3,000 Bracelets Campaign

Happy Hump Day! I know I'm excited. This has been a pretty busy week. I have been with my fourth graders and it has been so wonderful and such great experience. Today I was formally observed and after being more nervous than I should have been...my supervisor gave me great scores and great feedback. I was thrilled!

Tonight I want to tell you about a unique opportunity. After reading so much about Katie and her life in Uganda, I have been fascinated by reading adoption stories. Adoptions bring so much joy to so many. I know that we have dear friends who have adopted. Carter brings so much joy to Chris and Julie and you can read their story and why they decided to adopt here. But...I found this blog about another family and from what I have read I think they have already adopted a child from Russia and one from China. They are in the process of adopting another precious girl from China. Her name is Isabella. You can find the story of their process of adopting here. So...they have begun what they call the "3,000 Bracelets Campaign." You can buy these adorable bracelets and help this family bring their daughter home. After I found it...I showed it to mom....and we went crazy. :) We got several bracelets including a couple of these....

and.......

I personally think they are so fun and can't wait till we receive ours!

Click here to order...

Help this family bring Isabella home!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Sweet Words

"The Lord is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, 'Seek his face!' Your face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me, O God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

-Psalm 27

This is one of my favorite passages in Scripture. My favorite is verse 4 about dwelling in the house of the Lord. I cannot tell you how often I think, "Lord, please just return and take me home today!" No, I don't wish for death and in my selfishness I often have my list of things I want to happen before I spend eternity with Christ (how dumb does that sound?). I want to get married, have children and be a mom, have my own classroom, etc. These are not wrong desires....but silly in comparison to spending eternity with my Heavenly Father. I desire to be content with whatever He allows me to experience while I am on this earth and I desire to be ready to depart when He calls me home. How comforting to know that God offers us help for today and hope for our future! Confidence in God is our remedy for fear and loneliness. May these sweet words encourage you!

Back to the Grind

Good Afternoon Friends! I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend! There hasn't been too much going on around here. Thankfully, I have had a few days to just relax. We have had a couple of really beautiful days which have made me long for summer all the more! I am ready for consistent warm weather, the beach, a tan, watermelon, flip-flops, tank tops, pool days, lemonade, summer nights, and no school. Mmm....

Anyways, no more of that talk because it is not summer yet! Brett's parents came into town this weekend. It was great to spend the weekend with them! Yesterday was absolutely beautiful so we took Outlaw, Drew and Brett's dog, to the park to walk. He loved it. We loved it. Last night Brett and I cooked for his family and we watched the Olympics. We made chicken parmesan and it was delicious. For dessert... chocolate-chip cookie dough dessert. I have made this easy dessert probably 30 times. All credit for this goes to my dear friend Katherine and her family. Katherine's mom made this for us all the time when we came over in high school. I have passed the recipe on to many other friends so I suppose I will share.

First, spread a roll of cookie dough on the bottom of a 13x9 dish. Mix one egg, a cup of sugar, and an 8 oz package of cream cheese. Spread this one top of the cookie dough then break another roll into pieces on top. Oven on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. So easy. So good. Enjoy!

This week is going to be looooong. I don't have classes so I will be with my fourth graders all week! I am excited. I guess I better be considering this is what I will be doing when I graduate! :) I will be teaching two more of my own lesson plans so hopefully they go well! I will be going to bed early and waking up early all week. So...I am relaxing this afternoon.

Before I depart from this fascinating post :) I want to tell you about church this morning. As I have mentioned before, we are going through the book of Genesis. This morning we were in chapter 25 discussing when Jacob and Esau were born. The overall point that Jack started with was that, "Families Can Cause Problems." This is different because so often we think that our families solve problems and make things so much better. If you think about Jacob and Esau, there was conflict from the beginning.

"The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, 'Why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord.' The Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.'" -Genesis 25:21-23

The Lord was telling Rebekah that she was going to have twins and that they were already at odds with one another. Also, normally the birthright is given to the oldest son which we will find out is Esau. The Lord is telling Rebekah that in her sons case this will be opposite. In verses 29-34 Esau comes in to get something to eat. He asks Jacob for some stew and Jacob says he will give him some of Esau will sell him his birthright. Just as the Lord told Rebekah, Esau agrees. Jacob's name means "trickster" which is appropriate. In this situation we see Esau give up a promise from God for instant gratification. He invested greater value in a bowl of stew than in a promise from the Lord! At first I am thinking, this is crazy but then Jack went on to say that so often, we are Esau. We sell the greater things that God has for us for the things of this world....only to be hungry again. Basically, our families are not solutions to our problems. We cannot value our relationships with our friends, parents, children, or anyone else more than our relationship with Christ. A relationship with Christ is the only solution, the only thing that can satisfy us. Have I mentioned I love my church? I love that we study full books of the Bible. I learn so much!

Well, I am off to enjoy the rest of my afternoon before I head back to the grind. Have a relaxing Sunday!

An Early Weekend

Hello folks! I hope your week has been good so far! I just couldn't be more excited because it is officially the weekend for me! For the rest of you, I am sorry but it is hump day so that is something to be happy about! Also, I have a new addition to my room.

We have these all over our house. They are wall words. There are all sorts of quotes and verses that you can get printed in all different fonts and colors. I had been wanting one for a while and finally got one. I think that this verse is suitable and I will see it every night before I go to bed. I LOVE it! I am so thankful for the promise that my Father will make me dwell in safety. I plan on having these verses everywhere in my home one day!

Sorry for the short, seemingly pointless post... :)

Enjoy the rest of your week!

An Uncomfortable Request

Hello all! Hope your Monday was not too bad! This past weekend I read a blog that I have mentioned on here before but this weekend the story posted was truly humbling. I honestly have not been able to stop thinking about it since I read it. I am sure you remember Katie who I have talked about before. I do not even know her and she is miles and miles away but I am so blessed by this girl! I won't spill her story on here but I would encourage you to go to her blog. Basically, the post is about how she ended up in Uganda. It is so real and convicting.

A few summers ago I went to Panama City Beach, Florida for my very first Summer Beach Project. It was the most amazing, life-changing summer. I went with an organization called Campus Outreach. The Lord used that summer to show and teach me so much. As I think back, I remember struggling over something that was said at a session. A missionary and friend of our family spoke about living in Kazakhstan and one thing that she said was, "be prepared to go, but be willing to stay." That statement really hit me hard. I looked around after each speaker came up and those around me were all talking about how much they felt called to go overseas. I kept thinking to myself, "I really just do not feel that tug on my heart. I honestly have never felt called to go and live." I then began to feel like I was selfish. I have never been opposed to short-term trips overseas. I spent over two months in Belo Horizonte, Brazil this summer and it was such an amazing experience. I would not at all mind going back or going somewhere else.

The realization is that we are all called to go. Those famous words of the great commission tell us, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -Matthew 28:18-20

No, God does not have each of us to go to another country and be a missionary for years and years. Those who are called to be doctors, accountants, teachers, coaches, and moms are just as important. As I sat and thought about how I did not feel called to live my life in another country I couldn't help but feel guilty. I have learned more and more that I am responsible to show the love of Christ everywhere I go and the gospel should be preached by the way I live my life. Don't get me wrong, I hope that if the Lord called me to go, that I would immediately be obedient and pack my bags. However, even if He doesn't call me to be uncomfortable overseas, I am still called to be uncomfortable.

As I read Katie's post about all that she gave up to live in Uganda I thought, "This is how it really is. This is how much of a struggle it would be to leave my friends, family, comfort, and plans." As I said, I have learned a lot. I don't know if God might have me to go and live somewhere else one day but all I can do is continue to live my life in obedience. I know that this requires me to continually spend time with my Savior and continue to know Him so that I might know His voice and hear Him when He calls.

This is just something that had been on my heart since I read Katie's blog. I would encourage you to continue to pray for Katie and others who are serving the Lord in other countries. I am sure that life is so rewarding but that there are so many struggles that we could never understand. Remember, "be prepared to go, but be willing to stay" and may we all strive to live uncomfortably.

Love Wins

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! I hope that you all had a great day and got to spend time with friends, family, or that special someone. Luckily, I got to spend time with all of the above. All in all, a good day.

With all of the Valentine's day hype I couldn't help but be reminded of a God who loves me more than I could ever fathom. Don't get me wrong....the smell of fresh roses filling my room thanks to my sweet boyfriend is great. Also, a lot has happened since last Valentine's day. This is the year I fell in love for the first time. So...I like Valentine's day....but I was just reminded of a few verses and I thought I'd share in honor of this holiday.

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." -Psalm 63:3

"Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back." -Isaiah 38:17

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us." -1 John 4:18-19

What an amazing promise!

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." -John 14:21

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." -1 John 4:8

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8

The Gospel! I am so thankful!

"Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies." -Psalm 36:5

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" -1 John 3:1

And of course......

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

-1 Corinthians 13:4-9

I pray that we all would dwell on these promises and remember that nothing in this world can ever satisfy. He loves you more than anyone on this earth ever could and is the only one who could love us so perfectly!

Today Was A Fairy Tale..

"But can you feel this magic in the air? It must have been the way you kissed me... Fell in love when I saw you standing there it must have been the way... today was a fairy tale. It must have been they way.. today was a fairy tale!"

I don't know why but I felt that this song was appropriate for today...I like Taylor Swift and I don't mind admitting it! :) Well, as you know...there was a bit of magic in the air today! It was one of those days that I just have to give an A+. Last night we heard that we were going to get some snow on the ground today so we were as excited as ever! Okay....let me just say this about myself. It does not take much to excite me. I am the type who, at 21 years of age, would still wake up at 6 am on Christmas morning, knowing all I was going to get was clothes! I just get really excited! So..with just the prospect of snow I was a giddy girl!

I woke up at 7....and nothing. Rain, rain, and more rain. I did not give up! As I waited...I spent the morning in bed spending time with the Lord and reading! It was so nice to just relax. We serve a graceful and forgiving God and I am so thankful!

Around 10:30 I glance out the window and finally that rain turned to some beautiful white flakes!! I throw on my boots and grab the camera and run downstairs. I called Brett, woke him up, and told him to HURRY AND COME OVER!! He wasn't nearly as pumped as I was... :)

It snowed pretty steadily for a little over 2 hours. No, none of it stuck at my house but I was thrilled to have flurries and flakes just the same!

Okay....now to change topics a bit.. I have been studying through the book of John in my personal time in the Word. I have been studying with Bible Study Fellowship and one of the questions this week was, "What is one truth you have learned this year but haven't believed or put into action?" I don't remember exactly how it was phrased but it was something like that. I immediately knew what truth I had learned and one that has really been on my mind so much lately.

"Faith without deeds is dead." -James 2:26

This is so simple and I know it is a well-known verse. I just feel like I need to be a bolder witness for Christ and need to be striving to serve others more. If I am simply studying God's Word and both being poured into by others and self-feeding that is really not enough. I have to act on the things that I learn. I have to serve and love others well. I am sure we all need improvement with this but it has just especially been in my thoughts lately.

I hope you all had a fun snow day in Alabama! I know we certainly did! Enjoy the rest of your weekend friends and stay warm! :)