Overwhelmed. In a good way!

Oh my goodness!

I woke up today and absolutely could not believe that Miss MHB 2011 was actually over!

I just wanted to cry since I knew I wouldn't be going to the girls next practice on Monday!

So, I just looked back on all the awesome memories that I gained from this amazing pageant!

I remember the first day of practice, when we had each girl write down who she was,

and at the end of pageant, each girl said she had gained newfound confidence in herself, and/or a brand new family! The other directors and I were overwhelmed when we heard how much each girl really had grown as individuals and as sisters during pageant - our number one goal.

When I look back, all I can think about is how incredibly proud I am of everyone involved!

Each of our committee heads and committees did their jobs outstandingly well!

Each of our contestant grew in Christ and radiated His glory on the stage both Friday and Saturday night!

So, I'm writing this to let everyone know how thankful and blessed I am to have gotten to be a part of making something as beautiful as "Beautiful" happen!

I gained not only two new friends, but two absolutely BEST friends, and I love them more than I could ever express.

And to the 23 pageant contestants, in all honesty, I have NEVER seen 23 more beautiful girls in my life, and the fact that I got to direct and guide each of you is beyond me.

The amount of hard work and dedication each of you put in while still exuding the love of Christ has been something so incredible to witness!

So, I have no idea why God keeps blessing me the way He does since I am completely undeserving.

All I know is that I am going to be joyful and grateful, and try with everything I have to bring Him glory throughout every situation I encounter.

Freedom

Hello all!

The first few weeks back here at UMHB have been awesome!

Pageant keeps getting closer and closer and I am beyond excited!

I love when I have time to sit down and not have to be studying or planning anything and

I can just reflect on how blessed I am! I am so blessed!

I've already written a blog about being blessed, so I am not going to write another, but it is still true, none-the-less.

Now I can write about freedom...which is another blessing.

The fact that we can be set free by the Lord's Spirit is sensational.

And....when you experience this true freedom on your own account.....it stretches far beyond what human terms can describe.

So, this is me finally being able to blog about what I learned this summer!

So, I will start by quoting Scripture, which is far more valuable than anything I could ever say.

"Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

2 Corinthians 3:17

Okay, so, I feel like most of us read this, kind of look over it, and think, "Hey, that's cool," and just move on with our lives. At least....I know I did for over 20 years of my life.

But, I finally learned what this verse really and truly means.

I learned that this is more than a sentence and just another verse that people quote on a coffee mug or post on their facebook statuses.

Freedom is defined as: the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.

It is also defined as an exemption from external control, interference, or regulation.

Maybe we have a tendency to read right over this as well.

Well......I know that I have no intention of ever making that mistake again.

So, what this verse is saying....
 

It's saying that The Lord is Spirit.

Where The Spirit is....there is freedom.

Freedom is the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint. Freedom is an exemption from external control or interference.

Being free is specifically defined as: enjoying personal rights or liberty, as a person who is not in slavery.

So, in essence, this verse is saying SO many things.

We are free to worship God as we choose.

We are free to make our own personal decisions.

We are free to trust in the Lord with everything we have.

We are free from pain.

We are free from sorrow.

We are free from our past.

We don't have to live as slaves to sin, as slaves to our past mistakes.

This is HUGE!

I let my past hold me down for SO long, and I never even realized it.

God took my life and allowed me to trust Him to finally take over and get rid of all that junk that was weighing down my heart.

God finally set me free, and I am really free.

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36

And when you finally let go of everything that is holding you back,

I promise that God will take your life and completely transform it....

and He will offer you His freedom.

And.......when you finally experience this perfect freedom, there is no way that you could ever, ever, ever be the same.

Period.

And I never will.

To have the blessing of the Lord's freedom is one of the most amazing

blessings that I have ever experienced.

Freedom Reigns.

Here are a few more Scriptures:

"In my anguish, I cried to the Lord, and He answered me by setting me free."

Psalm 118:5

"I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free."

Psalm 119:32

"He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free."

Psalm 146:7

"Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

John 8:32

"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

Romans 6:18

"...because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death."

Romans 8:2

Ahhhhh!

So, I can't believe that summer is almost over, but I am filled with excitement to go back to UMHB.

I don't really have a point to this blog, other than to rant on and on about how AWESOME Glee is and how talented the entire cast happens to be.

So, I just think that everyone needs to click here and experience this.

If you don't, you are really missing out.

 

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."

Micah 6:8

Wildweeeeeekk!

Here is a video from Wildweek that I just now got to work!

I was going to try to tell everyone about camp, and I figured this would be really awesome.

Enjoy.

I'm on a plane.

Hey!

So...this blog is super special and exciting because I am writing it several thousands of feet in the air!

We are on our way to Atlanta, then we get on our next plane to Dallas.
There is a man behind me in a pink button up shirt, and I really like it.

Mimi is sitting next to me reading her book.
I just asked her if the book was still good, and she nodded.

Our flight attendant hates us.
I don't know why.
She really likes the man in the pink shirt, though.

So, this week/weekend we went to see 3 plays, and they were all AWESOME!
The first one we saw was Jersey Boys, and Mimi really, really liked that one.
The next one was Memphis, and it was phenomenal.
The last one we saw was Promises, Promises, and Kristin Chenoweth was in it!
I tried to meet her at the stage door after the play, but I didn't get to :(

I also took Mimi to Serendipity, and she loved it so much we went back a second time.

Did I mention I'm on a plane right now?
How crazy is that!?

The man next to me fell asleep a long time ago and he has been sleeping with his mouth open ever since.

The flight attendant that hates us just got mad at someone else.
I am scared of her.

So, basically New York was awesome.
We went to the Empire State Building, which was fun because I've never gotten to go there before.

....I hate when the plane shakes.

Mimi is still reading her book.
She just turned the light on so she could see better.
I hope it helped.

I asked Mimi if I should tell y'all anything else and she said:
"Did you tell them that you walked me to death?
Did you tell them about shopping and how it was the first thing we did when we got there and the last thing we did before we left?
And how our limo driver is going to Chelsea Clinton's wedding? (yeah, our limo driver is going to Chelsea Clinton's wedding, and he is super excited about it)."


"Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love."
Ephesians 6: 23-24

New Yorkkkkk!

So, I am in New York with Mimi!

We just got here a few hours ago, and so far everything has been fantastic!

I figured I would just update everyone by typing up my awesome journal entry I started writing

in an attempt to forget that I was actually on a plane.

That didn't work....but at least I have a pretty detailed account of our first day of this New York trip!

Here it is:

"We are on our second flight and almost to New York. I am writing and Mimi is reading some Karen Kingsbury book (Take Two). She says it wouldn't make it onto her Top 10 List, but it's really pretty good. There is a baby that cries a lot on this flight.

Mimi has one of those half-circle pillow things around her neck. We ate lunch at some cute little airport restaurant thing in Atlanta. We had chicken sandwiches even though really we ordered turkey sandwiches, so that was kind of weird....but good. Mimi really liked her pickle. 

Now we have pretzels and this should be pretty exciting. So far this flight has been good, but every once in a while it gets super bumpy and I get really freaked out.

I just finished my pretzels. Mimi still hasn't opened hers. I guess she is too busy reading her book. She is opening her pretzels now. A really awesome flight attendant just took our picture for us. She is wearing really pretty pink, sparkly eyeshadow and her name is Cici. She is nice.

I just read everything to Mimi . Mimi wants me to write that she just picked her purse up off of the floor. Now she just took a picture of me writing this. I just almost drank Mimi's diet coke. That would have been gross. Now Mimi is starting her own journal. Her handwriting is harder to read than mine because she is writing in cursive. She says she doesn't really like writing in her journal. She thinks it takes way too long. She thinks she might try to write some more in her bed tonight. She just got some food on her white jacket, but I got it off for her."

Yeah, so that is what I wrote on the plane.

Since then we have unloaded everything at the hotel, had an awesome fruit and cheese plate delivered to us, walked around Times Square, made an awesome shopping trip/spree through the absolutely AMAZING 4-story brand new Forever 21, had dinner at Planet Hollywood (which was awesome), walked around Times Square a little bit more, stopped at a 3-story Walgreens, and headed back to our hotel, which is where we are now.

So anyways, it has been awesome here.

Mimi is asleep now.

Psalm 20:7

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."

Campy

So,

I am back from wildweek, and it was AWESOME!

I have soooooo much to say!

I don't even know where to start.

I came home and my mom totally re-did like, half of the house and got a housekeeper,

so I told her she was having an early onset of empty nest syndrome.

I also bought a book entitled "Say Goodnight to Insomnia."

I am learning how to overcome my insomnia as I type.

Right now, I am watching the Bachelorette episodes I missed with my mother while I update her on some of the wildweek happenings.

I've also had chick-fil-a twice now, and it was fantastic both times.

.....and I'm sick.

I took some mucinex today though. maximum strength.

it was pretty awesome.

Anyways,

I will talk more about camp later.

I just wanted to blog a little bit to celebrate a great 6 weeks.

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

2 Corinthians 3:17

What what!?

So, the past week has definitely been sensational.

I am beyond blessed to have the opportunity to get to do this camp!

Anyways,
Right now I am sitting next to Bri and we are both on facebook.

I am having Glee withdrawals because I still have not seen the season finale and I am kind of freaking out.
That's kind of a big deal.

Earlier Bri and Kalah did some p90x with me and it was pretty great.

I am excited about our next camp, especially because my fantastic UMHB friends on rec staff will be with us. Yay!

Alrighty, well, I think that's about all I have to say.


ttfn.


"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge."
Psalm 19:1-2

Make a Joyful Noise

Ah!

It's time for me to blog again!

Super exciting!

Okay, well, first off, I went shopping today.

Holly pressured me into it!

Mom doesn't know I did.

....well now she does.

I only bought one dress though, because it was only $13.50!

It was such a bargain. It was so cute!

I also worked at the Pregnancy Center, ate lunch with Mimi, went tanning, and went to work out.

So, pretty much everyone knows about my intense obsession with Glee, and any song performed in that show.

So that brings me to my awesome point: MUSIC.

Music!

It is such an amazing thing.

I am pretty sure that music has got to be God's greatest gift to mankind.

...With the exception of Jesus, of course. It really doesn't even measure up to Him.

Okay,

The best parts of music:

When you get goosebumps from an amazing note, voice, or lyric.

When you realize a song summarizes EXACTLY who you are or how you're feeling.

When you sit in the audience of a musical (like Wicked), or something truly sensational and feel your entire life changing.

When you get to stand on a stage, whether you're completely alone or in front of a huge audience, and you get to completely sing your heart out.

Music is awesome.

Music is inspiring.

Music is personal.

Music is life-changing.

One time, I was at a youth service, and I remember talking about our callings and passions in life.

And someone asked if anyone knew what they were born to do.

I instantly raised my hand.

"Sing. I was born to sing."

Anyways, it has been about 4 or 5 years since then, and I still feel the same.

I have a huge passion for being a counselor and listening to people and trying to help, but there is nothing like the power of music - like the power of a great song.

Sometimes, I feel that's the best way to reach a person. Music.

Several people can testify to a song that reached them on some extreme personal level.

That being said,

Nothing ever compares to the feeling I get inside when I get to sing.

I get the same feeling no matter where I am - in my bedroom with a guitar, singing in church, performing in a play, or just getting to sing out a song on some type of stage.

The feeling is unlike any other.

I get an overwhelming sense of peace and satisfaction, knowing that this is my passion, my love, and God's gift to me.

So, basically, I know that music and singing is what I was put on this earth to do, whether it be singing with my mom and family in a small family room,

belting out show tunes on Broadway, singing in a praise band at church, or giving sold-out shows to thousands of fans.

I will always love to sing. I always will sing until I can't anymore.

"Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim His Salvation day after day."

1 Chronicles 16:23

Blessed

Blessed.

That is what I am.

But what does it really mean to be "blessed?"

It means:

"divinely or supremely favored; fortunate"

or

"blissfully happy or contented"

Wow.

I am blessed.

I am blessed to have the perfect love and admiration of a my wonderful Savior.

I am blessed to have an awesome family and some awesome friends.

I am blessed to be able to attend such an amazing college.

I could go on literally forever and ever.

Why me?

I come nowhere close to deserving anything at all.

The answer is completely beyond me.

But, surely it didn't just happen for no reason.

Luke 12:48

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (NIV)

So, the best I can do is give everything I own, and everything in me to my Savior.

But, what does that even mean?

Where do I start?

Proverbs 16:20

"Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,

and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD."

I can start by completely trusting and relying on Christ and following His ways to the best of my ability.

Then what?

LOVE.

I wrote an entire blog about it before,

and I probably could again....because it is a truly sensational thing.

Ephesians 5:1-2

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Proverbs 21:21

"He who pursues righteousness and love find life, prosperity, and honor."

Mark 12:30

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."

1 John 3:11

"This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another."

Luke 6:35

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked."

John 15:17

"This is my command: love each other."

1 John 3:14

"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death."

Matthew 5:44

"But I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

1 John 3:23

"And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us."

Romans 13:19

"The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Awesome, awesome, awesome!

In summary:

Ephesians 5:15-20

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So, that is about all I have for now.

I hope you enjoyed this, and I apologize for it being beyond ridiculously long.

I used to sing a song in church a lot when I was younger.

"When people look inside my life, I want to hear them say,

'She's got her Father's eyes, her Father's eyes - eyes that find the good in things,

when good is not around. Eyes that find the source of help, when help just can't be found.

Eyes full of compassion, seeing every pain. Knowing what you're going through, and feeling it the same. Just like my Father's eyes.'"

Now that I look back and truly read those words, I realize how powerful and meaningful they really are.

And - I can honestly, completely, and sincerely say, that is what I want in my life.