Service Project

This past Friday, a group of kids from one of my classes went to volunteer at Hope Community of Shalom church here in Lubbock. We are all taking the class Communication, Civility, and Ethics and our most recent assignment was to do some community service project with other classmates then write a paper on how the teamwork was. We went to the church where 400lbs of pecans had been donated. They have a church member who would spice up the pecans, but first... the shells needed to be disposed of. That's where we came in. We spent two hours separating the shells from the pecans. The church was then going to sell their pecans at a local bluegrass festival and hopefully add some monetary stability to their church budget. We were more than happy to help out.

While sitting there for two hours, we came to know one another better and spent the majority of the time talking about God and our relationship with Him. Some beautiful stories and insight were shared and it was wonderful to be able to fellowship with one another. These classmates of mine are fantastic people who all have faith in God and it was such a blessing to spend the afternoon together :)

From the outside

working hard :)

pecans and shells

the boys

and the girls

And Paige. Not from volunteering but later that night :)

God is still God

Hello world. I realize it's been a while, but this semester has been particularly difficult for me. Not saying that is a valid excuse to take a break from blogging, but it's the excuse I'm going to stick with anyways. So in the midst of the stress and difficulties, God has shown me that He is still God and in complete control. Let me share my week with you :)

So this week, 2 very close and important people in my life have had to go through some traumatic changes. Although they have handled these situations with great maturity, the hurt they have been through has managed to take hold of my heart. On top of my social life being under loads of stress, school hasn't slowed down any. I have 2 tests and 3 papers due this week. And no, nothing has been done yet to prepare myself for that. With work and church, the time is being cut short on when I will be able to take care of that. Stressful week to say the least. But again, God is still God.

Today I have two classes and they were both unexpectedly canceled, giving me ample time to take care of some homework. My roommate and myself were then treated to lunch by our wonderful bible study leader before heading to our weekly bible study. At this bible study, the word "sanctify" was brought up and this leader told us that sanctify meant "to make holy, to set apart". This was God speaking to me through our leader because right when she spoke, my face lit up. I promise you that I have heard that exact definition at least a hundred times from my sweet father. So while reading with my Father, I was reminded of my father. It was simply wonderful. And as if this wasn't awesome enough, we were exploring the words of Paul in Hebrews and I read verse 12 which said,

"Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."

Yo, it IS the proper time!! That's whats up. It brought so much peace regarding my friends. And everything else for that matter. It was a beautiful study today that God blessed me with.

So yes, it has been stressful but I'm so blessed that God is continuing to show himself to me. Even if it is just in the little things. Sorry for the blogging break but I will attempt to be better in the future :)

Baby it's Cold Outside

These are all pictures that make me feel warm inside, so yes. You may have seen them before. I'll explain why I did this later in my post. So go :)

Let's preface this post with saying, it's been cold here in Lubbock, America. Last night when we checked, it was 12 degrees outside and I'm sure it grew colder as we slept. But this weather has brought along many negative comments. Most people find this temperature very uncomfortable but for some odd, unexplainable reason, I love the cold weather. I have always preferred it to the heat (even more reason for me to stay away from Hell, huh? hehe). So why do I love the cold? Here are a few reasons on the top of my head.

• You can always layer clothes to keep you warm. Ya can't always take them off :/
• I don't particularly enjoy shopping, but there is an exception with scarves, sweaters, coats, and boots which is all you really need in this weather!
• Gathering around a fire always makes me feel close to home for some reason
• There is no feeling more precious than walking into a warm, toasty room from the cold outside and then feeling your flushed cheeks. It sounds silly but you all know what I'm talking about.

I could go on forever but I don't think adding bullet points will affect peoples understanding of my love for cold weather so I'll leave it at that. The point is, in the midst of the freezing weather, there's this warmth buried inside of me. Let me explain...

As you noticed, there were no posts over Christmas and if you are a friend of mine on Facebook, you would notice that there weren't any posts there either. At the end of the break, I had friends tease me about being M.I.A. over the break. Apparently I was really bad about answering texts and phone calls and updating my social networks. This is not a typical characteristic of mine, I admit. But it was different over Christmas. I had the pleasure of spending it with my family. Whenever I'm with them, there is absolutely no other place I would rather be. Technology can take a break while I share that precious time with my favorite people. 

Whenever I'm home and with them, I feel that warmth again and it's a feeling unlike any other. However, my family isn't here in Lubbock with me and I have to find that warmth from somewhere else.   Luckily, I am blessed enough to have the warmth of Jesus Christ in me wherever I go. I have something inside of me that gives me more warmth than any amount of coats, sweaters, and scarves than I could possible possess. 

I know it's cold outside, but I pray that the warmth inside of me is uncontainable and spills out onto any and everyone. Thanks for reading :)