Manic Monday

It's crazy how fast March has gone by. Today is the first official day of spring and the beautiful Gulf Coast sunset last night and the clear day I spent at the at the beach brings thoughts of summer, and endless praises to the Creator...even though I'm not exactly rejoicing over the wicked sunburn I've been enduring since this morning! With only about 37 days of school left, my mind can't help but to slip away into daydreams of days at the beach, sleeping in, working sports camps for choir tour, Super Summer, playing guitar all afternoon, teaching VBS, driving around the backroads of Woolmarket with music and the laughter of my friends filling my ears...makes me excited just thinking about it. In saying that, I have to be very careful to avoid complacency and apathy. My prayer is that the Lord will remain a steadfast and restless spirit within me; while I want to have fun this summer, I also don't want to lose sight of the plan for service He has laid out for me.

Since this blog's purpose is to keep those who don't talk to me every day infomed in my life, I intend to try to do that as frequently as possible. Disciple Now was great; prayers were definitely answered. Things went so well that some of the girls in the sophomore class decided that instead of going to parties on Saturday nights, they want us to do a bible study on Saturdays, as often as possible. I have been blessed to have been asked to lead them, or at least the first few to get everyone in the swing of things until someone else feels God calling them to lead. I must say it's a little intimidating; these girls are some of my best friends. They know my every flaw. But the great thing about it is that they love and support me, so I don't really have a reason to be nervous at all; so mostly I'm just excited. Throughout this week I'm going to be searching for what to talk about to start our studies; something else I'm very excited to study the Word for. Have us in your thoughts and prayers as we seek God together :)

Got my prom dress! It's between an emerald and forest green, the last color I had in mind, but I'm in love with it. Prom is a week from this weekend, and Josh and I barely have anything planned, so this week will probably be pretty crazy on my end trying to get everything together. Which brings me to a thought: guys have it SO easy when it comes to prom! All they have to do is put on a tux, drive, and pay. While we nitpick over hair, makeup, dress, nails, tan...(minus a few from this low maintance girl) Guys, if you think you have it rough, think again.

Everyone be praying for those in Japan and Libya today..my heart breaks for and with those people. Pray that they will somehow see God's love and mercy through these troubled times, and help us rise up and stand against the evil Satan has set out to steal, kill, and destroy us.

Reckless abandon wrapped in common sense

I've always loved blogs, and having so many sweet friends and family members who live away from the coast, I thought that this would be the perfect way to keep those closest to me updated on my life and what the Lord is putting on my heart and in my adventure of His calling in my life. I'm not the most reliable when it comes to texting or messaging people back, and with my crazy busy schedule, I tend to not be near my phone to answer calls, so I figured this would be pretty perfect.

I'm very excited about what the Lord has in store for me this summer. Some doors have been closed, while new and exciting ones have been revealed. Right now, I'm asking Him for clarity and discernment concerning the difference between what is my will, and what is His. Being the minor control freak that I am, always wanting a set, in depth plan of action for just about everything; I tend to overspiritualize my decisions...I agonize over things such as, "Am I doing this because it's what I want, or do You want this?" "Am I in Your will right now, or am I making myself think that?"  I think sometimes I expect God to shout directions and I will automatically know exactly what to do and how to do it. But then, because of His grace that will forever astound me, He always brings me back to reality and humility...in one of my favorite passages, 1 Kings 19...when Elijah is on the mountain of God and seeks refuge in a cave. The Lord calls him out of his shelter and tells him to stand out on the mountain before Him, so that He can pass by. But God's presence wasn't in the crushing wind that blew by him, or the earthquake that subsequently erupted, or even the fire that materialized before Elijah's eyes. God's presence wasn't in any of those events of such grand a scale; He was found in the whisper. I think many of us look for God's plan for our next move to be flashy and in our faces, but we (me especially) don't realize that if He shouted directions at us, would He be the same God that is as worthy and demanding of our obedience and praise, as well as patience, and willingness to sit in silence, free of every distraction so that He is the only one demanding our attention? I personally don't think so...and that is why I am completely in awe of His ability to humble me only minutes after selfishly being confused and frustrated with Him for not answering my questions at the exact moment convenient for me. Another thing I'm starting to realize is that my "am I in Your will?" questions I've been trying to find answers to have also been completely skewed. Through a conversation with a very precious friend of mine, I was brought to a wonderful thought: If I'm falling in love with Christ and chasing after Him every day, of course I'm going to be in His will. Through pure love and obedience, though I will mess up, His grace and mercy will bring me exactly where He wants me. While this is very comforting, I refuse to become complacent. I ask you to please be in prayer for me as I seek the Lord's face while He instills His wisdom, so that I will make the decisions that will result in an awesome summer full of service. I'm sure it will be scary at times, considering the radical obedience I am determined to possess, but I'm ready.

Disciple Now is this weekend for the youth ministry at my church, First Baptist Church Biloxi. The leadership team has been in prayer for this weekend for months, and we couldn't be more excited. Pray that all of us will find an Awakening over the next few days. Pray that we will each be perceptive to the reason each one of us was given the opportunity to attend...my prayer has been that no heart in that room will be left unmoved, unchanged, and without a clear image of His love and power. Needless to say I'm through the roof about it.

This post is way longer than I intended, but most of you I'm sure are probably familiar with my tendencies to ramble a little, so I guess it fits! I plan on posting pretty often, so feel free to check up on me! Love you all!