Moving on and giving Thanks

Today is my last day at Reaching Souls International. I am feeling different things. I am excited about the new things to come. I am nervous because I still do not have a job. Please pray that I will find one soon!!! God is good though and I trust Him to provide for what I need.

Thanksgiving is well on the way. The celebrations are staring. Amongst the large portions of Turkey and Pumpkin pie remember to be Thankful. So many people today do not even believe anymore that the Pilgrims came for religious freedom. They say that they came for political freedom. *rolls eyes* That my friends is sad. The sacrifice they made was so great and it is looked upon so lightly. They would be hurt.

So, don’t forget to be thankful for this country and the freedoms that you have! I know all the talk about Obama going around and people saying that it is “over”. But still, despite Obama America is a great country! We have problems for sure and we greatly need a revival. But when it comes to choosing somewhere to live I will pick American hands down! I am still proud to be an American!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Something to Celebrate!

On Saturday evening Britt and I made it to the OU vs. Texas Tech game! I was able to get a ticket and go which I am so grateful for! We had a really great time! It was by far the craziest, most fun and exciting game that I have ever been to! At first everyone was screaming and cheering, crossing our fingers hoping that we would win.

The energy in the stadium was somewhat of a nervous energy. By the second quarter everyone was cheering still but it was more like one big party! We knew that we were going to win and it was so great! The screaming and cheering did not stop the whole time! It even continued for about 30 minutes after the game! There were several times when the whole stadium was jumping up and down! When I say the whole stadium I mean all 85,000+. We broke a attendance record that night!

I started thinking…(Surprise, surprise.) That game was in fact AMAZING! And the victory that night was invaluable to us because it is going to help determine the outcome for the Big 12 Championship! It made me think about Christ on the cross and the victory that was one the day he was raised from the dead! Though most at the time did not realize the victory I am confident that all of heaven was in an uproar cheering Him on and on! Then I started thinking how the victory won that day on the cross is leading up to the victory of His return and how He will come back to claim His bride! If we do go to the big 12 Championship and if we win as wonderful as that victory will be it will be nothing in comparison to the return of our savior. When the whole world will cheer and rejoice and fall at His feet.

That will be something worth celebrating!

Date Night ~

Wednesday Nights are Britt and my Date Night. Now before you wonder why we are not going to church on Wednesdays you should know that our "Wednesday Church" is actually on Thursdays at paradigm. Since we have church Sunday, bible study Monday, and Paradigm on Thursday we decided for the remainder of the school year it would be best to have our date night on Wednesday. We have a really good time last night! Britt took me to the Myriad/Botanical Gardens downtown. We were pretty much the only people in there which was nice! I don't think that it is the most popular of sites anymore but we will had a great time! Here are some pictures from the night...

This is outside. The are already starting on Christmas.

The Gardens had an "Around the World" theme going. So they had some cool little huts and this is one of them.

Britt "flying" through the waterfall. ;)

Me touching the water. I don't think you were supposed to. Oh well....

Some flowers...

Self Portrait!

Smelling the flower. It smelled like a leaf...haha.

Aren't the Fall colors pretty here?

More flowers...

We really did have a good time! After the gardens we went to Coach's by the Ballpark to eat and it was a REALLY nice evening so we sat out on the patio. It was really fun!

On another note.... If you could pray for me right now. I am still waiting on another interview from Cheesecake and if this job does not work out I am not sure what I am going to do. I REALLY need a job and I have to be done at Reaching Souls by the end of this month which is approaching VERY quickly. I should have another interview at Cheesecake soon but they don't seem to be as much in a hurry as I would like. Please pray that it works out or that God will open another door. Thanks!

Enough!

I know I just posted but I wanted to share a little of what God has been teaching me.

First off…the lesson is not one that came to me easily. It has been a hard lesson to learn and one that took longer than it should. It reminds me of something that Martin Luther King said, “Nothing will shake a man or at any rate a man like me…He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses.” Sadly, for me this is too often the truth.

The lesson comes to this. GOD IS ENOUGH!

I mean it! I have said it before and I have truly “thought” that I meant it but the fact is that I did not. It always seems as though I was holding back or holding on in a certain area. It is almost like I was saying, “God, you are enough as long as I can still have this.” Or maybe I would say, “God, you are enough but I need you to give me this.” Stupid, shallow, ignorant, selfish, prideful, fearful, call it want you want it was wrong. We have all heard people say, “If Jesus came and was willing to give 100% for you then why would you be willing to give anything less?” I have heard that so many times, and nodded my head in agreement as it was being said, but the fact is that I was not willing to give it all. The fact is that despite the greatest sacrifice of all time being made for ME I was still not willing to truthfully say, “God, you ARE ENOUGH!”

Well, lesson learned. Or should I say “being learned”. I am learning to say that. I believe that letting Jesus be enough is a big part of dying to myself. I know that I must die to myself daily. In the same sense I believe that I must allow Jesus to be enough for me daily.

I tend to want people in my life, particularly Britt now, to fill the void(s)or meet all of the needs that I have. The problem is that just like me he is human, and just like me he will make mistakes. I am learning more and more that Jesus Christ is my only constant. I knew this before but the knowledge alone did not mean that I understood it! I believe that I am at least beginning to understand it better. I feel as though now I can shout out, “YOU ARE ENOUGH!”

“And all of you is more than enough for, all of me, for every thirst and every need. You satisfy me, with your love and all I have in You is more than enough!”

That chorus means something totally new to me!

194

194 days until Britt and my wedding. Sometimes that seems like such a looong time. But when I remember that when we got engaged we were 303 days away from our wedding it seems to help. We are now more than 1/3 of the way there!

This past week was a good one. I had a “Girls Night” at my house on Friday with some of the girls from the bible study (YOUGROW) that Britt and I help with. We all watched Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea. It was a lot of fun to have “Girl Time”. Britt hung out with my brothers which was good. I am glad that they can all spend time together and enjoy it! :)

Saturday Britt and I went to our friend Clayton’s house for a Thanksgiving Lunch with some friends from OU. I talked about this in a previous post. This is where I brought my Pumpkin Cheesecake to. Let me just say that it turned out to be very yummy and I plan to make it again in the future. We had a really good time seeing people from OU. Although…I did fall asleep on the couch when they were all playing Speed Scrabble. :p I was tired…that is all I know to say.

Sunday we went to church and then to go and eat at Jonny Carinos with the Clays. It was good to see them and spend time together. Then we went to my parent’s house. Britt took a nap and I just piddled around doing different things. It was nice to just take it easy though. After that my three brothers and Britt and I went to go see Madagascar 2 downtown at Harkins and then we went and ate at Sonic.

That was the events of the weekend. This coming week is not quite as eventful as the last few (or more than few) have been but it should be nice. Next week is Thanksgiving and things will pick up for sure then! Britt and I have 6 Thanksgiving celebrations this year. We have already done 2 so we have 4 to go. I have been trying to lose some weight and so this does NOT make it easy. It is a good test of my self control.

I think that Britt and I together are learning a lot. Being engaged can be hard but I also know that being married is very hard as well. It is the things in life that are so difficult that are by far the most worthwhile though. It is hard to learn to communicate and express things on the level that we should. Neither one of us have ever done this before (Which I am grateful for) so there is a lot of learning/trial and error going around. It is good though and there is no doubt in my mind that Christ is the center of our relationship which to me has blessing written all over it! I am excited to see all that God is going to do in and through our marriage! Just hanging on and waiting till that glorious day…May 30th!

Happy Monday to you all! I hope that you have a wonderful week!

PS - You're welcome to all you people who have new blog looks! ;) You know you love me!

Mostly because I can....

I saw this posted on someone’s website and I decided to copy them since I am bored to tears right now. Feel free to sit back, relax and judge me.

Four things I did yesterday…
1. Watched the birth of my niece Katherine Faith.

2. Went for a job interview.

3. Shopped at Penn Square with Rachel Myers.

4. Drank 4 cups of coffee to try and not fall asleep since I woke up at 3 am. I did this at 7 pm. Not a good idea.

Four things on my to-do list…
1. Go to Wal-Mart to buy food for a party I am hosting this Friday night and a Thanksgiving party we are going to Saturday afternoon. I think I am going to make pumpkin cheesecake!

2. Clean out my “junk drawer”. I have been trying to slowly go through things and get rid of a LOT of it since I will be getting married in May. I have been working on getting rid of clothing and shoes and now it is time to tackle the ever looming junk drawer! *eck!* Not looking forward to it.

3. Stop drinking pop. Yes, I have decided, at least for now to lay off the ever so yummy carbonated, high fructose sweetened drink of choice...Dr. Pepper. (As well as all other pop but this one will be the most difficult) I know I can do it!

4. Paint my toenails. This may seem ridiculous to have on a “to-do list” but if I don’t put it down as something “to-do” I won’t find time to do it. Besides, when I paint my toenails I feel a whole stinkin’ lot better! Even if it is fall/winter and people will not see them, I will be able to rest knowing that they look great! :)

Four of my guiltiest pleasures…
1. Buying clothes. This may sound like something that is not that big of a deal... Except I am trying to save money! Grrr... Who ever came up with budgeting? I would like to tell them a thing or two!

2. Sleeping in! Or at least lying in bed until later hours of the morning. I like this and I do not get to do it that often. I think it is on my “guilty pleasure list” although I am not so sure that I feel guilty when I do it....?

3. Day dreaming. I seem to be doing that a lot recently. Is that normal when you are engaged? If not then I am terribly abnormal.

4. Drinking a Vanilla Dr. Pepper. Although, I will have to think of another guilty pleasure to replace this. Green Tea anyone? I like green tea!

Four random facts about me…
1. I bite my nails. Always have. And I am afraid I always will.

2. I make up songs when I take showers.

3. I openly mock people on the radio as I drive to work in the morning. It is easy to be mean when you don’t have to look someone in the eye.

4. I have always thought that getting married in a little white church with a few people would be extremely romantic and idealistic. Although I will be getting married in the church that I grew up in and it is far from white, and there will be approximately 600 people there. Despite all of this I feel as though I am having the wedding of my dreams. Weird, I know.


Feel free to copy me on this if you want. :) I would enjoy reading it on your blog!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I am an auntie again! Katherine Faith is my adorable niece and I would have to say that adorable is the understatement of the year! Seriously she is SO cute! She weighed 6 pounds, 8.5 ounces and was 19 inches long. I will post a picture when I get one. Until then you can go to brandonandrachael.blogspot.com to see her picture.

Hope you are all having a great week!

Happy Monday!

Well…when I posted awhile back about how busy November was going to be I was not kidding. It has been pretty crazy so far. Time is going by quickly though which is pretty great!

This past week was good. A highlight would be that I went to go and try on my wedding dress! (It came in) I was fitted for a few alterations and it should be ready to pick up on December 5th! That is one thing I can cross off my list!


This week should be really eventful/fun!

Monday (Today):
Tonight is YOUGROW! I am excited about tonight! It should be pretty interesting!


Tuesday:
After work I am going in for a job interview at Cheesecake Factory! We will see how that goes! If it works out it looks like I will be working with my future sister-in-law!

I am also going out with Rachel Myers that night. It will be fun to catch up on what is going on in her life!

Britt normally goes and plays basketball with my brothers on Tuesday nights. It is fun for him!


Wednesday:
= Date Night. Although…we are having a “family Meeting” with the church at Western Hills and I think that I will attend that. Britt is going to come though and we may do something after it is over.


Thursday:
= Paradigm. Although we may be missing this week. There is a chance we might celebrate Thanksgiving with Mr. Clays family since his sisters are in town. I guess we will find out…?


Friday:
Some girls from my bible study are coming over to my house and we are going to have a sleepover and watch Anne of Green Gable and Anne of Avonlea. I have really been wanting to watch those and I knew it was not going to happen with Britt or my brothers so I decided to have a girls night!

I don’t know what Britt is doing this night…? I am sure he will think of something though. :p


Saturday:
Britt and I are going to Claytons house (A friend from OU) and several other people will be coming and we are going to have a thanksgiving dinner of our own! I am bringing a dessert and I think I have decided to make Pumpkin Cheesecake. If it turns out well I will TRY to remember to post the recipe.


So, that is the big “Happenings” in Britt and my life right now (other than work and school of course :P). I guess something that cannot be scheduled is the fact that my sister-in-law Rachael is expecting and it looks like it could be any day that my niece (and Britt’s future niece) Katherine Faith comes into our lives! We are really excited about this (Me more than Britt I am sure :p) and I am sure we will alter any necessary plans to be at the hospital when she is born! :)

Happy Monday to you all!

Still Trust God? Then Live It!

I wrote this note on facebook yesterday. Mostly because I logged on and it appeared as though the "facebook world" (At least my realm of friends) was falling apart over this election. So I thought I would share the note with all of my faithful blog readers. ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the votes were in last night it was clear that America had a new president. Obama. I understand that many of you, if not all of you, did not vote for him. The fact is that he was still the popular vote.

Am I sad that the candidate of my choice did not win? Yes.

Am I afraid that he is going to try and alter what America was founded on and what is our constitution? Yes.

Am I worried about taxes being raised and the fact that a lot of this “Change” is going to affect me in a negative way? Yes.

On the other end…Do I believe that God is still in control and that He can work through any leader? Yes. Do you REALLY believe that?

Here is the thing… Obama is not even in the white house yet. He was elected only last night. I quite honestly am tired of logging on to facebook and seeing every person’s status being something negative towards Obama.

I am disappointed but we still have to press on! We aren’t dying here. America has had bad leaders before. The fact is that we are an emotionally based country. They all got mad at Bush so they thought they would try and vote for some “change”. We will most likely swing around again. People vote their feelings, not their conciseness. It is that sad truth.

We need to stand as the United States of America. We do need to let our voice be heard but who wants to hear a continually negative voice? I know I don’t!

For those of you saying that you are going to move to other countries, please stop! That is ridiculous! Have you ever spent any amount of time in another country? Don’t you realize that despite the current political situation America is still great? Or perhaps you would rather move where communism or socialism is evident and controlling? You seriously think that Canada or Europe is a better option? I dare you to go and try it!

When I log onto facebook I want to see people’s status that are not degrading or depressing. The truth is Obama is going to be our president. The truth also is that God is still God, He is still sovereign and on the throne! So how about we let the knowledge of that be reflected in what we say (or type) and trust Him! We all knew that America was falling. Are you really THAT surprised? Let's do our job now as Christians and share Christ! Do you think that your negative status, saying you want to move to another country, or bashing Obama is really going to help your ministry? I really doubt it!

My prayer is that we will only be a better people because of this election! I have personally talked to some of you and you have told me that you want to learn to trust God more. How about you start now!

Also...Just in case you did not notice, Oklahoma did GREAT last night! You should be really proud to live in this state! (If you don't live here then ignore that comment)

Oh and one more thing… All of that praying that we were doing…You know, it doesn’t have to stop!

PS - I tagged people that I know and talk to. I am not targeting any of you because of something that you said. Although, I hope that you can all agree with this and hopefully is you have been complaining you will stop

Happy Wednesday!

I am sad about America’s choice for a president and I am worried too. However I do trust God and He is sovereign and STILL in control!

I am very happy about the outcome for Oklahoma. It was a very good day for our state. I am VERY proud to live in Oklahoma!

Right now I am SO hungry! I need to go and find something to hold me over for lunch.

I am still looking for a new job. I have a few prospects. Just praying that God puts me where He wants me for right now.

Do you ever feel like you let little things eat at you? And then because you let them eat at you, you end up blowing them out of proportion? Well, I feel that way. I felt that way last night. One word…Stupid.

This is probably one of the more random post in awhile.

Note: Never post when you are hungry, the outcome may be weird!

I don’t know if that is really the problem but it sounded ok.

Hope you all have a Happy Wednesday!

time - smoothies - votes

Britt and I are now under 7 months until the wedding! Last Thursday marked the 7 month countdown. I was looking at the calendar this morning and every day (except for 5) is already full! It is crazy! It is only the 3rd of November and I already don't have any free time! It is probably good though. Last month was the same way and it went by so quickly!

The holiday season is approaching at a rapid pace. I need to start thinking about Christmas gifts. I know to some of you it may seem a little early but when you have no free time on your hands you really have to plan ahead. I have a lot more people to buy for now that my family is growing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This may be retarded to some and great to others but I thought I would give you the recipe for my breakfast smoothie this morning. It was so good!

1 Frozen Banana
1 Cup frozen Strawberries
1 handful fresh green spinach leaves
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 cup Orange juice

Seriously people! This thing is soooo good! The spinach might be a little weird to some of you but you really can't taste it and spinach is a calorie fighter and a hunger suppressor! can't loose there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Go vote tomorrow! this is a hudge election people and we as Christians need to take a stand and vote! I would not normally get political but you need to go vote and you SHOULD vote for McCain/Palin! That is my opinion of course but trust me it is the right one! ;)

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven will forgive their sin and will heal their land!

We need to humble ourselves, pray and seek to live holy lives! We must beg God to show us the mercy that we do not deserve! PRAY and VOTE!


I hope that you all have a blessed week! Happy Monday!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forgiven!

I have been struggling the past few days. It seems like when I do something wrong I think in my mind that I cannot be forgiven. I know in my heart how untrue that is but I allow myself to believe the lies of satin. When I do this it seems as though I continue to fail. I know the reason for this is because if you believe that you have not hope of forgiveness then you allow yourself to believe there is no need to walk free of sin.

I went on a walk tonight. It was good for me. I needed time to walk and talk with my savior. He so lovely reminded me that my sins are forgiven and they are remembered no more. I must press forward and continue on. Yes, I should learn from my mistakes but not live in the burden and depression that they bring. I am redeemed! I am forgiven! I must press forward!

So, pressing forward is what I will do! I have learned how very weak my flesh is. I knew this already but I am reminded of it again. I am purposing, by the power of Christ, to walk free from my sin!

I feel a burden removed form me. It is not like this is the first time that I experienced this but it is like it is new again.

Thank you Lord for your forgiveness!

PS – You should listen to the song at the bottom of my blog – Search Me – It has truly ministered to my soul!