Weird is Cool

Well, it's about that time for school to end and everyone to move out!  It's crazy that I am almost finished with my first year of college already... time really did fly by!  But then, I think back to ALL the things that have happened over the course of this past year and my goodness it seemed that I never stood still!  I did not realize just how much time I spend with my friends and I am really going to miss them this whole 2 month break for summer- I can't even picture how it's going to feel? What am I going to do without a dorm lobby to hangout in until all hours of the morning?  Who will I be able to eat basically every meal with?  Who will make me laugh constantly? ...AND WHO WILL DO MY LAUNDRY? oh... totes my mom, so that's no biggie 'cuz she da bomb.

Literally, I have the greatest friends and it's cool looking back at the different phases of people you go through the first semesters of college.  At first I feel like you're just trying to meet ANYONE but now I have a solid group of friends that just fell together- you know those friends who you don't remember how you came to be so close with but you are?  Those are the greatest =) As classes change and you start finding your "nitch" you find those people who fit you perfectly and in my case, encourage the heck out of you.  I always heard that I would find those kinds of friends in college and it's true!- awwwww cheese.  

We do the freakin weirdest things... like the time we put paper bags over our heads and popped out of the bushes in front of our dorm and tried to scare people - the bushes were prickly.... Or that time my fish  jumped out of the tank and none of us could find him until I realized I had stepped on him on my rug and he was no longer.. well..  but we had a fish funeral and got a replacement who is evil.  It's those late night taco or frozen yogurt runs that I love and the car rides with Rihanna blaring-  If this is college than count me in because despite the whole "schoolwork" thing I'm lovin' it! 

Well, I guess I should go to bed considering registration is at 7am tomorrow morning... that's the part of college I could do without.  

F is for Family

Last Wednesday was my birthday WOOT WOOT and so my family drove up and then we flew out that night to the beach for Easter break!  -- it was AWESOME.  Since I am 19, my brother 17 and my sister 23-- we are all finally at that point where its fun to just "hangout." You know, everyone's out of the tortured soul middle school phase and theres a general consensus to be chill rather than annoying?  So, thanks to that it was really fun.  My parents are the awesome kinds of people too who are always kids at heart so its like 5 best friends all hanging out together when the family goes somewhere, I love it.  I forget how fun it is to be with my family.  You have my sister who laughs at everything... until shes hungry, my brother who is supa-stylin' and thinks I am the weirdest person in the world, my dad who still cracks "those" jokes and has to be moving 24/7 and my mom who is secretly a secret agent and the funniest person I know, so put us all together and it's a good ol' time! I love it because they know me.  There is no hiding what I am thinking or how I will react because they already can guess- it's so fun to see how much we have grown together and the bond a family has - going through so much together and despite anything we do we will always be family. Sometimes I wish I could just freeze moments together so that we never have to be apart!  My sister is going to law school in Mississippi in the fall and I am in Nashville and my brother/parents are in Memphis, so I cherish the rare times where we are all under the same roof!

Anyways, of course I get burned the first day at the beach and not only did I burn, but apparently someone forgot to teach me how to put on sunscreen because I had splotches of weird redness and then I swear I had a random white spot on my arm in the middle of a sea of red... how did that happen?  Needless to say, it pained me to wear clothes and be in the sun the rest of the week.  I was that girl with a full outfit on out in the sand under the umbrella with no one to play with but a book and some cold sand.  People pitied me.  It's all good though because the burn eventually turned into tan!  Although many people have asked me if I have been going to the tanning bed.... no, shutup, I am offended.  Not really... but a little.

Basically this post does not have a grand purpose except that I just wanted to say how much I love my family and the trips we go on together!  

Mr. Belmont Pageant

I am in an organization known as the Executive Leadership Program (ELP) and we are hosting a Mr. Belmont pageant.  It has so much fun planning this event and I cannot wait to see how it turns out this Wednesday! It really is incredible the things you get accomplished once everyone pulls their weight... just like in any group setting.  I've had to learn alot not only about myself but also about working with other people in this situation.  We are all from different places and have very different personalities.  In the beginning, we kind of pushed around to see where we fit and after lots of squirming I think we finally realized the places each one of us needed to be.  It has been amazing getting to work with these people and learning how to organize something from the ground up!  We have put in alot of effort and now it's showtime.  I get so freaking giddy when things that I am working on start falling together and this is such a big deal!!! 

If you want to check it out just visit the Facebook page--Mr. Belmont Pageant

Love one another.

So my friend invited me to a Bible study that some of the students around Belmont hold every Wednesday night and it was just beautiful.  First off I love Bible studies... and there is a difference between a Bible study and fellowship (to me).  Tonight was a time where scripture was read and explained and contemplated and discussed.  Now, I love fellowship as well and everything about sharing in the joy of Christ with other people but there comes a time when believers need to sit and read scripture together.  There comes a time when we must return to the root from which we grow and make sure we are understanding and keeping with the Truth.

As I listened to different people open their hearts and share what God is speaking to them right now, I could not help but hold back tears.  I held them back simply out of habit and thinking about it now it probably would not have been such a bad thing to just let the tears of joy flow but anyways... hah I just looked around me and felt the Spirit of God.  I felt the love that comes directly from Him with every encouraging word and smile that passed from one person to the other.  I felt such a strong need for God in that room tonight that it gave me chill bumps.  It is moments like these and Bible studies like this going on all around the world that bring me such hope.  Someone once told me that she loves hearing about Gods work in other people lives because it is a beautiful reminder that He is bigger than her little world and is constantly working whether she sees it in her life right that second or not.
I needed the love that was shown to me tonight.  I needed to feel safe in a group of believers and feel encouraged in the Gospel and I think that is one of the main things that the body of Christ is supposed to do: Love and Encourage eachother.   As Christians, we are making a statement that says "I reflect Christ" and when we divide ourselves or compete or show hatred towards another person we are saying that they are not good enough for our love.  And with that, God's love.  Are we crazy!? Who are we to decide who deserves love or not!?  Sinners, we do not deserve God's love and that is the reason we desperately need Jesus.  If we could earn Gods righteousness there would be no need for a Savior!  


I am going off on a tangent and my mind is just racing with a million things at once but basically I wanted to encourage fellow believers to love one another.  The love of God is supernatural and attractive more than we can even comprehend so when people who don't know that love first see it, they are amazed.  It may be uncomfortable a lot of the time to show that love to everyone but look at Jesus's ministry.... the man made everyone uncomfortable at some point!  That's how they knew His love was different! Jesus tells us in John 13:35 that "all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  People, how can we love others is we do not even love our own family in Christ?  If we are excited about what God is doing and show that beautiful unconditional love to one another than others will want to be apart of it because its the Truth.  Do not worry so much about being uncomfortable or looking stupid by loving people so hard... when we are the most uncomfortable and weak than Jesus is strongest and most evident because we are not in the way.  We have no control and so everything is up to Him.  I would so much rather Him be the one working through me than me trying to make something out of myself!!

Excuse my word vomit. I let my fingers go to work and hope that God was the one moving them, which I know He was because I have no idea what I just typed and it took up a good 3 paragraphs! The power and love of God is something that can never be talked about enough.  It can never be shown enough or shared with others enough.  Its everlasting and constantly at work.  If you are a believer I challenge you (as I am challenging myself) to step out in faith and show the love of Christ even when it feels uncomfortable.  Whether that be a kind word, a serving spirit, a little generous gift- show someone love.  You never know what might happen when you leave it up to God because He has no limits =)

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

Philippians 2:1-4

Fillin Up My Tank

Today I had the incredible opportunity to babysit 3 little kids today who brought me so much joy.  Yes, it was draining trying to keep up with them and I still gag every time I change a diaper but it helped clear my head because the only thing I could focus on was the present and what the kids needed moment by moment.  There was hardly any down time to think!  Kids are genuine... that's what I like most =)

Lately, I feel like all I have been able to do is stress about deadlines or lines memorized or making enough time for everything.  On the go- that's how these past few weeks have been and as much as I love to be involved and busy, I am terrible at slowing down when I have a lot to do.  What's different about the most recent blob of busyness is that I find that I have been wasting a lot of time...  This is a terrible state for me to get in!  I do not leave enough time for myself, especially my relationship with God!  I swear if I leave my phone for 5 minutes I come back to either an email, text or missed call that needs to be answered.  It's overwhelming when you feel like you have to be "on call" 24/7 and have pressure to respond to other people or else.

Rob Bell spoke at Belmont University tonight.  Now, I know there has been a lot of talk about his new "controversial" book but I don't feel the need to talk about it on here because 1. I have not read the book and 2. I just do not study Rob Bell's beliefs enough to have an argument.  However, I was inspired by some of the things he said tonight like...

"God loves you whether people need you or not."

That struck me and I did not realize why until I sat down and began to type this post.  As I am typing even, I have no idea where this is going so we'll see hah

With that quote I kind of stepped back and realized 1) No one honestly needs me and 2) I am taking too much credit.  I am acting like if I don't help or respond the world will end.  I have a problem with giving too much of myself and breaking down eventually-  I often forget to fill up with Christ, so by the time I reach the end of my tank there is literally nothing left and I want to just curl up in a ball.  My old religion teacher used to always tell me that I give too much of myself and it is dangerous.  I understand what she means exactly because I get caught up in it still -not as much but it is a habit that I am learning to break.

It's like when my tank runs empty in my car and my moms gets so mad because she always tells me to fill it back up when the tank is half way full and not wait until I have 0 miles left.... What if I get stuck out in the middle of nowhere and your tank runs out? I am not made of gasoline - I can't help at all!  Also, if we wait until the very end then it takes so much longer to fill back up, doesn't it?  Why not just fill back up every time we use our "gas" so that we are never empty?

-Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
-"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
-Then Jesus declared, " I am the break of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and He who believes in me will never be thirsty."
John 6:32-35

You see?  God never runs out.  There is always plenty to fill up with and if I have this unlimited supply, why would I go anywhere else? When I am running on empty, all I have to do is ask for more.