All The Single Ladies

... need to read this.

these are just some posts from some bloggy friends (who I don't actually know... don't judge me). Wherever you are about the single situation, it is so encouraging and uplifting!

Lindsee Lou- Strength For The Day

Kelly's Korner- Lady In Waiting

Kelly's Korner- Three Years of Wedded Bliss

Let Each Sister Ever Be, Consecrated Lord To Thee

We have 30 new sisters! Initiation was by far the most stressful thing I have ever had to plan or organize, but it was a good day overall. Even though there were a few mistakes here and there, the new members are now initiated sisters and Theta Delta just got even better. I am so thankful and blessed to be a part of such a wonderful sisterhood.

part of our branch of the family tree

Lindsey's branch

love my littles!

lapboard revealing!

I think Rachel loves it :)

and I guess Katie thinks hers is alright too

family :)

we can't be serious enough to take a cute one like Linds, Brandi, and Rachel

"let each sister ever be, consecrated Lord to Thee. help us as our paths we trod, to draw each day still nearer God."

Vamos a Panama!

Those of you who have been reading this will remember the whole swine flu Mexico dilemma from last May. I'm still 2 classes away from finishing my Spanish minor. We had planned on still going to Jalapa, but we have to spend some time in Mexico City, which is still a little unstable. Right now, it's perfectly fine, but if something were to happen over the course of the month we were there, it would not be a good situation. Jalapa is a tiny, rural town 5 hours from the city and is very safe, but with the lack of stability in the city, it was decided that Mexico needed to be ruled out. I'm a little disappointed (you know how I just love Mexico), but we are going to Panama and I am so excited! We leave on May 2nd (4 weeks! oh my!) and come back on May 28th. Start praying against any rampant sickness to cancel our trip this year. :)

Hellooooo Weekend!

Welcome to the first edition of Fill in the Blank Friday.

:)

1. The best piece of advice I was ever given was from Coach recently, "If the decisions you are making are not Spirit led, then in God's will is a place you will not be." So true for my life right now. (that's right Coach, I quoted you on the blog)

2. If I had a million dollars to give to one charity I would give it to Compassion International, Mocha Club, Land of a Thousand Hills... the list goes on and on.

3. If I got to choose my "last meal" it would be Mexican, diet coke, and queso. I mean, I am Mexican in my heart.

4. My hair is very dirty right now, which means it gets along great with a teasing comb and makes for a great ponytail. It is also getting very long (for me) which is awesome.

5. If at first you don't succeed, move on. It happens, but it can't stop you.

6. I have always been very mission minded. I am more comfortable going to another country than staying here. I can't stand the fact that there are people in the world who don't know Jesus' love.

7. Oh... and by the way... I am having the most splendid Friday night: Kelly is here, Brandi is spending the night, we de-thorned 150 roses for initiation Sunday, made French toast, and now we are sitting in the living room just talking. And in this whole living room, we are all sitting right on top of each other and I love it. I love these days and these moments. 

I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of You love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 59:16

I Think I Made You Too Small

I can walk again! No more crutches or brace! Granted, I walk a little... odd. But I am confident that will resolve itself in a few days. I am so blown away by how God has showed up through all of this. I am over a month ahead of what I should be. I was "supposed" to be on the crutches for another month and then the brace for a month after that. I was so afraid that God had kinda "maxed out"on His miracle working for this situation. I was trying to pray that whatever brought Him the most glory would be done, but really I struggled to not just want Him to heal me. I was listening to What Do I Know Of Holy? (by Addison Road. I'm obsessed. my iTunes play count is almost 70. since Saturday) on my way home. One line in the first verse says, "I think I made You too small." This song has brought me to tears many times, but all of a sudden I realized how small I was making God when I actually thought maybe He wouldn't answer my prayers. I am so blown away by God and what He has done with this whole situation and am so thankful to be walking on my own 2 feet again!

God is so good, my friends. So, so good.

I made you promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all
If You touched my face, would I know You?
Looked into my eyes, could I behold You?
What do I know of You who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood but the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire?
Are Your fury?
Are You sacred?
Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of holy?
I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
But those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees
What do I know of holy?
What do I know of wounds that would heal my shame?
And a God who gave life its name
What do I know of holy?
Of the One who the angels praise
All creation knows Your name
On earth and Heaven above
What do I know of this love?
-What Do I Know Of Holy?, Addison Road

On the off chance that any of you check your blogs as often as I do (I'm always bored in class. don't judge me), I'm going to throw this out there.

I'm going back to the doctor at 2:30 today and am asking you to pray that I can walk out of that office on my own 2 feet without crutches. God has showed up and literally worked wonders over and over in this situation, and I just need Him to do it one more time. So it may be a little bold and asking a lot, but I am asking that He give me the strength to walk and also to not be afraid of walking. It's freaking me out that I have to trust this leg that hasn't been used in 2 months. I just don't think I can handle another month of this and I am ready to get going with this process.

Anyway, prayers around 2:30 would be so greatly appreciated from my dear bloggy friends.


*edit: I can finally walk again! I am so grateful and so excited! a longer update will come soon :)

"21: welcome to adulthood" -Daddy

I am a fan of the birthday week. Or 2, in this case. It's a great way of life I feel everyone should adopt. The first day of this birthday (Monday) began with 2 things: 1. Passion Live Link at Center Stage in Atlanta. Linds, Sara, Heather, and I drove to Atlanta and it was one of the best worship experiences of my life. Being able to go was kinda like Jesus' birthday present to me because not everyone knew where it was and most people had to watch online. 2. This from my sweet Little Sara

it's 2 little canvases with some of my favorite Mexico pictures on them. the little white parts are parts of my blog that she printed in cute fonts and put with the pictures. it's perfect and I'm in love.

Day 2 was delivered in the mail from my sweet Mama. 21 things she loves about me. bring on the tear fest. (don't judge her grammar. she's an accountant.)

Thursday consisted of chicken lime tacos, spice cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing, my wonderful roommate, best friend, and this anorak from Sav. confession: she told me earlier in the week that I wasn't allowed to go to The Embroidery Shop (where she works) and buy anything until after my birthday. so of course I knew that she got me something from there. I told Heather later that day that I hoped that it was an anorak and that my letters would be in turquoise. clearly she knows me very well :)

Thursday night also included a present that had forbidden me from Lindsey's room all week long. She made me this wooden box that has one of my favorite verses on top (A heart at peace gives life to the body. Proverbs 14:30) and inside she wrote a bunch of quotes and verses. I am constantly writing things I like on index cards but my bulletin board gets so full so fast! I can't wait to fill up my box! (a picture will come, but the one I took was really blurry and no one is in our apartment to send me a pic)

Spring break officially began on Friday at 10:30! It was supposed to be the day we left for the beach... but Baileigh was really really sick all week so her parents wanted to make sure she was ok before they cleared us to head to Destin. Friday night Sav, Haley, and I headed to Winder for the night where we treated ourselves to pedicures and went to dinner with Bai's family. 

Saturday morning we left bright and early at 5 am (actually 4:50. yes, we were actually early). We were there by lunch time and spent the day getting our groceries and shopping because it was a little too chilly for the beach.

Sunday was my actual birthday which consisted on lots of laying on the beach and relaxing. Which is basically what Monday and Tuesday consisted of as well. It was a little chilly at first, but soon enough we found a place that blocked the wind and shed our coverups and sweatshirts and got lots of sun :)

And I came home to a bunch of birthday surprises on the kitchen table, as well as these fabulous new Chacos which I adore. And Daddy and I went on a Mexican date. I treasure those with him so much.

Yesterday was an absolutely wonderful day. I slept in til 10, stayed in bed reading until almost 12, and just got some stuff done around the house. Then Sarah and I had an incredibly successful day of shopping and it was so great to be able to hang out with her one last time before she went back to Chicago, especially considering I won't see her again until August. Friday night I got to have dinner with Kati and Tammy, which was longggg overdue. They are just so wonderful to be with and I am so incredibly thankful that they are in my life. It was a night full of a ton of catching up, even more shopping, and my succumbing to peer pressure and riding one of these suckers. And also complete with some more great birthday presents in the form of a perfect bag and awesome scarves.

Last but not least, tonight I went out to dinner with Kelly, Mary, Mike, and TK and Kelly got me this!

yes, that's a pink pocket knife, my friends. I am always having to get one of the boys to cut things for me and I just love the idea of having a cute little pink pocket knife. the trick is going to be making sure it is never in my car or my purse when I go teach! haha

Summation: a birthday that lasts 2 weeks is a good birthday, for sure. A bit over the top? possibly. But I'm alright about it. 

So thankful for such wonderful friends. Thanks for making this such a great birthday. I love y'all!

His Body The Bread, His Blood The Wine

I go to 3 churches: Noonday, Browns Bridge, & Passion City. Each is it's own experience & plays a different role in my life. Between the 3 of them, I feel like someone is always doing communion. In fact, I've taken communion 3 times in the past 2 weeks. I really hate to admit it, but I found myself kinda going through the motions about it. It's not because I am not thankful for what Jesus did for me- I am thankful every single day. It's not because I don't understand the importance & reverence of what we're doing- I really feel so humbled by it. But in its regularity, I became numb to it. I tried to force my heart & mind to be in a place that they just weren't. I have been so frustrated & really praying for God to renew the importance & meaning of communion in my life.

Yesterday (which, at the point of posting this, is actually now 10 days ago) I had 2 chances to take communion: Noonday & Passion City. I think I struggled most at Noonday because everything about it is so routine. After 21 years, I almost feel like I could give communion with the best of the deacons. I was sitting there earnestly & honestly praying & doing everything I should but I still felt empty. I honestly wasn't really looking forward to having communion again at Passion City. (and with how honest I have been about said situation, I am surprised any of you are still reading this, or, if you are, haven't revoked my salvation. but stick with me.) Louie Giglio started the whole entrance into communion & really put it into a brand new perspective for me. For the first time, I put myself in the shoes of the disciples. They were in a world without a Savior. A world that was constantly, anxiously, prayerfully waiting for the Messiah. The Passover was a time of remembrance. They were remembering the night that the angel of death passed over & spared them their firstborn while taking that of those who didn't have the lamb's pure blood over the door. A night full of tragedy for so many people. This was a time of remembering what God did for them & also of reflecting on their constant need of a Savior. They were in the most extreme period of waiting that the world has ever experienced. I imagine they were begging for a Savior at this point. Enter: Jesus. At the last supper, on Passover. I know that none of the following is theologically correct, but it's just my interpretation & imagination. Jesus had basically already told the disciples that He was the Son of God, but I don't think they really got it until that moment. I imagine the disciples sitting there in utter shock at what Jesus had said: "This is my body... my blood... do this in remembrance of me." All of the sudden the remembering on that day went from remembering Passover to remembering Jesus. There's no way the disciples could have understood, in that moment, the magnitude of what they would be remembering. Nine verses later, Jesus has prayed so intently that He is sweating blood & has been betrayed. Nine verses later, everything changed.

Sitting in that chair at the Tabernacle in Atlanta it hit me. I wasn't remembering. I was thinking about what Jesus did for me & I was so incredibly grateful, but I wasn't remembering Him the way that He commanded us to remember Him. I was remembering what He did for me, but not what I did to Him. I finally got it. My prayers were answered, & I was incredible humbled. I couldn't believe how many times I had forgotten. All He asks is that I remember, & I forgot.

I am so thankful to serve a God who sent a Savior & who meets me where I am & reveals things to me in new & amazing ways each day, even things I should have grasped a long time ago.

He became sin,
Who knew no sin,
That we might become,
His righteousness,
He humbled Himself,
& carried the cross,
Love so amazing,
Jesus, Messiah,
Name above all names,
Blessed Redeemer,
Emmanuel,
The rescue for sinners,
The ransom from heaven,
Jesus, Messiah,
Lord of all,
His body the bread,
His blood the wine,
Broken & poured out,
All for love,
The whole earth trembled,
& the veil was torn,
Love so amazing
-Jesus Messiah, Chris Tomlin

Passion 2010: Awakening CD

IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!

well, almost. it's the next best thing. you see, Yahoo music is streaming the Passion CD and y'all, it is AMAZING!!! I can't believe I was actually there. I almost got teary when I clicked on it because it took me back to that place of such incredible worship and just filled my heart with joy. Don't judge me, I am very passionate about a lot of things, namely my music. That being said, y'all have to listen to it. I promise it will be wonderful! Promise.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/programs/earlyedition/#

Walking In A Winter Wonderland..?

Monday night during The Bachelor viewing (oh Jake, you are a hot mess. and a jerk. Team Tenley.) we started debating about the possibility of snow the next day. iPhone said 3-5 inches. Now, I put a great deal of trust in said iPhone, but I was doubting. Nonetheless, Lauren, Lindsey, Brandi and I did a snow dance. I went to bed not really believing that there would be snow... and I was wrong. At 6:30 Daddy text me to tell me Lumpkin County was closed and then I woke up at 10:30 to an email saying North Ga was closed. I looked out my window and it was literally pouring snow! So what does a college student at North Ga do on a snow day? They go sledding down the drill field of course!

pre snow playing

big and little

"we're cute in snow"

Brandi brought my crutches down to me :)

& the threesies begin

Suzie Squirrel Snowman and all the Alpha Gams

Rachel and her sweet boyfriend are just precious

getting ready to make some snow ice cream- just like Daddy makes

I'm Finding Myself At A Loss For Words

This is a disclaimer that this post is going to 1. be rather long and 2. make you feel weird and 3. hopefully make you just as amazed as I am about who God is.

I was by myself in our apartment this weekend and was really looking forward to it. I was also not so sure about it because I haven't been here by myself for that long since the broken leg incident. There were some moments of utter frustration where I just threw my stuff up the stairs in hopes that it didn't break and I traveled around the house with my backpack a lot. And laughed about it a lot. Yes, by myself. I mean if you can't learn to laugh at yourself during these times then you'll never make it. It was a very amusing weekend. And most of that doesn't even have anything to do with my story.

Sunday morning I got up extra early for church just in case it took me a lot longer without Linds here. Everything was fine, but taking me wayyyy longer than usual. For no reason. Then it took me 40 minutes to get to church. It normally takes about 25 minutes, but 40? That's a little ridiculous. So, I get there, have to park kinda far away, and realize I don't know how I'm going to carry my Bible and stuff into church seeing as I brought it downstairs and to my car in my backpack and was certainly not going to take my backpack into church. So I called Sara and she had to come and help me with my stuff. I'm reallll tired of that. Sara had saved seats rather close to the front so we had to walk to the front when it was already packed and I just felt like everyone was watching me (because apparently I'm that vain?). Theme of this morning: annoyed.

When Sara and I were walking into church, there was a group of about 6 or 7 guys walking behind us, all probably out of college. I can't remember exactly what they were talking about, but I remember thinking how nice it was to hear so many guys my age talking about the Lord like they were. As I was looking in the bulletin waiting for church to start, there were a couple of opportunities to get involved and I started thinking about it. Because clearly I have all the time in the world to get involved in something else. Then what if I met someone. I started thinking about how fun it would be to be involved at such an awesome church as Browns Bridge with a man that I love. Basically I let my mind wander for a while, but once church started I pushed all of these thoughts to the back of my head.

When church was over, Sara and I waited and waited and waited to get out through the back and then decided to just go out the side door. I almost ran into this man who then proceeded to stop me and ask me what happened to my leg. I hate this question. I should just make business cards with the link to this blog on them so they can go read about them. Sometimes (ok, a lot of times) I make up stories to strangers. I mean, I'm never gonna see them again, so why not? It's fun. Anyway, for some reason I didn't make up a story but just tried to be real nonchalant about it and hope he would just blow it off. False. He told me that he saw me walk in and told his wife they needed to pray for me but kinda forgot after that. Then he ran into me. So he asked me if they could pray for me. Right there. Now, I wasn't entirely sure what to think about this, but what I do know is that I am not going to tell someone they can't pray for me. So I consented, feeling very awkward. He asked me some more questions and then told me he was going to listen to what God had to say and then pray. So he grabbed my hand and his wife put her hand on my knee and he was quiet for a moment. Once again, awkward, but might as well just roll with it. When he started to pray, it was so powerful. I was just in awe of how sincerely this man was praying for me and he didn't even know me. I wish I could even remember exactly what he said, but he certainly prayed for some intense, divine healing. When he was done praying, he just kept talking to me and I was in total awe. Then out of no where, he said, "and that man that you have been praying for, he's coming. I know it seems like the wait is so long, but he is going to come for you. Wait on the Lord's timing. Don't get ahead of Him. He has someone amazing out there that He is preparing for you and it is going to be so much better than you could have ever imagined, so for now, just keep following the Lord and doing what you're doing. You're exactly where you need to be."

What you need to know is this: I pray for my future husband. a lot. The more that I pray about him and for him the more I realize that I am probably going to be alone for a while. And I feel great about that. I know that God is calling me somewhere else. I don't entirely know where yet, but it's not here. If I were with him, whoever he is, my heart would still be tied down here and it would be so hard for me to go wherever God leads. I am completely content with knowing all of that. Completely content with where I am right now. But like any girl, sometimes my thoughts get ahead of me. How on earth could that man have known that my mind was running away with me that day and I needed a little reminder? How did he even know that I'm not practically engaged or something? How did he know that I am waiting for him so anxiously? I am not ashamed to say that I was tearing up a little at this point. After all this, he just told us to have a good day and walked away. Sara and I didn't even say anything. We just turned around and walked out. And awkwardly laughed a couple times because we didn't know what to say.

I'm never going to forget that day. I felt so weird about it, but who am I to try and tell God that He can't work? I was talking to a girl in my cohort and she made a very good point when she said, "the only reason we think it's so weird is because we have God in our own little box and think He has to do things our way."

If this is how God chooses to show Himself to me at any given point, far be it from me to even try and stop Him. I am still in total awe of how amazing He is and I know He is doing something awesome here, even if I can't totally see it yet.