This semester has been nothing shy of craziness. I'm surprised that I can still function half the time. But nonetheless, God is still good through it all.
This semester has probably been the most challenging for me thus far because I have all academic classes and no, yes I said no, dance technique classes. I have never been so overwhelmed nor stressed out about getting work done. I now understand why people who take academic classes for their major are stressed out all the time. It's hard work. Constant work that never ends. I feel like I can never fully catch up in any of my classes. There is pretty much no way to "get ahead" of my work because it is constant. Through this constant work, I'm learning that my time management isn't the best. At least not as good as I thought it was. The only thing that gets me getting my work done is making to-do lists on my big pink post-it notes. If it's written on a post-it note, you can guarantee that I'll get it done.
Along with my crazy class schedule, I am also the co-leader of CRU's freshman ladies bible study. I don't think anyone could understand how much I love the freshmen ladies that I have encountered thus far. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! I'm slowly getting to know them on individual levels and hearing their stories of how God has transformed their lives. I love how vulnerable they are and how open they are to share their hardships with God and also the victories that God has won for them. Just today, I got to have a super awesome coffee date with one of my freshman who I absolutely adore. Learning about her and her story was so encouraging and beautiful. It just reminds me of how awesome of a God we serve. He does things that bring us to him even if we don't understand why. I never thought that I of all people would be leading a freshman bible study, but I can definitely say that the Lord is using it to bring himself glory and to reveal himself to me in so many different ways. I just pray and ask that you also pray that all of our girls that regularly attend will know the Lord in an intimate way and that if they don't right now, that God would reveal himself to them in His timing.
This semester I am also going to a bible study with the leadership ladies...and this bible study happens at 7:30 on Tuesday mornings. This is really early and sometimes I wonder why the heck the Lord would have us meeting that early, but it is such a sweet time. I'll admit, I was so negative about having bible study that early. I mean surely there is another more reasonable time that we can all meet to study the Word together. This time has turned into a really sweet time of being vulnerable and real with each other as well has being encouraged by God's Word. We are going through Galatians together and I think it has been challenging yet hopeful.
I'm constantly reminded how sovereign God is even when I think my world is crumbling or that I'm not giving him all of my praises. He is good in every situation, but he is also just. He uses EVERY single situation or season of life to bring HIS name glory, not mine. He is enough for me and no friend or guy could ever measure up to that. I'm so thankful that God chose me to become His daughter and to change my heart to one that wants to serve and learn about him daily.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Camp Cherokee Shenanigans!
I have finally finished camp and have been home since Saturday evening. I've had some time to process camp as a whole and just reflect on what the Lord did for me there.
I worked at Cherokee Scout Reservation which is a camp for the Boy Scouts of America. I was surrounded by boys pretty much all day besides the few females that worked there. I thought it would be terrible at first, I mean what girl in her right mind would want to be around a bunch of boys all dang day, but I soon found a love for these boys and many of them were super awesome!
Some of the things I absolutely adored about camp this summer:
1. Camp fires: They are so much fun, especially when we got to dance which was every camp fire. Camp fire at Cherokee is a time that the entire camp comes together at the council ring (kinda like a mini amphitheater) and do skits, introductions, awards, etc. Being able to just dance freely without worrying about technique and just having fun is so refreshing. Some people couldn't believe that I was a dance major by the way I danced at camp fires. Oh well!
2. Big Three: This is the name that my two original Handicraft staff decided to give us. It makes us sound more intimidating than we really are. Ha! I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to work with Ashley and Daniel. They are such amazing people and our bonds were crazy. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have survived Handicraft without either of them. We even took our own little adventure to Outpost, which is an old campsite on the other side of waterfront that isn't used anymore. Rumor has it, that Outpost water is the best water at camp. I didn't taste it, but it was nice and cold though. The memories and laughs that I had with Daniel and Ashley are so very precious to me.
3. Scouts: I absolutely adored the scouts that I got to meet and interact with. I got to experience about every age group, the good the bad, and even the special needs kids. I can say that my favorite campers were those who were special needs. Seeing them make something and knowing that THEY made it was so awesome! I got to work with an autism scout and he just melted my heart and so did all of the other ones. There were also a few other scouts that made a huge impact on me and just made my experience at camp a memorable one.
4. Staff: The staff at camp were so much fun. Remind you, the majority were first years, just like me, in high school, and boys. Regardless, I learned to love them and to form relationships with them. It's funny to look back on Staff weekend, where NO ONE talked to me, and then now I'm friends with everyone on staff. God really does bring people together. It's cool too to see how my relationships grew with different people and how they impacted me. Now some of my relationships with some people were definitely interesting, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.
5. Snow White: The Camp Director's little 3-year old girl nicknamed me Snow White because according to her, I was. It was absolutely precious because it took her till about week 4 to start talking to me and she would tell her Mommy, "Mommy, look there's Snow White!" as she points to me. She's just so darn cute! It was fun being that girl that little Abby looked up to and wanted to dance with at Camp fires! I sure am going to miss that sweet little girl!
6. Living in a tent: Yes, I lived in a tent for 7 weeks and I kind of miss it now. I lucked out in not having a tent mate for the summer, so I got a whole tent to myself and it was very nice. I learned to live with spiders, or actually kill them with a broom before I went to sleep. I adjusted to sleeping outside in a calm night and in stormy nights. The best memory of living in a tent was when I got back from some event one night and found a dang mouse in my tent. It freaked me out because all I could think of was me sleeping and that mouse somehow climbing into my bed. I was so freaked out that I even had a male staff member come and investigate and reassure me that the mouse indeed would not be able to climb into my bed whatsoever...oh the joys of living in a tent!
There are many many more things that I loved about camp, but I just can't think of them now. Camp was an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The life-long friends that I made and the memories to accompany them are priceless!
I worked at Cherokee Scout Reservation which is a camp for the Boy Scouts of America. I was surrounded by boys pretty much all day besides the few females that worked there. I thought it would be terrible at first, I mean what girl in her right mind would want to be around a bunch of boys all dang day, but I soon found a love for these boys and many of them were super awesome!
Some of the things I absolutely adored about camp this summer:
1. Camp fires: They are so much fun, especially when we got to dance which was every camp fire. Camp fire at Cherokee is a time that the entire camp comes together at the council ring (kinda like a mini amphitheater) and do skits, introductions, awards, etc. Being able to just dance freely without worrying about technique and just having fun is so refreshing. Some people couldn't believe that I was a dance major by the way I danced at camp fires. Oh well!
2. Big Three: This is the name that my two original Handicraft staff decided to give us. It makes us sound more intimidating than we really are. Ha! I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to work with Ashley and Daniel. They are such amazing people and our bonds were crazy. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have survived Handicraft without either of them. We even took our own little adventure to Outpost, which is an old campsite on the other side of waterfront that isn't used anymore. Rumor has it, that Outpost water is the best water at camp. I didn't taste it, but it was nice and cold though. The memories and laughs that I had with Daniel and Ashley are so very precious to me.
3. Scouts: I absolutely adored the scouts that I got to meet and interact with. I got to experience about every age group, the good the bad, and even the special needs kids. I can say that my favorite campers were those who were special needs. Seeing them make something and knowing that THEY made it was so awesome! I got to work with an autism scout and he just melted my heart and so did all of the other ones. There were also a few other scouts that made a huge impact on me and just made my experience at camp a memorable one.
4. Staff: The staff at camp were so much fun. Remind you, the majority were first years, just like me, in high school, and boys. Regardless, I learned to love them and to form relationships with them. It's funny to look back on Staff weekend, where NO ONE talked to me, and then now I'm friends with everyone on staff. God really does bring people together. It's cool too to see how my relationships grew with different people and how they impacted me. Now some of my relationships with some people were definitely interesting, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.
5. Snow White: The Camp Director's little 3-year old girl nicknamed me Snow White because according to her, I was. It was absolutely precious because it took her till about week 4 to start talking to me and she would tell her Mommy, "Mommy, look there's Snow White!" as she points to me. She's just so darn cute! It was fun being that girl that little Abby looked up to and wanted to dance with at Camp fires! I sure am going to miss that sweet little girl!
6. Living in a tent: Yes, I lived in a tent for 7 weeks and I kind of miss it now. I lucked out in not having a tent mate for the summer, so I got a whole tent to myself and it was very nice. I learned to live with spiders, or actually kill them with a broom before I went to sleep. I adjusted to sleeping outside in a calm night and in stormy nights. The best memory of living in a tent was when I got back from some event one night and found a dang mouse in my tent. It freaked me out because all I could think of was me sleeping and that mouse somehow climbing into my bed. I was so freaked out that I even had a male staff member come and investigate and reassure me that the mouse indeed would not be able to climb into my bed whatsoever...oh the joys of living in a tent!
There are many many more things that I loved about camp, but I just can't think of them now. Camp was an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The life-long friends that I made and the memories to accompany them are priceless!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Dance, Nicknames, and a whole lot of Singing
As many of you already know, I'm spending my summer working at the Boy Scouts of America Summer Camp at Camp Cherokee! I just finished my first week with campers and I can say that this job is PERFECT for me. I get to act crazy, dance a ton, and teach the campers (somewhat)...I also get to work with the best camp staff ever!
Coming into this job, I was really hesitant, but now I can see that God put me in this position for a purpose and it's to finish His kingdom's will. This past week was crazy with lots of adventures in which I would love to share with you now...
1. I went mountain boarding on Sunday which didn't turn out too good. I was going down the hill they had and as I was going I saw a rock in my path. I'm not talking about no little baby rock, I'm talking a ROCK! I tried to tell my guide, but before I knew it, I hit the rock and went straight to the ground. The board ended up hitting my elbow which left a nice little burn. I'm going to try it again where I can actually make it all the way down the hill without falling. I'll let you know how that goes.
2. Campfires= my favorite time at camp. Campfires are held at the Council Ring which is really just a big ring with two fire things on each side at the bottom and we have them 3 times each week. Before every campfire begins we do my most favoritest thing ever...dance! I will also admit that many of my fellow staff members have some pretty sweet dance moves and I've been improving on mine as well. My staff members still can't believe that I'm a dance major either by the way that I dance at campfires...oh well! :)
3. I got a new nickname this past week by one of the sweetest scoutmasters there. During our morning flag on Monday, one of the troops came forward saying they had a special announcement and called me, the Director of Handicraft, up. My first response was "What the heck?!?!" and all I could do was laugh. They commented on my personality and how I was always so happy and vibrant, thus they wanted to give me the new nickname of Bubbles and then they gave me a thing of bubbles. If you didn't know, when I was a kid, I was obsessed with bubbles. I had a giant thing of it and would hide it under my bed. I didn't really think this new name would stick, but little did I know, every camper called me that and many of them didn't even know my real name. It was an honor to be pointed out like that by a troop just after a day of being at camp.
4. There is a climbing tower on the property and Monday, a friend and I decided to go and attempt it. I did the climbing down part without any problem. It was actually really fun, but the part where I had to climb upward was a little bit more difficult. The pieces of wood that you were suppose to grab was more difficult than what it looked like. I almost made it halfway up, but that was also with the help of two of the staff guys pulling my rope..oops! I'm determined to try again and get higher up.
5. I had my first major cut in handicraft. I've been told that handicraft has the most cuts because they use a lot of cutting tools. Thank goodness a volunteer was in the class with this kid and brought him to me. He had cut himself with a box cutter on accident and ended up needing 3 stitches, but he handled it like a champ after we got him to calm down.
6. If you've ever been to a camp, you know that they sing a million and one songs...well, so do we at Camp Cherokee. Some songs are short and some are extremely long. Many of them start whenever someone says something like "I have an announcement," "We have some program notes," or they mention the blob. Certain words initiate certain songs. It's quite fun once you know what the words are.
7. The staff at camp are absolutely amazing. I've really enjoyed getting to work with them and getting to know them. I've decided this summer to focus on a slight few people and really get to know them instead of spreading myself thin. It is also a little harder to get to know some of them because of the fact that they are mostly still in high school, but it is still fun with them. I've gotten real close to the one girl that is on my staff and a few of the other guys.
8. A fun thing that happened this past week...One of the assistant scoutmasters who is younger was hanging out around handicraft and he had mentioned that he was serving his church for 2 years starting in September. I asked him what he was affiliated with and he said Mormon. I asked him what exactly they believed in and he said that they believed that the father, son and holy spirit were three separate people. We got into a little discussion about that and I got to share with him why I believed that they were the same person just in a different form. I'm sad that I wasn't able to talk to him longer and more in-depth about it, but nonetheless, it was great to have somewhat of a spiritual conversation with someone. I think that one conversation is giving me the confidence to continue to spark this spiritual conversations with my staff.
Continue to pray for me and the interactions that I have with my staff members and with the scouts/scoutmasters/volunteers that I come into contact with daily. Pray that I would seek out time with the Lord since I'm extremely busy all day at camp.
Coming into this job, I was really hesitant, but now I can see that God put me in this position for a purpose and it's to finish His kingdom's will. This past week was crazy with lots of adventures in which I would love to share with you now...
1. I went mountain boarding on Sunday which didn't turn out too good. I was going down the hill they had and as I was going I saw a rock in my path. I'm not talking about no little baby rock, I'm talking a ROCK! I tried to tell my guide, but before I knew it, I hit the rock and went straight to the ground. The board ended up hitting my elbow which left a nice little burn. I'm going to try it again where I can actually make it all the way down the hill without falling. I'll let you know how that goes.
2. Campfires= my favorite time at camp. Campfires are held at the Council Ring which is really just a big ring with two fire things on each side at the bottom and we have them 3 times each week. Before every campfire begins we do my most favoritest thing ever...dance! I will also admit that many of my fellow staff members have some pretty sweet dance moves and I've been improving on mine as well. My staff members still can't believe that I'm a dance major either by the way that I dance at campfires...oh well! :)
3. I got a new nickname this past week by one of the sweetest scoutmasters there. During our morning flag on Monday, one of the troops came forward saying they had a special announcement and called me, the Director of Handicraft, up. My first response was "What the heck?!?!" and all I could do was laugh. They commented on my personality and how I was always so happy and vibrant, thus they wanted to give me the new nickname of Bubbles and then they gave me a thing of bubbles. If you didn't know, when I was a kid, I was obsessed with bubbles. I had a giant thing of it and would hide it under my bed. I didn't really think this new name would stick, but little did I know, every camper called me that and many of them didn't even know my real name. It was an honor to be pointed out like that by a troop just after a day of being at camp.
4. There is a climbing tower on the property and Monday, a friend and I decided to go and attempt it. I did the climbing down part without any problem. It was actually really fun, but the part where I had to climb upward was a little bit more difficult. The pieces of wood that you were suppose to grab was more difficult than what it looked like. I almost made it halfway up, but that was also with the help of two of the staff guys pulling my rope..oops! I'm determined to try again and get higher up.
5. I had my first major cut in handicraft. I've been told that handicraft has the most cuts because they use a lot of cutting tools. Thank goodness a volunteer was in the class with this kid and brought him to me. He had cut himself with a box cutter on accident and ended up needing 3 stitches, but he handled it like a champ after we got him to calm down.
6. If you've ever been to a camp, you know that they sing a million and one songs...well, so do we at Camp Cherokee. Some songs are short and some are extremely long. Many of them start whenever someone says something like "I have an announcement," "We have some program notes," or they mention the blob. Certain words initiate certain songs. It's quite fun once you know what the words are.
7. The staff at camp are absolutely amazing. I've really enjoyed getting to work with them and getting to know them. I've decided this summer to focus on a slight few people and really get to know them instead of spreading myself thin. It is also a little harder to get to know some of them because of the fact that they are mostly still in high school, but it is still fun with them. I've gotten real close to the one girl that is on my staff and a few of the other guys.
8. A fun thing that happened this past week...One of the assistant scoutmasters who is younger was hanging out around handicraft and he had mentioned that he was serving his church for 2 years starting in September. I asked him what he was affiliated with and he said Mormon. I asked him what exactly they believed in and he said that they believed that the father, son and holy spirit were three separate people. We got into a little discussion about that and I got to share with him why I believed that they were the same person just in a different form. I'm sad that I wasn't able to talk to him longer and more in-depth about it, but nonetheless, it was great to have somewhat of a spiritual conversation with someone. I think that one conversation is giving me the confidence to continue to spark this spiritual conversations with my staff.
Continue to pray for me and the interactions that I have with my staff members and with the scouts/scoutmasters/volunteers that I come into contact with daily. Pray that I would seek out time with the Lord since I'm extremely busy all day at camp.
Friday, May 31, 2013
New Adventures...at the BSA
This time last year, I was on my way to Chicago for Summer Project. How crazy is that?!?! I can't believe it's already been a year since the best summer of my life. I'm sad that I'm not returning this year, but I know God has other plans for my summer.
I've been out of school for about 3 weeks now and only been home for this past week. So what did I do for the first 2 weeks you ask? Well, this girl got to spend a week in Disney with her best friend from CSP12 and then another week in Michigan with her homie. Disney with Sooz was the absolute best thing ever. I hadn't gotten to see her since November, so I'm sure you can imagine how excited we were to be together. We literally spent every second together while we were there and I wouldn't have traded any of it. I rode with Sooz and her family all the way from Florida to Michigan.That was the longest car ride I have ever experienced and I slept for right much of it. By the end of it, I done got tired of driving. Spending the week in Michigan was awesome too! I got to see the things that everyone loves about Michigan. I now understand why they call it Pure Michigan cause it sure does look pure. I got to spend a night in Ludington, where Sooz is from, and it was such an adorable town. It reminded me a lot of Mebane, only cooler. It was eventually time for me to get traded off to spend a week(ish) with Robert in Kalamazoo. In all honesty, it was sad leaving Sooz even though I knew I was going to be seeing her in two days. Spending a week with Robert was awesome, even though he was busy with work and school. I also have never watched so much hockey until I was with him. Almost every night, we watched a hockey game and with being from the south, I didn't know too much about the sport besides they try to score and they can beat the heck out of each other. It was so refreshing being able to spend time with two of my closest friends from project. And also seeing some other CSPers while I was in Michigan was awesome too!
Now that I'm back home, I have two weeks before I begin my summer job of working at the Boy Scout Camp at Camp Cherokee. I'll be the Handicraft Director with a 3-person staff. I'm excited about this opportunity. It definitely will be challenging because I have never worked nor attended a summer camp before, I have never camped in a tent for more than 2 nights, and I won't have the community of believers that I had last summer. So continuing to stay rooted in my faith, being immersed in the Lord through everything, and being open about my faith with my fellow staff members will be my challenges for the summer. I know I'll have busy days that will start at the butt crack of dawn and not end till the sun goes down, will be very draining, but I will have to make time to be in the Word and to just be with God. I'm ready to uncomfortable (I think...)
I'll be hoping to update about my adventures working at the Boy Scout Camp through my blog and hopefully will be able to share some awesome stories of how the Lord is working through the camp.
Monday, January 21, 2013
His Faithful Love Endures Forever
I'm entering into my second week of Spring Semester and let's just say that I have one bangin' schedule. 17 hours and many many breaks (I'm talking a break between every single one of my classes!). With lots of breaks I'm hoping I'll learn how to best manage my time. Since I have so many breaks this semester, I've been able to be in the Word much more, which has been extremely awesome. One day this past week, I was randomly flipping through Psalms and came across Psalm 136. This Psalm struck me and really resonated with me. Here it is:
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights-
His faithful love endures forever.
the sun to rule the day,
His faithful love endures forever.
and the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
He brought Israel out of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who parted the Red Sea.
His faithful love endures forever.
He led Israel safely through,
His faithful love endures forever.
but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who struck down might kings.
His faithful love endures forever.
He killed powerful kings-
His faithful love endures forever.
Sihon king of the Amorites,
His faithful love endures forever.
and Og king of Bashan.
His faithful love endures forever.
God gave the land of these kings as an inheritance-
His faithful love endures forever.
a special possession to his servant Israel.
His faithful love endures forever.
He remembered us in our weakness.
His faithful love endures forever.
He saved us from our enemies.
His faithful love endures forever.
He gives food to every living thing.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His faithful love endures forever." (NLT)
After reading this, I realized how I don't give God enough thanks. I mean reading this Psalms, my hearts desire should be to thank God every second of every day for all the little, big and everything in between that He has done for me. It really blew my mind, especially after reading "His faithful love endures forever" a million times, that God loved ME enough to do all of these things so that I may have a relationship with Him and Him alone. I could not imagine loving someone enough to kill my one and only son, to kill people in order to make way for ones that would righteously follow Christ. I read this psalm and can't help but to sit in awe of God and all that He is. His love has been in this world from the beginning and it will be here until He returns. Well, really it has no beginning or end, because God has none. His love really does endures forever. Forever as long as God is my one and only King, Savior, and Father. He is mighty and gracious enough to love me that I have to give Him thanks for the rest of my life until I am reunited with Him.
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights-
His faithful love endures forever.
the sun to rule the day,
His faithful love endures forever.
and the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
He brought Israel out of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who parted the Red Sea.
His faithful love endures forever.
He led Israel safely through,
His faithful love endures forever.
but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who struck down might kings.
His faithful love endures forever.
He killed powerful kings-
His faithful love endures forever.
Sihon king of the Amorites,
His faithful love endures forever.
and Og king of Bashan.
His faithful love endures forever.
God gave the land of these kings as an inheritance-
His faithful love endures forever.
a special possession to his servant Israel.
His faithful love endures forever.
He remembered us in our weakness.
His faithful love endures forever.
He saved us from our enemies.
His faithful love endures forever.
He gives food to every living thing.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His faithful love endures forever." (NLT)
After reading this, I realized how I don't give God enough thanks. I mean reading this Psalms, my hearts desire should be to thank God every second of every day for all the little, big and everything in between that He has done for me. It really blew my mind, especially after reading "His faithful love endures forever" a million times, that God loved ME enough to do all of these things so that I may have a relationship with Him and Him alone. I could not imagine loving someone enough to kill my one and only son, to kill people in order to make way for ones that would righteously follow Christ. I read this psalm and can't help but to sit in awe of God and all that He is. His love has been in this world from the beginning and it will be here until He returns. Well, really it has no beginning or end, because God has none. His love really does endures forever. Forever as long as God is my one and only King, Savior, and Father. He is mighty and gracious enough to love me that I have to give Him thanks for the rest of my life until I am reunited with Him.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
A little something for Granddaddy :)
My Granddaddy was a man who everyone loved and you really couldn't help but love him. He showed me what humility looked like and how to be gentle with other people. He had a lot of patience and love for everyone he knew. My Granddaddy was a great man. He loved the Lord, even though he rarely talked about it. He never complained about anything. If we burnt the bread for Sunday dinner, he would say that it was fine. He loved to be sarcastic with me, especially about my "many boyfriends." He always knew how to make me smile and laugh. He would pick me up from school in his "pimp" van, the one that looks like it could fall to pieces at any moment. The van that embarrassed my cousin because the door wouldn't shut. He always came over to our house at random times. He would be the one to deliver my birthday cake from my Grandma. He always talked about Carolina basketball. He always asked how everyone was doing. He would go to McDonald's every morning for coffee and sit and watch the traffic, but not see a single person drive by. He loved his family. He treated his friends like family. He always went out "visiting" his friends during the day to occupy his time. I knew that if he wasn't home, he would probably be over at my aunt and uncle's house or another friend's place on his list to visit. He would drive me to dance class and he even let me drive the van. Even when I ran it into the curb one time. He would take me to the pool during the summer. He would do anything for me. This is something that warms my heart.
My Granddaddy was a man of service. He served in the US Navy for four years and he served his neighbors and friends after that. I don't think my Granddaddy would ever tell anyone no. He was always the first to offer to take food to our elderly neighbor. He would do all of the single ladies' yard work for them. He loved being with people and serving them.
I would give anything to be half the person my Granddaddy was. Looking back on his involvement in my life, I wouldn't trade a thing. I can't wait to be reunited with him in Heaven again. It'll be a sweet reunion!
Granddaddy,
Thank you for being so loving. Thank you for loving the Lord through the good and bad times. Thank you for being yourself and enjoying everything the Lord provided for you. I hope you and Jesus are having fun in Heaven! I pray that you would watch over me and see the woman that I become. Watch me as I go through life without you, but I will always have you in my heart. I can't wait to tell my children and husband about you someday. You will be greatly missed, but don't worry, I'm going to rejoice in my many memories of you. I love you Granddaddy!
My Granddaddy was a man of service. He served in the US Navy for four years and he served his neighbors and friends after that. I don't think my Granddaddy would ever tell anyone no. He was always the first to offer to take food to our elderly neighbor. He would do all of the single ladies' yard work for them. He loved being with people and serving them.
I would give anything to be half the person my Granddaddy was. Looking back on his involvement in my life, I wouldn't trade a thing. I can't wait to be reunited with him in Heaven again. It'll be a sweet reunion!
Granddaddy,
Thank you for being so loving. Thank you for loving the Lord through the good and bad times. Thank you for being yourself and enjoying everything the Lord provided for you. I hope you and Jesus are having fun in Heaven! I pray that you would watch over me and see the woman that I become. Watch me as I go through life without you, but I will always have you in my heart. I can't wait to tell my children and husband about you someday. You will be greatly missed, but don't worry, I'm going to rejoice in my many memories of you. I love you Granddaddy!
Your Shug :)
Sunday, October 7, 2012
A Heart for Change
It's Fall Break for me and I FINALLY have time to blog...
My life since being in Greenville has been crazy busy. Taking 23 credit hours, being an RA, being on Leadership with CRU, and still struggling with post-project depression hasn't been the most easiest combination of things in my life. I know that I love being busy, but I've been learning a lot about myself and I've also been able to see how God has transformed my heart this summer in preparing me for this new semester. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I've always struggled with finding my identity in my academics and performance. Let me just say the Lord has really been redeeming me in my sin. I'm halfway through the semester already (I can't believe it!) and I'm slowly realizing that I'm not as caught up in my school work than I used to. I used to stress out to the max if I didn't have my readings finished before class or if I wasn't fully prepared for class. Now I am not concerned with that. I know that God has given me the ability to take classes and so I'm trusting Him in that He will allow me to do my best and to be satisfied with what He has given me. I would honestly so much rather just hang out with my ECU CSP12 people and talk about Christ and what He is doing in our lives, but I'm finding contentment in getting my school work done and having the little conversations with them that I can.
CRU had their fall retreat in September at Myrtle Beach. It was a really awesome weekend. My favorite part of the weekend was our speaker, Will Plitt. If you haven't heard of him, you should look him up. He's freakin' amazing!!! He spoke this year on having a heart for change, for God, and for missions. Each talked built upon each other and they were all so powerful. The "Heart for Change" talk was my favorite one that weekend. Will Plitt talked about what our lives should look like when we become saved and put our faith in Christ. That our hearts are changed to obey God and His word. Will Plitt said this "Coming to faith in Christ, is coming to the end of self." How true is that. Once we believe in Christ, we our putting our flesh aside and trusting fully in God. This quote really stuck out with me. Have I really came to the end of self? Have I fully came to faith in Christ? To hand over every aspect of my life to Him. As I have thought about this, I come to think about the sins in my life, especially how pride is a recurring theme. Dang pride. I've realized this semester that my pride goes further than just academics and performance, but into friendships and my interactions with other people. I have felt so bad in how I've treated people because of this. I'm seeing everyday that I am in need of grace and how badly I need to come to the end of self so that I can shine God brighter than myself. Actually, so that God is the ONLY thing shining through me.
Like I said earlier, I'm on Fall Break. Thank goodness for this break from school work. The week prior to break was definitely my most stressful week of school ever!! A million things to do and not enough sleep resulting in this girl being exhausted by the end of the week. Either way, I made it out alive and home safely. Since being home, I started working at The Loft Outlets at Tanger. If you know me well enough, you know that I absolutely LOVE that store. I've only been working for two days so far and it has been a great experience. Everyone there has been so nice and helpful. I got to work the wardrobe room (dressing room) today, and it was soooo much fun. I got to help the ladies that came in make outfits and leave with something new for their closet. I think I may have a niche for the wardrobe room...just maybe.
Psalm 121 :)
My life since being in Greenville has been crazy busy. Taking 23 credit hours, being an RA, being on Leadership with CRU, and still struggling with post-project depression hasn't been the most easiest combination of things in my life. I know that I love being busy, but I've been learning a lot about myself and I've also been able to see how God has transformed my heart this summer in preparing me for this new semester. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I've always struggled with finding my identity in my academics and performance. Let me just say the Lord has really been redeeming me in my sin. I'm halfway through the semester already (I can't believe it!) and I'm slowly realizing that I'm not as caught up in my school work than I used to. I used to stress out to the max if I didn't have my readings finished before class or if I wasn't fully prepared for class. Now I am not concerned with that. I know that God has given me the ability to take classes and so I'm trusting Him in that He will allow me to do my best and to be satisfied with what He has given me. I would honestly so much rather just hang out with my ECU CSP12 people and talk about Christ and what He is doing in our lives, but I'm finding contentment in getting my school work done and having the little conversations with them that I can.
CRU had their fall retreat in September at Myrtle Beach. It was a really awesome weekend. My favorite part of the weekend was our speaker, Will Plitt. If you haven't heard of him, you should look him up. He's freakin' amazing!!! He spoke this year on having a heart for change, for God, and for missions. Each talked built upon each other and they were all so powerful. The "Heart for Change" talk was my favorite one that weekend. Will Plitt talked about what our lives should look like when we become saved and put our faith in Christ. That our hearts are changed to obey God and His word. Will Plitt said this "Coming to faith in Christ, is coming to the end of self." How true is that. Once we believe in Christ, we our putting our flesh aside and trusting fully in God. This quote really stuck out with me. Have I really came to the end of self? Have I fully came to faith in Christ? To hand over every aspect of my life to Him. As I have thought about this, I come to think about the sins in my life, especially how pride is a recurring theme. Dang pride. I've realized this semester that my pride goes further than just academics and performance, but into friendships and my interactions with other people. I have felt so bad in how I've treated people because of this. I'm seeing everyday that I am in need of grace and how badly I need to come to the end of self so that I can shine God brighter than myself. Actually, so that God is the ONLY thing shining through me.
Like I said earlier, I'm on Fall Break. Thank goodness for this break from school work. The week prior to break was definitely my most stressful week of school ever!! A million things to do and not enough sleep resulting in this girl being exhausted by the end of the week. Either way, I made it out alive and home safely. Since being home, I started working at The Loft Outlets at Tanger. If you know me well enough, you know that I absolutely LOVE that store. I've only been working for two days so far and it has been a great experience. Everyone there has been so nice and helpful. I got to work the wardrobe room (dressing room) today, and it was soooo much fun. I got to help the ladies that came in make outfits and leave with something new for their closet. I think I may have a niche for the wardrobe room...just maybe.
Psalm 121 :)
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