Faith, Family & Friends

Faith...
" Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see" Hebrews 11:1


Living a life of faith can be so hard when everything seems to be going wrong. I found out earlier this year that I had been living thinking that nothing was going to get better. I spent my time knowing in my head that God works everything together for the good of those who love Him, but I did not know that in my heart. This summer taught me so much about what faith really means. It's a word I feel is thrown around so much, but it means so much more. Have faith and submit to the Lord and so much can happen. The burdens you were once worried about change and are lifted. When life is surrendered to Him, and we live our lives with faith, there is so much freedom.

Abraham exhibited great faith.

Faith is a shield.

Faith like a child is what God yearns for us to have.

We are justified "made right" through faith.

Faith means we don't have to worry about tomorrow.

In faith we know that with God we can move mountains.

Family...

 

"Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged" Colossians 3:18-21

I love that my family and I get so spend so much time together. I enjoy each and every member of my family! I know that I don't the Lord for them enough. I'm blessed beyond belief and know that they care so much about me. We are all pretty crazy but I love them!

Friends...
"I thank my God every time I remember you" Philippians 1:3


 I have no idea what I would do without my amazing friends. I could talk about them on and on, but I wouldn't have enough time.  They have been an incredible encouragement to me so many times, and I don't deserve it! What amazing impacts they have made in my life. I couldn't ask God for better friends, they are the best.

"Oil and perfume make the heart glad,and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel"
Proverbs 27:9

Everything E!

I have found out that something that starts with E is very hard to think of...and prior to today I was going to resort to writing about elephants, LOL....

So here's a quote from Tarzan : "Are you sure this water's sanitary? It looks questionable to me" (spoken by Tantor the elephant)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VFQ8Ghepp4

To start my random list of E thankfulness...

 

 

Energy- I mean what would happen without it? Life would be pretty dull. I love living my life energetically and enthusiastically. That's probably why I enjoy drama so much, and want to teach little kids for the rest of my life...you have to have energy for that! 

 Eggs- Who doesn't like an extra cheesy omelet?? 

Eggnog- one of my favorite holiday drinks; eggnog+eggnog icecream+whip cream+nutmeg= yum yum yum

Eagles- " This is Eagle land, Eagle Land, you Wayas don't know where you stand, bow down or get knocked down, this is Awahili ground"

Enchanted- "That's How you Know" Such a cute movie! It brings back memories of fitting about 15 people in my friend Kimberly and Stephanie's dorm room to watch it freshman year!

Elf- " I'm just a cotton-headed-ninny-muggins" 

Elmo- Oh childhood memories, Elmo is so cute!

Exercise-How I love the elliptical at Ramsey! And how I love going on walks! I also especially love climbing up stone mountain :)

2 of my favorite books of the Bible happen to be..

Esther- God puts us where we need to be and sometimes it's perfectly "for such a time as this". When we live our lives dedicated to Him, following after his heart, the Lord blesses that. The Lord always keeps us safe and works things out for his good as Esther finds out.

Ephesians 1:15-23

 Thanksgiving and Prayer

 ¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

I've thought of 2 more E things that I'm really thankful for, so they will be included in my post tomorrow.

D=Dance

I can express who I really am when I dance, but it has not always been that way. 

It used to be something I did because I enjoyed it, but now it's so much more.

Dance is memories...
I started dancing as a toddler, taking ballet and tap.
Oh how I remember some funny moments. I know that I was not the most coordinated little girl, because I remember wearing a Tu-Tu and landing on my "derriere" (as we called it at dance)during a performance.Later I remember being so excited I got to stay at the Civic Center all day because I was in 2 different casts of a dance show. From dippity do to dancing to space cowboy and rock around the clock...from the jungle book to snow white....Lawrenceville School of Ballet was my dance life until 8th grade.

Dancing is cheering a team on....

In high school I was part of colorguard and winterguard. I couldn't leave dance behind, and this was a perfect way to still spend time dancing. Though at times it was a discouraging experience and I felt rejection at times, it was overall an awesome experience. Performing in winterguard competitions was incredible, just getting to put your all into dancing and spinning, to a song that you were also acting to- you knew it inside and out. Colorguard- the environment was so much fun, and performing was exciting and exhilarating. So many memories that I cherish, so many people that have changed my life.

Now dance is freedom, worship,expression,expresses passion,
dance is spinning, turning,
stretching, joyful, sorrowful, graceful...

God has brought me to a place of freedom, where I can worship him through dance. I have gotten to do this in Restoration (a dance performance that Wesley puts on each year). It has opened my eyes and transformed me.

Dance is an expression of passion for my King.

Dance is also an expression of my passion FTK!(For the KIDS!)- ugaMiracle!

Dancing sometimes means to get a little crazy- Phi Slam parties perfectly exhibit this.

Dance means a lot to me, I can't imagine living without the freedom to dance!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1115610029#!/video/video.php?v=515544283886 (How He Loves)

C=Camp

I could talk about camp for days and days- because it has made more of an impact in my life then I will probably be able to do justice via my blog. It has taught me more than I have even been able to recognize so far.

It's true,  feel home sick for camp sometimes.

Strong Rock camp is indescribable... It's probably the most encouraging environment that I have ever been a part of. Everyone on staff proved to be such an affirmation to me many times throughout the summer. I could tell that they loved me for me. When you are able to act crazy, wear costumes that make no sense, and nobody thinks twice- that's somewhere I want to be. I never had to hide myself.

All of the staff members hold special places in my heart and have really helped me become more confident in who God has made me to be. Throughout the summer (and after the summer too) they have brought so much joy to my life. I had such a hard semester right before camp, but camp was exactly what I needed.

I have made lifelong friends.

I have also made lasting memories. Those would be too hard to write out here (they would go on forever, and might be mentioned in later blog posts)

There are campers that I will never forget because of their impact in my life. So many of them were always so excited to see me and would love me even if I was continually yelling at them. It was beautiful to see that. I was challenged to love some of my campers, but in the end it was worth it. It allowed me to become more selfless and really love with the Lord's love. This summer was huge affirmation about teaching in the future.

It was an opportunity that I've always wanted to have, and finally God placed the perfect camp in my life.

Since I'm talking about things that start with the letter C and am writing an entry on camp I could never forget to mention my 2 awesome co-co's that I had this summer:

CARROT- My co-co fof the first half of the summer. She was such a helpful hand as I got used to camp, and became confident as a counselor.She has an amaing dedication to the Lord, and is an amazing teacher. I love her constant use of "oh geez" and her obsession with Swedish fish. I can't  forget her amazing teddy bear named theodore that made me laugh on countless ocassions. I cherish her friendship!

CUPCAKE- My co-co for the 2nd half of the summer. Oh goodness, we have so much in common and have made a long list of many of these things. Both of us, according to Rambo, are the sweetest girls. I could probably give you a glimpse of our friendship by sharing our rap (but thats a secret)...just the fact that we have one hints to how crazy we can be when we are together. My dear sister in christ, and an amazing encoruagement.

B=Broad Acres

Eye opening, life changing, impactful.
Just a few words to describe my experience at Broad Acres, the housing community that has transformed my future....
Nothing that I expected at first came true through this experience, but everything that I've needed to see to determine what I want to do in the future I have seen. Not to say everything has been perfect, my heart has hurt so much for these chidlren. I could never imagine growing up as some of them do, with no one really caring about there whereabouts. That is exactly what motivates me to show Christs love to the kids. It's what has created my passion to teach inner city children in the future. It has opened my heart to many thing that seemed foreign at first. My heart now burns for these little boys and girls, some who just need a hug or someone to simply show they care. I want to bring them hope and truth in the Lord.

Christ is my strength. May His light shine through me to all of those children. They are such a blessing to my life, I long to bless them. I love their excitement to see me, their desire for me to stay there. They always want to go home with me and want me to be their mentor-which is the cutest thing ever.
Their hugs are an encouragement.
I love how I get awesome braids in my hair every week.
Tag is a game that can have so many people that are "it".

My experience there each week, spending time playing with children has blessed me beyond belief. I have loved getting to see some of those kids grow up over the past 3 years...
I'm so thankful.

A= Aderhold

To start off my alphabet of thankfulness:

Though the building it quite jail-like and gloomy from the outside...
There are so many people that I have met that make it much more sunny. We stick together, and help each other through the hectic lives we live. School can be tough, and stressful, but with friends by your side it makes it all better. I know there are days that I would not have been able to get through if I didn't have such a great group of people to encourage me. Don't get me wrong, classes can be so stressful, and teaching is a whole new world of challanges.. but getting through it with my friends makes all the difference. There are days when I can't wait to leave Aderhold, but in the end, I cherish so much about it. I have grown as a person, and have begun to learn about my profession. My eyes have been opened to so much. My opinions have been challanged. I have learned so much about who I am and why I want to make an impact in the lives of children for the rest of my life.
So though the building looks rather like a prison...the people inside have impacted me in ways I'll always remember.

Here's the link to a video that sums up the semester LOL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enpFde5rgmw

" All of my life, in every season..."

Recently I have been thinking a lot about how thankful I am for my friends, about how incredibly blessed I am, and about how I don't deserve all of the overwhelming love I have felt. God is so good and gracious, beyond measure. He pours out His love and grace on us out of His compassion for his beloved children.

Blessings. What are the blessings I overlook and don't seem to appreciate?How can I live more in a manner of thankfulness? God calls us to live lives of thanks to him, and I know I don't thank him nearly enough.

So therefore I am going to write something I'm thankful for each day of November leading to Thanksgiving.  This will be a way for me to take time to not look over the many ways I have been blessed. Hopefully this time of year will challange you to think about that too. God loves his children, he blesses us in some ways we hardly ever notice until we are standing still for a moment.

This leads me to think about what a thankful heart looks like. I think it is different for each person, but for every person it requires moments of us being still. How do you best express your thanks to God? Do you spend time resting in His presence and reflecting on all he is doing in your life? Thanks should flow from our speechand actions, and it should radiate outwardly as we live in a state of thankfulness and humility.

Rest, reflect, let the God who spreads his love all around you restore you in His truth more and more each day!

Be thankful as you rejoice, be thankful as you grieve.