Hey everyone, Abbey reporting back to you! 

As we walked down the road to Mestia, the next town over. I was talking with one of my teammates and found myself looking over and gawking at the mountains, what seemed like every two seconds. I was finally back home, back in my happy place. While we were praying that morning about what to do, the Lord told me to bring my camera. I could see why this place is stunning! 

I’m not going to lie, I have been in quite the dry season with storytelling and my photography. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was going on besides the lack of self-discipline and drive to do the job I committed to for the year. Deep down I knew there was something more going on, the enemy had started to whisper lies in my ear. ”I’m not enjoying it anymore, that it's taking away from my race, and I wasn’t even good at it.” So I gave in and put it on the back burner. By the grace of God, He was kind enough to bring my team and me to a mountain town. 

The first time I ever took pictures was the summer of 8th grade. I went out exploring by myself around our campsite, all I had was my phone, and the Lord. I naturally have an eye for detail and while I was walking I stopped about every five seconds to capture what I saw. Looking back I can see the Lord directing me to the creek. Showing me the perfect place to stand, in the water, to get the reflection of the sky. I was having a ball, when I was done I went up to our fire to show my mom the pictures I took. She was amazed and showed my grandpa, he told me how great they were and asked if I wanted his camera. What a gift, right?! I didn’t think anything of it, I was just having a great time and thought everyone saw the world that way. 

My team and I would go to the park every day, this was a central point for hikers and people coming and going on treks. We were able to meet people from all over and had some great team times there. 

Okay fast forward to now, as we got into Mestia I had a similar feeling come over me. I took out my camera and started taking pictures of everything. I felt like 14 year old Abbey all over again, in the mountains in my own little world, it was amazing. I felt like the clouds had lifted and the Lord was so kind, reminding me of my love for taking pictures of His creation. 

Later that day my team split off and some of us were exploring to find a map for our upcoming trek, while others stayed at the park to do ministry. After finding a map, we crossed a river to make our way back to the park, and that’s when it hit me. Where I let the enemy take over my thoughts and I saw where I gave into the lie that storytelling was “no longer for me”. 

One thing my team is amazing at, is kids ministry, we all love hanging out with different kiddos we meet. We all keep Uno cards, hacky sacks, and other games on hand. 

Luckily I’m starting to catch these moments sooner and sooner, rather than letting them linger like they used to. Before the race I gave the enemy too much power and I’m not learning I have more control and power than I thought I did. 

I know the enemy HATES when we speak truth over ourselves and he hates when we reverse the effects he’s made in our lives. So I would like to take this time to speak truth over myself and over the gift the Lord has given me with my photography. I also want to spend time giving thanks to the Lord for the opportunities and gifts He’s given me. 

Storyteller Truth Statements:

God gets all of the glory for the work I get to do through Him 

my job is important for our ministry and can be used to bring others to Christ 

I have been blessed with a natural eye for photography and the details God has created for all of us to see 

I am creative because our God is creative.

God is a natural storyteller and I have the amazing opportunity to tell my stories because I have inherited this gift.