Meet Brittany!

Yesterday was a little crazy, and I was a little moody, so I plum forgot to write before I went to bed! So today you get two posts!

Today I want to tell you about Brittany. Honestly, I never got to know her very well. Her roommate was a teammate of mine in Peru, and I met her through visiting Jessi and other summer missions events. Brittany served in the Philippines while I served in the Grand Canyon, and God filled her heart there!

Now, Brittany is in the middle of midwifery school in the Philippines. Yes, you read that correctly. Midwifery school! How crazy She actually gets to take care of pregnant mommas and deliver their little babies when it's time. I can't think of a cooler, more awesome way to serve the Lord. I love keeping up with her and seeing her heart for these people through her blog and facebook posts. Being away from "home" for so long can be soo difficult, but I love that shes always up for new adventures, serving in new places and at all hours of the day whenever she can!

Read more about her journey here, and see pictures of cute little newborns!

Friend bragging

So I failed miserably at my 31 days of writing, buttt that's okay! I still want to tell about all the cool things my friends are doing, and ask for you prayers for them as well! So look forward for 2 more posts this week to hear about Becky and Brittany.

Today I will tell you about Melissa!

Melissa was my teammate in Peru. At first, I thought she was going to drive me bonkers, but I grew to love her and my time with her. We had many adventures and jokes and just plain fun times figuring out life in our beloved Peru. Sometimes I still catch myself wanting to tell her something I hear or see, but no one here seems to appreciate my weirdness quite like Melissa. But really, this woman taught me and challenged me and helped me grow so much in the 10 months we were housemates, and for that I am forever grateful!

Nowadays Melissa is living in Nepal working with an organization called Tiny Hands. They intercept girls who are being trafficked across boarders and provide safe houses and care for them after they are taken out of slavery. Tiny Hands is working towards building a Dream Center for these children as well as other orphaned or needy children in Nepal, and eventually Melissa will be a teacher at this center. Right now they are working on the construction and legal processes of starting the home there, and Melissa is teaching in a local school.

If you want to keep up with Melissa and her journey, she blogs occasionally here. Fair warning, she doesn't hold back on the rawness of living/serving overseas. Prepare for some Bible bloggin :)

For more information on Tiny Hands, click here.

Thanks for your patience in my (lack of writing) & faithfulness in reading over here!

Bullfloat

Sorry for the absence! This weekend was crazy! But oh so fun! Between camp with my 242 group and the Color Run, I'm exhausted! I'd do it all over again a hundred times though!

Camp consists of some excellent teaching mixed with crazy games. Typical. I may or may not have gotten a fat lip after colliding with a youth minister during a game. But no fear! We were both fine, just sore! Today I'm just going to leave you with some of my favorite pictures from Saturday, and tomorrow I'll give you a run through of everything else!

Day 8--Generosity

Forgive me if you don't like hearing stories about my 8th graders. That's been my life this week.

Last night at church the lesson was on generosity. Not so much the typical "we need to give give give!", but why it's difficult to give & whats going on in our hearts to make us want to give or not. And y'all, these are 13 year old little people, so they we're not talking about giving money. It linked well back to last week's lesson about service. How can we intentionally, with a full heart, give our time and energy and money (what we have) away?

In our small group, a few of my girls opened up & dug deep into the convo. We talked a lot about why it was difficult to give. And most of them agreed that it's a self-confidence thing. That we, as young people in 2013, compare ourselves to everything and everyone else. That we want the best clothes and 5 pairs of Uggs and the newest iPhones, but we do NOT want to be known by our stuff. We have this yearning to be known for who we are, but we want to cover ourselves up with material things. And I find myself right there with them! How silly are we?

We also touched on how we are so selfish for absolutely no reason. What was funny was that everyone agreed we were selfish with our food! To be in Nashville where we can get whatever food we want at any time, we all don't like sharing it! It reminded me of the jungle in Peru when the group passed out candy to the children. Most of them saved at least one piece in their tiny little pockets to share with their mom and siblings. Try explaining to a 3 year old determined to share that chocolate will melt in their pocket in 90 degree weather, and they should just eat it now! But how precious were their hearts!

We ended last night with thinking of ways we could be generous. We had ideas ranging from "sharing my donuts at tennis practice" to "practicing patience with the boys beside me in Spanish class" to "sharing my candy with my little sister" to "taking some clothes to goodwill".

I just pray that we all, especially myself, have a giving heart in all circumstances. To exemplify Christ’s gentleness and kindness in giving our time, money, energy, stuff, and lives away.

Here’s some of these jungle babies I was talking about! 

Day 7--Full

Writing a blog every single day is a lot harder than it originally sounded. At first, a million little topics rush to your mind, but when it comes time to actually write... nothing! So here's to being 2 days behind!

Staying true to positive thinking, let me just say my heart is so full these days! And after snacking like I did last night, my belly is too, but that's another story!

Okay, I'll tell that story. Aaron and roommate Laura and I watched a movie last night, and I snacked the entire time! I hadn't felt so miserable in a long time!

muddy buddies and popcorn after a Chipotle dinner=miserable.

Anywho, life this week seems to be revolving around trip planning, hanging out with people at least 10 years younger than me (and Aaron), and enjoying some beautiful weather. How can I not be overflowing with joy? Thank you Jesus for weeks like this!

Day 6- Monday nights

Mondays are gym days. I always dread it around 4pm, but I love love love the feeling of accomplishment and achy muscles at 6pm. I started going to the Y about a year ago, and never did I ever think that I could do as many push ups as I can now, even if they're on my knees.

Today we had class outside. And in case you don't live in Nashville, it was absolutely gorgeous out today. It was so fun and just good for my soul. And while I'm not super good friends with the people in my class, I love that we all push each other and encourage each other and look forward to seeing each other every week.

Moral of the story, go do something that makes you feel good. Physically and mentally. I promise, it'll be good for your soul.

Now, going to see gravity with my man. Goodnight all!

Day 5--Sobrinos!

I missed day 4. Forgive me. You get extra pictures today.

Friday night i was supposed to have a girl's night with my niece, but both of my nephews were begging to come stay with me too. This is unusual, so I said okay.  (We planned another girl's night in a couple weeks.)  We painted pumpkins and made cookies and drank apple cider and watched a movie and did everything you're supposed to do while visiting your cool aunt. It was a good time for all. I wish I got to see these kiddos more.

We watched Little Rascals, one of my all time favorites. All of the kids were asleep within the first 25 minutes, so Aaron and I watched the rest. We attempted to move the boys upstairs to go to bed, but Mason started throwing punches when we tried to lift him up. We settled for just making sure he had a pillow, and he even threw punches while trying to get him to lay on it! Of course, he didn't remember any of this Saturday morning and was embarrassed when we told him! Sweet little one!

Enjoy some pumpkin painting pictures!

Day 4--Friday share time! Meet Anna & Jacob

I like talking about my friends a lot. I have a lot of friends doing some really cool things right now. And, honestly, I'm not close friend with many of them, but I just love their hearts and spirits and willingness to go & do what the Lord is calling them to do. So each Friday in these 31 days I'll share a blog of one of these awesome people so you can know their stories and pray for them. I don't plan on writing a ton about them, because I want you to go hear their story from them!

Soooo briefly, meet Anna! Anna and her husband Jacob are adopting a 13 year old from Belize. I don't think I could admire this couple any more than I already do. They're so young and so brave and stepping out in faith to adopt a teenager.

Their adoptions, like most, has been "in process" for a while now. A couple of weeks ago, Anna wrote a blog or facebook post or something asking for everyone to pray for a specific piece of paperwork to come through. I've prayed in general for their adoption over the past year, but this was the first time to actually pray for specifics at a specific time. And by golly, they got the paperwork THAT DAY. I'm totally not trying to pretend like I have super prayers or anything. It was just such a testimony to God's faithfulness when we call upon His name!

Now they're waiting for their travel dates to go get Eric, and they're really hoping to have him before Christmas. So join with me and them and tons of others for them to have their son with them in Alabama on Christmas day!

And read Anna's blog and more of their story here, because it's awesome!

Day 3-Service

The message at the Mix last night was on service. So after a time of worship and a lesson from one of the directors, we broke up into our 242 groups (small groups) to discuss what service is and how we can serve each other.

The answers coming out of my 13 year old girls' mouths were so humbling.

We talked about why we should serve each other. How we can serve each other? How Jesus served people while he was here on Earth? What does it cost to serve? What are our intentions when we serve? Why do our intentions matter? How can we serve our parents? Our siblings? People at school we may not know very well? What do you get out of serving? How does being served feel? How can we serve God well?

 I'm convinced I have the best group of 8th graders out there. Seriously, they're legit. They're so wise beyond their years. In 8th grade, I'm pretty sure I had a crush on a boy I hadn't had an actual conversation with. And had maybe seen him 3 times tops. While I realize that there's probably lots that I don't know about my girls, I'm positive they are some of the most real, kind-hearted, hilarious, mature ladies out there.

What about us? (Assuming you're not 13 and in middle school and depend on your parents for everything) How can we serve each other? Wouldn't the world be a better place if we ALL took time to serve someone over ourselves just once a day? What are you going to do to serve well this week?

Note: This was from a few weeks ago. Some girls are missing.

Day 2--Hump Day

I don’t know what it is about Wednesday, but even the most dreary hump days seem to hold excitement for upcoming weekend.

Wednesdays are usually my long day---I leave home at 7:20am and return at 10:30pm. After work I usually go to the gym, then dinner with Mally (for 2 more weeks at least), then the Mix with my youth group girls, then to watch Nashville with Aaron and his roommates.

I sleep well on Wednesday nights. By the end of the Thursday I’m exhausted and sprinting towards 4pm nap time. I won't lie, I sometimes dread the thought of such a long day on Wednesday mornings. But having the opportunity to laugh and shhh and worship with and invest in some awesome 8^th graders, and then relax and yell ridiculous things at a box and get overly excited about a fictional story line with some of my best friends, what’s better than that?

What do you do with your hump day? Do you get excited about it? Does this help make it better?

31 Days of Positive Thinking--Day 1

It's been a while since I've posted anything. Those goals from the beginning of the year... meh they're going. Definitely not going to save all that money though! Ya girl needs some new shoes!

I read a lot of what I call "mommy blogs". In reality, they're just stories of Christian women who want to help support and encourage each other, most of them just happen to be mommies, and I imagine children and housekeeping and decorating and such are easy to write about! Anyways, they've started a 31 day writing challenge for the month of October. You write on one topic every day for the month. It can be long, short, whatever! This is a crazy large task, but I'm going to try it! I probably won't link up with them like they want you too, but it's not because I don't want to, I'm just not that tech savvy.  But you, you're a lucky one getting to read my thoughts!

I chose to write 31 posts on positive thinking. Let's be honest, it's easy to get into a Debbie Downer state and stay there, especially when it gets dark at 6pm now (when did that happen?). So I'm going to force myself to see all the blessings God has bestowed upon me, and share them with you!

Today's positive thought is one of gratitude, thanksgiving. Last night, my little brother Chris Chip was in a car wreck. In his words, "The car goes really fast. The road went left, we turned, the car went right, and we took out a tree." By the look of the car, he should have been hurt pretty bad, but both passengers walked away with minor injuries. Thank you Jesus for keeping my favorite (and only) little brother safe last night! Thank you for giving him a good spirit while in the ER. Thank you for letting me be his big sister and for the special friendship we have!

Because blogs are boring without pictures, here's a picture of him in the ER. I'm assuming this is post getting stitched up! What a trooper! By the way, he is single ladies! And he'll have a cool scar. Girls dig scars, right?

Until tomorrow friends!


Want to join me on the 31 day challenge? Head over to www.thenester.com and get some ideas and join! There's literally thousands doing this, so why not be a part of something so much bigger than you?