Look alikes?

Several people have told me like in the past week that I look like the actress Gillian Anderson (aka Scully from XFiles). One guy told me he was trying to decide if he should ask for my autograph...haha. What's your vote? Does she look like me? I hope this is a good thing!

Seriously...a month and a half??? What kind of blogger am I???

Oh my friends. I am so sorry. I was telling Chelsea earlier today that I just love to write on my blog about my thoughts and updates in life and funny little stories and whatnot. However, if I don't update on a regular basis (like weekly), I get overwhelmed by the amount of information I have to share and just don't blog. So, from here on out, I will try to better and not let it lapse. Here's a look at the past month and a half or so...

* Started my second semester of teaching and despite being impossibly tired and overwhelmed by the building demands of my job, I still love it. I feel completely at peace that this is where the Lord would have me at this point in my life even though I never planned on being here. I feel a little more confident in knowing what I am doing and am really able to enjoy my students. I still struggle with feeling like there is so much more I could be doing with and for them, but realize I need to take things a day at a time, set my priorities for them and let those good but extra things come with time. Next year will be interesting though because my class size will increase significantly. I have 5 students right now and will 7-9 next year. For a classroom like mine, that is a significant increase and you never know what kinds of things those extra students will bring into the classroom. I am getting more because a Life Skills class on another campus is being closed by the district and my campus is the receiving school. I am very very nervous about this but kind of excited at the same time. At least I have really great job security - something which not a ton of people can say in today's economy.

* I bought a new car at the end of January! It is a blue 2009 Nissan Versa SL (I will post some pictures at the bottom of this post) and I really love it. I was going to wait a while to buy a new car, but just felt like now was a better time and some things were lining up so it made sense. I sold my Buick just today and will start making monthly payments on the new car in March. I feel like a grown up now. My mom even cried when I was buying my car - she told me she couldn't believe that one day I was in diapers and the next am buying a car on my own. Good grief. But I am excited. It is a wonderful car and it fits me and my needs very well. Now if only Ella would stop shedding and getting fur in it. Ugh.

*In March (over spring break), I will be going to China for a week to teach English. I am beyond excited! My friend, Huan (who grew up in China), is leading the trip and asked me a few months back to consider going. After a month of praying through it and going back and forth, I felt that it was somewhere the Lord was leading me. Several people from my Sunday Bible study are going with me and then some new friends from other Bible studies are coming. It is really neat how each person was brought to the team and how the Lord is knitting us together. I love it! A lot of people have asked me why I seem to be going/considering so many missions opportunities lately. Well, for one, my heart is one for overseas missions. I don't feel called to anything long term for the moment, but my heart is definitely passionate about what the Lord is doing around the world. Also, I would never go somewhere I didn't feel the Lord wanted me. I know this comes quickly after my trip to Guatemala, but you know, the Lord said yes, so did I. Lastly, I feel like the older I get, the less my opportunities to do something like this might be. I really regret in college not pursuing opportunities for missions and such over the summers. Well now I am at a point in my life where I am not being held accountable to a husband or kids and have some free reign over the decisions in my life. So I want to use this precious time the Lord has given me now to pursue those passions, so that if/when He brings me to those other points in my life, I won't look at this time with regret over missed opportunities.

*Ministry wise, I am very excited and love what the Lord is doing. I still am serving as the Women's Coordinator for my class and since January, have really been feeling settled into the role. Two of my close guy friends were appointed the co-directors of our class, so it allowed the men's coordinator and I to be freed of some of the responsibility we were carrying while without a director. I am getting to invest in the lives of these precious women and it just makes my heart incredibly happy. It is hard at times, but I love it. I still am humbled that the Lord would use me in this role, but am so thankful He is.

*I just have to share about Valentine's Day 2009. I was blown away. I didn't have a date - I had 14! Haha...let me explain. The men of our class put on a dinner for the ladies. We did not lift a finger! It was beautiful! They had candles and flowers and menus and everything set out for us. They served us our drinks, food, etc. After we ate (pretty good food, too...especially the cake they got!), they sat us down and spoke some words of thanks and appreciation to us as women. Then, two guys in our class who have amazing voices, sang us two songs, one of which they wrote for us! So precious (pretty sure they wouldn't like that I just used that word!)! It was so amazing. I have never met men in my life who are so passionately pursuing the Lord and have beautiful hearts of servants. I told them that they treated us ladies in a way that evening that we dream of when we are little girls. They made us feel appreciated, loved and treasured, something every woman desires. Many of us in the room had never had a Valentine's day and some of us have had it, but had been treated very badly by guys. So it was just refreshing, holy and amazing. I can't say enough about the evening. If you get a chance, go look on my facebook page at the pictures that my friend, Huan, took of the evening. They capture the sweetness of it very well. I just had to share about this amazing evening.

Okay, I think I will wrap up here and leave you with a few pictures. Love you!

^China team!

Not what I expected...

Okay, so my next post was totally gonna be about Guatemala. And the one after that was going to be about some of the things the Lord is teaching me right now in life. And maybe a post about some goals/resolutions/ideas for the new year.

But as a lot of life goes, this post isn't what I expected to be making.

My mom is back in the hospital. On New Year's Eve, my dad called me in the morning and said they were taking my mom to the ER for shortness of breath. Oh, and I sincerely apologize now to any of my close sweet friends that are finding out like this. If you have ever had a medical emergency or anything in the family, you realize that sometimes it just isn't possible to call/text everyone and keep up. So its not that I didn't want to tell or didn't think you were close enough to tell. Its just life is crazy right now, so don't be too mad at me! Anyways, turns out the blood clots she had on her lungs in May came back. Yuck. Just as serious, just as life threatening. And just as scary.

I am not sure why and I am sure the Lord has His purpose, but again, He has saved my mom again. Most people who get this - pulmonary embolisms - don't even have a warning and die very suddenly. I have even had friends whose parents passed away from it. I am not sure how that makes me feel. Very mixed emotions. Grateful that I am not losing my mom, for sure. I have watched too many friends grieve over the loss of a parent taken too soon. Scared because who knows when He won't choose to let her live. I know my mom's health is horrendous so I'm kind of always on edge about her life anyways. I don't know. It was just a sobering way to spend the New Year.

So yeah. Just be praying. Pray that she continues to heal. She spent 2 days in the ICU and now they have moved her down to a regular room and are waiting for some level in her blood to hit 2.0. Then she can go home. She is breathing much better. So healing is happening. Pray that she will be motivated to care for herself. This time wasn't necessarily her fault, but its source comes from a preexisting condition that was. Pray that I am not bitter about her health. To be uncomfortably honest, I get very upset and bitter about my mom and her health. It is not a Godly attitude and something I struggle with a lot and need to surrender on almost a daily basis. Its hard watching someone literally kind of waste their life away and do nothing and care to do nothing about it. Especially when it has been a lot of your life. So you are seeing my weakness and vulnerability here, but I do need prayer in that area of my life.

Anyways. New Year's was fun. My parents told me to go out anyways. I went to the Rockets game and after party with my singles ministry at church. Pretty cool. Not so much a Rockets fan, but I had never been before, so it was interesting to see. Danced at the party. I love a good dance party! Ate at IHOP until 3:00a.m. I've never had really such a fun New Year's event with such good friends, so even though the circumstances in my life surrounding it were bad, it was a good break and distraction. My brother and his sweet girlfriend came too, so it was fun to spend the New Year with my baby brother!

Hope y'all are doing well and sweet blessings upon you for this exciting new year!

Merry Christmas 2008!

Merry Christmas, sweet friends!

I know, I know - I am 2 days late. But hey - I love the Christmas season, so this is just my feeble attempt to make it last longer now that they have cut me off from my endless supply of Christmas music on the radio (which in my opinion is always the worst day of the year!).

This Christmas season has been different. I can't explain it - it just has. To start, I really had a hard time getting into the spirit of it all. I realize more now than ever what Christmas is all about the and the true impact and implications it has for my life. But I just couldn't get there. I dunno. I think work and life and everything else kinda was stressing me out and Christmas came way before I was ready for it. A little bit came finally on Christmas eve at my church's 11pm service, so that was good. I love the excitement and spirit that Christmastime brings, so I was a little sad that I just wasn't feeling it. All that to say, it still was a great Christmas and the rest and break that it has brought has been amazing. I've been sleeping 10-12 hours every night for the past 3 nights, so I am feeling really great, although a little tired from oversleeping. Weird how our bodies get tired from sleeping too much. I would like to know the physiology behind that. Must be something with messing with our circadian rhythms.

Anyways, I was very blessed this Christmas. I got some money from the grandmas, several giftcards, a nice study Bible and Mama Mia from my parents and brother and some other sweet gifts from friends. I also told my parents to save their money on me this Christmas to go towards missions in the coming year, so they will help finance my one or two trips I want to go on in 2009 (another post - I am very excited!).

2008 has been a very different year. Its had its unexpected highs and unexpected lows - but I just love what the Lord has done in my life this year. Seriously. Never have I felt the Lord's presence so closely in my life than I have this year and that continues to grow so I am excited beyond words about the years to come! Let me give a recap bullet style of some things that have happened in the past year.

• Finding community - a little over a year ago, I walked into a Sunday evening class called Metrolink (now Mosaic) and never really left! I just can't even express to you what being a part of this authentic community of believers has meant in my life. The Lord is so faithful!
• Deciding to teach - all through the spring I worked on my certification to teach special ed and now have finished my first semester of teaching it. The Lord brought me the perfect job at the perfect place at the perfect time. Best decision He has ever lead me to, though I never ever before in my life saw myself making it!
• Mom's health - I won't go into too much detail as this is an extremely sensitive issue for me, but we had some scares this year including a collapse and rush to the emergency room in May, very close to the point of losing her. I am very glad we didn't lose her, but continue to pray for her and her health please!
• Women's coordinator - in August/September, the women's coordinator of Mosaic asked if I would take over that position as she stepped down. Such a surprise and so humbling! I have been praying for 3 years to do something in women's ministry and the Lord just opened the door for me - how exciting is that?!?! I still don't feel entirely worthy of the position, but I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. It has been a crazy, exhausting, growing and stretching 3-4 months, but so worth it. I can't wait to see what will happen in the coming year! I just love the women in our class and love ministering to them and connecting with them. So great! I could write a whole post or two on this one!
• Guatemala - So amazing! A post is coming about this one very soon ( I PROMISE!), so I won't write any more on here.

Okay, I think that sums up some of the bigger things for the year. I could write a lot more, but we don't want to be here forever.

I hope you have been very blessed this Christmas and reminded of the Savior's love for us. So amazing that He humbled Himself to be born as a baby in a barn (sometimes the most beautiful things have the most humble beginnings!) and then died on a cross just because He loved us that very much. Beyond amazing and exciting - just inexpicable and unexpressable!

Love you!

I love to blog...

I really do. But time does not allow me :0( I promise updates are coming soon because I have a lot share - including my fabulous adventures in Guatemala. So stay tuned! I will be making a return very soon :0)

And I'm off!

Hello friends! Well, the day is here and I am off to Guatemala for a week! I could not be more excited!! Seriously. The Lord has blessed me so much with this opportunity and been so faithful up to this point, so I can't wait to see what He is going to do during the actual trip!

I sent an email out to several people last night regarding prayer requests and I thought I would list them here:

• An open, teachable, flexible and most of all, humble heart for me as well as the rest of my team.


• Health - my allergies have been acting up today (they like to do this for me everytime I travel...makes me feel just great...), so pray that they wouldn't get any worse!


• Rest - this week has been long and hard and involved several late nights. Pray that even if there are only few hours for sleep, that those would be deep and refreshing.


• The Lord would teach me marvelous things about Him! I am so excited about this trip and cannot wait to see what He has in store.


• Team unity - I only know one other girl going on the trip well, so the rest of us are all new to each other and come from all walks of life. What a cool thing that is though and a beautiful cross section of the Body!


• My classroom - Pray that I wouldn't worry about it when I am gone. There have been issues in there this week and I just feel slightly unsettled leaving it for 2 days. Pray that things would go smoothly, my aides would agree and get along and my kids would be on their best behavior. Those of you who are teachers can certainly identify with this!


• Last but not least, pray that the Lord remove any other distractions from me. I want to be focused on His purpose and will completely during this week (as it should be every other week, but especially this one).

So yay! I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday. I promise to post after the trip (I know the posting has been slacking as of late...lots to update you on but just no time!) with pictures and all. Love you mucho!

Oracion

Okay, so I hope that is the right translation of the word "prayer" into Spanish. If not, my sweet friend Mimi will correct me because she is beautifully fluent in that language. Yay!

Anyways, I do not put that word into Spanish for no reason. Sweet friends, I have something I need prayer for.

A few months ago, I noticed that there was a trip to Guatemal in November over Thanksgiving break. My interest was peaked and I thought/prayed about going but kinda pushed it aside for various reasons. Below is an email I sent to the Missions Office Executive Assistant about tonight:

Tonight the Lord just brought me to my knees and I believe asked me to step out in faith and obedience and go on this trip if it is still plausible. I understand it is late in the game. But I just can't escape this pressing feeling on my heart about it (which is generally a good sign that the Lord is speaking to/teaching me something) and all my worldly excuses seem to pale in comparison no matter how much sense it makes.

So, like I said in my email, nothing about this makes sense. I will take a several hundred dollar dock in pay because I will be using days off before a holiday (they don't usually dock for days off - just ones that you take right before or after holidays). I have no funds to pay for this trip.

But God will provide. If He called me to it, He will see me through it. I have to stand on that truth.

But some things are in place that give me hope that things will be okay. I have to talk to my principal tomorrow about this matter because He has to approve the days off. One blessing in my life is that my principal is as far as a I can tell, a believer. I am actually in an early morning Bible study with him on Monday mornings with a few other staff at my school. He can't do much about the dock in pay, but he can approve the days.

So just be in prayer, my friends. Thats the biggest thing I need right now about this. Pray that my principal approves and that the funds somehow come in. I have full faith that He will provide for everything, but it is rather scary to put yourself out there like that. But thats the beautiful thing about faith.

Waiting

We are all waiting for something.



A husband/marriage.



A child.



A job.



The salvation of a loved one.



Healing.



Restoration.



Freedom from debt.



The list goes on. I just got back from my church's women's retreat a couple of hours ago. What an amazing time of coming together with women of all ages and stages in the Body and worshipping together and studying Truth together. Beautiful. The name was "Power of a Word". The main speaker talked about how words affect us, the enemy's words, the words of Truth, our own words and the like. Simply amazing. I learned a lot.



But that is not what I wanted to blog about today sweet friends. There were 2 periods of breakout sessions with like 8 options. Each option had one word of what it was about. There was a Simplify one, a Satisfaction one, a Reflect one, etc. I went to the two called Waiting and Season. Women from our church were the speakers. The one called Waiting is the one that really struck me. The speaker was actually the Women's Associate for the singles ministry at my church, so I've recently been getting to know her as she is who I report to, seek guidance from, etc. in my leadership position. She is an amazing woman of Christ and I am so excited to get to know her more.



Anyways, what a word (no pun intended) she brought! And I would like to share some of what I gleamed from her talk with you.

One thing is that a better word for waiting (which can sometimes have a less than positive connotation in some realms) is divine delay. That really puts it in perspective for me. It is from Him, for Him and its purpose is to draw me into a more intimate relationship with my precious Creator. The delay points to His deity and is a beautiful invitation to walk more closely and deeply with Him. It is an invitation we can choose to accept or ignore.

It isn't easy at all but it really isn't an option. But its what we do with that option that truly makes the difference. This isn't the first thing we have waited for and it certainly won't be the last. So make use of this time because really, the life God has for you is now and to quote a beautiful hymn - "All I have needed thy hand has provided..." I don't need more. I just need to be still, allow Him to work in His wonderful ways right now and be willing to do what and go to where He calls me. This delay can only serve to strengthen our faith and what an amazing thing that is - truly a gift in our lives. The passage she used to illustrate these points in John 11:1-45 where Lazarus has died and Mary and Martha are grieved over Jesus' seemingly inactive posture towards the whole situation. But really He was about to do the pinacle of all miracles during His time on Earth and one of the last. One of the best things she said about the wait was this: If we can finally get to the place in which we trust God's timing, we will also get to the place in which we trust His methods. Another amazing quote in my notes is this: Faith is believing in advance that which only makes sense in reverse.

So cool. And my perspective on this matter is this: we have so many things we worry about in this life, why add one more thing to our pile of fruitless worrying? He is moving, has promised us He has moving and has been faithful thus far to show us that. So let us bow down at His feet, lay our fretting about these things we way for in His hands, and watch Him move and work and draw us even closer to His heart. That is truly what we seek to be anyways, right? Men and women after His own heart.

Lastly, I leave you with a quote from a book she used called The Beautiful Ache by Leigh McLeroy, which is next on my never ending reading list.

Because of His deep love for His children, He allowed them to wait in order that they might know Him in the fullnes of His character, the magnificence of His power and the depth of His love.

Birthday #25 and Other Things

Hello friends! I planned to blog much earlier in the week, but life just kind of got in the way.

This week was one of the hardest I've had in a long time.

It started Monday, on my birthday, at about 5:30am. I was in the shower and heard my phone get a text message. I thought, "Oh! That's nice! Someone is sending me an early morning birthday wish." Well I got out of the shower, flipped my phone open and read what my message said. "Call as soon as you can. Ella needs to go to the vet." It was from my parents. Ella had been staying there because the fences at my house are down and my precious princess likes to run. So I called and they said she was crying in pain, shaking and couldn't jump up on things (which is abnormal for her - she is a kangaroo in dog's clothing). So my birthday started in tears and trying to figure out when I was going to take her to the vet in my already jam packed day.

So I went to work, all upset and wishing I hadn't gotten out of my bed this morning. Everyone was crazy at work because it was our first day back after or six day Hurricane Ike vacation (which I found out that we don't have to make up! woohoo!!). I asked my principal if I could take off a half day in the afternoon and very graciously, he said yes and told me they were my days anyways. Well I entered it into our sub system on the computer not really expecting to get a sub because subs don't like coming to our school because it is so far out from the rest of the district. A lot of subs don't like coming to Special Ed classrooms either, especially LIFE Skills. But I checked on the status of it 10 minutes later and someone had picked up the job. And as it turns out, she was fabulous! Sometimes the subs we get are AWFUL and should not be allowed to work with children in any capacity. So I left at noon and headed to my parents house. One nice thing was that my mom had time to take me to Chick-Fil-A for lunch before her doctor's appointment. So I ate lunch and then picked up Ella to take her to the vet. Poor baby. She was in so much pain. She was very good at the vet though. They determined that she probably had pulled a muscle in her back playing too much and sent me home with muscle relaxants and cortisone pills. That was a fun $200 trip to the vet (to be fair, half of it was the flea and tick medication I needed for her, so it was kind of my own doing). There went my birthday money. Ugh.

Well, I decided to bring Ella back to my house where it would be quiet and not much action. One unfortunate side effect of the cortisone pills is the increase thirst and increased need to pee. I've been limiting Ella's access to water (only giving her about a half a bowl every hour or so). And she has been peeing non stop everywhere! Sick! She's finally figured out that the towels in my room are where she is supposed to pee rather than on my shoes or directly on the hardwood floor. But then she has decided that even when I'm just in the next room, it is okay to pee and poo in the house still. So rather than telling me she has to go (which I take her every hour when I'm home!), she just goes. Argh.

Well on Tuesday, work was okay. Which was nice. My new kid has really started to adjust and had very few fits this week. However, when I got home from work on Tuesday, my power had gone off! What!?!? Now I know some people in Houston are still without power from Ike, but I had had power for a week! Its not supposed to go back off once you have it! Well, it turns out that the electricity people had taken everyone on the street down so they could get the people on our street without power the whole week up and running again. Unfortunately, I had a ton to do! Like go to the grocery store so I could eat. Like make a dessert for the next nights dinner meeting I was attending. Like do some work on my computer for work and for church. So I packed up my computer and headed to a friend's house so I could get at least one of the three done. Well, by the time I got home, power had fortunately been restored, but what a scare! I was moving back to my parents' house if it had gone on any longer!

Wednesday was also okay at work. I went to my dinner meeting (another girl who didn't have work covered dessert for me). That was fine. Until I got a phone call from my mom in the middle of it. She had had an MRI and other tests run earlier this week and still has some more next week. Without going into detail, my mom might be facing some pretty serious health issues in the near future. Just be praying for her and my family. Its a little scary. So that was another fun day.

Thursday, I got to work at 6:40am and left work at 6:40pm. They were having this parent's night for the general ed and other staff was required to stay and babysit the kids who came so parents could listen to the presentations in peace. Nice. It was a long day. My poor dog had to stay in my room for 12 hours. I felt horrible! Well, I grabbed dinner from Wendy's on the way home because as I said before, I hadn't been to the grocery store yet. And they gave me regular Coke instead of Diet Coke. Sick out! After dinner, I had to go to the grocery store. In the dark. Which I strongly dislike. Those are times I really get frustrated with being single. I just feel vulnerable and unprotected in situations like that. And the neighborhood I live in isn't neccessarily all bad, but there are some sketchy spots, so I just get nervous. After spending a lot of money at the grocery store, I came home and baked and made some Tzatziki (yummy Greek cucumber yogurt dip!) and crashed.

Friday was actually okay. It was early dismissal for the kids and they were really great with the schedule changes (sometimes schedule changes really make life difficult for my kids). We decorated some cookies for our cooking lab (both my birthday and one of my aids birthdays were this week so it was fitting) and they loved that and we had some extra recess which they really enjoyed and the weather has been fairly nice down here in Houston lately.

This weekend was okay. I had to work a lot yesterday on grades and other work things. But I got to bake yummy peanut butter cake (recipe that my grandma gave me - those are always good!) for my dinner meeting last night. Baking and cooking just relaxes me. I love it. I'll post that recipe

Today, I think I am relaxing a bit, working a bit, maybe walking Ella and then meeting my parents for lunch (sushi maybe - yum!). We also are going to get my birthday present. I finally decided what I wanted. So excited! Check it out!

I know you are jealous. Maybe if your nice to me, I will make you a cake with it!

So I guess its a good end to a not so good week. I would like a redo on my birthday week. And I still haven't celebrated with friends. Maybe next week.

But next week is a new week and God is still faithful. No doubt.

Hope y'all are doing well! Love you!

Dx: Cabin Fever!

*Sorry for the blueness of the last post. I was in a funk. It is gone now. Sorry.

For those of you who know me well, you know that sitting still is not something I do very well. So the past few days have been hard for me. I am very blessed to be sitting in a house with power and water, I finally got gas in my car and did not have to wait in line (a small miracle in itself - for real!) and I have food to eat that isn't out of a can. And I don't have to work until Monday. Nice. So I decided that in my abundance of free time, I would help those who weren't as blessed as I have been this week. My heart breaks when I read the news online. I want to reach out. I want to be there. Well, my church was supposed to be a POD for FEMA, but that didn't happen, so the church doesn't need any volunteers at this point. And I can't just walk out on the streets and offer to help, so where do I go to help?

So back to nothing to do. I had a nice day of sleeping in, eating lunch at Red Robin with my dad, visiting with my long time buddy, Audrey, for hours at Starbucks (I got a Venti for the price of a Tall because they messed up my order and felt bad), running errands with Kate, eating Sonic for dinner (although my stomach is now thinking that that was not the brightest of ideas) and then watching One Night with the King (cheesy but excellent) with Kate and her bf. So I busied myself today. It was good. And come to think of it, all free! My dad got lunch, Audrey bought my coffee (and later a Diet Coke) because I picked her up and drove her around (poor thing had a tree branch smash her windshield) and my birthday is on Monday, and Kate bought my dinner. Very nice.

So what's on tap for tomorrow? Good question. Surprisingly (even to myself), I feel very motivated to run. Gasp! I can't explain it, but the weather is beautiful, the streets are too debris-filled to risk riding my bike and getting mulitple flats, and I have lots of pent up energy. I was going to go today, but caught in traffic for too long (another story). So I think I will wake up and try that (and try not to die!). I am itching to visit Target (with what money, you ask? I wish I had a good answer for that!) so I might venture over there. In the afternoon, I am contemplating driving to the thriving metropolis of Waco! My brother has been wanting me to come, so I figure while I have the rare free few days, why not? I am still contemplating. Ashley might come with me too because she has the same diagnoses I do. So that will be a fun little adventure if we decide to go. We will come back Friday if we go, so it won't be that long. Just enough to get us out of the house and in a city that is operating under normal conditions.

So yeah. That is my exciting post-Ike life.

Hope you are doing well! God bless!

Do you ever have those days...

...where you just don't feel right?

Its one of those.

I get them from time to time. From out of nowhere. And looking at the blessings I am currently enjoying in my life, I shouldn't have them. I should be grateful that I have a family who loves and supports me, friends that speak truth into my life, a great new house with a great new roomate, a job I love most days, a house that isn't flattened by a powerful hurricane, and the list goes on. I shouldn't have blah days that I am whiny, frustrated and just ick to be around (I don't so much like being around myself on these days).

So where do they come from and why do I have them?

I wish I knew.

Maybe its boredom. But I had stuff to keep me busy today. But I stayed home because I just plain didn't want to. I could have helped cleaned up the church and fellowshipped with friends, but I stayed at my parents house in bed with my dog (Ella is another sweet blessing in my life - she just makes me happy). I just didn't feel like driving the half hour to church (maybe not the best idea anyways given the shortage on gas). I could have moved back to my house and helped my roomate fix up some things there. But I didn't. Ugh.

And to top it all off, I start reading blogs. And it seems that when people get married, it is time to start a blog about how happily married they are and on and on and on. I really am so excited for all my married friends and this new season of life they are entering into. Seriously. So precious. But sometimes, seeing their happiness and the companionship they have with their spouses makes it hard to be content with the season God has me in.

But oddly enough, right now, I have so much joy in where and what God has me doing right now. Love it.

I will be 25 next Monday. Wow. Did I really just type that? In the back of my mind, I still feel very much like a little girl playing grown up most of the time. Weird. I told my dad today that when I entered college, in my mind, I would have been married about 2-3 years ago and living a happily ever after life with my amazing husband. Interesting how we plan these "fantastic" lives in our minds and how far off the mark we can sometimes be.

But you know, as far off as I was, I really am glad I was far off. Yes, I struggle with contentment in my single-hood. But you know, if that is where God wants me, what a beautiful thing that is. For real.

Okay, so writing is therapeutic. Maybe I just needed to get that out. I'm sorry. I need to avoid that. But thanks for reading.

Well, tomorrow's post will hopefully be cheerier. Just one of those days...

Post-Ike Post

Okay. Ike is over. Thank goodness! Our (as in my parent's - its where I am staying) power went out on Friday night and finally came back on for good about 10am this morning. We had a few flickers of power last night and thought we were in the clear but it was just some cruel teasing. We had water all throughout so I washed my hair in the sink yesterday and took a shower this morning. Bad situations are much better to deal with when you are clean.

We didn't have a ton of damage in our area. A lot of downed trees and road signs. About a 6 foot section of my parents' gutter came down. Our fence is leaning a little bit. Other houses in their neighborhood got a little worse with fences all the way down. But overall, not too bad compared to what it could have been. I think I will be going on a picture taking adventure here soon so you can see some of what I am talking about.

To entertain ourselves last night, we got a little creative. I had the bright idea of having a shadow puppet show/contest, but my mom is the only one who actually did it. Funny because she was the one most opposed to the idea, yet the only participant. Nice. We also turned on an oldies station and danced in the dark to things like the "YMCA" and put the flashlight on as a spotlight. We also ate way too many chocolate chip cookies and 100 cal packs. I don't want to see cookies or baked cheetos for a really long time. Hot dogs either.

Today, my dad and I drove around on a reconaissance mission to see what was open and who had power. Some places do, some don't. The McDonalds and Whataburgers were all open with ridiculously long lines coming out of them. People are desparate. HEB and Randalls were open too, but also very zoo-like. We came back and worked on a crossword puzzle and the lights miraculously came on. Yay! After enjoying the AC, lights, computer and other missed electrical appliances, we were hungry for lunch. We drove around. We saw Buffalo Wild Wings was open, but the line was out the door. I like that place, but not enough to wait for an hour to eat wings that make my stomach hurt. As we were driving by, I noticed one of my very favorite restaurants, Pei Wei was open! Yum! And there was no line. I'm not even kidding. So we enjoyed some Pad Thai and Dan Dan Noodles for lunch. We were going to try to drive up to my school, but the lights were all blinky and it was taking entirely too long, so we turned around. I was planning on attending church tonight for the one worship service they were having, but they cancelled it. Boo.

So for now, I will be staying at my parent's house until water and lights are returned to my house. Work is cancelled for at least tomorrow if not longer, so I will find more exciting ways to entertain myself tomorrow. There is a curfew in the city of Houston all this week from 9pm-6am every night, so I won't be going out much. Even though my parents don't live in Houston, all my friends and activities are based there, so I probably won't get to see them all that much. Boo. But life will return to normal before we know it. So thats something to look forward to. Yay!

Anyways, I may post again today, because as you can probably guess, I am a tad bit bored and have a bad case of cabin fever.

God bless!

Despite Their Fears

Yeah, I know. 2 posts in one day. But there isn't a whole lot else to do, so why not blog.

Anyways, I've recently had a passion ignited for reading the writings of Old Testament prophets. I just started Ezra (I read Nahum and Zephaniah earlier this month) and found this amazing verse that really just spoke to my greatest struggle in life....fear.

Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices.
~Ezra 3:3~

To give you some background, the Israelites have just returned from exile. They are adjusting to life back in their homeland.

They are in a place where old memories of hurt, suffering, pain and bondage abound. They are surrounded by people they don't trust and feel threatened by them. And justifiably so.

Yet, despite all of that, they still praise and honor their God by building an altar and sacrificing offerings to Him. And both in the morning and at night. They began their day and ended their day turning their hearts to the Lord.

What a testament of faith in action the Israelites have provided for us in this instance.

I know for me, fear is often the single greatest thing that keeps me from obedience to God as well as intimacy with Him. I have all these pent up fears of being hurt and wounded and allow those fears to paralyze me and prevent me from moving forward.

Because we are human, we will have fear. But it is when we allow that fear to control our lives that it becomes a problem.

We need to be honoring and praising God at all times, no matter our situation or circumstance. We need to continually be offering sacrifices to Him. Now times have changed drastically since the days of the Israelites, but the concept is still the same.

Anyways, I just wanted to share this gem of a passage with you all. I know I am not the only one who battles fear (especially of people) on a daily basis. When we turn it all back to Him and praise His name, He can do wonderful and amazing things in our lives. Don't allow a selfish thing like fear keep you from Him and Him from you.

God bless!

ABCDEFGH Ike

So we've gotten through 8 letters of the alphabet without a hurricane turning towards Houston. We had a couple of little scares, but nothing to get excited about besides few drops of rain. Well, now Ike is kind of on a direct path for us and we are all hunkering down. Bottles of water, canned foods (a lot of which no one wants to eat but we have anyways), candles, flashlights, etc. abound. Everyone is all panicky. I can't decide if I am or not. Everyone seems to get all worked up about these things. I think I have decided to worry about it when something happens.

So far I am just sitting here with a much needed day off (its been a rather difficult week at work with the addition of a new, fairly difficult student to my class), and honestly kind of bored at my parents house. My friends are all hanging out and that sounds fun, but I guess if something were to really happen, I would much rather be with my family. I love my parents dearly, but sitting around all day with not much to do just isn't that exciting. I might even take a nap soon even though I slept 9 hours last night.

Anyways. Just be in prayer for Houston, Galveston and the surrounding areas no matter what happens. I shall post after the storm passes. And maybe even a few exciting updates/thoughts on life.

God bless!

All Things New

So it has been way long since I've written on this thing. Oh well. Life has been way to crazy.

Well, I think I am entering into a season of newness. Let me tell you about the exciting new things God is doing in my life!

New Job!
As most of you know, I have just started a new job. I am so blessed to be at the school I am at doing the job I am doing. My principal and co-workers are simply wonderful and have been so supportive and encouraging. My kids come Monday (3 precious little boys!) My to do list is about 10 miles long and makes my head spin, but I am so excited for this year. I realize it is going to be hard, that I will be tired and not every day is going to be great, but nonetheless I take great joy in knowing that is exactly where God wants me at this point in my life and nothing really gets more exciting than that.

New House!
I am moving out of my parents' house next week (I think - It is still up in the air). A girl in my Sunday School class bought a house earlier this summer and has asked me to move in with her and has offered me an unbeatable deal on rent and bills. It will be closer to work, closer to church and closer into Houston where all my friends live. I haven't had roomates in a year, so I am so excited to get to live iwth girls again. Ella is excited because she will have a HUGE backyard and a cat friend to play with.

New Role!
I can't say a whole lot on this topic because nothing is official quite yet, but over the next month, I will probably be transitioning into a new leadership role in my Sunday School class. It involves an area of ministry that I am way passionate about and have wanted to do for several years now. I feel completely inadequate for it but am so honored and blessed to get the chance to do it. I'll let you know more when everything is official.

New Bridesmaid!
My sweet friend Mina got engaged a couple of weeks ago and has honored me with the request of being one of her three bridesmaids. So excited! She is kind of on the fast track to the wedding as she is getting married in January so tomorrow I get to go to eat lunch with her and the other bridesmaids and get measured for our dresses. They are going to be a rich blue/turquoise color which I think is gorgeous and I am way excited because we get to pick our own style of dress. This makes me very happy because as pretty as strapless dresses are, I am very uncomfortable in them, so I will get to wear some kind of spaghetti strap/sleeveless dress and not be so concerned about how my dress is fitting or falling down. Yay!

New Boy!
Haha...joking. You got excited there for a second, didn't ya'? Believe me, no one will be more excited than me the day I get to write about a boy and it isn't a joke. :0)


Okay, that is it for today. I am going to shower and then go out to dinner with mi padres for Mexican food and margaritas! Yum! Be praying for me on Monday as my kids come on Monday. I am way nervous.

Love you and God bless!

Random Ramblings

I love to write on my blog. But life gets in the way of that love. That's okay. Life is crazy and overwhelming and a little frustrating right now but nonetheless, very blessed. Anyways, here's some random things I have to share.

• A friend of my dad's found this article in the Chronicle earlier this week: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/world/5918603.html I really just love the land of my birth and all it's quirks and idiosyncrasies. The things they come up with there never cease to amaze me.

• This girl named Jemma Leech (she is from Wales - how cool is that?!?!) is in my dance class this week. She's brilliant. Like think Stephen Hawking. Here's a link to an article about her and some of her brilliant writing: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5658069.html I feel really stupid next to her! Sad thing is that since I teach dance/movement, her involvement in my class is fairly limited at best. Anyways, this kid is amazing and I'm pretty sure she will be famous one day.

• A hurricane named Edouard (weird name for a Texas hurricane/tropical storm) is on its way to Houston tomorrow morning. My mom made me go to the store with her and grab insane amounts of water, canned goods and other non-perishables. I think everyone is getting all worked up, but oh well - I don't have to go to work tomorrow because of it! I'm trying to decide what to do with my day tomorrow besides sleep. Maybe a good post about an awesome conversation I had last week with some friends from church. I think you will like it.

• Real work starts in a week! So nervous but soooooo excited!

Hope this finds you well! God bless!

Interesting tid bit...

So I opened up my email this afternoon to read about this news:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5905981.html

Very interesting. I'll be interested in seeing where it all goes from here.

And don't read the comments. People say HORRIBLE and untrue things about my beloved BU. It may not be perfect or even the best, but I loved it. And I think it is silly when people critcize things they know absolutely 0 about. I guess some people feel like they are entitled to an opinion about everything.

Anyways, just thought I'd share.

4 seconds of fame

So you know how they say that everyone has their 15 minutes of fame? Well I am four seconds into that. So I have 14 minutes and 56 seconds left.

I made the news here in Houston the other day! Well not me really, but the place I am working at this summer. One of our local news stations has this thing called Education Station and goes around featuring different places and stories around Houston that relate to education. Anyways, I just wanted to share the video with you so you can see me in all my glory...haha

Hint: I am at the very end of the story teaching hula dancing to 5 little girls and a lot of teenage volunteers. Yeah. My famous moment was me hula dancing. Nice. That's how I always saw it happening.

http://www.click2houston.com/education/16843911/detail.html

Enjoy!

PRAY!

So, I was working on a recap of Houston Project, but this post simply couldn't wait any longer.

This is a picture of my friend, Jenni, and I (pardon the attractive helmets - we were about to go horseback riding in the mountains of Colorado). Some of you may know her and some of you may not. She and I went to Baylor together, were in KXA together and then when I moved to Denton, she lived about 5 minutes away from me with her parents so we became close during the time I lived in Denton.

Anyways, this girl is way precious. I mean just a sweet, gentle spirit, who speaks truth into the lives of others and is about as authentic and genuine as they come. Unfortunately, after I moved last year, her and I have not really spoken as she has a crazy work schedule and I can sometimes be horrible at keeping in touch.

Moving on. I got the saddest phone call yesterday from a friend of both of ours from Baylor. Jenni has 2 brothers and 1 sister, all of whom she is very very close to. Her oldest brother, Jason, who would have been 26 yesterday, was killed in a horrible horrible wreck in DFW on Friday afternoon. (Here's a link to the news report/tribute on it: http://cbs11tv.com/local/jason.powell.remembered.2.770336.html)

Not only were his parents and siblings left behind, but his precious wife (who I had the privilege of meeting both of them once last year) and their 5 month old baby boy.

Yeah.

I don't even have any more words to write. It is so tragic. And this is not the first time I have watched someone lose an older brother to a horrible car wreck. If you remember, my roomate from sophomore and junior years at college lost her brother to a car wreck. And this is not the first time this year that I have watched a friend lose a loved one. My heart just aches for Jenni and all of these people in an indescribable way. And it hurts so much knowing I can do nothing for them.

Anyways, just be praying for their family that they would feel the peace and love and comfort that only comes from Christ. They are all Christians and love Jesus passionately. Pray that there are people there to love on them, hold them up and speak truth to them even in their darkest hours.

Anyways, just wanted to put that out there. Thanks!

Painting Pictures of Egypt

Painting Pictures of Egypt
by Sarah Groves

I don’t want to leave here
I don’t want to stay
It feels like pinching to me either way
The places I long for the most
Are the places where I’ve been
They are calling after me like a long lost friend

It’s not about losing faith
It’s not about trust
It’s all about comfortable
When you move so much
The place I was wasn’t perfect
But I had found a way to live
It wasn’t milk or honey
But then neither is this

CHORUS:
I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacked
The future seems so hard
And I want to go back
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I"ve learned
And those roads closed off to me
While my back was turned

The past is so tangible
I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy to discard
I was dying for some freedom
But now I hesitate to go
Caught between the promise
And the things I know

BRIDGE:
If it comes too quick
I may not recognize it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?


So I usually don't like putting song lyrics up here. But this was sung for us last night at church at our wonderful Pastor's request because it directly applies (and is actually inspired by) what we are talking about in church now as we walk through Exodus.

I can't even begin to explain to you how much this song is about my life and where I've been and where I'm going. And the faulty mindset that this song so aptly describes about God moving us. I'm not much of a crier most of the time, but as this song was sung for us last night, my eyes just filled with tears because I knew I have been exactly where those Israelites were in their thought patterns. I think I might have sobbed had I not been holding it together because I wasn't able to sit by my girlfriends last night and was sitting next to a really cute guy (I know him, but not super well - certainly not well enough to sob in front of).

Anyways, just wanted to share how the Lord spoke to my heart as of late. Here's a link to the youtube video of this song...I promise it won't be a waste of your time to listen to it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXciv06218&feature=related