Mini Summer Break and Senior Year of College

So this past weekend was so great! On Friday, I went with my sister to see Ramona and Beezus! It was so good! I loved it. That night I went to my grandparents' house to celebrate my Bob Bob's birthday with my family. We had a lot of fun! On Saturday, I went and hung out with Valerie at her house while they had a yard sale for a little while. It was fun! It made me laugh how many people tried to talk down the price on items that were already so low in price. That night Cameron and I had to pick some people up from our church that went on a medical mission trip to Guatemala. It was definitely cool to hear how God worked while they were in Guatemala. Sunday I had the privilege of going to see some of my IMPACT children at Stone Mountain after church. We had a great time seeing each other and catching up on the rest of the summer after camp. I didn't even plan this reunion one of my "children" Ellen did. It is so encouraging to me to see these youth care about each other so much that they actually want to stay in touch and do things together as much as possible throughout the year. I can say that as many friends as I made at camp we never did anything with each other after camp, but these youth did and that was awesome!

It is the end of summer semester! I am definitely relieved. I go to my last math class tomorrow night and then I am done, except for one online test that I will take this weekend. I am excited about a mini break from school! I don't go back until August 16th, so I am very excited about that. I am going with my mom, dad, my sister Caroline, her friend Bailee, and Cameron to the lake on Wednesday night. I am super excited about that! It will be my only vacation that I have had this summer.

I was thinking the other day about how this is it-this is my last year of college. I am a senior! I mean I knew this, but as it continues to get here it becomes more of a reality. One of my best friends Valerie graduates in December and we were talking about how it is here. It seems like just yesterday we were freshmen at the University of Alabama, but now we are seniors! It has been such a fun journey and I am so excited to see what this year brings. I can say that college has definitely made my walk with the Lord so incredible. I went off to school and made my faith my own. I grew up in church and went with my parents all of the time, but when I went off to school I chose to get involved on my own. It has been an amazing experience being apart of campus ministries at both Alabama and Columbus State. Cougars for Christ at Columbus has definitely made the biggest impact on my life, because I have been a part of it for a longer time. I actually did some activities with them before I was even a student at CSU. God has taught me so much and I know He will continue to do so this year and as I go on in my journey of life.

I found this verse today that I just really loved a lot and I wanted to share it:

"When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul." Psalm 94:19

God is always there and brings JOY to us! :)

You're Not Alone

This past weekend Cameron came to Columbus and we went to Callaway during the day Friday to go to the beach they have there and go to the different gardens. It was fun! We also made chicken and rice on Saturday night! It turned out so good! We were super pumped about that!

This is the last week of my reading lab and reading class! Thank goodness!! I will only have my math presentation next Tuesday and an online anthropology test that next weekend, then I am DONE with summer classes!! Thank goodness!! I am so ready to enjoy a couple weeks of no school.

Recently I have fell in love with a song by Meredith Andrews called "You're Not Alone". When I hear this song most of the time I sit with tears streaming down my face. I think so many times we all try to find other things to fill us up when we are feeling alone and without anything or anybody, however we aren't! We have the ONE who is always there for us!! That is pretty cool! You should check out that song if you have never heard it before! The lyrics are:

I search for love
When the night came and it closed in
I was alone
but you found me where I was hiding
and now I'll never ever be the same
It was the sweetest voice that called my name
saying

You're not alone
for I am here
let me wipe away your every fear
My love I've never left your side
I have seen you through the darkest night
and I'm the one who's loved you all your life
All of your life

You cry yourself to sleep
cause the hurt is real
and the pain cuts deep
All hope seems lost
With heartache your closest friend
and everyone else long gone

You've had to face the music on your own
but there is a sweeter song that calls you home
saying

You're not alone
for I am here
let me wipe away your every tear
My love I've never left your side
I have seen you through the darkest nights
And I'm the one who's loved you all your life
All your life

Faithful and true... Forever
For my love will carry you....

You're not alone
for I... I am here
let me wipe away every fear... Oh yeah
My love I've never left your side
I have seen you through your darkest night
Your darkest night
And I'm the one who's loved you all your life
All of your life

Psalm 100

This week has been fun! My mom and I went to visit one of roommates that is working at camp, Kayla Martin on Monday. She is working at Camp Winshape in Rome, GA. It is such a beautiful camp and it was awesome to see where she has been serving this summer. Kayla gave us a tour and we got to see the beautiful scenery and buildings that are a part of Winshape. You can tell the Lord has been using Kayla this summer and it was definitely great to see that!

I am trying to get through classes, I am ready for the end of the semester. I have taken summer classes ever since I entered college. I am happy to say this is my last summer seeing as I graduate May 2011. That is what has gotten me through this summer, just knowing that I am a senior now and that graduation is coming.

I am going to Passion 2011 with Cameron in January and I just got really excited watching the little video that they posted. I have never been to the Passion Conference before, but I heard that it is amazing! If you are interested, you should look into going January 1-4... go to the website www.286generation.com for more information!

I wanted to share Psalm 100 with you today! I like this Psalm a lot! We always need to be thankful for the unfailing love he has. We need to let our lives be a testimony and worship Him at all times for the wonderful things He does for us!

Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

¹ Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
² Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

A Mighty Fortress

This weekend was fabulous. I got a lot done for school, which is a plus. To start the weekend off my family and I went to drop my sister off for her World Changers mission trip with the youth group on Friday night. They are in New Jersey this week doing construction work. I used to love World Changers when I was in the youth group, it is amazing to see how many people come to know Jesus through a bunch of teenagers working on their roof, painting their house, etc. My sister was super excited about World Changers, she looks forward to it every summer. She loves to serve the Lord by helping people in need, so I know from talking with her she was excited for this trip. I am going to admit that I really wanted to go on the trip, but I have school. The youth got to also go to a Mets game or to see Mary Poppins on Broadway yesterday in New York and go to the Brooklyn Tabernacle today before their week of hard work began. Please be praying for the teenagers and adults that are serving in New Jersey this week.

On Saturday, I worked on homework and then Cameron and I went out to Atlanta for dinner. I changed my mind about 15 times about where I wanted to eat. We ended up at Papadeux Seafood House and it was fabulous! I love shrimp, so I was a happy girl. We didn't mean to end up there, but we did and it was great!

Today I finally got to go to Passion City Church and it was awesome!! I am definitely going to go back! God is definitely working in the new church that Passion has started. My mom has been wanting to go, so we finally went. It was my Mom, Dad, Cameron, Malone, and I. We had an awesome night of worship. Louie Giglio talked about how we need to go to God expecting! We need to say that we believe God can do miracles, if we don't do that then we really don't believe He can. It clearly says in the word that he made a blind man see, made a paralyzed man begin to walk, and so many more miracles. I could go on and on, but I won't since I have already written a lot today. I will share a new song I learned tonight by Christy Nockels called "A Mighty Fortress".

Our God is a consuming fire,
A burning holy Flame, with glory and freedom
Our God is, the only righteous judge,
Ruling over us with kindness and wisdom

We will keep our eyes on You
We will keep our eyes on You

A mighty fortress is our God
A sacred refuge is Your Name
Your Kingdom is unshakable
With You forever we will reign

Our God is, jealous for His own
None could comprehend, His love and His mercy
Our God is exalted on His throne
High above the heavens
Forever He's worthy...

We will keep our eyes on You
We will keep our eyes on You
So we can set our hearts on You
Lord we will set our hearts on You!

John 10:10

"The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that you might have life and have it to the full!" John 10:10

"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are." 1 Peter 5:8-9

"So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7

Sometimes I forget about the devil and how he is out to devour us! I remember him, but I don't think about watching for what he is about to do to wreck my walk with the Lord and keep me from growing closer to the Lord. He knows where we are weak, therefore like it says in the Bible we need to watch, because he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. It sounds so crazy, but after reading just the 3 verses I think about how the devil was attacking things I did just today. He doesn't want us to be happy and tell others about the Lord. He doesn't want us to be happy in our own skin, he wants us to think we are ugly and need to lose weight or whatever. He doesn't want us to be positive, he wants us to be negative.The devil does not want us to tell others about the God of the Universe.

I know that isn't the happiest thing to think about, but if we don't think about that or recognize that in our lives then we are going to be devoured by the devil. That is why we need to live Christlike and grow in our relationships with the Heavenly Father.

failure NOT perfection

I am back reading "Chasing Daylight" by Erwin McManus. I have been kind of crazy busy and I haven't sat down to continue to read it and I read so much of it today. It was amazing! I was reading a chapter that is about risk. What do you think about risk? Do you take any type of risk daily? I know that I don't take enough risks when it comes to seizing divine moments in my life. When reading this chapter it talks about how failure is so closely linked with taking a risk. I think that is part of the reason I don't take as many risks, I am scared to FAIL! In order to seize divine moments in life and encounter the experiences God wants me to I have to be ready to risk and realize that I might fail, but that is part of it.

Failure also is part of God shaping our character. In the book it says, "It is not cliche to say that the road to greatness is paved by failure." In order to seize divine moments we have to embrace failure as a part of our lives. My favorite quote from this chapter is, "You can exist without ever failing, but you can't really live without facing it."

I am not saying that I have never failed at anything, because that is far from true. I know that I don't take risks though, because I am scared to fail. I usually try to "perfect" things and we all know we aren't perfect people so things will never be that way. However, we need to seize divine moments by taking risks!

Think about this: If we don't take the risk, what kind of moment are we missing out on? What if we change someone's life? What if we build a relationship through the moment that we would've never had otherwise? What if? What if? What if?

I am saying WE, because I am the one that got a kick in the pants out of this chapter and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Movies and Being Magnificent

If you don't already know I love the Twilight series! I am definitely a fan, so I went and saw Eclipse with Kristin yesterday. I loved it! I am so excited for Breaking Dawn already. I read all of the books and have now seen all of the movies that are out, and I absolutely love it all. (Jessica, I know you are laughing right now!) I am Team Edward all the way, I just love Bella and Edward together. It is nothing against Jacob, I just like them together better. Okay... enough about Twilight.

I have been watching Lifetime Movie Network everyday this week, it is so addictive! I have watched more crazy movies than I know what to do with. It has been exciting! So that is the movie world that I have been in recently. If you haven't watched a Lifetime movie before, you definitely should check it out!

I was thinking today about something we were told at camp, "You are Magnificent!" Okay yes, we hear this a lot... but do we believe it? I would say 9 times out of 10, we don't. We were made by the God of the universe to be magnificent! What do you think about that? I think that is pretty amazing!! Not only do teenagers go through bad days, we all do! We all have rough patches... we all suffer... we all struggle... but as we go through these tough times, we need to remember we are magnificent! The Lord created us for a magnificent purpose! I think we all know that, but we forget. We get caught up in the world being negative! We are magnificent though!

I put this song on my facebook status last night, but I love it!! He made our lives beautiful, because we are MAGNIFICENT! (I know I said that a lot, but I want us to all embrace that!)

"Beautiful, Beautiful" by Francesca Battistelli
don't know how it is You looked at me
and saw the person that I could be
awakening my heart
breaking through the dark
suddenly Your grace

like sunlight burning like midnight
making my life something so
beautiful, beautiful
mercy reaching to save me
all that I need
You are so
beautiful, beautiful

now there's a joy inside I can't contain
but even perfect days can end in rain
and though it's pouring down
I see you through the clouds
shining on my face

like sunlight burning like midnight
making my life something so
beautiful, beautiful
mercy reaching to save me
all that I need
You are so
beautiful, beautiful

I have come undone
but I have just begun
changing by Your grace

like sunlight burning like midnight
making my life something so
beautiful, beautiful
mercy reaching to save me
all that I need
You are so
beautiful, beautiful