Week 2.

1. This past week, I was extremely and immeasurably blessed by my internship at the National WMU. This entire semester there has been a blessing, but last Monday night I was incredibly touched by the people of the WMU. For those of you who don't know, the WMU stands for Woman's Missionary Union and is an auxiliary of the Southern Baptist Convention. So if you put two and two together, you get the general idea of its purpose: women and missions. Today, Easter Sunday, every church in the SBC made an offering in honor of Annie Armstrong, one of the founders of the WMU. So although people may not actually know what the WMU is, many have been directly or indirectly effected by its cause and purpose.

So anyways, back to my point. I have been working as the marketing intern for Blume 2011, a national missions conference for teenage and college-aged girls. It's everything I love wrapped into one: Jesus, girls' ministry, missions, and Disney World. Yes, it IS in Disney World, July 13th-16th to be exact. (This is me doing my job and putting a plug in for the event.) It's going to be absolutely amazing. And I'm not just saying that because I'm biased. I'm getting to see all the time, dedication, blood, sweat, and tears going into it, so I am being completely honest when I say this is going to be legit.

So last week, the Board of Trustees had their annual spring meeting at the WMU. The other two Blume interns and myself were invited to come share about our time there during a dinner.  I showed up at 6 o'clock completely unprepared, as I had just written and turned in two papers all in the same day. I ran upstairs to my cubicle, jotted down some notes about the marketing team's progress, and frantically tried to calm myself down. Before dinner, we were introduced to several of the WMU leaders, who were all extremely nice and genuinely interested in our lives outside of our internships.

As everyone was finishing dinner, it was almost my time to be introduced and walk up the podium. I prayed a prayer asking for strength and a calm, peaceful spirit, and that is JUST what the Lord gave me. I walked up, introduced myself, and completely ignored the note cards I held in my hands. I began speaking about my testimony--about how God placed this little, tiny desire in my heart as a high school junior to reach out to girls, more specifically the girls at my church. I already had close relationships with each of them, so it only seemed natural. I continued by talking about how that desire turned into a passion, and a year later, God placed two extraordinary young women in my life,who *surprise, surprise* had the same passion. My little, ol' tiny conviction from 11th grade turned into something I never thought possible. And then, out of no where, came this incredible internship that I knew was a perfect match for Hilliary Hallman. So as I explained all of this, I basically summed it by saying that God has used me in ways I never thought possible. Never once did I think or even dream of working on girls' ministry for a national non-profit. And there I was. Three years later. Standing at a podium, giving a speech in front of a room full of Christian leaders. Working for a national non-profit. Doing girls' ministry. And that, my friends, is what you call a blessing. God using me in ways that I (and possibly others) thought were impossible and then allowing me to stand and give a speech about it...that's power. That is way more than a blessing.

But besides getting to see myself do such "impossible" things, I was able to witness the other interns, true women of God, speak. They not only brought tears to my eyes, but they also left me in complete awestruck of our mighty King as I heard stories very similar to mine. Stories proving that God has plans for each and every one of us. Plans much greater than we could ever plan for ourselves.

 

2. I was blessed by the mysterious "convo credit angel"..or something..I don't actually know. But I was somehow able to to register for classes that Monday morning, when I was told by University Ministries that I would have to wait until the end of the month due to my lack of convos (aka- lack of ONE convo). But it worked. And I got all the classes I needed. And no 8 AM's for the 5th consecutive time. No big deal.

3. I was blessed by the WMU for a second time last week. So naturally, as I am finishing up my amazing internship, I have felt very sad emotions about leaving. I've become pretty attached, and so attached, that I decided I'd rather do this all day, every day instead of going to class. Well, last week I received an e-mail from one of the guys on the marketing team. He offered me a job for the summer. A job that will fit in perfectly with my camp schedule. So, therefore, I am p-u-m-p-e-d.

4. I was blessed by Kathleen Hyland. Kathleen has been the one friend, who has always been there for me. Always meaning since the 8th grade. Then, we talked about going off to college and losing touch, being the stupid, emotional 8th graders we were. But God had intentions for us to stay together by sending us to the same college. A very small college. So she had no way of escaping me even if she wanted to. But for her to put up with all my crap I've ever given her over the years and all the nights of me talking her ears off, I am grateful. She is truly a good listener. Probably the best listener I know. And that's why I love her.

                                                            

5. I was blessed by Kelley Robert's birthday. Any amount of time, whether it's five minutes or an entire day, spent with Kelley Roberts and Alyson Dix is a blessing in itself. We hardly ever have time to sit and visit with all three of us present, due to our conflicting schedules. And going to three different schools doesn't help either. But I am so happy and thankful for being able to celebrate Kelley's birth yesterday. Not only because she is a rockstar best friend, but it brought the three of us together again for the first time in months.

6. This man. Need I say more? This Easter week I experienced a sense of gratitude like never before. This man sacrificed himself for the entire world. For people who would never fully appreciate his sacrifice. For people who would never come close to living a life as perfect as His. For people who would continually sin, day after day, completely neglecting the fact that He was SLAUGHTERED for those sins. For people who could never possibly imagine the absolute pain of having nails driven into their hands and feet. For people who will never fully comprehend why or how someone could possess such an unconditional kind of love. I am so thankful that He chose me. I'm so thankful that He chose me regardless of all the times I fall short, making me completely unworthy. And I'm thankful that He created me with a purpose. A purpose to do things that were simply impossible without the love, guidance, patience, and master plans of the King of the universe. WOW.

"And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." 

-Hebrews 10:10

Week 1.

1. God blessed me with reassurance. I am probably the most indecisive person I know. I will literally spend 15 minutes standing in a store trying to decide between a simple v-neck t-shirt in pink or blue. (I did that a couple of weeks ago.) So obviously, the idea of changing majors has caused me to toss and turn at night. While following the original plan of a business degree in marketing sounded like the "right" answer, last week God confirmed that switching to the journalism and mass communications department for PR was the right answer for me. I visited O2 Ideas, an advertising and PR firm here in Birmingham, for a paper I have to write. Talking to the senior account officer put my worries to rest. God created me to be in a creative environment. Event planning.

2. God blessed me by speaking through His word. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. So it was no surprise to me to that God chose to speak to me through scripture. But the funny thing is that he placed me in several different worship services and conversations, where Romans 8 was studied or talked about. Seriously, every where I went, and trust me, I somehow ended up at 3 different churches within a week and a half span, I heard the message of Romans 8. And last night, Romans 8:28 hit me like a load of bricks in an extreme moment of weakness. I am so thankful for this promise: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

3. God blessed me with amazing friends. I've known this for a while. But this past week I was constantly reminded of that blessing. I am so incredibly blessed to have best friends who are true women of God. I don't know what I did to deserve such amazing friends, but I definitely see why God placed each of them in my life. The fact that I am able to cry like a baby and then be prayed for over the phone is a true blessing. 

 More specifically, I was blessed by these three lovely ladies this past week:

Compelled.

So for some reason, I feel that God has been tugging at my heart to write a blog. I've never been into diaries or journals. Not that I haven't wanted to, I've just been too lazy to sit down and actually do it. But for some reason, I've had this sudden motivation to do this for almost two weeks now, which is really odd, considering the fact that a blog can be seen by anyone and everyone. I'm not one to be completely open and honest with my feelings and what's going on internally, so this is a big deal. I don't expect anyone to actually read this..but again, I feel that it must be done. For myself. Maybe He has intentions for just one person to read this and gain truth and understanding? Maybe not. Regardless, I know that this blog serves some sort of purpose.

So yeah, I've been compelled to write this so-called blog. But what about? Well, the answer was quite simple for me. I've had a recurring theme in my life over the past two years. To me, among many other things, God is a Healer. I have faced trials my whole life, but he has really challenged me the past two years. My senior year I faced trials I never thought I would. Death of my sister's best friend, what seemed to be an impossible college decision along with financial nightmares, broken friendships, and the death of an important relationship in my life. College and the whole "finding myself" deal didn't go as I had planned. I tried to make myself into someone I was not. I tried to plan my life as I wanted. I tried to do everything on my own. Don't get me wrong, all the things weren't "bad" desires or plans, but they weren't  His plans.

For example, at the age of ten, God placed this desire in my heart to be a camp counselor. Which I find funny now looking back, because my extremely shy ten year old-self never could of been a camp counselor. But God definitely worked in me, changed me, and kept that desire strong, because last year I decided that the summer before my sophomore year would be the summer. It was going to happen. And it was going to be awesome. And I was going to go off and move away to Georgia for the entire summer and do awesome camp things and make awesome camp friends and oh, by the way, possibly maybe find an awesome camp guy, who would turn out to be my husband. Awesome plan, right? I thought so. I was ready. And I just knew it was all apart of His plan for my life, so it was totally going to happen. ERRRR! WRONG. I got denied. And yes, I was upset, why wouldn't I be? But God graciously gave me a peace about it. Then He showed me so many reasons why He needed me home in Jasper, AL for the summer of 2010. And man, was I glad His plan happened over mine.

Situations like that have happened time and time again since I've graduated high school. But thankfully, they've all taught me a thing or two. I've learned some patience (still working on that) and a lot of trust. Trust in His will for my life. His plans. Not mine. And believe it or not, this trust has blessed me in so many countless ways. I've experienced a strength I never would have without all the wounds. The second week of my spring semester, I learned that I had a tumor. The doctor was so concerned about it that she wanted it removed immediately. She thought it might be cancerous, especially since cancer is so prevalent in my family. Cancer. What a scary word. I could sense the inevitable fear in my family's eyes. My friends wondered why I was so calm. But honestly, I knew everything was going to be okay. Whether that included death, a shot at survival, or nothing at all, I knew it was all going to be okay. I knew it, because I knew it was a part of the plan. Not mine. But God's. It thankfully turned out to be benign. But without all the past wounds and His process of healing them, I would have never faced this threat with such strength.

Looking back over the past couple of years, God has shown me the reason(s) for each and every wound. Every trial. Every bump in the road in this journey called life. And I can't help but feel this overwhelming feeling of grace and thankfulness. I am so blessed. In so many ways. And all for things that I truly don't deserve. God has used me in ways I never thought possible. And I'm now able to find light in the darkest of days. God is so faithful. Always and forever.

So anyways, back to the reason for this blog: I'm still facing trials. Some worse than the ones before. But thankfully, our God is a sovereign God. He continually blesses me day after day...sometimes it just takes a while to see and recognize the blessings. So for myself and whoever else that cares, I'm going to post those blessings. Weekly. As a reminder that He truly is faithful. And He is constantly working all things together for our good.

‎"And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." -Romans 8:28