ice cream, convictions, thankful heart, and shuttle remains

HI! today was so great. so full. big list of to-dos and i can PROUDLY say i got every one of them done and completed well;). so many things on my heart tonight so they might just splat out at you, but i hope you can somehow be blessed by it. Let me just tell you a couple things about today: I had icecream with my sweet friend Katie

I would just like to say that Ben Rector, Bon Iver, Iron and Wine, and Mumford and Sons are sounding so gooood to me right now.
No matter how hard I try, I cannot quit biting my nails. I try to paint them a color so that when i bite them the chippings get in my teeth. I try painting them with miracle growing stuff. Telling myself it's bad. Nothing works.
I am ready to play my violin again. One day I'll be playing and singing in an indie band, so... just look for me.

Those guys are my favorite right now^. The Head and The Heart.
I also want to dance right now. ballet and lyrical.
My best friend Bethany just told me she is going to start training for a half marathon and i MIGHT just join her! Why not? Push yourself beyond what you thought you could do, right? Another thing on my bucket list is to do a triathalon, but why not a half-mary too! Cool! Stoked.

Well, a piece of debris from NASA's space shuttle was found in Lake Nacogdoches here today... took them 8 years. Kinda cool it was found in Lake Nac of all places.

An inspiring quote I read today on The Weigans:

"When a woman has a kingdom heart, she has an active understanding of what matters most to the heart of God. She lives in the balance of passion and contentment. She learns to love well, give without regard to self, and forgive without hesitation. The woman with a kingdom heart may have a duffel bag full of possessions or enough treasures to fill a mansion, but she has learned to hold them with an open hand. Hold everything with open hands. I don't think we are ever allowed to grab hold of anything or anyone as though they matter more than the kingdom of heaven. When you hold relationships with open hands, then people come in and out of your life as gifts of grace to be cherished and enjoyed, not objects to be owned and manipulated. And then when you hold your dreams with open hands, you get to watch God resurrect what seemed dead and multiply what seemed small."



Today God convicted me about how INFLEXIBLE I really am. No, I'm not talking about doing the splits, but real talk... I have gotten so set on MY time schedule and MY list of to-dos that I forget to slow down and enjoyyy conversations and these opportunities to love on others or just listen to others. To do something that I don't expect to get something out of. To just serve!
Man, I am getting so hungry. Blogging is more effort than I realized! I just want to praise God for the ways He has blessed my life. I was reminded today of how MUCH I have to be thankful for. Parents who love and support me and want to see me succeed and encourage me in the Lord; brothers who are growing up, who have the LARGEST servants' hearts, who inspire me to reach my dreams and to glorify the Lord, and who are currently doing work for the Kingdom in Lampasas at this very moment; amazing best friends who would drop anything to be there for me and who allow my walk with God to be stretched and grown more than ever, who are silly, and inspire me; awesome awesome roommates who are an answer to prayer, who challenge me, and who live lives glorifying to God and to further His kingdom. I'm thankful for the struggles and the times I strayed because God has used that now, four-times as much as anything He could have during that stage of my life. I'm thankful that God has chosen ME to share His Gospel through loving others. I'm so ready to go wherever He wants me next. If I could drop out of school right now and go serve in some crazy far away country and wear the same clothes for like 4 days in a row and eat rice and chicken 3 times a day every day just so I can LOVE on children and tell them how much Jesus LOVES THEM.... that would bring the most joy to my heart. I'm ready, Lord. Just let Your will be done in my life. I've already realized that my tiny world in Nacogdoches has so much need and I want to FULLY jump on those opportunities and search for them and not question them or be afraid. But I also know that as Christians we are CALLED, not given the option, to take the Gospel to ALL NATIONS and tell them what Christ has done! I'm ready for that. I'm letting go of my dreams and my plan for my life, Lord. Have Your way in me.

"God will take you where you haven't intended to go, in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own."