one step at a time

today is a new day. our heavenly father is still on the throne, so i must continue to praise him for all he is worth. i am still shocked at how my "life" at this point, has taken a turn i never expected. i had everything all figured out and then bam, all has changed. as much as i want to stand at this "grave" of life i have to move on, because it would not be fair, or right, for me to stay at this rut. brother mark spoke on this last sunday. i must move forward. there will be many "graves" in my life. breakups, heartache, death, stress are just a few, but if i become paralyzed by these, my life will slowly lose its meaning. my purpose on this earth is not to bring glory to my name. my purpose is to win hearts for christ and bring glory to his name and nothing else matters.

today is new year's eve. i can't believe tomorrow marks the start of a new year. boy, am i ready. bring on the new beginning. i have my eyes on Him and my focus is set and ready on the next step he wants me to take. i have two years left of school! i can NOT wait to be done. i am so glad i am able to have this time off from school, i don't want to go back, but the sooner i go the sooner i am done! i have had a great break so far, so i am excited what god will do with the last two weeks.

i am off to some friends for the new year's season. i hope everyone has a great time tonight. be SAFE! god bless and i hope everyone is ready and excited for what god will do with their new year!

new year please? thanks.

yesterday was one of the toughest days of my life, but god is enough and i will prevail. my heart is still there and will be until god tells me otherwise. its scary and sometimes funny to think why things happen the way they do. i know that "everything happens for a reason," but at this point i am sick of that "reason." i know god will honor my situation if i am faithful to him, but sometimes i just want to throw in the towel and move on. i know i am not the only one with "issues" so i apologize for the heavy hearted post today.
on a lighter note, i am going to be posting some pictures of my new art i am working on soon. after i get everything ready, i am going to sell them! they are so great, if i can say so myself. be looking for those, and if you are interested, let me know!
i am going to get a pedicure with a great friend soon! i can't wait for some time to relax and hang out! i can't believe it is almost a new year! i hope god is ready to move this year, haha i need some new things to happen in my life! hope you have a GREAT day!
"for i know the plans i have for you declares the LORD, plans to prosper not to harm you..."
Jeremiah 29:11

whew!

it has been so long! whew! christmas was fantastic! celebrating at church to help remember the real season for christmas was wonderful. how great that we have god to think for sending his son to this earth to save us from our sins. i enjoyed christmas with my immediate family as well as some time with jordan and his family. i got some great gifts! i got a memory foam mattress cover which is absolutely great! why spend thousands on an actual bed when you can get a cover that feels ust like it! i have slept better in the past two days than i have in a long time. its SO hard to get out of bed in the morning! (i definitely recommend them!) i also got a wii fit! i thought i would love it, which i do, but it was too depressing for christmas morning! :) getting on that thing did NOT make me happy! but they are fun so it was good! as i am writing right now i am enjoying another gift i got from my lovely brother....THE GOLDEN GIRLS SEASONS! i love them! i can't stop watching them! they are too funny! maybe someday i will have some great girls to grow old with!
i got to see my best friend on saturday which was LONG overdue! she came and picked me up and we went to panera! delicious as always! we had some GREAT conversation, right mara? the future is coming fast and i am so excited! we are one in the same and it was so great to have a best friend back me up and support everything, like always! we went shopping and could barely stand the crowds (and we love to shop)!
i also got hair extenstions! i am so nervous to wear them, but i am so excited to try them out! i think it will be so fun to beable to have short AND long hair whenever i want. a little piece of heaven here on earth:)
today was great like everyday. brother mark spoke on moving forward which really hit home, but it was so good to hear. i enjoyed every bit of it. he did something different today when he opened up the microphone to anyone who wanted to share what god has done in their lives, in the "moving forward" transition. it was a blessing to hear everyone being so transparent to our church family. god IS so good! god is doing so much in my life and blessing are raining down! our god is a big god and a great god! brother gary, lynwood's music minister, turned in his letter of resignation today based on god's calling to tampa, florida. although he will be missed greatly, we will always remember him and love him for everything he has done for our church. god bless his sweet family! my FAVORITE part of today was hanging out with two sweet friends! andrea, alyssa, and myself met at barnes and noble, and we talked and talked for two hours! i LOVED it! its so great to have friends you can trust and know will support you through anything. we talked about a lot and laughed about even more!
i am off ALL week long and am excited to relax and enjoy some down time! god bless everyone reading and sorry for the long post!

sigh of relief :)

school is out and the pressure is off. its fantastic! the only pressure i have left is grades! they come out on tuesday and so far the classes i see, i have "a's" in! I can't wait to see if all of the hard work paid off! i am so glad i no longer have to take 19 hours! woohoo!
christmas is getting closer! i am so excited! i have been working like crazy! i will also be working every day this week! i am not looking forward to it! but a few days of for christmas will be so great! i can't wait to see the family i only get to see once a year!
on saturday i got to eat home-cooked breakfast thanks to my sweet boyfriend and mom! i also got a new haircut which was great because it was well needed as well as it felt good to have a fresh new cut. i love it. i also got to have some fun with great people at jordan's christmas party! it was so fun! we got to see some great video footage on the great things happening in the "men at the cross" minsitry. along with all the struggles they have seen, so many people have been touched!
i got to enjoy a great lunch with my sweet grandparents today. after i found out she bought the same thing for my mom as i did, for christmas, i went out to the mall, (crazy i know) and bought her something great! i will share the new, fun idea after christmas is over, because she might be reading:) while i was shopping i found the cutest kiosk! it was full of beautiful home decor pieces filled with bling! i loved it all! i purchased a few pieces, but i aslo asked for some of the pieces to be placed in my hope chest! the kiosk was called "crystal cowgirl." if i find a link for it i will put it on here next time i write!
i have got to have many fun, as well as serious talks about the future, and as my best friend knows, i love to talk about this. i love my life now, but i can't wait for the future. i unfortunately still have two years of school left. if i could graduate tomorrow i would do it in a hearbeat! i am so done with school. i am on my knees daily about school and the future and i am going to follow god's will always so we will see what happens, and no i am not dropping out of school, mom.
i'm going to church in a little bit to hear mom speak on her "africa experience." i can't wait until i get to experience what she has experienced! 371 days!

sweet surprises

i missed writing yesterday! lots has gone on! i got to go to lunch with my mom yesterday to celebrate christmas break and to congratulate the fact i survived after nineteen hours! woo! i am so glad that is over! we went to heavenly ham, which happens to be one of my faves because they have my favorite, jones soda!!:) i savored it down to the last drink! prior to going to lunch i got a phone call from jordan who informed me "he was sure i needed to go home before i went to lunch." much to my surprise when i got home i saw a trail of hershey kisses to my bedroom! how sweet, right?! you can enjoy the pictures!
i got to enjoy some great spiritual advice and some future advice as well with some great friends! it was much needed and VERY exciting! god is so good! he always knows when to put the right people in your path!
my challenge to anyone who reads. i can't be the one to "coin" this challenge but my friend chad has started it and i think its great!
drive-thru challenge: next time you are at a drive-thru pay for the person behind you! on my favorites tab you can get to the little paper to leave with their order to explain to them what you are doing. but even if you can't print that off, leave a note to explain its just because. no strings attached. that you just want to share the light of jesus. it's such a blessing!
i spent a LONG day at work today and i have another one tomorrow! i love my life and the fact i can enjoy everything because i am god's child. if god is on my side, whom shall i fear?
things i love:
christmas shopping
sweet surprises
god's blessings
heavenly father
things i don't:
being away from sweet friends
unstable family
bad hair days
long days at work

welcome christmas break!

finals are over and christmas break has arrived. i was beginning to think it would NEVER get here. it is only ten days until christmas! eeeek! how great is that?! its one more thing i have counted down for and it is here! i absolutely adore checking things off my to do list and counting down to important days for motivation. my sweet friend mara introduced me to the greatest app on the iphone! its name is quite original, "days until." :) you can add anything you want and it will automatically count down the days until that even is. i have put so many things in and it just brings a smile to my face when something arrives! the small things in life are so great! what did we do before iphones? i officially added my trip to africa on my countdown and starting from today it is 376 days away. time will fly and i can't wait to be there ringing in the new year in a different country. i added up my finances for that trip and decided if i received no help from anyone else, which i plan to ask for some, i could save $10 a day and i could have some spending money as well as my trip payed for! now all i need is a prescription for some major medication to make me sit still on the 16 hour plane ride:)
i had lunch with a friend today and heard some horrible news. the father of a girl i graduated with died last week. it broke my heart to hear the news. you never know when things like this are going to happen. we are never promised another day and i think if everyone realized what this meant there wouldn't be as many dysfunctional relationships. it teaches us to never take anything for granted.
anyone who knows me knows i LOVE LOVE LOVE fashion! i am trying a new hair-do tomorrow :) i am bringing back rollers! we will see how that goes! i also got this beautiful scarf today for $10! i can't wait to wear it! maybe i will have somwhere to wear it soon! hint hint;)

hello finals.

what a college kid lives for...finals week. it marks the end of a semester and it always welcomes a break. i had two finals today and thankfully i only have one more in-class final. by the grace of god my math final went GREAT! this semester has been so tough. transferring home from murray caused me to lose many credits and i had to tackle a nineteen hour schedule this week. on top of all of that i was working four jobs. god pulled me thru it and i am now at the end of the tunnel. my history class has been my least favorite but god is always working and blessed me with a final close to my heart. the topic? "does christianity matter?" i think instead of struggling to get four pages someone will have to tell me to shut up!
as mentioned before christmastime is the BEST time of year! its my all time favorite. as christmas rolls around it is easy to get caught up in all the "hussle and bussle." this year i have spent a lot of time thinking of how important family is and how we all need to cherish the ones around us. i have struggled with a relationship with my dad for ten years. it was just three months ago when i decided to stop communicating with him. i spoke with my pastor who explained to me and gave biblical reasoning why my situation was "okay." i was so glad to have that off my chest and now that i finally do i miss that part that actually was never there. it is now i realize i have the best dad there ever was, jesus christ, my heavenly father. although i miss my dad and love him, until the situation gets better i have to stick with where i am at.
most exciting part of the day....my best friend mara sent me a link today. when i saw the zales title, i expected she was sending me a new picture of the engagement ring she has picked out. much to my surprise...an ENTIRE line of hello kitty jewelry. you can guess what made my christmas list:)
well i must tackle my paper in the morning so its off to bed. cherish the ones you love and use every opportunity to share the story of christ. he died the most horrible death for every person so it is the least we can do. ELEVEN MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! i can't wait!

happy sunday!

how wonderful to live in a country where i can spend sundays in my wonderful church. brother mark spoke on the prophecies of the old testament. WOW! it was amazing! our god is so good and so big! i enjoyed every bit of it. as we enter in the christmas season my heart is filled with delight. it is my absolute favorite time of year! our savior was born to save our sins! how cool is that?! as much as i am delighted, my heart hurts for those not as fortunate. at this time of year we take so many things for granted. as i have been praying for what my part in this could be, god has placed a mission trip on my heart. as many know my mom jumped on a plane to fly 18 hours this summer to go to swaziland,africa. she went with an organization called heart for africa. i wanted to go so bad, but didn't feel god was calling me at that time. i now feel completely different. god has called me on a trip to africa next year. i will be leaving the day after christmas and think my life will be changed and my vision of christmas will be completely different. my prayer request for those who have read is to pray for god to provide financially for this trip, it will take a lot of saving. and for those who know me...i am not particularly good at this.:)
well finals are this week. one more semester down. i officially have two years left. i will graduate in december of 2011. i am VERY excited and ready to be finised with school. i can't wait for christmas! have a great week!

so I gave in...

I have to admit I have been slightly addicted to reading other people's blog so I gave in. I decided to start my own. I don't have as many exciting topics to talk about such as kids or marriage, but I like the idea of keeping in touch with the ones I love. The idea of starting a blog is easy, its the name that's the hard part! I spent a LONG time contemplating what a good, worthy name would be. "to see HIS glory revealed" kept coming up, so here it is! I hope everyone enjoys.
I have to say I am quite fond of my blog's name! :) I hope when others see me they do see HIS glory revealed. I am so passionate about my beliefs and values and hope this blog can reach others for Christ.
A little about myself before I spill my life to anyone who chooses to "follow" me. I am a hopeless romantic and I am working to achieve this someday. I am in LOVE with my Lord and Savior. My goal in life is to bring glory to his name. I am super close to the family I have and I would do anything for them. I am so glad I got the opportunity to come back home to go to school closer to them. I suffer from a disease called retailed therapy. Regardless of what anyone says, its real. :) I love kids. I am going to school to receive my degree in Elementary Education so I can spend my life surrounded by kids. I want to be a mommy when I grow up. :) I love to sing. I sing in the shower. I sing in the car. I think about singing. I have a Hello Kitty obsession. I obtained this as a young child and it hasn't ever left. I love to dance! I can't dance, but I love it! I love food. People assume I don't eat based on my wonderful appetite God has blessed me with, but I love food. I have a sweet cat and she is practically my child. Her name is Lacey and as weird as it sounds, its teaching me the ins and outs of motherhood, right mom? Speaking of mom, she IS my best friend. God has truly blessed me with the world's greatest mom hands-down. I love fashion. I have a slight jealousy to those who can spend their life savings on beautiful clothing, but I have been told I am a smart shopper, not cheap. I am quite emotional. I think its great, others...not so much. I believe the best love story comes from the bible and its my absolute favorite because I am in it! I love music. Its a great therapy. I secretly wish I could write songs. Good lyrics are like a great poem, but you can sing it! I adore photography and pictures. I wish I took more pictures, but I cherish the ones I have. I hated high school and assumed I would love college. I don't. I am ready to move on and start a life. Not to wish my life away at all, but school is NOT my thing. I love to dress up, but there isn't anything better than a pair of sweatpants and a ponytail. It makes it especially easy to dress like this when your friends and family love you regardless. I have a tattoo on my wrist. It says "phillipians 4:13."It means a ton to me. The story of telling my mom is priceless. I want to get another one, but I don't have a good reason as of now. Spring and Fall are my favorite. Not to Hot. Not to Cold. Christmastime is my FAVORITE time of year though. What an exciting time to worship Jesus!
Well there you have it. A little about the author of this blog. I am excited about my life and hope everyone enjoys learning a little more about me. Enjoy!