the story...

I have been adding lots of updates to my blog recently in hopes to update everyone on what God has been doing in my life. He has done so much in my heart the past few months and I am so humbled by the doors for opportunities that He is opening in my life. He is so good! So here are a few links to both my current blog and my new world race blog that will hopefully fill you in on where I'm at!

Click here to read... The story in a nutshell

Click on the "my dream" tab to read about the dream God has placed on my heart.

Click on the "esperanza" tab to read about the story of Esperanza.

Click on the "world race" tab to read about why I am going on The World Race.

Check these links out as well as the other tabs at the top of my blog for more info!

johnson :)

The past few days have been so good for my heart. On Friday afternoon, my parents headed for the Smoky Mountains and dropped me off at Johnson on the way. While the people have changed and there are a few differences here and there, it feels good to be back at my college home. It's been a weekend full of eating at my favorite Mexican restaurant (and speaking only in Spanish with the waitress :) ), going back to Crossings, eating some free chick-fil-a, lots of coffee and chai tea, and some quality time with some great friends.

I've been staying with Emilee, my sister who spent 2 months with me in the Dominican this past summer. She is awesome and shares the same dreams as I do for the DR. We have been doing a whole lot of talking and planning and thinking and dreaming about Esperanza. It seems like each day this dream of having a safe-home for women in the Dominican becomes more of a reality. I am more in awe of God each day and everything that He is doing. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by everyone and everything He places in my path. He is so good! I couldn't have dreamed up His plans for my life or Esperanza if I tried.

"O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago."

Isaiah 21:1

Amen. His faithfulness is perfect. Sometimes I smile just thinking about how many times over the past few months I have begged God to give me answers about the future. He is opening my eyes more every day to His vision, but it had to come in His timing and not mine. And for that, I'm thankful :)

AND, you should check out the tabs at the top of my blog... hopefully they will explain a little more about this whole dream for Esperanza :)

the beginning of an update :)

I am currently sitting in the United States, drinking some amazing chai tea, rocking out my tie dye t-shirt that Andres (one of the boys in Jaibon) made me, and listening to Dominican worship music. So much has happened in the past few months and this is going to be the first of a series of blogs that I hope will serve as an update on where I am in life and with the Lord :)

Most of my summer was spent at the orphanage in Jaibon. I am absolutely in love with the boys that live there. I have had the amazing opportunity to invest in them and become a part of their family. Many of them talk about how they are all a part of the "Colbert" family and they refer to me as "hermanita" or sister. My time spent at that orphanage is one of the things that I am most thankful for in my life up until this point. They taught me so much about life and love and selflessness and the Lord.

This is Jonel... the little five-year-old love of my life!

The last week I spent in Jaibon, we didn't actually have a volunteer program going on. It was a blessing to be able to spend so much time with the boys and my sister, Jacqueline. This is Jacqueline, Chipa, and I with our completed 500 piece puzzle!

After saying goodbye to everyone in Jaibon, I spent my last two weeks in the Dominican in Monte Cristi. Saying goodbye to the people in Jaibon was definitely difficult. It was so odd to find myself in that place. Volunteers say goodbye to those boys every week, but I had never been in that position. The longest I went without seeing them was a month or so. Entonces, the Saturday I had to say goodbye was not fun. I spent my last couple of weeks in Monte Cristi with the kids there and it was so good to hang out with them again. My last two weeks in the Dominican were full of processing, prayer, packing (whoa, that's a lot of p's!), and spending time with the kids and leaders who have become a part of my family. I was so encouraged the last few weeks I was there and the Lord used that time to do so much in my heart. I went from having no idea where I was going next to being overwhelmed by the Lord's goodness and big plans. I couldn't have dreamed them up if I tried (more on that later :) ). And my Dominican mama, Coco :), was the biggest support ever! I loved soaking up time with her and my sista, Christine. God not only gave me some new Dominican family members, but some American and Canadian ones too :)

So I am back in the States now and have been here for a week. It has been an extremely difficult transition, but I know it's all for the sake of the Kingdom. And for that, I will continue to lay down my desires and my heart at the foot of the cross. I have so much peace about being here right now and the Lord's plans, but I definitely left my heart thousands of miles away. God is bringing me joy in sadness and showing me His promises of new life. He's picking up the pieces of my heart and blowing me out of the water with His crazy plans for my life. I surely don't deserve them! He is so faithful!

I can't wait to see each of you soon! Over the next couple of months I would love to get together and hear about your lives and share about mine. I'll probably be having some sort of open house in Louisville soon for anyone to come over and hear about everything. I hope you all are doing well! I'm excited to see some faces of people that I love soon!