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Monday, April 26, 2010

Which Button Means "Post" in German?

I had a profound message to write tonight, but I got on to my blogger account and it is all in a different language, like a wayyy different language. Maybe German or something of those sorts? So it just threw me all off and I lost what I was going to write about as I tried to figure out which German word meant "New Post" and all that jazz.

I believe that I might have memory problems, which I have posted about before. I lose my train of thought all the time. Just like I lost it right now.

So anyways, I will tell you about my weekend.

I saw Beth Moore! I was so close to her and she had a little question and answer time. She's just so funny and cute and entertaining and wise... She's just lovely! She had some great stuff to say. She talked about her book, So Long, Insecurity, so she talked about what a secure woman looks like.

She said a secure woman is....

Saved from herself
Entitled to truth
Clothed with intention
Upended by grace
Rebounded by love
Exceptional in life

I took 6 pages of notes which are all great, but I'll tell you some of my favorite things that she said.


  • Insecurity isn't weakness, it is unbelief.
  • You have a calling on your life that is suited to you--one that you could live your entire life and miss. No one, not even God, will force your calling on you.
  • We must get intentional--we won't get security on accident. We have to use our wills, deliberately putting off our old self from yesterday and putting on our new self every single day in every single situation.
  • Living in the "new self" begins with our minds choosing to do it, ends with our feet actually doing it, and collides with our actual emotions. We can't wait till we feel secure to act secure.
  • How much more likely would I forgive if I knew how much I have been forgiven? Many things would roll off our backs if we were secure. Do I believe that I've really been cleansed and purified from my past?
  • Why is it, that in the intensity of the pain, that I don't realize there is a purpose? But then I can look back and see, the pain was worth it.
  • Are others worth the pain that it would cause you, for you to walk in the security of Christ? Being secure isn't just about being a better person, it's about others.
That conference was great! I am glad that Mere, Nat and I went! We were pretty much the only people there under age 35. I saw more men there than I saw college girls. And by the way, we did see 5 men! I felt awkward for them.

Nat and I went to Ikea after the conference and got some bedding stuff and decorations. I'll show you below.
this throw for my bed

this table for our front porch


this cute little lantern also for our front porch

And a few other things, including a bedskirt for my new twin bed that was $12.99 and silverware for $7.99. There were some pretty sweet deals. 

I do love ikea. 

My week is going to be laid back I think. I only have one paper to do which will take me probably 15 minutes. I'm excited about chillin' before exam time!

Hope you all have good weeks as well!

Now I must go try to figure out which button means "post" in German on my blogger.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Alive And Kicking.

It's been a while...

I bet you are all on-edge, worried sick about my ankle!

You're thinking, "Did she fall down the stairs? Did she shrivel up and die because of the pain? Did she get addicted to the pain medicine?" Okay, well it wasn't that bad... The pain wasn't that bad and I didn't get any pain meds. But I could totally see myself falling down the stairs. I didn't though, and that's what counts.

I'm alive and kicking hobbling.

                                     

There it is! I've got this nifty brace from the physical therapist. She really knew how to make it feel a better. Well, not at first. At first, it hurt so bad from when she messed around with it and from the exercises she made me do.

I just have to wear this brace thing for a few months (through the summer) and do some special exercises every day. You may have read how I feel about exercising here. I am not very fond of it, to say the least. These exercises are easier than most exercising, but they still hurt, and it's really just the fact of taking the time to do something that I don't really want to do that gets to me.

I hear that the exercises really make a difference, so I'm going to try to keep doing them. I haven't done them for 2 consecutive days yet, but I'm working on it. I have done them 3 times in 8 days though! It just always hurts so I have to take a day or two break.

I also have a really good idea. I want to invent a nude-colored ankle brace. Mine and all the ones I've seen are black. I mean, come on, could you make it stand out any more? Everyone stares at it. It draws the eye down to it. I actually have gotten more people tell me that my legs look tan. I think they feel bad for staring and then they try to make me feel a little better. At formal, I had this nice purple dress on, metallic shoes.... And then this big black thing on my leg!

Anyways, enough about the ank.

I had such a fun formal last weekend, and then Saturday I got to go meet the middle schoolers who I am working with this summer at church. On Sunday we had a fundraising football tournament that I worked at for my sorority. I had a busy, busy weekend.

This week meant back to work. I had a term paper, 2 tests, a paper, a composition, and a quiz. I'm done now though!

So it's off to have fun for the rest of the week and then BETH MOORE this weekend! I'll be in the ATL staying with my cousins and going to the conference on Saturday. I am oh, so excited! I'll letcha know how it goes. I'm sure it will be all good things, maybe a few funny stories. We will see, we will see!

Monday, April 12, 2010

It's A Good Feeling...



... to finally have an unclogged shower so that I can take showers in my own shower without water up to my knees that sits there for days after each shower.

... to get to take off my ace bandage after its been cutting off my circulation for a couple of hours.

... to sit on my porch in the evenings with a tank top on (like I'm doing right now).

... to get into a warm car when it's not too hot outside.

... to have a week where I'm not too worried about school work.

... to actually almost complete a crossword puzzle.

... to dream about this summer!

Hope your week has started off well!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Towed Cars, Sprained Ankles, Disasterous Frigs

I know you're thinking two blog posts in two days--amazing!

I wish I blogged more frequently but lots of times, either  a.) I don't have anything to say or  b.) I don't have enough time.

This problem was solved with my roller skating incident. Because now a.) I have had lots of rough/embarrassing/humorous incidents since the sprain, and b.) I must stay on my sofa most of the time, giving me plenty of blogging time.


This weekend has been a good one. I'm not exactly sure what makes me think that, but despite the circumstances, it's just been nice.

Well I guess you read about my roller skating accident which occurred on Thursday night. I spent Friday morning at the clinic and Friday afternoon on my sofa, leg propped and frozen green beans resting on my ankle.

It was my friend's 21 birthday and we had been planning on spending it with him since 2 weeks ago. We even decided to stay in town because we knew it would be fun. Well the ankle wasn't keeping me from going, as Mars mentioned in the comments section of my last post. I just went to the party and chilled on the sofa. If people wanted to talk to me, they had to come find me. I sat alone most of the time. We had been planning to go out afterwards because it was our first night to go out to the bars. Nat, Gav and I were excited to finally go out (since I've been 21 for 4 months now and still not been out). The ankle timing was perfect.

So I drove to the strip and parked my car where Gav said she'd parked hers and it didn't get towed. Great idea!  I then got Mars to drive me down the road and drop me off at the doorstep of the venue. I stayed for about 30 minutes and was ready to leave. My friend Geo's friend was waiting to pick us up right outside, so I just decided to get in his car to go home since I was exhausted and didn't want to walk to my car.

Next morning (today), I go to get my car at the bank. No car. Wonderful. Call the towing place. Found the car. They only take cash, $100 cash. Who has $100 cash these days? I went to the ATM and then Nat drove me to get my car. Poor thing, she did not belong in this junk yard place where I found her. So I drove her home. She seems to be doing well.

I proceeded to lay on my sofa or by the pool all day. (It's really funny because my friend and neighbor, Holly, has a sprained ankle too so we both iced our ankles by the pool.) I then came back in and this happened:


I was resting my ankle without the ace thing on.


I decided to make no-bake cookies for a cook-out tonight that we've been planning for a while.



I spilled the tea over in the frig. I've never done that before in my life, but on the day that I can barely walk, nonetheless squat down, I spill almost the full pitcher of tea. There was a lot more in there than you can see in the pic because it went below that shelf. And I was home alone.


So anyways, these situations have been funny. I haven't been that upset about them. I feel like there are bigger things in life to be concerned about. Towed cars, sprained ankles, and disasterous refrigerators, well those things can't ruin my day!

I'm going to lie here for a while and then get ready for our cook-out at 7:30. I think 15-20 people are coming, so I better get workin'.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Taking Life Into My Own Hands

I took my life into my own hands last night. I took risks. I did something out of the ordinary. I was living on the edge.


I had the bright idea to join Chi O (my sorority) at a mixer last night. Well, the mixer was a skating one. Yes, like roller skating. There were drunk boys skating. Yes, I knew this before joining them on the rink. I really should have known not to join them.

Picture this: I get my skates on. I can't figure out how to go in them. Once I figured it out, my legs would go apart and I couldn't get them back together, so I was skating with my legs really far apart for the first twenty minutes. The entire time I was out there, I couldn't figure out how to stop myself. I just stuck to the running-into-the-wall technique. A few times, when I was having conversations with people and they had to stop for something, I would just keep going and of course I didn't have the ability to look backwards or I'd definitely fall.

We did the train and I busted around the curve. I'm pretty sure Casey and I destroyed the train, but I couldn't tell because I was laying on the ground. 

As the night went on, I got better at my roller skating techniques. I was able to  keep my legs together and could turn as the rink turned. I think that I became overconfident.

After skating for an hour and a half, I was going around... la-dee-dah.... and two intoxicated guys cut in front of me. Causing me to lurch forward and skin my knees and bruise my hands. This was painful, but I got back up and kept skating. 

Less than a half-a-lap back around, I bumped into the back of my friend Buck, causing him to lose his balance and sending him flying in the air. It was like slow motion. His arms were flailing and his feet were in the air. It was intense. So we both fell and I think he landed on my ankle. 

He laughed, stood up, and kept skating. 

I, on the other hand, fake laughed, couldn't stand up, and just wanted those dang skates off of my feet. We were in a crowded area so people were all around. I even have pictures of the fall. But anyways, people were telling me to move out of the way because people were going to run me over, but I couldn't move. I looked up at a girl and said, I can't move. And I couldn't even manage to get my skate off. I began crawling but that hurt. And I felt like an IDIOT.

A bunch of girls helped me get my skate off and to the side where I remained until we got kicked out of the skating rink about 10 minutes later. By the time I got in the bus, my ankle was swollen. My hand was bruised. My knees were both skinned. And I was embarrassed.

No one else got hurt badly like that as far as I know. And they were even intoxicated! 

This morning I couldn't sleep past 8 am because the covers were hurting my ankle so bad. I finally got up the courage to go ahead and look at it, and it looked as if there was an egg in my ankle. Lovely. 


I got up and called the health clinic. After waiting on hold for 21 minutes, Gayle at the clinic was so sweet and told me to come in as soon as I could and I didn't have to worry about an appointment. The nurse asked what happened. Roller skating, I told her. She gave me a look and asked if she could x-ray me. The x-ray lady then asked me what happened. Roller skating, I told her. She laughed. The doctor then asked just how exactly this happened. Roller skating! I explained. Each time I cringed knowing that they were probably thinking.... Roller skating? That's so not cool anymore. And a college student? Strange.

It's not broken, thank goodness! It's a 2nd degree sprain and the doctor told me that I tore some ligaments in my ankle but that it should be better in 3-6 weeks. He ace-bandaged it, told me to ice it, scheduled a physical therapist appointment for next Tuesday, and sent me hobbling out.



It's kind of embarrassing to walk in front of people.


[Please excuse my pictures, a.) they were taken on my phone and b.) hope you didn't get too grossed out by my feet.]

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Blessed Beyond Measure

I am so excited! Why, you ask?

There's not much to be excited about, is there?

Well.......... Yes, there is! I feel like I'm receiving more blessings right now than I deserve! But really, that's how every blessing is, I don't deserve any of them. But nonetheless, I feel incredibly blessed by so many things right now.

We only have had the most incredible weather for over  a week now. And I don't just mean Spring weather, I'm talking flip-flops and tank-tops weather! It makes me happy just walking out my front (and only) door.

And I've had no real homework for an entire week now, no big deal. I'm not in the least bit stressed about school, and it's an awesome feeling.

And better yet, I found out yesterday that I got an internship I applied for, for this summer. I am really excited about it. I will be working at a church in Knoxville and focusing on middle school ministry at the church. But to add to it, we will be having an intense bible study each week along with scripture memorization and another specific ministry in the community that we will focus on. There are 4 other girls and 2 or 3 guys who will be doing it too. So I'm just excited to get to know them, the middle schoolers, the leaders in the church, and Jesus Christ better this summer.

I started So Long, Insecurities, by Beth Moore, yesterday and have thoroughly enjoyed it so far. I am going to hear her speak about it at the end of the month, so I thought I'd read it to know what she's talking about. So many of the issues are so personal and so common, but are never dealt with. I think that the book is going to be a true blessing in my life.

Lastly, I got to home last weekend for Easter, and it made me happy. I had the chance to spend lots of time with my grandfather and his girlfriend, as my parents weren't home and Mars and I were desperate for food. They were so cute and so happy, and it was just really fun to see him more lively!

It's so fun to be able to see my blessings so vividly. I know that I am always blessed, even with my relationship with Christ alone, but it's also amazing to see that God cares to bless me sometimes with things that are so visible. It's awesome to remember these times when there are times that I'm not feeling so blessed. When I look back, I'll see that there are times that are visibly good and then times that I can't really tell what's so good about it, and both of those times are good!  But, it is always a blessing to be able to have these memories of times where I can see clearly His blessings.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

What's so good about Good Friday?

Well, Good Friday is almost over (we have 5 minutes left of it, as of now, which is the beginning of the post), but I just had a few thoughts today that I wanted to share with you.


First off, I've always thought it was strange that we call this day Good Friday because it is the day that wicked people killed Jesus Christ, the most loving man to ever live. What could be good about that?


Well, I've probably had this epiphany before, but I had this epiphany today about why it's called Good Friday and especially how it applies to my life.


Jesus' apostles probably weren't thinking, as they were watching their Savior being mocked, hanging on a cross, that there was anything good about this situation. They were probably thinking, "What's going on? This is totally wrong. Something's gotta happen soon. I know He can get off that cross if He wants to. Come on, Jesus, our hope is in You, and You're just letting people treat you like this." Oh, how it probably hurt their hearts to watch Him suffer like that.


I think about even watching a friend suffer through something hard, and how hard that is--but to watch a man who has never done a thing wrong to anyone, who only loves everyone, and who is the best friend one could have--to watch Him crucified like that, it must have been painful.


But anyways, back to the good part of the day. It was good because Jesus died on that day, and if it hadn't had happened, I would be going to hell for eternity. He saved my life that day. That's probably not what His apostles were thinking that day. They were probably thinking that there is no way this pain is not worth it, no way.


From God's perspective, with all the love in His heart for us, it was worth it. Jesus thought that having me with Him for eternity was worth the suffering. And how thankful I am that He thought that!


So, where this hit me hard today was when I was thinking, what's going on in my life that I can't imagine truly being good? What are the things that I try to tell myself, 'yes, it's good,' but really I'm thinking, no way in heck can this be good? That's what those apostles were thinking, and Good Friday (plus Easter) was the best thing that ever happened in my life.


These trials that I go through.... Well, they're good! From my perspective right now, I'm not sure why they're good, but that's okay. I just know that they're good and there will mostly likely be a time when I look back and see the benefits of these trials. And even if I don't look back and see the exact reason I went through it, I will trust my loving Father that He knows best, and that He puts me right where He wants me to be, just the way He put His Son right where He wanted Him to be on that cross on Good Friday, to save my life.




I have so much to praise Jesus for--a new life in Him! Happy Easter y'all!