Thanks to all my supporters, financially and prayerfully(is that a word?, ha, it is now) it was so great to see the Lord work on me during support raising. I would love to hear from y'all this summer! Mail is always fantastic, especially when I'm feeling the homesickness! My address is:
          Megan Lillibridge
          CO: Best Western
          146 Lockwood Drive
          Charleston, SC 29403

I love you all and miss you lots!

Lots of sweet southern love,
Megan

Let the Sun Shine In!

Hello again sweet friends! I'm sure you're all excited about the fantastic spring weather and glorious sunshine! I know I am. I'm sure you're finding this spring season to be very busy and full of fun things. I hope that you are able to enjoy your families and friends. I am starting to get very anxious about the end of the school year as well as my upcoming summer. Many of you may already know this, but on top of my Summer Project in Charleston, I will be going to North Carolina State University next year. Don't worry, don't worry, I'll be returning to Minnesota in the fall of 2011 (weird) to graduate. I'm doing this through a unique program here at Minnesota called National Student Exchange. I'm getting really excited about this. And although I was not able to mention this exciting news before now, it was also a factor in my choosing of the Summer Project in Charleston. I will get to meet students from NC state as well as other close schools. A large number of the staff going with the group to Charleston are also from schools within the Carolinas. I feel this experience with help me build relationships as I head, yet again, to a brand new environment. I'm really excited about these things. Thanks to all of you who have sent in support, you don't know how humbling it is. I had no idea asking for help and receiving it would provide such an overwhelming feeling of humility. The Lord is so good. So thank you all. Please continue to pray for me and the group going. I know the Lord has great plans for us! Love you all dearly!

Lots of warm southern love,

Megan

P.S. I have just updated my "support pie chart" take a look! =)

Hello Sweet Friends

Hello, Hello! Many of you have found this blog because you received a letter in the mail from me. In the letter, I basically laid out to you what my summer will look like. I will be in Charleston, SC with a Christian organization called Campus Crusade for Christ. I will be there from May 25- August 4, ten weeks, so basically the whole summer. I am very excited to have this fantastic opportunity to grow in my knowledge of the Lord and who He is as well as my relationship with Him. Over the course of the summer, I will get the opportunity to witness to individuals who might not otherwise know who Jesus is. I will be living with 40 other Christian students from across the country. I will do my best to keep all of you updated about how things are going as I prepare over the course of this semester. I cannot tell you how excited I am for this trip. If you have any questions feel free to contact me through phone, email, facebook, this blog, whatever you would like. I'm not too picky! Bless you all!


Megan Lillibridge

P.S. At the bottom of this page you will find a cute pie chart that I will keep updated with the support I have raised. All the white needs to be full of pink! =)