i'll keep this short and sweet.

or at least i'll try. :)

today was a whirlwind! one that ended with taking my dear bestie, madison mae, back to her house, a few towns over. it was nightime and pouring rain and i found myself easily getting lost among all the streets and it was basically the most stressful thing of my life due to the rain and the trying to balance driving with iphone holding/direction viewing. i literally drove 20 or 30 minutes out of the way. bonkers. but once i finally figured out where i was and turned around, i knew that there was a spiritual application dangling right before my eyes. in just those twenty or so minutes of being lost a few towns over from home, i got a bit emotional and literally felt like i was abandoned. and hopeless. and frustrated. and drained beyond belief. then i realized how scary life would be to walk (instead of metaphorically drive) through, lost. trying to juggle things while feeling like you're falling into danger. overwhelmed. without direction at all. so basically not awesome. i'm thankful that the feelings i felt while driving around ended as i pulled into my driveway.

what a good reminder that i'm blessed, regardless of what blessings "are supposed to feel like."


oh and also, today i discovered sprinkles cupcakes. obsessed.

got all my eve's confused!

so tonight i had a moment of reflection on the end of the year, as if it was new year's eve, and not the eve of christmas! but you know what, that's okay!

my dream of visiting washington dc becomes a reality! december 2010.

let me paint the picture for you. i'm having one of those moments where you're reflecting on your circumstances and just clinging the hope of change. i was sitting in my room, knowing i was looking for something, and then i came upon this bloggy:

The Macs

basically the story of this family is loosing their precious daughter, cora paige, to cancer when she was 11 months old, and the story of how the scriptures have become a reality of God's comfort to their family. amazingness.

lauren costin is a blessing of friendship! roadtrip 2010!

so here i am, bawling my eyes out as i read their posts asking for prayer up to the days of cora's death, and just reading of their progress since then, and the birth of a new baby, levi gerald.
then i grabbed my journal and started pouring out my heart in prayer. and this is the version that i chose to share with the few readers of my little bloggy. i thought about just posting pictures, but i'm not going to just bear my prayer requests for others out on the online world.

bestie, tim phillps = baylor mascot. = stud.
baylor vs a&m 2010. gig em!

but anyways, here's my heart:

Jesus,
I place my feelings, my hopes, my dreams, my angers, my fears, my future, my heart, my life, all at your feet on this Christmas eve. I know that you will not forsake me in 2011. Please transform my life to make it reflect you, to make others want to know you.

my life would not be complete without seeing the work that the Lord did during Camp 220, July 2010! (with Kristen Sidler)

take away my short temper, my attitude, take away my desires of a sinful nature, take away my laziness and my inability to stand up in boldness when necessary.
Lord, give me a heart for service and for your word. make me desire only you as i wake up each morning. bring a transformation to make my heart bold, loving, full of acceptance, courage, joy. a joy, not based on happiness but on your truth and existance. i pray that i will see your fruit in 2011.

sweet conversations with sweet believers in mexico. june 2010.

fruits that come only from you. i pray that you will open some eyes to salvation. (chances are, if you're reading this and think this could be you, i prayed for you by name. let's talk about it.) I need to be reminded that it is expected for my life to be filled with pain.

what a blessing to live with paigey! aggie football in october 2010!

i would not be able to fully comprehend all the characteristics of the Lord without many tears and trials. i pray for my future hubs, wherever he sits, that he will be strengthened by you this year.

theta fiesta!

i pray that he will be bringing glory to your name and that you will deliver to him, fruits of his labor for you. i pray that you will bring us to each other quickly, but also in your perfect timing, a timing we cannot argue with.

a silly wind blown picture with sweet sammi grace on her third birthday!

i pray for Andrew Skinner and Kristina Garza as they embark upon a marriage this year. I pray for Chad and Laura Welty as they await news of an adopted child that you are going to be delivering to them, in a perfect picture of your love for us.I pray for the birth of baby Lewis #3. I pray for a smooth college transition for all those seniors so close to my heart.

some of the most precious men of the Lord i know,
can't wait to see yall graduate! (at camp 220, July 2010)

and some adorable senior girls! aggie football, october 2010.

I pray for growth in the home church that i love so dearly, First Baptist Church of Justin. I pray that you will continue to develop friendships in my life at A&M and elsewhere.

bid day, august 27, 2010. i didn't know it then, but i was finding my home at a&m in theta.

I pray that you will shape me into a woman who fears you.
Amen.



Merry Christmas, Ya'll!

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go,
for to you, I lift up my soul." - Psalm 143:8

this verse is my prayer for the new year, with all of my heart.

christmas break has been just darling so far.

one of my best friends just got engaged! wah-stinking-hoo! :)
i am so legitimately happy for Kristina, and the countless conversations we have had about how much she cares for Andrew make me so excited for them. hearing her talk about their future is just so precious. it is joy.

but obviously the huge highlight of life is that i went to visit lucy in maryland. so basically, i went to lucyland. so great. from beginning, my plane landing in the middle of a snowstorm, till the end, arriving home and realizing how thankful i am for southern charm. so great. the 20something weather was the absolute definition of my catchphrase, chillymcbrrrrrrr! it was very odd transitioning from that to the 78 degree weather in texas!


i must say, though. one of my favorite moments of this past week was while i was waiting at baggage claim for my little big pink, slightly beat up suitcase to appear. i got to see a couple greet each other with more joy than i have ever seen in my life. the girl: really cute short blonde hair and a warm christmassy sweater with jeans and cute boots. the boy= cowboy hat, button up shirt, jeans, and boots. they literally sprinted to each other and he lifted her up into a huge hug and his hat went flying, only for a passerby to hand it back to him and kept chatting and he would just grab her in his arms and keep kissing her and staring at her. meanwhile, i'm like tearing up at them from the other side of the window like the creeper i am. not a big deal.

i am a hopeless romantic. i don't even really understand what that phrase means. but i do think it means i like romance. which is true. so let's just go with it.

and last night i got to meet my favorite blogger in the world!!!! emily loerke of today's letters! literally, she was about a thousand times more amazing in real life. i am so genuinely inspired by how everything about her; from her kind and welcoming heart, to her silly charm, reflected Jesus. amazingness.

AND we kited her. :)



the night was sealed with a conversation full of love and healing with my dear sweet katie. she is such a precious friend.

i am blessed. so are you, whether you realize it at this moment are not.
if you're reading this, i pray that you enjoy the holidays for all that they are,
for who they are about, Jesus!

lovelovelove!

no complaints.

on sunday night i found what could very well be my new favorite scripture.


"And you show that you are a letter
from Christ,
delivered by us,
written not with ink but with the
Spirit of the living God,
not on tablets of stone,
but on human hearts."
- 2 Corinthians 3:3

i love everything about this verse. i love the visual metaphor of letter's from Christ,
and i love the thought of His words being engraved on our hearts.
this verse will now officially be tatooed on my arms, posted on my status, tweeted on my twitter, written on my mirror.... wellllll, not really. but i did write it in my journal and print it out in a lovely font and hang it from the clothesline of notes above my bed.
when i read those beautiful words i just feel so genuinely inspired to examine my heart,
and want to just continue to grow it. (by it, i mean.. my heart? that sounds weird, kind of.)
I just want the Lord to continue to break me in whatever ways He needs to give me His heart. Wow. I just typed that in the flow of my thoughts and i'm absolutley positive that my mind can't even comprehend what praying something like that actually means. My heart is almost, craving worship right now. I just need to get alone with the Lord. And by alone, i mean at the all worship Breakaway tonight, which will be packed with thousands of A&M students. Yet, I know I will be able to get alone with my Savior, and sit at His feet for a conversation. It's a beautiful thing. It really is.

On a lighter note, I have been so amazingly overwhelmed with the wonderful people in my life these days. Last week i was basically on my death bed of sickness and some of my beautiful Theta sisters literally took care of me in anyway they could. Driving me to the doctor, bringing supplies, and praying over me while i cried in pain. I am so blessed! I am also a giggly little girl right now with joy that one of my best friends in the whole world is about to have some amazing changes in her life that start her future. eeek!

ALSO:
in nine days i will be here:

and here:

(looking at this picture of dc just made me literally FREAK OUT with excitement!)

with this lady:


there is so much joy in that. i am literally so excited to spend a few days with sweet lucy in her neck of the woods, which happens to be somewhere that i have a sick obsession with finally visiting. (DC!!)

i have to praise the Lord for Him directing my eyes to the good, and letting the bad sit in the back of my mind. thanks to madi mae, i am now a spontaneous girl who dyes her hair into a "chocolate velvet" color. our theta christmas party was just fabulous. i'll be home for break soon, and crafting will be my new major for around a month. nope, i can't find anything to complain about. xoxo!







( i love this last picture so much that it is my phone background, my computer background, and my profile picture. awesome blossom!)