Day Thirty

Today officially marks the end of the Thirty Days of Thankfulness.

It's been a good exercise for me, but like with anything there have been ups and downs. I started out with so much excitement and enthusiasm, there were days when I observed and lived in anticipation of finding things to be thankful for. And then were there days when I didn't feel like being thankful at all or where I sat at my computer stumped, trying to come up with my five. I'm so human.

I've learned some important things though:

• I am not at a place where thankfulness necessarily comes naturally yet, I'd like to get there
  
• Sometimes the things that I am thankful for are just things that make me laugh...and I don't think that is a bad thing.
• I would like to be as excited about my walk with the Lord everday as I was when I started this 30 days ago...an excitement about what the Lord can and will do!
• I want to continue in this discipline, perhaps not posting it on here, but in my time with the Lord, being intentional about my thankfulness for what he has done and is doing daily.

So, here it is folks, that last thankfulness post. Enjoy!

Day Thirty:

1. Everyone who has been reading this blog and the little ways I have seen the Lord use it.
2. That there are some people who I know will just always be a part of my life.
3. Getting to talk to Brittany Brock today!!!
4. Awkward moments that make funny stories later
5. People who desire to make the Lord known in the world around them
   

Grand Finale

It's no secret that I love reality television, and the show that by far has my heart is The Biggest Loser. This season was a particularly good season. Not only was it the biggest cast ever (as in the largest people), there was a lot less drama, and just a lot of seeing people change. And that's exciting. Yes, it's TV and yes, it's perhaps silly to get a little choked up each episode...but it makes me happy. And Tara just LOST for the first time all season, and this was the big one...GOOOOO Helen!!

Day Twenty-nine:

1. The opportunity to share, in a very small way, in what Community Hope has been doing by attending their end of the year banquet.
2. Getting all my rosters done before the track starts tomorrow
   
3. Finally working out again after over a week of doing nothing
4. Driving past beautiful fields at dusk
5. A nice place to come home to after a long day
   

Getting back in the swing

I don't have a whole lot to write about today. It was a pretty typical day, not a bad day by any means, not an especially exciting one either. It's one of those days where time went by really fast even though you feel like you've been moving slow...

...and I know that I was moving slow mostly because I felt like I hadn't been to work in weeks. Between my trip with my mom, the YRS retreat, and Seafarer, it has been quite a while since I've spent an entire day in the office and I just feel like I had to get back into my groove. And of course, the downside to any time away from work is coming back to all the odds and ends that piled up in your absence that you have to tackle. and it was a Monday...and it was raining....

sigh... :)

Day Twenty-eight:

1. Waking up earlier than usual and starting the day off without rushing
2. The good fortune to not only have food to eat, but to have the kinds of food I enjoy to eat
3. My girls Eva and Molly who hang out with me in the office every afternoon
   
4. Anticipation about the business of the summer that will be here soon enough
5. Conviction from the Lord
   

OMG

On the way to church this morning, Jordan filled me in that the title of JD's new sermon series is "OMG!" I liked it without even knowing what he was preaching about.

As it turns out, he's preaching on prayer, which sounds good to me because it's definitely an area where I'd like to see growth. I really enjoy corporate prayer, I've experienced the power of prayer, I know the necessity of it, but so often I lack motivation or don't set apart the time in my day to really devote to talking to God. That needs to change.

Anywho, the sermon, per usual, gave me some good things to think about, and while I could simply copy my notes from the sermon, I want to focus in on what JD focused on as "The 3 Things That Are ALWAYS TRUE About God" because what we think and believe about who God is greatly affects the stance we take towards him and the stance we take towards him affects our worship of him. It's important to keep these things in mind because the circumstances of our lives do not always prompt us to worship, but when we focus on these truths, we have no choice but to worship joyfully.

Three Truths About God

1. God is in loving control: "If ever there was a time where it seemed like evil was in total control, it was at the cross, BUT it fulfilled God's will" We all face times in our lives when we feel like God is turning his back on us and the matters of our lives. Bad things happen, evil exists, and people will hurt us, but what is so awesome is that (to quote JD) "Satan has never come up with a plan to which God didn't answer 'That's perfect. It will suit my will perfectly.'" Anything that Satan or any person could use for evil against you is an opportunity to see God's hand in your life even when we don't see it at the time. What is important is that when we are faced with these challenges we are emotionally honest with God to admit the pain but intellectually humble enough to admit there are things about God that we just won't understand.
2. God acts according to great mercy: And mercy is God not giving us what we deserve while grace is giving us what we don't deserve. By our very nature we are sinful and deserve the wrath of God, but the very fact that we wake up every morning is a demonstration of God's mercy towards us. Not understanding God's mercy towards us can really affect our relationship with him. If you are constantly thinking that you deserve God's wrath, you will feel guilty with his mercy. And if you think you don't deserve wrath, you can harbor resentment towards God when life doesn't go the way you think it should.
3. God is tender towards us: "The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made" (Psalm 145:17). God will provide for the things we need, he will lift us up when we fall, fix us when we are broken, watch over us and protect us. We are his creation and his stance towards us is love and he loves us tenderly.

To tie all of this pack to the topic of worship and prayer, how we view God determines how we worship. If God is nothing but useful to us, a means to an end or a way to make us feel better, we will have to discipline ourselves to pray. But if we embrace the truths above and God becomes beautiful to us, it is our joy to pray.

Day Twenty-seven:

1. Finding a church where I walk away each week with a new perspective
2. Seeing people who are truly joyful about the Lord
3. A good cry at a good movie
4. Getting some order back to my room
5. My mother, of course. She is a wonderful lady.
   

One, Two, Three Strikes You're Out!

Baseball season has begun...and so has tee-ball season and I am quite excited because I have decided to volunteer and help one of the directors coach a tee ball team...The Rockies!

Today was our first practice and we definitely have a winning team on our hands ;) We have about 10 kids on the team and each one is as cute as can be. Obviously, some kids have more of a clue than others, but I think they are all ready to have some fun, and that's what is important. We worked on the basics today--what the positions are, ALWAYS run to first base first, how to field a ball, learning everybody's names, that sort of stuff. I'll actually have to miss our first game and a few practices, but I'm really excited...I'll make sure to keep everyone posted :)

Day Twenty-six:

1. The helpful sales girls at the mall today :)
2. Hanging out with the team today
3. Fresh baked cookies
4. A sense of accomplishment that comes from doing laundry
5. To reflect on the accomplishments of all my friends who graduated today
   

Catching up is hard to do

Given the reason for my absence the past few days, it would only be appropriate to start off this entry with a big ol' Ahoy There!

The trip to Camp Seafarer was a blast. It was fun to be back in summer camp mode, even if it was only for a few days. The trip was a good reminder of why I love resident camping so much. When you put kids in an environment that is so different from what they experience at home and you live in a cabin with them, you get to see different facets of their personalities and I love that. I love how relaxed camp is and how it just allows you to be away from normal for it a bit. Maybe one day God will put me back into the camping world.

The set-up at Seafarer is pretty sweet. Just about everything is on the water, which is cool; the cabins are huge with lots of room for stuff and hanging out (plus they have bathrooms in them!); the mess hall has a nice set up (I wish I could have seen the kitchen) and they definitely have their mealtimes down to a science. Supervision and accountability was a little more lax than I'm used to in that setting, but it seemed to work. I also liked that it had a very old-school summer camp feel with the bugle and the flag raising/lowering each day.

Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to work at an all girls camp. I mean, I definitely love being able to pour into young girls, and that would have been an ideal setting, and it definitely cuts out a whole mess of problems by eliminating boys. I have to say that I really enjoyed getting to spend time with the middle school girls this week. It's just fun to see what they get excited about, what they worry about, and to take a moment to be proud when they are doing the right thing and others aren't. The four of us had a rockin' time. I'm really glad I got the chance to go :)

Day Twenty-three (Wednesday):

1. That God has given me the ability to do decent devotions with teenage girls, even without much notice.
2. Arriving safely to Seafarer today and for the rain holding off, at least for now
3. That every group of campers always the one weird kid
4. Playing kickball
5. Getting to see how other camps run and what their traditions are

Day Twenty-four (Thursday):

1. The smell of honeysuckle on a warm breeze
2. Not waking up to an alarm clock
3. Getting to try something completely new (Sailing!)
4. How ridiculous middle schoolers are
5. That God has given me a liking for the weird kids

Day Twenty-five (Friday):

1. That no matter how "plugged in" and technologically advanced/demanding kids get, some of the simple joys of childhood are still around
2. Watching kids have the chance to get really excited about something that is new to them
3. Going to the movies. It is one of my absolutely favorite things to do (even though I don't do it often because they cost so much)
4. That my camera arrived and appears to be safe, sound, and in proper working order
5. Getting to watch and be proud of how well behaved my girls were this week
   

Updates from my time in NYC are still to come...

On the road again...

Well, the successful return home on Sunday is met with opening up the ol' duffle once again and heading back out of town. For the next three days I will be heading with Track Out over to Arapahoe, NC to hang out at Camp Seafarer. I'm excited. I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone that I love resident camping and since this summer will be the first summer in fourteen years that I won't be at at any resident camp, I think this trip will be a nice little fix. It's always fun to get back into the cabin and flex the counseling muscles a bit ;)

With that being said, I must get to bed because it's going to be a long (but fun) next few days.

Day Twenty-two:

1. That, according to the boy in Chic-fil-A today, 1+1= flower; ow+ow=tooth; and 3+3=6
2.The celebration of Cinco de Mayo with Taco Bell, Margarita flavored Bartles and James, and Enrique Inglesias.
3. That Jordan and I made it home safely during the storm earlier. It was pretty intense.
4. Seeing change in people, and celebrating that change when it comes.
5.Alarm clocks with short snooze times...otherwise I would not get out of bed in the morning.

I'm OK with being a guinea pig

I have a very faint memory from my childhood of doing some product testing for a company. I know it was when we still lived in West Virginia and I am pretty sure my friend Leslie was there as well. In all honesty, I have very little recollection of the products we actually tested, all I know, is that for sitting in a room and looking at pictures and stuff, I got a trial size of DEP hair gel (strange I know, but I think it was somehow associated with a Barbie that you were supposed to be able to style her hair or something) and Fruit Rollups--that is a sweet deal when you are a kid. I blame that experience entirely for my affinity for free things :)

Truth is, I like doing research--from product testing, academic research, or just random queries of friends. I like filling out surveys and I like giving my opinion and sharing my experiences. It's fun to me. All that to say, I have decided to once again to volunteer my services as a product researcher and I am quite excited about it.

Day Twenty-one:

1. Creative people who create little nuggets of gold like this
2. Rediscovering old songs I like but haven't thought about it awhile
3. A productive day of discussion and evaluation (and sharing stories)
4. The smell of rain and the sound of it outside my window
5. Customer service representatives who do not act as if you are wasting their time or are stupid

I will play catch up later

...as you will find out when I get around to updating on the past few days, this weekend was eventful to say the least, so it was nice to have the afternoon and evening to relax. I was not entirely motivated to update on the past three days, but I was motivated to make a decision about the Nikon D60 and I decided to get it.

In other news, whenever I fly I always have the song "The Thing About Airplanes" by Andrew Peterson playing in my head. In particular, the line that says "Now the thing about airplanes I've noticed this time / is you can't look ahead, and you can't look behind / but you can see where you are when you look out the side / you can try to recover some peace." It's a song about longing, about discontentment, about disappointment, about wanting to be somewhere other than where you are at the moment even when you are in the midst of something perfectly good ("you know I love flying, especially at night";"the works of my Maker I'm flying beside")...I think it's pretty true of life too.

Flying is completely transitional. You know where you are coming from and you can anticipate where you will end up, but for however long you are in the plane, you are there with pretty much nowhere to go---you are trapped yet constantly moving forward.

It's easy to fall into the same mindset with life. It's easy to start to feel restless. It's easy to feel trapped by where you are in life. It's easy to feel discontent even when nothing is wrong with life. We can get nostalgic for the past and fantasize about the future and completely miss where we are in the present, yet life keeps going on whether we choose to realize it or not. I have found that is is when we most fully embrace the present, we are most content in it.

I know that I do my fair share of overlooking the present, but as a believer, it's so contradictory to what I know to be true--my past is forgotten and my (immediate) future is not promised and I already know my ultimate destination, that leaves no choice but to be a good steward of my time in the present.

Day Twenty:

1. For returning home safely and having time to relax.
2. That I am fortunate enough to be able to do and have the things that make me happy.
3. Window seats on airplanes
4. That I get to sleep in a little bit tomorrow
5. Tiny surprises from the bff when I get home (we're growing plants!)
   

Packing

I am a terrible packer. I always wait until the very last minute to do it. I always pack more stuff than I need. And I often over-estimate the amount of shoes that I will need (I also tend to over-estimate the long term comfort of shoe choices). I am going up to New York this weekend and I am almost positive that everything I packed will be, to a degree, a bad choice, because my mind still wants to dress for North Carolina. Oh well...I will live. There is also a chance of rain...boo that.

I am very excited about the trip though. Starting two years ago, my mom and I decided to take an annual trip. We originally planned on it being to Charleston, because we both love going down there, but this year we decided to take a trip up the New York. We will be staying with my aunt and uncle in New Jersey and then spend a day in NYC and another day in Philadelphia. It will be action packed, but I think it will be fun. Aaand, I am FINALLY going to see Wicked, which I am obviously psyched out of my mind about. And fun fact, one of the families from the Y is going to be at the same show. Small world, eh?

I'm not entirely sure I would want to call New York City home forever, but I definitely would like to live there for a year or two at some point in my life. I think a lot of people have that same desire, and I know it's definitely been on my mind for the past couple of years. I just think it would be an exciting time to see the city in its fullness, not just snapshot glimpses on weekend trips.

On a side note, I do not plan on taking my computer with me on my trip, so my posts for the next couple of days will be postponed, but no worries, they will come :)

Day Sixteen:

1. That I mange to operate pretty well even when I don't get enough sleep
2. That my mom gives me a call whenever she has bible questions
3. For everyone who is giving me input about my decision to buy a camera (I still haven't decided)
4. The opportunity to work out with a trainer. Not only is it good for taking care of my body, it's cool to see a different side of the Y
5. That Facebook, while without a doubt a terrible time waster, is a wonderful tool for catching up with people, without which I would do much less of
   

Thoughts from the salon chair

Sometimes I go onto the Wake Tech website and think about what would be a fun degree to pick up in my spare time.

I have really considered Baking and Pastry Arts several times, because I really want to make beautiful, edible goodies. I love watching Food Network Challenge and Ace of Cakes, not thinking I'd ever be that good, but thinking that it would be fun to try my hand at cake decorating and construction and whatnot. Plus, I am itching to play with fondant...I'm fascinated by it.

I've also considered Cosmetology. I feel like that could be such an awesome way to minister to people. I think everyone, at least every girl I know, understands the difference a "cute day" versus a "fat day" can make, and a lot of times when we feel like we are looking our best on the outside, it gives us a boost to let all the good things on the inside show too. Don't get me wrong, I am 100% inner beauty is more important than hair, make-up, and clothes, but it just breaks my heart when I watch shows or see people who have such low self-image that they can't see anything good in themselves, they don't even see themselves as worth investing any time on.

As I was getting my hair cut today and listening to and watching the people around me I thought, how fun it must be when you know you've given someone a great haircut that they love. That can do a lot for a person. Then I thought, what if I could have a job that would help others, especially girls and women, see just how beautiful they are? Just think of the doors it would open to speak truth into those lives about where their true worth comes from, and I think it would be a great reminder to myself about where my true worth comes from.

I'll just add it to the life to-do list :)

Day Fifteen:

1. Random quests for knowledge brought upon by Jordan
2. Freshly cut hair in a style that I really like :)
3. Encouragement that comes from hearing what the Lord has done in other people's lives
4. My upcoming trip to NYC with mi madre
   
5. Quiet moments in my car over my lunch break to just sit and enjoy the sun
   

The internet is a dark, scary abyss...

...one that I get sucked into far too often.

I love the internet for various reasons. Communication with just about everyone I know is at my fingertips...I can get answers to burning questions like "Did that dude ever do any other movies?" or "What's the name of that kid who did that movie about that stuff?" in seconds...I can watch just about anything I can think of from my childhood thanks to somebody on YouTube...and I can spend hours looking at things that I don't need to buy, and thus making me feel somewhat more materialistic than I probably already am.

I have been pondering the idea of a digital SLR for sometime now. When they first came out, they were way out of my price range, but over the years a decent camera has become quite reasonably priced and my income has become much more steady than it has been the past few years. And recently, I have been doing a lot of browsing around on several websites and have found some potentially really sweet deals on the camera that I am thinking about.

But when it really comes down to it, I don't need it, I just want it. And while I feel like I am in a phase of life where it is slightly more acceptable to be a little more self-indulgent, I am still quite torn. And what is worse is that the more I look into them, the more obligated I feel to actually buy one now that I've invested so much time.

Plus, I am incredibly indecisive.

What to do about my soul.....

Day Fourteen:

1. That I live in a neighborhood with so many children. They provide endless moments of entertainment.
2. That a song I like came on the radio in the weight room that gave me that extra few minutes of motivation to finish my workout.
3. Fresh strawberries that Jordan was willing to share with me.
4. Random phone calls from my friend Petra.
5. That the Lord wakes me up every morning :)
   

Unexpected Behavior

"Our sin is disgusting, and Jesus became that sin for us." JD Greear

By human standards, Jesus wasn't right in the head. It's pretty obvious when you think about the crucifixion. It wasn't just some nice gesture, or even just an act of fulfillment to the prophets. It was a brutal display of pure hatred taken on by Jesus for the sake of people who stood in direct opposition to him (which is what we were in our sin). Jesus took our place--the principle of substitution. This is the first part of what JD spoke about today.

Jesus didn't just take our place on the cross, throughout the gospel of Matthew we can see Jesus reliving the steps of the nation of Israel, but rather than leaving a legacy marked with disobedience and turmoil, Jesus lives as we ought. His life early on begins with an exile out of Egypt. He spends 4o nights in the desert just like the Israelites spent 40 years. He gives the new law to the people from the mount, just as the Israelites received the law from Moses from atop the mountain. Jesus is baptized not because he needed to repent of anything for himself, but because he was standing in for all of us, who are in desperate need of redemption, thus allowing God's words to him ("This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.") to be God's words to us.

The second part of JD's sermon was about how absolutely essential it is for us to find our identity in those words God speaks over us and not in the lies that Satan feeds us. In the desert when Jesus was being tempted, the devil isn't neccesarily tempting Jesus in the physical world. Rather, he is trying to make him doubt the identity God had just bestowed upon him at his baptism. The devil isn't telling Jesus he is not the Son of God, he is just raising the "if" questions, that when posed to any human mind would lead to at least a temporary identity crisis. But not Jesus, he is able to combat the devil's tempations by believing as truth what God says about him.

There are some lessons that I feel like God has to present to me over and over again (it's proof that God pursues his children), and the one of finding my identity in Christ is one of them. For years I have struggled with constantly comparing myself to others and with putting my worth and identity in the opinions that others have of me (or worse, not what they actually think but what I think they think). It's definitely the most prominent way the devil tries to pull my mind away from God. It's so hard to grasp the idea that Jesus loves me completely and to hold on tight to that concept. But what's harder than that is to give God's opinion the weight it should have. It's one thing to get it and another thing to believe it.

Day Thirteen:

1. The little boy at Target today who was very excited about finding THREE pairs of shoes in his mom's size.
   
2. That God has allowed me to keep up with a few campers from summers gone by and that I am able to influence the people they are becoming.
3. The whole genre of children's fantasy.
   
4. Getting to watch some of the girls from my small group get baptized today after church.
5. Online radio stations that play nothing but showtunes.
   

PickleFest 09

A month or so into Jordan and I living together, we had the idea to start hitting up local random festivals. It started with the Fiesta del Pueblo and the Greek Festival over at the state fair grounds, and it expanded into us looking up all sorts festivals across the state and putting them into our handy, dandy "social events calendar." We plan these trips more than we actual attend them (things come up, ya know), but one just can't pass up something like the Pickle Festival in good ol' Mt. Olive, NC.

So, that is what we did today and I'm a better (and rather sunburnt) person for it, although I was somewhat disappointed at the lack of overall pickle culture. I mean, they handed out free pickles, which was pretty sweet, Mr. Crisp was walking around, and there really are Pickle Princesses, but other than that, it's a lot like the state fair--turkey legs, funnel cakes, and a wide variety of people from all walks of life :) I just feel like if you have a theme, you need to go all out. For example, if you are going to be having pig and duck races, the pigs should be in pickle costumes. If you are going to have a car show, I think the contestants should have to work a pickle theme into their presentation. And EVERY food stand should have some sort of signature pickle related food. I could do great things with a festival like that.

Anywho, the day wore me completely out, so I'm off to bed now.

Day Twelve:

1. The people of Mt. Olive who take pride in their town. They provided hours of entertainment today.
2. That I can watch Son-in-Law over and over again and still find it funny each time.
3. Cocoa Butter and the soothing effect it has on my sunburt skin
4. People who are willing to be silly in public places. Like the man on the bus today who was talking like Arnlod Schwarzenegger.
5. Chilidogs and icecream.
   

Made It...barely

I set out to start this post much earlier than now, but I got distracted...so I am just barely getting today's list in.

Day Eleven:

1. The little girl who told me she wanted to invite me to her birthday party
   
2. The woman at the Gap today who was sincerely realizing how great she looked in jeans
3. Hugh Grant double features on a Friday night
4. Sleeping with the window open :)
5. Zebra print flip flops (too bad there are no more safari days)

Tomorrow is the Pickle Festival in Mt. Olive and I have to admit I am pretty psyched out of my mind. They apparently give out tons of free pickles, have a pickle launch, pickle bowling, and a pickle packing contest. Oh, and not to mention the Pickle Princess pageant!

Tired

Man, I am about as worn out as a lady can get today. I have had trouble falling asleep the past few nights and I think it's finally catching up with me. I'm so not in college anymore.

Speaking of college, I can't believe it's been almost an entire year since I graduated. That is totally nuts! A year went by so fast. This time last year I was doing about 101 things at once and living off Diet Coke and Cheddar Chex Mix as I was finishing up my thesis, studying for exams, doing presentations, and squeezing in last minutes of tomfoolery.

Enough on that, this child needs to get to bed.

Day Ten:

1. That my mom and my house are ok even though Myrtle Beach has apparently gone up in flames.
2. The Office--it makes me laugh.
3. That tomorrow is Friday. I'm just tired and need to get some sleep.
4. Motivation
5. That I have actually stuck with my commitment in these posts and not let my laziness or sleepiness get in the way.
   

I guess they like me...

...or if not...i am getting very mixed signals ;)

Today was Administrative Professionals Appreciation Day and I had no clue.

So I pull up to the Y this morning and I notice something weird is on my office window. My first thought was "What did after school do to my office?" (Sorry FGT). But when I walked inside I was overwhelmed with a display of streamers, balloons, flowers, and all sorts of goodies :) The directors had decorated my office just for the occasion! It was totally a surprise and it just made my heart happy. They are too good to me, seriously. It 's always encouraging to hear that you are doing a good job and that you are contributing to the team, but in all honestly, I have been more than supported in my job and I know that is a HUGE factor in why I am able to get things done.

This is as I walked in the door....

...and this is my desk (check out the fancy streamer job)

See what I mean, spoiled!Handcrafted my Meredith Cox herself. "It's green, because you like green" :)

I wonder who might have been the creator of this work of art?

And of course, the BEAUTIFUL flowers. So pretty I had to go home and take pictures :)

Day Nine:

1. I think it goes without saying, the opportunity to have the job I do and work with the people that I do and all the kindness they bestow on me.
2. That the state licensing people were not scary or mean and were willing to help me understand what I need to do to meet compliance.
3. Classic Rock-n-Roll music and the boogie woogie piano.
4. That I am going to the Pickle Festival with my bff on Saturday.
5. That the best costume I saw today was put together by a little girl and her daddy :)
   

The written word

I will take the written word over the spoken word any day-- for a couple reasons.

One, I am a much better writer than I am a speaker. I can look over something I have written and give myself a pat on the back; but if I have to watch myself speaking publicly or hear myself recorded, I want to cringe and back into a corner. And while I can eloquently present something to a group if I want (usually after writing everything out) and there are times when I know the Lord gives me the words to carry on good conversations, on the whole, I wouldn't say expressing myself verbally is a strong suit.

Second, I love the tangibility of the written word. You can have a good conversation with someone, and you might remember a significant phrase verbatim or you can recall the gist of what they were saying, but if you receive a really good letter, that's yours to keep and you can revisit it whenever you want. That's what is so amazing about Scripture; it is a letter from God that we can just read over and over again until the binding gets tattered or we've written all over the page or whatever :) It's a tangible tool from God.

Also, I like to be cautious with the words that I say and I get frustrated when I don't feel like I have adequately communicated what I want to say, so the written word allows me to get everything out the way I want it to be without getting sidetracked.

Now, I am by no means undermining the importance of face to face contact or the necessity of verbal communication, I just know what I like better. And I think the Lord has given me a gift and a passion for writing, and lately I feel like He has been calling me to use it to encourage others. I think that is part of why I have been so excited about blogging more consistently this past week or so--I like writing for an audience (even if it is a small one), especially if it's something I think the Lord can use to encourage them. So, I hope that is what this blog is doing. Yes, the challenge has been good for me personally, but I want it to reach further than my own growth and walk with the Lord.

Day Eight:

1. My Summit small group. I have been really blessed to get plugged in with such a great group of ladies and I am excited and hopeful that the Lord will continue to grow our group and our relationships.
2. That today half of my day consisted of playing on a playground with kids.
3. That all those years of watching professional wrestling paid off by having something "cool" to talk about with a 5th grade boy
4. For the Chic-fil-A on Six Forks...Obviously I love their food and their sweet tea (and I probably eat there more than I should), but I am thankful for the staff who work there and for their having such a great environment. I spend many a lunch break there and I feel quite welcome to sit and read or write while I'm eating my kids meal :) The people watching is great too.
5. That my friends Brandon and Ansley are pregnant. I CANNOT WAIT to see their baby girl.
   

Self Control

Overall, I would say I exhibit a pretty good measure of self-control in my life, and I think people who know me would say the same. I don't usually let my emotions get the best of me, I can hold my tongue (usually), I can wait for something I want to go on sale, I understand and chose to live in a way that I feel glorifies to Lord, even if it means on missing out on something in the here and now. BUT one area where I exhibit significantly less self-control is when I crave something specific to eat. And mind you, these cravings can be absurd and strange combinations (corn on the cob and donut holes; milkshakes and burritos for example). I don't mean it in a gluttonous way, or as in I just eat whatever (if that was the case my butt would be on The Biggest Loser), but it's like once I get my mind set on something specific, nothing else just quite satisfies.

It's this very craving-driven determiniation that binds my friend Katie and I together. I can always count on her not only sympathizing with but partaking in the strange quests for whatever we happen to be craving at the time. Perhaps one of our first bonding moments was sometime, I guess freshman year, when I came into her room proclaiming "OMG I need a cheeseburger!!" and we immediately had to go to Jack in the Box :)

I tell that story for two reasons.

One, I got it in my head last night that I really wanted chili cheese fries and thus I made a trip to the grocery store after work (and working out) to get all the ingredients, and I thus enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

Second, I have to laugh at myself for the reality of how single-mindedly focused I can be sometimes on such silly (and maybe some not so silly) things, not just random cravings, but a lot of other little fixations in my life. If I would just take half the time I spend planning for or thinking about those things and direct that craving and driveness towards pursuing Christ, imagine the doors He could open and the things He could do through me. Jesus is better than a burrito flavored cheeseburger with a side of donut holes and a milkshake to drink, and He deserves Lordship over my entire life as silly and ridiculous as I may be.

Something JD said in his sermon yesterday was, "If Jesus is not Lord of all of your life, then He's not Lord at all." Heavy. Perhaps I went around my elbow to get to my butt to get to this point, but why is it that I am so willing to submit my will in some areas and so unwilling in others?

Ahh, the things the Lord can reveal through chili fries :)

Day Seven:

1. BIG hugs from little children I haven't seen in twelve weeks :)
2. That my mom loves to send things in the mail
3. When rainy mornings end up in beautiful afternoons
4. That I get to share in the excitement and joy of the upcoming weddings of some of my dear friends
5. That the Lord likes to give me "projects" when I'm trying to fall asleep
   

Do the Freddie

One of the things that I love most about being out of college is that weekends are actually weekends. In school, Sundays were very rarely a day of rest. Sure we would take a long, leisurely lunch after church and sometimes we would make a trip to the lake, but ultimately Sunday's were bogged down with wrapping up (or starting) all the work I had put off until then and meetings for various things. So, it's nice to have that real separation of work and rest and to enjoy relaxing.

And even though today might have been a relaxing day, I accomplished plenty of worthwhile things. I went to church and JD preached a sermon that I still need to do some unpacking and reflecting on because it was pretty heavy (there will probably be more on it, once I've got my thoughts together). When I got home I made a delicious small stack of banana and chocolate chip pancakes and took parenting notes from the Duggers :) Their total lack of television watching naturally inspired me to reminisce about all of the things that I most enjoyed watching on TV as a child, which resulted in watching Troop Beverly Hills and a variety of clips on YouTube (where would we be without YouTube?). Lastly but definitely not least, I created a Pandora station for Freddie and the Dreamers, the creators of this little gem. It's the little things friend :)

Day Six:

1. The diversity in the choir at church. Black, white, young, old--a little bit of everyone represented and it's a little glimpse into what heaven will be like.
2. Color--life would be so boring without it.
3. That we always seemed to have music on when we were kids.
4. For my dear friend Katie Simmons and her reminding me about our Eat-vangelism seminar...those were the days :)
5. Reopened doors of communication with family members I haven't talked to in years.