....Don't let the bed bugs bite! This little bug is a bed bug. It looks very similar to a tic. It can live in almost all temperatures and can survive for an entire year without having to suck blood from a host. Bed bugs suck for 5 minutes and then return to their hiding place. They are mostly nocturnal, but they do at times feast on a host during the day time. The bug has two feeding tubes and pierces the skin. One tube injects a numbing chemical and the other sicks the blood. My friends- I have been the HOST, as well as my roommates. We are not fans of this little bug. We all counted and have over 30 bites! The bed bugs in our room are well fed!!! Just think, if 5 girls have 30 bites, that means 150 little bed bugs are quite full.
The discovery of the bed bugs:
We were making our bed and found the shell of a bug (thinking at first it was a real bug) and decided to google it on Teresa's phone. It was at this time we started to connect the dots. We didn't have a mosquito problem (which didn't add up anyway because we never saw a mosquito in our room) we had BED BUGS! They shed their skin often and that's what we had found. The bites usually don't show until after a week of being bitten. It made complete sense. We had been in a temporary room for the first two weeks of project, and had recently moved into our new room with tile flooring! I was the first to start showing signs of bites, and then Teresa started showing bites a few days later. Eventually we ALL had bites after about 9 days of being in our new room. Those little bugs WON! We now have moved into a new room, again, and had to wash every article of clothing we own because they like to lay eggs in clothing. SICK. I'd like to give those bugs a piece of my mind! We are SO thankful to be in a new room now, bed bug free (we hope) :). God definitely is soveriegn even in the bed bug circumstances! We are the only room who had bed bugs- surely he's wanting to grow us in patience! The cool thing is the bed bugs really have made our room a lot closer. It was frustrating missing out on a few project activities to move and wash all of our clothes. But we were all going through it together. There was a guys room who served us in such a huge way- it was really humbling. They took away time from their d-group and excorted us to the laundry mat for a couple of hours. When we got back they asked us if they could help move us into our new room so we wouldn't have to do it the next day. I really think they were genuinely joyful helping us too! What awesome brothers in Christ God has blessed us with. I can learn a lot from them.
Mom and dad came to visit me parents weekend. It was a great time to catch up with them and just be loved by them. I really wish I could have had more time to spend with them, but it was just at the right time and God is such a provider in giving that sweet time with them. I am so blessed to have parents that walk with Him and can give me Godly encouragement and counsel. I take that for granted. We went to one of our favorite Florida restaurants- Carrabas! The waitress was so fun! Mom and dad wanted me to show them what I had been doing a lot here- contact evangelism. They wanted me to share with this girl. I asked them is they were Christians, they said yes. I told them it's their call as well to witness to her :) So in a group effort we loved on her and built a relationship with her. I have her number and we are meeting when she gets back into town to hang out and see a movie! I can't wait to spend time with her and see how God will use our friendship.
As far as my update with Michelle, we text often and she is doing well. We are hanging out this Monday, so please pray for our time together. I really want our friendship to grow! She is such a sweet girl!
God has really just been showing me His greatness and my need for the Gospel, and I am so thankful for that. I'm quick to forget my need for Him and start to look for sufficiency in myself. But He quickly show me truth! I think something that has recently just "wowed" me is the fact that there is no such thing as me drawing far from God in turns of distance, which is what I use to measure my relationship with Him a lot of times. In reality, He lives in me. Literally. I am finding that I don't want to leave my eyes off His throne. I constantly want to be at His feet, face down, in the light of His glory. I don't want to quench His Spirit within me. My quiet times shouldn't end with me walking away from His throne after spending it there, but remaining in Him.
"But you, O Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations... But you remain the same, and your years will never end" (Ps. 102:12, 27)
That is who I want to know more- I just want more of Him.
