isaiah 64:4 & 5

Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways...

syrup soppin'

adventures in loachapoka, al:

avoiding winter

Winter has started to move into Auburn and I am so excited. The end of fall and beginning of winter is my favorite time of year. So many good things come along with winter: jackets, hockey, coffee any time of day, smores, fire in the fireplace, scarves, Christmas time... it's fantastic. As i made my way across campus today, I noticed that multiple people were in complete denial that winter has arrived. It is currently 54 degrees in Auburn, it's not ok to be wearing shorts and a tank top with rain boots today. It's cold. People are funny this way though, I feel like sometimes when change comes without expectation people continue on how they were before in efforts to stunt the incoming differences that will be met at the face of the change. The range of examples are as wide as the range of different changes we all experience. I feel like my life has changed so much in the past year and lately I've been learning how to live one day at a time and live with two expectations: for the Lord to guide me and show me how His renown can be evident in my life. I am asked more than once everyday what my plans are for the next year and with a smile on my face I have finally been able to confidently say "I have no idea, but the Lord has a plan so I'm trusting in that".[jeremiah 29:11-13] . It's not been an easy journey to be able to stand in that comfort, but the journey has been worth while and it's done nothing but lead me back to a place of surrender. This place that I stand in could be seen as lonely and dark. But in the light of who He is to me, it's one of the most beautiful places of uncertainty I've ever been. The word says to "be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" [psalm 27:14]. So I'm clinging to the truth that while He has shut doors of opportunity, and while I'm waiting for Him to open new ones that He is shaping me to look more like Himself. He wants so much more for us than we can ever imagine. So take heart and wait on the Lord. He wants to walk through change and newness with us. He is enough. He is bigger than our situation. He is bigger than our hearts. He loves us. Embrace the winter. Embrace change. Embrace His infinite wisdom in your circumstance.

Adventures...

some photo evidence from when Keri Anne went to purchase some boots & of why the south is near and dear to my heart :

you know you've been staring at your paper for too long when...

you type the word "informations" and you don't understand why the little red line underneath the word won't go away.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord & he will give you the desires of your heart. This verse has been stirring in my heart almost constantly this weekend and today my heart realized that there is more than one beautiful promise intertwined in this verse. Not only is this a promise that the Lord will grant me the desires of my heart; but that when my heart is aligned with His, I am desiring the things of His heart. When my delight is in Him, I get to vision and dream with Him. He not only allows my heart to desire those things, He alone is the fulfillment of those dreams.

the fellowship of the unashamed

this was read last night at encounter. i've heard it before, but it's just as powerful and refreshing every time i hear it or read it. there's no way to really prep this but please read it. read it slowly and intentionally. i pray that my heart sings this same song. The Fellowship of the Unashamed I am a part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power. My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear. I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up and paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He comes for His own, He'll have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear.

Ms. Lu

I have a GTA [graduate teaching assistant] for my government class named Ms. Lu. She is in her mid-30s and she is from Vietnam. I've never seen her without a smile on her face. Most of the time I wish that she would teach our class, but for now I just enjoy the few times that she gets to speak. Well, Ms. Lu has discovered YouTube. Her favorite new activity on Friday mornings is to play us a video to "wake yous up for the Friday morning class". I'm telling you, this lady is precious. The first week she played School House Rock: "I'm just a bill" : very appropriate and relevant to our class. Week 2: a video from OK Go : not so relevant to our class, she said that she thought it would make us dance Week 3 [today]: Carrie Underwood : "Last Name" : there was no explanation for this video, I walked into the classroom and the video was almost half-way over and had to contain my emotions to merely a smile. Everything in me wanted to laugh at the humor of the whole situation, but I kept my composure. I just wonder what she thinks of America. And if she listens to Carrie Underwood on a normal basis...So many questions. Needless to say, this morning started out fantastic thanks to Ms. Lu. I'll keep you updated on her discoveries on YouTube.

thursday

2 tests today. registration (for the last time - whoop whoop) . encounter tonight . lots of sleep . tomorrow is friday . word.

268 generation

the Passion movement is something that is very close to my heart. i believe that the Lord is using this movement to shape a generation of young adults to look more like Himself. currently they are on a world tour and their most recent stop was Tokyo, Japan. i just finished reading the blog about Passion Tokyo: http://268generation.com/blog/ i dare you to read through this blog without tears in your eyes. i'm sitting in my apartment in auburn, alabama with tears in my eyes and my heart racing. there is a global awakening happening for the renown of our God. i'm so thankful to be a part of it. the staff of grace campus is in Hong Kong as i type this and they are going to be serving at Passion Hong Kong on the16th. needless to say i'm slightly jealous of there first-hand experience, but more than ecstatic for them to experience that as well. there's a global awakening happening. the church is alive and well.

the line under the name

I was sitting in my drugs & behavior class this morning and we were watching a video about the meth problem in Atlanta. Every so often there would be an interview with someone and as their interview progressed there would be a box that popped up under their picture which contained their name and their job title or former addiction. There was one lady in particular who caught my attention...As she began to describe her former addiction to meth she said, "you never know who it's affecting, I used to teach VBS, I have two small children, I had a husband, seemingly great life on the outside." The only description under her name during the interview was "Former Meth Addict". I began to wonder, if given the opportunity, what she would place in the line under her name. Perhaps she wouldn't change it, perhaps she would, and have it say, "mother"or "believer"...that same thought lead to the concern that her past, specifically her addiction, has defined her for far too long. So often I feel as though we label people based on one aspect of who they were. I know it is almost impossible to describe oneself in one word or phrase, but my prayer is that I can begin to move past the habit of defining people by who they were or one thing they did and seeing the true identity of who they are. I know I have been shown indescribable grace, saved by one true Love. I wonder what would be placed under the line of my name. What would yours be?

red shoes. vanilla chai. orange/brown leaves. gray hat : good day

this weekend was filled with good conversation, quality time and lots of laughter. i'm still baffled at the daily reminders God gives me that he cares about my heart and my life, because i'm his child. i feel like i've been running a marathon for the past few days... [re-cap] friday: grace campus staff leaves for HK, long day o' classes, fun-filled afternoon of bingo at morningside, dinner & TCBY with my friend Casey. [playing bingo at morningside was one of my favorite afternoons there so far. my sweet friend grace wasn't there on friday so i met a new group of ladies and one gentleman who LOVED bingo. problem: they don't hear very well & sometimes i have trouble speaking clearly, esp. after 2 hours of sleep. so we got in this great rhythm after a couple rounds where i would say "B - 4", someone else would repeat me and then I'd say it again. they liked that system- otherwise there were arguments over the sounds "50" and "60"... they dont joke around with bingo. AND there were prizes involved on friday which made it more competitive. what were the prizes you ask? i was hoping you were wondering... hot chocolate mix, kit kats, mini snickers and fruit snacks- the winner of each round got to pick one treat. then right before dinner i decided everyone should get a treat for putting up with my lack of pronunciation. i am starting to really love these folks, they make me smile.] saturday: great conversation with my friend Tracy, football game [i still love my tigers], breezeway and The Great Debators sunday: cornerstone, time with Court, small group girls at Trinity- high school girls are hilarious- our time together sunday was really wonderful. we sat in 1 Corinthians 16:14, "Do everything in love.", for almost the whole hour. its a beautiful experience for me to walk along side these girls as they begin to embrace the gospel and the Lord reveals how applicable it is to their lives. after church i went to drop something off at my friend Catherine's apt and left hours later with such an encouraged heart. [recap concluded] ...despite all my running around the past few days, my spirit has felt so refreshed. there is a stirring that i can't articulate, but i just feel the Lord is about to reveal a lot in me and i'm excited about what is to come. i'm sorry if these thoughts are scattered, but know that life in Auburn for me is beyond beautiful right now. still learning to live day to day. still learning how to stand in the dark and love. still loving every moment.

humbled

If there was a word that properly expressed what it meant to be on your face, humbled, baffled, completely in love with the Lord, aware of His infinite goodness and faithfulness- that would be the adjective I would use to describe my heart right now. This semester has been so different that I ever imagined, but everyday I've become more aware of the Lord's abundant love for me. He has made himself so tangible, even on the difficult days. It's a beautiful, freeing thought to know that my life is not about me. It's about Christ in me. It's about His glory and His fame circling and infiltrating every inch of this globe. It's so much bigger than us. Rest in the fact that it's not about us.

home in photographs

sometimes i wish i could just tell my life in pictures.

[so, as i previously promised, here is my attempt to do that with my huntsville weekend]

[friday] i spent the afternoon at Morningside with Grace and learned lots of interesting new things about her life. this week she was especially inclined to tell me about her medical history...all of it- in detail. i saw scars and pacemakers and heard more details than i probably ever want to know. BUT the great thing that i took away from my experience on friday was the feeling that Grace and i have started to build a rapport. she trusts me, that's a beautiful feeling.

i didn't get to huntsville till around 10 on friday night, and after bringing all my stuff inside i hugged my mom and crawled straight into bed.

[saturday]

morning started out with an early trip to Hazel Green where my dad's family lives. its about a 30 minute drive from my mom's house, but i've come to really love that drive. it's just long enough for me to sit alone with my thoughts, but short enough that i don't become frustrated with the distance.

i had really good time with my family at dad's house. we talked about japan and how God is just perfectly orchestrating all of that everyday. it's so undeniably Him- that's the most beautiful part. the only sad thing about the Green was that I didn't get to see ashley while i was out there.

we are rarely home at the same time, but we both have 2 families to visit with while we are home so i understand her busy schedule because mine was almost the exact replication of her own. i did get to spend some time with mary [evidence below].

this is what happens when a police officer has only daughters: we turn belt holders into bracelets.

i think we were supposed to be cleaning the kitchen at this moment- but photo breaks are just needed sometimes.

my baby brother is 17. life is nuts.

i know, i know: my bangs are attacking my left eye.

is it normal for people to think your younger brother is your older brother? this happens quite frequently.

he's special.

mom only had 7 candles, so she re-lit them 3 times for him to be able to blow out 17 candles [with 4 to grow on]

mom's fam: with one of the deformed balloons. i'm not sure why but all the balloons we had were funny shapes, 2 popped in mom's face while she was trying to inflate them... the things moms do for their children :)

zach LOVES cake: obviously.

he asked for the 'Z' because it had the most icing, so he got the whole corner.

don't worry he ate all of it.

time at mom's house was really good as well. our nana and muffy [aunt] came over for some grub before the cookie cake fiasco began, they are always so much fun to be around.

i love my family.

i'm incredibly blessed.

sunrise and starbucks

it's a new day.

pink heart

i woke up really early this morning for some reason.

around 6:00 to be exact... i love the mornings, but this was still a bit early for me.

anyways: i grabbed my journal and my bible and got tucked back under my covers.

[side note-when i got up to get my journal i had also opened the top drawer to my desk and grabbed a pen and a pink skinny marker. why in the world i grabbed this marker is beyond me, but i did none-the-less.]

i wasn't sure where to begin this morning, so i spent some time just really asking God to breathe a fresh breath of Himself in my lungs and in that same moment sitting under the weight that His word is living and active.

i opened my journal and all i could think of was drawing a heart. i know, it seems completely lame and somewhat elementary but i couldn't shake this image from my mind. i tried to dismiss the idea and opened up to isaiah 54, which speaks of the love of the lord, specifically in verse 10 :

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed." says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

i wrote this down and then flipped back to galatians 5. this chapter has been a real foundation of what the Lord has taught me this year. it's a resounding declaration of freedom and call to live a life of love. i began to read down and got to verse 6 and my thought of a pink heart all made sense to me. galatains 5:6 reads:

"...the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

this morning the Lord drew me in close to His heart with a fresh reminder of His everlasting, perfect, never-ending, unconditional love for me. my life, my faith, must be an expression of His love. His love is living water to the thirsty, its a breath of fresh air to the drowning, its a dance for the one bound by chains, it's His love that brings any good into this world. His love alone that is constant.

[yep, i really drew a heart in my journal:

i felt it only appropriate to remind myself

that He weaves my thoughts and understanding

together perfectly, so that i may know His heart.]

huntsville

i get to go to see my family this weekend!

i'm really excited about traveling home.

i'm not too fond of the drive when i have to travel alone, but i have some new good tunes and a couple phone dates that will hopefully fill up my 3 1/2 hour trip. we're celebrating my little brother's 17th birthday [a week late] on saturday- i can't believe he's that old. in my head i think that he's still 8 sometimes, then i see him and he's a whole head taller than me and now picks me up when i hug him. craziness.

good time ahead with both of my families- pictures are sure to come in the next post.

enjoy your weekend.

tell your family how much you love them.

soak up every moment.