On treasure

I've been packing today.  Everything carefully {or not so carefully} wedged into a container for transport.  Each box out the door, each box down the stairs.  Each box holding things.

Things that represent where I am, where I've been, where I'm going, where I want to go; who I am, who I've been, who I want to be-- and maybe even who I don't.  But aren't they just things?

They are.  Because if you placed my things into the hands of someone else, they might not hold them with reverence or value.  They may not see my things as treasure.  The freely given favorite t-shirt, the carefully painted wooden sign, the thoughtfully made birthday gift,  the letters declaring that I am brave, the books read to connect with people prayed for, the pictures of a beautiful land that has stolen my heart, the jar of rocks, the bound paper volumes filled with things prayed, things promised, and things feared.

They are things. But in my hands, they become treasure.  Carving out a place in my heart, in my memory, in my story.  And as I packed up my apartment of just a little over 5 months, not sad to leave, but not fully ready to go-- I found myself musing over my things.  What goes with me first?  What goes with me always?  What would be missed?  What simply wouldn't?  And what separates the two?

It's always interesting to see the things of my life consolidated into boxes.  It always reminds me that even though I have comparatively little to physically take {and sometimes comparatively much}, the storehouses of my heart are full with room to spare.  And it reminds me to travel lightly.  To give away freely.  To remain grateful.  Because no matter where they are, they are simply things.

It is the people who gave, the people who love, the people who sharpen and bend, the places embraced and longed for that make the things packed away in boxes worth keeping, moving, and truly treasuring.

{Tuesday Required Listening:  I Am Mountain-- Gungor}

On building forts

Sometimes, I let this little corner of the internet lie collecting dust.  Oops.  But, in an effort to get back in the saddle-- so to speak-- a little dose of gratitude goes a long way.  I am exceedingly grateful for friends who show up right when they are needed most.  Especially those who enthusiastically build forts & watch at least 12,000 movies with me!  I hope everybody had a Labor Day weekend worthy of  much gratitude!

{Back's Against the Wall-- Judah & the Lion}

{I Shall Not Want- Audrey Assad}

On remembering the little things

We live in a fast-paced world.  We can stream technology right to our phones through 4G-- I mean, 10 years ago, flip phones were the most genius things to hit the market-- and now we have 4G.  The world is amazing- but it is fast-paced.  And sometimes it's hard to keep up.  And in my efforts to get ahead and stay ahead, I often find myself filled with discontent.  And discontent always emerges when I find that I am lacking in gratitude.  So, here's to constantly remembering to get back to basics & to remembering the little things---

Lunches with friends filled with excitement for a little soon to be entering the world

Hand-delivered notes from friends found 

And oodles of banana laffy taffy because laughter is good medicine

On second chances

Saturday required listening:: Gregory Alan Isakov "Second Chances" 

On having inspirational artwork

I would like to have this needle-pointed on a pillow, tattooed on my forehead, and painted artistically on distressed wood & hung in my home. Thankful for reminders that having honor is worth working for.

"The difference between great and mediocre is follow-through. Faithfulness is of more value than talent or favor and steadfastness is the most rare of all." 

-- Misty Edwards, Worship Leader at the International House of Prayer

On rocks

I like to pick things up when I go places-- nothing weird-- just the occasional rock or shell or leaf.  Call me sentimental, call me strange-- but I love it!  It reminds me of where I've been.  And where others have been.  And it reminds me to be impressed with where I am because of where I've been-- and to grow.  And the reason that I'm sharing this with you is because the other day I was given back my favorite bag which went on some international travels with a friend a few weeks ago.  And I went to put it up, and I felt something lumpy in the pocket.  I unzipped the pocket, and to my delight, she brought me back a rock!

Thankful for holy dirt- in every way and shape we carry it with us!

That's half the battle

{All that dust, you'll find, is really gold}- Carolina Story

Thankful for Saturday

It's raining out.  And for some reason I always think better when it's raining.  Should I be putting all of this productive  rain-brainpower into my Wednesday night Fusion message?  Yep.  Instead?  I'm contemplating how tremendously blessed I am, and how glad I am to have friends who meet me in the middle and who remind me not to take myself too seriously, to sit comfortably in my own skin & to never under-sell beauty. And who always, always remind me that conversations don't have to move quickly to count, because sometimes we just have to let our surroundings speak peace for us.  

And now, to that Wednesday message...

thankful for letters

If there's one thing that I love, it's letters.  I love checking my mailbox; I love finding small, slightly-larger-than-square, colorful envelopes adorned with handwriting. It's my favorite reason to check my mailbox.  Because let's all be honest, bills, and coupons I'll never use are boring and adult, and therefore, super lame. In my brain, a letter represent more than just goodness in my mailbox.  It represents effort.  Someone who intentionally grabbed a pen, a piece of paper or a card, and sat down to tell me about their life, to share a word of wisdom or encouragement, or simply to write something, no matter how silly or stream-of-consciousness.  I love that-- and it consistently fills my heart with gratitude.  I am blessed, indeed, to have friends near and far who know my heart-- and fill my mailbox.

Changing seasons sometimes demand a little facelift

For the past year, this tiny, minuscule corner of the internet has been dedicated to my adventures in Athens as an intern with the Wesley Foundation.  And what a sweet season it was!  But just like the weather, the seasons of life tend to turn.  And mine has absolutely turned upside down!  In both good and challenging ways.  And thus, to commemorate the beginning of a new season {2 months late... but no judgement}, this little corner of my world is going to get a facelift!  And so for at least the next little while, this place will be dedicated to spoonfuls of gratitude-- and how a little can make so much of life sweet.

Don't worry- pictures will still be yours in abundance, and for the mighty few of you who faithfully follow this blog, hopefully I will be more consistent this year!  But, you know, don't hold your breath or anything :).

Carving out a place

So, in the past 2 months, I:  said goodbye to Wesley, interviewed for a job, was offered a job, took a job, went to Israel for 2 weeks, suffered through days of jetlag upon returning to America, packed up my things in Athens, moved, started a new job, participated in a local mission experience, and worked 2 weeks on the job.

What?

My life feels unreal right now, to say the least.  And it is an adjustment (biggest understatement of the century-- and it's only 2013).  I've experienced moments of excitement to be starting something new, moments of panic because I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, and moments of sadness because I miss Athens and all of the people, places, and comforts that are associated with that place.  There's a lot that goes into starting over somewhere new.  But as I sat in my totally unfurnished apartment this weekend, feeling lonely and overwhelmed, I kept hearing a song play over and over in my head called "Carving Out a Place."  It's by an International House of Prayer (IHOP) worship leader named Laura Hackett.  Besides being absolutely beautiful, it reminded me of the goodness of the Father--- that though I live in a new place, I still call Him "home."  And no matter where I go, He goes before me, travels with me, and hems me in from behind.  And that even in this new, unfamiliar place, He will faithfully carve out a place for me, and make more space in my heart to love a new place and new people along the way.  Praise the Lord, oh my soul.

He's carving out a place in me

That I might contain His Glory

Making a bigger space in me

That I might contain His Glory

Israel pictures & stories coming soon!

Saying goodbye is hard to do

This week I hugged necks, exchanged letters, and said goodbye to some of the greatest people I have ever known.  Our interning year is over, and though I still have Israel to look forward to in a few weeks, there was a bittersweet finality to this last week.  In honor of the love that I have for these people, I would like to share some pictures with you from our end of the year banquet.  

THE STAFF...

 first year interns...

second year interns...

third year interns...

& our fearless directors.

A WINDOW INTO THE YEAR...

Youth Staff -- each week, the four of us met for 1 hour to encourage each other and better our ministries.  We became life-long friends. 

Wednesday night tear-down crew. Each week, we stuck it out to take down and pack up all of our sound equipment after our Wednesday night service.  This was usually followed by a trip to Waffle House.  I will miss our goofy songs and late-night 2nd dinners! Wrapping cords?  Maybe not so much...

Cookie log small group.  We made cookie dough, shared life together, and our time became one of my favorite things about Thursdays.

Athens First team.  We double-timed it between Wesley and Athens First all year-- which simply makes us awesome.

My group discipleship.  I have learned so much from these women-- I am unbelievably grateful for their hearts, their examples, and their love of Ike & Jane!

My group DT from last year.  These ladies have seen my best and my worst-- God bless them for loving me well through it all!

We treat ourselves.  To cookies.  To clothes.  If it's a guilty pleasure, we give each other permission to simply TREAT YO SELF.

The beautiful Bakers.  It has been a privilege to live with such powerful, patient, loving, and gentle women this year.  Beyond blessed by their example & their friendship! 

Sweet friends!  This is the kind of love Wesley is made of.

Dustin really likes to take a lot of pictures with people.  Somehow, though, this is the only one of mine he's in.  

Sweet friend!  We were roommates last year and co-workers this year.  I can't believe it's been 5 years since I met her at Glisson! I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for her!

Roommates at their finest.

I love this guy-- he has taught me more about leadership, friendship, loyalty, honor, and wisdom in the past three years than I could have ever hoped or dreamed.  He will do great things in life, and I am so grateful to know him!

My wonderful, beautiful, kind, generous, and patient discipler Autumn!  Where would I be without her??

They knew what they were doing 3 years ago when they put us together for 2 years.  Discipleship with Jessica is like getting a bucket of love poured on you.  And then eating warm cookies  It's that good.

Sweet Lora!  From Glisson co's to Wesley co-workers.  She truly lives Christ's example. 

Holly is one of the Israel trip leaders for this summer.  She treats everyone like the most important person on the planet-- and she has and will continue to change many lives with her influence and her love.  Can't WAIT to experience the Holy Land with her!

This is my buddy, Holly.  She's literally just one of the most amazing people ever.  I wouldn't have made it through this year without her.  

An ice sculpture of our faithful leader, Bob.  He's such a good sport for letting us put his face on things!

And because these guys deserve two pictures, here they are-- the finest, the sassiest, the best youth staff I could have asked to be part of.  

At the end of the night, the directors surprised us with these floating lanterns.  They were symbolic of our launching into the world after interning-- ready to go where the Lord takes us!  

The best worst goodbye of my life thus far.  And even though I can't imagine it right now, I know that the best is yet to come!  Thank you for your support, your prayers, your words of encouragement, and for always making me feel popular and important by reading this blog!

Wanna talk about my face?

Good morning, Monday!  As I was sitting here wondering what to blog about, my friend Josey leans down and goes, wanna talk about my face?

  And this was the face I got.  So, yes.  I wanna talk about Josey's face.  Her face is beautiful-- even when it looks like this.  In fact, ESPECIALLY when it looks like this!

In other news-- Happy Easter, everybody!  Here's to victory over death & life everafter!  In celebration, here are some things I've done in the past 2 weeks.

In the past two weeks, I have...

Been melted by beautiful music by Elenowen 

& Carolina Story

& Parke Avery...

 Wished for weather like this...

 hung out with this beautiful, wise woman...

taken pictures of beautiful things in 30-degree weather...

been sad about the cold...

 seen a play with these goobers...

 gone back to look at peach trees in bloom...

 went on an Easter egg hunt...

 Ate these doughnuts with a dear friend...

and baked bakery-worthy cookies. NOM.

I hope that your March was full of gratitude, and that your April is full of possibilities!