I'm just in awe...

I'm amazed at my God.  I'm confounded by His wisdom...timing...and perfect, surrounding love.

I desperately want His will to be mine.  I desperately want to run down the path He's placing me on and never look back.  I desperately want to touch lives, dream huge dreams, and accomplish great things.

And when I do, I want to give all the glory to God...because He ALONE deserves any and all of it.

Here's to the future.

This title is going to be completely unrelated to the content of this post.

It’s been WAY TOO LONG since I posted last!!  Geez Louise!  I hope you all have been enjoying your life as much as I’ve been enjoying mine.

Since I’m kinda REALLY behind here, let’s start with some pictures Missy Morgan and I took a little while back.  I love her.  And these pics are pretty cute, no?

I wanted to edit these but the computer I’m using isn’t letting me do that so…sorry they are kind of dark! (Silly, silly technology.)

What have you been thinking about the most lately?  I’ve been thinking about the future.  My future, to be exact.  I feel like so much has been changing…but it is good change.  The kind that makes you step back and say “Wow, God.  You really do care.”

Last week, the conference at church inspired me so much...God touched so many lives in ways I can't even describe.  He truly is holy, and worthy of all we are.

This past week I had the privilege of spending time with dozens of young people who aren’t satisfied with the norm.  In the process, I learned more about government than I’ve probably learned in my whole life.

As a result, I’m starting to get this inkling that my prospective major is about to change.  My passions are becoming clearer and clearer to me and I’m getting so much more excited about the future God has for me.  The world is my oyster!

Next week, the Lovely Leah and I (and Mom, of course) are going to ORU.  (That’s Oral Roberts University, dawg.)  Needless to say…...I’M SO STOKED ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!  On the agenda: scholarship competition/interview, worship arts audition, campus tours, a couple nights in the dorms, cafeteria samplings…the list goes on and on.

Guess what: In July, my youth group is going to L.A.!  I’ve never been to California, and I am beside myself to be finally going!  We’ll be ministering at the Dream Center, an outreach for individuals who need help and hope.

So…that’s pretty much my life in a nutshell right now.  But I don’t want this blog to be all about me.

There are individuals in my life who will probably never know the impact they have made on my life, personality, and vision.  Oh, and fashion sense.  The other day, I met this young lady who was wearing the cutest outfit!  I don’t think I would’ve ever thought of a combo like that.  So the next day, I wore something very similar to her lovely attire, and I felt pretty good about myself.  Thank you, dear person.  Another young lady who has shaped my fashion preferences is a gorgeous girl at church whose name I don’t even know!  But she always wears such delicate, pretty outfits that have a hint of vintage woven in.  I just love delicate, pretty, vintage things, like those adorable headbands that have sequins and feathers and flowers on the sides.  And necklaces that have dusty pink roses on them, along with lacy puffs that you can pin to your blouse.  I’m really liking the styles that are coming back around.

…I just talked a lot about fashion there.  I hope you’re not bored.

But suffice it to say that YOU’VE CHANGED MY LIFE.  And if you've changed mine, I can guarantee you've also changed others' lives too.

So.  Thank you.  In fact, we can’t thank you enough, nor could we ever.



Isn't this funny?!  It was a beach towel (obviously) that I found at Target (pronounced the proper French way, of course).  Since it was all folded up, I had to just take a picture of the tag.  Way to go, Towel.  I hope I made your dreams come true.

Stop. Listen. Love.

Really.  It is so, so, so, so, SO beautiful out there today!  It truly feels like spring.  I know I said that yesterday, but my heart was moved even more today by the utter loveliness of the great outdoors.

I was out there eating a sandwich, just enjoying life and kind of trying to put off those papers I need to write.  (Actually, I was stressing out inside, but trying to just   l  e  t    i  t    g  o.)  That was when God was like, “Hey…listen.”  So I did.  And know what I heard?  Silence.  A silence that’s so much different than the indoor silence I’ve been hearing for too long now.

This particular type of silence wasn’t the complete kind, where it’s so quiet your ears hurt.  This kind of silence was a peaceful, restful kind, the kind where you’re so content you could just close your eyes and let yourself be wrapped in happiness.  In the distance I could hear the soft rush of rushing cars on the highway, and nearby was the timid calls of birds wondering if this warm weather was for real.  I could hear some neighbors down the street pulling their now-empty dumpster back to its corner of the yard and over to the right, I could’ve sworn I could hear the remaining snow melting.  Water was dripping everywhere and I think the sunshine was singing some kind of song too.

That’s what I heard.

Think what I would have missed if I hadn’t taken the time to listen.  What’s racket to some people is a symphony to others.  And trust me, honey; listening is a whole different ball game than just plain ol’ hearing.

So stop and listen.  Something you hear might pull your heart out of a little slump, or maybe it will stir you to make a difference in your world that you’ve never thought of before.  Or maybe it will just let you take a breath and realize that God really is in control.  Oh, and as you listen, maybe God will whisper something to you, too…you never know.

I'm not sure why...but this weather makes me think of my
dream home!  And don't tell me it's already taken
'cause I can still dream.

Seasons change...they always do.

She found an island...isn't she cute?!

Spring is in the air!  Yesterday felt like it was April or something.  If you know me pretty well, you probably know how HAPPY I am that it’s sunny and warm!

I went on a walk with Shelby (my friend and new sister) and Zoe (my dog) yesterday, and Shelbs and I amused ourselves the whole way by stepping on the edges of the icebergs sitting in the gutters.  Do you know what I’m talking about?!  It’s so satisfying to hear the little “fthump” as a chunk breaks off with your foot on top of it.

I’ve been thinking about seasons.  Friendships last for a season, hardships pass after awhile, places in your life and thinking last for only some time, and everyone will grow old whether we want to or not.  It’s funny… I had never thought about seasons in our lives until I met a girl in Nashville, Tennessee two years ago that I’ve never seen since.  Her name was Lindsey; she had curly auburn hair, an ever-present smile, and if I had to describe her in one word, it’d be sunshine.  As she and I were swapping songs we had written, she played me this one.  I was listening, enraptured, when it began to hit me: seasons always change.  Always.  And when are we not in a season?  It’s either fall, winter, spring, or summer and without fail, they will eventually change.

That doesn’t mean we have to like it.  I, for one, would appreciate it if God could make it be summer for 80% of the year and then have a couple weeks of the other three seasons just to mix it up.  But that’s not the way it works.  If it was summer all year like I wish it could be, think of everything I’d miss!  Snowflakes falling romantically, the brilliance of a mountainside covered with red and gold, the wonder of tulips bravely poking their heads through the snow.  And, on a more practical note, we wouldn’t have any fruits and vegetables to eat, because it takes time and different weather patterns to make things grow correctly.

What’s funny though, is that we never know exactly when they will change, nor are the changes usually detectable.  In the winter, the sun starts setting a few seconds later each day until whaala! it’s light until 9:30 p.m.  We don’t notice the change until it has fully hit.  Of course, there are times (like yesterday) when we get a sneak peek at what’s ahead, and we realize that despite all the snow and frigid temps we’ve been having, a change is about to hit.  Sometimes that revelation is exciting, sometimes it’s not, but we end up getting through it all anyway, don’t we?

Seasons change…they always do.  So embrace the new adventure each one brings and cherish the moments you’ve had in past ones; the next season in your life can only be better than the last one.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, says the LORD…” (Jeremiah 29:11-14a)

Today was a day!! Yes. A day.

Today was fabulously eventful!  I love eventful days.  I love going to bed exhausted (the good kind of exhausted), knowing that everything you did couldn’t have been spent better.  (And if it could’ve, it doesn’t matter now because you can’t change it now!)

Would you like to hear the highlights?  Because I’d like to share some.

1. Went to choir practice at nine and sang in service for the second time!  Yay.
2. Had Panda Express with Kat, Kendra, Mr. Knapp and Shelby… “If you guys sit with me, I’ll treat.”
3. After lunch, Shelby and I asked a lady who was eating alone if we could pray for her.  Her response?  “No.  That would be far too personal.”  Oh well, maybe that was just what she needed right then.  Who knows?
4. Went to Forever 21 (we decided it should be Forever 32) and after a loooong time, I bought a [really cute] top and earrings [which I don’t really like now…hmmm].
5. At the Super Bowl party (go Packers!), I consumed more than enough cookies, chocolate and soda, got hyper…and laughed quite a bit.  Then Syd and I played with Bella for forever and I had SO much fun!  That little 5-year-old is adorable, sweet, and incredibly smart.

Hmmm, what else??  Oh, I didn’t get into the game at all.  Football?  From my perspective, it’s a bunch of grown men running around in spandex, falling on the ground, and people betting their lives on the outcome of the game.  God bless you all who get into it, though…to each his own!

By the way!  You HAVE to read this book by Alex and Brett Harris.  It’s called “Do Hard Things” and if you are a teenager, READ IT.  I double doggg dare ya to.  Actually, even if you aren’t a teenager, it would be more than worth your time.  I’m not even halfway through and I already can’t wait to read the sequel.

So here is my conclusion for the day!!

The commercials this year…didn’t really impress me.  And some of them were just WRONG!  Let’s grow up, America.

God can always plant seeds through the weirdest of situations…like the lady who got mad at us for reaching out to her.  But hurt people hurt people right?  So I’ll be praying for her and I bet one day I’ll see her in heaven.

It’s a lot more fun to eat junk food than healthy food.  That shouldn’t be true.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.  This week is going to be amazing just because I’m deciding it’s going to be.  A lot has happened in the past couple weeks, and even though I’d rather not repeat some of those experiences, I can’t wait to see what will happen this week.  I bet it’ll be good!

This post was a little bit different than usual, but oh well!  So now I’m going to try and counteract that junk food with an apple.  Maybe, just maybe, it’ll work…

God, I trust You.

I can officially say I trust God.

Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.  I have waited, and He is now my peace.  And there’s nothing in this world that can take that peace away.

I have a new resolve to be who God made me to be.  I have a new resolve to worship Him with every fiber in me.  I have a new resolve to trust Him, because He’s proven to me that He really does know best.  I have surrendered, and will continue to learn how to surrender, for the rest of my life.

This life is not about me.  It is about bringing glory to the One who made me.  Oh, just think about that!  Who wants to live for themselves when they can use their life to shine the limelight on such a beautiful savior?

You know, it feels good to obey God’s voice.  It starts out with an annoying little tug on your heart that whispers something you absolutely don’t want to hear.  But the more you let go of your agenda and desires, the more content you feel.  You start to realize that the God who can move mountains can also quite effortlessly guide you down the perfect road.

Worry?  Phhst!  Worry doesn’t help.  At all.

I can’t see the big picture.  I can imagine how my life will ultimately turn out, but how can I know for sure?  But God; God can see the beginning and the end of my life!   He knows what I’m capable of, knows who I really am, knows the call He put on my life, all while I’m still grappling in the dark about it all.

That’s why I trust Him.

It might twinge at first, letting go and all.  But it’s the kind of pain that you’d feel if you had to choose between one Hershey’s today, or five Hershey’s tomorrow.  Who wouldn’t pick the five?  Sure, you may be having some intense chocolate cravings today, but I think we’d all agree that 24 hours is worth five times the chocolate!

I’m not making a joke out of surrendering your life to God.  In fact, quite the opposite.  It’s the biggest decision you’ll ever make, and it’s an ongoing decision.  It might be harder to let go tomorrow than it is today; and honestly, that will probably be the case.  As we prove ourselves faithful to surrender in the little things, God will quietly urge us to let go of the more painful ones.  But the more we give up on guiding ourselves, the more God will surprise us with things we can’t even dream up right now.

When Marilyn Hickey was a young woman, God set it out for her:  She could reject the Holy Spirit but remain faithful to God, and she would live a happy, successful life.  She would move to California, get married, be a teacher the rest of her long life, then die and go to heaven.

But she had another choice; she could accept the Holy Spirit right then (God had been nagging her about it for 4 years) and He’d give her a life so amazing she couldn’t even begin to imagine or fathom it.

What a choice!  You know which one she picked?  The latter one.  She told God He could have her, and guess what?  She’s 79 years old, acts like she’s 45, and continues to travel around the country telling millions of lost souls that there’s a God out there who cares.  That’s her passion.

But if she hadn’t surrendered that one sleepless night, and had told God she could figure out her own life, she would’ve missed all the amazing things God had planned for her.

I want to be like Marilyn Hickey.  I want to be someone God can count on to carry out His perfect will on this earth.  It’s not about religion; it’s about glorifying the only One worth glorifying.

Tell me your Daddy ain't big enough.......