The last few months in a post..

Slacker. The only word to describe my blogging ways in the past few months. I was so excited to update everything since I moved 600 miles but I guess you never realize how much you don't want to get on the computer after 40 hours of school a week and balancing friends and everything else. So if you're still following this..thank you for not giving up. I promise I will do better..not that my life is that significant to anyone. Haha. Since I've been on here I've been home 3 times and each time has been wonderful and I've learned a lot about myself. There really is no place like home. I never knew a heart could ache so much for the people you call family but it's honestly the hardest thing I've ever done. Don't get me wrong, I love my life in Georgia more than anything and I'm so thankful for this learning experience but it will never be home. Going home I recognize things I never realized: how my mom's laundry smells the same everytime, how the windows in the kitchen vibrate on cold windy nights, how cozy it is to curl up on the c0uch and watch TV with my brother, and how comforting it is to be a 5 minute drive away from your best friends in the entire world. I definitely took for granted growing up in a close-knit home in a small town, but I'm so thankful I've learned to appreciate it more than ever lately. I seriously have the most loving parents, coolest brother, and amazing and hilarious friends in the entire world.

As for life in Georgia, things are going as planned. I started off living with one of my best friends, Katie, and her little family (see previous blogs) but since she's pretty far from school and we're both so busy I've kinda moved in with my friend Chelci, who I met at school and have become such good friends with. God is SO faithful in bringing friends in at just the right time and when you least expect it. So things have been great here and I've loved being in a small town and getting to know Chelci's friends as if they're my own. I couldn't be happier with how things have turned out.

Chelci and I at school :)

..oh and this kid Austin I'm kinda fond of..

School is going great..I'm almost done! It's crazy that all the trials and tribulations I've been through since high school are finally going to pay off! Paul Mitchell The School Atlanta was one of the best decisions of my life and I just look back and thank God everyday that he has me where I am. I have a lot of decisions to make coming up as to where I'm going to go after school..work..live, etc..but Gos has been SO faithful thus far and I know that he won't leave me hanging now. Such a good feeling knowing I am constantly in God's care and sight even when I can't see that myself. I am so blessed and Christ is way too entirely fgood to me. :) I'll be back in Crawfordsville December 23-31 and I already can't wait to see my family and friends!! This was just a quick update of my new(ish) life in Georgia and I promise I will be better about writing. I'm so excited about my future and all that's going on. I have to sleep..must be up at 6:00am for school in the mornin but there's so much bouncing around my head I need to share!! All for another post though! Sorry to all of you back home with negative temperatures and snow!! Another great thing about Georgia!! Sweetest dreams. I'll leave you with a few shots from our family pictures that my talented and beautiful cousin Shea took last time I was home..enjoy:

Change.

It's a mixture of wanting and knowing: of knowing what you want isn't always what you need. It's concluding that every breath you breathe is a battle for that same thing. Sometimes it's suffocating, and sometimes it's all you really need. It's that crazy, panicky feeling you keep fighting off..it's all the "I wish.." and "I hopes" that you have. It's seeking for answers, but only finding ones you don't need. It's learning from the past...but you have to make one first. It's life, you live it. We all do.

Home Sweet Home

I've never adjusted so easily to change in my life. I'm sitting at Chris and Katie's living room watching tv and talking with some of my favorite people in the world and realizing that this is not vacation. This is MY living room too! MY new shared house! With MY new room and I don't have to leave in a week! How amazing. I finally got settled in and all (16 boxes!!) unpacked last night and it was a huge relief! Thanks to Chris and Brett, who spent hours assembling my dressers and moving the huge desk to the master bedroom..shoutout to you boys, it's been a whirlwind but it's finally all coming together! I can't wait to start Paul Mitchell next Tuesday. School will always be school to me but I am finally excited about finishing something, excited to start something even. I have a peace knowing that I'll be getting my license from them and that I have people around me who are encouraging me every step of the way.

It was so hard leaving the people I love dearest back at home. Saying goodbye to Makinze and Aimee was nothing but blubbering words and tears. I can't even talk about my little brother. I guess maybe knowing that I'll be missing out on his senior year and him leaving for the Marines is what makes it such a challenge. Also, we're finally at the stage where we're best friends, and not just siblings. But I also know that I'm an hour long plane trip or a 10 hour car ride back to the place I grew up. Oh, and thank God for facebook keeping me updated on everything. :)

I really do feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I feel like no one has a better support system or a more amazing family than me. I'm finally TRULY seeing that when you follow Christ with all your heart and trust in His unfailing will, you'll be more happy than you ever imagined. I also feel like these posts keep getting more and more cliche..I need to get my old creative writing juices flowing! Off to finish a movie. I love you all!

My new room!!

Last day in Indiana.

I'm sitting in my super cluttered room at my parents house (big shocker that it's the DAY before I'm moving and my room is still a wreck) and all I can see are clothes and boxes and suitcases. Moving boxes. I'm moving. 650 miles away. To Georgia. From Indiana.........Holy crap.

This is only the beginning. Oy.

I kinda never really figured this day would come. I've always wanted to move South but I'm starting to really question my sanity about making a 3 day decision to move so far away. Ha. I'm so thrilled and couldn't be more excited about all the new changes that will be happening in my life starting tomorrow it's just that I still feel like such a baby. I only feel old when I need to use the excuse that "I'm 20 years old and I can make my own decisions!" ...Well that has never rang more true than right this second. It's hitting me like a brick wall. But I know that God is ever-faithful and that there is more to this move than I can even begin to ponder.


"God is God. Because He is God. He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."


Off for more packing and organizing (boo)..then Cheesecake Factory with my family! I'm so thankful for them. Please please continue to pray for me and my family during this huge transition. I am so amazed at how God has brought people into my life lately, you know who you are. I am forever grateful.


Leaving in the morning!! Driving like 7 hours then resting up for the last 3-4 hours Friday! This is crazy. I am crazy.

The times they are a-changin'...

Baby Beckham!

The crazy girl who's letting me LIVE with her. One of my best friends in the world.

Whew! What a crazy couple of weeks! I know I've already neglected this blog, but I promise I will be better, especially with what all is going on in my life right now. My birthday came and went (the 26th) and I swear they keep getting better. People always say they get more boring and dreaded as time goes on, but mine seem to get more and more exciting. Maybe I'll reconsider this thought in a few years! Anyway, it was spent with family and good friends..something that always makes me happy. The 29th of June I left for a trip to Atlanta that would really forever change the way I felt about the place I call "home." I went with my family to spend a week with one of my best and dearest friends Katie (while my parents stayed with the Kimmels) and Katie's husband Chris and their 5 month old son Beckham. It was such a good time and I met some really incredible people. I got to wondering about really making a big change and when my friend Mackenzie told me she was going to visit her new school Paul Mitchell, I decided to go along and just see what it was like. I ended up falling in love with the school and talked to them about enrolling. By then my wheels were already turning and I was wondering how I could make this work. For anyone who knows me, I've always loved Georgia and knew I would end up there..I just didn't know how abrupt. :)


Long story short, I ended up staying an extra 4 days and talking to Katie and deciding that Georgia is where I want to move my life and finish school in hopes of a career there when I'm done. I've never prayed more in my life than I did that week: for guidance and strength and most of all to prepare my parents' hearts for the news. I have never felt a peace like I did that week and I know it's God's will for me to be there. So I came home and layed it out for my parents. Gave them the news that it was where I wanted to be, told them about Paul Mitchell and let them know all the details. They were supportive from the beginning. GOD IS SO GOOD. Although a little reserved about how fast it was all happening, I told them school would start August 10 and that Chris and Katie had graciously offered me their guest bedroom and bathroom. They're truly the best. All my dreams are coming true. I'm sure it will hit me more once I'm there that visits to my family and friends from home will be few and far between but I really feel like God is leading me 650 miles away to a little town called Locust Grove, GA, and I couldn't be happier.


So this last week has been filled with organization, last minute doctor and dentist visits, time spent with friends and family and endless boxes!! (I never knew how much stuff I REALLY had until now...) I leave July 30th..only 9 more days!! I am flooded with so many emotions but HAPPINESS in the main thing I am feeling and I'm so thankful for God's faithfulness and the opportunities presented before me. It's gonna be a long and new journey but I couldn't be more ready! I can't wait to update a lot more and fill you in on my new life..Soli Deo Gloria!!

God is enough.

Watching other people struggle with things makes me realize that no matter how much you think someone has got it together, they absolutely dont..and watching others is such a good example that when you have nothing left but God, you realize that God is enough. I feel like even when most things, and I mean 99% of things are going right, I still have something to complain about or be sad about when I should be so happy even though I'm not capable of comprehending even the slighest bit of what God is up to, He still has a plan. I should rest in that so easily. It's so easy to focus on the smallest things when they mean nothing to the big picture. I am so lucky to be a Christian and get to call Christ my father! Just a thought...

Birthday this weekend!! :)
And then off to Georgia to see Katie and precious baby Beckham!!

GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!!! :)

Radical Faith.

"But you, man of God, run away from all those things. Instead, live in the right way, serve God, have faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, grabbing hold of the life that continues forever. You were called to have that life when you confessed the good confession before many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, I give you a command. Christ Jesus made the good confession when he stood before Pontius Pilate. Do what you were commanded to do without wrong or blame until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make happen at the right time. He is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. He is the only one who never dies. He lives in light so bright no one can go near it. No one has ever seen God, or can see him. May honor and power belong to God forever. Amen."

- 1 Timothy 6:11-16


As I sat down tonight to strip away the distractions of my (amazing) day, I flipped open my bible right to 1 Timothy. I am still trying to decide where I want to start reading continuously, so this what pretty random. I started for some reason on chapter 6, verse 11, and was so amazed at what I read. What an amazing passage for someone like me, who is constantly in struggle to hand over my ENTIRE life to Christ. Jesus has not called us to live for Him when the timing feels right. He has COMMANDED us to live for him all the time. As Christians we are demanded to live for Christ. I feel like in today's society to be demanded to do anything means to do it without will. We as Christians should feel so honored that such an amazing God has a call and a will for our lives. Each seperate and beautiful. We are given salvation, we get to experience the greatness and fullness of God, why would we not want to do all we could to glorify God? A joyful heart and a willingness to seek Him will always be honored, God promises that. And the evidence of God is the most amazing feeling in the world.

"He is the ONLY ONE who never dies." NEVER DIES. Never grows faint, never grows weary, never gets tired of putting up with our sinful ways. Constant and unconditional. Why do we put so much effort and love into people and earthly things that are so conditional when we have a loving father who is there ALL OF THE TIME? We no longer have to put up with the trials of earth so often if we just turn to Him first. He is always there, has always been there and always will be there until we rejoice with Him in eternity. HE NEVER DIES.

We are commanded by the "blessed and only ruler, the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords." What an honor! A faith that trumps ALL OF THIS EARTH and a savior that loves equally and forgives us at the drop of a hat. We should be easily living for Christ. He promises good things! GOD IS GOOD!

Just a few random thoughts on that passage tonight, I need to structure this better. Oh well. Goodnight. :)

Here goes nothing..

"My great Defender, He will never surrender, He's already won, He's already won! Freedom is coming, and the enemy is running! It's nearly done, it's nearly done!" - Keep Breathing, Alanna Story

I was sitting in the tiny and quaint Christian Book Store in my hometown today surrounded by women of all sorts. Older, younger, taller, shorter, conservative, free-spirited, quiet, outspoken..you name it, but as I was sitting there it hit me that we were all there for one reason: to spend time with our God. To fellowship, enjoy worshipping our amazing Father and dwell in His presence, together, no matter the difference. We all came broken and bound by sin of some sort and even discovered that others were going through those very things we all thought we were facing alone.
I didn't go with the true realization that God ordains things daily in our lives...how have I overlooked this so much?! I simply was invited by a good friend and thought, hey, a Saturday morning service should be pretty good, why not? Little did I know, Christ would speak to me in more ways than I knew.
Over the past few weeks Christ has been tugging at my heart. I am often a part-time Christian, letting God be important to me when times are tough or when I need forgiveness. This breaks His heart, and mine. I should be rejoicing in every little detail that happens in my life, whether I like what's happening or not. I am saved. I have a God that loves me SO much even when I cling to Him only when it's convenient for me. I have experienced a true love that God knew I would choose, I am His child and I should be so greatful for the faith I have and the people Christ has placed in my life. I should be oozing Jesus to those around me. I should be living for Him alone! God loves me no matter what: when I reject Him, when I choose to live for myself, when I have doubts, when I feel worry and guilt, when I dwell on my past..Christ wants us to be FREE! And the rewards for living for Him will surpass anything this world has to offer. I am so thankful for the opportunity to realize that there are so many Christian women facing the same hardships as me every single day but that Christ knows each and every struggle and is RIGHT THERE to run to, every single time.

As I stood listening to all of the women sing today in closing, I felt closer to Christ than I have in a long time and it was such a blessing. I can't wait to keep sharing what Christ is doing daily in my life, and what an AMAZING GOD we serve!