Learning to fully EMBRACE!

Today is a special day first off because little Logan is 6 months old. I love seeing Logan and Tanner they are both miracle babies and I am so blessed to be their Nonna! So what does this have to do with a year ago well nothing really except that my sister was pregnant. But its one reason today is special.  I mentioned to my mom today that this time last year I was in Africa. It still amazes me to think back on those 10 days. I was blessed with amazing friendships I mean who knew I'd go to Africa and leave with adopted "big sisters". The group of people I went with are very special people and we share a unique and special bond. When you have no electricity and your only entertainment is rocking out to Miley Cyrus while wearing a headlamp. What can I say we had lots of fun in our huts, I received the award for bed hopping and the title Scout due to my awesome camping skills. These memories will never be erased and it excites me that one day I will get to share my pictures...

Have you ever felt like your dreams were...well...just that a dream? I certainly have. I feel as though I am a visionary I like to envision things, I love to sit around and day dream. It's okay I'm sure you think I'm crazy but I'm okay with that. Even at night when I am sleeping I have very vivid dreams, for the most part when I wake up I can tell you about my dreams in detail. I don't know what it all means or if it means anything at all. For me I just embrace it I feel as the dreams are my creative side. I have gotten to a point though where my dreams start to move into reality. While spending time in California for several months I learned a lot about myself. A wise person name Heather once led a group and in this group we were told to write out a dream we had, it didn't matter if it seemed impossible or not but just write it down. She then had as write out what we could do a year out in order to see that dream come true, and then 6 months out, 3 months o...

There are a million ideas and thoughts running through my mind right now. And as much as I would love to share everyone of them, well let's face it its already past midnight. I just wanted to share a little bit of inspiration that I have gained over the last several days. So here are 5 things I have come to realize this week and they are not in any particular order.... 1) God never ceases to amaze me - He places the right people at the right place at the right time. Okay this is simple right yeah well did I mention that its all in His timing and places and they don't always align with what I thought it would be like. 2) Chasing dreams doesn't have to be like chasing a fly - When God has called you to do something He has already prepared and equipped you. I love the saying "He doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called" 3) Disciple although is painful is often enjoyable  - there is nothing I like more than a humbling experience...okay so that's not ...

I am working on getting this blog up and running again. It is my attempt to update everyone on my life in a few or more posts. There has been much change but through it all God continues to show me that even in my weakest moments He is still strong. He continues to guide me and stands by me even when I want to tuck my tail and just run away. So until my next blog I will leave you with this.... This continues to encourage me :) So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 1:6-7

I can not believe that in 3 very short weeks I will be getting on a plane and flying across the ocean and around the world to Africa. It seems surreal to me and it amazes me. God truly gives us the desires of our hearts. I have been waiting to do a mission trip for over 4 years. I believe that any time you begin to step out in faith into something God has called you to you face adversity, and this trip has not been exempt from that. My friend and I signed up for this mission trip in November we immediately started sending out support letters. Having worked in the travel field before I understand the concept of having a set number of people that have to go on the trip in order to cover trip cost. For the Africa trip the number is 15, as of the beginning of April we still were not sure if we were going be able to take the trip. I must say it was a little stressful as we continued to watch airfare go up but could not book a flight until we knew 100% that we had a team of 15. God showed us...

So with a new year I thought I should give my blog a new look, this is just the beginning of new things taken place in my life this year. I am really excited about this year, 21 days into the year and I new relationship are taken place, new beginnings, and new adventures. What is all this new stuff I am talking about? Last semester and well lets just say year was a year of change for me, it was a big monumnetal year as I graduated with my undergaduate degree in May and 3 months later packed up and moved to Omaha. My first semester her at Grace was full of excitement, change and a big cultural shock. Growing up in the Bible Belt meant that there were churches on every street corner and you were sure to find a place where you fit. With in 5 miles of my location there are only 10 Assemblies of God churches and only 8 in which I think they speak English given the names of the churches. Long story short mid-semester after trying church after church I landed at Bellevue Christian Center. A...

"If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? 'A slave is not greater than the master.' Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for the have rejected the One who sent me. They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their since. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If i hadn't done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: 'They hated me without cause'" John 15:18-25 There are so many things we face in...

Before I get to the real "meat" of this post I want to let everyone know that I am thoroughly enjoying Omaha, Nebraska. The weather here has been amazing and pretty cool, the low last night was 48 degrees. I do miss family and friends but the adjusting process is going great. I am making new friendships with some of the girls that are in class with me and with ones that live here on campus that are also graduate students. One of the most amazing things thus far is how God works in "mysterious ways". God has reconnected me with a friend that I met over 4 years ago. In January 2005, I went to DC to represent Arkansas at a Presidential leadership conference. Upon arriving to DC we were quickly split into groups, these would be the people we would spend the remainder of the week with we'd go sightseeing with these people as well as work together in a group to try and be "elected" for president (our group did win and for a week we were the "white house...

Although it is almost 3:00 am and I should be in bed asleep, many thoughts and emotions are tangled in my mind. So my hope is that not only does this blog allow me to get my thoughts out there where they are tangible and readable where I can get some sleep, my hope is that some of these thoughts would touch others lives as they have mine. I have now attended my Personal Evaluation class twice and only have 3 more meetings before it is concluded. It is set up as a 5 week course although I wish it was a 15 week course like many of our other classes. This class is very challenging (not academically but spiritually), the objectives of the class are to allow us as "soon to be counselors" to understand and explain our strengths, our emotional healthy spirituality, our personality type, and motivational gifting. By completion of the 5 week class we should also understand the impact of that our family origin has had on our personal development, identify how we are likely to interact ...

This past Sunday was a TOUGH day, saying goodbye is never easy. Sunday morning we had an awesome service and once again God showed me how incredibly blessed I am to be apart of Bethel Worship Centers congregation. God poured out incredible healing and purpose on Sunday. I really will miss being there every week, I love my Sunday school class, and I am not one that normally says much but am just a sponge absorbing it all in, but we were talking about dealing with issues in our lives and walking in purpose, and I had a chance to talk about moving to Omaha and what I've gone through to get to this point where I am stepping into the calling and purpose God created for me. And I shared a little bit of this in Sunday School. But would like to also share it with those that were not there. 4 years ago, I was very sick with migraines, was laying in a hospital bed and had been there for 7 days. At this point in time no one knew I had an eating disorder and the doctors could not explain the ...

I have been trying to write this blog all day, but have been left speechless. Many emotions, thoughts, and feelings going through my head. This past week has been very emotional for me, not in a bad way at all. A lot of exciting moments have taken place and a lot of moments where God has just WOWed me! The most recent moment came when I received a phone call from Grace University in Omaha Nebraska. Let me step back a second, I found out 2 weeks ago from Friday that my application had made it to the acceptance review committee and that I should hear something in a week, well a week goes by and NOTHING! I hadn't lost faith, because about 3 weeks ago I had a meeting with a mentor and told her about the application and just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing, we prayed that if I get accepted then it's God confirming that its the right thing. Even though I hadn't lost faith the flesh did kick in wondering if maybe this wasn't Gods will, so I was trying to come ...

I have a thing about writing blogs on Sunday, maybe it's because that's where I get my battery fully charged for the week! God is so good and never ceases to amaze me. This past week has been a roller coaster of emotions, paper work, phone calls, etc. However, late Saturday evening I finally received an email that helped settle some of my nerves. I won't lie waiting to get acceptance letters is kind of nerve racking but at the same time I'm resting in Gods peace! The email I received informed me that all paper work has arrived in Nebraska and my application packet went before the acceptance committee on Friday. PRAISE THE LORD! Just 5 days before we were still waiting on 3 references and 1 essay (my fault I overlooked it). I have been emailing the University everyday asking have you got this yet and finally all minds were cleared on Saturday. I truly believe this has all been a character building process! The Potter has definitely been molding this piece of clay! There ...

I am continually amazed at my God and the way He works things together and how things turn out in the end. We had an incredible service this morning, worship was great the word was great and God's presence was very strong during the altar service. This morning our pastor spoke on the "Landmine of Hopelessness". To many times as Christians we are faced by our enemy and he has a way of making us feel like there is no hope. There were many people in the bible who had met up with the landmine of hopelessness like Moses (Numbers 11:14-15), Elijah (1 Kings 19:4), Job, David (Psalms 42 and 43), Jonah (Jonah 4:3). Pastor pointed out two things that cause hopelessness they are health and hurt. From a woman's standpoint its easy to be hurt by others, it seems as we are more vulnerable to having our feelings hurt or even deeper our heart hurt. Guys seem to be more rough around the edges and less likely to have their feelings hurt, although it is possible. The point is, no matter...

Wow, what a day! I must say that this is my first official blog on here, I wonder if this is the new Xanga? :) In any event, this will be my way to keep friends and family up to date and informed on life, I have been a part of blogger.com since last year following friends and a book bible study on here from church but have not taken the time to really blog. So where to begin...I must say that I am at an odd phase in life, living with everything "up in the air", I believe it's in these days that God carves a little on our character and sharpens our Faith. Faith is truly my foundation right now. For those who don't know I have graduated with my Bachelors Degree from Arkansas Tech University I finished in May. In June, life made a sharp turn and through out a curve ball I was not expecting, but I am making the most out of it. I decided to pursue God given dreams and visions. The first step being applying for graduate school. Next step being pick a major, now when I was a...