A Busy Week

I have been REALLY busy this week. At some point I will give you a REAL update. However, it wont' be right now.

I never thought this week would be as crazy as it has been. I am really glad it's almost over!

Please pray for my Senior Orals on Monday. I am going to be spending all weekend preparing for them! I am really scared about having to take them. This is like an interview where they will ask me questions about what I have learned over the entire four years I have been here at TFC. They can ask me about any random topic from any class. Also they will ask me about main doctrinal issues and I will have to quote scripture for them or at least know which scripture to take them to in my Bible to read to them! It's a lot of information. Not to mention I have to memorize my doctrinal statement which is 20 pages long! So, anyways...please be praying for me. My week has been so busy and stressful I haven't gotten the chance to study so this will be what I am doing most of the weekend! I appreciate your prayers.

I don't know about you, but when I am stressed out or really busy I like to have something that makes me laugh. Unfortunately I always thought that people hurting themselves in a weird way was funny. Don't ask...But, my room mate showed me this video on youtube and I think it's hilarious! Maybe you'll disagree...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMS0O3kknvk


Have a great weekend!

Love is Different...

Apparently you have to have my brain to understand the last post I wrote, sorry! Anyways...here is something maybe you can understand (lyrics to a song I didn't write):

Well, it looks like five thousand miles broke the camel's back
But it's not as though i had a plan to win you back
Because i don't know what i want
But at least i know that much
Now I'm afraid love came right up
And it slapped me in the face, but i did not know

'Cause love is different than you'd think
It's never in a song or on a TV screen
And love is harder than a word
Said at the right time and everything's alright
Love is different than you think

So I won't expect a postcard from Trafalgar Square
But I'd be lying if i said I didn't care
Because you can't just turn it off
And put a blindfold on your heart
But i'm off to a good start
A continent away, but i do not know

But maybe you're the dream i'm waking from
'Cause I see you everywhere I go
Darlin' you are such a mystery to me, you know

God isn't safe and you wouldn't want Him to be!

Spring Break has been interesting for me. It's been a strange/hard/emotional week in a lot of ways. I was thankful to just be home. To be honest I didn't really care what I was doing as long as I was HOME. It has been good for me. I enjoyed WAY TOO MUCH the sleeping in till lunchtime, getting ready whenever I felt like it, and filling the day with whatever activities I wanted to do. So, I didn't study so much for my senior orals. But, I did get the study sheet ready. I will study hard next week. I have them on March 30th. Pray I do well!

I realize the days of doing what I did this spring break are rapidly coming to a close. I am growing up. Who knew (by the way) that growing up could be so difficult and painful sometimes? No one tells you how hard growing up can be! It's a good thing. But, it's not easy. I am glad to graduate in some ways. But, in others I am not. I guess I don't think I am fully ready for the REAL world. Not quite yet. But I have a feeling God doesn't agree with me! The future can be a terrifying thing at times. ANd, some might tell me that since I am in God's hands there is nothing to fear. But, I disagree. Yes, in God's hands things will work out for the best. There have been times I thought I knew what was best, then God said no. I look back now and I say,"Thank you Lord for not allowing me to have what I wanted".

In a different aspect though being in God's hands can be the scariest place. Because if you are doing it the right way, that means you aren't in control. And while that turns out to be a good thing, it also turns about to be a scary thing! I like to be in control. Life is more comfortable for me when I feel like I have some sort of control of how things are going. But I soon realize I don't at all. ANd living with Christ in the driver's seat is not exactly "safe" (in one definition of the word anyways). IF you are "safe" In your christian walk you probably aren't doing something right. When we are truly living for God it will scare you to death.

I remember this summer heading to the Philippines I felt SO out of control. I have never felt something quite like it. I got a rush of excitement at first but when it really hit me I was FREAKING out on the inside. Going to the Philippines was so far out of my comfort zone. It wasn't safe. It wasn't all warm and fuzzy and cozy. It hurt. It stretched. At times it completely made me wonder who I even was as a person.

As I look into my future that's what I see: pain. Because if I'm honest, if I truly do what God is calling me to do in my life I see a lot of times when I will be uncomfortable. I see myself being in pain over having to go so far away from my family. If God called us to do what was easy for us we would never grow. He doesn't. Sometimes he calls us to do the hardest thing. The last thing on our list. Living your life in total obedience and surrender to Christ is not safe. He will ask you to do the things you least expect and sometimes the things you least want to do. But, if you do them you will come alive. IF you do them you will understand why you are being called to do them! I truly believe that. Sometimes you may not understand until later but you will eventually get it!

I know the Philippines this summer was like that. Once I obeyed I felt truly alive.

Today I was listening to Steven Curtis Chapman. His songs for some reason get me really excited about living for Christ. I know it's cheesy, but it's true! Sometimes I need reminders throughout my day about why I should be excited about life. Sometimes I need reminders of who I am in Christ. Sometimes I get so used to living life from the day-to-day that I totally lose sight of what Christ has done for me! I am redeemed. I am a child of God. I have all the hope in the world regardless of what happens! That is something to get excited about! It's something I should get excited about WAY more often! Unfortunately living in America we are so busy we drown out the presence of God with everything imaginable. So it's nice to listen to music that will focus me on Christ as I go throughout my busy schedule. I just need some things in my life that will slow me down and remind me why I am living!

God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him"

This past weekend I got to go home for the first time all semester. I have been super busy so it's been hard to find free time. It was Molly's birthday on Thursday so we celebrated it with opening presents and eating cake. My mom made tons of yummy food (I miss her cooking). It was nice to see almost all of my family there at the same time!

Unfortunately I was getting sick. Today was the worst it's been yet. I am not sure what it is. I will just call it "death" because it feel HORRIBLE. It's also lasted WAY too long!

I couldn't even rest today because I had a speech to make (which is real good when you feel like I did). I also had to develop two rolls of film.

On the way back to school I got to asking myself many questions. The sky was really beautiful and as I looked up at the clouds for some reason the world just seemed HUGE. Sometimes I get so busy I forget to stop and just look around me. If I did that more often I think I would be amazed by God more often. The world is so big and spacious. When I look at the sky or mountains or the trees and really take the time to notice them, it somehow puts things into perspective for me. I am so small. I am such a tiny part of this earth that God made. ANd God put me here to bring Him glory.

I asked myself the question: Do I really bring God glory? I mean, when you really step back and realize that it's all about HIM and not about you it's pretty scary. Because how much do we do only for ourselves? When that isn't even the purpose of our lives. I examined myself on this. I can't say that I do a good job of pointing to Christ no matter what I'm doing. I want people to look at my life and then look straight to Him because of it. I want him to be worshipped and glorified because of the way I live my life. And, when you put everything back into perspective and realize your sole purpose is to please Him and bring Him fame throughout the earth you realize how big of a failure you are in what you came to do!

I just want my life to count for HIM, not just for myself.

Today has been BEAUTIFUL! I took the opportunity to lay in the hammock we put up in our yard. THe girls in my house also had a picnic together for dinner tonight. It was fun! I love this weather! I hope it doesn't turn cold again. That would make me sad. Especially since I took all of my winter clothes home!!!

The First Snow...

So, I haven't updated too much over the past week and a half. I have had a lot going on. It seems no matter how many hours I am taking per semester my life is always crammed full of things. It makes it hard to really stay in contact with people like I should and like I want to!

A week ago me and Jonathan had a double date with my sister and AnDrew. It was fun. We went to Intermezzo near Perimeter mall. It was about a 30 minute drive from there house. But, it was really good! It's this cute little european style restaurant. It is made to look like a quaint courtyard cafe' in Europe. It is inside though. It was adorable. We just went for dessert because it's kind of expensive. Here are some pictures that show just how big a glass of hot chocolate was and how big a piece of cheesecake was:






Too bad they don't have one in Chattanooga. I think my parents would like their desserts! We also played guitar hero at their apartment. They just got the microphone so someone can sing along while two people play the guitars. It was really funny!

I have working really hard on my senior project lately. It is taking a lot of my time. My photography class is also taking a lot of my time. I think altogether I probably devote about 10 hours to those two things every five days. It is ridiculous.

This past weekend was frustrating. I was in Buford with Jonathan. The weather man kept saying it was going to snow. I was thinking,"NO WAY!" They had been predicting snow for the past five sundays. So, I figured I would believe it when I saw it! Sure enough, as we came out of church is began to snow really hard. It was BEAUTIFUL! Within an hour there was about half an inch on the ground. We decided we should probably leave so we could drive back to school in safe conditions. We figured we would just play/enjoy the snow once we got back to Toccoa. It was VERY snowy until we reached Gainesville and all the sudden the snow stopped. I was so grumpy the rest of the nighT! I wanted snow so bad. There was snow ALL around Toccoa within like a fifteen mile radius but sure enough it never quite made it to us! I was so sad! I wanted to play in the snow! I griped about how we should've never left Buford becuase it NEVER snows and I wouldn't see snow the rest of the winter. IT was my one chance! I was really upset that we could've just stayed there and enjoyed FIVE inches of snow (yeah, they got five inches). There was literally NO snow here. Just rain. haha. My room mate was sad too!

Because my room mate was sad about the snow her dad decided to drive an hour and give her snow. It was so cute. He filled the bed of his truck with snow and hauled it to Toccoa. He dumped it in our front yard and me and my room mate, Heather made a snowman out of it! haha. So, in our not-so-snowy front yard we now have a cute little snowman who we lovingly named Willow. Here are some pictures of our cute little snowman:






Of course it didn't QUITE make me feel better about us not getting any snow, but it came pretty close! It was fun! Everyone walking by looked at us really weird for having a random patch of snow in our yard. But, we had fun making it! There is also included up there a picture of the conditions as we were driving back to school. ha!