Right Time and Right Place

    I always wonder why I am in a certain place at a certain time. I'm pretty sure that's normal...right? Well for me it is. I know I shouldn't sometimes because it could turn angry in bad situations, but most of the time I try to flip it and say "If I am here, I am here for a good reason, so I might as well just do good things to let that reason come to pass!"(...that was such a Mormon thing to say.."come to pass"...). As you know, I've been volunteering with the Center for New North Carolinians and I absolutely love it! I feel like that is a huge part of why I am here now. I know there are probably tons of little reasons why as well, but this is just something that I feel completely natural doing.
    I walk in and it feels like home. The walls have old murals on them of symbols from different countries and fun colors, the rooms smell absolutely horrid, the children run up and hug you and ask to play tag or have you read to them, the A/C is broken, I smell of dirt the moment I pull up, and there is no place I would rather be. These people get volunteers randomly and from different organizations, but I feel so at home there and so at peace. Nothing else is on my mind but how to serve them. All of my needs and wants are completely out of my mind. And that's exactly the way it's supposed to be.
    I am looking now at filling out an application to volunteer in an Orphanage in Ghana next summer for 8 weeks. I feel like ever since I've been at the Center, everything in my life just falls into place. It's not how I would have pictured it, but I also know that the Lord has better plans for me than I could have come up with. For the past three weeks I have had this stupid, silly smile on my face and I realized last night that my cheeks literally hurt from smiling so much. I spent 5 hours yesterday moving things out in the heat and I couldn't stop smiling all afternoon and night! I feel like a psychotic person. But I know it's supposed to be this way.
    I just can't get over how extremely blessed I have been when I know I have not deserved it. I know the power of service and what it really means now to have love for everyone and only the will of the Lord in my heart. I wouldn't have traded this past summer for anything and I love that feeling.