Vacation Bible School 2016

So every year if I can, I like to volunteer for our Church’s Vacation Bible School. I was a little nervous this year that I wouldn’t be able to because of my new job. Like I said yesterday my on-boarding paperwork took a lot longer than we were expecting. Therefore I had this week free!

From Monday – Thursday earlier this June from 9:00 to 12:00 I spent my time with a group of 20 little ones at Cave Quest VBS.

I got some of the girls in my Wednesday night group to volunteer with me and one of them was my co-leader the whole week. We had so much fun! One morning she told me she had never had Starbucks before. That would simply not fly for this girl so I remedied that before she could even blink.

Lacey came to our Church to try it out earlier this Spring and she was placed in my group. I just love all of my 10th graders like they are my own little sisters. She’s been coming back ever since and I LOVE it!

I enjoy volunteering at VBS because:
1. I think it’s so so important to be involved in your Church
2. You get to meet other people who share your faith and people you normally wouldn’t know.
3. Kids are so sweet.
4. It’s fun!
5. I loved VBS as a kid and I want to be part of some of these kiddos VBS memories.
6. What else would I have done besides sleep?

Red group 7 for the win! We had a group of about 20 Pre-K to 2nd graders. Our Church set it up to where kids get to pick their groups (when I was growing up we were assigned to a group). The first morning about 14 of them showed up together and wanted to be in a group. We had a lot of siblings together and they got along pretty well. #luckyus

When you notice some of your kiddos constantly singing Jesus songs throughout the day, or telling you about something nice they did, or anything about Jesus, you realize that it’s so worth your time. So worth it.

This little one did not leave my side the entire week. She wanted to be sitting in my lap, holding my hand, or near me at all times. And honestly it’s one of my favorite parts too. I love when I am walking through Church in the morning and I have a little one say “Hi Miss Molly” because they remember me.

Her mom told me that she was SO PROUD of this sign. We had 4 different colored groups and we were told to dress in as much of our color as possible and the whole week was a competition as to who could get the most points.

The boy on the end was in our group and during our closing ceremony one day was pulled up on stage to participate in an event to win more points for the red team. He was so excited!

Unfortunately at the end of the week, red team did not win. But we still cheered for the green team who won instead of boo-ing them (there may have been a firm talking to earlier in the week for that).

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen this picture. Like I said yesterday, it’s been a rough couple of months for me lately. But any time I step into Church I just feel better. Maybe it’s the atmosphere, maybe it’s the Holy Spirit, maybe it’s both. But whether it’s worship night on Wednesdays, service on a Saturday night, volunteering with my 4s and 5s on Sunday morning, or this week of VBS…it’s just happy. I’m just happier. I don’t know how else to describe it.

And now that I just typed that and I am re-reading…i’m seeing the word happy. If you remember earlier this year, I mentioned happiness. I guess I can cross that off the 2016 bucket list. And I didn’t even know it or think about it being something like that. It’s really the simple things, y’all.

Friday Favorites

Hellloooooo Friday. So happy to see you!

If you’re a blogger, link up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci and share your FAVORITES. If you’re a reader, so glad you’re here!!

This goes without saying…but my FAVORITE family is back in action tonight. Oh, I am pumped…as are most of you from reading everyone’s What’s Up Wednesday post this week.

I might stay up and see if it comes out at midnight (which will have passed by the time you read this) otherwise I guess I will have to watch after work sometime. Which is going to be interesting considering i’m working both my jobs today. NOOOOO I NEED MORE TIME TODAY!

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that our pastor challenged each of us to fast social media for one day.

And it was the best thing ever.

And then a couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I was going to go a whole weekend without social media.

And it was the best thing ever.

And now I do it one day every single week. It’s my FAVORITE day of the week now. I loved it so much that I could probably give up social media for an extended amount of time, but it’s also how I engage with you guys so I don’t want to! You’ll be surprised how difficult it is. I would open up Instagram multiple times, remember I wasn’t suppose to, and close it out immediately. But you’ll also be surprised with the amount of free time that you have. Communicate with your family! Get some work done! Don’t look at other people’s pictures and be like “wow she looks great why don’t I?” And in today’s world, I think a lot of us could use that every now and then.

I would seriously challenge you to do this. Just one day – no Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Pinterest, nothing. I told my girls to do it one day this week after a long conversation about comparison at our retreat.

Speaking of retreats, I want to recap this past weekend, even though I mentioned it on Wednesday. But it was just so GOOD and I don’t want to forget it!

Friday night we had to be at one of our campus for check in and I of course go in my signature outfit. Cute sweater? Check. Jeans? Check. Booties? Check. Long necklace? Check. Selfie? Check. A room that I just switched into and haven’t organized yet? Check.

Friday night they catered Chick-Fil-A sandwiches, we had worship and service, and then we went back to our host home for a Bible study and girl talk. After Bible study, the girls wanted McFlurry’s. Who are we to deny them such a glorious dessert? PS…I MISS MCFLURRY’S. They got a kick out of my wedges with socks, but I didn’t wanna wear booties and my feet were cold. So I improvised!!!

Saturday morning, we woke up and did a Bible study before going to bowl that morning. I sat at the kitchen table drinking some coffee and chatting with one of the girls.

After bowling we had free time and our first stop was to Starbucks because this was my group, remember???? Haha, total shocker but this was my first Starbucks in weeks!!

We hung out at our host home for a couple hours while the girls went swimming and took naps. Then we headed up to the Church for a cookout, service, and it was my FAVORITE night. So 15 passenger van selfie was in order.

We broke up into small groups and I had 3 girls with me who just opened up completely about stuff that’s been going on in their lives, things that were bothering them, and their relationships with Jesus. This night was the reason I started praying about volunteering with high school girls in the first place. There were tears, prayers, re-dedications to Christ, and lots of hugs. At the end of our conversation the girls said: “wow, that felt so good to talk about. We don’t have to do anything else this weekend because we’ve accomplished everything we wanted to”.

Cue the tears. Except I don’t cry…but if I did. I WOULD HAVE!

After service, we left the Church and the girls requested Braum’s. And thus #friesbeforeguys was born. BECAUSE I AM A GREAT LEADER AND KNOW WHAT’S TRULY IMPORTANT IN LIFE. 😉

We went back, hung out, snap chatted, and talked. Us leaders went to bed before the girls because we can’t hang! Megan and I shared a room so it was fun getting to know her a little better and realizing how much we have in common 🙂 I am so thankful that I was able to work with Jen and Megan this weekend.

We all went to sleep and woke up Sunday morning in desperate need of some coffee. Us 4 went to Starbucks again and the other girls went to Smoothie King.

And then we went to our third service and went home. I’m still trying to catch up on sleep i’m so tired. But it was SO worth it.

 

Because I have been getting so many questions about the food i’m posting lately, I decided one day next week I will post about them. If you’re one of those people, be on the look out. That means you’ve got to come back next week so I can share some of my FAVORITE recipes!!

If you have any requests for particular recipes I have talked about, for recipes you’re not sure that i’ve made, or recipes you’d like me to make…leave them in the comments or e-mail me.

As for being gone the past two weeks, it was so worth it. But coming back and seeing your comments about missing me?? Also worth it!!!! You all are my FAVORITE. I’m not sure what i’m going to do in the future, but it’s possible that I might start taking one week off a month or something like that. I could go into a lot of detail, but I learned a lot during that time. I’ll just keep you posted. But seriously thanks for your sweet words about my return. XOXOXO

Alright. That’s enough for one post. ‘Cause you know I could go on! 🙂

One more thing: Bible Study girls, I will be posting Week 8, 9, and 10 in the next couple weeks. Don’t forget about our study. Catch up beforehand by clicking HERE.

What’s Up Wednesday: February

What’s up, friends?!

I’m back and i’m linking up with Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer. Every last Wednesday of the month, we all blog about what’s been going on. If you missed my 2015 posts, check them out!

What I’m eating:

I went straight to the source to get the answer for this…my iPhone pics. Lately I’ve been having so much fun in the kitchen creating, and then photographing, and of course eating. It’s become a hobby. I could probably make a post on all my pictures, so instead i’ll just show you a few.

Turkey bacon and an egg-white omelet just about every morning 😉

Pesto fish in foil for the win.

Yes ma’am, banana protein pancakes drizzled with almond butter.

I’ve been making my plate colorful with some chicken, snap peas & asparagus, and grapes.

Why and of course my FAVORITE creamy fudge protein shake.

What I’m reminiscing about:

Just this time last year. Today…but in 2015 I was blogging about our first snow day of the year.

And right now our weather is sunny and warm and 70 degrees. That’s crazy.

What I’m loving:

The relationships that i’m making with my kiddos at Church. If you follow me on Instagram (DO IT!) then you saw a picture I posted with my little Alina. This girl gives me a run for my money and the other morning she was playing around on my phone and took about 5 videos that make me smile every single time I watch them. I love Sunday mornings with my 4 and 5 year olds!

What we’ve been up to:

Speaking of Church, and kiddos, and following me on Instagram, and what i’ve been up to…this past weekend was the high school retreat. Church retreat weekends are incredible and life changing and I was so happy to be a part of this one. Students dedicating and re-dedicating their life to Christ, fellowshipping with one another, pigging out on tons of sugar (we did lots of that!), not sleeping, and just enjoying each other. Is there anything better?

STOP. Are they not the cutest?!

A little co-leader love, plus some photo-bombers. Jen (the one in the red next to me) and I co-lead a group of freshmen girls, and Megan (the one taking the picture) co-leads a separate group of freshmen girls all at the same campus. This weekend our groups were merged and it was A BLAST.

I love Wednesday nights with my 9th grade girls.

What I’m dreading:

All of the schoolwork that I see coming up on my calendar. It’s just so time consuming and boring and waahhhhh. Let me whine okay 🙂

On another note…I love the simplified planner.

What I’ve been working on:

Me.

You guys know I took close to two weeks off from blogging here. More details to possibly come at a later date.

What I’m excited about:

FULLER HOUSE COMING TO NEXTFLIX ON FRIDAY!!! Two sleeps. Two sleeps. Two sleeps. I’ve been waiting for this for what feels like forever!

What I’ve been reading/watching:

I’ll talk about what i’m reading next Wednesday, March 2nd for Bookworm Wednesday!! Link up with Katie and I for that.

As for what i’m watching…

I found a new show that I am IN LOVE with. Seriously. I watched the 2 seasons in a week. I was first intrigued when I saw Lori Loughlin starred because I’M OBSESSED WITH HER (see above “what i’m excited about”), but then when I realized it was an old western drama tv show that was it. Season 3 aired on Sunday and you all need to go watch it…this is not a drill. 🙂

And of course, i’m watching my boy. Ben is a charmer y’all. Did you watch on Monday because hometowns were awesome! I’m #teamjojo what about you??

What I’m listening to:

A fan in the background, my space heater making noise, and Pops saying goodnight. You know.

 What I’ve been wearing:

Apparently nothing of any relevance because I couldn’t find any pictures. But I will tell you it’s just been the usual workout clothes and work clothes (as usual). With some Nike shorts and fuzzy socks thrown in for good measure!

What I’m doing this weekend:

Hopefully visiting my friend who just had her baby! Other than that I work all day Friday, babysit Saturday, Church on Sunday, and then i’ll hit the gym a couple times. Nothing out of the ordinary over here!

What I’m looking forward to next month:

Oooooh, lots. February is blah to me so i’m glad it’s coming to an end. But I always look forward to March because….two words….

Spring. Break.

A week off of school, some days off of work, vacation planned. Even if it is the last Spring break i’ll ever have (sigh)…bring it on!

And then there’s baseball season starting, getting outside more, Easter, my bestie coming home from school for her birthday. So much fun to be had.

What else is new:

A LOT. But i’ve already put so much in this post, sooo that’ll have to wait.

What is my favorite Easter tradition:

When mom decorates the dining room table. Mom was an interior designer (well, still is considering that’s not something you just grow out of…lucky for me) and she makes everything look amazing all the time. I love our house around the Holidays.

Well, that’s February! Missed y’all!

#cliffhangerfinallyannounced

I had something else planned for today, but i’m still working on it because I didn’t get it finished this weekend 😉

But on a completely un-related note…do you ever have those moments where you’re just like “yep, life is good.” There are just times when i’m doing something and I stop and think “Wow” because there’s just a sense of peace that comes over me. I’m having one of those moments right now as I type this post. And all i’m doing is just sitting here at my “desk” with a winter candle lit, my chia seed water, rain hitting the window, Christian Radio on Pandora playing and homework going on. I mean, I do have a blank and my favorite fuzzy aloe socks on. See for yourself.

But I really don’t think that’s why. I just think God gives us these moments as a reminder that through all the good, the bad, the ugly, He reigns above all. He is in control. And we should put our trust in Him…through the good, the bad, and the ugly.

because

and when you really grasp that concept, there really is a sense of peace that overwhelms you. I mean, this is definitely not me majority of the time. I’m always go-go-go, on the move, doing something, running somewhere, and not at peace but sometimes it’s just nice to sit down, relax, feel those “yep, life is good” moments.

But for the reason you’re here today, do you remember in one of my Friday Favorites posts when I talked about doing something that I think would be great and beneficial for a lot of us???? And then you guys were mad at me because I was all #cliffhanger on a Friday and now you’ve probably forgotten about it????

WELL. You wanna know what it was?!

An online Bible study!!

 Honestly, what could be better than fellowshipping with other women (and men if they’re interested), bloggers, and friends? Before I release the specifics of it, i’d like to know who would actually be interested?

• We’ll interact with each other from all over
• It’s on our own schedule (AND can be in our PJs and fuzzy socks!!)
• There’s so much to learn from the Bible
• We’ll make new friends
• We’ll grow together in our faith
• We’ll challenge one another
• We’ll give some time to ourselves and God throughout the week, month, and year.
• Most importantly, we’ll have FUN!

We would study a book of a Bible, i’ll post questions beforehand, and we will all discuss those questions later on in the week. We can talk about how often after I can get a head count of who would want to participate. If you don’t have a Bible, don’t worry about that. I’ll figure something out for you. I don’t want that to be a reason anyone doesn’t participate. SO please comment if you want to participate, what questions you have, and then leave your e-mail so I can contact you. Or if you’re more comfortable with e-mailing me instead, please do 🙂

Looking forward to hearing from y’all!

Bible Verses For Everyday

Sometimes when you’re feeling a certain kind of way, a quote can make it better. Sometimes a Bible verse makes you see things from another perspective. Sometimes it’s just what you need.

These are some of my favorite quotes…

You should follow me on Pinterest and see what i’m pinning on my “Quotes/Words to Live By” page. It includes all of these and more 🙂

This verse sits in my bathroom, so every morning when I wake up I think of Matthew 21:22…

…because

This is my blog’s Bible verse…

…because I try to

…like waking up alive another day.

And I think this Proverbs verse is one we as Christians need to remember.

And this verse is so important for us (females especially) to remember.

Lately, I’ve started writing verses in my journal that I want to look at. Like I said, sometimes that’s just what we need.

When i’m in need of faith?
James 1:3-4
Daniel 6: 15-23 (The story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den)

Happiness and full of joy?
Philippians 4:11-13
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Galatians 5:22

Tithing/Giving/Finances?
Proverbs 3:9
Malachi 3:10-12

When i’m dealing with hard-to-deal-with people?
1 Peter 3:9-11
Ephesians 6:13-18

About Praying?
Ephesians 6:18
Matthew 6:33

I’ve got lots of verses on trust. I’ve got verses on marriage as well, and while i’m not in that season of life yet, I know they will be important one day. There is so much good stuff in this book! This post was awesome for me to write last night. It got me reading through my Bible and reminding myself of certain things I really needed reminding of.

Maybe you just needed a reminder today to read through your Bible and pray. I know it can be easy to forget or not have time for. Leave some comments on what your favorite verses are when you’re feeling _________. I’d really love to know 🙂

Undeniably Connected.

Hello 🙂

Sorry I missed you yesterday. I was feeling sick Sunday and ended up falling asleep at 7pm, therefore did not get my post finished and posted. But have no fear, i’m back today 😉 I know you were pretty worried, am I right? Haha

It’s no secret that I love Church, and Sundays, and going to Church on Sundays. However, I normally don’t post about sermons and all of that because most people have their own Church that they attend, or hear other sermons, or really don’t want to read a sermon as a blog post. But today is different, I do want to share about my sermon from last Sunday, called “producing” (it’s part of a three week series).

John 15:5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

We should all be living a life undeniably connected to Jesus.

The main thing I took away from the message is this line our pastor said: “If your life makes sense to other people, you’re not undeniably connected to Jesus.” And I thought about it and three things immediately went through my head: what can I be doing differently? How can I change this in my life? and I wonder if I smell bad? (’cause I came straight from yoga). Whooops. But instead of focusing on that last one, we’ll talk about those first two. I kept thing about that statement the rest of the sermon, and just couldn’t figure it out.

On the way home it was just my dad and I. We were talking and my dad said “Did you listen to the sermon today?” And i’m like, “What are you talking about? Duh. I take notes every week. Did YOU listen????” and he said, “Molly, he was talking about you.” And I was all…what? He was talking about me in a sermon to everyone else?? I thought about it. I still didn’t make the connection. He said… You’ve told me multiple times “Oh, i’m the loser that’s sitting at home with her parents on a Friday night.” I said yeah. He said, you’ve told me multiple times “I never wanted to go out and party all weekend every weekend even at OU.” I said yeah. He said, you’ve told me multiple times “I never understand why some choose to “hook up” with random people just because they can.” I said yeah. And then He said, and you’ve told me before “I still don’t understand how I was brought home, back from OU, in the middle of a bad season in my life, and feel guilty about it.” (those weren’t his exact words, but that was his gist). And I said yeah.

I AM the one that’s pretty much home in bed early on Friday and Saturday nights. I am the one that can go out and have a good time if I want to with my friends, but not get wasted every weekend. I am the one that’s had one serious relationship, and that’s about it. I am the one that came home from college, embarrassed by my decision because I didn’t love being away, and now cannot thank God enough for guiding me home. I am the one that blogs, when i’ve been told how weird it is. I am the one that started working in corporate america at the age of 20.

My life and my decisions sometimes don’t make sense to anyone else in my stage of life. I thought it was something to be embarrassed about. I’m wondering what is wrong with me for being do different than the normal of my age group? But what is normal????? Little do I know, maybe after all I am undeniably connected to Jesus. How awesome is that?

We should all be living a life undeniably connected to Jesus.

Sometimes God uses other people to speak to us, and Sunday it was my pops. My ol’ man. Thanks dad, for making me see things that I can be blind too. And pastor McKinzie, if somehow someway you’re reading this….I do listen to you!

If you have a chance you should watch the sermon i’m talking about! Check it out here.

21 part one

Yes, the infamous 21st birthday weekend has come and gone. I feel like I took a jillion and a half pictures this weekend, so i’m going to split it up into two different days.

“EEP, I’m almost 21”

Just kidding, the Emily’s both texted me and asked what I was wearing to the basketball game we were going to later that night and when I said probably what I wore to work they MADE ME stop what I was doing, take a selfie, and send it to them. How needy….am I right? But let’s not act like it was that big of a problem for me 🙂

Through my work, the employees got to request tickets for the Texas Legends basketball game because it was Miracle League night and we sponsor The Miracle League. I requested the max (10) and brought along Emily #1 and Emily #2 and then told my siblings there was 2 tickets left, so I let them argue who got it. Morg and Ryan won.

I had to take pictures of us. You know, to document that we are in fact friends. It worked out perfectly because they both knew of each other from the restaurant we all worked at.

And that picture above was apparently “too awkward” (thank you Morgan) so we had to take another.

And then strike a pose (we got to the game a little early, can you tell?)

And I didn’t like any of them so Morgan had to get it at a different angle.

And then after still not liking any, I gave up. Here’s a quick snap of the boys! All photos by MorgMiddPhotog because i’m sure you’ll be asking 😉

And this is our motley crew!!!! Nice selfie taking skills Morg, you do a sister proud!

We were serenaded by an elementary school choir singing God Bless America (so cute!) before the game.

     

And then we moved seats because ours sucked. And we watched the game from there.

The Emily’s had a little one crushing on them and making faces at them. He obviously did not want to be there but he was seriously giving us a good laugh! At one point I winked at him to see what he would do and he just stared at me and turned around. Too bad I creep little kids out 😉

Hey girl, you single?

This game was suuuuuuuuuuuuper boring and I would have been disappointed had we paid for these tickets. There was too much going on, it was loud, kids were playing games on the sidelines, people were talking on the mic during the game, someone smelled like illegal substance. It was just all around bad. Nobody said they wanted to leave because they wanted to stay there for me, which is super sweet!!! Finally I was the one that said we should go because everyone was pretty much hating themselves at this point! Haha. So we left at half.

We went to Chili’s because Jowers was starving, the other girls wanted a milkshake, and I didn’t want to go home. We attempted another picture, but I again didn’t like it. Ugh!

There were fries involved…’nuff said. Plenty of grease. Plenty of smiles around the table.

We drove through steak ‘n shake so everyone could get a shake because chili’s doesn’t make them anymore. And then we all went to our separate places and fell asleep.

Saturday morning I slept until 11:00, so yes I wasted the entire morning. But no worries I ran some errands for my momma, including a run by the grocery store for her.

Then we took some furniture to dad’s office. So here I am in the back with lamps, pictures, and a table.

I swear my mom has been there every day for the last I don’t know how long trying to get his office set up for him, everything in it’s place, pictures hung, etc. It sounds hard being a wife 😉

When we got home it was late in the afternoon so I made some food and caught up on Parenthood.

And after that I decided to go to the Saturday night service at my Church because I knew I wasn’t going to get up early to go Sunday if I was heading out to brunch at 10:30.

The message was good and challenged me a little for this upcoming year, so i’m glad I made it. I came home and sat by the fire and blogged a little for part of the night.

UPDATE: Check out part 2 here

Colors of Life: Jesus Relationship

I realized that it’s been a looooong time since i’ve done a Color of my Life. Today I thought i’d talk about my relationship with Jesus. This is a SUPER colorful part of my life, so how has it taken me this long to post about this?! Not a clue. But we’re talkin’ now!! I will say though, it has taken a lot of prayer for me to finally get the nerves to post this. I’m usually not very open and I do realize I may be stepping in murky water, but trust me here.

I’ll go ahead and start with my testimony:

I’ve always thought a testimony was suppose to be some revelation of a life event where you all of a sudden come to Jesus. One has a near death experience and didn’t die, therefore he/she finds Jesus…that sort of thing. I wouldn’t say mine was like that at all. I even remember texting my friends asking what their testimony was because I thought mine needed to sound perfect (what a cruel word), so maybe I could use part of theirs. Obviously, I didn’t get the part where it’s considered to be MY testimony.

Ever since I can remember i’ve gone to Church, attended VBS, was part of a youth group. I did all of what I considered to be the “Church-like” things and during that whole time i’ve always known who God was. My experience with God has been more of a gradual back and forth experience, as most of my relationships are.

My senior year of high school was when I decided to join my old Church and publicly declare my love for the Lord and accept him as my Savior. Let me just tell you… at that time it felt like a huge weight off my shoulders. I thought I was done there. I said I accept God so i’m good now and I can be on my way, you know, just #keepcalmandcarryon! My senior year I went through a messy high-school break up, my grandma passed away, and I started hanging out with kids who really did not have the same morals and values as me. After graduation, I moved away to school and thought i’d be like most college kids do all the “fun college things”. Little did I know, i’m really not a “typical college kid” like I thought I would be.

I soon realized being away from home was harder than everyone makes it seem…and as many college kids do I began to distance myself from God even farther. Not long after that I began to struggle mentally, emotionally, and physically. Going back my second semester of my sophomore year I was at the end of my rope and life became too much. Let me just go ahead and say I was never suicidal, however if I would have kept on the track I was headed down I may have become that way, who knows. God intervened at the right time. I came home at the beginning of my spring semester Sophomore year. The days and weeks following that Friday afternoon that I came home were miserable to say the least.

The first Sunday service back (at my new Church) that beautiful song Cornerstone by Hillsong was played. I thought a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders that one Sunday at my old Church, but the moment the lyrics “through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all” were sung I remember tears welling up in my eyes. Not being a crier I knew it was the Holy Spirit working in my heart. As hard as it is to believe and to feel, God has been there through this storm with me, every step of the way, when it felt like I was alone, God was there. And right now, my relationship with God is stronger than it ever has been. So, I want you to know that at any time you don’t feel like you are, just know that you are “weak made strong in the Savior’s love.”

Confused about things I have mentioned? Check out my OU story. Check out my health story.

I am not a pastor, I didn’t go to seminary, however these questions below are what I have heard countless times and i’m answering them from my own opinions and from sermons from my pastor I have heard in the past.

How can you have a relationship with Jesus?

You are His child, and like any parent all He wants is for you to spend time with Him.
If you don’t already, visit local Churches and find a Church home that fits you.
Sing songs, have quiet times, read your Bible.
E-mail me and let’s chat!

But Christians are so judgmental and hypocrites?

You’re absolutely right. Christians are judgmental and hypocrites. However, aren’t we all? We all have faults. We shouldn’t be putting pressure on one another to be perfect. Y’all i’m just thankful God loves all of us regardless and we don’t have to be hypocrites for Him or put on a show for Him.
Need to hear more about this area? There are two awesome sermons here called “Why are Christians so fake?” and “Why are Christians so….”

But what if I don’t like any of the people at my Church?

Well okay, that’s fine because you’re not going to like everyone. However, does that mean EVERYONE at the Church is the exact same? God made us all different. I promise you there is at least someone you like. If not, I encourage you and challenge you to look around and find a Church that fits you!

But i’ve been hurt by the Church or someone in the Church?

I’ve heard this sooooooo many times. Our pastor has preached about this plenty of times. I found something for you though that I really like!

A website I saw on Facebook the other day wrote this:
The next time you feel tempted to give up on your church attendance because you’ve been hurt again, picture Jesus bleeding to death on the cross and looking at you through beaten, swollen eyes saying, “I know, My child, how it feels to be hurt. That’s why I died for you and for them. I’ve already forgiven them, how about you?”

I know there are so many more things that I can mention, however I wanted to keep it as light as possible today. Happy Thursday and i’m praying that all of you got something out of this today.
XOXO

Life’s Color today is Blue…for the Heavens.
BE PATIENT. Trust. Everything takes time, so don’t expect immediate results.. God always has a plan. Be grateful for what you do have and who you do have in your life.

all the time.

Quiet Time Myths

I’ve been wanting to share about this for a while now, but didn’t know what I would necessarily say. I think more people are confused about this  concept than we may think. So…let me just tell you…I was scared to have my Quiet Times when I was younger because I thought it had to be done a certain way and if I didn’t do it that way, I would be in trouble with God. Because that’s totally logical, right? But truly I believe many people think along the same lines that I did at my young age, no matter how old they might be. But i’m here to tell you that my oh my, I was wrong! First thing’s first, a Quiet Time is just a particular set-aside time for you and God. That’s it. Second thing, you can’t be “in trouble” with God. He knows we sin and loves us anyways. He sent His son to save us from our sins. Y’all, hallelujah to that! So today, I thought i’d go over what I used to think before I matured in my relationship with God.

My Myths on Quiet Times:

1. Jesus Time has to be an appointment.

I refer to my Quiet Times as Jesus Time also in case you’re confused. It does NOT have to be an appointment. Y’all, God just wants you to spend time with Him, it doesn’t matter at what time. It’s whatever time you prefer. Some people like mornings to start their day, some people like to at night before bed. Most of the time I start mine off in the morning, but sometimes I do before bed, sometimes I do at random moments in my day, because it’s NOT an appointment I have to be at during a particular time. On this particular day I decided to have my Jesus Time while I was running my moms errands with my coffee and Jesus CD on full blast.

2. Talking to Jesus has to be formal.

Whenever I was around other people I always heard prayers start with “Heavenly Father” or use all these fancy words or use biblical sounding sayings so I thought I always had to do that. And, the media taught me you’re suppose to kneel by your bed to pray. Maybe some do, but you don’t HAVE to do anything. I used to do that and the whole time I was kneeling all I could think about was “what if a monster came and got me under my bed”, which defeats prayer time because what am I focused on? The dang monster. In fact, this should be the most informal time in your whole day.

 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” -Psalm 119:105

3. My Quiet Time has to last a certain amount of time.

Many people I have talked to have thought once in their life that their Quiet Time must be an hour, or thirty minutes, or however long. It can be two seconds if it needs to so you can tell God “Hey, thanks for waking me up this morning.”  Some days mine last as long as the online sermons that I watch, on some days mine last 20 minutes before getting out of bed while using my Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. Some times I have a couple quiet times a day. My point is…it’s about you and God.

4. My Journal has to look and sound “God-like”.

I always thought in order to be considered a “strong Christian” I had to be able to understand everything in the Bible and my prayers out loud had to sound good and my journal has to be set up a certain way. Falso. This is a picture of my journal. Usually I just write about things that stand out to me in the online sermons. At the end of my journal entries and writing to God I always write “P/T” my prayers/thankfuls. I write however many things I want to of what i’m praying for and what i’m thankful for. I love to go back and look at these too.

So you’ve heard me just talk about watching online sermons. It’s my favorite thing to do during my Jesus Time right now. I love following along in series and I like being able to pause the video to write down verses I usually miss or finish my thoughts. It’s on my own time watching the sermon. This is especially awesome when there are some Sundays I just can’t make it to Church, it’s online afterwards.

Some online services to watch:

LifeChurch.tv
JourneyChurch.tv
HopeFellowship.net
fellowshipdallas.org
watermark.org
Lifeway.com

And these are only a few. Find one in your area to connect through, you’ll look forward to seeing that same person talk. Please, if anyone has questions or anything, e-mail me! I’m always checking my e-mails. I’d love to chat. I’d love to pray for you. I’d love to help you in your spiritual needs. Whatever it may be.
colorsoflifeblog@gmail.com

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28

One last thing, I think if you’re still questioning this whole thing you should read about my relationship with Jesus right here.

VBS Week Flashback

This week during the summer is one of the best weeks of the year. It was VBS week!!!!

Not only is it the one of the best weeks of the year it is one of the most exhausting weeks of the year. Our group had about 18 kiddos ranging from Pre-K to 5th grade for us 2 volunteers. The Pre-Kers are easy and sweet as can be, but the 5th graders like to be difficult and sassy, just as they should. Check out these crazy boys…oh did I mention they LOVE to take selfies? Welcome to the 21st century.

With more selfies (and a lovely photo bomb from moi).

And more goofiness.

Each early morning the volunteers got there around 8, and the kids started showing up around 8:30. Towards the end of the week they began bringing posters that lit up, balloons, streamers, colored clothes, bandanas, all kinds of fun stuff. The kids were all split into different teams. We were the yellow team so one of our kids dyed his hair yellow and made a poster this morning. Isn’t he just so sweet?

Every day after our beginning intro and singing we went to four stations…Bible adventure, Games, Snack, and Imagination Station. These are some of the cute girls and boys with me at snacks, which i’ll have to say is probably one of their favorite stations.

We learned through weird animals that….

• Even though you’re different, Jesus Loves You.
• Even when you don’t understand, Jesus Loves You.
• Even when you do wrong, Jesus Loves You.
• Even when you are afraid, Jesus Loves You.

These kids were oh SO FUN! They were always wanting to learn (even if they don’t admit it), most of them give you hugs ALL the time which makes you smile, and even though they like to talk and be kids they were pretty well behaved. I guess my buddy Alicia (AH-LEECE-E-AH) (she gets mad when you mispronounce it, I learned that this week:) ) just got lucky.

Alicia was an awesome partner and i’m glad I got to know her this week. She also wants to go to OU, Boomer!! Now check out our awesome crew, yellow 4:

Thank you Jesus for a fun-filled week with fun-filled kiddos! If you have not volunteered at VBS before, I highly recommend it. You never know what you will learn along with the kids you’re mentoring. I miss it and I am looking forward to VBS this coming summer 🙂

P.S. I recently signed up for the Susan G. Komen race for the cure, if you feel inclined to donate my fundraising goal is $100. Follow this link http://northtexas.info-komen.org/site/TR?px=19280923&fr_id=4135&pg=personal and make your donation 🙂

“Healthy” & Happy

So, the reason I decided to write this is because last Friday afternoon I went to one of my last doctor appointments for what I hope will be a loooooong time. Oh, happy happy day!

Here’s the lowdown…My junior year of high school I started having some gastrointestinal issues. It seemed like whatever I ate would make me nauseous or the opposite of that…you know. I told my mom and for a while we never did anything about it.  We thought maybe I had eaten something that was upsetting my stomach or drinking too much caffeine. I was on acutane for my face so we believed that could be upsetting my stomach. My mom is lactose sensitive, so at one point we did test me for that. We drove to a hospital an hour away for me to drink a liquid (which was disgusting) and blow into a machine thing that the nurse had for three hours during different intervals. Yes, it was as fun as it sounds. The test came back negative. Strike out. (Even though I am not lactose intolerant I have always been lactose sensitive and because I was giving up lactose to see if it made me feel any better I am basically lactose intolerant because I have tried to re-introduce lactose to my diet and my body does not handle it. Joy.)

Senior year comes around and while I was at a high school event in the cafeteria I was getting sharp stomach pains. A couple minutes later there goes Molly running out to the bathroom. Okay, embarrassing when you’re with a bunch of guys! Once it started controlling my life we decided that something needed to be done. We started to take matters into our own hands (mom grew up thinking doctor’s weren’t necessary—wait ’til she gets two more years down my life timeline). We decided we would try to eliminate gluten from my diet. My aunt is gluten intolerant and we knew this was beginning to become more common because they were finding gluten sickness in pigs and so on, so what the hay, right? (pun intended) While it helped for the most part I was still having episodes of nausea and the you know. Strike out.

Keep in mind these past two years I am still going to the doctor for my acutane and blood work as well as whatever other health issues strike up. I lived at doctor’s offices.

It’s now my freshman year of college and I am moving out on my own. Here I am in a new, unfamiliar town with my health okay on most days, but iffy on others. I was still on acutane up until November of my first semester so I had to go back frequently to get blood drawn and have my dermatologist check my skin. I even had to go home the day after this day:

Bid day. Which stunk because while all of the other girls were getting to know each other I wasn’t. The acutane caused my hair to get really dry with broken ends. So one weekend I went from this length:

To this length:

Not too much of a change I know, but me liked my long hair. Anyways, so while I was going back and forth with that freshman year I was still getting very sick. I vividly remember going to my big’s room in the sorority house to hang out with her. Her boyfriend called and asked her to pick him up and she was going to, so I decided I would go with her. I got out to the car and had to run back up to the restroom because of how sick I suddenly got. There were times that I had to lay in bed in my dorm room because I had no energy to do anything. I went to a minute clinic in Norman just to have them trying to give me a shot for allergies. Strike out.

We decided it was time to see a gastroenterologist. I shouldn’t be excited, but I was excited! Hoping that she could help save me from some of my embarrassment. The summer I came home after my first year of college I was put on a medicine called Linzess. This medicine is for IBS (Irritible Bowel Syndrome). The only thing she could come up with from constipation and episodes of diharrea was Linzess. For this medicine you are required to take it 30 minutes prior to eating and drinking every day and it helps to regulate your gastrointestinal tract. If you eat within the 30 minutes you will likely get bouts of diharrea. I would give you a little story time segment but you wouldn’t want to hear that. Needless to say, you don’t tempt this medicine no matter how hungry you are. My gastro also decided to have me get a colonoscopy to make sure I didn’t have a blockage or something of that sort. 19 years old and getting a colonoscopy…not very normal, but obviously i’m not very normal.

Slide into my sophomore year. I’m moving into the sorority house, living with about 100 girls. Within the first week i’m pretty sure about 30 of us got sick. During recruitment I had to go to the doctor for a sore throat and I came back with a double ear infection. After recruitment was over…again I had to go home. But this time to my OB-GYN for my absence of a menstrual cycle and I knew it wasn’t because I was pregnant. She did some blood work and found my thyroid levels were off. Strike out and I had a doctor appointment after this day, bid day:

Here we go to the Endocrinologist. First one I go to tells me I have a Hyperthyroid. Mom doesn’t really trust Endocrinologist for some reason so we go to a second one and he tells me that I have a Hyperthyroid that will be changing to Hypothyroid. What?? This one also had me do a radioactive iodine uptake. I had to swallow an iodine pill and they watched how my thyroid reacted to it which actually showed my thyroid was acting up. Mom and I weren’t really a fan of this guy so we decided to go to another Endocrinologist. This third one told me that I had a Hypothyroid. WHAT?! How do three different doctors tell you three different things?! Can you see how this can be very frustrating and we are only this far in the process? Now we go to yet another endocrinologist. This guy tells me that my thyroid is normal. A couple weeks later they test another round of blood (note: all of these thyroid tests are blood tests). It’s normal again. Mom says she’s done with these doctors. So we stop going. Strike out.

A couple months later and my hair is getting thinner and thinner. Most of the time I kept it in a ponytail or something. My mom was going to a hematologist for her low vitamin D. She asked him if it could be related to that and he said yes. So I came in for a doctor’s visit and guess what? More blood work. Because a hematologist specializes in diseases in the blood, he did just about every test known to man. I mean lyme’s disease, everything. Stool samples and blood. He also decided to do ultra-sounds of the thyroid, pelvis, abdomen, and heart.

All this later and we finally found that I am anemic (low iron), I have a bacteria in my stomach that eats away at my stomach lining, and my thyroid blood work is normal, but get this: My thyroid had an interesting shape in the ultra-sound and the doctor found a growth on my thyroid. To determine if the growth is benign or malignant I had to get a biopsy of my thyroid. HA. HA. HA. The biopsy showed I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. The doctor tells me there’s a 1% chance in females my age getting this. But guess what???? The hematologist sends us back to an endocrinologist. Not really a strike out this time.

I started thinking a while ago “God, why do you hate me???” Truth is, I think that all of this was just part of God’s plan for me honestly. And i’ll tell you why. The main reason being that it got me to admit some things to myself. I don’t think that I was truly happy at OU but I would never admit it. Somehow through all of this I was able to admit to myself that it wasn’t where I should be. I also say that I found who my real friends are. During all this, I can count on half of a hand the friends that I had who stayed my friends. There were numerous times I would be asked to do something with friends and never could or never felt up to it. People stopped asking me to do things and would get angry with me for always turning them down. Honestly though, how do you explain all of this to people? It’s kind of impossible, not believable, and to go through this story every time you talk to someone is a lot.

This last Friday I went to ANOTHER endocrinologist, but don’t worry, we like him! He decided to draw my blood again. What the heck right, my poor veins haven’t been poked enough as it is. He reiterated everything the other doctor told me about Hashimoto Thyroidits and has decided to put me on medication for it. I may be taking a lot of medication for stomach, iron, thyroid, etc. but the Lord is faithful and finally has given me an answer. I would really say that this whole 3-4 year experience taught me obedience. You’re frustration will be temporary because in the Lord’s timing you will have the answers you need. And if somehow we would not have caught this my thyroid would have destroyed itself. I was also told when I eat gluten my thyroid attacks it because of the Hashimoto’s, so that’s why I can’t eat gluten. Lucky me!

So all those hours spent at the doctor, paperwork filled out, frustration, prescriptions, blood drawn, etc. FINALLY paid off. July of 2014 is going down in my books.

I only went into so much detail to help those who have had similar issues. I have been there. I have done that. I feel for you. I just want whoever to know that if you have ever experienced anything of this nature, I genuinely feel for you and know that I am thinking of you. Don’t let your strike-outs stop you. Keep hittin’, you’ll get there.

Life’s Color today is Red.
(I say this because what I always think of is the blood-work done)
Be obedient to the Lord. Keep pushing through. Listen to your body. Lean on your family. You won’t always know why things happen. Praise Jesus through the storm.

NOLA Mission Trip Flashback

As I put in my Friday the 13th post, mission trips (although i’ve only been on one) are one of my favorite things. The summer after my senior year in high school I went on a mission trip to New Orleans. I got to cross two things off my bucket list that summer…go on a mission trip and visit New Orleans. I had no idea what to expect all I knew is I wanted to go. So, after a lot of support letters sent out and many generous family members and friends (thank you all!) I was headed to NOLA with some of my good friends! Here’s our crew right before we departed:

 So, a long car ride in a van and we are headed to Louisiana. Some people got bored along the way.

During our lunch break we stopped and saw this cool thing in the parking lot.

My church had gone to New Orleans a couple years before this one but I never had the option to go so I was pretty excited this year. We stayed in a house owned by the local Presbyterian Church. Every morning we got up EARLY and traveled to schools in the area to clean/decorate/move furniture/etc to help get them set up for the upcoming school year. One school we went to we were in charge of re-painting the upstairs bathrooms.

(Above left) The mural some of us painted in the boys’ bathroom. (Above center) My youth pastor, Patrick, and I taking a break from our hard work to pose for a picture. (Above right) The mural in the girls’ bathroom.

My talented friend, Reeana was the one who drew the outline, while the rest of us not-as-talented folk just painted it in. You think you love painting until you’re doing it for two days in a row…ow, arthritis. I thought I knew what tired was, but I really had no clue until I was on my feet for basically a week straight!

At another school we moved furniture out of the classrooms for the school administration to get someone to clean  and get ready for the upcoming school year.

My favorite part of the trip was the day we got to sightsee around New Orleans. This was my first time going so everything was new to me. We had limited funds (I was in charge of organizing the activities) so this was one of our activities, a FREE ferry ride across the Mississippi. This is a picture of me that Reeana took. She can draw and photograph. What can’t this girl do?!

We walked around and Madison did this:

We saw this bus with kids singing out the windows:

As activities director of the trip I decided what we did on our free day and we went to the Audubon aquarium:

We also shopped:

Then Reeana and Sarah baked cookies:

Another evening our group walked around the French Quarter. We stopped by Cafe Du Monde for dessert (It’s a must) while we were there. If you haven’t had a beignet yet, purchase yourself a round-trip ticket to NOLA just to get a beignet. Okay, maybe not go to those extremes, but beignets are definitely worth forgetting food allergies for.

One of our last evenings there we went to a house of one of the members from the local Presbyterian Church and had dinner. This is Madison and I with their daughter:

On our last day in New Orleans we took one of our bright neon yellow shirts and had everyone sign it. We hung it on the walls for future groups to see.

As you can see, we all had a blast working in New Orleans from the aftermath of Katrina AND we got to glorify God at the same time. What could be better?