we're already halfway..

I mean seriously, why is time going by so fast? 6 weeks left in this semester, really? It's been absolutely nuts in my life this semester. Between waking up at 6 everyday, student teaching, Miss MHB Pageant practices 3 nights a week, being a College YL leader, going to bed at midnight, and attempting to still have a social life.. life is hard, but nonetheless, it's amazing. I spent 8 weeks with AMAZING 4th graders and I miss them so SO much every single day. Now I have precious little 2nd graders, who are so stinkin' cute, but just a little more needy. God has taught me that I have a love and a passion for children of all ages, but my heart is really with kids in like 4-8 grade, which is funny cause my degree is in PreK-6. Nevertheless, i love being a teacher and I am excited for the day that I get to have my own classroom! I've been sick quite a bit, which I've heard is normal for student teachers and 1st year teachers..so feel free to pray for that! :) Pageant is really great. I spent last week really stressing out WAY too much about it.. and I'm determined to make the rest of it fun and exciting :)

And here's the biggest news in my life right now:
I'm going to Haiti in December! :) I've been given the opportunity to go to Haiti for a week and serve in an orphanage in Guibert (pronounced Gee-bear with a hard g). We will be completing a new wing on the orphanage where 14 orphan boys will get a new home for Christmas, and participating in the wedding of the "house mom" of the orphanage! All while just simply loving the broken nation that Haiti is and proclaiming the name of Jesus. I am so absolutely excited! If you want more information on my trip, how you can pray, or how you can help get me there financially, please ask! :D

Love you :)

for those of you who wanted to see my new apartment..

Hello! Sorry it's taken me a while to post these pictures! Honestly, my apartment hasn't been clean enough for pictures since I moved in, ha.

Here we go! :)

This is my room! Thanks bestie Amanda for the zebra! :)
This is our laundry room (yes, in our apartment. lucky, i know) and my bedroom door.

our lovely kitchen!

our living room is a tad small, but we get by. The curtains and our cute little initials aren't up yet.. still a work in progress :)

and my bathroom! I LOVE having my very own bathroom!

and my super great walk-in closet!

and that's the end of the tour! Hope y'all enjoyed!

Student teaching is going well, love my kiddos and their craziness, but I'm exhausted! I'm slowly getting used to the loooong days. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement, really helps me get through the weeks! Love you guys.

When did I grow up?!

So, about a month ago, I tried to update y'all on Preteen Camp, but my internet was being crazy and wouldn't let me, :/ and since it's been SO long since that happened, I'm not going to go into it. Still the best week of my summer, hands down.

Anyways, I'm back to Belton, for my SENIOR year. Excuse me, WHAT?! I still have to remind myself that I really am 21 years old, and a SENIOR in COLLEGE. It just doesn't seem right. I'm so excited to be back, but this semester isn't the same. It's actually kind of a sad story right now. For those of you that don't know, I'm student teaching, (again, I have to remind myself that I'm old enough to do that.) at Lakewood Elementary School. This week has been crazy! I've been at Teacher Inservice meetings, Convocation, Lesson planning, classroom decorating, and even Meet the Teacher Night! Yep, my very first, Ever!! :) While that's all really exciting and I am learning SO SOOO much more than I could've ever prepared myself for, I'm missing Welcome Week at UMHB, and it makes my heart sad. I know I have to "grow up" and stuff, but I don't like it.

Okay, enough pity party.. I am excited for the school year! My 4th graders are precious and I can't wait to get to know them! OH! and more exciting news! My kiddos are the lucky bunch that get to use IPADS for everything in English class! It's going to be such an exciting adventure teaching on Ipads! I am excited!

My roommates, (Jill, Audrey, Whitney) and I moved into our BRAND SPANKIN' NEW apartment this weekend, it's great! We all have our own bedroom and bathroom, but still get the fun of living together. Although I haven't seen much of them, yet, I know we're going to have a good year!

I've had some really, and I mean really great conversations with other YL leaders about what this year holds, and it's super exciting as well! I love that ministry, and I can't wait to kick it off again!

and lastly, Miss MHB Pageant practice starts in September. I finally got my dress and almost nailed down a talent. Platform speech is next on the agenda. It's going to be stressful with student teaching and everything, but I know it will be well worth it!

I think that's all I've got.
Love Jesus, Love life, be blessed :)

b.l.e.s.s.e.d.

I can't believe that I haven't blogged since VBS. I'm such a slacker. So here is what I've been up to:

1. Missions Camp with grades 1-6 at Camp Copass in Denton.

This camp was a weekend devoted to teaching children how to live with a servant's heart. The kids did activities that will help our community in the near future, and learned how they could do simple things for the good of God's kingdom. We also studied international missions and missions across the US. My girls were grades 5-6 and I loved them, so much :)

2. Celebrate Freedom-Chris Tomlin

This was the day we got back from Missions Camp, and it seemed as though all my plans to go to it were ruined. Needless to say, I was bummed. I mean, who doesn't wanna go worship with Chris Tomlin and thousands of other people to celebrate the freedom we have in our country and in Christ? Well, God knew that I really wanted to go, and He found a way to make it possible, with one of my best friends, Brooke. PLUS! We go VIP passes so we got to be super close! IT WAS AWESOME.

3. Various Children's Ministry Events:

Including, but not limited to: Bible study, teaching Sunday school, going to Main Event, Amazing Jake's, and Splash day at the park. MY JOB ROCKS, just in case anyone was wondering how it was going. It's incredible.

4. Roadtrip to Houston:

July 4th weekend, I took a roadtrip with Taylor down to Houston to spend the weekend with our boys :) It was great! I LOVED getting to meet more of Coley's family and getting hang out with our besties all weeked :) I'm so so thankful for him, and for the friendship we have in Adam and Taylor! :)

Well, that's most of my summer in a nutshell! I just got back from one of the greatest weeks ever at Preteen Camp oh eleven, but if I added that to this blog, it'd be blog overload, so I PROMISE I'll update about that in the next few days! :)

Love y'all :)

lovin' my busy life

AH! i've been SO SO terrible at blogging lately! and I honestly don't have time to right now because I never stop being busy, but I promise within the next week I'll update you all on EVERYTHING!! :D love love love.

Y-E-S to V-B-S!

Hey friends!! So it's Friday night of VBS week (aka: the end) and boy am I exhausted.

However, the exhaustion I'm feeling is nothing compared to the JOY I'm feeling. I have just come to absolutely adore VBS, the children's ministry, XA Camp, our youth ministry, our church as a whole this past week. I got to be a part of something bigger than this world for the 4th year in a row, but this year was by far the best. My 4th graders were so wonderful and so many of them have the most innocent, loving hearts full of Jesus I have ever seen. I love VBS because I always get so much out of it. It's going back to the basics, everyone sins, that sin separates us from God, and in order to be in the right place with God and get to Heaven, we accept Jesus as Lord, repent from our sins, and tell other people about Jesus.. it's simple, really. One thing I have always struggled with is being comfortable to share Christ with others, but this week changed that. On Wednesday, I taught on the ABC's of becoming a Christian, and yesterday and today, I got the opportunity to sit down with a 4th grade boy and really see his heart change into a heart for the Lord, praise Jesus for another friend in Heaven! :) and as of Thursday, 20 more children were added to His Kingdom.

There was also XA Camp this week. It's "VBS" for the 6th graders. Kind of like a transition into the youth group. I got to hang out with all the girls I went to GA Camp with last year and it was SO fun reconnecting with them! I've also met a lot of our current youth girls and I'm getting to hang out with them a bunch, talking about college and boyfriends, you know, the works :) I'm so SO beyond thankful that I have the opportunity to be interning at FBC this summer. It's already changing my life SO much. Next up is Missions Camp for grades 1-6 next weekend! I can't wait!

love <3

You put the light in me.

'Cause in Your perfection, I'm just a reflection,

So pull me closer to You,

I catch like a fire, and I'll hold You higher,

You put the light in me.

The spark, the shot to the heart,

You are the hope that leads me out of the dark,

You let Your love shine down, so that the world could see,

You put the light in me."

I heard this song on the radio today, instant favorite. It's called "The Light in Me" by Brandon Heath. I swear I'm going to need to get his CD sometime soon.

Anyways, the song inspired me. It made me think back to before I was saved, before I knew Christ, and where I could've been without Him. It was a time of darkness. A life before it is saved is a live overshadowed by sin. Isn't it an amazing thing knowing that my God, OUR God, the Creator of the universe had (and still has) a plan for everyone of us? He had a plan for the day He would reveal Himself to us, a plan for the day His spirit would consume us and live inside of us.

And now we flash forward to the present, and here I am, saved, forgiven, and washed clean. I'm a sinner, unworthy of His love and grace, but He died for me, taking my sins (ALL of our sins) on the cross, and rose again, so that we could be forgiven and set free. Now it's my turn, our turn, to be something beautiful, to be the light. "The light" is the light that He put in me. I am commanded to be the light to others, especially in dark times, to live a life according to the Word of God, and show the world that Jesus is Lord. So, as I've been challenged by this song's message, I encourage you to listen to it, (click here) and be challenged in the same way.

there's my thought for the day, I'll leave you with this:

"In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they will see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven." -Matthew 5:16

"In Him was life, and that life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." -John 1:4-5''

Now, go be the light! :)