It's a marathon, not a sprint.

As is per my usual, I have 45 things to be doing yet cannot seem to focus in and actually do them. Today I head off to one of my favorite places, camp. This camp, however, is called "Boondocker" and will definitely encompass all the name suggests. We will sleep in tents, prepare most of our own food, be outside under no roofs all day, and get to swim in the lake all afternoon! I am stoked and excited for the fun, challenge, and service I will get to be a part of for the next 3.5 days. God is going to do some great things, I just know it.

Something I have been working through is being patient and aligning my plans and timing with His. I am so eager to do so many things I tend to forget to listen to the quiet whisper of God guiding and correcting me as I go. He is far beyond my wisdom and understanding and I love that I so blessed to be a part of his plan.

All I know is the next year (and so many to come) is going to be such an adventure and I am excited to be embarking on another journey. The year will be different and already is just with the summer. The carefree days are not so carefree with working and class even now, but it is really alright with me. I am out of most leadership positions which is weird, but a real opportunity for me to allow God to use me and teach me in new ways. I am finally down to just three semesters of school, only two of which I actually attend class and have a lot of homework, the last being my student teaching (which I have heard is tough, but at least I will finally be out there, doing what I want to be doing). I have lots of exciting things happening in my life and I can see God's hand in all of it. I really believe he is preparing me to be a part of something great and can only continue to pray that I will listen and be willing to do his will and go when the time comes. I am so lucky to be a part of something greater than myself.

"I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." 1 Cor 9:23-25

iLove blog.

So here's the thing; I'll admit it, I secretly love those structured blogs [Thank you Nicole T, my fav blog to stalk--- Simple Woman's Daybook, Menu Plan Monday's, this new Why My Husband Rocks thing, and more]. It's so organized and cute and there are always pictures, and I just really enjoy it. As I'm sure you may know, I LOVE to know all about what is going on with everyone (information-wise, not like, gossip. I used to struggle a lot with that, and what girl hasn't, but seriously realized a few years back just how hurtful and stupid gossip is... thus I have tried to stay away from that kind of knowing about people]. I really just enjoy knowing what everyone is doing and how they are spending their time. All of that being said, Steph T "tagged" me awhile back in this little survey and I did it today at work (cough, cough, I mean not at work...). I love talking about myself and would LOVE to do all of those organized posts but just don't have the time (oh and I don't plan my meals until meal time, which typically results in my eating whatever Nick wants to eat, which is usually pizza or something equally calorie-ful...or sandwiches, thank goodness he likes sandwiches!) Anyway, all that being said, I love to blog, read blogs, email, text, talk, hang out, and any other form that allows me to communicate with or learn more about someone else, and am hoping to keep up a little better with this blog of mine.

7 unimportant things that make me [very] happy:

1. Dark chocolate peanut M&Ms and a Mountain Dew Voltage. Probably my least healthy habit... but those two things always make me feel better. [I do try to stay away from them as much as possible, so that they will stay a special treat as well as to avoid the billion grams of sugar Voltage has in it...]

2. Being tan. Come on, who doesn't look and feel better with a little color? I wish those darn tanning bed rays weren't so hazardous for the health...

3. Simple foods [cereal, turkey sandwiches, apples]. I could probably live on those three things, but the people I eat most of my meals with like a little more variety... those are my favorites though.

4. Driving alone with good old music blaring, singing my heart out. There is nothing like driving down the highway, windows down with Kelly Clarkson or Rascal Flatts singing with me as I go. It just takes me back to a time when life was simpler (not that it is terribly confusing or anything now).

5. Thank You's. Verbal, understood, via-card; really it's just knowing that something I did was appreciated or beneficial to someone else.

6. Getting my haircut! Just being in a salon puts me in a better mood. I would get my hair cut on a monthly basis if it didn't cost...and if I could somehow magically will my hair to grow at super-sonic speed so it didn't end up really short after like six months.
7. Planning and hosting events. I always stress out the day of up until right when the party/event is starting (so look out or I'll probably snap at you and/or start crying), but I really do love all the details, food, coordinating, fun, and people involved in it. [CPC4L?]

Anyway I'm not sure if anyone even reads this but I enjoy posting and getting to be creative and share some of my thoughts here. God is so good to me and has surrounded me with such an incredible group of people, and I am so grateful and blessed by them and by Him.



"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." -Col 3:1-2

Camp Manhattan.

I don't know what it is about summer that just awakens my soul and deepens my hunger for the glorious God I claim to serve. Maybe a part of it is that my life, for the past eleven or so years has gone in such a way that the summer was in fact my time of spiritual rejuvenation. Camps and youthquakes and then more camps and CIYs and more camps and so on, complete with qualified speakers, talented and passionate worship bands, and hundreds and thousands of other teenagers and young adults crying out to be filled with renewed passion for Christ. Maybe a part of it is that the summer gives me a chance to breathe, to stop, look around, catch my breath, and remember what it is I set out to do in the first place...before getting so bogged down and distracted by the forty-nine things I committed to doing during the semester, all of which end up becoming priority over my time spent with God.

Summer is a time for freshness, a time for growth. Summer will allow me time to find that which I seemed to have misplaced. It is not dead or gone, nooo no its not gone; it just managed to get a little lost in the rush of this roller coaster of a year. This summer holds so many opportunities to seek God in this beautiful place; in the almost too familiar place that has become my home. It will take some work, to see him in a new way in this comfortable little city. It will take dedication and prayer, and the incredible power of the Word to help me rise.

"And I will rise, when he calls my name,
No more sorrow, no more pain.
I will rise, on eagle's wings,
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise. I will rise."

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Pet 2:9-10