About 11 weeks...

Siete Cosas From The past Couple of Days...

1) I Had an allergic reaction to something I ate.
2) My face swelled up like a balloon (I got put on steroids and I'm fine).
3) I Decided that I love summer, being outside for BOB tonight was awesome.
4) I had an extremely awkward conversation with a senator in the elevator at work.
5) I learned a lesson.
6) I have realized how much of a blessing Kelli Hillard is.
7) God is such a mystery, too amazing to ever begin to figure out.


Estoy contenta!

The professor

Katy and I went to see Damien Rice play last week at the State Theater. It was an amazing show, he is one awesome Irish dude. He sang one song unplugged, which was sweet because the State is so huge, and he sang some French. Reminds me of..


"La fille danse
Quand elle joue avec moi
Et je pense que je l'aime des fois
Le silence, n'ose pas dis-donc
Quand on est ensemble
Mettre les mots
Sur la petite dodo"

Pura Vida

If everyone could please continue to pray for my trip to Costa Rica I would really appreciate it! It has been pretty stressful on my family and I to deal with my visa complications, money, and general planning for this trip. Thanks dudes... and thanks especially to everyone who has given me such helpful advice and connections (Randi-kay, your brother has been awesome.. and Aaron Kite- you rock dude)

I can't wait to be a Tica instead of a Dutchie

Last Sunday was Liz's birthday so Katy and I surprised her by driving her to see Copeland play in Toledo. She had no idea where we were going and she started to think that we were kidnapping her when we passed Williamston. By the way, don't go to Toledo, all that's there is a creepy gas station, and a run down venue with poop on the walls, seriously. But the show was great, we were 2nd row and they were amazing.

On the two hour drive back home, I got to thinking about Costa Rica. I'm so freakin excited. I'm going to be learning spanish, living in a 100% Latino (Tico) community, and becoming a part of a latino family. I leave August 15th, and I'm coming home in late December.

Tonight at Bible study we had a pretty cool discussion on what we like about Jesus, how we see him, and how we have trouble seeing him. I said I have a hard time trusting and relying on him as my father. I like to take hold of some issues and try to fix things myself, which only ends up in a mess. It is pretty cool to trust in God through a time of trial and have it all make perfect sense later.

Justin said one time "God is going to go there no matter what and if I don't let him it's just going to be harder and take longer."

Four Eyes!

I went to the eye doctor today, turns out I need glasses, and I look like a total nerd in them.... cool!

Listen to her...

Hah, who knew?

Your Inner European is Dutch!

Open minded and tolerant. You're up for just about anything.

Who's Your Inner European?

That is a really good picture to portray Dutch people, because we all look exactly like that. Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond... go orange.

Moving On

We have mastered the art of moving on. It is the means for protecting ourselves in this world. If you do not posses the ability to move on from someone who has hurt you, you are almost certainly preparing yourself to face a lot of heartache. We are not fond of heartache. Someone hurts you, you start looking for someone else to love that you see as clean and blameless. This is because if you were to stay with the previous person who hurt you, all you would see in them would be the pain they caused you. It would consume you, and the sting would be too great to withstand. If you hurt someone, you move away from the relationship, you forget the guilt, you find someone who you can start fresh with. Someone you can love all over again. You try not to hurt them, at least as bad as the last one you loved and hurt previously. We are always looking for something better, something that will more satisfy ourselves, because we think mainly about ourselves. Our idea of love is for ourselves, but imagine loving for the better of the other person. Imagine Jesus. Imagine someone who would wait faithfully and patiently, welcoming us back to love them each time we go astray. Someone who loves us more passionately than any other romance this Earth has ever seen. Someone who would welcome us into their arms, after every single time we break their heart, again... and again. Imagine someone who, no matter what we do to them, no matter how many times we betray them or act as if they never existed, they see us as clean and blameless, white as snow. I can't picture that, none of us can, we only know how to move on...

In this family picture when my dad was 6, he couldn't hold the pose because he saw a squirrel in the corner of the yard and decided that it was his duty to shoot it.

You have got to be kidding me.

My frickin street is going to look like this again because Thursday-Friday are predicted to have highs in the 30s and snow showers. Curse you, Michigan.

I think I've figured it out...?

It's been a season of life for me where I have done a lot of thinking. Recent events have made me see that I need to do some more planning on what I really want my life to look like, and what dreams and goals I have that are really realistic. I feel like I have finally come to a point where I've figured some stuff out, and that feels good. Italy is a no go. I think that my previous desire to go there was a combination of me freaking out/being selfish/having unrealistic and useless goals. I'm now planning on going away for a couple of months this fall to learn Spanish and do some missionary work in Latin or South America. I am excited that God has put this desire in my heart. I live with my parents and go to LCC, I have some growing up to do. I feel like this type of thing, pushing myself far outside of my comfort zone, spreading the gospel to people who have never heard it, is exactly what I need to grow as a person, and to also draw closer to God. So keep in mind that I just decided all of this over the past 48 hours and really had a change of heart after hearing Noel's message tonight. Please pray for what is in store for me, whatever that might be.

I love my little sister, Liz.

Sacré-Coeur

When I was in France, We went to the Sacré-Coeur. It is a giant church that sits on top of the highest point of the city, and you can look down on the whole city of Paris. When we got there it was like 10:30 so it was really dark. You could see the Eiffel tower in the distance and the lights from the city were beautiful. It's name means "the sacred heart" and it was seriously the most beautiful man-made place I've ever been. When we went inside to pray, there were candles lit everywhere and no one was allowed to speak at all. There is a massive painting of Jesus with his arms open across the ceiling of one of the domes. I was sitting in the pew with probably 50 other people around me, but I felt like I was by myself. I'm sure the other people felt like that too. It was so freakin beautiful, and I couldn't think about anything else but the beauty of what Jesus did for us. It is so beautiful. Forgivness is so beautiful. And when you see something that just takes your breath away, something about the beauty of it makes me remember how beautiful the cross is. I want to go back to that place, but oh yeah.... I live in Holt, MI.

Here I go again posting lyrics

I want so badly to believe that "there is truth, that love is real"
And I want life in every word to the extent that it's absurd
I know you're wise beyond your years, but do you ever get the fear
That your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself to help you get by?

-The Postal Service

Decisions

So tonight at the Riv High school meeting we talked about decisions. I have a pretty big decision in front of me right now, I feel like I need some wisdom. I don't feel at all capable to make this choice. If you get the chance please pray for me.

Happiness in Ignorance

I have a lot of friends who are not Christians. I have been asking myself the question lately: Why did I ever become a Christian? I had found some sort of happiness in my ignorance before I ever came to know Jesus, why was I seeking anything more?

I remember talking to Renee Mosely, wondering why she cared so much that I come to realize what Jesus did for me. I saw this thing that the Riverview community shared, and I wanted to be a part of it. I saw people trying to please God, instead of the world, and it made me wonder if there was more to life than my social ranking at Holt High School or how many goals I could score at my soccer games. I remember when I finally realized that I wasn't in control of my own life, that my life wasn't even my own. The main thing that lead me to realize that I needed to put my faith in Jesus Christ was one person really caring about my salvation.

But I am still struggling with this like crazy every single day.

The Four Loves

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."
-C.S. Lewis

Old Pictures

I just came across a bunch of old pictures on my old computer.. they made me happy/sad: