February's End

I don't know if you people realize this or not, but February is nearly over. Crazy, right?

FEBRUARY IS ALMOST OVER AND WE JUST HAD 3 SNOW DAYS! I got to spend them playing in the snow, making new friends, dancing my brains out, baking cakes, and getting pushed over so many times, I lost count after 25,349. I also got my guitar out for the first time in a while, which was nice.

**Here is where I would insert fun pictures of me doing all the things I just mentioned if I had any. Unfortunately however, I have failed at picture taking in the last week. This will officially be my first blog post without pictures.**

Now I will go into my more serious part of the blog. For those of you who are uninterested, you may click the x in the top corner. I don't blame you.

Because it is the end of my birth month, I am going to touch base on this and go from there. Here we go. 

At the end of every month I am reminded how fast my life is flying by me. I am then sent into a great depression which consumes my every thought and prevents me from leaving my room for days... Just kidding. But it actually is a little sad. HOWEVER, it is extremely exciting too. Think of all the things coming up in the future. Then think about this: God has it all mapped out. He knows where I will be 10 years from now, He knows who I am going to spend the rest of my life with, He knows what I am capable of. He already knows! Thank goodness too, because I know I couldn't survive this life on my own.

My big overwhelming theme these last few weeks has been exactly this. I am learning to trust and fully rely on God in every aspect of my life, because He does know my future. He wouldn't put me in a situation that I couldn't handle. And sure, I pretty much have to think this way as a lot of hard stuff has been put on my plate lately, but you know, it isn't something I tell myself just to feel better. It's truth. God puts me, he puts us, in these situations to make us grow into strong, persistant human beings who will glorify Him. What an honor, right? He uses these experiences and hard things to prepare us for our future. I know, I have touched on this before, but it's a good reminder for myself if nothing else.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Birthday, Memphis, Colorado. Basically everything.

Folks, I am 19 years old. What does that mean? Well it means a few things really.

• It means that a year from now I will be going through a depressed state after it hits me that I will never get these years back.
• It means that I am even more of an adult now than I was when I was 18.
• It means that I am such an adult that I might be spending my 19th summer in Colorado. MIGHT. As in, probably. I'm a big kid now, ladies and gents.

I want to share my pictures from my birthday, and talk about that a little bit. First though, I'll elaborate a little on this whole Colorado mumbo jumbo. Also, Memphis, my intended destination for spring break. I'll be as brief as possible.

I'll start with spring break, because that only makes sense. I am planning to travel with a group of students from my church to work for this organization called SOS (Service Over Self). I linked that, so if you're interested in learning more you can visit the website. Basically I will be helping with urban home repair for a week in inner city Memphis. I'm pumped. 

Now, about summer. Today I applied for a job in Colorado for a program, also through my church, called LT. Basically, I would be spending nearly the entirety of my summer in Estes Park, Colorado at the YMCA of the Rockies. I have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out where God wants me this summer, and I am definitely still working on it. The way I see it,  I have two options. I could stay in Columbia, get a job, and take a couple summer courses OR I could continue growing in my faith in monumental ways while working a full time job and living in the mountains. Hm... Let's see.

I am really feeling like God is telling me that I need to take these opportunities to serve and grow in my faith. My only hesitance is the financial aspect. As one could imagine, these trips do cost money. Right now I am just trying to work that out and trust that God that will provide and give me these opportunities if it is truly what I am supposed to be doing. At this time, I am confident that it is, and I trust that He will make sure that it works out.

So, about my birthday. Chris and I had a joint birthday party for the first time since I was probably 10. We did it old school style with a throwback theme of the 90's and early 2000's. IT WAS GREAT. The house was nearly full and I could not have felt more blessed to have the people that I have grown to love over the school year there to help me celebrate. It was really just a good excuse for cake, ice cream and friend time. Also, my parents came to visit Saturday, which is always a blessing. We got to enjoy some good (free for me) food and laughs together. I miss them a lot. If you follow my mother on twitter you know that she misses me a lot too. 

Here are a few pictures from Friday :)

Brooke and Katie surprised me with balloons, a banner,
streamers and hot box cookies :)

Morgan <3

Tori AKA Tom Tom.

Emily and Katie! Awesome girls.

Graciepoo <3

These pictures don't really give a good sample of all of the people that came, but I realized that not many of the pictures from Friday are actually in my possession, so I apologize! 

Not my birthday, but Grace's play. She was fantastic :)
I really do have the best friends.