1. the day that this semester is over will literally be such joy!
2. & that day is coming quicker than i imagined..
3. psalm 139 psalm 139 psalm 139
4. working the fbc paradise disciple now made my heart fall in love with 11 junior high girls.
5. i cried when viewing this.
6. this time next week passion 2011 ft worth will have already happened. so excited.
7. special k is one of my favorite meals.
8. you know you love your friends when you're so truly excited about changes in their lives.
9. loosing your debit card and student id = not awesome
10. i'm going to sleep so well tonight.
... well that was boring.
sunday evening list.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
i just finished a beautiful book by shauna niequist.
a long time ago, madi mae parker told me this was a must read. she said it was her favorite book before she even finished it.
"I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing out loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down, and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift."
"Celebration when your plan is working? Anyone can do that. But when you realize that the story of your life could be told a thousand different ways, that you could tell it over and over as a tragedy, but you choose to call it an epic, that's when you start to learn what celebration is. When what you see in front of you is so far outside of what you dreamed, but you have the belief, the boldness, the courage to call it beautiful instead of calling it wrong, that's celebration."
“True friendship is a sacred, important thing, and it happens when we drop down into that deeper level of who we are, when we cross over into the broken, fragile parts of ourselves. We have to give something up in order to get friendship like that. We have to give up our need to be perceived as perfect. We have to give up our ability to control what people think of us. We have to overcome the fear that when they see the depth of who we are, they’ll leave. But what we give up is nothing in comparison to what this kind of friendship gives to us. Friendship is about risk. Love is about risk. If we can control it and manage it and manufacture it, then it’s something else, but if it’s really love, really friendship, it’s a little scary around the edges.”
“So when I’m on the edge, peering over into the unknown, trembling and terrified to move forward, devastatingly afraid to take that next step, I practice believing that full life is beyond the fear. . . God is God, he is leading my life, and that he is saying to me, as he has been saying to his people throughout history, I will never leave you, and I’ve left reminders all around, if you have the eyes to see them.”
only a few little glimpses into the greatness. this book was amazing. please read it. it makes me feel normal and okay for wanting to be excited about all the little things, to jump around for no reason even though i'm twenty years old, to not feel like i need to be serious twenty four seven, and when it is time for that seriousness, to refer to it as "serious squirrels".
my heart is constantly full of love these days. nothing in my life has dramatically changed except for the posture that i woke up one day and realized i had taken on.
my new posture reflects this beautiful verse:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." - James 1:1-4
i used to think that this verse was about my attitude when bad things happen. about remembering this verse in the back of my mind. but as i woke up one morning to realize, it is about going to bed with a face wet with tears and being so truly excited because i know that God is hearing those prayers i whisper. that when i wake up, crawl out of bed, hopefully don't fall on the two foot walk to my desk (its happened before.) i am going to have beautiful intimacy with my creator via journaling letters to Him, and reading His word. it can't get much better than that, and it is a constant in my life. it's not going anywhere. that is so worth celebrating!
as much as i cry whenever i remember that there are orphans and think about heartbreak often, i just think that we should all be like my shauna niequist and try to enjoy sunsets and yummies and friends and laughter. we should just do that.
we shall see how i feel about this here in a few days once school picks back up again. :)
a long time ago, madi mae parker told me this was a must read. she said it was her favorite book before she even finished it.
"I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing out loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down, and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift."
"Celebration when your plan is working? Anyone can do that. But when you realize that the story of your life could be told a thousand different ways, that you could tell it over and over as a tragedy, but you choose to call it an epic, that's when you start to learn what celebration is. When what you see in front of you is so far outside of what you dreamed, but you have the belief, the boldness, the courage to call it beautiful instead of calling it wrong, that's celebration."
“True friendship is a sacred, important thing, and it happens when we drop down into that deeper level of who we are, when we cross over into the broken, fragile parts of ourselves. We have to give something up in order to get friendship like that. We have to give up our need to be perceived as perfect. We have to give up our ability to control what people think of us. We have to overcome the fear that when they see the depth of who we are, they’ll leave. But what we give up is nothing in comparison to what this kind of friendship gives to us. Friendship is about risk. Love is about risk. If we can control it and manage it and manufacture it, then it’s something else, but if it’s really love, really friendship, it’s a little scary around the edges.”
“So when I’m on the edge, peering over into the unknown, trembling and terrified to move forward, devastatingly afraid to take that next step, I practice believing that full life is beyond the fear. . . God is God, he is leading my life, and that he is saying to me, as he has been saying to his people throughout history, I will never leave you, and I’ve left reminders all around, if you have the eyes to see them.”
only a few little glimpses into the greatness. this book was amazing. please read it. it makes me feel normal and okay for wanting to be excited about all the little things, to jump around for no reason even though i'm twenty years old, to not feel like i need to be serious twenty four seven, and when it is time for that seriousness, to refer to it as "serious squirrels".
my heart is constantly full of love these days. nothing in my life has dramatically changed except for the posture that i woke up one day and realized i had taken on.
my new posture reflects this beautiful verse:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." - James 1:1-4
i used to think that this verse was about my attitude when bad things happen. about remembering this verse in the back of my mind. but as i woke up one morning to realize, it is about going to bed with a face wet with tears and being so truly excited because i know that God is hearing those prayers i whisper. that when i wake up, crawl out of bed, hopefully don't fall on the two foot walk to my desk (its happened before.) i am going to have beautiful intimacy with my creator via journaling letters to Him, and reading His word. it can't get much better than that, and it is a constant in my life. it's not going anywhere. that is so worth celebrating!
as much as i cry whenever i remember that there are orphans and think about heartbreak often, i just think that we should all be like my shauna niequist and try to enjoy sunsets and yummies and friends and laughter. we should just do that.
we shall see how i feel about this here in a few days once school picks back up again. :)
Thursday, March 17, 2011
God Story: The Howerton Family from ROCKHARBOR on Vimeo.
i saw this video for the first time about a month or so ago. my heart is already breaking daily for orphans and abandoned children all over the world. i truly pray that one day the Lord makes it possible for me to adopt. eeeeeeek!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
okay. so i've neglected blogging.
and by blogging, i mean, actually posting things on my blog that probably isn't really read by anyone. by blogging, i do not mean looking at blogs. i obviously still do this on the daily. :)
it is spring break. can i just say praise the Lord for that? you don't understand the joy of spring break until you are a college student. and my spring break is literally divided into complete perfection.
first half =
alex compton's lake house with 15 of my precious theta sisters for some fun and relaxation. this trip literally gave me such an appreciation for the girls that have been placed in my life. i can't even explain.
doesn't that look joyous? it was.
and today begins the second half which =
shopping and lunching with my momma, being home and getting to visit with all my first baptist church of justin lovelies, helping katherine with photo shoots, and just more riding in a relaxi-taxi until school & life continues to eat my face.
oh, speaking of school and life eating my face!
can we talk about how faithful Jesus is through it all?
i know this is something discussed often, but really though.
life has literally been crazy, i have been so busy and feeling so overwhelmed but
it has never been more clear to me that He is in control, that He is putting all of these things in my life right now for a reason. this makes my heart smile.
so enjoy your spring break, or enjoy your whatever.
and be jealous of this cute skirt i bought today.
and by blogging, i mean, actually posting things on my blog that probably isn't really read by anyone. by blogging, i do not mean looking at blogs. i obviously still do this on the daily. :)
it is spring break. can i just say praise the Lord for that? you don't understand the joy of spring break until you are a college student. and my spring break is literally divided into complete perfection.
first half =
alex compton's lake house with 15 of my precious theta sisters for some fun and relaxation. this trip literally gave me such an appreciation for the girls that have been placed in my life. i can't even explain.
doesn't that look joyous? it was.and today begins the second half which =
shopping and lunching with my momma, being home and getting to visit with all my first baptist church of justin lovelies, helping katherine with photo shoots, and just more riding in a relaxi-taxi until school & life continues to eat my face.
oh, speaking of school and life eating my face!
can we talk about how faithful Jesus is through it all?
i know this is something discussed often, but really though.
life has literally been crazy, i have been so busy and feeling so overwhelmed but
it has never been more clear to me that He is in control, that He is putting all of these things in my life right now for a reason. this makes my heart smile.
so enjoy your spring break, or enjoy your whatever.
and be jealous of this cute skirt i bought today.