It's Here!

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YAY!!!

This is so exciting that it is starting to come together finally. If you're totally lost, check out "React". 

I'll be sure to update you guys on how it goes!

me and a friend went hiking...

• "Earth's crammed with Heaven, and every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees takes off his shoes-- the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries." -Elizabeth Barrett Browning

VOTATION!

I too voted for the first time in my life and it was thrilling! Here's a snapshot of the magical moment: 

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