Date.

Okay, not that anyone cares, but tonight, I am going on my first date :) I couldn't help but write a short blog on it. So, if you know me, now you know!!! ::excited face::

Memories: Starlite

This day is like yesterday for me :) It was my first day working with Starlite as an "almost Cabinet Member."

This was my first retreat with all the beautiful ladies who impacted my life so much  that they will never know.

The same retreat, we went to this waterfall. God's Creations amaze me to no end.

This heart went into a Valentine's Day card for the ladies at the Smokey Mountain Widow's home. Best. Day. Ever.

This picture was taken at a volunteer picnic before I was on Cabinet, by my now best friend, Cassidy (who was also in Starlite).

HAHA. This was our last outing as a team. We went to the aquarium/Creative Discovery Museum, and became little girls just one more time together.

I'm pretty sure I could have cried a million times on this day, but I (we) didn't. 

See. We had fun being crazy (mainly me being crazy). 

Oh Anna, you are just too funny :)

Henry and Flo, the starfish. 

The end of a great afternoon together :)

I just felt like reminiscing a little today. Starlite was a big part of my college life, and it is something that I will never forget, especially all of the amazing friends I gained in the process. 

These memories are sacred. 

I was blessed to be apart of something great. I loved each and every meeting, outing, prayer/worship meeting, Life Group night, sleepover, and of course, the time we decorated the office for Christmas and I did a little "dance" to stay warm while outside. These girls will forever be in my heart.

I love you all!

Fire.

As of late, I haven't written at all. 


Honestly, I haven't felt the drive to write, and the inspiration just wasn't there. There have been many things that I have been through in the last few months, and I only recently let it all go. 


The Story Starts:


I'm in a car, headed to Atlanta with a dear friend of mine. Where are we going? To a mega church called Passion City Church. Now, if you know anything about the Passion Conferences, then you know that Louie Giglio is the pastor at said church. His worship leader just happens to be Chris Tomlin. This particular night was set to be a night of total worship and communion. The spirit fell. Chains were loosed, people were free, I felt my spirit become lighter and freer. It was a much needed night of rejuvenation. 


Now, I am working hard as ever to keep the fire on me so I can go in the way He wants me to go. Again, I have said, lead me and send me. I will go.

Washed.

There have been many things going on lately in the life of me. I just figured that if I have any readers out there (which is a BIG if), I would let you all know that I am not dead, nor did I fall off the face of the earth.

I have been struggling with many things and quite frankly, I just haven't felt like writing anything. Shocking, I know, especially since I like to talk. A lot.

What I really need is a long vacation to my favorite spot in the world, where it wouldn't be a vacation at all, but a mission to help the sick and cure the hungry. If I could, it is where I would be permanently.

It's raining as I look out my office window, and I feel like it is washing away everything that I have feared, hated, cared about, and missed in the past month. (Just the month, nothing more) I am glad of this because I know that it is God showing me that He's got this whole thing called life under control and that I should quit worrying, quit trying to control my life, and that He loves me.

Thoughts on a Racing Mind

Sometimes there are things that you cannot get off your mind. Right now, there is something weighing on my mind and preventing me from focusing. It makes me feel obsessive, even though in reality I really am not. It just sometimes fuzzes up my clarity in thinking. I wish that I didn't get this way over things, but I can't stop it. It over takes me, and boom, my mind is gone. It drives me crazy because all I want to be is normal, or you know, not bogged down by my racing thoughts.

I feel trapped inside because no one understands, even I do not understand why I get like this.

I know that God has it in his hands, but for some reason, I can not wrap my feeble, racing mind around the thought that I do not have to obsess over it. All I can do is lay it down again, and hope that it eases off for awhile.

Beauty and Weddings

I have been without my camera for like two weeks now. Until today. It arrived back on my doorstep, good as new.

Of course, as soon as the sun came out, I put it to work, and this is what I got. (To the left.) I love this shot. It reminds me of God's beauty and his love.

How can anyone look at an image like that and deny God's existence? It has to be impossible. I mean, how can anything this beautiful spawn from nothing. It took someone with a lot of creativity, love, and care to make something like this.

Saturday, my good friend is getting married and two of my friends and me are hopping in a car and driving to her wedding early that morning. I am so excited. 1. Because I haven't seen Christin or Danielle in like a year, and 2. I haven't seen the bride (Johni) since we arrived at University from our trip to Honduras last July. It's going to be FUN FUN FUN FUN.

Do You Have Adam and Eve in Your Classroom?

My Sunday school class is precious. They make me laugh, they make tense, they make me happy, and I love them each and every one.

Today, they asked me why I had put Adam and Eve on our wall in our room (which is themed after the Garden of Eden) since they are "bad" and got thrown out. I told them that God still created them and that they needed to be represented on our wall. Even if they did sin and get thrown out.

I mean, who wouldn't want these cute hand drawn Adam and Eve "look-a-likes" in their classroom? I think they are adorable.

Anyways, I asked them today what their favorite thing about God is, and one of them answered: "My favorite thing is that he threw Satan out of the place of worship." So, he continued on to draw a picture of Jesus in a recliner eating pizza while Satan is in a cage asking for potatoes. It truly made me laugh.

Earth.

Everyone, I cannot express just how excited I am that I am starting this new devotional book with my Sunday school class. It's the cutest thing, and the notebook matches, which wasn't my intention when I bought it. It just happened. Anyways, the book teaches us how to care for God's beautiful creation that he made for US.

I don't know about you, but when I think about that, it just amazes me that he would actually take the time to think about humans. Even though we do not care for it as we should, he still gifted it to us. Isn't that an amazing thought?

Dream-On

Last night, I had the oddest dream.

**I dreamed that I was somewhere where I met David Schwimmer (who played Ross Gellar on the hit t.v. show Friends). (Incidentally, I was always in love with his quirky, nerdy, hot character, so this was an awesome dream) Anyways, back to the dream. I told him that I was in love with his character from Friends, and we ended up going on a date.

Now, it was definitely a weird dream, not to mention that he could almost be my dad, and he is definitely MARRIED. What ever in the world made me have that stupid dream is beyond me. I hadn't watched Friends, or any movie with him in it in FOREVER, so I am at a loss. I think it is my subconscious telling me to "get a boyfriend, go on a date, or otherwise, you will be 40 and single!!"

**The quotation marks are added to emphasize my mind talking to me**

So it begins, my quest to become un-single, or you know, taken. Let's see how long it takes me!!

"I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends"

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. A) I got a real job at the office of a fitness/wellness business; B) Winterfest came and went; C) I got to hang out with my best friend from university; D) Spring has sprung.

God is the ultimate provider when we earnestly petition through prayer. Hence the provision of a job actually relative to my degree. I had people praying that I don't even know praying for a new job. I'm thankful for sisters in Christ who truly care for one another.

Winterfest is this conference held over a three day period and God moved heavily through the crowds. It was amazing.

I love my life right now. Now, only one thing left to petition for, and if you know me in person, more than likely, you know what this petition involves.

Excited

Ya'll, I am so so excited!!! Tomorrow, I leave with the youth group at my church for Winterfest 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been waiting for this since the end of last year's conference!!!

This is pretty much all that is all my mind! I can't quit thinking about it. I'm not even sure how much my nieces and I will sleep tonight!! Someone may have to knock me out!!

Last year, we went to the zoo. I had to take this with my phone, since it's all I had on me! Isn't he awesome!!??

I don't know what we are gonna do this year, but I do know that whatever it is, it's going to be EPIC.

Prayer

As long as I can remember, I have never doubted that prayer actually works. Until recently, I had never thought about things that have happened because of prayer. To name a few: when I made my first trip to Honduras, it was going to total around $4000 for tuition and trip money, after praying about it, almost my entire bill was paid by an auction and donations from my church; I never thought that I would make it through college, but thank goodness for a praying mama, because goodness knows without her fervent prayers, I probably never would have made it.

Now, this morning, I taught on "Hidden Treasure" in Sunday School. Can you guess what this hidden treasure is? It's powerful, it's awesome, it works... It's PRAYER. Even though the book I am teaching out of is geared toward young people, I have still learned a lot from every chapter so far. First, it amazes me how our BIG God wants to have a daily chat with us about our lives, our everything.

It struck me that the only way that I was going to get out of retail, and begin working a job that dealt within my degree range was prayer. So, the petitioning began. I started by telling my mom, then my favorite group of people at Life Group, then the facebook group I am in called Christian Women (a group solely for women to embark in intercessory prayer for other women in need). Let me tell you. I waited, I applied. I sent out resumes, perfected my resume, sent it out again, and finally, in my fitness class, the trainer mentioned that the business that supports the wellness program was hiring part-time for an office job. I immediately jumped on it, and I went over my resume and my references, perfected my cover letter (for the millionth time) and emailed it to the lady doing the hiring. I got a follow-up email saying to call her for an interview time. So, Friday morning, I called, and by Friday afternoon around 3:45, I was hired.

That, my friends, is how prayer really works. When two or three are gathered in Jesus' name, there He is too. I am so relieved that I can now say that I work at Picture Wellness, and not a department store.

PTL.

The Shape of My Heart

It's times like these when I go back into my numerous files of pictures, and I began to relive my experiences in a rural jungle, dancing outside of my comfort zone.

I know that I talk about Honduras a lot, but it is where my heart is. The faces, such as the one to the left, is what keeps me going back.

I fought for so long to keep from going, and finally, God gave me a slight nudge, and BOOM. I landed in a developing country, not know what to expect when we hiked to our first clinic.

When you step out of that zone of comfort, you begin to grow in a way that you would never imagine. As I sort through photos, I remember the sounds, the smells, and the feel of the environment. It takes me back to that place that my heart longs to be, long term, not short term. It will happen one day, when God sees fit to send me there for a while. Until then, I can relive the happiness of loving on babies through photos of my adventures.

Can't Buy Me Love

Tomorrow is the day before Valentine's Day, so the image you see above is what my class, and two others will be making for the ladies at church. Cute, no? I thought so too.

I got the idea from a customer that was in my line one day, only she was using doilies instead of construction paper. I figured for a group of 2-11 year old kids, construction paper would be much better. I thought that while the older kids helped hot glue the candy canes to the paper, the younger ones could decorate. I'm not entirely sure yet.

That isn't all.

There are going to be "pigs in a blanket" and mini brownie cupcakes for the kids to snack on.

It is going to so fun!

Feel free to steal the idea, I know it's pretty cool.

Here and There

In the past several hours, I have broken two nails. One I broke in my sleep, and the other, well, I'm not sure exactly what happened. Don't ask me how it happened, I just know that they were both broken when I got in the shower.

Updates from Sunday School land: I started a book study with the kids, and they seem to be enjoying that a little more for some reason. The book is "You Were Made to Make a Difference" by Max Lucado. I believe that they are really starting to grasp just how much God loves them and how no matter how young, they can still make a difference in their community.

In life in general, I have been trying to see Jesus in everyone and notice the little things about nature and so on that God really took time to create for us a beautiful land. My eyes have really been opened, and now, I can look at the scrawny neighborhood mut, and see the beauty of God, and feel compassion for it. It is really amazing how seeing God in everything can change your life.

We Are Called

This greeted me Thursday morning. It is remarkable the way God uses nature to remind me how faithful, loving and beautiful He truly is.

Sometimes, I forget just how much he does love me with a passionate, burning love. It is probably a little weird to read a statement like that, but it is so true. God's love isn't like the phrase we use to describe how we feel about a song or book, it is a deep, unfailing love. Believe me, it has taken me some time to really realize this. I never thought about how God loves us. I just knew that he did and that I love him. I also never knew why I loved him. I learn everyday, new reasons why I love God. It would probably be a list as long as the world is around.

If you ever get a chance, there is a book called "His Princess Bride: Love Letters from Your Prince," that I think everyone should read. It's by Sheri Rose Shepherd, and it's basically letters of things that Jesus says and promises in the Bible, only put in letter format. Believe me, it will blow your mind to even think about that kind of love. I wish that every person in the world would know the kind of love that God has for us.

This leads me into what I am teaching in Sunday school tomorrow. I am teaching about how God has called us to serve, love, teach, and what ever else the unfortunates of this country and world. I almost think I am going to take my scrapbook from my trips to Honduras, and maybe some pictures from a mission to New Orleans after hurricane Katrina hit. I know that centers more around service, but we could have a million lessons on service and love and still not cover it all.

I feel that it is important to instill into young minds the love of Christ and help them get ready to serve.

I Look At You in Awe

This is my Winter Wonderland. It has been a while since I have seen this much snow, and I am only 22. I couldn't tell you the last time I remember it snowing twice in one winter, enough to make are town close down for a whole day and then early for the next few says. I mean, it has been bad enough to where I wasn't able to go to work yesterday.

Snow rarely hits the Tennessee Valley hard enough to even last a day, but this winter, for some reason it has snowed and left five or more inches on the ground for days, twice already.

I snapped this picture early this morning, and I thought that it captured part of the essence of God. He is such a master at his work, and it is awe inspiring to look at such a view when you walk out your front door.

It reminds me that God is ever present and never leaves me.

Misbehaving Monkeys

Today, I have made up my mind that in my Sunday school classroom, there will no longer be ANY misbehaving. At all. The past few times in class, we have had too many behavioral problems, with all of the kids, not just one. I, in turn, took away the privilege of getting a silly band at the end of class, we haven't done anything fun in three weeks. Tomorrow, I am taking claim on my room, and there will be no more misbehaving.

Now, I ask myself, "What are you gonna do if someone begins to cause problems?" My answer? I have absolutely no clue, but I will figure it out when the time comes.

I have recently been discouraged about how I cannot keep them under control and how I feel that they aren't learning anything because they are focused on the one who is acting like a wild monkey and has no qualms about what he is doing.

B.F.F.E

Today, I spent the day with my childhood B.F.F.E. and her little sister (might as well be mine too). We shopped literally all afternoon, and the above picture is while we were in a little store, we found some awkward glasses, and decided to photograph the awesomeness of the situation.

Only true best friends can make fools of themselves while in a public place, and that we did. While we were in Bath & Body Works, we saw a tub filled with rubber duckies, and we both went for the same kind of duck. Mine was clear with green glitter and hers was clear with pink glitter.

I say these things because no matter how long you are apart from your bestie (in our case it was five months), you will always act alike, have some of the same interests, and be as goofy as you as were when you were when you were ten.