Stepping Out for one who Stepped Down

All of the Christmas festivities were finally over and it is time to get ready for an event that i had been looking forward to for a long long time...JOY EXPLO!! Joy Explo is a New Years Eve rush party where we have a speaker, a band and youth from all over come and worship together. This year the speaker was Dr. Joey Dodson :) and the worship band was Pocket Full of Rocks!! This year was especially neat because I was asked by the President of the Ar. Baptist Student Ministry to help work the event. I love working with youth and helping guide them in the right direction. My teen years were kind of rough and if I could prevent any other young lady or young man from experiencing some of the heart ache, pain and confusion I went through then I'm all for it. I feel like God has given me an ability to be able to relate to teens so when asked to help in this event I was ecstatic!
This event shows teens that they can worship however they want that it doesn't matter what the person next to you is doing it only matters if you are focused on God. Joey Dodson had all the youth groups get together and pray out loud...this was neat because i have found that it is so hard to get youth to pray out loud...but they did it!! It was such a blessing to be apart of this experience to witness youth stepping out of their comfort zones and praying/worshiping to the King of Kings without hesitation or regards to those standing around.

Here are a few picture of the girls that went...
This one is of me and another youth worker Charla.
I went to this event with Unity Baptist Church. For those (3) of you who have followed me since I've started know that I was a youth intern there this summer. Well, at the end of July I started feeling like God was trying to tell me something but I wasn't sure what it was or if I was ready for what He was asking. In about September I knew that God was telling me it was time to move my membership from my home church to Unity but that was a big request. To move from the only church i've ever known, where my family are some of the first members, to a church i've only been attending for months was a big deal. I informed some close friends of my struggle and asked for prayer. I needed courage and the ability to step out of my comfort zone and trust God...
After, the youth showed their ability on New Years Eve I knew that it was my turn which was only confirmed that morning when the pastor of Unity, Bro. Tracy, started preaching about trusting God in everything. So I took that step, on January 2nd of 2011 I requested a change in membership. It was hard but after all of the church came forward to welcome me and tell me "It's about time!" I knew that it was the right decision. I'll miss my church family from Friendly Hope but I know that they agree that I should follow God's instructions above all else. A big thanks goes out to all of those that have been praying for me during this decision process. Also, this last Sunday a dear friend of mine, Kasey, asked me to walk forward with her as she too requested a change in membership from her home church. I think I can speak for both of us and say that we are super excited about getting involved and becoming apart of an Acts 1:8 church. We love all of the members and thank them all for making us feel so welcomed and loved. :)

My prayer for the New Year, to focus on what God is doing in my life and pressing forward not dwelling on the past. I pray that this is your prayer as well...

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained." Philippians 3:12-16

God Bless!! Happy New Years!

Letting God Do The Writing

Life just continues to fly by so fast. It's Winter Break and I'm sitting on the couch watching a movie with my brother. I'm not really sure what movie this is or what's going on all I can think about is how break is about to be over. I'm beyond excited and ready to be back at school where i have a routine, my best friends, and freedom yet I will miss my church, family, and friends here at home like always. However, I've done this three times now...yep that's right i'm halfway done with my junior year of college. I have a year and half left of undergrad, that is crazy!

Having only a year and half left makes me think about life in a whole new light...
I have friends getting engaged, married and having kids and I can't even decide on which medical school I want to attend. Life two and half years ago was completely different than it is now. I've come to understand that no matter what chapter of my life I'm in that as long as I continue to let God write my story I'm where i need to be.

Below is a few glimpses of what life has been like since I last wrote...

These here are from Thanksgiving with the Bennetts.

Braden, Keaton and Me showing "the Bennett Eyes"


This would be everyone that was there at the time...I sure do love my family! We are a bunch of crazies :)

These next two are from my FIRST EVER MIDNIGHT MOVIE PREMIER :) I went with a bunch of lovely friends to see Harry Potter the first half of the 7th one.




These next two are from the R.A photo shoot. These girls and my mentor Erin are some of the greatest blessing God could of given me this year. They are always there to encourage and great for a laugh. :)



I'm so thankful for Family, Friends and the lovely memories that I have with all of them! I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into my story that God is writing and until next time...God Bless!

"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5:14-19