Saturday Night Special- Roadside Assistance

My favorite picture EVER from awkwardfamilyphotos.com... Please enjoy it with me.

As July begins to slip away from me, I'm starting to feel anxious... 

I LOVE Summer.  

I love the sunshine.  

I love the heat. 

I love the long days.

I love the beach and vacations.  

I love rainy Summer afternoons with a good book. 

I love having color in my skin. 

I love pedicures and that wavy, messy hair is acceptable in Summer.

I love the way Summer nights are the perfect temperature.  

I love having 1000 excuses for why a bowl of ice cream is necessary.  

I love the freedom from responsibility.  

I just adore Summer.  

I like the idea that laying out all day and getting a tan is considered productive. 

I love grilling out and having friends around.

I feel like an absolute kid in Summer. 

I love tomato sandwiches.

I love the freedom from shoes.

I love sundresses and tank tops.

Everything seems just a little more magical between May and September. 

Thank you Jesus for creating Summer. You knew my heart would need it. 

A couple weeks ago I spoke at Wesley- slightly against my will- nonetheless, I feel like the Lord has been teaching me to enjoy every season... good, bad or ugly. I  think this quote says it better in one sentence than I could say in hours of trying to explain. Each day is perfect in its own way... Am I willing to take the time to discover how?

Be intent upon the perfection of the present day.

-- William Law

I tried a new church today, New Spring Church.  They meet in a high school theater, and it seems to be a pretty small congregation.  I loved it though... I hope it becomes a place I can belong. The people were really friendly, and I really enjoyed the worship time.  For some reason, it reminded me of River Point (my home church), and that is a place I miss.  I think they have based their church off a North Point model which could be a great thing or could frustrate me.  I never really know the proper way to go about visiting churches and finding my home, but I'm hoping that Jesus will lead me to the right place at the right time.  For now, I'll just go to the places I feel interested in and hope for the best.   I'm pretty sure I'll be at New Spring again next Sunday. Be praying that I'll have discernment and favor in choosing a place to belong here.  I can't wait to be back in community like I had at UGA Wesley and River Point.



On another note, I went to the beach yesterday afternoon with Brittany and Jamie, two Wesley students, and I LOVE living an hour from the beach.  We woke up late, drove over, laid out, took a walk, ate lunch and headed back all before 4.  It was perfect and relaxing! I am also really thankful for the sweet students here, and I am so excited to keep getting to know them especially girls like Brittany and Jamie. Incredible people! After the beach, we (Brittany, Estefania and I) got ready and headed to Disney where we picked up Brittany's brother, Matt, who was so nice to get us in for FREE! We had a blast getting to be kids for an evening... What a fun weekend it has been! I am feeling almost the opposite of last weekend.  Jesus is so faithful to provide when we ask.  I am learning that everyday here- I am so incapable of doing life well on my own, but Jesus wants to lead and provide for me. I'm learning to let Him do that from the start instead of fighting Him constantly.

I have made a shocking discovery... 

I joined the seemingly insane Running Club at Wesley... prior to Tuesday night I thought these people were crazies to get together basically every evening to run- I mean, who willing joins a group to torture themselves. But I was peer pressured into joining on Tuesday night after Wesley.  And... I LOVED it.   I had so much fun running with this group, and I could run way further than I ever can alone.  Maybe soon I'll write a cheesy post about all the great spiritual parallels between our running club and our walk with Christ, but not tonight.  So far I've only been able to run 1.9 miles straight thru and then another half mile or so after walking for a while.  We do a 3.2 mile route.  So if you hate exercising as much as me or you are just burned out on it... start a running club or just find a friend to cheer you up on your runs.  I have been super surprised at how much more fun I have!


Maybe if I stick with it (which I'm very interested to see if I do), I can justify buying new shoes... that's always fun, right?

I wish I could live under this umbrella... 

Life is getting a little bit less dreamy here.  I am still 100% excited to be living in Orlando and getting to serve the Lord here through ministry and school.  I am having a blast getting to know the students of CFL Wesley and trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. But... those sneaky little desires that have lived like little hobbits stowed away in my heart for years and years are getting antsy.  There's something about being in a place where everything is new and exciting- it's distracting.  Unfortunately, living in a state of constant newness would not be healthy or even fun after a while.  The past couple days have been "hard" ones.  I hate to say they've been hard because I feel like I'm whining, but in my heart I have felt uneasy and restless.  I miss my family, the freshmen staff, River Point, being comfortable.  Reality is setting in, and though I still feel very called to be exactly where I am, I am seeing more and more that this season is not about me ministering to freshmen or about me learning to be a counselor.  This is a season for the Lord to really capture my heart if I'm willing.  He has removed the easy hiding places I have so often run to.  Those nooks don't exist here.  I am feeling very exposed before the Lord these days, and there's a scared peacefulness that bubbles up in my heart.  I trust God to move in me for the good of His kingdom, but that stirring could take me places I never planned to go.  

I'll leave you with a quote from a book I'm re-reading... Better Than My Dreams by Paula Rinehart (great book!)

"I want to suggest that it's just these places in your experiences- where dreams and expectations don't work out- that you are being issued the invitation of your life. Disappointment is, strangely enough, a doorway to the real adventure. It's the point where you start to leave behind most of your notions of how your story should read- and enter your relationship with God as a journey.  A true journey, one that's wild and adventurous and not anywhere close to predictable."

I have always loved Desert Song by Hillsong, but when I saw this video it became one of my favorite songs. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5_ikx9jlM0&feature=related

I think Jill's faith is incredible and encouraging. Her life is a picture of God's faithfulness and His comforting spirit in even our darkest moments. 

Banana Pudding happens to be my most favorite summer desert... It's just the perfect consistency.  Not too sweet, not too rich, cool and refreshing... And it has fruit so it's healthy, right? Okay... maybe not.  Here's a photo journal of my little adventure in being Paula Deen jr. 

I ate about half the box of these yummy mini Nilla wafers... What is it about mini things that make them so cute and appetizing?

I used about half the bananas the recipe called for, and there were already a ton in there... Paula is just crazy!

I could pretty much eat the mixture that you pour on top with a spoon and be completely happy for life... You better believe there was little need for actually washing the bowl when I was done with it. 

The finished product... 

Here's the website where I stole the recipe.  Hopefully it'll taste as good as it looks... 

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/view2/not_yo_mamas_banana_pudding

Lots and lots to say so I'll just paraphrase my life lately through pictures... they're worth a thousand words, right?

Couldn't have asked for better roommates and best friends in college.

I'm really thankful my mama got to come.  Helped curve the homesickness to spend a weekend with her (as much as I could).

The Brumble Bees

Best (and most beautiful) hall mates a freshie girl could hope for... seriously great friends.  It was good to catch up and laugh about how crazy we were!

The next day... I drove to Orlando, got in the car with Tara, went to the airport, got on a plane, flew to Nassau- where I saw my cousin and his new wife in the airport (small world!), got on a bus with a random mission group and started my first mission trip with CFL Wesley. 

                                 

We worked hard, laughed hard, sweated ALOT and blazed the trail for future teams.

Oh... this is just the beach where we spent our free day.  No big deal.  Just God's finest creation. 

In other news...

Two of my favorites got engaged! Congratulations Stan and Christina! Great story, incredible Godly amazing people with big hearts.

I have to speak at Wesley Tuesday night... don't worry- I just get super nervous speaking to groups of people. You can pray for that. 

Tomorrow I'm attempting to make Paula Deen's Banana Pudding recipe.  We'll see how it goes.  Maybe I'll take pictures if I remember before devouring it. 

I'm super stressed about the Bachelorette this season.  I'm pretty sure my fav- Frank- is going to break Ali's heart and maybe a piece of mine in the process. 

Life is great in Florida... Love seeing what God is doing here and in me.