Florida trip!

Kyle and I spent a week in Orlando, Florida with a group of students at the youth group we used to be youth leaders at, Cedar Park Youth. Two of my sisters are in the youth group and one of my sisters is currently a youth leader there. The students got to participate in a national fine arts competition for the Assemblies of God, which is the denomination our churches are part of. It was an awesome week getting to see so many students from around the country use their gifts to bring glory to God. I am so grateful to have been able to be there with all these awesome students. I am so proud of them and all the work they put into be there.

Fine Arts is such a great thing because it allows students to realize the gifts that they have, grow them, and use them to bring glory to the name of Jesus. I’m so proud of each of the students that competed at the national level this year and brought glory to God through it all. It is such a unique opportunity, and I am glad to have been a part of it. Being a Fine Arts coach has been the greatest thing ever! And I don’t plan to stop any time soon.

It was so cool to see our students performing short sermons, be part of worship teams, and singing. We even had some students compete in art categories and my husband, Kyle did a spoken word at the college level of competing and placed 2nd in the nation!

Not only did our students compete, but we got to have a lot of free time and downtime together as a group! Basically every afternoon we had time to hang out at the pool and work on our tan (more like a sunburn though), and we got to go to Disney Springs and the Universal CityWalk. We got lunch at the Chocolate Emporium, went to Voodoo Donuts, got airbrush tattoos, and spent way too much money at the Disney shops.

The last day of our trip we got to go to Disney’s Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and it was a blast! We had the best time, but it was so extremely hot. Orlando in August was not the smartest idea we’ve had, but we made the most of it! There was a short period of time everyday where it rained and there was thunder and lightening. Some days were worse than others, and it was so cool to see the lightening! It rained for a bit the day we were in Disney, but we came prepared with our ponchos and we fit right in with all the other tourists there. Disney World was crazy, and I enjoyed all of it! Even being extremely hot, waiting in crazy long lines, and drinking the gross Florida water. Nothing compares to the Disney experience!

Hanging out with these kids for a week was a blast and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have gone to Orlando with them and cheer them on in their performances and see them use their gifts for God’s glory.

Enjoy some more pictures from the week!