My Nana

Two years have gone by so extremely fast…

Tomorrow is the two-year anniversary of my sweet Nana going home to be with Jesus.  It still feels like yesterday, driving home from college for the weekend and my first stop would always be at my Nana’s.  Of course, she would be waiting on me.  I would pour myself a glass of sweet tea and then we would sit together on her couch and she would ask me, “how’s your love life?”

Oh, how I miss that lady.

I have spent a lot of time this week thinking about my nana and what an amazing woman she was.  She was a mother of four and a grandmother to fourteen grandkids.  Somehow, she had this amazing ability to make each and everyone of us feel like we were her favorite.  I know I did and I am sure my cousins can admit to this same feeling, at least at some point in time.

It is true, that time heals all pain, but one thing it can never do is erase the memories.  I plan to carry her memories with me always and to continue her legacy of being a strong, generous, and loving person and most importantly, a committed prayer warrior.

 

 

I month, 2 weeks, and 3 days...

Is how long I have been living in Ohio., crazy huh?!? 

I thought once Nick and I got married and I moved up to Ohio that I would become a more consistent blogger, BUT I guess I thought wrong.

 Anyways, let me update you on life in the Midwest.  Only two weeks after I had moved to Ohio, I interviewed at a coffee shop in downtown Troy.  I was hired on the spot, and started the next day.  It blows me away how God works things out.  Long before I joined Nick in Ohio, we had said that it would be awesome for me to get a job at Night Sky.  This job is absolutely perfect for me!  It is a Christian coffeehouse.  I work part time during the lunch hour and the coffeehouse isn’t open on Sundays and Mondays, which works out perfect with Nick’s schedule.  It is flexible and allows me to be very involved with the student ministry at Ginghamsburg.  I am currently training to be a barista, and I’m very excited.

 I have become obsessed with clipping coupons and saving lots of money at the grocery store.  Nick makes fun of me at the amount of time that I spend searching for coupons and reading the weekly grocery store ads.  But just so you know, I saved $34.00 yesterday grocery shopping!

 I love the kids in our student ministry!  I have been blessed to join a 10^th grade girls cell group that meets every Wednesday night during Merge.  They have so graciously and lovingly welcomed me in.  They are a great group of girls with tons of God potential. 

 I have some exciting events to look forward to….

My bestest friend and her boo are coming to visit Nick and I the third weekend in April….I cannot wait!  And the third weekend in May my sweet mama is coming to visit!!!!!

 And last but not least, I want to brag on my hubby for a minute….Nick has been absolutely amazing!  My favorite part of everyday is waiting for him to get home from work.  I always get so excited to see him walk through the door.  He is so gentle and compassionate, especially at times when feelings of homesickness hit me like a brick.  I am a lucky girl…what can I say!  It has also been a joy to watch him interact and teach the students.  He is wonderful with them and has a genuine passion to see them grow spiritually. They are crazy about him and it blesses my heart to see the relationships that he is forming with them.

 

 

 

Life in OHIO....

“The only constant is change”

Boy, have I sure been able to identify with this quote lately.  Change has consumed my life and for once, I am actually really excited about it and I am not dreading it.

 February 7^th, 2009 I married my love, Nicholas Charles.  The whole day seems like a blur now.  The wedding ceremony was perfect and exactly what I had always imagined it being.  Nick probably wouldn’t like me telling the world this, but he cried, A LOT, and it was precious.  The reception was a blast!  Although, I don’t remember what anything looked like nor did we get to eat any of the food that we had picked out, we danced the night away until it was time for us to leave.  Nick and I were blessed beyond words at all the people that shared in our special day. 

 After the honeymoon, Nick whisked me away to the wintry wonderland of Ohio.  It has been a little over a week since I have been here.  The first few days were spent with my family and the Young’s who helped us move.  I know I am somewhat biased, but I have the best family ever!  Just thought I would throw that out there….

Anyways, over the past week, I have enjoyed getting to know people and meeting the students at Ginghamsburg.  My heart swells with excitement as I get to know the students here.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has us here for this time and season.  God has confirmed over and over that Nick and I being here is product of answered prayers.  It’s crazy to think that while God was answering our prayers, he was answering someone else’s too.  It’s definitely humbling to think about!

Details

Ughh…I have been an awful blogger lately. So awful, that I haven’t written a new one in like 2 months. Pathetic I know! If it wasn’t for someone (ahemmm…nick) prodding me to do it, I probably wouldn’t just because I feel like so much time has past, where do I even begin?!?
Anyways, allow me to just hit the highlights…
After much thought and prayer, Nick took a youth pastoring position in Ohio. Yes, you did just read that correctly…OHIO (you know “round on the sides, high in the middle”). I have to admit, when he first told me that a church from Ohio had contacted him and wanted to set up an interview, I was completely against the idea. I began to pray that if that’s where God was leading Nick to go that He would change my heart. Well, He did. Nick never once persuaded me one way or the other; in fact he told me that if I didn’t have a peace about it then he wouldn’t even pursue the opportunity. I admire him for that; however, I couldn’t deny the overwhelming peace that God was filling my heart with. Those of you that know me, know that I was born and raised in the south. I am the epitome of a “southern” girl. I am very close to my family and the thought of being hundreds of miles away from them does not sit well with me, but like I said God did a 180 on my heart so to speak.
I knew that if God wanted Nick and eventually me up there, He would have to work out A LOT of details. If you didn’t know this before, I am here to testify, that God is a God of details. Nick and I prayed very specifically for certain details to work out, one in particular was the contract with my job. Originally, my contract was suppose to run through June 2009. We both felt strongly that June was too long for us to go with being that far apart and that if God wanted both of us up there He would work things out. I wrote a letter to my employer explaining the situation and on the same day they received the letter they called me and said they supported my decision 100%. When I got off the phone all I could do was cry and thank God for another answered prayer. A lot of things hinged on whether or not I would be excused early from my contract, and thank God I was! My last day as a wellness coach for ZQ will be December 19th.
One more important detail HAD to happen. It was something I had prayed for, long before I ever met Nick…which God answered on October 17th, 2008. I love surprises, but usually I figure them out fairly easy. However, Nick pulled the BEST surprise on me! It was the weekend before he moved up to Ohio. We were “meeting” some friends in downtown Greenville for coffee and dessert. Prior to this night, Nick had asked a friend of mine to find a guy and girl who would do a mock proposal. The guy doing the mock proposal asked me to take pictures while he was proposing. Half way through his proposal, he stopped, turned around, looked at me and said something’s not right. He took the camera from me and said that I should turn around. When I did Nick was down on one knee. I was in complete and utter shock! After I screamed like I had just been hit by a car, I said YES!!!!!!! Afterwards, I told Nick that he would have to repeat what he said because I was in so much shock I couldn’t remember. When I could finally see from my tears, I saw all my friends coming out from nowhere. Random people were stopping on the sidewalk to watch and look at the ring. It was amazing!! FYI…to all you guys out there, sorry, but this proposal will be a tough one to beat!
To make a long story short, on February 7th, 2009….I will marry my love and my friend. I couldn’t be happier! Then I will be whisked away to the wintry wonderland of Ohio and this girl that was born and raised in South Carolina will see more snow probably in one day than I have my entire 23 years of living down south. And I am more than excited!
Well, now that I have written a book and it can no longer be considered a blog, hopefully I will do a better job of updating this thing!

Wonder

Every other Monday I leave school a little early and make the trek up to Travelers Rest from Spartanburg for a Zest Quest meeting. Let me just inform you that this is no small trek. It takes me a good hour and fifteen minutes there AND back. When I first found out that I would have to do all this traveling for a meeting, I wasn’t too happy.
However, today was a different story. I found myself secretly enjoying the drive, especially on my way back. I opened up the sun roof to let fresh air in and rolled down my window so I could feel the wind on my face. I turned off the music and just listened as I drove home. It was amazing to say the least. With the seasons changing and fall approaching fast on the heels of summer, the temperature was just right.
Just FYI, fall is my most favorite season, because not only does it feel amazing outside, but it signifies the coming of all my favorite holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Ok, back to my sentimental mush…anyways, as I was driving home today and secretly enjoying the fact that I had to drive an hour and fifteen minutes to a meeting, I was caught up in wonder. I was caught up in the beauty of the mountains and the amazing back drop that it creates against the sky. I was caught up in the different smells and the lighting as it fell through the trees and into my car.
I realized that often times we become immune to the wonder of creation. We get caught up in our "To Do" lists and buried under our "piles" of stuff that we fail to look at life with eyes that seek awe and wonder.

“Dear Lord, grant me the grace of wonder. Surprise me, amaze me, awe me in every crevice of Your universe. Each day enrapture me with Your marvelous things without number. I do not ask to see the reason for it all; I ask only to share the wonder of it all.”
-Joshua Abraham Heschel

Glory to Glory

The title of a Wellness Coach can be misleading.
Make sure you hear me out....
When I took the job as a Wellness Coach with Zest Quest little did I know that I was saying yes to what I had always said I would never do….TEACH!
Recently I have found myself eating words that I said long ago. My college roommates, Jessica and Allison, were both education majors. They would spend endless hours preparing for a lesson by cutting out pictures or my favorite, making a life-size Mrs. Gallon. I would always shake my head and say that I would never have to do anything like that for my major. Wellllll, I was wrong.
Over the past two months I have spent endless hours lesson planning, cutting things out, and learning strategies for classroom management. Every day, I teach kiddies the importance of eating healthy and getting physical activity on a daily basis. Some days, I tend to get overwhelmed with all the “teaching” stuff that I lose focus of my purpose as a wellness coach. My main goal is to give these kids hope, to instill in them a passion and enthusiasm for health and wellness, and most importantly to love on them.
I say all this to remind you of two things: 1) be careful of what you say you will never do, because it might come back to bite you in the butt and 2) be flexible! Sometimes God will take you down a path to a place you never envisioned yourself going, but it’s because He is preparing you for what lies ahead. Remember we are all being changed “from glory to glory.”

Ponder this...

Recently, I picked up Robert Elmer's book Practicing God's Presence: Brother Lawrence for today's reader. I have read this book before, but decided that it would be good to refresh my memory. This book is jam packed with great stuff!
The other day, I was reading it and came across something that really stood out to me. Something that made me ponder the motives of my heart, of which I am still pondering....

"We shouldn't get tired of doing little things for God, either, because God doesn't care about the size of the task--only the love behind it."

WOW.

Now, it's your turn to ponder....