Food for Thought

Today is one of those incredibly long days that I spend at school. I have a three hour break and in that break I work on homework and I also have an opportunity to people watch. I am fascinated by the way people carry themselves as well as the way they communicate with their peers. In my observations today I have seen a vast number of people cursing. While I understand that oftentimes cursing is used due to lack of vocabulary, all the same it bothers me. It seems like new freshmen are using these “grown-up” words as a means to impress their fellow college students. Many times the words they use don’t even make sense when used in the contexts in which I have heard them today. In fact it has become so frustrating to me that I have put in my ear phones just to drowned it out. I have often wondered who deemed these words “bad words” and the thought still occurs to me that in a world vastly different from the one we live in today, that some person began using a word. This word while it may have begun as an everyday word like “hello” or “wow” has over time become skewed to mean something totally different. Perhaps in that same world a person who loved words as I do, began looking for a word to describe their feelings of frustration or hurt. When such a word could not be found this same person decided to create one, thus resulting in one of the choice verbs and nouns I have heard today. I also wonder at what point did certain words become “dirty”. There are words found in God’s word, that I feel bad reading to my third grade Sunday school class because in today’s society they have changed and been deemed “curse words”. Understand that my random musings are just that random thoughts pouring forth from my head and I type. I am curious to research my questions, but at this present time I feel like I have enough learning and researching to do.

On a side note I would like to give a shout out to my precious mother. Today is her birthday and I am super glad that she was, in fact, born. My mamma is crazy beyond belief and I love her every day for it. She has taught me so much in life, including not to say the words I referred to earlier. I can’t imagine what life would be like without her and I am so thankful to not only call her mother, but also friend.

We are Sparks for Jesus, Sparks to light the world!

Today I am revisiting Thankful Thursdays. And today I am thankful for AWANA. I am not only thankful for the program itself, but also for the leaders and sweet babies involved each week.

My love affair with AWANA began when I was in high school and worked as an LIT (Leader in Training). I loved being a part of something that taught boys and girls the Scriptures, and I have long enjoyed working with the children themselves.

After high school I began my internship with Ms. Tracey Maggard who was the EMBC Children's Director at the time. I look back on this internship as one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I learned so much about ministry and loving on children in Jesus name. Ms. Tracey taught me what is is to love on the children that are oftentimes unlovable. The funny part is that once you begin loving on those unlovable children, they become the ones that are dearest to your heart.

I have found through participating in this program that I too have learned Scripture that I might not have otherwise discovered on my own. Each week, whether it be a tough one or a fun-filled one, teaches me something new. You would be amazed at the way these children view God and the world in general. I wish I could view things through that lense of amazement and acceptance like they do. I can act silly and not worry what they will think, because to them Mrs. Kimberly pretty cool (or so I'm told.) I love that about kids. They see miracles in the smallest of things, and they aren't afraid to ask questions about the things of God. All too often I feel like as adults we lose that. We lose the wonder and amazement in the things of God, and when we have a question we try to seek the answer on our own instead of asking those who may have more wisdom than we ourselves have. Last night Ella, one of my sweet Yellow team babies, told me she asked Jesus to come into her heart. Nothing thrills me more than to see one of our clubbers come to Jesus. God is so good!
Along with the kids I find myself encouraged by the leaders I work with. These ladies are all different ages and we are all at different stages and places in our lives, but we all work together to teach these children about the love of Jesus. We cut up and I think we all share a disdain for game time (Who knew such small children could produce such big noises?), but we also encourage each other. I see so much that I can improve on just by looking at the lives of the women I work with every Wednesday night. I see a patience in Amanda Jones that I have never seen in anyone else, I see organization and a gift for teaching in Amy Hallagin, I see a quiet spirit in Susan Scroggins, I see a godly wife in Sandy McLemore, and then there is Cheryl Carriker in whom the joy of Jesus is completely evident. Of course I also have my sweet friend Jenna wo continually encourages me, as I have expounded on in previous blogs.
It is these ladies and all the sweet children I work with each week that make me love the AWANA program. I may have hard weeks, and sometimes they definitely work my nerves, but I love AWANA and all the crazy things that come along with it.

Catch 22

Tomorrow I turn 22. It is going to be a very busy day, so today will be my birthday blog. This isn't going to be all about August 24th 22 years ago today, but rather 22 facts about me in pictures. ENJOY!

1. I have been known to do this a time or two...


2.I speak in random quotes from The Office.


3. I LOVE FALL!


4.I wish I knew how to knit.


5.I have seen every episode of this show...


6.When I was little I had a crush on this "Andrew"


7.This is my most favorite nail polish brand, EVER!


8.I love pictures like this one...


9.This song always makes me dance.


10.Old hat boxes make me smile.


11.I do so love a peacock feather.


12.Lady Gaga is a superfreak, but her crazy clothes are super fun!


13.When I have a crazy hair day I feel like this girl.


14.I want to learn how to do my hair like this.


15. This is my most favorite person in the world.


16.This is true in my life.


17. I used to have shoes like these, and I kind of would like another pair.


18. My idea of a perfect afternoon?


19.Scrabble makes me feel smart and stupid at the same time.


20.This song and Ingrid Michelson make me happy!


21.I have always wanted to find a field full of these...tons of wishes.


22.I LOVE STARBUCKS! (Giftcards here are always a go to gift for me;)

I love birthdays!

So my birthday is Tuesday and I have been asked what I want. Here are a few ideas...



Golden Girls Nesting Dolls (Ten points for anyone who actually finds these;)




Books always a go to gift for me.



An oldie but a goodie!



A day of fun pictures like this.

Fall Semester Day 2

This would be an accurate picture of how I feel today.I love school and I was super excited about this semester because it is going to be very challenging and I plan on learning sooo much. I have World War II History and that makes me immensely happy, because for some reason I have always had a fascination with this war and its inner workings. Other than that I am not too keen on my other classes: Reporting I, Research Methods and Spanish I. Doesn't that sound exciting? (insert sarcasm here)Yesterday I was still optimistic, but then again I only had one class. The source of my sadness is not my class load, nor is it the lack of excitement, but rather that I feel too old to be here.
I am currently sitting here in the Taylor Center and everywhere I look, I see incoming freshmen. Some of these kids I taught in numerous D'nows and some I don't know at all, but they look VERY young. This normally wouldn't bother me, but all my "old" friends have either graduated or are not here on Tuesdays/Thursdays. I am going to revisit the feelings of this summer and say that I miss Jenna. She was always at school and if I had an abnormally long break she would come visit me. I would eat lunch with her and vent my frustrations about life, love and literature. I am enjoying having Erica Armstrong and Erica Johnson here, as they are two of the most precious girls and I feel like they are going to be a great encouragement in my time of oldness. ;) I also am thankful to have Jenna's sweet friend Clara here to encourage me as well. She is super precious and absolutely adorable!
I feel like this is just another time of transition for me. I also feel like maybe I am here to be encouraged and to encourage those younger than me. Like maybe God is going to use me. I know it may be weird for me to feel this way, but I just feel weird. I mean on one hand I am a 20 something student, and on one hand I am a married girl who can't really (doesn't want to) participate in the things that other college students do. I mean there are extra curriculars that everyone is talking about and I really have no desire to attend them, because I would rather be with Drew, but at the same time it would be fun to be able to participate in the conversations pertaining to these events. On the other hand I did just participate in a conversation where I felt very motherly...perhaps I should just remain silent. This semester should provide me with lots of interesting blog topics.

I'm Back!

So we FINALLY got our internet hooked up in the house. I feel like I have been on such a long hiatus that I have no idea where to start. We have everything pretty well set up, I am still waiting to get my piano from Drew's brother's house, but other than that we have everything pretty well moved. I started back to school today and that is sure to be challenging.
Today though, I feel like I can't really blog without saying something about Mrs. Beverly Easley. Most everyone who reads this blog is already aware that she passed away last night. I guess more than anything I am challenged and confused. I am challenged because I hope that when I die that people can say I was a godly woman. I hope people can say that I shared my faith and that I stayed strong in my walk with Him in spite of any adversity I faced. All these things can be said of Mrs. Beverly. As far as my confusion goes, I guess the confusion conflicts with my being challenged. I understand that the Bible says God's will is perfect. I understand that we don't have to understand, but wouldn't it help us with grief if we did? I know I am supposed to just trust that God has a plan for this and I realize that through her witness people may be saved, others getting into the kingdom of God is worth it, but I don't think it makes it any easier to understand. I am thankful that she is no longer suffering, and I am also thankful to have known her.

SHHH....

This will be a very short post as I am currently at work. Yes I am being a bad employee so don't tell. ;) Since we moved we don't have the internet hooked up yet. Consequently I am unable to blog. So here is a short snipet of our lives as of now. The apartment is all cleaned out, as soon as I get the internet at the house I will share some pictures from the apartment. We are still unpacking and settling in at the house, and hopefully we will have most of the unpacking done tomorrow. I am slowly getting pictures hung and things put in their place. It is alot more fun decorating a house of your own that decorating an apartment.
I am finished with my summer class. I suppose I should be thankful now that it was so easy, because that A certainly helped my GPA.
Lastly, my sweet Jenna came home Wednesday. I will say that Drew is my best friend in the whole world because well he loves me in spite of myself, but a girl needs that best girl friend. I am super glad mine is back. I enjoy spending time with Drew, but I have missed that sweet fellowship with Jenna. She is brutally honest with me and in so many ways she challenges me to be a better person. I am glad she had the opportunity to minister this summer, but I am more glad that she is home safe and sound in her sweet home Alabama.
That's about it for now. Hopefully we will get our internet hooked up soon and I can share some pictures and such.