Big Responsibility

It is now officially summer and that means I should post a blog update! Summer term of college started this week and it is just different. There is actually parking spots available and the campus just has a real laid back feel. Summer term is like a double edged sword, nice and chill but at the same time it's hard to focus because there are just soo many fun summer activities that could be occupying my time. That's alright though because I am now making it possible to graduate with my Bachelors degree in 3 years or go to Peru! Time will only tell how these plans will unfold.

My summer employment is a looking quite a bit better than last year! I was recently hired by Branches Church! My official title is the Director of Guest Services. I will continue in this role even after summer is over to that is a plus! There was lots of change ups in the past few months and somehow I was asked to take on this role. At first I was very apprehensive because I am soo young and I just felt inadequate but I do know that God gives us what we need to make it through. I am learning so much and am really excited for this opportunity. It sure beats working at Bob's Sporting Goods!

So this summer is becoming a balancing act of a new job and school full time. It is shaping up to be busy but still enjoyable! I am blessed with a big responsibility.

Favorite Quotes & Ramblings

*When wickedness arrives, shame's not far behind; contempt for life is contemptible.-Proverbs 18:3

We're not doubting that God will do the best for us, we're wondering how painful the best will turn out to be-CSLewis

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character."

"Who here qualifies for the job of overseeing the kitchen? A person the Master can depend on to feed the workers on time each day. Someone the Master can drop in on unannounced and always find him doing his job. A God-blessed man or woman, I tell you. It won't be long before the Master will put this person in charge of the whole operation.But if that person only looks out for himself, and the minute the Master is away does what he pleases—abusing the help and throwing drunken parties for his friends—the Master is going to show up when he least expects it and make hash of him. He'll end up in the dump with the hypocrites, out in the cold shivering, teeth chattering."-Matthew 24:45-51

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. -James 1:2-4

If we get better, our customers will demand that we get bigger.

You reach a goal, but experience a win.

Birthday Blogging

So I am about a month late posting this but it is much needed!

For my birthday, my super awesome friend Rachael put together a surprise birthday that started the moment I woke up! My small group all stayed the night so they were there in the morning.  She invited Andy, Alex & Dustin who are our friends and also very talented musicians to wake me up by playing music! I can say this was a total surprise.  

And this was my reaction...

It was very nice of them to come over early on a Saturday, but I was just really unprepared and I am not a big fan of a surprise that big. All in all, it was pretty cool.

After the nice morning music serenade, we went to my favorite coffee shop(Insomnia Coffee Co.) and had breakfast. I of course ordered a Real Carmel Latte and it was delicious!

This is Christina and myself waiting for our food.

Next came the only part of the day that I got to plan, an 8 mile run! It was a fantastic workout with my sister and Paige. (sorry no pictures)

When we arrived back, Rachael and Katy had a fabulous lunch prepared. Then I got the clue that we were going to go to Saturday Market in Portland, a place I love.

While at the market, I got a clue telling me to travel to Benson High School for a live concert. Our churches worship band was playing there. I enjoyed the concert until this old gospel singer took over the show. It was all down hill from there. It was still fun & my mom met up with us there.



It was on to Macaroni Grill for dinner with my dad, Rhonda, and some other special people in my life. To my knowledge, this was the end of the night. I was happy and content. It had really been a great day! But then I got talking with a friend that was there and she spilled the beans that we were going back to someone's house in Scappoose. I just thought we were going to have dessert but really, there was a surprise birthday party for me!!! As if the entire day wasn't surprising enough!

My night ended late but it was way worth the fun. It was truly a memorable birthday! Thanks a million Rachael.

A Spring Time Serenade

Well Spring term is in full swing and wow! I feel BUSY! Not just with school but lots of church stuff too!

I can say that I am now settled into the new (well actually very old) house in Scappoose and I love it here. One of the biggest blessings of living in a small town again is the ability to go for beautiful runs. I have been training for Hood to Coast for about 5 months now. On my birthday, I ran 8 miles. Never in my life did I ever think I would want to run that far but it was amazing. Every time I run I feel so close to God. I don't know if it is because I am out in His beautiful creations or if I just have a lot of time to think. Probably a combination of both. Yesterday afternoon, I noticed how incredibly beautiful of a day it was, so I stopped and snapped this picture...a true testament to how creative God is.

Even though at times I have felt very overwhelmed lately, I am also growing even closer to the Creator of the universe and that is a good feeling. I find it crazy how when you let God lead your life, you'll get to experience some pretty amazing things. All in all, I am growing in the Lord like the daffodils on my front yard.

Life Lessons From the Big White House (Post 3)

It's been one month since we moved into this house and I love it. There were times when I thought we were crazy to want to live here, actually, there are times when I still think we are crazy to want to live in this old house, but I really do enjoy where we are. I love being around people that I know or am getting to know. I love the small town feel and just being able to know someone when I go to the grocery store. Being in community with people in the best part about moving to this house.

The most recent life lesson has been that things break. It's true. Things get broken. For instance, our upstairs bathtub had a broken pipe that caused a leak. And it leaked for a while before we ever noticed it. It just dripped onto a ceiling tile and one Saturday morning I woke up to find the living room looking like a hurricane had ravaged through it. There was water and crumbled ceiling tile everywhere.  Quite nasty actually. Anyway, you get the point, broken pipe=nasty mess.
(And if you were wondering, the pipe did get fixed and is functioning quite well.)

This is after the mess had been somewhat cleaned up and the leak contained.

So, back to my point, things break. Many relationships in life have breakdowns. Breaks in my relationships often happen in my poor communication. I think this is true for a lot of people. And just like the broken pipe equaled a nasty mess, my poor communication has caused some pretty nasty messes that need cleaned up. The best part is that I know it needs cleaning up, so I can fix it. Just like that ceiling tile that shattered on the living room floor, are my poor ways for communicating.

Good news is that I have God on my side to help me clean up all the messes I have made in this life.

The Swim Practice Where God Is My Coach

From a young age competitive swimming consumed many hours of my life. I have swam countless laps in a pool, down and back, down and back. Time after time. Why did I do this? To become better. Better at swimming. Of all things in life, swimming. I can remember practices where I would work so hard that I could taste puke in my mouth. This was the true feeling of pushing myself to the limit. Practices like that were hard and painful.  I poured my determination in to the repetition of down and back because I knew that I would improve, I would eventually PR and ultimately beat out everyone else if I just put in the effort and time. And time and effort is what I invested in this sport that now, holds little meaning in my life.

In my walk with God right now I feel like I have been going down and back. And like in swimming, I feel tired, like I want to just give up and get out of the water. That would be a lot easier. In James 1 it says, “ Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” I have had to remind myself of this many times lately.

In January, I prayed that God would point out the areas in my life that need improvement. I have also asked a few people that are close to me to tell me when they see weakness in me. I honestly had no idea what I was getting my self in to when I prayed this. It feels like I am in the middle of the most grueling swim practice of my life. I can’t even put it in to words what it feels like. The constant prodding that comes from God is like no other feeling I have ever felt. He has put people in my life that I have to learn how to work with and deal with.

In any good swim practice, the coach writes a workout that consists of different sets that focus on different aspects of swimming. Maybe it is a sprint set to increase speed or a distance set to improve endurance.  Here are the different sets in my workout with God as my coach:

*The Warm Up-Identifying the problem areas. This part has not been that difficult. I knew a few in the back of my mind. My good friend also has told me what she thinks. Sometimes her pointing them out hurts, but I asked for it so I am thankful for it.    
*The Trust Set-I have known that for a long time that I was not good at trusting people - or even God for that matter. I think this issue stems from seeing betrayal in my parents relationship as a young kid. I honestly find it easier to just do things my self rather than rely on others to do them just because I don’t know if I can trust them to get them done. Because I just would rather do things my self, I get tired and burned out. I can’t do everything. The other side of this trust set is me trusting that God has a plan that is better than mine. I like to be in control. I don’t just like to be in control, I have a need  for control.  I am slowly learning that God has a great plan but he doesn’t reveal it all at once. He slowly shows me     where to go next. I don’t get to see His plan in its entirety. I have to learn trust.
*The Mercy Set-Mercy is defined as “compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power;” so I looked up forbearance and found this, “abstaining from the enforcement of right.” I have always loved to do what is right and I have never understood why people could be okay with messing up. I am not saying that I am perfect - because I most certainly am not. When people wrong me, I don’t show them mercy like the Heavenly Father has shown me when I mess up.
*The Grace Set-Grace and mercy go hand in hand. Grace seems like a prettier word for mercy but it differs in that when God had grace on us, He already knew we were gonna mess up but He was ready to love us anyway.
*The Dealing Set-I let too many people annoy me way to easily. I am being forced to ‘deal’ with this in my life from what seems like all aspects. From the girls I live with, to people at school, and to the people I serve with at church. People are a fact of life and I need to see that God has put them in my life for a reason and I need to show them love, no matter if I feel like it or not.

I also know the feeling of finishing a race and knowing I gave every practice, up until that meet, my all. When my hand would hit the wall, feelings of accomplishment would flood over me. I would know that my hard work had paid off. God has a plan for me. My hard work in Him is going to pay off. One day, I will be glad that I am learning these lessons now. Like James 1 says, I will become “mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” I love God’s promises.