So since the engagement of one of my very best friends, I am posting this in honor of her. She has been so very dear to me throughout all my years growing up, and I have treasured all the memories I have with her. Those memories have shaped who I am today, some more than others but nonetheless she is someone that has been so important to me. She has been like a sister and I love her dearly. Here are just a few snapshots of us together.

Congratulations Molly and Chris!

"Remember tonight, for it is the beginning of always. A promise. Like a reward for persisting through life so long alone. The belief in each other and the possibility of love. A decision, to ignore or simply rise above the pain of the past. The covenant, which at once binds two souls and yet severs prior ties. The celebration, of the chance for two will always be stronger than one. Like a team, braced against the tempest’s of the world. And love... will always be the guiding force in our lives. For tonight is mere formality.. only an announcement to the world for feelings long held. Promises made long ago -- in the sacred space of our hearts.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..

This past weekend we went to Auburn for their homecoming weekend. It was good to see friends and hang out. We went to Nat's KD banquet one night and this is a picture of all of us

From the left: Mama Joan, Emily, Natalie, Me, Caleb (Nat's boyfriend) and Papa Paul in the back!

Although Auburn was fun, my favorite part of the weekend was going to Birmingham for Secret Church. Like I said before it was 6 hours (6 to midnight) which is a LONG time to sit in church. I was a skeptic going into it, but I was quickly convinced it would be worth it. We got in there and some of our ranch friends were there so we sat with them.. We had a little bit of worship and then we dug right in. The material we were covering was Angels, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare. It was so thought provoking but I loved that Dr. Platt gave so much background from the word. When you walk in the door they give you an outline, 81 pages to be exact, of notes. Scripture to back up everything he said. At the beginning of his talk he said a little about taking things out of context and how its so important to read not just a verse or two but to get a true understanding of what is going on in the passage because otherwise you can get the bible to essentially say anything you want it to.

Here's how the material was broken up:

1. Angels (Who are they? How are they organized? What do they do? How do they relate to us?)

2. Demons (Who are they? How are they organized? What do they do? How do they relate to us?)

3. Spiritual Warfare (Old Testament and Spiritual Warfare, Christ and Spiritual Warfare, The Church and Spiritual Warfare)

4. Controversial Questions (What about deliverance ministry, Can a Christian be demon possessed, Should we talk with demons (conversing, naming, binding demons)? and can we acquire or inherit demons from other people or places).

Between segments we had breaks so it was nice to get up and get some refreshments and stretch our legs. Before the breaks we would do something different each time. Once we had members of the church that had come from a persecuted church and they shared their story. It was amazing to hear their journey and I was astounded to hear that these things still happen around the world today. It made me realize how isolated America is and how we truly are spoiled. Another time we prayed for different areas around the world where there are lots of people being persecuted for their faith. I prayed for China because each notebook came with 1 of 10 different areas and facts about that place and that was the location in my notebook.

Dr. Platt is such a gifted teacher, entertainer, and pastor who really knows the word and understands the heart of God and his people. He has traveled to many of these places himself so its very close to his heart and he's very passionate about ministry to these places. So it wasn't until about 11:40 that I really started to feel tired, he went about 30 minutes over (which isn't bad considering all the material we covered) so by the time we were done it was close to 1 am. It was well worth it though.

Today was my last day at work... I didn't do a whole lot with patients because I really just didn't feel like working. Haha so I didn't. I just hung out. The whole crew at the hospital was so sweet. They made me come into the break room and had balloons and cake and cards and sweet little gifts. Some of the girls I work with but had their off days even came up to say goodbye. It was really nice of them.

So for those of you Grey's Anatomy fans out there, this was on this past week and I got tears when I heard her say this. It sums up why I love working with these kids. I know this is corny quoting Grey's Anatomy, but I don't care. Because it was well said.

"These are tiny humans. These are children. They believe in magic. They play pretend. There is fairy dust in their I.V. bags. They hope and they cross their fingers and they make wishes. And that makes them more resilient than adults. They recover faster, survive worse. They believe. In peds, we have miracles and magic. In peds, anything is possible."

Some news on the apartment: After a few hiccups, we have got it all worked out. The lease should be ready to sign on Monday which means I will get to move in when I drive into town.. Yayyy! So if anyone wants to come to dallas and help move in, feel free!

This weekend we are going to Athens for the UGA/Auburn game. Emily is really excited as this is her alma mater and she has been dying to return to Sanford Stadium.

"Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'"

Isaiah 30:20-21

How is it already November?

Well October flew by... So since I haven't posted anything in a while I will just sum up what I can remember..

Emily and I got to go to the Kings of Leon concert in Birmingham mid october...It was an awesome concert and it was a lot of fun... We got to see ranch friends and hang out with Kim one last time (she's moving to Nassau to do mission work).

Last weekend Brian came into town and another one of Emily's high school friends... We hung out and watched a lot of football, got in the hot tub, and just relaxed all weekend. We got to play spades and I didn't realize how much I missed card games and just hanging out until then... But I'm looking forward to the holidays where I will get plenty of opportunities to do those things.

We are about to fly out later this afternoon and Emily is flying us to Auburn for their homecoming weekend... The parents are driving down friday for the game and such but we are going early because Bennett is on the worship staff for campus crusades so we get to go watch him play tonight and just hang out. Friday we are heading to Birmingham for Secret Church and we are so excited about that... This weekend is full of exciting events but more of that later...

I'm sure there was other stuff in between all that but thats all I can think of for now... Updates about moving to Dallas: We found an apartment in Dallas that has a great community of people and its in a great location for all of us, we even have a few friends that are already living there so they will be there to welcome us and help move us in! I'll be living with Emily Edmonds and Alanna Blair. So we are all really excited about that and are still waiting to hear back from The Village on whether we have been approved for the apartment. I'll be driving back to Texas on Friday the 20th and I'm hoping to drive all day (without stopping in Birmingham) and make it back to Dallas before its too late. Only time will tell.

That's all I can think of for now.. Hopefully I'll be seeing most of ya'll sooon!

There is freedom in surrender

I've come to the realization in the past week that this semester has been nothing but a vacation. Simply a chance for me to just to relax and find out more about myself. As I was in my final semester at ACU and trying to figure out the next step, I knew the Lord wanted me home for a season. How long that season was supposed to last was unknown to me. I went dutifully for the summer but not long enough to get involved. Long enough to check it off my list and say that I did what I was supposed to do. I didn't wholeheartedly look for a job there because I didn't want to find one. I just was.

So I ended up in Rome and have loved it. I have loved living with the Brocks. I have loved getting to know this family as an extension of my own. I have loved being away and independent and just doing my own thing. As I got to Rome I didn't know what was next after this internship at Floyd. I didn't know where God wanted me so I began to pray. I prayed that God would open doors and that he would send somewhere, anywhere. I was ready to go and get out and do something different. I was living in Rome but knew I wouldn't end up here long term. So I prayed for the next step. As I started looking into other options and filling out applications the reality of going places all over the world seemed so real. It was exciting knowing that I could just pick up and leave and do something else in a matter of months. As I started filling out all these applications I realized that I had no place I wouldn't go. I told the Lord that if he opened doors, I would walk through them. Because I had no place I wouldn't go I just prayed that if it wasn't the right place for me to be, that he would close those doors and that would be okay. Because the truth is, if I got more than one job at all these different places I would have had a hard time deciphering which one God wanted me to do and I'd end up going where I wanted. So the Lord was faithful and closed doors.

As I'm still praying and trying to figure out where to go, I think I'm hearing him wrong. Basically I think he's telling me that he wants me at home. I'm thinking there's no way I'm going home. So for a while I'm dragging my feet as God and I are in this argument about me saying, "where you will send me, I will go", and thinking that that was supposed to be anywhere but home. Because I could always go back. It wasn't what I had planned but it's where I know God wants me. I feel like the Lord has called me home and the summer when I was there I was so focused on leaving that I wasn't fully able to be there. My heart was always searching for what was to come next.

So as I'm trying to figure out what I'm even doing in Georgia for this semester God continues to answer. Going home is fun at times, but its also hard. It's one of the most challenging places for me to be. So God has given me this time to have an "adventure" but also to rest up before I go home and finish what was started there. I realized that if I never left after graduating, I would have always felt trapped. I would have felt like I had the chance to leave and never did. But now that I am gone, and have had the experience, I realize: the only place I want to be is where He wants me to be. He has given me time for myself. 100% me-time. But more so than I have ever been, I'm so excited to go home. I don't know what I'll be doing yet as far as a job goes. I don't know where I'm going to live yet. But I do know, God is good. God is faithful. And God's provision is so so perfect.

As for God, His way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Psalm 18:30

The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it

I love Needtobreathe... If you haven't heard there stuff. You must do yourself a favor and listen to their music.

I went to Bham this past weekend for their concert but because it was sold out both Saturday and Sunday, we weren't able to get tickets. Since we had just seen them in Athens a few weekends before we ended up just hanging out with friends that came into town. Here's a mini breakdown of the weekend.

Friday we woke up and shopped in Rome for a while, then headed on to the ham where we met up with friends for dinner. After dinner more friends came to the restaurant so we just stayed put and ended up seeing a lot of friends.

Saturday we woke up and Kristin made us cinnamon rolls while we talked and hung out and then we watched football. All day. It's a reason I love the fall, but by the end of the day, I had reached my max..

Sunday was a great morning of hanging out and going to church and lunch.. then to the dollar movie after going home to put on sweats because it was rainy. And what better way to spend a rainy day then watching movies? So we watched the proposal since JT and Em hadn't seen it.. It was hilarious, maybe even better the second time around. Then we drove back in the rain which was no fun but luckily Em's a good dj so it turned out okay and we made it home safe.

A few of us on saturday night after dinner (Bee, Emily, Kristin, JT, and myself).

For those of you wondering about the Teach for America status, I didn't get the final interview. But TFA as well as other places I'm applying are all just options... Because I don't have anything I'm dying to do. I don't have a huge passion to teach, just to help and be around kids. So there are a ton of jobs and opportunities out there that I'm excited to explore. Some I'm looking into are Teaching Fellows (similar to teach for america), World Teach, Outward Bound, Colorado Snowboard teacher/daycare person/bum, and others.... So really i'm open to suggestions. We'll see how these all pan out, but in the meantime I'm just prayin' and waitin' to see what God's got planned next... I'll let you know when I know :)

Be KIND.

As some of you know, one of my best friends, molly has been working on a documentary. She has been traveling around for almost a month, about 3+ weeks and still has 2 weeks to go before she makes it back to Cali in order to get footage from all across America of middle school girls. The KIND CAMPAIGN is a movement that focuses on middle school and high school girls to start treating each other better and stop all the meanness that happens amongst so many girls. So the campaign team was in Atlanta and because I'm only about an hour and a half away I had to go see them! I got to watch their presentation at Tech High School and it was awesome to see everything I have heard so much about in action. After the presentation and shooting of some of the girls telling their personal story, we went back to Lauren's best friends' house. It was fun to get to just hang out and we actually filmed a little piece because we were at Lauren's best friends' house and I was there with Molly which was really cool.

Tetia was there! I was excited and surprised to see her because I had no idea she was on this cross country journey!

Mol and I in front of the kind mini van!

Check out more of what they are doing, where they have been, and all about the campaign itself on their website. www.KINDcampaign.com

In other news, I got asked to join Teach For America in a phone interview!! There are typically 3 steps. The written application, the phone interview, and the day long in person interview. So my phone interview is this Monday (as in 2 days! eeek) at 4:20 pm eastern time. So if you think about it please please say a prayer for that process and whether or not this opportunity is right for me.

With arms high and hearts abandoned

I love Sundays. I love waking up and being excited about church. I love waking up late enough that I feel rested, but early enough for an afternoon nap. I love spending a day with no agenda. I love being able to relax with friends and family and just simply be.

This weekend was just a fun relaxing weekend which was perfect after a busy/stressful week at the hospital. Because we have been gone the past couple of weekends, we decided to take advantage of having nothing planned this weekend. So friday night we took a drive in the car at sunset around the city and to see Emily's high school which is also a boarding school for some. I was fascinated by it because of the rules and regulations for a boarding student and because I have never been to one so she gave me a tour of the campus. After our little drive we came back to the house and ate a few snacks then heated up the hot tub, picked a delicious bottle of red wine, and turned on the music outside for a calm evening. It was wonderful and after about an hour in the hot tub we came back inside to watch a movie but we were both out in the first 20 minutes..

So saturday rolls around and neither one of us change out of our pajamas all day. We both woke up and read a little cleaned our rooms, made a full breakfast then just chilled. We watched a few shows/movies in the morning/afternoon-ish and then for the evening watched football and just hung around the house. We both felt completely worthless being couch potatoes all day but we have no friends and really just had nothing else to do.

So today was awesome maybe because we actually did something unlike the rest of the weekend. We tried a new church that was good, but neither one of us was thrilled about so we'll keep lookin' for one we like. This afternoon we just took naps and halfheartedly worked on things for work then around 4 hopped in the car. Anna came over and the 3 of us headed to Atlanta. We went to a church service there that was absolutely incredible. It's the Passion City Church and Chris Tomlin does worship there along with Kristian Stanfill, Christy Nockels, and Matt Redman but he's on tour with Casting Crowns so he wasn't there tonight.. It was amazing. The lesson was about grace (which you can hear online) but what always touches my heart is the music. I love it and it was so loud and it was incredible to look around and see so many young adults just rocking out and loving Jesus all at the same time. It was an amazing night of worship followed by great company and good conversation for the car ride home.