Not Alone Series: Challenge Accepted!

Linking up with the fantastic Jen from Jumping in Puddles and Morgan from Follow and Believe for this challenging edition of the Not Alone Series!

It's that time again! In the past, we've challenged ourselves to grow and/or take steps toward moving closer to our vocation. These challenges have come in all different forms! Being active with online dating, getting more involved with young adult ministry/parish life and working on bettering my prayer life have been {Jen's} personal challenges. What is one thing you want to challenge yourself to do that might help you along your path towards God's will...or maybe just help you become more open to God's will? 
Share what your plan is and why, and then in 2 weeks we'll write on how this challenge went!

I love that this challenge is coming in the second half of Lent, because I can feel myself losing focus and needing something to bump me back on track. Not that this challenge will be related to/associated with Lent, but having this challenge will help me stay on track with the challenge of Lent, if that makes sense.

For the next two weeks, I want to focus on praying every morning and tracking my food intake throughout the day. I have a rosary {made by the lovely Sarah Therese!} to help with the former and I use the My Fitness Pal app for the latter.

I've been pretty good about reading the Bible every morning {thank you, Bible app!} and staying on track with my Lent reading plan. I want to emphasize prayer for two weeks for a myriad of reasons, the foremost of which is that Jesus tells us to pray :) Good reason, huh!

As for using the My Fitness Pal app, I've been hesitantly getting back on the bandwagon, but this challenge should be the accountability and habit-forming kick in the pants I need. Also, I've entered into a competition with another volunteer at Care Net, and I want to be win!

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Alright, there you have it. Prayer and food tracking, here we go!

Not Alone Series: Prayer

It's Tuesday again! Joining the link-up hosted by the wonderful Morgan at Follow and Believe & Jen at Jumping in Puddles. 

How do you pray at home? Do you have a special place in your house? How do you make that area special? Comfy chair? Prayer cards? What suggestions do you have to make a home alter? If you don't do this, in what ways can you begin?

Laura shared a picture of her bed, and I'm tempted to do the same. When I wake up, sometimes I turn on a chapter of the Gospels to listen to as I get ready will myself out of bed. I'll pray in my bathroom while I get ready for the day, especially for friends when they need it.

I also pray in the car, and not just the "God, help me" as I avoid stupid drivers. I pray for the future and about decisions and problems and people. 

At night, I'm back on my bed, journalling. It is my goal to journal at least 3 times a week, but that has not always been my habit. I love journalling my conversation with God, and it's awesome to look back and see what God has done in response to specific scenarios and prayers.

I really like what my roomie Catherine said about prayer: God is not a genie, and the Psalms are a great place to look for "templates" for prayer.

Thank you, Jen and Morgan, for these prayer accountability partners! I'm excited for that, because who does not need more prayer in their life? 

Amen! :)

Baby Cuddling, Week One

Two Sundays ago was my first day getting up to my 4:30am alarm. It was the first time I groggily called the NICU, willing my voice not to croak like a bullfrog. It was the first time I tried {and failed!} to clock in using my volunteer PIN.

It was the first time I made the rounds in the NICU, asking the kind nurses if they had any babies needing cuddling. It was my first time {ever!} in the Family and Maternity Center {FMC}, and it was my first time holding a baby completely uninterrupted for longer than an hour.

The nurse didn't know this baby boy's name, so I didn't get to know it, either. We just knew he was a little fussy and that his mom needed some sleep. I settled into my rocking chair and opened my arms. The nurse gently transferred him to me, and I started gazing at him.

Everyone says that every baby is perfect, and I absolutely agree. Babies with pale skin, brown skin, yellow skin, red blotchy skin, purple skin... babies with no hair, black hair, curly hair, blonde hair, two hairs total... they are all perfect.

This two-day-old baby and I got to hang out for three hours. We watched {okay, I watched and whispered descriptions to him since his eyes were closed} the sun rise and the morning fog dissipate. I prayed over him and sang to him.

He squeaked and I hummed. He stirred and I stroked. He twisted and I patted. And when my shift was over and I gave him back to the nurse, I wondered where the time had gone and why couldn't I stay for the rest of the day. And then I realized that I would never see this baby again, and I confess that I cried a little.

I can't really describe the joyful ache I feel in my heart and my arms. I feel full of gratitude for the opportunity, contentedness with a baby in my arms, humbled to be serving new moms in this simple way... and I feel lonely for my future babies, sad for the NICU babies who can't go home with their parents yet, and pain for the parents who never get to take their newborn home.

Describing my time at the hospital really helps me process allll these emotions, so brace yourself for some baby cuddling stories! I don't know how much information I can share, but if you want to join me in praying for these little strangers, that would be wonderful. Thanks for listening. 

On Being An Adult

You guys, life is hard. Being an adult is hard.

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Being an adult is hard. I mean, it's fun and awesome and there are definitely perks, but man. It can be rough, too. The month of June {thus far - there are 2 more days left} has been really, really hard. Tough. Difficult. Challenging. Like, pretty sure life used this template:

X all the Y

I'm not skilled sure how to make/edit a meme, but here's what mine would say.

MAKE ALL THE DECISIONS!

SPEND ALL THE MONEY {on medical bills and procedures and ER bills and haven't I reached my deductible yet?!?!?!!?}

CARRY ALL THE STRESS!

ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS OF LIFE!!!

So yeah. Totes supes fun. 

I don't think I can share all the details of this challenging time, a) because it's really personal and b) because it's late and I want to sleep and c) because typing it all out will make it all seem {more} overwhelming. Overwhelming is not what I need, want, or desire. Overwhelming means that I'm not fully trusting God, and that's not where I want to be. I am trying to trust and to listen, and I know that when He answers, I'll obey and it will all work out. But right now I feel bogged down by the logistics of every. single. decision. that must be made, and it's like my spiritual ears are clogged with worry. 

I don't want to not hear God because I'm worrying about what He's saying. I don't want to miss His leading because I'm freaking out over where He's taking me. 

Friends, if you would take a moment and pray for me, I would be most grateful. You can pray for peace, for clarity, for direction, for babysitting jobs to come through, and for God's will to be done. Thank you. 

Blog Every Day Feb: Day Twenty-two - Anxiety

Linking up with Bailey Jean, as per usual :)

How do you fight fear, anxiety, stress? I think of these as three separate and similar challenges, so I'm going to address them separately. Fear usually comes when I realize I'm not in control of a certain situation; anxiety strikes when I'm waiting on something and it's a determining factor in a big decision, and stress overwhelms when I start to do too much.

Fear: Remembering that God is in control. Choosing trust. Deep breaths. Praying for God to take over. Talking with my bestie. Worship music.

Anxiety: Praying for God's will to be done, no matter what. Remembering that He is in control. Praying for someone else instead of getting stuck on my situation.

Stress: Deep breaths. Lists. Focusing on one thing at a time. Praying for the peace of God to invade me. Saying no to more to-dos. Multi-tasking when possible.

What helps you survive seasons or moments of stress, fear, or anxiety?

Listen

Ah, Friday...usually the easiest day of the week, at least for us office-dwellers. But since prayer is not limited to the office, I'm not surprised that today's theme is probably the hardest for me to grasp. I think the Lord is saying today is a day of listening.

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Listening to the Lord is hard for me. I'm a doer, so I'd much rather be praying and interceding. Listening involves waiting and silence and focus {ha, good thing we've already practiced that theme, right?}, and that is a difficult practice for me. Yes, it is a practice and yes, I probably should practice it more. So guess what I'll be doing today? :)

I'm listening for answers, for direction, for encouragement. I'm listening to hear God's voice deep in my being. I'm listening like Samuel; I want my answer to be "Speak, for your servant is listening."

Unity

Tonight my church and our two "sister churches" will be coming together for a night of worship and prayer. I have been looking forward to tonight since they announced it several weeks ago. When the Body of Christ comes together in worship, big things happen. It makes sense; Jesus told us that when we are gathered together in His Name, He is with us {Matthew 18:20}. So today, with this evening in mind, I'm praying for unity.

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I'm praying specifically for my church families tonight, that we would honor and love one another. I'm praying that relationships will be strengthened and hearts joined.I'm praying for Holy Spirit to move powerfully and direct the worship leaders. 

Also, I'm praying for unity in the Body of Christ. No matter if you're Baptist, Evangelical, Presbyterian, or Lutheran, or if you are Catholic or Protestant, our Church needs to grow in unity so we can grow our witness. 

Jesus told His disciples that the world would know us by our love, and unity is one of the fruits of love {so is poetry, of a fine stout love...sorry, P & P reference!}. I'm praying that believers can walk more closely with each other. 

I'm not saying that we don't need to discuss theology or that anything goes; I'm saying we should try and focus on the things upon which we agree. Let's let Jesus be our standard and guide. 

Healing

Are you okay if I keep sharing prayer themes? They are personal and vulnerable, but they also hold me accountable and help me process what God is highlighting. Hope you don't mind :)

The Lord gave me today's focus last night: healing. I know so many people, including myself, in need of physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, and relational healing, and today they are all on my heart.

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So today I'm crying out to the Lord for my friends and family. I'm praying for the presence of Jesus to flood and surround these specific people:

• C and her family
• R and her family
• A and her family
• the CCU community

Will you pray with me?

Focus

Call me whatever you want to call me, but I love traditions. Traditions remind me of the things that have value, because if something doesn't have value, it won't {or shouldn't} last very long.

Maybe this doesn't count as a tradition, but in some ways it feels like one, so here goes. For the past several years, my church has set aside the first full week in January as a week for prayer and fasting. This year things have been adjusted and we're fasting and praying Tuesday through Saturday instead of the whole week, but I think the different length will help/is helping us to go deeper. It's a brief drilling down deep, instead of an extended trough.

This month {ha, all seven days of it!} there are a few big things I'm praying about and asking God for revelation, and I'm really grateful for this short intense time of prayer and fasting. I think some great breakthroughs are coming, and I'm excited to see God move!

The Lord has already given me a theme for this year, but He's also emphasizing a different theme for each day of fasting and praying, too. This thrills me, because I find it's so much easier to pray specific, targeted prayers. Which, ironically or not, is tied to today's theme. Today, the theme is focus.

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Today I'm focusing my prayers on:

• the next step in life
• goals {10 years, 5 years, 1 year}
• growth, healing, reconciliation in my church body

Hopefully I'll get my life together and share the next 4 themes with you this week. That would be something, to look back at the end of 2014 and say "Here is the specific fruit of these specific prayers!" I'm looking forward to that :)

Thursday = Volunteer Day

Some of you know this already, but in case you don't, here's the scoop.

On Thursdays, I volunteer at a crisis pregnancy clinic. So far I'm still in training, but it's still one of my favorite parts of the week. The atmosphere in the clinic is so peaceful and welcoming; each time I arrive I think of the hours and hours of prayer and preparation that went into opening this new-to-the-area clinic. The grounds have been soaked in prayers of preparation, and it is evident even in the parking lot.

Last week, I got to shadow the director with a client for the very first time. It was a surreal experience for me, partly because I've been volunteering since April and hadn't seen a client yet, and partly because seeing a client is what I've been praying and preparing and training for since last September {I did my Care Net training before my internship in the Frozen Tundra}.

And it was also surreal because this was the first time I encountered someone facing a crisis pregnancy. We hear about these women all the time {or at least, I do because that's what I'm interested in}, but last week put a face to my prayers. This girl was not an example in my training manual; she was not even someone my director or fellow volunteers had met. This was a girl sitting on the couch a foot away from me, considering her options.

Because of privacy laws, I can't tell you more than that. But I can ask you for your prayers, for this girl and her situation as well as for me. I cannot fully describe to you how it is both intimidating and peaceful in the counseling room. There is pressure to say the right things, respond the right way, make your face look calm but involved, concerned but not freaked out, neutral but caring. But there is such peace, because Jesus is in the room too, and He is so, so faithful to prompt the right words and responses, and His heart shines out through our faces.

Psalm 27:13 ~ 

"I believe that 

I shall look upon

 the goodness of the Lord

 in the land of the living!" 

{ESV} 

Heaven rejoices, I reel

This is the post I knew I would write someday, but am totally unprepared to actually write it.

Yesterday I got the phone call I’d been expecting for a long time, but was totally shocked to receive it.

Yesterday morning, my grandpa went to be with Jesus. He was 92 years old.

All day yesterday and today, through the shock and the pain and the tears and the phone calls home, I bless the Lord. All my family’s prayers were answered concerning Grandpa’s passing from this life into the next.

• Grandpa went to Jesus peacefully; he was not in pain.
• Grandma was not alone; my aunt was with her.
• He had lived to see his 60th wedding anniversary with my grandma

There are many other reasons for me to praise the Lord regarding Grandpa’s life, and I’m amazed at the Lord’s faithfulness. God is so good, even in this agony of loss.
But it’s not true loss. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will see Grandpa again, and what makes that knowledge even sweeter is that Grandpa doesn’t have Alzheimer’s any more! Even through my tears, I smile, because Alzheimer’s is no match for Heaven. My God wins!

Yes, there is pain, even though we’ve been expecting this for a long time. But there is also Jesus. I cannot describe the peace that has been with me every moment, even when I sob and clench my fists and wonder. His peace really does surpass understanding, and I am so grateful.

My family would appreciate your prayers, especially for my dad, who lost his father, something I shudder to imagine, and for my grandma. But God. God is good, all the time.

Grandpa with his perpetual smile

Heaven rejoices, and I rejoice too

When I'm Wrong

Been working from home for about 9 business days now {thankfully back in the office this week-got a little too stir crazy last week!} and I had a lot of time to think. And God was is dealing with some stuff in me, and so that leads to even more thinking. So here are some of my revelations

First of all, God knows what He's doing, and I don't, and that's enough. I trust Him.

This may surprise some of you {ok let's be real: none of you}, but I've made mistakes. in the past. in my life. yeah. shocker.

Specifically, I've realized that I have not always "assumed goodwill" about people, and that because I was assuming ill-will, I've been unkind. There are a couple specific instances I'm thinking of, but I'm sure that there are more.

So now what? I know that I made mistakes; what do I do now?

First and most importantly, I repent. Jesus is Who I've ultimately sinned against, and so I ask for His forgiveness and grace to change.

Usually the next step would be to go to the people I've wronged, and I am going to do that when appropriate, but since I live in the Frozen Tundra for another three weeks, I'm going to wait until I'm home.

Obviously, my behavior needs to change. And that begins in my heart and mind. I need to think differently so that I begin to act differently. So I'm asking the Lord to come in and change my mind, to continue to reveal the areas where I've been wrong, to help me become more like Him.

Thanks for listening.

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Friends, my paternal grandpa will not be on this earth much longer. As some of you may know, he has lived with Alzheimer's disease for the past few years, and while that affects the mind, his physical self was not doing so well either. The weekend before I came back to the Frozen Tundra, I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa, and Grandpa was...in a bad spot. I had never seen him like that, and I'm so grateful that Grandma and I could call for the nurse and make sure nothing was wrong.

He has gone up and down since then {has it really only been a couple of weeks???} and my mom keeps me updated, and from what I can tell, Grandpa is ready to meet Jesus face to face, and his body agrees. He could last a few more days, or he could be with us for a few more months. It just seems like the time is closer rather than farther, so I ask for prayer.

Please pray for my family, especially my parents and my grandma. Please pray that every step of this journey will be peaceful and that the pain will be eased by the knowledge that we will see Grandpa again in Heaven. That's what makes this season the best of times and the worst of times. It's so, so wonderful to know that even when Grandpa dies, we will see him again in Heaven, that he will really be himself without the horrid Alzheimer's disease, and that he will not be in pain; his hip won't bother him and he won't have to take pills. But it's awful to think that Grandpa probably won't meet my husband or kids; it's hard to think of family gatherings without him. And it's worst of all to think of my dad losing his dad. So please pray for my family in this journey of letting go of Grandpa, of rejoicing with him and grieving with each other. We are at peace, we are happy for him, and we are sad for us. Thank you for your prayers.

Oh No! I missed a week!!! :(

 Can I make it up to you by posting twice this week??? Pretty please??

Ok, thanks! :)

Last week was the last full week of classes, and it was a bit crazy. This week, although only 4 days long, promises to be even more crazy, intense, stressful, and awesome. I mean, how many last weeks of undergraduate classes do you have? {Technically a lot, but this is the for-real last one!} So things are going at break-neck speed, and I love it and I hate it and I’m ready for it to be done but I’m also sad that it’s going to be over.

If you think of me, please pray for me this week. I have a HUGE test on Tuesday, a debate on Wednesday, a project to turn on on Thursday, and then an 8 page paper due the Tuesday of next week. Oh, and my secret-awesome-rockin’ project has to be done by Thursday also, because apparently we won’t be able to use the equipment during Finals Week. I don’t understand why, but we can’t, so I’ll be running to the farthest building on campus every hour or so to finish this project. Yeah. Great exercise in time management. Woot.

Well, I’m off to bed to get a head start on this awesomely crazy week. Wish me luck! :)

Heavy Thoughts

 The past three weeks, 39 women have been walking from Houston to Dallas. Their walk was a symbolic walk for Life: 39 women, one for each of the years since Roe vs. Wade was passed; Houston is home of the largest Planned Parenthood center in the nation, Dallas is the location where Roe vs. Wade was decided. To learn more about this walk, go to their website.

Yesterday and today was the culmination of their walk with a conference called The Esther Call. You can read about it here.

Bound4Life asked for people to fast and pray yesterday and today, even if you couldn't be in Dallas. I was planning on praying and fasting with these wonderful ladies, but I failed. I completely forgot until a friend said that she was surprised I wasn't participating.

Sigh.
I
’m frustrated with myself for not making this more of a priority, and I’m ashamed that I want to go and work with this organization, yet I can’t even remember to write “fast and pray with Esthers” on my calendar. How hard would that be, and yet I missed it?! I’m disappointed in myself.

This causes me to question my passion, my dedication, my devotion even, to this cause. How self-absorbed am I, that I don’t even write something on my calendar when literally lives are at stake.
Sometimes I’m fed up with myself.

sigh again.

thank God for His mercy and love. I’m totally blown away, especially on days like today, by His forgiveness and passion for me. There is absolutely no reason for Him to love me, to die for me, or to use me, but He does all of these things and more. Jesus is amazing.

I leave you with the lyrics of a song:
Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.
O, praise the One Who paid my debt, Who raised this life up from the grave!

Sacrifice

The word just keeps coming back to me. As I mentioned earlier, the Lord has called me to a season of fasting. Sadly, I have not been as faithful in this as I should have been. The Lord asked me “are you willing to sacrifice here so that you may reap the rewards later? Is {this issue} worth the cost now?”

At Awana last night, the kids’ lesson was about sacrifice. The teacher asked the kids to define a sacrifice. Their answer: something that costs something.

A teacher from high school and an overall incredible lady has been blogging about training, and I think training and sacrifice go hand in hand. You can read about her training here.

Bound4Life is a marvelous organization that prays for the end of abortion. The end of this blog post reminded me once again of sacrifices we must make in order to reap fruit.

P.S. I encourage you to research your products, because as we sacrifice time and convenience to purchase products untainted by abortion, companies must change their habits because of financial losses. More on that another time.

Another blogger wrote about asking the Lord to wake her up when He wants to spend time with her. How incredible. What a sacrifice. I’ll be honest: my first thought was, Lord, I want to spend time with You, but I want to sleep, too! My flesh does not like the sacrifice of getting up early to be with Jesus. But oh how my spirit grows.

So now what? Well, let me be practical. I've set my alarm for ten minutes earlier than normal {I know, ten minutes is not all that much, but if you were beginning to train for a marathon, would you go out and run 26.2 miles? Nope. You would start by maybe walking, maybe jogging a mile. You would start where you’re at. And besides, it’s what Jesus asked me to do, and to be frank, I at first begrudged Him those ten minutes.} These ten minutes are spent simply praying. I have to tell you- it is easier to wake up and pray in bed than it is to sleep ten more minutes and then just get up. Maybe it’s because you don’t necessarily have to be entirely awake to pray, but I find myself being totally awake and able to focus on Jesus. I think it’s because it’s what He asked me to do, so the grace is there.

And now as my prayer life is growing, I find myself praying more throughout my day. I walked to the gym today declaring the Blood of Jesus over my mind. The ten minutes in the morning get me hooked on Jesus; who needs caffeine when you can have the Lord??? I seriously crave Him; He’s my addiction and I love it… has anyone else gotten drunk in the Spirit? That is fun. Wanna get hooked on Jesus fast? Try it. Anyway.
Part of sacrifice is self-control, and I've got to exercise it right now and go work on a paper. :) Peace out. And leave comments. :)

Thursday Update

Golly it has been a long week! TGI (almost) F! So here’s life since last weekend…

1. I’m almost caught up on my labor hours. Yes, our jobs are called “labor” as in slave labor… but not really slavery. We’re very against slavery. Slavery is bad. Almost as bad as being behind on your labor hours. {Nice circle, eh} So I was sick and there were 2 weeks of school with no Mondays, and so I was behind on my hours. But I think that I’m on track to be caught up. Yipee!
   
2. A long, long time ago, I played piano. And now I play again! That’s right, I’m taking piano lessons again, for the first time since my freshman year of high school! And I love it. Isn't it funny how you forget how much you enjoy something until you start doing it again, and then you remember and it’s almost a mental and spiritual sigh of “ahhh” as you slip back into doing whatever you used to do. Ahhh.
   
3. Jesus is amazing. This should probably be number 1, but I was going from the beginning of my day to the end, and so yeah. Jesus is just plain awesome. His plans for me are so far beyond what I could even hope or imagine, and I don’t even know what all He has in store.
   
4. Senioritis is seriously kicking in… omg. 86 days. 86. days. Augh!!!!!
   
5. I could use some prayer right now for a bunch of things… my grandparents’ health, Jesus’ will for my future, school, relationships, my health, and yeah. So if you think of me, please take ten seconds and pray for both God’s will and His grace for me. Thanks.

This wasn't exactly what I was going for tonight, but this is what came out. I must apologize; my parents called in the middle of writing this post, so my thoughts changed topics a bunch of times in an hour. :) But I’m keeping my commitment to post once a week, so yay! Goodnight, dear readers.

Update & Alphabet :)

Thanks again for praying about yesterday’s convocation. It was a frustrating lecture, because he would say something, quoting another author or scholar, then leave the implication there, but quickly end with “I didn’t say that!” or “Of course this isn't what I mean, but…” and of course the implications are just left there in the minds of the audience. Grr. Frustrating! But there were friends of mine handing out tracts that asked “Do you know the real Jesus?” so it was good.

Oh. Did I forget to mention that the gentleman spoke about “the real Jesus”? Oops. That’s what he spoke about, and that’s why there were a few of us who were concerned, because he obviously does not know the real Jesus; he knows an academic, explainable, only-human, non-redemptive Jesus. But I pray that he will come to know the real, all-powerful, life-changing, sin-forgiving, Cross-dying, resurrected Jesus!

On a lighter note, I’m following Kelli’s idea and am having a “Get to Know the Alphabet of Bek!” :) To see Kelli’s alphabet, follow the link here.

A. Age: 22
B. Bed size: twin. Dorm-room twin. Sigh.
C. Chore that I hate: cleaning the bathroom…I’ll do laundry or dishes till the cows come home, but please don’t put me in the bathroom!
D. Dream house: something that has a kitchen to fit my quirks, a big laundry room, and a wrap-around porch with a swing {the Southern porch swings are getting to me!}
E. Essential start to my day: time with Jesus!!!!!!!
F. Favorite Color: hot freaking pink. oh yeah
G. Gold or Silver: depends on the outfit :)
H. Height: 5’5'” on my driver’s license… really like 5’4".5”
I. Instruments I play: I used to play classical piano… now I play homework
J. Job Title: Peer Leader/Teacher’s Assistant {yes, there are bunches of people at school who walk around with that job title} and my other job is Student Records Aide
K. Kids: well, eventually!
L. Live: in my dorm :)
M. Mother’s Name: um, Mom? Well, sometimes I call her Ma
N. Nickname: whoa there, that’s personal… well, some of them are. The main ones are Bek and Beks and Bekah… pretty typical
O. Overnight hospital stays: if you count my mom’s C-section with me; other than that, no, praise God
P. Pet peeves: drivers who use their turn signal but obviously aren't turning… don’t they hear the little blinky sound????
Q. Quote from a movie: “Hairy legs are your only link to reality.”
R. Right or left handed: Right… I can deal cards with my left hand, and that is all.
S. Siblings: 3 awesome and amazing sisters! Woot!
T. Trick: um, I don’t really do tricks, but I can tell jokes!
U. Underwear: yes, please! On rather than off!
V. Vegetable I hate: hmm… I like veggies… Can I do fruit? I’m not a fan of cantaloupe
W. What makes me run late: oversleeping! Or talking…
X. X-rays: when I broke my wrist in 4th grade, when I was hit by a car last year, and when I had braces
Y. Yummy food that I make: I got really excited when I saw “yummy food” and I thought, how am I ever going to choose? And then I read “that I make” and I thought, darn! Does popcorn count?
Z. Zoo animal: elephants… and when I’m with young children, the screaming monkeys so the kids can scream to make the monkeys scream and then people look at us like we’re crazy but they’re kids and they don’t care :)

There ya have it, folks! Probably more information than you wanted to know, but hey, it’s Friday! Have a great weekend!

Thank you for praying!!!

This week has gone so smoothly, and I know it’s only because of God’s grace and your prayers! Thank you, readers!

Now I come to you with another prayer request, but this one is more serious {not that my plea for help earlier wasn’t serious; this one just has more far-reaching implications}. My school has “convocations” almost every Thursday {I might have mentioned these last year… forgive me if I repeat myself} and this week, the speaker is a “Christian” who has it all figured out. My friend heard him speak earlier this week, and came away with the conviction that we need to pray that the ears of my fellow, unbelieving students are stopped, that the words of this man are so dangerous, and that if we could somehow stop the convocation from taking place, we would. Sigh. Sometimes the anti-God agenda on this campus is so discouraging, and I think of the Daniel Fast where my church is crying out for God’s heart for the lost, and I wonder is it doing anything? Is it worth it?

And then I think, isn't my God big enough to let someone tell lies about Him? Of course He is! He’s been big enough since the Garden of Eden when satan told the first lie about His goodness! And I am encouraged again, because I know that whatever comes out of this man’s mouth will eventually be revealed as a lie. And I know that the students who hear him and believe him and accept his half-truth, I know that they are not too far gone for my God! Ahh!!! Isn't that marvelous!!?!?!? No matter how far gone we think someone is, God can still reach them. That boggles my mind, for real!

Please join me in praying, friends, praying for my fellow students, praying for my believing friends who are preparing to hand out tracts afterwards, praying for this speaker, that he might come to know the true Jesus Christ. Thank you, and remember to pray victoriously- God has already won!

What a Weekend!

Ok, catch up. Friday night, my sister and friend and I went to see the new Pirates movie, which I would rate at 2-3 stars. I thought it was fine, and there was humor and action and love, and sword fights, and let’s not forget the dazzling Johnny Depp ;). We went to the movie while our younger sisters were at their high school dance. Saturday was pretty chill. My family went to church that evening (which is pretty awesome, I think!) and then my BFF and I went to her house and watched Sherlock, a modern-day take on Sherlock Holmes. I personally really like the show, and what’s not to love about British accents!? Sunday was a pretty lazy day for me. I slept in! Woohoo! And then pretty much did nothing else.

However, I’m sure you've heard about the tornado that hit in Joplin, MO. My roomie lives 45 minutes away, and thankfully she is alright! I just got off the phone with her, and she and her family are all safe. Her sister does not yet have power, but everyone is safe and well, and all the towns are stepping up and donating aid. It is so encouraging to hear that neighbors are able to help those around. I so appreciate learning about aid that isn't initiated by the government. I am so in favor of the local community stepping up and providing aid; thank you, Small Town, USA!

Ok, I think that can count as a semi-deep thought, but here’s the update from the Pro-Life blog I mentioned earlier. There is a website that lists all the charity organizations that businesses donate to, and which of those are pro-abortion and which are pro-life. Basically, I am not going to be giving any money to Starbucks or The Home Depot or Chevron anymore. You can read the professional blogger’s explanation here.

Random: my sister graduates from high school in like 3 weeks. Oh. Em. Gee.

Also random  and pretty: my friends and I were running through a blueberry field {there’s a trail, don’t worry} and we saw a lady with a camera, and lady in a white dress, and a guy in a suit walking into the field. Awww! Wedding pictures! Kinda random for a Monday night, but hey, it made our run a little bit more bearable!

Funny: You know, I can’t think of anything specific that happened that was really hysterical, but my family is pretty funny. I hope that you, dear reader, someday have the opportunity to sit down and have dinner with my family, or that you can transform into a fly for a day and you can spy on us, because we crack ourselves up!

Prayer focus: my dad. I mentioned just a few posts ago praying for my grandparents. They are my dad’s parents, and I can’t imagine what he’s going through, watching his dad deteriorate and his mom become so stressed because of his care. Please, pray for my family in this trying time.

Alright, readers, after my awesome run, I should definitely go take a shower. Peace to the out!