What's the Point?

Gosh it has been a long time since I have posted on here! Pretty normal with me these days, huh? HA! The past couple of months I have been so picky about posting things on social networking sights. I have realized that in the past I have posted things that are not necessary. Why?

I thought everyone needed to see how my life is going, but at times it came out all wrong. Maybe I was trying to brag that I went to that awesome place or have the best life, which is so far off! WHY?

A couple weeks ago I came across a blog post from Jon Acuff, a known author and speaker;3 letters that will radically improve every blog and tweet you ever write. In the post, he summed up my thoughts exactly; couldn't have thought or said it better.Now, I'm not going to even try to explain anything, but will allow the post to say it all!

This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the riches boast of their riches..." Jeremiah 9:23

Project Serve and Being Bold

Project Serve Day

   One Saturday morning out of each month UM takes a group somewhere in the community allowing them to serve; whether it be in a nursing home, cleaning up yards, or etc.

   This month they decided to take it up notch and close the campus down last Friday. Over 1,100 Faculty, Professors, and students went and served all around Mobile. I happened to go to L'Arche Mobile, a Christian Community for disabled that live and work together.

Three members of our team having a dance party with them.

    As a sister of a Down Syndrome brother it was neat for me to sit back and watch how one's without direct relationships with special needs interacts.  As soon as we arrived we were welcomed with sweet hugs and smiles by a couple of the special needs men.

When departing they sang a blessing song over us and gave each of us a special bookmark made by them.

    Before we left I was talking to one girl about it that was nervous and not too sure what to expect, but went with a giving heart. When left I asked her,"What did you think about it?" and she replied,"I loved it!"
   As I look back on that day and the conversation that I had, all I can think about is "What can I give today that I cannot lose?" There is nothing. I need to get over myself and step out of that comfort zone!

  God has really been dealing my heart about this and to think that He directed me to a certain place at a certain time and I shall give and make the best out of it living that minute to the fullest.
Being BOLD is what it is about.




...It Was Over

  I thought I was done with my post until this morning's church service came to my mind. South Coast's first birthday was today! We celebrated with fellowship and breakfast before we sat down, oh and the ICECREAM truck afterwards!

 The message was all about how SCC was birthed and how God provided miracles and dreams for it to blossom. There are 4 G's of SCC, "Gather, Grow, and Give." For me personally, God was speaking about giving and and on our notes we wrote,"Give till it hurts."

  I didn't notice until now that I'm writing this post of how that parrallels with what I had shared before this; That I need to be bold and to give until it hurts. God will guide me there and in that time I need to give until it hurts.

   I am so blessed and happy to be apart of such a giving and loving place at South Coast Church. Come join us for doughnuts, coffee, worship, and a message. We gather at E.R. Dickson Elementary in Mobile at 10:30 a.m. If transportation is an issue contact me! :)

"They gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service..."

 II Corinthians 8:3-4 NIV

Friends Reunited and Friends Made

      I find it so ironic how God places people in your life at such a young age with such a strong connection that you cannot ever run from. A year ago if I would had been told that I'm going to be reunited with one of my old best friends I would have wondered where in the heck that came from! When I moved to Mobile I only knew two families that also recently moved from Oklahoma. Out of one of the families is a girl that I used to be best friends with when I was younger, Alesha.
   

     I didn't realize how big of an impact that they would have on my life right now. They have and are being a big support to me. Each time I see them I feel as if I'm at home. They are people that I can just hug and enjoy family time with.

Alesha and I

 I have enjoyed reconnecting with Alesha. It feels like we haven't had any years apart!

      The first week of school was a little crazy/ different for me. Each morning I had to wake up and tell myself that it would be a good day no matter what and there's a reason why I'm here. At times I felt like I was so alone, but then at times I was overwhelmed with God's grace on me to allow me to meet so many great people!


Tuesday Morning-
      I was early for class and decided to sit outside at a picnic table. I noticed a sweet looking girl coming towards me and sat down by me and told me that she felt like she needed to come talk to me. As we began to talk I knew then that God had brought her to me because she was such a sweet and uplifting young woman. We only talked a short couple of minutes, but in that time I was greatly impacted (I'm not so sure that she knows how much I needed her that morning!) Thank you Chynna!! :)

Tuesday Evening-
       There was a dinner event called Tiki Tuesday at the pool that night. I wrestled the thought about going because I didn't want to walk up awkwardly by myself. I prayed and prayed and even called my mom and she had to talk me into it. I finally went and for some reason I thought I would walk to the Cafeteria first and see if they were serving dinner in there too. As I arrived there were two girls (Hillary and Jessica) that were going to get dinner too. We introduced ourselves and walked to the pool together to find it not so appealing, so they invited me to go grab food from Wendy's. For some reason I accepted their invitation and had no problem riding with two complete strangers. We clicked and enjoyed each other's conversation. I even sat by them at True Spin (Campus wide worship service) that night.

Recent Beach day with Hill and Jess

 Friday Evening-
      Again, I was trying to decide if I really wanted to go to another event by myself which was called Dinner on the Run, which I told myself I wouldn't unless somebody was to me about it. The guy that gave me a tour of the campus was talking to me that day and told me to go and join his group and to get on his bus. There I clicked with another sweet girl, named Amanda. Come to find out she wasn't even supposed to be on that bus either, but she jumped on it.

Amanda and I

HOPE
       By the end of that week I had hope that I would be able to meet some of my best of friends, but was still hard.

 
Now
I have met so many more friends and have been able to really get to know those girls from the first week. I also think I have now found my own little group that I truly fit in with! I'm enjoying myself more and more!

I may be miles away from my family, but being here feels like I'm at home.

That is only a glimpse of what has went on! Many more to come and so sorry for the length of this!


"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
                                                                    II Corinthians 10:5

New Beginnings... New Home

Have you heard of the people that exagerate and make it seem like their life is more of a bliss than it truly is?


Well this past school year or so I have became guilty of that. I wanted people to see that I was happy and for them to not worry about me. The past couple of months God has been dealing with my heart in several different areas. I have found myself in the middle of things, trying to find a way out in order to let things go without people getting upset. Finally, it came to my attention that sometimes in order to do right you are going to have people upset with you. I CANNOT please everyone.Wow! Was that hard for me to say...


I can now say that I am happy that my freshman year of college is in the past!


Okay, back to where I was going with New Beginnings... Every since this spring I have been feeling the need to get away. I had no clue or explanation why I was feeling the way I did, but all I could do was give those feelings to God.


This summer I was told to read through the book of John and as I kept reading I felt that my faith in Him kept rising and I knew that there was a reason why I was told to do so. I began to notice all of the miracles that were being performed and by the end I knew that God was going to do something great in or for me sometime soon!


In June, I felt that it would be best if I move back home. When I was asked why all I could say was,"I don't know how long I will live there, maybe only a semester or even a year. I began to look into going to different schools around here, in Oklahoma, but for some reason I felt like God was saying,"Hold steady." I wasn't too interested into looking far into schools and for some reason I was feeling the need to just quit looking until after vacation, which was in July.


Come July we were heading to vacation at a beach near Mobile, Alabama. We knew a family that just recently moved to plant a church in West Mobile and decided to attend while we were there. After the sermon we were talking to John Breland(pastor) and he asked if I had ever heard of the University of Mobile. It tugged at my heart a little bit, but I didn't think much of it until later that afternoon when my parents asked me if I would like to go tour the college. Next thing I knew I was enrolling in the University and moving 12-13 hours away in two weeks!

                                                                  My New Home

I have never felt such at home as I do right now. There is such a peace in my heart that I cannot explain! If I can tell you what I learned from this past summer is to allow God to take over and to have faith and patience in Him because He can and will do something amazing for you!




"But I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way, who can't see where they're going. I'll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I'll be right there show them what roads to take, make sure they don't fall into the ditch. These are the things I'll be doing for them sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute."

                                                                  Isaiah 42:16 MSG

Adult Life

Do you know a girl that has always dreamed about growing up, going to college, meeting the man of her life, and becoming a mom? Does work ever come into that dream? Yep, that's me! Since I was little I have always dreamed of becoming an adult. Now that I have been out of high school for a year I have realized that those dreams/goals don't happen easily.

Nobody told me that it would be hard work. I don't recall anyone ever mentioning having to work and do things you didn't like just to reach a goal. Though, I do know that it will all be worth it one day!

With all of that said... It's a Saturday night and I'm working. I would love to be with friends and family right now on the Memorial weekend, but I'm here. Did I mention that I work all day Sundays? It's true. Every Sunday... I'm the girl that watches church online. For a while it was okay with me, but now it really is starting to bother me. I would love to be in church on Sundays, but it just isn't possible. Though, I am thankful that I do have a job.

I am slowly trying to save my money, but I feel like I have all of these bills needing to be paid. Wait. That is part of growing up, huh? When I graduate from college my goal is to be debt free of student loans. So far I have to say that I am doing pretty well. I guess it is safe to say that that is where my savings money is currently going.

One more thing!I am thankful for my family today. I was able to go spend some time with my sisters in the city these past two days. Last night I babysat and took Sydney and Spencer to Pei Wei and for an ice-cream treat, while my sister and her husband went on a date to the movies! It was fun just to be able to relax and have fun with family!

Just had some yummy ice-cream! They were so excited to ride in the convertible


Before I headed back to work today we spent a little time in the sun at White Water. Oh boy do I love realxing and having fun...Not work! Ha! I'm thankful!!!


Philippians 4:6
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

No Plans...Where am I Being Led?

Well to start it off I'm not even sure what all I have to say on here today...

Tragedies

These past couple of days my heart has been so heavy just thinking about all of the damages of these tornadoes. Between the Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, and now the Oklahoma tornadoes it has taken a toll on many people. So many have lost families, friends, homes, churches, and even work places.

It amazes me to see that the only thing standing in this church and area is the cross. It truly shows that He is still for us(His children)even in the midst of suffering.

I am so thankful, but at the same time I almost feel guilty just looking at what all I have and have been wanting. As I was driving to work this morning all I could think about were those things. It makes me want to down size in the things that I do have. I do not need all of these material things. It has left me in a place where all I can do is be thankful for each person and thing that I still have in my life.

I have been looking into ways that I can help in any way. We all know we can pray, but if all everyone does is only pray then how does something get accomplished. I guess we need to pray and ask God specifically,"How can I help? Reveal to me what I need to do." I know there are many churches and towns that are trying to gather things up around the community such as, toilet paper, food, water, and etc. I do know that Life Church of Stillwater is accepting items until Friday morning and will take a group(whoever wants to join) to Joplin, Missouri. I would love to go, but due to work I am not able to right now.

How will you make a difference?Big Decisions

Right now I'm in the process of relying on God to show me which way to go. I don't know what, why, or where I will be led, but I have been so burdened lately. I want whatever will assist me in making me closer to Him. Until I feel at peace in knowing where He wants me, I will continue to believe that He will show me the way.

On a side note.. Did you know that about 1,500 people are still missing from the Joplin tornado??


Isaiah 42:16,"But I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way, who can't see where they're going. I'll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I'll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don't fall into the ditch. These are the things I'll be doing for them-sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute."

One Year Down?

I have already accomplished one year of college? I cannot believe how fast it went! It has turned out to be a good year! I have meet and reconnected with some great people that will I will be able to call friends for life. I have learned so much about myself this year. There has been some unexpected twists that have made me realize that truly God has everything in plan. There is no need for me to plan my life out because He knows what is best and will bring what is to happen to pass. I am still walking by faith day by day.



Proverbs 3:5-6>"5.Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. 6 Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track."


Easter Weekend

My sisters and nephew.. Heidi, Emily, Bentley, Lauren, Aiden and I at The Cheesecake Factory for Heidi's birthday!



My sister Kristin and Husband Chris




My dad made carrots that are candy holders and put together the kid's Easter baskets


I do have an ANNOUNCEMENT.... One of my best friend's Jade is getting married! I am so excited to see her walk down that aisle this July! She chose Megan and I as her two friends to be in her wedding and to go wedding dress shopping. Let me tell you... It's beautiful! :)



Bonfire night with some friends.. Katie, Jade, Megan, Justin, and Chelsea
(We recruited Justin to make our pyramid complete!)





Who's the ring fingers?? Jade and Katie. Katie is another sweet and fun friend that just got engaged last week! So excited for her!
Who's the single ladies? Miss Megan and I! Our day is coming girl! ;)




Now to cheer the Thunder on...

The Vintage Pearl Giveaway

TVP is giving away 5 $100 giftcards! The Vintage Pearl: happy birthday to me. (BIG giveaway!) http://t.co/U5oFRiw



I love this store! Very unique jewelry gifts!! :)

Update On Life

The latest post that I uploaded was from last semester. This semester has had such a turn around.


I haven't been near as stressed. I have a joy and have been loving life just as a college student should. I thank God for good classes, a new car, a good job, two new nephews, and many more friends! I have learned so much and I cannot thank Him enough for how blessed I am!




I never did post any pictures from vacations this past summer so I am going to use this post as a catch up with several pictures leading to now.

Heidi and I at the top of the Empire State Building

A day in Central Park

Rainy day in Times Square

One of my favorite pictures of my brother... Cocoa Beach, Fl.

Magic Kingdom

Emma, Heidi, and I

New nephew Aiden Michael

New nephew Jacob Bentley

Jade, Megan, Paige, and Katie

Cameron, Jade, and Charles

Alex, Jonathan, and I at bedlam football

Jade, me, Skyler, and Meg

From the Heart of a Struggling Girl, Walking by Faith

College. Growing up you heard of how fun and life changing this so called school/ freedom thing is, but you just never really heard of how tough times could be.

You lose people, you gain people. You lose authority, you gain freedom. It all sounds good until you constantly wonder if you are making the wrong or right decision. You come to a point in the road where you have to fully rely on God and cast your burdens and cares upon Him.

Giving Him your whole heart, soul, and mind is not the easiest thing to do during this time. You want to know where you will be next semester, what job you should go for, what major to choose, and even which church to attend. These things are even a step harder when you are alone. You hear all of these memories of how these wonderful people had such fun times and met so many amazing individuals during college, but they never mentioned what struggles they went through.

These last five months have been crucial to me. I can say that I have never fully understood what walking by faith meant until now, and yes my blog was created and named before that time. I have had so many ups and downs. I have to learn to rely fully on God.

I have came to times where I have had no words to pray. Times when people ask how I am doing and immediately tears start to run down my face. I know God is by my side. I know that He wipes my tears, hugs me, and can cure those hurts and loneliness better than anyone else, yet I still feel the loneliness and void. I struggle daily. I have had nights upon nights where I cannot sleep, tossing and turning, wide awake until wee hours in the morning.

I now understand what emotionally worn out means. I have came to times where I try to do homework and I cannot think. Litterally.

I wonder why I am where I am. Why does He want me in that place. Are there more things coming ahead for me here? Is He trying to teach me something through this? Why am I not there? Why did I have to lose that person? Is He trying to prepare me for something one day, through this? When will times get easier? When will I have relief? When will I be able to be joyful and happy at all hours of the day, as I was ten months ago? Why why why?


I don't know what I would do without three of my best friends(Megan, Jade, Alex), my mom, and even my mentor/Bible study leader(Erin). I can always count on them to listen to me. They have seen my emotions of a rollercoaster, not only these past five, but nine months. They know that I hate having to admit that I cannot do it on my own. They know I try to hide thing day in and day out, but they are always there for me and love me.


Through these hard times, I will still rely on Him even when I don't have the words to talk to Him. I will still long to be in His arms. I will still love Him. I will still follow Him.


"But I’ll take the hand of those who don’t know the way, who can’t see where they’re going. I’ll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I’ll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don’t fall into the ditch. These are the things I’ll be doing for them— sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute.” Isaiah 42:16 MSG

Better Than Nothing AT ALL!

I know I know I am so behind! I need to update what has been going on this summer, but it gets hard to find time! I guess I need to figure out a certain time to post each day... :-)

This summer has been fun and eventful! Last weekend at the last minute I got a call from a friend, Tracy asking me to go to Falls Creek(Church Camp in Davis Okla.) with their church. So I decided to go despite the fact that I would have to leave early on Thursday to hop on a plane to New York City!

I will get to details and pictures in the next post, but I have got to say it was amazing! Sorry this is so short with very little information, but I just wanted to update it with something atleast! Short is better than nothing! :-)

Now I am off for a girls night in Stilwater with some girls that I graduated with that have been missed!

Have a great weekend and Father's Day!!


"I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go."
Genesis 28:15

Make It or Break It

So, I have just been sitting here thinking of how simple acts by others can either make or break your day.

Say that I'm spending time with my girl Sally and all she does is complain and be an ole grump all day, boy would I be tired, and it would drag me down as well! On the other hand if she was happy go lucky all day, I would be having a blast! I wouldn't want our time to end! Which one is the best route to go?

Bradley and I
This past March I decided I to take my Down Syndrome brother to Prom. When I first asked him he told me that "he couldn't go until he was older", but I reassured him that it would be okay to go now. He may or may not get to go to Prom in a few years, so I really wanted to just make him the star. It blessed me to see him having the time of his life, by just doing a simple thing for him.That day I was able to make his day.

Go ahead take another look at the picture and see how much his handsome face is glowing! :-)

From now on I'm challenging myself for the rest of the month to only let positive words come out of my mouth. When the the day gets tough and people are upsetting me, I'm going to try my best to choose to overcome it with a smile.


Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time, thank God no matter what happens.This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
I Thessalonians5:16-18

Just a Little Late, But Not Too Late Right?

First off I want to start off with a picture of these four.. Mm, Who are they? Well you see us four graduates have been priveledged to become apart of the man in the middle's youth group. He has truly watched us blossem from young teens into adults. We are not just a typical youth group. We have truly became family to each other.
I can't even imagine what high school would have been like with out these four. They have prayed, encouraged, guided, and have even been there for me at wee hours of the night. I'm sure going to miss them, but cannot wait to see how God uses each of them for His kingdom!

Ashleigh, Jeremy, Jonathan, me, and Christian


As soon as graduation started, and I began to walk in, this is what I saw! My family blown up pictures from when I was an ornery little girl! I was embarrassed for the first few seconds.. But then realized, Oh well, it gave the whole crowd a laugh including the administration on stage!
The Hayley Bevel Crowd


My neice, Emma had been crying,because Hayley is graduating and will be off to college!


My brother inlaws decided to have their faces covered with me!! It was their "brilliant" idea for the posters and air horns I may add.


To conclude graduaation night, my sister and her husband had a gender reveal party of their new addition to the family. Even they did not know what it was until then... We were so excited to take a bite to see the BLUE icing for the baby BOY!!


Emma giving baby brother kisses!


The next day I was able to share the ending and beginning of a new chapter in life with family and friends.. I do want to add that my talented mother baked this not only ADORABLE cake, but also very DELICIOUS!


Mom, me, and Heidi(sister)


I want to give a special thank you to all who joined me on a very special weekend! Specifically, to my parents and to all of my siblings for making huge efforts to making my weekend spectacular! They threw me a wonderful graduation party!

"...always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Chris." Ephesians 5:20

Mother's Day mixed in with a graduation event!

I know it's a usual for everybody to say on Mother's Day "Oh I have the best mom!" Well I may be a little biased, but I really do have one amazing mother! She is such a God fearing woman. I am so thankful that she has raised her children, by God. I used to think "Man! Why do I have to have the strict mom!" This past year God has been revealing to me how amazing she is and that I'm so glad she raised me in a strict way, because only the Lord knows where I would be if not! Oh my! HA!
With 6 children she knows how to juggle it all! This past month, my sister and dad had big surgerires in three days! And was she there for both? You betcha! I'm telling you she's awesome!
I'm also thankful for my older sisters which have been moms to me many of times! Being older than me, there have been times where I was even mistaken for one of their children! My younger brother which has Down Syndrome also had Lukemia when he was little and my sisters took the role of my mom during that time, while sacrificing so much as college age girls!

My sisters and mom minus one sister

My Baccalaureate Service was this evening in our high school gym. Let me tell you, it always seems like that is one of those boring deals that you have to go through to get to Graduation, well it was AMAZING! This past month God has been dealing with me about leaving a legacy at school, which is for another post itself. Well I had been feeling God dealing with me about this, so a group of us got together and did Cardboard Testimonies udring the service and we also had a group of guys that led worship! I could feel the Holy Spirit so strong in that place, He was definitely leading it and I give Him all the Honor and Praise! I have never felt anything like that at a Public School! I truly believe God has an amazing plan for several in my senior class! Wow!
So now I'm on the downslide.. Just a couple more days left of High School! Thank you to everybody who has shared great memories with me!

The Start To a New Journey!

Hello, blog world! Well, I can't say I'm new at this, but I am new to blogging! I have been reading and reading certain blogs for about two years now, so I thought well I'm starting a new chapter of life, by going off to college, so I do have something to blog about now! I'm so excited about this! I have kept my peace and quiet long enough, now I'm just ready to let it all out!

I am starting this so I can record all of the many exciting things that goes on in everyday life. Some may be so random, that you may not totally understand, but I'll try to keep it interesting with some pictures! Bare with me, I'm new! :-) hehe...

First off let's start out with a picture of my family!