oh what a beautiful life

like i said in my last post, i turned 17 this past tuesday.
it was an absolutely amazing week.

last weekend, leah took me to see her grandmother, in covington. oh my goodness! her grandmother's house is 200 years old! and they have like tons of beautiful land all around...lots of TREES! and a creek! (with clay banks). i felt very adventurous there. i even let leah paint my face with clay juice. haha! we call ourselves dora explorers!!!! and she also took me to an abby (that she used to attend church in). we saw advertisements for people who want to be MONKS!!! oh yeah!

and we also saw the (most amazing little old man) priest sitting on a pew praying. he was so cool.

AND-we explored grave stones (not morbid...genealogical).

twas a very incredible day to say the least. i even got to experience some new (to me) tunes and share a box of cereal with my dear friend, leah! (what kind of cereal could she be talking about?...)


then monday, the SUPRISE party!! crazy kids!

tuesday, our elevate class was changed up a bit...it was mandatory fun night! so where else would you go but celebration station?!! (what a coincidence that this fun night "accidentally" fell on my birthday... haha! jk!)

wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oooh...house of blues!
phil wickham (no words come forth...just speechlessness)
david crowder and his rigged guitar hero!
and a bunch of us square dancing to "i saw the light"!
praising Jesus in one of the most famous bars ever!

thursday...closer! twas great! and MISTY came!!!!yay!

friday... a portion of my very large family took me to mr. ghattis. (among this portion of family was: mom, dad, jd, lincoln, rhett, rhodes, mimi, grandad, meemaw, pop, uncle brian, aunt kacy, sophie, sadie mae, uncle josh, aunt shannon, vaughn, monet, monroe, and the un-named one. (or the secretly named one...whose parents want to keep the name concealed until birth! so we call her bubba!)

also, friday night, we rented "rv" and moved a bunch of mattresses into our living room and had a huge slumber party.


saturday...
hm...8:30 am- met the refuge crew at the annex
9:15 am- headed to jessamin street to paint a house
12:20pm- hopped in jordan's car with austin and headed to work the concessions for the game. (make sure you watch for little gold cars next time, jordan:)
1:00pm- walked into the pmac, threw on a purple corky's tee (over my sweaty, painty serve shirt) and started counting (and re-counting...and re-counting again) inventory.
3:30pm- nachos, chili dogs, popcorn, pork, beef, hot dogs, mr. pib...and some more...then more...
8:00pm- went into the stadium to work another concession stand. (and on the way, encountered some interesting sights, smells, and sounds)
2:30AM- crawled into bed

sunday...
6:20am- woke up
6:50am- headed to st franny
7:50am- set up for service, drank 2 cups of COFFEE, and hung out with telia and her beautiful self. lol.
9:40am- nursery (3-5 year olds) with the amazing LAUREN SHAW!!! :)
12:15pm- headed out...visited the st. franny crew at audobun cafe (for three min. tops) then rolled to the myrtle for lunch with my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
2:30pm- rode to clinton to look at land with my grandparents
5:00pm- headed back home
5:45pm- sat in on the end of the buzz meeting
6:30pm- went to an absolutely amazing epic staff development (prayer) meeting.
(here's some elaboration on that meeting):

ok, so obviously, my past several days have been kinda crazy. and yesterday, i was starting to feel really tired and run down- kinda guilty for some bad attitudes and opportunities i missed. i was just feeling a lot of pressure and disappointment in myself.

so i went into the auditorium expecting an actual "meeting". but i realized that we were just going to be having worship and prayer- and communion! i was so ready to just collapse and soak it in. it was such a blessing!

during worship, i grabbed my bible (well, my mom's Bible that i stole) and i flipped to isaiah 41:1. it says, "quiet down, far-flung ocean islands. listen! sit down and rest, everyone. recover your strength. gather around me. say what's on your heart. together let's decide what's right."

i read that passage over and over...and it just soothed my spirit and brought such a feeling of peace. i had been feeling so...just gross. and reading that brought me to my knees in humbleness and- again!- made me cry out in dependence on God.

it was an amazing night of praying together with all the leaders in youth ministry- just sharing and crying out for each other and for the students. we all sense such a beautiful unified spirit in this group of leaders. it's so amazing what God is doing here!

after the meeting some of the crew went to jason's deli and chilled. here's my lovely youth pastor's face...

haha!!

so that was my week in a very very large nutshell...

it was a great birth-week. (as leah would call it)

it's kinda weird. i've been here for SEVENTEEN years! that's over 6,000 days!!
life is such a gift...i love it! i mean sometimes i do wish i could just go fly around in my mansion in heaven right NOW! but who doesn't?! that's just a way of anticipating my true reason for living out my purpose here. all spirits long to be in God's complete presence- whether they realize it or not.

but i'm so glad that God put me here- that He created me to experience Him. and that He has chosen me to serve Him and to share Him with others- and just to enjoy Him!

here's a piece of what i journaled on my birthday...

"...i want to thank you, Lord. all this celebrating for me is really a celebration of You! today i am celebrating a life that has been and will be spent with You. without You, this birthday would only be a big party of a life that is decaying. but in You, it is growing and EXPANDING!...i thank You for blessing me and for pouring 17 years of life over me. i love you, Jesus."

i feel like i'm at a whole new stage of life right now. i'm more confused, scared, aggravated, annoyed, lost, weak, helpless than ever- yet more eager, ready, excited, hungry, and in awe than ever!

elevate is going great. i am amazed at all the things i'm learning and experiencing.
i'm being stretched in so many ways. sometimes i feel like i'm gonna pop! but God is holding me steady when i begin to waver...He carries my weaknesses on His shoulders and holds me when i have collapsed.

i still feel like i suck at life sometimes. right now, i could list 892 things that bother me about myself (just from what i did today! haha!)

but the sun shines brightly and God's grace flows deeply. it drowns me and my tainted self...and i am constantly dissolving in His love.

life is so amazing! He gave His life so i could know Him. and i know Him so i can give my life so that they can know Him.

let's go!