Short and Sweet

Here I am. After two agonizing months of anticipation, I am back to fill you in. I feel as if I owe you an apology for neglecting my little corner of the World Wide Web. I have never been good at this so... Sorry. NEVERTHELESS, do not fear! I (might) not leave you for such a long time again. I made a promise to myself to blog more. From this point on you will see more comma splices, more run-on sentences, and of course more MEEE. (Flip of hair) Humble. I know.

Without further ado I give you, my blog post, Short and Sweet.

My weekend was interesting to say the least. Thursday night was opening night for "An Evening of One Act Plays." I was in the show "Death and Cake and Shoofly." I played an old woman who had and act for being in other people's business. I had the um... pleasure? of greying my eyebrows, drawing on wrinkles, and wearing my grandmother’s old wig to play the part. It was fun to be old for a few days.

Monday was MLK day!! It was great to celebrate MLK and all the. TOTES JK GUYS. Monday was Sam's 17th birthday! I had the privilege of celebrating with his delightful family Sunday night and got to take him out to dinner on Monday. I had so much fun celebrating this sweet guy’s birthday!

There you have it, my update. Hopefully I will not disappear for too long after this post.

War Eagle

Holding God's Hand

When I "asked Jesus into my heart”, I was only four so naturally I did not fully understand what I was doing. Now I realize I was reaching up and grabbing God's hand. If you know me well, you know I am stubborn. I like to do things my way and my way only. Therefore, I did not want to let Christ hold me just yet.

When you hold someone’s hand, you are showing him or her some sort of affection. It does not mean you are fully committed to that person. You can look away from them, pull away from them, bend their arm and cause them pain; you can also sit in silence and ignore them. All of these things are what I had been doing to Christ. I held his hand and did not let go, but I was not committed to him. I looked away from him and saw at the unsatisfying things of this world. I pulled on him to try to make him do what I wanted. I twisted his arm and caused him pain and grief over my sin. Finally, I sat in silence ignoring him because he would not do what I wanted.

Now, think about what it is like to be held, like a child being held by their mother or father. You hold on tight because you love them. They hold on tight because they love you. You rest your head on their chest and close your eyes because you feel safe and comfortable in their arms. All the while, they are taking you where you need to go and looking out for you. You do not worry because they are bigger than you. You can rest in their arms. This is what Christ wants to do for us. He loves us and wants us to rest in his arms, knowing that he will take care of us.

For so long I held his hand, uneasy about what his arms might be like. Finally, after holding God's hand for 12 years, I let him hold me.

Call Me Heartless

Christmas music started playing on 96.5 this week! My heart jumped for joy when I found out. I love Christmas. I want to celebrate it all year long. I was in Lee Branch the other day and saw Christmas wreaths on all the light posts. DAY. MADE. I will tweet like a mad woman the day they hang those snowflake lights alllllllll down 280.

Now, I love Christmas more than anyone in this world, however, there are two things that come with this glorious holiday that I cannot tolerate. First of all, I cannot stand the movie Elf. I hate it. Go ahead call me heartless. I have seen it at least four times, and every time I watch it want to go crazy. It is a funny movie, but it NEVER ENDS. Second, that song about shoes... no. Just stop.

On a more cheerful note, Christmas break could not get here soon enough! My plans for the holidays consist of making ginger bread houses, drinking apple cider, singing Christmas carols, and baking Christmas-time treats.

WAR EAGLE
49 DAYS

Streams Of Mercy, Never Ceasing

"Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above."

I love everything about this hymn.





Crossing Lines

All of you who go to Briarwood know what I am about to say. Today was such a blessing! I do not think I have ever experienced such a powerful presence of the Lord. My eyes were opened to so many wonderful things. I felt as if this message we have heard all our lives finally hit home.

For those of you who do not go to Briarwood, let me fill you in: Every Tuesday morning we have chapel in the auditorium. Most of the time, people use it to study or take a nap and just tune out the speaker. Sad I know, but it is the truth. This morning, like every Tuesday, we headed to the auditorium to hear a fellow student, Tanner Gann, speak. Honestly, I did not think it would be anything out of the ordinary. I was wrong. God truly spoke through him.

Tanner began by saying today, October 25th, would be a day every one of us remembered. He said today was the day that this school would start radically living for Christ. He began to explain the story of Jesus healing two blind men from Matthew 9:27-31. He said, in order to follow Christ, these men had to cross lines of what was considered acceptable back then. They would be looked down upon for their actions. However, in doing so, they were truly trusting and seeking after Christ. When they crossed that line, Jesus healed them. Their eyes were opened; the first thing they saw was the face of Christ.

I will not come near to having the same impact Tanner had in his message, but I will give it a shot:

Tanner's main point was that we must cross the lines we have made for ourselves in our friendships, schools, and churches. We have to confront our sinful desires and cast our fears upon the Lord. We must cross the line that Christ does not make, but sin makes.

At the end of chapel, he closed in prayer. He asked everyone to get on their knees and pray no matter what line seems to be holding them back. He asked that, through Christ alone, we would cross it. When the prayer was over, every student was on his or her knees. We were dismissed, and on the way out not a word was said. Everyone was speechless.

Typically, after chapel everyone goes back to their normal routine. Not today. I did not go to one class without hearing about what the Lord had said through Tanner. Even at lunch, we met and were encouraged by another student, Ben Blackburn, as he shared his testimony to 60+ people. I witnessed close friends change as they said they had to cross the line. I know Christ was moving in Briarwood.

The Lord really got a hold on me today. I have been a Christian since I was about four, but I have never have lived radically. So often, I am wrapped up in my own desires, fears, and sin that I do not even bother to cross the line. Heck, majority of the time I do not bother to look at it. But, today I crossed the line, and I will continue to cross the line day in and day out. It will not be easy. Christ will carry me through.

I was so encouraged by what happened today. I know this is a turning point for our school, and a new beginning for the junior class. Through faith alone, Briarwood Christian School will cross the line.

October 25, 2011

Immaculate and Beautiful

However inadequate my words may be, I will attempt to tell you how wonderful and beautiful the Fleet Foxes concert was last night.

When we arrived at the Alabama theater I did not expect what I was about to hear. I figured it would be a good concert, but I did not think it would blow my mind. I was wrong, so very wrong.

The sound that those six "indie mountain men" produced was incredible. I did not listen to every song they sang, but I felt every song they sang. Every note that came from, lead singer, Robin Pecknold's mouth told a story. Every strum on the guitar seemed endless as it carried throughout the theater. Every sound that came from the countless instruments played was perfect. I could have stayed for days upon end to feel all the harmony they had to offer.

My favorite song by Fleet Foxes is White Winter Hymnal. Do yourself a favor and listen to it. I will post the video of it on my Facebook.

Tired

I am tired. I am tired of junior year. I am tired of not being done with high school. I am tired of not being in college. That is all.

War Eagle