Beautiful

I really just want to light something on fire... haha. I really do want to scream though. I love writing but GEEZ LOUISE at the papers I have to do! I know I'm a cry baby.... :)

So whenever I have a stressful day i just walk and run around campus until I cant breathe anymore... So that's what I did today. It was so nice just to spend time with myself and God. I went to the falls by myself for the first time. I think it should be a requirement for every human being to sit by themselves for an hour or two in nature. There's something freeing in beauty. That's always been my favorite characteristic of God. Maybe it's just because I'm a girl, I dunno. But it just makes me smile when I see something truly beautiful. Like when light hits the dust in the air or the rocks in the sidewalks just right--it reminds me of stars. Today I just sat on the sandbar by the falls and I literally could not take my eyes off of it. I wasn't praying or even thinking. I was just enraptured. Beauty does that to a person. It makes me forget where I am and what I'm doing or about to do. It forces me to be fully present in a moment. Maybe that's why I'm so addicted to finding it in everything. 

...Just my thoughts on my little escapade. I hope you have a beautiful day today.

"He hath made everything beautiful in His time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but man cannot discover the work God has done from beginning to end." 

React

So the Toccoa girls and I have been thinking for a while about how to react. God has been placing this burden in our hearts since long before each one of us came to Toccoa. One girl has been praying with her church specifically for the homeless for six months. One night she was crying into her pillow and realized that homeless people don't have pillows to cry into. They don't have anything soft to lay their head on. She wants to change it. Simple. Another girl has tremendous compassion for the girls at the local crisis pregnancy center. She wants to get involved in their life and support them in every way she can. Other girls say they are sick of having everything handed to them. They want to give because it just feels right that way. A few other girls just say that they don't see why they wouldn't give to other people. Beautiful. We've grown up reading the Bible and some of us even teaching it. We've heard sermons about Jesus' life and have had to study it for tests. His life seems so foreign to us but it's intriguing. Jesus made friends with the poor and outcasts. He ate with them and lived to meet their needs. We've come to the conclusion that we think Jesus really meant it when He said feed the poor. So that's what we are going to do. A few of us like to create so we decided that we would design a t-shirt to sell for a few organizations around Toccoa. We are working with Jordan Andree (JordanAndree.com Check it out!), and we will be sure to send a picture as soon as we come up with something. We wanted to make a shirt that would help as many causes that needed funds. As of right now we are helping the local crisis pregnancy center, pond street ministries, a ministry that provides necessities to government housed people, and Shirly's Soul Food, an organization that helps homeless people get back on their feet. (That's where we will donate the pillows!)  We are so excited to actually put our faith in action. Like a few of the girls said- it just feels right. Please pray with us that we can react the way Jesus did. 

College...what???

I AM EFFERVESCENT!!!!! (psh... i got that from thesaurus.com. pretty dern sweet i think!)

We leave tomorrow and we move in saturday... 

I didn't realize how much crap i had... I filled up two cars but i swear i only packed necessities! I am so ready to go. It's so wierd because i really didn't think i was going to be able to go. God is so funny! Anyway... Ill be sure to write about what's happening later. 

~peace. 

AHHHHHH IM GOING TO COLLEGE!!!!! YAY!!!

Dirty

July 21, 2008

Today we went to the orphanage. I was sitting on the veranda with some of the girls from the other church and this autistic girl runs in screaming bloody murder and jumps into my lap. I couldn't catch her so she just threw herself in a corner and continued sobbing and throwing her head back and forth. All i could do was go over and put my hand on her head and whisper to her until she calmed down. Slowly her breathing steadied and she crawled into my lap. It was one of those times when i had to mentally record the moment. The whole day at the orphanage was filled with those. When i held the babies as i was feeding them i tried to record in my mind how precious and content she looked. I love those times when i am fully present somewhere. It just feels like it fits. I know it's a mother/girl thing but there is so much peace in holding someone. Even if you are consoling someone it brings you peace. Those kids were filthy but i couldn't help but hold them. Maybe that's why God wants us to enter into people's lives. To get involved with the nitty gritty parts of people's lives. If i stand on the outside and think that charity checks do the job then i and the other person completely miss out on the connection and peace in a hug. I think God knew what He was doing when He brought Jesus into the world in poverty. God wanted Him to be intertwined with the lives of the poor. Not just for their benefit but for ours as well. This whole new concept i'm learning called the Kingdom of God is indescribable. It's beauty captivates me and i cant help but pursue this new way of life. But i can tell you one thing. This kingdom isn't at all clean. 

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed [be ye] poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

Luke 6:20

Sand Dollars

So do you ever have those moments when you say something and think "Ok God just totally possessed my body there for a second and said that"  haha. I had that yesterday. 

I'm on vacation with my mom and family in Hilton Head. Yesterday my mom and I went walking on the beach to collect sand dollars. Yeah, my mom is most likely going to make jewelry out of them. (surprise surprise haha) As we were walking i noticed that my mom was collecting a lot more than me. The competitiveness came out in me all of a sudden. So i separated from them so i could find more than them. ha! I only found a few and i saw that they were collecting tons. So i just caught back up with them. 

As i was walking with them i said, "I think the reason i can't find as many is because i keep looking ahead of me instead of looking right at my feet." 

I think i do that with a lot of things. 

Sometimes i try so hard to look for God so that i can help others. I almost get burnt out trying to learn something. But i've been thinking lately that it's a lot easier than that. Maybe God is right at my feet. 

Fried Chicken

So im at Walgreens on break and the lame music cuts off. It was great but i wondered why and i walked outside of the break room and half the power was out. My friend walks in and says a lot of people are surrounding a dead buzzard in the middle of the road. We don't know if big bird is the cause but i still think it's stinkin' hilarious because IT IS SWEET REVENGE ON THOSE BLASTED BIRDS! 

Attacked

I just had the most terrifying and hilarious thing happen to me...

OK so i am taking my morning walk as usual and i spotted this big black crow in the middle of the road feasting on some fresh squirrel carcass... perfect time to take a picture right? I took a couple on my phone and kept walking. And then it happened...

This little brown bird swoops down and pecks me in the head and almost takes my ponytail out! I turned around to see if it was the crow and this little bird is flying right in front of my face like staring me down!!!

I guess he was like the crow's side-kick hit-man or something. He had about three more hovering above him in case some idiot dared to take another picture. 

Needless to say i screamed for dear life and ran all the way home. 

Yes you better believe there will be pictures... I just have to figure out how to get them on here off my cell phone.

I guess Canada Day is making those birds loopy...