We Made It!

We made it to Beautiful Colorado and we are so glad to be here! So far 10 student leaders have joined us and tomorrow the other 34 students will be here. We are so excited! Here are a few pictures of our journey so far!

The car! 

     Totally not edited!!

Our front door.

 Our living room 

  Dining room and kitchen. 

   Office area in living room.

 

  Bedroom 

  What the outside of the door looks like. Every dorm is named and ours is the "Ghetto".

It is so fun to be here and to start settling in. Please pray for us as the summer starts off and the students arrive. Also please pray that all of the students find jobs soon.



Colorado Bound! (Kind of!)

So - I have this list, it's long' and it is everything that we have to pack for our trip to Colorado. Have you ever seen our car? It looks like this:

It's really not that big. And we have to fit our lives for the next two months in it. We are moving into some dorms and they are "apartment" style. They will have a bed, a table with a few chairs, a couch and a chair. It has a kitchen, but nothing in it. Guess who brings the kitchen stuff? *Raises Hand* Yap, we do!

So now I have the task of packing what I think we will need and use the most because I think that I can confidently say I am not fitting all of my kitchen things in that car. And on top of the task of packing the question of "When?" hangs over my head. You see, since I am only packing the things we need/use the most when do I start packing them? We still need to live our lives here and I am not fond of the idea of eating out ever meal or drying off with tea towels because we already packed our bath towels (Yes, we have to bring towels and sheets and EVERYTHING).

I just realized that it may sound like I am not excited to go this summer. I am SOOO excited I am just trying to figure out how Britt, myself and all of out stuff is going to get there. It WILL happen though. If things are packed all the way to the car roof with a little hole for Britt to see out of the rear-view mirror so be it. We are getting what we need there. I may have to ride on top of the trunk to hold it down but it's going to happen!

I may not be able to update as much this next week. With all of the packing and preparations for the trip going on. But hang in there with me because I hope to blog a lot this summer with updates on our trip.

Wish me happy packing! :)

Mom's Garden

Britt and I were over at my mom and dad's house yesterday so I wanted to play around with my camera and I took some pictures of my moms garden. Here are just a few...

I was also playing around with some B&W and Sepia color setting on the camera and took this of Justin. He is quite the poser. I also have a setting that picks one color and puts the rest in B&W. I like the setting but I am still working on it. It seems like I can only pick up yellows and greens so I need to do some more reading on this one.

They are both pretty good looking men though! :)

And then these little ladies stopped by with their mama and I had to grab a shot.

They are just way to cute!

 

First Photo Shoot

Well, I got my camera and Chloe was my first subject to shoot. It was actually pretty difficult because she is very active and still VERY puppy. Plus the shutter sound freaked her out so every time I got the camera focused she would move but I got a couple of decent shots and I thought I would share! Plus, I think she is pretty darn cute, under bit and all!



The Spider Meets the Mop

Yesterday I had a terrible encounter with what was one of the LARGEST spiders I have ever personally seen or killed. It was 

Big. 

Brown. 

And Freaky.

For the record, I hate, hate, hate, hate spiders and if you call me a wimp I will agree and say I don't care. They are freaky, jumpy, unpredictable little devils AND they bite!

Well, yesterday I was cleaning a house for my boss that they are trying to rent and I was looking for the mop. I went and opened the pantry door, checking to see if it was in there and I did not find the mop. Instead, I found this little (or not so little) guy!

At that point I was officially weirded out and I did what any normal human would do. I slammed the door TRYING to pretend I did not see that nasty thing and hoping that it would not get out of there.

I continued in my cleaning but no matter how hard I would try that little spider haunted me. I can relate with Taylor Swifts lyrics from the song Haunted:

"I know, I know

I just know 

you're not gone 

You can't be gone".

I don't think that she meant for the lyrics to be interpreted that way but it fit and that's how I felt. That little spider was sitting in there haunting me. Plus, I looked down and saw there was a pretty big gap between the bottom of the pantry door and the floor and I just knew if I didn't do something that little guy would come out and attack me! Because we all know that spiders plan attack strategies to bite humans. If you didn't know that you can now consider yourself warned!

So I did the only logical thing. I grabbed my spider killing weapon..... 

....and I went to attack. 

As I approached the pantry door I had crossed the line of no return. I HAD to go through with it. If I didn't go through with it I would have had a difficult time cleaning the whole house from on top of the kitchen counter. 

So I opened the door and there it was, sitting there looking at me. I grabbed my weapon and I began hitting the little thing over and over again. THE THING WOULD NOT DIE! It took like 8 hits and 5 screams of terror for the thing to FINALLY die.

Once all of this was over, and the guts were all over my once clean floor, I had to stop because it sounded like I had just ran a marathon. My heart was beating so fast that I thought it would explode. It wasn't from the swinging of the mop that made my heart pump a little more quickly. Oh no, it was because I was terrified and my adrenaline was pumping like crazy.

So, that is my story. I lived to tell it and I am not sad to say that Mr. Spider is not here to hear my story. He is dead, his guts are cleaned up and I can breath in a normal rhythm now.

Mary Kay

Some of you may know by now that I am a Mary Kay Consultant. I have really enjoyed the product in the past and they have even made some GREAT changes. It is so trendy now and it is a really, really good product and I feel like skin is a great thing to invest in!

I will be making a order this Saturday evening and I have a giveaway!!!

If you purchase something for $20 or more by this Saturday I will enter your name in a drawing to win a free Lip Gloss of your color choice! That is a $13 value!

Every $20 you spend gets you one entree! So if you spend $40 you get two entrees, $60 three entrees and so on!

So email me at: laurenclay09@marykay.com with your order. Or you can email me a request for my phone # and I will give it.

You can go Here to see a list of our best sellers.

You can go Here to have a virtual makeover and see what products look good on you!

You can go Here to see the online catalog.

Now go and win that free lip gloss!!!

Soul Surfer

I went and saw this movie with my parents about a month ago and I have been meaning to do a post about it since. I was a little sceptical going to see it, knowing it was a good story line but fearing a lot of corny. I was pleasantly surprised with the majority of the acting and the story line outweighed anything corny. The OBVIOUS christian values that the family posses came clearly through the story which I really appreciated. Sometimes in "true" stories it can be really, really watered down. I am sure they left out some thing but I was grateful for what they put in there. It was not a question whether or not this family trusted God.

I personally just really enjoyed the story too. It was an encouraging and inspiring story and the trials they went through and worked through really tugged at my heart. I don't normally recommend movies but I do this one. It was great!

The forgotten mother

I have debated writing this post. Wondering if it was really worth it. Not wanting any attention but wanting people to know at the same time. Wanting to minister where and however I can.
Wanting people to know they are not alone.

Britt and I recently lost a baby. That sentence seems so abrupt. It was and has been by far one of the greatest if not the greatest losses of my life.
People say that you don’t understand the feeling until it happens to you. That is the true.

I debated sharing my story because I wondered if it matters. But I know that even though he/she never lived on this earth my baby’s life mattered. That sentence is far from what would be considered
“politically correct” but it’s true.

Thoughts of that precious life have been swimming in my head this past weekend and today.
As you all know yesterday was Mother’s Day and

I was a silent mother.

I was a hurting mother.

I was the mother most did not know about.

I was hesitant to share this but than I began to think of the other women out there who were not able to celebrate mothers day with a child that they lost. The pain I feel for those mothers is deep
within my soul. I hurt with them.

But more than anything I want to tell those mothers that they ARE mothers. Despite the greatest pain and confusion you can face God is good. I can say that because despite what my circumstances say I know what I know to be true and that is that God is always good. 

 I know that in my time of hurting I wanted to talk to someone who knew what I was feeling. If I don't share what happened I can't be that person to someone else.

Two people who knew about what happened told me happy mothers day and I thought that it would hurt too much to hear but when I read the words they sent me I felt so loved and I knew I was a mother.

And so for those mothers out there who lost a baby I want to say Happy Mothers Day to you.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13



The No Surprise Gift

So my Birthday is coming up soon and I have really been wanting a nicer camera. Not like a "I am going to be the next big photographer and open my own business camera" but I nicer "point and shoot" camera that actually took decent pictures. As you should know by now Britt and I will be spending the summer in Colorado and I would love to have a better camera for our stay there and just life in general. 

So, without anymore delay, here it is, my soon to be Birthday gift!

 

 

  

Truth be told I absolutely love it even though I do not yet have the luxury of holding it in my hands. I can imagine it in my hands....

"Man, my fingernails looks bad..."

Anyway, I can imagine and it looks good! :)

Even though the gift is not a surprise, I don't care. The anticipation of having it is killing me! I love it! sometimes anticipation beats the feeling of surprise, in my opinion. I love both feelings but for right now I will live in the feeling of anticipation. :)

Happy Monday

Celebrating a Great Year!

This past Friday night we had the BSU end of the year Spring Banquet. It was a great time to celebrate the end of the year and to honor all of the seniors that have served in the ministry.

These are the four guys that Britt meets with. They are crazy, goofy guys and we love them. Despite their goofiness they all four are really godly men who love the Lord and desire to make His name known. They have committed their college years and life to making disciples of Jesus Christ and to be a part of that process and watching them grow as been an amazing privilege. We will have the opportunity to work with a few of them next year but some of them are moving on and we will miss them so much but it is exciting to send them out knowing the impact they will have in their work places and one day with a family. 

 These are the girls that I was able to meet with this last year. It was an honor to get to know each of them better. All four of these girls are so different and I love them each for their unique qualities and abilities. Despite their difference we all share a common love for the Lord and to watch that love and relationship unfold in their lives has been incredible. I have seen each one of them grow in ways that have molded them more into the image of our Lord and I know they love Him dearly. They love the younger girls on our campus and they are committed to making disciples. It has been amazing meeting with them and watching them grow! Two of them will be moving on and I will miss them so, so, so much!

This past year at the BSU has been one of the most difficult and challenging years of Britt and my life. From work and the crazy schedule of college ministry to personal life, family and marriage it has been a whirlwind. We are tired but it is a really good tired! We have loved this year and all that it has brought, even the challenges, because despite whatever has come the Lord has allowed us to be a part of investing in the lives of these students and others and we wouldn't trade it for anything.

We are looking forward to the opportunity to invest in students this summer and the school year to come. God has lots in store and we know He has big plans for our ministry at OU and we can't wait!

End of the year picnic

We love, love, love the students that we work with! We have several different areas that we lead in at the Baptist Student Union and one of those is Leadership Team (LT). These are Juniors and Seniors who are leaders in our ministry. I meet with 4 of the girls (One missing from the pictures) and Britt meets with 4 of the guys (A few missing from the picture) on a weekly basis. We also have these students in our home every Wednesday night for team meeting.

This last Wednesday was out last LT meeting of the year. We celebrated by going to the park and cooking hot dogs, having a watermelon spitting contest, and just spending some quality time together since some are graduating and our team will be new next year.

The girls!

Me, Gaby, Mary, Stephanie, Susie and Alia.

We were missing Amanda that night. 

Love, love, love these girls! 

The guys!

Bryan, Luke, Shane (staff), Aaron, Britt, Trevor, Trey and Jessy.

Tom and Barrett were missing that night.

We are SO thankful for this past year and we can hardly believe that it is here and gone. We have out final event for the school year tomorrow and Britt will have state meetings all week next week and then we will be done in Norman until August. However we are far from done because from May 27 to August 2 we will be in Denver, CO working with 19 students from OU and about 30 other students from 5 different universities around the nation. We are so excited about the opportunity and can't wait to keep you updated on all that God is doing!

A goal of mine is to get back into the blogging grove again and I think that I am off to a good start. Two post in one day! :)

Blessings

"Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise"

Blessings by: Laura Story

In the past year I have experienced rain drops. through my dads accident, daily trials, the loss of a life, financial struggle, and fear. The list sounds bad. Maybe not as bad as yours but for me it has been the most difficult year of my life. 

But those raindrops in my life, those tears, those sleepless nights have brought more blessing than ever. My dependence on the Lord is stronger, my ability to identify with His suffering is more real and my compassion for the hurting is more present than ever. 

Last night I was so overwhelmed. Feelings sneak up on you and they always feel so unwanted but sometimes they are necessary. I tell myself more than ever that it is okay to cry. I sat there and I told Britt and I don't know if I can handle anymore. I feel like I am drowning and I finally reach the top for air and something else comes and pulls me under. I felt defeated and cast down. 

This morning I woke up and I was so lovingly reminded by my heavenly father that "His Mercy is new ever morning." Lamentations 3:22-24 Hallelujah! 

I was reminded that His blessing come through raindrops sometimes. I was reminded that I am being formed more into His image. Although the process may be painful the pain will end when I leave this world and the result will be worth every raindrop.