For the Girls:)! An Alabaster Summer

Hey Girls! Classes are over and final exams are finished! Summer is HERE, and I am so excited! Check out the following blog. It's based on a lesson we did with the post-high girls' small groups, but we wanted to invite all of the girls in Alpha to be a part. It's unlike any other summer challenge we've done. I am so thankful for each one of you and pray that this summer is unforgettable because of the presence of the Lord in your life!
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Free Hugs!

I like hugs. I mean I really, really like hugs. And I really think that everyone else should like hugs, too. There have been many times when I have been made fun of because I said “She just looks like she needs a hug.” You know that person who needs a hug; it’s the old man eating his breakfast by himself at McDonald’s, it’s the grumpy guitar player who would much rather be sleeping than having a sound check at that moment. Those people who really look like a hug would make their day better are really difficult for me to ignore. Every once in a while, I don’t; there have been occasions where I walk up to a random stranger, strike up a conversation, and eventually hug them. They’re usually incredibly freaked out, but I like to think that when they get over the awkwardness they will feel better for having been hugged.

It’s sort of like that time in college when I was taking a self-defense class and we were having our “final” exam. What we had to do was attack the person in the middle when our number was called and they had to escape. I waited around and I finally heard my number called. I look in the middle and the girl is at least six inches taller than me. I rush to the middle to try and grab her around the back, only she turns and I am giving her the most awkward embrace of my entire life. I’m telling you, my chin only came to her mid-chest. There I am, wrapped around this girl I really don’t know,