Insta-friday

1. YAY! it's finally warm enough to run outside... fresh air beats the treadmill any day!






2. clinging to this a lot lately.










3. gotta love having a twin to go see cute movies with & eat at our fave 24/7 restaurant with!









4. some days I really miss the smell of salty ocean air... thankfully this candle helps.

hodge-poge

1. I'm in the middle of drafting a HUGh-MUNG-Oh update on what God has been teaching me... it makes me excited & gives me chills.

2. The other day I was reading my journal from this year, looking back on this year also gives me chills... I still can't believe what has happened in this short span of time! God has be so evident, His fingerprints are all over my journal... including the Aussie flower I smuggled into the US... don't call Homeland Security on me!

3. I saw this on TMFS [warning: addictive time waster] the other day. Hopefully my future husband is thinking this, one day... because I'm totally keen :)

4. As the weather is changing, I'm missing Australian summer.

5. Did I mention I L-O-V-E my new admin job!? I seriously can't believe I get to do what I do!? God is so good. This weekend I got to connect with heaps of people from the ministry I've never met before...it was so great!

6. Though the bitter weather is coming, I do enjoy the signs & sounds of the coming holiday seasons!! Including the red cups from Starbucks.

7. A friend of mine down unda' sent this to me the other day.. it made my day!

the end.

let men be men!

First of all, the photo has nothing to do with this post, I just like it a lot :) Brit left for Haiti this morning, so she stopped by yesterday arvo to say goodbye.

Here we go...I L-O-V-E the weekends. What a great break from "normal life", right?! Funny story time::: When I tell people I live in Detroit classic questions tend to follow; do I own a gun, have I been to 8 mile, do I know Eminem, or am I in a gang?! It's like when people meet someone from California and just assume they know Miley Cyrus & have been to Hollywood...CA is a big state, what are the chances, honestly. That's besides the point... my grandma lives off of 8 mile... I don't own a gun and I'm not in a gang!

Anyways, Detroit is great... there is lots to do there, cool shops, cafes, museums, parks, ect. It's like every other metropolitan city in North America, except the crime rate is a tad higher & there are heaps more gutted buildings, so what's the big deal? OKAY...so what I'm trying to get at is, roaming the D is all about being smart! You can do whatever you want down there, as long as you're smart. Examples... fill your tank with gas in the burbs, charge your phone, perhaps you should carry pepper spray, and maybe don't go by yourself.

So this brings me to my weekend... Steph and I went downtown [totally prepared; full tank of gas, charged phones, and with each other] on Friday night, so we could see Lecrae live...judge me, it was so good! Very crammed & sweaty, just like when I would go to concerts in high school. We had fun, saw friends and found out what it was like to be the minority...fun times. Post concert nights usually involve getting food, IHOP on Woodward seemed to fit the bill this time around. We got in the car and headed to IHOP. As we headed down the entrance ramp to I-75, we hit a gnarly pot-hole and got 3 feet onto the free-way when Steph's car just stopped. I'm usually not that afraid of situations like this... but we had just come from 7 mile and it was 12 at night... recipe for worry!

I must watch the news too much, because all I could think about was how scary it would be if someone pulled up behind us and got out to "help us". God only knows who/what could pull up behind us to help. After sitting there for maybe 20 minutes, which seemed much longer...trying to start it, again and again, making that call to our dad's...we settled on finally calling AAA to come save us! Literally right when we made the plan to call them, a car pulls up behind us and I looked at Steph & said "this is where it's going to get scary". Side details, it's dark out, her vanity plate reads "BLOND1E", and we're literally in the ghetto of Detroit.

To our delight & relief the car that stopped happened to be some guys from church that we were just with. They saw us & stopped to help... knowing we weren't in the safest part of town & offering all of their prior knowledge of cars. They gladly helped jump/start the car, but nothing worked. We ended up having to get it towed back to Steph's house. The guys offered to drive us back to her house, so we wouldn't have to drive with the tow-truck driver. I was all for this idea! There was no way I was about to pile into a tow-truck with some strange man at 1am in downtown Detroit! Steph... being Miss Independent [love her!] figured we would be fine and protested the idea, the guys insisted...then I reminded her to just let them be men!

What a simple concept right?! Let men be men! Men are good problem solvers and want to rescue/protect, that's how God wired them.... so why do we as women today cringe & dislike assistance from men so much? We want to do everything on our own, we feel like we need to some how prove ourselves. Our society today is fixated on equal rights among genders, which doesn't really make any sense if you think about it... because men are so obviously different than women... each gender has very different qualities and characteristics to contribute to the world and that can't happen if men aren't given the chance to man up!

So ladies... let the men in your life; fathers, brothers, friends or strangers be men!! Let them open the door, fix your car, carry something for you, or assist you in some fashion...even if it's just simple things that allow them to feel appreciated and needed! Okay I'm done ranting...just some thing to consider / think about for your Monday night.

birthday

family. sweet friends. pressies. twin brunch. lunch. dinner. dessert. coffee. the gym. praying for 22+ more.

M.A.S.H.

One hot Australian summer night this past March, my friend Sarah and I sat around a table filling out countless M.A.S.H. games on scratch paper for our girlfriends. One by one as a girl said "stop" to the line markings; we would ordain marriages, sell homes, deliver babies, give out pets, and decide the future of our friends. We sat there getting our friends hopes up or ruining dreams. It was all fun and games until you were the girl stuck married to Santa Clause, with 9 kids, a pet giraffe, driving a clown car and living in an Apartment.

The other night at watershed Bekah had us play M.A.S.H., this time it was a little nicer...we got to choose the potential husbands, number of kids, pet, cars, and then prayed we would land with the Mansion or House.

Bekah had us start the night with an elementary game, to display the not so elementary danger of unrealistic/unreachable expectations we set on relationships. The expectations we set on this game are the same expectation we set on how we approach dating/marriage relationships. We cannot set expectations too high on any human relationship, for one reason...we are humans! We often think if we could just date this guy or marry that guy we would have a this fairy tale perfect life. Humans are broken and imperfect, therefore making every human relationship broken and imperfect. The only truly fulfilling, one-sided perfect, relationship we can have on this earth is with the Creator of the universe. Therefore, our perfect husband, perfect best friend, or perfect life will always fall short of our expectations. So... lets lose the expectations! It is not fair to the other person to have such high expectations on them anyways, it is too much pressure for someone to constantly be living under.

Godly relationships flourish when we realize that no one is perfect, including ourselves. When you are willing to love someone else without conditions...keeping in mind that they are human and will mess up here and there...it is in the "mess-ups", when our unconditional love for them is tested. How will we react when the other person does not meet our ridiculous expectations? Will we kick 'em to the curb!? Mmm no...maybe we should learn to admit what we might have done to cause the situation, learn to forgive and move on... in love with out conditions.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Romans 12.9-12

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:16

This song came on when I was writing...

I'm convinced this song will never get old and
that I will always need to hear it as a reminder,
thanks Bethany Dillon!

Psalm 27 (MSG)

1 Light, space, zest— that's God!

So, with him on my side I'm fearless,
afraid of no one and nothing.

2 When vandal hordes ride down
ready to eat me alive,
Those bullies and toughs
fall flat on their faces.

3 When besieged,
I'm calm as a baby.
When all hell breaks loose,
I'm collected and cool.

4 I'm asking God for one thing,
only one thing:
To live with him in his house
my whole life long.
I'll contemplate his beauty;
I'll study at his feet.

5 That's the only quiet, secure place
in a noisy world,
The perfect getaway,
far from the buzz of traffic.

6 God holds me head and shoulders
above all who try to pull me down.
I'm headed for his place to offer anthems
that will raise the roof!
Already I'm singing God-songs;
I'm making music to God.

7-9 Listen, God, I'm calling at the top of my lungs:
"Be good to me! Answer me!"
When my heart whispered, "Seek God,"
my whole being replied,
"I'm seeking him!"
Don't hide from me now!

9-10 You've always been right there for me;
don't turn your back on me now.
Don't throw me out, don't abandon me;
you've always kept the door open.
My father and mother walked out and left me,
but God took me in.

11-12 Point me down your highway, God;
direct me along a well-lighted street;
show my enemies whose side you're on.
Don't throw me to the dogs,
those liars who are out to get me,
filling the air with their threats.

13-14 I'm sure now I'll see God's goodness
in the exuberant earth.
Stay with God!
Take heart. Don't quit.
I'll say it again:
Stay with God.

Life Is Never Boring

Sometimes there are days when I wish my life was more exciting. Then over the past few days, I have found myself literally laughing out loud... because my life has really never been boring.

not-so-boring-week::
Did a huge family shoot for some family friends; in the scorching heat. Went to my sisters first ever Detroit Tigers baseball game...she LOVES the D, but some how had never been? Ate late night pizza at the motor city brewery, chatted with the AgapeBabes , celebrated 4th of July with my family, some how made it to work in between, went to the beach with the siblings, had a massive water fight with middle school kids at Oasis, ran around town to get things done for my YWAM application and finally sent a package to Australia! Hung out downtown with good friends, realized how soon a good friend is moving out of state, met my new neighbor at 1:30 in the morning...by breaking in with my landlord, crashed at my sisters apartment because I can't sleep somewhere alone, shot a really pretty wedding along side a sweet professional photog, ate fancy hors d'oeuvres, ran into a creepy-regular-male-library-patron at the wedding....who happens to be a bartender on the weekends!? Ran through golf course sprinklers, heard that the church I grew up in merged with church and prayed through lighthouse, and did a kids shoot in a sweet park!

I don't think my life is boring anymore.

Let Us Pray

Jesus prayed for his followers, he modeled how we should pray through his word. We’re called to “pray without ceasing” and to “present [our] requests to God”. (1 Thessalonians 5:17 & Philippians 4:6) The house I grew up in had a stain glass window in the dinning room, with a picture of Jesus on his knees praying. This picture is a clear representation of what we, as followers of Christ are called to do...pray continuously.

Prayer is powerful. Things happen when God’s people pray. Yet, we can take prayer for granted sometimes, or at least I know I am guilty of it. Shallowly asking God to forgive my laundry list of wrongs, begging to pass an exam I know I did’t study for, or asking for things like I’m talking to Santa. Not that there’s a right way and no wrong way to pray, we just need to keep our motives in check.

Prayer is about communicating with God himself, not telling Santa what you want for Christmas. If being able to talk to the Creator of the universe is not powerful to you, I don’t what else is!? He hears us when we talk to Him. He longs for us to take time out of our day to talk to Him. As in any relationship, communication is the key.

That's why I LOVED Lighthouse last weekend! Before Lighthouse a group of us met to pray for Lighthouse. Of course, as a Collective we should constantly be praying for Lighthouse, though it seems especially important as we move into a new season. We prayed for anyone coming for the first time, for the future of Lighthouse, for those that attend regularly and that God would move through out the Collective. It was amazing to spend time in prayer before transitioning into worship.

To most of our surprise, we spent a good portion of the night in prayer -- instead of listening to a message. The entire Collective lifted up prayers of thankfulness, humility and simple requests to God. Thankful for those who had gone before us, that had set the platform we now have to reach more young adults for Christ. We humbly praised God for giving us this new chapter in our ministry, asking God to not let us lose sight of Him through these next big steps. Then we asked God to move in the hearts of those who had never been to Lighthouse before and that maybe by passing out postcards, we would be inclined to reach more young adults in our community.

Last night [Wednesday] I sat with my mom at my brother’s baseball game and told her how cool it was that we had prayed so much at Lighthouse. Not only did a group pray before Lighthouse, but that the entire Collective prayed during Lighthouse as well. The next thing I know, she suddenly started asking all these questions, “When were you praying?!” or “What were you praying about specifically!?”, as I answered her hurried questions, I shot back with a “why”, curious to why she was so excited about us praying during Lighthouse.

My mom began explaining to me the story of a woman she works with. This woman, not a believer, but knows my mom is, came to her in hopes she knew of a good local church for her daughter to get involved at this summer. The daughter became a Christian during high school, therefore wanted to go to a Christian college upon graduation. Now that classes are over, she’s home for the summer and has been struggling to find a church to get plugged into. My mom mentioned that Lighthouse was a great place for college students to get involved at, even if they’re only home for the summer. The woman seemed interested and said she would tell her daughter about Lighthouse.

The following morning my mom goes into work as usual, but this time is different, she is met by the woman from the day before. She begins to exclaim how she had told her daughter about Lighthouse and that she also seemed interested. The same night she had told her daughter about Lighthouse, her daughter went into work at Macy’s and was handed a Lighthouse postcard. The daughter is now planning on coming to the launch of the Summer Series.

When we pray God hears us and if we truly want to see God move amongst the Collective and in our community, we cannot stop praying. God really does move in mysterious ways and prayer does in fact work. Some would call this a coincidence, but I would call it the power of prayer. Therefore, let us pray.

Ancient Skies

No matter the time of day, I love to observe the sky. What do you see when you look up at the sky? Do you look past the clouds? Can you believe how small we are compared to the sky? Are you quickly reminded of God when you see a pretty sunrise or a storm rolling in?


The sky is quite an intriguing part of creation. Everyone can see it; wherever you are in the world, we all see the same sky. To the human eye, the sky is constantly changing due to the weather and rotation of the Earth. No matter the change we see, its been the same sky since time began. We might see dark rain clouds, floods of red and orange hues, or simply a cloudless blue, but still it remains the same. Day might turn to night and seasons might come and go, but the sky itself doesn’t actually change; we just view it differently.

One summer night my sister and I were driving with the windows down and music blaring, when we were struck by the beauty displayed across the horizon. With my camera strap snug around my wrist, I stuck my camera out the window to snap this photo. It’s in this photo that I am reminded of our never changing God.

Our seasons might change, our view of life might be as bright as the morning or turn as dark as the night, yet we have a Creator that never changes. Our Creator, like the sky, is for everyone. No one is left out when it comes to discovering and knowing the beauty of the Creator, just like the beauty found in a sunset or flashes of lightning.

Psalms 68 says,
“Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth,
sing praise to the Lord, Selah,
Him who rides the ancient skies above,
who thunders with mighty voice”.

God rides the ancient skies. The skies might change view but God is still in them. Even when our circumstances are a cloudy gray or a bright hue, God is there. We can find him in every part of life and every view of the sky.

When we are open to it, God reveals himself in gorgeous and magnificent ways. The Creator of the universe chooses to display a magnificent master piece across sky on a daily basis. We are on His mind when he paints the sunrise every morning or brushes in rain clouds. He is everywhere, in everything, and with everyone, just like the sky we see everyday. We serve a Creator that like the sky is: bigger than we could ever imagine and for everyone, everywhere.

You make all things work together for my good.

We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
::romans 8:28


new horizons + beginnings + different people&places + fresh perspective.

2010has already proven to be eventful...and it's still January!

Story-time. Two weeks ago my sister and I reached the point and it was confirmed that "it was time"...time to move out! Not that we don't LOVE our family, we just NEED to move out, move on. With a quick few email back and forth between some friends of ours from church and meeting with a landlord, we're moving [at the beginning of Feb] into an apartment in a downtown area which we love! GOD IS SO GOOD to us. Right now everything is just working out! For now anyway....still trying to do life one moment&step at a time.

God moves in mysterious ways.

THREE mysterious ways of GOD in ONE day.

1. The roads were totally dry on the way home from Kairos tonight. After a gloomy day of snow falling with EVERYONE and EVERYTHING saying roads would be super slippery and slide-y.. they were dry, dry, dry!? I have really bad brakes and STILL haven't bothered taking them in and yet, the roads were perfectly fine tonight..

((physical p r o t e c t i o n))

2. Instead of finishing my homework I checked my Facebook and got a friend request and wall post. Friend request from my elementary school"BFF". Just the other day in my Communications class, my prof asked how many of us were still close with the people we grew up with and I thought of her. Then I got a wall post from on of my good camp friends whom I haven't seen in two years. Just the other day at work, I was thinking a lot about camp life, friends and memories working there. I haven't really communicated with either of them in quit some time and was pleasantly surprised..

((sudden r e c o n n e c t i o n))

3. I just saw that the My Utmost for His Highest for today (12/16) is titled Wrestling Before God ::: "Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength." God knows me too well..... this is exactly what I was thinking about today. Earlier today I was even reading about perfectionism being linked with procrastination, how it causes people (like myself) to give up with out trying. I SO need to start working on not giving up so easily! AND then tonight I was sharing with the girls at Kairos how I feel SO confused on where/what/when I am doing&going next in my life. Confused because I am hindered by fear of missing it all together (whatever IT is) -- from giving up too easily, then I read that line in the devotional about being EMPOWERED by HIS strength..

((self e x a m i n a t i o n))


All of this can only equate to God moving & stirring my life up.
God DOES move in mysterious ways.
When we open our eyes, heart, and mind--He mysteriously moves in.

Where did November go!?

I cannot believe it's already December.....November flew by too fast, but now it's officially Christmas time!! Here is a look back at November.

Dead car battery = good late night laugh
After a lovely dinner Linds, Steph and I were asked to leave Panera (because they were closed, we aren't trouble makers), we headed over to Denny's to finish out chit-chatting marathon. After chatting for 8 hours straight (we counted) 1:30a rolled around and we all agreed it was time to part ways seeing we all had to work that morning. It was the first weekend of November where it had gotten cooler than we were use to, Lindsay went to start our '95 Blazer and it would not start. We weren't that panicky at first because sometimes it starts after the 2nd try. When we got to the 4th or 5th try we something wasn't right....and the noise that the car was making made us think it was the battery more than the engine. There we were the three of us in the cold laughing really hard in unbelief. Luckily Steph hadn't left yet and mentioned having a jumper cable. Once we contained ourselves enough to function, we popped open both of our hoods and figured it couldn't be THAT hard to jump a car. (still laughing) To our relieve (after a few feeble attempts) we noticed two police cruisers in the parking lot...SO we went into Denny's to find the cops for help (mind you we had left the restaurant two hours prior because it had become too smoky, so the Denny's staff was probably really confused). We found the cops and they politely obliged to help us out. The cop came out and asked us some Q's about the cars and then hooked them up and boom done.! Finally, at around 2a we were on our way home! Thank God for jumper cables, laughter, friends, and cops.



S I D E J O B
It's official, I am actually starting to make money for clicking my camera. This fall I've gotten to do three shoots - senior portraits and two engagement [two of which were on the same day] ((exhausting))! I am pretty excited about where these potentially could lead....but as always, just trying to take it one step at a time. So we'll see what happen next. As for the coming up months, I am shooting a wedding after the first of the year and another in May! This makes me excited for possibly starting a side business to get through school and beyond.

Nashvegas: {long over due}
For Thanksgiving weekend the fam traveled down to the best city in the world, Nashville Tennessee! We hadn't been there in quit some time so we figured it was time to make another trek down there as a family (Dad, Mom, Brit, Linds, me, Chad, and AJ). The seven of us loaded the family mini-van at 4a Wednesday before Thanksgiving and arrived in Nash around 2p....thankfully I was able to sleep most of the way or else the drive would've seemed like an eternity I'm sure. WE...stayed at a weird hotel with our extended family but made the best of it...spent quality time at our grandpas house...over ate...explored the city...got family portraits done....ate some more...saw live music...drank coffee at a cute cafe my uncles friend owns in East Nashville called the Ugly Mug....enjoyed the fall sunshine....drank more coffee...went on a late night Sonic run...laughed and enjoyed time with the cousins, aunts, uncles...snapped pictures... It was a good time, annoying at times BUT it made timeless memories none the less.

Handmade Detroit :::
I usually work every Saturday morning, so I especially appreciate and LOVE having a spontaneous Saturday off...this one in particular happened to fall on the day of the Handmade Detroit Urban Craft fair downtown. This craft show is so sweet, everything is hand made and produced in Michigan! There is so much stuff you would never think of that people use to create crazy crafts and goods. So Brit, Linds, Stefanie, and I made a day out of it... we met at the cutest French cafe for brunch called Le Petit Zinc, where we ate crepes and conversed. Then we headed to the Majestic Theatre for the show a got a dent in our Christmas shopping, while finding some things for ourselves too.
Like any craft show you needed cash to purchase things so when we were finding ourselves low on the dough, we knew we needed to find an ATM machine. Of course the ATM machine in the theatre was shady and out of money so we asked around and found an ATM a block up. Stef and I walked up to the nearest bank where we met a woman that claimed she need money for a bus fare, when we offered her a warm sandwich from Starbucks instead, she agreed. The three of us walked over to Starbucks and listened to a little bit of her story and how she was just having a hard time. We gave her the sandwhich and told her that Jesus loved her and had hope in her....she smiled and her eyes got glazed over like she was going to cry. We parted ways and returned to the craft show....it's the little things that can make a BIG difference in someones life.

_I thoroughly enjoyed my November.

Dear Life,

Why are you overwhelming me right now? In between school + work, it seems there is just too much of everything going on all at once. There isn't really a day during the week when I can ever just sit and be still. I am always doing homework, at work, in class, or trying to do homework. A lot of the time I feel like I can't get everything done, that needs to be done. When will you ever get exciting?! Instead of being all work and little play?

this photo [fall2006] makes me miss using
35 mm film + processing in a dark room.

I need to keep reminding myself that,
ALL things are possible.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8

thinking out loud.

I was telling a friend in short last night of the dreams and desires I had in high school ... after finishing the conversation it dawned on me how strange it is that people’s dreams and desires change. Is it because times change, people change, economic change, fads change, is it God himself is molding and crafting your dreams into something more powerful than post high school/college aspirations? What ever it is that shifted my dreams and ambitions makes me wonder where and how I will actually turn out.. These are just thoughts I decided to spew onto the screen .. in the process of thinking, praying, seeking, learning, loving, healing ..

not here.

having major blogger block.

I will let you know when I am ready to type write again.

Friday morning rambling ...

May is here.

May is one of my favorite months. I love that the weather is FINALLY worthy of being enjoyed. I love that summer is on the horizon. I love that flowers and trees are in bloom. May is such an exciting time, a lot of changes though - ending one thing and starting something else. It will be good, I can tell. I don't know where April went, it went by so fast. I told my self at the end of March that I would go the entire month of April without buying Starbucks OR music off of iTunes store. I succeeded with my goal of not buying any Starbucks for a whole month and learned, what is so cool about over priced coffee anyway?! However, I could not hold to not buying music off of iTunes ... at least I finished 1/2 of my goal! Better than failing both..ha. Well May is looking good; it's officially summer, I am meeting a family I potentially will be nannying for part time (while still at the library). Oasis is coming to a close, and contrary to how I felt about Oasis at the beginning of the school year, I have completly fallen in love with the sweet girls in my group ... they are each so unique and that's why I love them, they make small group fun and hopefully I can stay with them through at least their middle school years (maybe through high school .. who knows). So May is bringing things to an end and beginning things too, so it's exciting. God is giving me a new clear perspective of His love towards me, and I can tell He is doing powerful things in my life right now ... I am slowly learning that, not knowing is part of the great adventure. I am excited to see what May has in store for me.

quickie

I have so much on my mind tonight. God spoke right to me tonight about fear. It was such a God thing because Jim spoke about fear in beta this morning, and I shrugged it off as something I already knew and have heard too many times. and in 'big chruch' Pastor Doug spoke on having peace in God. Then at lighthouse Cliff talked about fear too ... I have some things I need to take care of. I will add more tomorrow at work or something when I have time, right now I am supposed to be doing my homework, but I got distracted (that happens a lot). One more thought, I love the song God Only Knows by Joy Williams ... "[I'm] in one of those seasons everything seems to go so wrong ... God only knows all [my] broken pieces & He's holding onto [me]"

*Rich Mullins & the sound of rain are putting me to sleep, when I know I have to do school work.

slacking a bit.

Back in the day, I used to be really good about updating ... now with the new semester and work I feel like I never have time for this or anything important to say. School is busy as usual, more work actually this semester I feel. Oh well, so this summer I may be able to part-time nanny and still be able to work at the library..which would be sweet. My twin and me FINALLY got a new car ... with our own money and everything :) we are so stoked about it, it has been two months almost since we've been without a car of our own .. which is hard to working out schedules and getting around. So we feel really blessed to finally have one, making life a little easier. This past week I spent a lot of time with girlfriends, which is so refreshing and delightful.. or just another reminder that I don't need a guy in my life right now anyway. I love sharing what's on my heart, then in turn really do love listening to what is on their hearts. I just love talking till you can no longer say anything or are asked to leave because it's to late, thankfully that only happened three times this week...once at Applebee’s, Panera, and then Barnes & Nobles. That's when you have to resort to the car. Truthfully, not as comfortable and sometimes wastes gas just so you can stay warm, but I have to say it was totally worth it in the end. What can I say; I love 'heart to hearts'. Well anyway, I so wish I had something deep and profound to say but I don't. I will say this though, God is so good - which we so easily forget and I feel we easily underestimate His excellence. He moves within us and around daily we just have to seek Him and He offers us new mercies everyday, even when we so don't deserve it!
- God You are so good to me.

I forgot how much I love this

passage, so I thought I would share...

"... I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Joshua 1:5-9

CONTENT

everyone is asleep and the house is quiet as I am sitting very comfortably on our over stuffed cozy couch, wrapped in my fleece ikea blanket, itunes is on quietly keeping me company as I type; all I hear is band of horses detlef schrempf playing softly, accented with the smooth humming of the heat kicking on....ahh fall has officially fallen, in the midst of me wrestling with the fact of the air remaining crisp until at least mid april .... honestly, why is this state so cold! right now life is going by fast and it seems like I never have time to get things done, therefore sitting here in the quiet is very refreshing, and relaxing - I can finally take a breath. fall is one of my favorite seasons, one reason being that, it offers such lovely indulgences such as; cinnamon donuts, hot cider, hot chocolate, carmel apples, apple crisp, homemade apple or pumpkin pie! I could go on....and then there are the activities; hay rides, pumpkin carving, apple picking, going to the cider mill, admiring beautiful leaf color change, raking leaves & jumping in them. it makes me happy & I am really content at the moment, but in the back of my mind are hidden all of the tasks and lists of things that will bombard me tomorrow ... I am going up north this weekend for the first ever watershedretreat - I am very excited, but just have a lot to do before then; work, laundry, pack, study, pass a history test, finish shooting for our kairos video (which I am excited to see!!) ... it will all get done, it alway does - but the getting there is always an adventure ... God works in funny ways, ways we don't think are possible, but when we sit back and wait, there ends up being a very good possibility of something great happening ... just a thought - I'd stay tuned. one more thing before my head meets the pillow ...

I have so much to be thankful for ...

• new job: I now work at the library, and I know what you're thinking...but it's the most ideal job ever! I sit at a help desk, basically helping old people print from their computer or help make copies...in the mean time [as told by my supervisors] I work on my homework! and it's perfect because it's quiet, I can get school work done and I am getting paid pretty decent...like almost three bucks more than I was making at my last job. and they just remodeled and it's one of the nicest libraries I've ever been in, with all brand new computers & such...it's a really nice place to work!
• oasis leader: as of this school year, I started helping out with my churches middle school ministry [called oasis] as a sixth grade girls leader. I love all the girls in my group, they bring me such joy, yet they are so innocent and it makes my heart hurt to think of this world they have to face, with all the pressures this world throws at young girls; looking a certain way, finding security in having a boyfriend, trying to make it to the top of the social latter....the list goes on...but when I look past that aspect, I see myself in some of the girls! I love it and God is really showing me how to love them - even though a lot of them I just met for the first time a couple weeks ago..

• the weather: so I guess because of the hurricanes down south [thank God we don't get hurricanes from lakes..] this past week and a half I want to say, has been the rainiest/cold/hot/humid/fall like weather ever [Michigan weather is very unpredictable], but this week has really cleared up...to blue sunny skies, and not to hot and not to cold - good sweat shirt or sweater weather, which I love!
• my health: So I have been running a lot lately, mostly because the weather is cooling down - making it more enjoyable to run outside & so I can stay in shape I guess..and me and some friends might run a 5k for the Thanksgiving day parade! anyway as I am running I always think about the fact that some people can't even walk let alone run, so I am pretty thankful I can get up in the morning and go on a good run..