James 1:2 Consider it pure JOY my brothers when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

My family this summer!

I have found this verse to be so true and define my summer. It's not that I have many trials or anything like that, but its the fact that I have had to totally rely on God. This summer has been amazing and life-changing, but it has also been hectic. In the past few weeks we have had Upward Camp, started discipleship groups, beach trip, and have been gearing up for VBS and Uganda. There is never a dull moment in the Youth leadership world. I have learned that God is our strength, and when we realize that he will do BIG things!

Me and my boo.. :)

Discipleship groups are going great. I have the amazing opportunity to lead 5 eleventh and twelfth grade girls through James. This group is like none I have ever been in. In most groups there is awkward silences, but in this one its different. The girls just enjoy chatting about life and growing in Christ together! As Danna put it today when we were talking, I don't feel just like a leader in the group, but I feel like a friend in the group. Which is a great place to be. :)

The Beautiful Senior Girls!

Beach Camp was rocking! David Platt was the speaker and he talked a lot about missions which was cool. It got my heart in the right place to start pushing Project Lovemore and being whole hearted about it. God just brought to my eyes that I have everything. I have my needs met, family, friends, and Christ. Some people have none of those. God really spoke to me about telling others about him. It's so easy to be selfish and be too concerned with how people will judge me to tell them about Christ. But the fact of the matter is someone could die tomorrow, and I missed my opportunity to tell them of my Savior. It makes me think of the story of the good Samaritan. Who am I in that story? Am I one of the first two who walk by who are consumed with where they have to be to help or am I the Samaritan who stops everything to help the man. I wish I could say I was the Samaritan, but truthfully, I don't think I can. I want to change that. I want to live out the great commission of telling all nations about my Lord. Also, I really enjoyed camp because I got to bond with the Senior girls. They are amazing. All of them mean the world to me. Our chats about life and some other things were funny and legit! My small group was a lot of fun too. It was good to get to meet all of them. Only we will know about the bottle example of Jesus. It was funny, but so true. Praise God for all he does. I pray that these students will live out what they learned at camp and show Christ's love to all they come in contact with.

The Kumbyyas!

When I got back from camp, I washed clothes and took a shower and them 2 of my best friends, Jen and Megan, came to visit. It was a much needed visit. We did a lot of fun things. We got to hang out with the Anthonys, swim, bowl, eat. You know the usual Brandon thing! I love these two girls to death. I know I could tell them anything. It was good to have my accountability here. It was a short visit, but it really meant a lot that they would drive this far for just a day! :)

Well, going back to the James verse-- I have thoroughly enjoyed this summer so far. Sometime things don't go the exact way I may want them to go, but it's good to remember that God is in control. He has a plan for everything. And I am growing stronger through this. Please pray that I will trust Him wholly!

Lovemore.

So, I am no longer a teenager. That is crazy. I remember looking at people who were in there twenties and think about how old they were. Now I am one of them. I have done some reflecting about the last few years of my life lately. I have seen how some of my friends, values, personalities, and even I have changed in a good way. I have went through trials, and learned how to persevere. I have went through good times, and learned how to enjoy them. I have learned how to live in the moment. I have learned how truly blessed I really am.

This summer is going great. The girls here are amazing. We started discipleship groups last Sunday. I am with the 11th and 12th grade girls. I am super excited to watch God work. Beach camp is next week. Woot Woot! I am so excited for this. Charlie Hall will be doing some worship for us, which will be rediculously awesome. Keep the youth in your prayers this week and next.

One thought that keeps coming to mind before I quit blogging... How great God is. How much power he has. How he is so big that we can not even fathom it. And with all this power, he love each of us. And he desires to have an intimate relationship with us. This just blows my mind daily.

Lovemore.

Simply Blessed.

I am so blessed. I have an amazing family, friends, job, etc. I don't understand why I get all these blessings. I have come to a humbling experience where I have realized all that that I take for granted each day. Like just today at Upward Basketball Camp we were talking about creation. What if God didn't create the nighttime. We would always be in the dark. Thank God for light. It's the little things that we never think about that could change our perception of life. I am 1 of few in the world that lives on more that 2 dollars a day. I can't even imagine doing on that. God is so good. It amazes me how he put the world into motion and is so vast, yet he desires a relationship with us and has a plan for our life. He is so SWELL.

This summer is going great. I just started on week 3 of being a youth intern for FBC Brandon. I love it. The girls here are amazing and beautiful. This week we are doing a mission trip to Jackson each day. We are putting on an Upward Basketball Camp for some kiddos. It's going great. Scrimmage time was a little rough. Just trying to help the girls know which was their goal and that they couldn't slap eachother was hard, but entertaining. During devotion today, I was humbled by a little girl's prayer. She was so real in her prayer. She was really thinking out what she was saying. Sometime I feel like I know all the right things to say, but they don't come from the heart. This girl was a light to me. It's cool how God can speak to us through people we least expect. Praise Him.

I will no longer be a teenager in a few days. That is crazy to me. I still remember the first time I had a friend stay the night when I was 6 and we played in the leaves. It seems like that was just a few years ago, not 14. It just goes to show that life won't slow down for us. We can't live in the past or the future. We should live in the present taking each minute as a blessing from God. 20 years old.. Crazy.

I need to put pics up ASAP. I will do that soon.

Love More.

:)

So, I am officially in Brandon. It was a crazy, rewarding, and fun week last week. I was constantly busy, constantly meeting people, and constantly having a blast!

at the Braves game!

I am working with some pretty amazing people. The other interns are Megan Upchurch, Macy Hall, Chris Wilson, and Spencer McCorkel. I think that we all add different elements that are going to make this summer amazing. We have decided that it is a necessity to get intern fanny packs for the summer! I am super excited about getting to know these people's hearts. God is doing some amazing things!

Amelia Badelia and me

I started out on Road Rules last sunday which was a blast. Nothing like competition and fellowship! Oh and the GREEN NINJA TURTLES definitely won! :) Tuesday we had chaos for the middle schoolers. We played some apples to apples and Rockband. I am now apart of the coolest band ever... BMSKAFOO! On wednesday we had a cook out at Kevins. There were a ton of people there. Thursday was thursday night throwdown. We got to play some glow in the dark capture the flag which was a BLAST! Friday we went to a Braves game. Saturday I got to hang out with Tyler and then we had a cookout at Pastor Scotts house, which was FUN! Sunday was church and I saw a movie and went to eat with some girls. And here we are on monday. What a crazy week, filled with millions of stories to be told.

I am staying with the slays and they are amazing! They are so sweet. :) Craig and Anita are so hospitable. They have already pinned my love for sweets! I always wanted a sister and now I have 2! Caroline is going into the 10th grade and Anna Beth will be a big middle schooler. They are 2 amazing girls. I am excited about growing closer to this family!

Big and little sisters!

That is probably the shortest way I could explaing my first week here in Brandon. It's going to be exciting. I am ready to see God do some big things. The middle schoolers left this week for camp. They are going to have a blast and meet with God in an awesome way. As this summer begins, I want to ask for prayer. Prayer for safety, strength, and energy. Prayer for me to allow God to work. Prayer for big things. Prayer for love. Prayer for God to be glorified. Pray.

Project Lovemore

I am headed to Brandon, MS in the morning. Woot Woot! What an amazing opportunity that God has given me. He continues to amaze me with new blessings each day. As I write this, I am just thinking about how much God has done for me. He has put me into an amazing family that is full of humor and surrounded by love. I have some of the best friends in the world that teach me Godly principles by just living their life. I have been given many skills. The opportunities that God continues to pour on me are endless. It makes me wonder-- Why am I so blessed? Why did God choose for me to have this family, friends, skills, opportunities? Am I using what God has given me to bring glory to his name? All I can say is that I hope I am. I mean I know I am with some of the things he has given me, but not everything. I take a lot of things for granted. Sometimes, I just don't understand how I can take things for granted. God has done everything for me. He has given me the best gift of all, Jesus Christ. Without his grace, I would be nothing. We did nothing to receive this kindness. He did everything. He lived a life that was perfect, a life that we can look up too and follow, a life of peace, a life of fellowship, a life of love. He loved us so much that he died so we could be saved. Why can't we love him so much to live for him daily?

God gave me a vision my freshman year, a vision of LOVE. If we truly love like God calls us to, others would see Him in our words and actions. If we truly love like God calls us to, we can change the world one person at a time. If we truly love like God calls us to, more will come to know God as their savior. God began showing me this vision of love when I went to a Shane and Shane concert with some friends. World Vision was there with all the kids that you could support for a monthly fee. For the first time, I was interested in this. When I got back, I searched the site for all the other kids you could support. It was 35 dollars a month to support. I didn't have enough money to do it by myself, so I put it off for awhile. Then God reminded me when JR, my college pastor, began a series on the greatest commandment: Love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. . LOVE! It was about a 8-10 week series, so I finally started to understand how big of an impact LOVE can make. So I asked some friends if they would like to help sponsor a child with me. Megan said she would like to so we got on the website. We looked through pages of African children. Then we came across a boy. When we saw his name, we knew we were meant to discover him. His name was Lovemore. We have sponsored him for about a year and a half now. Through writing him letters and providing funds for food, health, and education, he has changed my life. His name became a daily reminder for me to LOVEMORE in everything I do. I came to the point where I thought if I can love and help out one boy, why can't I love and help out many people. I told Jennifer Tucker about this and we decided to get on the compassion website to see how else we could help. We saw that you could send animals or wells to a community. That seemed cool, but then we saw it... a health care center. How cool would that be. We could raise $25,000 to get a health care center that would help many people not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. This idea got around our friends and there was a lot of people who wanted to help. So this is how Project Lovemore came to be-- 10+ college kids who wanted to make a difference in the world. It's much more than just a health care center though; it's a way of life! How can we love more in everything we do? How can we show God's love more? I have decided the only way to do this, is to make it the heart of all you do. Show God's love to each person you come in contact with. Whether it's the lady that checks you out at the grocery store or the guy who fixes your car or your coworkers or your friends or the guy that looks like a creeper or the homeless man or the person that tests your patience. ANYONE and EVERYONE. Yes it is hard to do, but think about the impact we can make. Think about how God's name would be shown. Right now we have raised around $11,000 for the health care center. Praise God. He is doing amazing things. Project Lovemore is all because of God, all about God, and all for God. So as I end I challenge you with one question...

HOW CAN I LOVE MORE TODAY?

More information on Project Lovemore can be found at:

http://www.projectlovemore.webs.com/

www.myspace.com/projectlovemore

Living in the present

My time in Bryant is winding down. I got to go to Monticello earlier this week and hang out with my grandparents. We fished and played scrabble and dominoes! I met up with Chelsea Weaver at the coffee bean and we got to chat about our summers. It was a very relaxing and needed trip. Also this week I got to go to the lake with my family and megan corbett. Who knew that a few hours tubing, skiing, and boating could leave you tired, sore, and burnt to a crisp! I couldn't even finish a game of horseshoes, I was so tired!

In the past few weeks, God has been teaching me about being patient and that He is in total control. I have been so excited and ready to go to Brandon, Mississippi. But I feel like I have neglected some of my time in Bryant looking forward to Mississippi. A few days ago I read James 4:13-17. It was just a reminder that we aren't guaranteed tomorrow. I can't focus all my attention on tomorrow and forget about my life today. It's good when you have friends who live out principles that you are learning. This weekend, Megan Corbett was a pure example of this. She always is, really. She is so good at making the people she is talking to feel like they are the most important people right then. You can tell that she truly cares. I want to be like this, but I feel like in the past few weeks I have had my mind in Mississippi, but my body is still in Bryant. This last week in Bryant, I am going to live in the present and not the future. I am still super excited about Brandon, but that time will be here soon.

Some pretty legit people, Torri and Lindsey Ellison, had a garage sale in their hometown for project lovemore. They raised 1100 dollars! :) That is amazing. That puts the total raised to around $11,500. We really are chipping away at getting this health care center. I am super excited for what God has in store. Just the other day I was at Mardels wearing a Project Lovemore shirt and the guy checkin us out was like "you support project lovemore; thats awesome." It's cool how the message of Project Lovemore is spreading all over Arkansas. God is so good!

I have decided to start blogging on Mondays and Fridays, so be looking forward to a new blog on Friday. :)

It's the start of something new..

As the summer has begun, I have realized that this summer won't look like the past few summers I have had. I think I will start with the bad and move into the good.


I can say that I now know why a dog is called man's best friend. I lost my dog, Rudy, about a week ago. He was such a "good dog". When I came home on the weekends, he would be so excited. Sometimes he would let all his excitement get on the carpet. :) He would always cuddle up with me in the mornings until I decided to get out of bed. He loved to play ball and lick people in the face. He was all bark and no bite when an unfamiliar man would come around. He died doing what he loved- playing ball. It hurts that he is gone, but in reflecting on his life, I have decided that people should be a little more like dogs. Dogs could teach us a few lessons in loving others. Dogs are never to busy to come hang out. Dogs are very loyal. Dogs can brighten your day with just a lick in the face. Rudy was the best dog I have ever had! It gets lonely not having him around, but I know it's all in God's plan.

Rudy at the lake!

This summer, I get the chance to be a youth intern at First Baptist in Brandon, Mississippi. I am super excited about this oppurtunity that God has given me. It is going to be a lot of fun and very rewarding. I am ready to begin discipling and hanging out with the girls there. Tyler is also going to be starting his job there as well. I am super excited for him, and glad that I will get to be there this summer with him. I know that he will do an amazing job with the kids in the youth group. I pray that his summer as we begin our ministry together in Brandon that God will be the center of it and that we will allow him to use us in amazing ways.

The Junior Girls in Brandon!

Also, this summer I get to go to Uganda. I am stoked about this mission trip. I have never been out of the country. I am nervous, but very excited to work with the people of where we will be. I have raised 2500 of the 3000 dollars I need for the trip. My brother called me the other day, and he said something that made me laugh to myself, but is very true. He told me the only way that he would send me money is if I actually told people about the gospel of Christ. It's so easy for us to do nice things, but it is so much more influential to share Christ with others. That is my prayer: that I won't just do nice things, but also tell others about my savior and what he means to me.

Uganda

During the school-year, I wanted to do three things this summer. 1. be an intern/work at a camp 2. go on a foreign mission trip 3. take some classes... Well I get to do two of these things. God truly has opened up some amazing doors for me. I pray that I will allow myself to be used in whatever ways he asks me to. If I ever come across your mind, you can pray this for me too. :) I am so ready to begin this journey!