So I've been out of the blog world for a little while. Lots has changed, once again. I'm dating a wonderful man, Andy. 9 months now! I had mono this summer. That was no fun. Now I'm just trying to catch up with life. It's taking a little while.

"While I'm Waiting" by John Waller

My best friend Meredith and I like to laugh a lot together. She lives in Cabot, Arkansas, right now. I wish she would hurry up and move to Kentucky already. Our latest thing we laugh at a lot (besides the drama in our lives) is Bon Qui Qui. It's just so funny. We spent an hour on the phone tonight just laughing about our crazy lives. And then we decided to watch this together. Life is good when you can laugh with great friends.

I'm so glad that I don't have any money invested in the stock market. I'm also glad that God has things under control. Remember the time in the Bible when the Israelites were complaining that they didn't have any meat? Remember how God was saying, "Trust me. I will provide." Hopefully we Americans can learn something about finances and necessities from the Israelites.

I, like most Americans, have debt. I have student loans to pay off. I have a car payment. I have a dental payment every month. And I have a little bit of credit card debt I'm paying off from college. However, I don't spend more than I make these days. All of my extra money goes to paying this stuff off.

I got to thinking today about my spending habits in college and right out of college after a friend of mine was telling me an unbelievable story. This friend knows someone who puts their rent on their credit card every month. And every month she spends her rent money on clothes and toys. She is just racking up debt that she can't pay off. My spending habits have changed these days. No Starbucks except on rare occasions. I'm trying not to eat out anymore. No more clothes. I have enough of those.

When did we become a society that thinks excess is necessity? Maybe we have always been that way. i do think that we can change this one latte at a time. Make a decision to stop spending your money on this stuff, and don't pressure your friends to spend money on it.

My hope is in God, and I know He is the ultimate provider. I pray that you have the same faith. If you don't, and you want to talk about it, let me know! God is good, and He will take care of us!

I have some things to say concerning the events of today. I will update this evening when I get home from work. But I just wanted to let you all know that I am fired up right now.

Recently I have been thinking about this word wisdom a lot. I have thought about all the times I thought I knew it all. Because of that I disrespected a lot of people who know a lot more than I do.

I came across this passage in Proverbs tonight:
"My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."
Proverbs 2:1-6

I desire to seek wisdom in all I do throughout this life. That is why I hope and pray that in the moments I need wisdom the most, I will seek out advice from godly men and women who are older than I. It saddens me to think about the advice and guidance I have missed out on because of my pride. God has put older people in my life for a reason. If God wants to use older people in my life to point me to Him, I want to make sure I listen to them from now on.

Finding wisdom is not easy. It is a constant search. Sometimes I have thought that I had found it. Really it was my pride disguised as wisdom. It was all about me, and what I thought. That was definitely not wisdom. True wisdom belongs to God. I want to be humbled. I want to be able to say that anything good that comes out of my mouth is God, not me.

So as long as I live I will search for it. My purpose in life is to live for Him. By living for Him, I commit to Him that I will constantly seek Him and His hand in my life.

I decided to go a little crazy tonight! This blog layout is MUCH cooler than what I had before!

God is good! Here is the update from my sister:

"Went to see the specialist today, we first found out...IT'S A GIRL!!! I can hardly believe it, we were SOOOO convinced it was a boy! But I am not at all disappointed!!! We also found out that her kidneys are dilated....one is 4.2 and one is 4.6. The normal is 0 but anything under 5 is considered a "minor concern" So that was good news to hear. The doc seems to think that at next month's appointment, the kidneys will be normal. However, because at this stage in the pregnancy her kidneys are dilated, there is a 1% chance that she has down syndrome. We were given the option of having an amnio done to find out but it would put the pregnancy at risk of being terminated. So, like I wrote last night, my daughter's fate is exactly what God created it to be and I'm just gonna love her no matter what! But please keep her in your prayers....her name is going to be Cassidy Hope. Today she was smiling on the ultrasound, she seems to be a happy baby :-) Thanks for the prayers!!"

I can't wait to meet this little girl in January.

Today has been an incredibly emotional day. Both of my sisters have shown me God in awesome ways....

My youngest sister Jessica is moving soon. She is taking a big step in faith as many of us have in our own lives. She said tonight that the greatest command is for us to love God and love each other. As long as she is doing that, God's plan in her life will fall into place. I feel like I should confess to those reading this that I haven't been a very supportive sister through this process. I ask for forgiveness for some of things I have said to her and others. I know she loves God, and I really am excited to see what God has in store for her. She is one of the most talented, compassionate people I know. I don't know how she has done some of the things she has done with her life. She loves people that my selfish heart usually wouldn't even give the time of day. Thank you, Jess, for putting me in my place a little tonight. I love you!

And then my sister Lisa... She and Travis are expecting their first child in January. This was what she wrote on her Facebook tonight....

"Trav and I were suposed to find out the sex of the baby today (as most of you have been reading about for several days!!) :-) We were super excited and then super bummed when the baby was in a breech position. The ultrasound didn't tell us anything. No biggie, just dissapointing. The shocking news came when my doctor reviewed the ultrasound. There is a possibility that our baby is developing a kidney defect because the kidneys are dilated. We are being sent to a high risk pregnancy specialist at St. Elizabeth's tomorrow at 10:00 am for more testing. I was super upset because there is nothing I can do to help my baby. So I took Dave's advice (courtesy of "LOST"). I let the terror invade and then realized that my baby's care is in the hands of MY CREATOR. The God of the Universe is forming my baby in my womb as I type this and my baby's fate will be exactly what it was created to be. I'll update y'all tomorrow......"

I don't really think I need to add anything except for wow. Lisa, you are an amazing example of faith to me. I love you!

I have great sisters.

I think I'm getting old. Here's how I know: The things that were once important to me aren't important to me anymore. My desire to be successful by the world's standard weakens every day. 

I just finished working on the One Month to Live series at work. There were five sermons in this series: 1. Live Passionately 2. Love Completely 3. Laugh Regularly 4. Lead Intentionally 5. Leave Boldly.

I got this idea from a blog I stumbled across tonight.

Wow! I just realized today that I've been in Louisville for almost four months! Time has flown by. I also realized that I really haven't updated everyone on life. So I want to give everyone a rundown of life in the Ville. 

Today I had a wonderful relaxing day. I just did some stuff around the apartment most of the day. Tonight, I experienced my first dinner on Frankfort Avenue in Louisville. My friend Lauren and I ate at Ray Parella's. I had the baked spaghetti. YUM! And Lauren and I split the tiramisu for dessert. I haven't had a dinner like that in a very long time. It was definitely a treat. 

I'm overwhelmed by God's blessings in my life right now. 

If you have ever moved you know how crazy it can be. The list keeps getting longer and longer. I was thinking tonight about how much easier it was to move to Searcy eight years ago. I was 18 and didn't have anything established. Now I have insurance, a bank, bills, magazine subscriptions, etc., etc., to take care of. I also have to reserve the rental truck, book two plane tickets to two weddings in the next few months, finish up work stuff, finish up freelance stuff, book a final hair appointment, etc., etc.

However, the idea of a new adventure is keeping me going through all of these random tasks. I'm very excited about the journey ahead of me. With each day that has passed since I made the decision to go to Southeast, I have felt more excited about it. I'm most excited about getting my first project. I wonder what it is!

So today... It's Sunday. I woke up late. As always I was running late for early service. My roommate has to wait on me every Sunday. This morning was no exception. I kept doing dumb things this morning. I put my shirt on backwards. I dropped my diffuser about 5 times while I was drying my hair. My bangs did not cooperate. All of my clothes are too big right now so I was wearing pants that were too big and I forgot to wear a belt.

And, of course, we barely made it to church on time. So we ended up sitting in the very back row on the side where you can't read the words to the songs. The whole time I'm complaining in my head about the morning. My emotions are running high right now... I'll explain why in a minute... every little thing has more meaning to me because of that.

However, all of the morning's fumbles melted away as soon as we began to sing. This morning was more of a singing service than anything else. And with every song, tears began to flow. God is so good and so powerful. He has done so many great things in my life. I hope you have realized what He has done in your life.


Big Changes

I'm moving to Louisville, Ky.!!

I accepted a job at Southeast Christian Church this week. I am going to be working with the Communication team as a graphic designer/writer. My last day at Harding is May 15, and I'm loading up the truck with my dad May 16. I'll start at Southeast May 21. A picture of Southeast is below.



This is the first time since college that I have made a big move. I have only lived in two places my entire life: Salem, Ohio, population: 20,000; and Searcy, Ark., population: 20,000. What is crazy is Louisville is obviously a lot bigger than those two places. BUT!! Southeast Christian Church, average attendance: 18,000. That's not a typo. 18,000.

I'm a little overwhelmed thinking about those numbers. But when I think about how God has worked everything out for this move, I feel excitement and comfort. From everything from support from family and friends to financial stability to an amazing apartment deal to a mixup with my Invisalign treatment (long story) to amazing support from my HU family, God has made this move clear. This is the next chapter in my story. There's something so humbling about surrendering your talents to Him and letting Him write those chapters.

I have always had the desire to work for a church. Always. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to follow that calling. Even though I'm excited, I have major mixed emotions. Searcy is home. I LOVE my friends. I LOVE Downtown Church. I LOVE Harding.

OK... I will have many more details to share with you all later about this big transition. God is good! I can't say that enough right now.

Next post to come soon.... Surrender...