Blessed 17

I turned 17 on Sunday. I have never felt any different on previous birthdays but this year something has changed within me. I feel as if God is giving me new life every morning as He gave manna to the children of Israel. The sad truth is He has been trying to give it to me all along yet I am just now finally accepting it. I want this to be a year of spiritual growth. I earnestly desire for this to be the start of a new lifestyle for myself, a lifestyle of fervent love for my Saviour and Redeemer. I can't really explain how God has changed me but I know that He has. It is as if I am reading His Word with new eyes and hearing His message preached with new ears. I rejoice in this newness and I ask that you would pray for my strength because I know that Satan would love nothing more then to tear away my joy and trample my spiritual growth in the dust. I love you all and am so glad that God saw fit to heal me at age 15 so that I may be here, celebrating a very blessed 17th birthday with all of the ones whom I love so dearly.

Habakkuk 3:18,19
I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains.

They Are Found!!!

Our friends have, as Daddy said "Found their selves". They found the check point and checked in. Their mother called us with the news weeping for joy!
Thank you for praying.

Prayer for a friend

2 Corinthians 1:3,4

All praise to the God and Father our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

A friend of ours, Woody, is on a hiking trip with three friends and failed to check in at the appointed time today. There was a search party called and they looked for the guys until it became dark. Our friend is lost with his friends in the dark tonight, yet we know they are not alone. Christ is with them and is comforting them. I would ask that you pray for their protection wherever they are. Please especially pray for Woody's mother, that the Lord would comfort her; I can't imagine how she must feel. I will give you an update as soon as we hear from them again. Thank you.

Do Hard Things

Hello everyone.
I have a question.
Will you please pray for me? Pray that I will hear exactly what God is trying to tell me. I feel it is something important but I'm afraid I might over look it or avoid it. I want to be different, set apart from the world, do something great for God's Kingdom, yet I feel like I'm not trying hard enough to accomplish this goal.

God has been teaching me that to do the right thing is what He expects of His followers, yet we are to go beyond the expected. We must be more then normal, we must do hard things, things that no one else wants to do. If you feel (like me) that you want to have a better idea of what this lifestyle of doing hard things looks like check out therebelution.com. It is a website/blog made by two young men (twin brothers Alex and Bret Harris, younger brothers to author Joshua Harris) who have seen the low expectations of this generation and refuse to meet them. This blog is what got me thinking; I want God to use me.
To use the slogan coined by Bret and Alex, I want to "Do Hard Things".
Please pray for my strength. I love you all.

Proverbs 4:25-27

"Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.
Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.
Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

Summer Arts Institute

God gave me an awesome two weeks at the Summer Arts Institute at Shorter College! I made great friends, I learned many new things and was able to experience so many different kinds of music! Everywhere you turned there was music in some shape or form whether it was blue grass, classical, opera, musical theater or jazz. My teacher was incredible and the staff was wonderful. God's hand was with me through the entire two weeks and He never let me stumble. I am tired now but it was worth it! Here are some pictures (I couldn't keep it down to a few!)

Me and Joanna right before the bluegrass concert. She is the sweetest Christian girl. And so talented, her piano skills are amazing!

Accompanying class!!

My Putt-Putt team: Emily S., Me, Bethany and Emily M.

Bethany and Dr. Nedvin after Putt-Putt

Bethany and I before a game of "Hunter"

My roommate Maria at bowling night

Eliza! The crazy counselor :)

Yoga class. (Surprisingly enjoyable)

Final performance!

Group photo!
My jaw was cramping by the time everyone got their picture!

Bethany and I.
God truly blessed me with her friendship. Because we share the same beliefs and morals it was very encouraging to have her there.

Dr. Nedvin and I.
Doesn't he just look crazy? He even tie dyed the shirt himself :) He really is a nice guy though and orchestrated the camp very well.

Tex, Cara and I.
Tex will be attending Shorter in the fall so hopefully we can stay in touch. Both he and Cara are awesome pianists.

My roommate Maria.
She came all the way from Puerto Rico to attend the camp!

My awesome teacher. What a wonderful, Godly woman she is.
I don't think I will ever find another teacher as talented as she is.

I will cherish my memories of this summer. Thank you Jesus for providing everything I needed so that I could attend camp and make awesome friends.

Psalm 20:4
May he grant you according to
your heart's desire,
And fulfill all your purpose.

Sunshine

Your smiling aren't you? :)

Catching Up

I know, I'm a horrible blogger! So many things have happened in May. Maybe that's why I haven't had time to post :)

Here are some pictures of the awesome times God has blessed me with during May.


A great trip to the Aquarium with new and old friends

Both are so photogenic don't you think?

A new friend who brought laughter (and new drawing skills) into our home

A beautiful (but nerve wracking) spring recital

Went to (seemingly countless) ball games....
but enjoyed them all (especially Will's first home run!)
Such a wonderful start to the summer! Thank you God for such a blessed month.
Thanks for reading.
Hope:)
(See Aunt Jenny, I did it!)