last minute thoughts before bed :)

After a couple hours of learning how to read cardiac rhythm strips (yes, this is now my life), I decided to take a break to check my friends blogs. I think I like doing this more than facebook now. Who would have thought? Anyway, I just want to point out a blog that my friend Jen pointed out to a bunch of us girls today. Its about a girl who picked up her life to follow the Lord's calling her to Uganda. It's amazing. Start with the August 14th entry. I mean, I just feel encouraged about what He is doing and teaching her while she is struggling to be His hands and feet to children and families in Uganda.

Tomorrow is a break from school (for a day) and sadly I need to use a big chunk of that to study for our first exam of the year. On the plus side, it's full-out fall weather outside! I will spend another part of my day tomorrow getting breaks and tires checked on my car... I am considering going to Chicago this weekend because I have a 5 day weekend! :) well...really 4.5 day...but it sounds better. I want to visit my precious friends Stacy and Erin and I hear Kari is there this weekend, so I might get to see her! This is all up in the air... but how often do you get 5 days where you have no prior commitments?

This weekend was beautiful! I got to help Ben & Jen move into their new house (so cute!!), play guitar with a TC girl, see precious Shannon, see Jen's mom and some HC girls get baptized in the pond at southland, along with hundreds of other people. There are no words..it was amazing. Also, last night was all-city campaigners, so I got to take some girls to the YL office to join together with high schoolers from all over lexignton to learn more about the Lord. It was a good weekend.

Alright, I need to go read a little and go to bed. Why do I get so tired so early?! Oh well... I will leave you all with some precious pictures from Carly & Ryans wedding this weekend (which was wonderful).
from top to bottom: carly & ryans wedding programs, the newly wed couple being announced at the reception, my YL team trying to be the brady bunch, its fine, old roommate picture, me and rach, and old-old roommate picture :)

very scattered thoughts :)

So many random things...all my thoughts will be scattered in this post.

School. I only have 20 days of class left in my entire life. This is awesome, but because this is true, and I still have a full semester load in these 20 days, my life is kind of a mess (or is turning into one). I had a quiz today (day 3 of classes) and my first actual exam is one week from today (day 7 of classes). I will be a mess until October 16th.

On a funner note, today I helped my wonderful friends Jen & Ben move into their first ever house! Well, they've lived in a house all last year, but they OWN this one! Treat! It is very precious and I can't wait to see it put together and then go hang out there all the time :)

SHANNON IS HOME!!! Only for a few days, but I feel excited. I didn't get to see her much today, but I'm hoping that will change in the very near future. I just love her a lot.

Randi, Megan, and I went to the TC football game tonight, I was really excited, and then it started raining like crazy & the crowd disappeared...so we went to Cheddars. :) I felt excited though, because at Cheddars we saw 2 of the old YL girls (they're hostesses) and I never get to see them. We had BIG plans to watch the A&E version of Pride & Prejudice (our collective favorite book/movie of all time). Then we realized it was 5 HOURS long! Really?! We are all way too old for things like that. It is 10:40 and I am wondering why I am still awake.

Again, this post is random, but I was driving yesterday and out of nowhere my sunroof decided to crack open and shut all by itself. The controls are on the ceiling. I did nothing. Weird.

Well, this weekend will be a good one because I will (hopefully) get to hang out with Shan, go to Ryan & Carly's wedding (dancing at my friend's receptions is my favorite thing ever), play guitar with a couple TC girls, and we have all-city campaigners! Studying SHOULD be in there somewhere, but that is what Tuesday will be for :)

Lastly, my favorite season ever is approaching...FALL! I love wearing sweaters, chuck taylors, drinking apple cider, eating caramel apples, apple orchards, pumpkin patches, pretty leaves, carving pumpkins (i carve the same one every year...picture provided..), and really just everything that has to do anything with fall. :) The picture of leaves is taken in the town in NJ i lived. That is one of the things I missed most about the Northeast. They have an awesome autumn season.

Sorry if you had trouble hanging in there... I did too... Off to bed for me!
picture provided from flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikejonesphoto/

love that will not let me go :)

O Love that will not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
-O Love That Will Not Let Me Go by George Mattheson

I love this song with everything inside of me. There does not exist a good recording of it, so I only get to enjoy it when it is played corporately for worship. I like that it alludes to our deaths (dying to ourselves) bringing life. Marshall talked about pruning at leadership tonight and I was encouraged. I hope the Lord never stops pruning me. I never want my life to stop bearing fruit. (I guess I hope it is already).
School started today, so blogging might come less and less, but don't worry, even if it is just song lyrics, i'll make it work :)
This picture is on brannon road here in Lexington. :) One of my favorite roads to drive on.

a little blessing!

Well, in order for this post to do any justice, you need to know about my friend Kristy. You should actually click on the link to read her story. She is one of the most faithful women of God I have ever met. If you want to see someone who has incredible faith, read her story on her blog. Preferably from the beginning, and have tissues with you.

Kristy was my Young Life leader when I was in high school and has become one of my best friends. I am so encouraged by her and the way her life points to God. She was constantly there for me, pointing me to a life that is beyond my own, challenging me to live the life the Lord calls us to.

Kristy and her husband Jeff just went through one of the hardest things anyone can ever go through. They lost their baby Samuel. It is a long story, I will tell you again, read it. Through it all, they clung with everything they had to the Lord, and trusted Him. I know it is still painful and hard for them, but they know that our God is a big God and that He is good, even if we don't understand the things that happen. Nobody can say that God is not real because without Him, they would not have made it through this past year or so.

Anyway, all this to say that this little blessing is they are pregnant again! I feel so excited for them and this new little life. They have a little boy named Dawson, who, in my opinion, is the sweetest child ever made. Her blog is called "Seeing Hope in Hopeless", and the hope Kristy and Jeff have in Christ will never fail them, no matter the circumstances.

I just want to write this so that if you read this post, you will pray for them and for the little baby growing in Kristy's belly, and that you would have a chance to read her blog to see for yourself the incredible faith they have.

I promise, you won't be sorry you've read it. I hope you are encouraged by their faith to walk through a life that is not always easy with a God that is beyond more than we could ever need.

picture stolen from kristy's facebook :) the one on top was when she got married...i was a junior in high school

wider eyes

there is a song lyric from a little group called Dividing the Plunder that I really love. I don't even think they go by that name anymore, but I love the song. The song is called Perimeter of Me and it says:

"I want to live with wider eyes, there's far too much to see; to think of nothing else but where I've been and where I'll be. I've been longing for the freedom that is waiting silently in the life that's just beyond the small perimeter of me"

i recently listened to this and i felt like it perfectly expressed where i am right now. i feel really excited about my bible study diving into a study on the spirit in our lives & i just finished reading francis chan's crazy love this afternoon. we live in a culture that is so immersed in the idea that life is about us and what we want. i can't imagine how much of that thinking is part of the foundation of how i live. and more than that, how much of that is keeping me from what the God of the universe is wanting to do through me and in the world of the people i live in?

i know a lot of the ways i have been challenged lately is through francis chan's book, but the cool thing about that is he is just relaying what he has found by reading scripture and really taking a good look at it. if you really look at it, our life is not at all about our comfort or us having plenty and living to meet our own ends.

when i read this book, i sit there thinking things like "what if God tells me to move to Africa?" and it does scare me. why should that scare me? if He wants me there, that is where i will have the fullest life with the most joy and peace because i am in the center of His will. the fact that it scares me makes me think i am holding too tightly to the control of my life and my desires.

i don't know. i guess i just want to move beyond the point where a major change would scare me, and be in a position to welcome it. francis talks about how the times in his life that have been the most meaningful and satisfying have been the times where he has been completely out of control of his own life in situations where God has to come through. how often in my daily life am i so reliant on Him that if He didn't come through, i wouldn't make it through the day? hardly ever.

at the beginning of the summer i read God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew. he talked about how his missionary training was basically training and testing his faith to live off of nothing but prayer, not asking for any of his needs to be met, but relying on a God that meets those needs because we are His children, children of the King. God came through 100% of the time and in amazing ways.

i don't want to miss out on that provision because i am so comfortable.

sorry this is a lot of me mentally wrestling with this. i don't know what this should look like other than keeping my ears and eyes open to His spirit, and living with wider eyes. there is so much more beyond my life that i want so much more than my life.

every decision we make affects His kingdom in one way or the other. i want to start making decisions more based on that than what i want.

i think the part of the song that says "i've been longing for the freedom that is waiting silently in the life that's just beyond the small perimeter of me" is about John 10:10 and Matthew 6:33. If we seek first His kingdom, we will have life to the full, not just life that pursues ourselves.

on a light note (maybe needed at this point) megan and i went to visit one of the old high school girls that just moved into college and then went to a tc football game tonight and it was awesome. lots of faces of old friends we haven't seen all summer :) and some of the girls might just be teaching us the hoe-down throwdown dance (hannah montana..nbd) :)

*photo uploaded from flickr.com (user Ben)

a good day

I like today a lot. Well, really the last 26 hours. Last night I drove up to Northern Ky and met my precious friend Shannon Henson at the best place in the whole world, Reality Tuesday Cafe. :) It's like our little meeting place. We got to catch up about our lives before she had to go be a teacher today. It was wonderful. She is fantastic. My best friend ever. This is Shannon on her wedding day!

beautiful :) So anyway, we parted ways and I headed for home and went to bed at 10:00 :) I am getting OLD. (today at the TC soccer game, one of the senior girls reminded me how i used to drive her to cheerleading when she was in 8th grade. its fine.)

Today started out with a little trip up to one of the greatest places ever. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. I LOVE that place. I got to go back for my yearly visit & bloodwork and got to see some of my old nurses. Treat. I also got insurance stuff straightened out for graduation, which is always good. My mom and I went to see my grandparents, which was good, but is usually sad because they are both not doing too great. From there we went to eat lunch and visit borders.

One of my favorite parts of my day was the drive home. I know that is crazy, but I LOVE driving between nky and lexington. Its just really pretty, and I had a great playlist (gloriana, ingrid michaelson, drew holcomb, feist..). I may have taken a picture while driving to capture how pretty it was :) Lots of green and blue. I feel like God makes himself so apparent through creation. Especially when windows are down driving :)

I got back to Lexington and ate Chick-fil-a softserve with Jen. Always a treat. I have a VERY OLD picture of us that is perfect for this occasion (it was taken on a disposable camera like 4 years ago) We were little and making very pretty faces.
So to end this day I went to the TC soccer game at Henry Clay. It was such a pretty night! Kind of chilly, which was awesome. I definitely got in for a student price. It was a deal. I feel really excited about starting YL events up, I feel like there is excitement about it this year. I even got asked tonight when it would start. Treat. I can't think of anything I am more pumped about than getting to share life with students this semester.

Oh! I almost left out something my friend Shannon Wheatly would love. My friends blogs are all precious and have really cute pictures of decorating and things like that. So I am being influenced by that with this next picture, and also influenced by Shannon, because this recent purchase remind me of her :) I found these treats at forever 21 today:

Precious earrings. Tonight one of the TC students was wearing them in black, so we got to bond over our earrings :) I definitely feel a lot girlier wearing them :) And I think about Shannon, because she would definitely wear these. And she is girly. I think her picture could go in the dictionary under girly. I love it.

Oh, on another note, my bible study started another Beth Moore study. She is being crazier than ever. I love it. If you have never seen her speak before, you should. Its pretty great. She gets super fired up. She also has giant hair and great outfits. (did I mention she is also super wise and encouraging? she is.) I am so excited to learn more about the spirit, and the fruits of the spirit in our lives.

Well, I am off to read a little Francis Chan then go to bed :) Goodnight friends.

the start of new things :)

"but your word is burning like a fire, shut up in my bones and I can't let it go"- sara groves

It is August, this means that for the 11th time, I am starting a new semester of college. Yes. My 6th year. Don't worry though, classes are done for the rest of my life in October :) I am actually not too excited about school. I usually am, but I think after working all summer getting to do what I am going to school for, I don't feel like I should have to go back and learn more. I will, however, go to a football game. I have been to only 2, one on accident, in my entire college career. I know. This picture was taken at the accidental one at the music city bowl:)
Other new things are the start of a new semester of Young Life! I just got back from Baghdad, Ky planning out all the exciting things we will do this semester. I LOVE fall. Especially as a YL leader. Unlike UK games, I love going to TC games and getting to hang out with the awesome girls we know. We have some fun things planned this semester, I am so excited! Planning weekend was great. My team is amazing. I am so thankful for them. I could not ask to do ministry with better people. Here they are :)

On a sad note, my friend Kari is getting married and moving to Chicago. I look up to her so much. She is such a loving and selfless friend. Fortunately, we still have a wedding or two to celebrate with her. Here is Kari :)Another treat right now is that the Yankees are doing AMAZING! I have loved them since I was little, and will love them even if they do horribly for the rest of my life, but it is such a treat that they are doing so well. I love it. Take me to the new stadium!!! (to anyone that is willing...)

Lastly, but definitely not least, is how the Lord has been working. I have fallen in love with the gospel. I think we all come to times where we have a fresh appreciation for it, and I wish it was more often, because it needs to be. Right now is one of those times, and I am so thankful (the quote from Sara Groves at the top sums up how I feel right now). It is only when we come to terms with the good news of God that our lives can live out of response. I wish this was the constant reality in my life. It really is the best news that could ever exist. And it applies directly to my life. One thing I appreciate is that the truth of it offends how I live. It offends the selfish attitudes I can have about my life. The gospel says my life is not about me, nor should it be called "my" life. That is such a freeing and life giving truth. I am thankful.

Well, I am about to start my last week of summer break for the rest of my life. Hopefully there will be some exciting things to write about later, but as of now my week will be spent in the eye doctor quite a bit. Blood vessels growing into my corneas. Awesome.