its that time again

       School starts back up for me tomorrow. I have ONE class. ONE. And I'm still dreading it. But I know I can get past this. ART HISTORY WRITING INTENSIVE, goodness gracious, it is going to be hard. But I will press on. I will walk my half mile to class. I will learn about the history of the most influential pieces of art. And I WILL graduate.

        4 Months.

        4 Months.

        4 MONTHS... That is all I have to wait.

Pray for me.

BLESSED!!

       I am overwhelmed with the feeling of being BLESSED. The Lord has blessed my life in so many ways. But I think He blesses me the most with the people he has put into my life. This blog is to honor them. So thank you to all of the people in my life.....

MOM- You are so patient. Your heart is HUGE, you would do anything for anyone because God has blessed you with a servants heart and you serve others so well. You are one of the most Godly women I know & I thank you for sharing your faith & walk with me because it has allowed me to have a model to live by!

DAD- We have a special Daddy/daughter bond. I know that I can go to you and talk to you about anything and you will listen. You have always allowed me to talk and vent until things have made sense. God has blessed you with a great listening ear, and a gift of TEACHING. Any one who comes across is extremely blessed to have met a man as gentle and kind and patient as you are.

MILLER- You are such an amazing big brother. You have looked after me my whole life ( even if you did lock me in the pantry a few times when you babysat me ). I know that I am well protected and loved by you. You would do anything for me and it really does show. You have always cared about my heart and my feelings, and you are a great man of God and still growing into one as each day passes. You are going to make a great husband to Emily so soon!!!

ANDREW- You mean the world to me. God blessed us with a great friendship within our mom's friendship 12 years ago and he has continuously grown it ever since. He turned our friendship into much much more, and has been the center of our relationship now. You have such a patient heart and spirit and you remind me so much of my dad, a great teacher and listener. You and I are very opposite in so many ways, but in all the right ways we line up. You challenge me to be a better woman in Christ and you build me up. You treat me like a daughter of Christ because that is what I am. I am daily blown away with the mind and thoughts that God has blessed you with. I love you!

NICOLE- I have considered you to be  my mentor for many years now. You have always been there for me and you have opened your whole life to me. God has blessed you with such a patient, REAL, and genuine spirit. You have the Lord with your whole heart and it really does spill out into every aspect of your life. You have been a great example of that to me. Thank you for opening your home, life and family to me. And for letting me just come and cry to you on many occasions.

COURTNEY- You have been my best friend for 4 years now. We are sooo different but we mesh so well. You have always been there for me during the good and the bad. You have a passion for learning and for seeking out people, and you love people so well. You have been blessed with patience and persistence and God has blessed you with such an amazing mind.

LESLIE- Girl, our mom's were friends, and thank God for that because now look at us. You are amazing. God has blessed you with a HUGE heart. You are a friend to so many people and you love each person for EXACTLY what God made them to be. You do not try to make someone something that they are not, and that is such a rare quality to have in a friend. I am so blessed that you are my friend. Your passion and desire for the Lord continually blows me away.

EMILY- I have known you since I was 5. WHO KNEW you would end up marrying my BROTHER?? hahaha I am so glad for that. You have an amazing heart that cares for the people all around you. You are like a fine wine, the more that people get to know you, the more they will love you.







I feel so blessed to have you ALL in my life. THANK YOU!! There are so many more people that I would love to list out one by one, but God has blessed me with so many of you that it would take WAY too much time.

Take time today to think of the people in your life that God has blessed you with, and make sure to tell them that you love them.

Francis, Beth and John OH MY!!!

       If you asked me my emotions right now I could not even describe them. I am overwhelmed with emotions and thoughts that have not yet been organized. The cause of all my my mental confusion is the Passion conference in Atlanta. There were 22,000 18-25 year old men and women all coming together to hear and learn about Jesus from some of the worlds most respected and well spoken speakers. We heard from Louie Giglio, Beth Moore, Francis Chan, Andy Stanley, and John Piper. OVERWHELMING to say the least.
        The Conference was amazing, but there was almost NO time to process. I heard Louie Giglio talk about living a free life. Saying YES to Jesus and living out your life FOR Him. He talked about how we need to take time to step back and soak in life with Jesus. How we can't go to a conference like Passion and then expect to live off of the "spiritual high" that you got. A walk with Jesus is NOT a walk in the park. It is not easy and it is not something that is perfect all of the time. A walk with Jesus is like high altitude climbing. You CANNOT go up to the top of Mount Everest in a helicopter and see the glorious view from on top of the world...you will DIE with in 15 seconds because your lungs will collapse and things just do not work properly when you go from ONE extreme to the next so fast. You have to be prepared. You need to go up a little and back a little... Up a little and back a little, until you make it to the top. You have to allow your body to get used to the altitude that you are at. That is like a walk with Jesus. You go up a little. STOP. PAUSE. THINK. PROCESS. LEARN. TAKE IT ALL IN. APPLY IT TO LIFE. Go down a little and figure out your next move. Then you go up a little more and back down to do it all again. IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE that way!! I get frustrated so much of the time because my walk with Christ is FAR from perfect. Most of the time I am left confused and wondering how to do this right. But I have never taken the perspective that processing is not a bad thing, going down a few steps to take it all in is GLORIOUS, it is the way I will survive.
     Beth Moore's talk blew me away. The mind was the talk of the hour. How complex and confusing the MIND is just blows me away. The circumference of your BRAIN can be measured but NO ONE has ever been able too or ever will be able to measure the MIND. How insane! She told us that we need to " Think about the thoughts that we are thinking." Confusing huh? But think about it... when you think a thought you tend to not think about the thought that you are thinking. You need to get to the source of that thought. The brain has a "thought process memory". The thoughts that you habitually think will eventually PHYSICALLY pave a path in your brain to automatically go to that path and think those thoughts. So, if for 10 years someone has been an alcoholic, and for 10 years their thought has been "I will just numb the pain with another few drinks", it will be extra hard for them to not think that way even if they want to. But it is possible to start paving another path in your mind, but thinking about that thoughts that you are thinking of. For that previous example: If you are thinking.... "I will just numb the pain with another few drinks" think about that thought and create a new thought instead, saying it will numb the pain for a MOMENT and then go away, what can I do to solve my pain and not just numb it. We need to create a more positive path in our minds.
       Francis Chan was so full of life and passion that it got me on fire. He made me realize that living in the United States and being able to attend a conference like Passion, walk around with my Bible, talk freely about Jesus, and have so many people proclaiming to know Jesus without living out their faith is NOT NORMAL. The majority of the world lives in places where to PROCLAIM THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST will get you kicked out of your family, your life and your country and make you run for your life and for Christ. We do not have that type of persecution here. We need to live out our life for Jesus with such passion that if we were to be persecuted we would THANK GOD that we were able to RUN FOR HIM and his NAME and IF we lived to see another day, THANK HIM for the chance for another day to run for him again.
     Andy Stanley's talk hit home for me as well. He talked about the story of Jacob and Esau. Esau gave up his Birth Right ( double inheritance, the family judge and a blessing ) for a BOWL OF SOUP. WHO DOES THAT?? Answer: YOU and ME. We may not give something up for SOUP but many people will give up a FAMILY for drugs, a drink, sex or money. And just like Esau we will be left with NOTHING. No Birth Right and an Empty bowl of soup.
     And John Piper was nothing short of brain altering. I don't know about you but I have always heard PUT JESUS AT THE TOP... but John Piper talked about how we need to put Jesus at the BOTTOM. It sounds weird at first I know, but think about it, if Jesus is at the BOTTOM then he is our foundation. He talked about that we have two options of a foundation, making much of YOU ( this may mean doing Good things in the name of God but the root of it is to make YOURSELF look good/godly ) OR making much of GOD ( having the root of your heart being TRUE glory to God). Per his example: What is the true motivation for good grades? Let's say...
1- You want to make good grades
      WHY?
2- To get your masters in psychology
      WHY?
3- To become a clinical psychologist
      WHY?
4- Because your life was awful and you want to help others through it
      WHY DOES THAT MATTER??
Now #5 has a choice.... its either:
5- Because I want to make myself feel like I am helping people and I will get praised for such a selfless job
     OR
5- Because I want to bring glory to God in helping people, letting them know that Christ changed MY life nothing else.
..... SO where is the motivation?? That is why Jesus is at the BOTTOM the FOUNDATION.

So all in all my weekend was AMAZING. Lots of stuff to unpack. I'm sure you will be hearing more thoughts on this later.

Check out the article on my family!!

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/dec/24/tdmain01-cooking-runs-in-the-family-ar-734449/

I love my family. Tradition and culture!!

The songs of the 90's and Christ??

      With the exception of songs like the Funky Cold Medina and Tootsie Roll there really are some awesome 90s songs that make you think and find appreciation in God and the little things in life. On my way to Nicole's this morning I was switching up my Christmas music up and tuned into a station that was playing "All Star" by Smashmouth and then next up was "Tell me all your thoughts on God" by Dishwalla. Although I am a child of the 90's I don't think I ever took the time to actually LISTEN to the lyrics. They are really actually thought provoking. Here is the line from All Star that grabbed my attention:


           "Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming
          Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
          Didn't make sense not to live for fun
          Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

          So much to do so much to see
          So what's wrong with taking the back streets
          You'll never know if you don't go
          You'll never shine if you don't glow"

Maybe you are thinking..."uhhh?? Whats so great about those lyrics?" but when I read them I think HOLY COW they make so much sense. 

1- Life keeps moving on wether you like it or not

2- No one WANTS to follow the rules

3- You need to enjoy this one life that God has given you, its not all about the knowledge of the world you can gain, you have to go out and love the world that God has placed us in

4- Why conform to the rest of the world, when you can take the path less traveled and see new things 

5- GO AND DO AND SEE

Then there is the song "Tell me all your thoughts on God" :

                  "He walked with a purpose and his sneakers down the street
                   he had..Many questions, like childeren often do.
                   he said....Tell me all your thoughts on God, and tell 

                   me am I very far.

                   We count only blue cars skip the cars in the street. 

                   And asked many questions like children often do.

                   we said...Tell me all your thoughts on God, cause I'd really 

                   like to meet her. And asked her where and who we are.
                  Tell me all your thoughts on God, cause I'm on my way 

                   to see her."

1- We can all take lessons in the bold and honest questions of children

2- We need to gain knowledge and advise from our elders

3- Having the child like faith 

4- Having the knowledge that you WILL see Christ

I love these 2 songs, I love the songs of the 90's. I am a child of the 90's. I did not know that you could get so much out of these!!! Just goes to see that you can find God anywhere you look. I started out this morning with a quick devo and my thoughts went straight through the God filter instead of the usual worldly one. 

Thank you Lord for this day, for songs of the 90's and for my right mindset this morning. 

Dry periods of life...

      Do you ever have a period of life where everything seems so dull and dry?? If not, I think you may be lying to yourself, OR if you aren't then please tell me your secret. Life has seemed so blah for me for the past 3 weeks. A lot of my relationships seem to be at a stand point ( or like I always say, your relationships are like a current, it's always moving, its either going up current or down).  I have no PASSION for any one thing besides the things in life that HAVE to stay put right now, and I struggle to keep "life" in me. The thing is I think I need an adventure. I have been stuck in my hometown for too long. Scratch that, I have been stuck in the United States for too long now. I am 22 years old, I need to get out and SEE THE WORLD THAT GOD HAS MADE!!! And yet, I am stuck. I have one more semester of school to go, them comes the next expected step in life... a job. Not that having a "real" job is a bad thing, because parts of me are so pumped for it, but with a real job comes REAL limitations. And that scares me.
      Today I found myself sitting in one of my classes looking up plane tickets. I just want to GO. I want to duplicate the trip I took last February to Balboa Island and hang out with Andrews aunt and uncle. I want to pick up and go see my family in Mexico. I want to go have a cabin of Young Life girls in Ireland and Wales again. I want to go some where NEW like Australia, Rome, Africa, Chile, Germany, France, Poland, Alaska, ANYWHERE really... I just feel like I need to explore new people, new cultures, new ground and discover and uncover something new and different out there that God has created.
      So, I feel dry. I feel dull. I feel blah.... and it is wearing me out!! Any suggestions anyone?? Besides the fact that Nicole and I need to fill out our "Amazing Race" application. I'm in need of a good adventure.

Lately the coolest thing in my life has been the food I make....

So I am a big fan of stumbleupon.com and I came across these two really fun recipes lately, and so I gave them a whirl.....

Brownie pops and sugar swirl cookies... YUMMY..