i have officially made it to the one year mark with My Utmost For His Highest. yesterday was the first day where i saw my own note taking in the book...not 100% sure if that was the first day i started but it must have been around there at least.
on today i really liked the part that i had marked a year ago...
God does not ask us to do the things that are easy to us naturally; He only asks us to do the things we are perfectly fitted to do by His grace, and the cross will come along that line always.
how stinkin' awesome is that!!
i'm pretty excited to start seeing my own markings from last year, and i hope i can put more in them--maybe some more personal notes--for next year :)
tonight i went to TBS which is a thing we do at my campus ministry now on tuesday nights. it's sort of an in-depth bible study...this semester we're doing the 10 bible stories every christian should know...basically taking the whole bible and and plotting out 10 major points along the way which do a good outline of the whole story of how God has worked and the salvation that Jesus brings. well tonight we talked about The Fall and studied Genesis 3 hard core. one of the things we got to talking about is how yes, Eve took the first bite but she also gave it to the man who was with her. so basically, and no it's not all the guys fault, but he didn't do anything to stop it. and i know i've seen it in my life, and in my friends lives were this has happened. {the man and the woman both sinned, and it wasn't ones fault more than the other but the man didn't do anything to stop it} as one of my dear friends puts this lack of being a real man, "an epic fail of testosterone". so after we get on this subject one of the leaders basically told every man in the room to MAN UP, to be this great man of God, and spiritual leader that my girlfriends and i pray is out there and honestly a lot of the time we feel hopeless about it. he suggested a book call The Silence of Adam by Larry Crabb, and in this book it talks about how Adam was silent and how so many christian guys today are also "silent". i think that whole pep-talk might have been my favorite part of tonight. i honestly wanted to stand up and give him a round of applause, and my friend felt the same. so this left me with some encouragement...that there ARE men out there who aren't "epic fails of testosterone" and there are also men willing to be bold and encourage others to do so. so AMEN to them!! and if that call to rise didn't make the other girls in the room swoon there must be something wrong with them. ;) it gave me hope at least.
last night at church we were on our third week of our series on revelation...it's really neat cause my bible study this semester also decided to do revelation {before we even knew my church was going to, and the majority of us there go to southland as well}. we talked mostly about music last night...we read through ch's 4 & 5 and took them verse by verse {also neat because revelation was originally intended to be read aloud in worship services}. the major take away was to never stop worshiping out God, and specifically the connection between worship and song, God and song, and us and song. music gets into us...there is no other median which can express our feelings like music does, it comforts us, helps us mourn, can say the things we can't express, and can just give us a time to be free. my favorite artist would have to be Matt Wertz. hands down. i love that he is a Christian and it's reflected in his music but it's not "christian" music. i think he sings from his heart, definitely...and i feel like i can relate to so many songs of his in different ways. i also have to admit that part of what i like about him is that he's not a main stream artist {not that i wouldn't love to see him hit it big time}, but i feel like it makes him more relational, more like a real person. i love that i could go and see him in a small venue and that i get to introduce people to him and his music.
my week started off with me feeling the weight of stress and more stress. that's not how i like it. i should feel refreshed and at ease. ok, so maybe that's pushing it a little. but none-the-less i was feeling pushed in every which way, i wasn't sure if i was taking on too much or how i was going to get anything done, ever. i went to work and class on monday and seriously considered skipping my synergy team meeting...i didn't make up my mind till the last second and just went and i was glad i did. even though it took up more of the little time i do have it made everything seem better. it helped me realize that i do this because i LOVE THIS. i mean it's really as simple as that. i may get uber tired and worn around the edges and i might not get all the reading i'd like to for class done but i get there. i think it's important to realize how much i love what i do and what i put value in fitting into my day. it's not just another thing to fill up the hours, it's love. my love. God's love. God's plan for me.
on thursday i turned 23. i mean i didn't feel that different, and my birthday wasn't really much different than any other day...i did get to sleep in!! :) but other than that it was just like every other day...i went to class ALL day long and then i wen to synergy that night. i did however do something funny. like i said i got to sleep in so i had plenty of time to get ready in the morning...i even left the house WAY before i really needed to get to get to campus and park and all that jazz...well i started to walk to class and it hit to me...i don't remember putting make-up on today! which OK...isn't that big of a tragedy...but it was my birthday and i wanted to look good--i'm not even gonna lie about it. what bothered me most really wasn't the fact that i didn't have any make-up...it was the fact that i just simply FORGOT to put it on when i meant to...so of course it bothered me for most the day. when i realized it i even thought about going back to my car and driving home...but that was silly, i wouldn't have been back in time to make it to class and there's no way i'm missing class for something a trivial as that. but i was happy to get to synergy and welcome the weekend--and it doesn't hurt to get to see lots of friends! lucky for me i called katie and kellie and they saved me...they brought some of their make-up to synergy so i could fix my problem! i mean i even remembered to bring my body spray and hair spray...i can't help it, after being on campus all day i like to do a little touch up before synergy! and synergy was good...we had a good guest speaker and katie acted as my "wing-woman" and told everyone it was my birthday, so i didn't have to be "that girl" but i still got lots of happy birthdays...which lets face it everyone wants to get a bunch on their birthday!
but today is really when i got to celebrate being OLD! unfortunately i had to go to NKY for a little while and see my doc...so it was a busy day to say that least. but my fantastic sister erin was so good, i would text her things to do and she'd help me out...i didn't get back until about 4 and then it was time to get cooking!! i had roomies {past and present} over for dinner. i made most of the stuff up but i did find this one recipe...it was yummy! it was fun just to sit around and enjoy a meal together, get dressed up, and laugh...a lot! plus i enjoy cooking a lot, and who really wants to pull out all the stops everyday? not me. and it was nice to be able to do it and have a reason. i'm so glad they all came.
now...i'm so very tired. i've got a big day ahead of me. i should sleep...but unfortunately i want to get up and go to the farmers market before i make make cookies and then go to the gorge! so basically i'm going to be waking up early...and not sleeping in, which is what one should always do on the weekends!
i went to the lexington farmers market for the first time this semester on saturday. it was lovely. i made erin go with me and we also brought optimus along...lots of people even told us how cute he is {take that whitney!!}. erin and i got breakfast there too...it was lovely sitting on a curb and eating a homemade garlic bagel with herb goat cream cheese. yumo! another great find as the farmers market is fresh flowers. you can get beautiful flowers there for cheap. this one lady had a ton of different flowers and any two stems were $2. i bought three little lilies to go in my bedroom...they're beautiful. ok, so i might have lied. i did go to the farmers market once before this semester but i went on a thursday morning for class and it doesn't really count. but my ta did point out this guy that apparently has the be heirloom tomatoes in the area...so on saturday i found his booth and got some. i got a little basket full of baby ones in all different colors and i just made a little pizza with them...it very colorful and these tomatoes are delicious!
ps if any guys would like to know a really awesome way to give a girl flowers here's one...go to the farmers market, or pick your own flowers, whatever is in season. get all the same or mix it up--doesn't matter. then instead of a vase or tissue paper to wrap it up in just get an old news paper and wrap the flowers in that to make a bouquet. it'll look cute and not generic.
i'm not gonna lie. last night was a pretty monumental night in my life. i got to met and take pictures with two of my favorite artists! dave barnes and jon mclaughlin...the only thing that is missing that i have yet to met matt wertz. they were playing at a church about an hour from us. it wasn't even advertised online or anything and you had to buy tickets in person, so we just decided to drive and go. they both played for a long time, which was awesome. we were really tired though by the end...and unfortunately we may have looked it as well. we saw a good number of people we knew from csf there, so that was fun.
i'm so pumped to go to 608 tomorrow night...i haven't been able to go to it since i've been back in lexington. it'll be great :)
gotta go grab something to eat and then head over to katie and kellie's!
so for class today we started off at the farmers market, which is neat except for the fact that we really didn't do anything. we got there, someone told us a little about the market for like 5 min and then we were suppose to walk around. but i go to the farmers market a lot and today it was far from the glory that is the saturday morning farmers market. there were only a few vendors out too. and that was it...so then i had to drive back to campus and since it was later in the day i got an awful parking spot and then walk back to the lab for that same class...i was sweaty and gross and a few mins late...but it didn't really matter at least. for class today we all practiced sauteing veggies and flipping them in the pan. piece of cake. then chef bob made chicken with four different herbs. and then we ate lunch and cleaned up.
also i got my father something for christmas, i think he'll really like it. i saw it at the book store and it was perfect so i went ahead and just got it. lets hope i don't forget about it!
i can't wait till synergy tonight. it's so great just to go and relax, plus is the end of my week. i literally go right from class to synergy and i'm done for the week! it's a great feeling, and then i get to see everyone and get hugs. hugs just make everything better :)
i'm so looking forward to a 4 day weekend. how grand. at first i was wondering what i would even find to do...but i think i'll have plenty :)
also today i had a pumpkin spice latte...yumo. i still have my coffee buzz. great stuff...esp since i forgot to get coffee this morning!
i'm gonna break down and buy a macbook i think. i don't want to make a rash move but i think it's gonna happen. part of me wants to order it today.
there's something about community that you just need. it's something that my church and campus ministry both push and i believe it's rightfully so. i miss my community here in lexington so much when ever i'm home for an extended period of time. my church community in lex is pretty much the reason i'm so attached to lexington i believe and the reason i have stayed as long as i have. growing up i always only ever wanted to go to UK. basically it was there or no where in my mind, i didn't even apply for anywhere else. my dad used to joke and say "you can go to any college you want but i'm only paying for one." there were several times when it wasn't easy for me to be in lexington, different reasons. i don't know if they would have ever been bad enough for me to leave lex but i know my community stuck me here with cement. something i've noticed with my campus ministry is that pretty much every year it seemed that after people graduated they left but when i've noticed--in my class and even some in the year before me --is that people aren't so keen to leave right away anymore. which must say something about our community, doesn't everybody want to be a part of something bigger than themselves and something that people don't want to leave? i know i do. it's neat to see that. i love that everyone seems to be sticking around, and a lot of those who haven't didn't leave cause they wanted to and are trying to work their way back...which says so much about our community. there must be something going on there. i don't want to leave it either.
on a side note i really love the new colbie caillat song "fallin' for you" ,that's the music video, which is kinda funny. it's just such a cute song and i think it's funny that she's on a date with a real dork int he video, poser thug really isn't my type but i think i may have a bit of a weakness for a little dork.
it's the first of september, and that means fall is near. ah to breath in the smell of fallen leaves and wrap yourself up in a comfy sweater. fall is by far my favorite season...with so much to love how could you not love it?
my favorite things about fall... 1.)it's birthday season in my family 2.)pumpkins, or how i like to say it "punkin" 3.)fall leaves 4.)fall decor {dorky i know} 5.)apple season 6.)football, even though i don't really watch it intensely i enjoy the spirit it brings and tailgating 7.)going to the punkin patch/apple orchard 8.)carving punkins 9.)eating punkin goodies 10.)saturday morning trips to the farmers market 12.)harvest time 13.)thanksgiving 14.)fall {and christmas} coffee creamer flavors come out 15.)k-week 16.)camping out to get madness tickets 17.)making chili and soups 18.)winter squash 19.)fall retreat 20.)the way the fall air smells and fells
also the offical csf video came out for the water balloon fight, it's pretty sweet.
also today's my utmost is pretty solid...
"We must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life. We are not destined to happiness, nor to health, but to holiness. Today we have far too many desires and interests, and our lives are being consumed and wasted by them. Many of them may be right, noble, and good, and may later be fulfilled, but in the meantime God must cause their importance to us to decrease. The only thing that truly matters is whether a person will accept the God who will make him holy. At all costs, a person must have the right relationship with God." -Oswald Chambers
