What is This Strange Bright Light??

Basically, in the last week, Georgia has been flooded with buckets and buckets of rain. I've gotten a glimpse of what Noah experienced when the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened! On Wednesday, the sun showed itself for the first time in what feels like weeks. I was like, "What is this strange light in the sky!?" as I squinted my eyes to get a better look...haha I got really excited about sun coming out and it seemed to absolutely brighten my mood! I got outside and it felt like everything was so new and fresh! I snapped a few pictures around the neighborhood.

The neighborhood pond is filled once again to the brim ...I think we'll break out the kayak.

My sweet sisters and I...soaking up the sunshiny rays!

The trees seem to be appreciating the sunlight! : )

Herschel loves the sun too...even though he looks a little grumpy in this pic. haha

Square Dance

Every year, our school has a square dance for all the families. Despite its obvious corniness, it is quite fun and everyone always enjoys it! We even hire a "professional" square dance caller! Here are the highlights...

A "cow" boy?

Awww...who is this little lady?

Best buds...could we get any goofier?

Brother in a barrel! I don't know how the girls keep their hands off of him!

Again...corny, but being faithful to the 'ol yearbook staff.

Yes, these are my girls!

We're crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

YEE HAW

You know you are from Texas when an occasional square dance is NORMAL! haha

Y'all can probably guess what I'm doing on my Friday night!

Pictures to come!

Happy Birthday My Friend!

Today is my dear friend Brittney's 17th birthday. She's back in Texas and we don't see each other a lot, but we are the greatest friends. We grew up together. We spent many hours playing barbies, "house" and dressing up her Pomeranian, Honey, in American girl doll clothes. haha

This is the type of friend that you just pick right back up where you left off. I love her to death and I am so blessed by her friendship. We have been through the ups and downs of life together and we will be friends forever.

I look forward to being in each other's weddings, and holding each other's babies and being really cute little old ladies together! That's kinda sappy, but really...this is THAT kind of bestfriend! : ) I love you Brittney Ray and I hope you are blessed today!

Weren't we cute?

I Dare You to Pray This...

Francis Chan has an awesome heart for God!!!
If you don't know who Francis Chan is, you need to Google him.
If you haven't read his book, Crazy Love, you have to read it! I am!

Proverbs 30:7-9

Noah and How He Relates to Preschool Messes

The blog has gone through a bit of a makeover.

It definitely reflects what my life is like right now.

School is going well. I think my Senior year is going to be bittersweet, as I am having a lot of

melancholy feelings right now.

I will be graduating from my Christian school in the year 2010 (the best grad. year ever!) with four other wonderful ladies, who are also some of my best friends. We are certainly sharing an important part of our lives together.

Anyways, I have taken a part-time job working childcare at my church one night a week. I have a great class of precious 2, going on 3 year olds. They keep me on my toes and we have SO much fun!

Those sweet kids are some of the inspiration I have to go back and read certain bible storys. Last week, we learned about Noah building the ark. We let the kids finger paint the water and a rainbow around a picture of the ark and it was MESSY! I had paint all over my pants when we were done! Regardless, It was worth it because these little guys thought it was so cool and got excited about the story of Noah. Their favorite part (which is mine also) was the promise God made using the rainbow!

The movie, Evan Almighty, is a great movie that puts the story into an interesting perspective. Imagine the entire story of Noah and the ark happening in mondern day! You have to see this movie! I can picture just how much scorn Noah revieved from others. They must have thought that he was a crazy man! But Noah was a man who followed God. Enough so that God spared his life.

I want to be like Noah; who was obedient and loyal to God despite what others thought about him.

"Samuel, Samuel"

Do y'all want to hear what I learned from Samuel?
1 Samuel 3:1-10

This is one of those incredible stories in the Bible in which our holy, holy God's voice is audible. When I was a kid, this story didn't even phase me. I thought it wasn't surprising at all that God would choose to speak in an audible voice...it was NORMAL.

Now that I'm older, I pray more than ever for that child-like faith; to see God as HUGE and STRONG... instead of putting him into a box or limiting him. I appreciate the story of Samuel far more now! What an encouragement to hear this story again and be inspired by God's literal calling on the young boy's life!

I believe with everything in me that God is as living and active now as he was in Samuel's time. Unfortunately, God doesn't seem to speak to people ( at least not to me) in an audible voice as much as he used to. I think it probably has something to do with how loud we are! : )

Anyways, here's my little summary of this awesome story...

*1st off, Samuel is growing up in the temple of the most high God. He is sleeping where the Ark of God is! (vs. 3) Can you imagine?!

*Now, this is where Samuel hears God. God's voice must have been very clear because Samuel thought that it was Eli, the priest, who was calling him!

*I can just picture this old guy, Eli, trying to get some shut-eye, when Sam keeps keeps on showing up at his bedside waking him up! haha (vs. 5)

*Well, God continues, trying to get Samuel's attention. (vs. 6) He calls Samuel not once, not twice, BUT three times! "Samuel, Samuel!" He says. Can you imagine God calling your name like that? The very thought gives me goose bumps! Finally, Eli gets the picture and tells Samuel that it is probably God calling him.

*So finally, Samuel answers! He says, "Speak, for your servant is listening." (vs. 10)

Honestly, how often do we ask God to speak to us? Ha! Most of the time, we are rattling off our requests to him or complaining. Man, I hope God owns a pair of ear plugs for all the times I absolutely talked his ears off! : )

Samuel could have easily started talking to God, asking him questions and listing his complaints (or gone back to sleep!). But, this young boy realized how amazing it was that God wanted to speak to him. (And God wants to speak to our hearts too! )

Way better than doing all the talking, Samuel absolutely just basks in God's presence, listening to what all he had to say.

When I personally think about it, I would much rather hear from God than doing all the talking my self! There is no such thing as a one-way conversation! : )

A challenging question to ask is...

How often do we ALLOW God to speak to us?

This is one gigantic lesson that I'm learning from Samuel's story.

I need to be quiet sometimes; listening for God's still small voice.