Blessed Part II- 11-11-11

Alright, so after Thursday Night I was already blown away by God with that Amazing couple, Cindy and Stan, on the plane. Okay so we woke up friday with the plan to go to universal studios. Now as most of you know and I will say it again, unashamed, I'm a pretty big Harry Potter fan and for those you that don't know there is a wizarding world of Harry Potter at Universal. Well we had heard that for the release of the last movie, they were going to be having a Harry Potter event at the Park. I had entered a sweepstakes to win tickets to it because no lie they were like $700 for it, and let me tell you it was almost completely sold out the first week it went on sale (see I'm not the only one). I didn't win the sweepstakes, but I was intending on going to orlando to see Laura anyway this weekend because she had some days off and it just happened to coincide with the event. well a couple of weeks before we left, I read that some of the stars of the movie were going to actually be at Universal studios for a red carpet event on Saturday that E! news is airing, which meant they were going to be in the same park on the same day we were going to be there (even though it was going to be after the park was closed so the chances we would see any of them actually walking around the park when we were was pretty small) but i was content just knowing they were going to be there. So anyway, there are two parks, universal studios and Islands of adventure. Harry Potter world is in Islands of adventure and we knew most of the people would be there so we went over to the Universal studios. We rode a lot of the rides (mainly dominating Men in Black) and enjoyed our time there (it was a beautiful day) We decided that we had ridden most of the rides so we decided we wanted to head over to Islands and check out harry potter because we knew E! news was there and we had set a goal for ourselves to get on TV even if it was just in the background. So they had a different entrance than normal because there were so many people, and as we were crossing the bridge to make our way to the other entrance, we heard someone say "there he is" we looked and across a tiny pond, we saw someone with red hair eating at the Three Broomsticks. Someone yelled, "Rupert" and rupert freaking grint (who plays the one and only ron weasley) looked over the wall and waved. So the freaking out commenced and laura and I are tugging on justin's arm to get a picture even if the only thing you could see was the side of his head. Well they are doing his hair and makeup (meaning he was about to do an interview) and as he was getting up to leave Justin yelled his name again and he waved at us again :)already, I was just so happy because I had hoped but didnt know if I would actually get to see one of the stars and I did. So then Laura is like, "oh my gosh, he's going to do an interview, I know where he's going" because she had seen an E!news camera at the normal entrance. So she literally takes off running, and let me tell you, she can run. At this point we no longer have any pride or shame at acting like lunatics, and I was not even remotely ashamed to take off running like a small child, but this big girl couldn't keep up with my fiesty sister, so I just started walking and I saw this little tunnel that said do not enter. I saw some employees coming out and a part of me thought, "maybe he might come out this way" so I pulled Justin off to the side and we waited. and Lo and Behold I saw someone who had been at the restaurant with Rupert and then, cue the hallelujah chorus, out walks Rupert freaking Grint nonchalantly right past me. There wasn't anyone else around, and no one was paying attention enough to notice it was actually him. As he walked past he was close enough that I gently placed my hand on his shoulder (because I realized this would probably be the only chance I would ever get to do this) as people do to athletes as they are walking to the locker room after a game. It was so awesome. I was freaking out and ran screaming like a crazy person "I touched him" and raising my hand in the air to my sister who was still waiting expectantly at the cameras. Although she was upset she had missed it she was content knowing he had waved at us twice (she was the only one who saw the first one). So then we pretty much stalked him out for a while trying to figure out where he was going, but decided to go in the actual park and maybe ride some rides and get our butterbeer, also known as the nectar of Heaven, on. So we went in and there were Camera and light stations set up all over the park with the stars doing interviews. We saw the producers and director, and we also saw luna and Mr. Weasly. We met a man who was on the Today show drinking Butterbeer with Kathie Lee Gifford. It was the most insane thing. We also saw Jason Isaacs, who plays Mr. Malfoy, but how has also played as Captain Hook in Hook and the villain in the Patriot. for those of you that dont like Harry Potter, just try to imagine your favorite movie, and imagine all the stars from your favorite movie, being in the same place as you, walking around, and that place being one of the funnest places ever-a place you enjoy and were going to even if the stars weren't there. It was just an added bonus that all of them were there. yeah it was like that. Let's just say we left content. then we left to go see if we could go get tickets for the David Crowder concert at the house of blues in Downtown Disney. When we got there, it said the show was completely sold out and we were pretty bummed because we didn't know that Gungor was going to be playing with him and we love Gungor (not to mention this is David Crowder's last. tour. ever). So we walked away pretty bummed but were still pretty content with the day. As we were walking away, these three people were randomly standing there and as we walked by they asked, "do you guys need tickets?" we all perked up and were like "yeah do you have some" they said they actually had a few and then proceeded to GIVE us their tickets. Give as in they were FREE. Seriously, had we not been walking there at that particular time, we wouldn't have gotten them and if we had bought them in advance we would have had to pay. Let's just say we all skipped away like children, proclaiming this was one of the most epic days ever. So we got there like an hour early and it was almost already packed. When we were walking in we didn't see those people anymore. Touched by an angel, anyone? John Mark Mcmillen (the guy who wrote how he loves us) opened up and then Chris August, who has a voice like an angel, played. Next up was gungor, and it was just three people (they did their acoustic set). There was this black guy playing a cello, michael gungor playing guitar, and a gal who played the acordian and xylophone. So we are just standing there and then all of a sudden this amazing drum beat drops. Everyone kind of perked up because there was no drummer. the cello player was beat boxing like a mother. it was so sick. Come to find out, it is the percussionist for the group Pentatonix on the Sing Off( You all know how sick he is). Well let me tell you he is also like a prodigy on the cello. The concert was awesome and we left the most tired I think I've ever been. I think it is an understatement to say this, but it was one of the most awesome days ever, and I thank God for it all! Hope you all have a great day- Pura Vida!

Blessed

So I drank about four cups of coffee this morning so please forgive how erratic this post is about to be. I have to post because there are things that happened to me over the past two days that I have to tell you all about. Well to start out, on Thursday I received an email confirming that I am in fact accepted into the YWAM Los Angeles school, so on Saturday, January 7th I will be heading out to LA to start my YWAM adventure. I will be returning on July 9th so I will be gone for almost exactly 6 months. I still don't know what country I will be doing my outreach at but I will find out the 2nd or third week of school. If you haven't watched the video I posted a couple of days ago about YWAM LA here it is if you want to watch it. After watching it, I am so pumped and ready to go. I am definitely going to enjoy every minute I have left with my family and friends, but I am excited about what's to come. This weekend is actually one of those moments with family that I am cherishing. My brother and I are in Orlando this weekend enjoying time with my sister and enjoying our Christmas gifts from our parents at Universal Studios. I was excited for this weekend just because I am spending it with some of my favorite people in the world, but let me tell you, God has so incredibly blessed me in so many ways already (we are still here for 2 more days) that I just have to give Him thanks. So to start out with, we flew out on Thursday evening around 545 p.m. and we had open seating, which means we didnt have seat assignments so we just had to find an open seat once we got on the plane. Justin sat toward the front and I made my way to the back of the plane where I saw an open seat by this older couple. As I sat down, I noticed the man was reading a book called Finding God's will for your life, so I just was kind of assuming that they might be Christians, but I wasn't sure. I was pretty tired because I had worked that day, and I was laying there waiting for the plane to take off (which makes me a nervous wreck normally) and the couple asked if I was okay. I told them I was just tired because I had worked all day. They asked where I worked, and I told them I was the secretary at my church. Just as me seeing the man's book told me these people were christians, I think me seeing this assured them that I was too. Having this mutual confidence that we could openly talk about Christ and what He was doing in out lives opened the door to an amazing conversation that was so encouraging to me. I told them that I was heading out to California in January to attend a discipleship training school and they were telling me that although She was a doctor, she felt that God was leading her possible on the mission field as well. they were from Asheville and invited me to come visit them sometime before I left in January. We had such an amazing authentic conversation about Christ and God that made me realize that this is what its supposed to be like and that although we went to different churches and lived in different places, we were part of the same family and we were placed in each others' lives. They told me that when they bought their tickets they were going to do a seat assignment but decided to do open seating to see where God put them. And so clearly I see God put them there for me because not only did they encourage me in so many ways and I could see God so clearly through them, at the end of the flight he pulled out his wallet and gave me $100 for my trip. I was so overwhelmed and the man was tearing up too, but as I thanked them continuously he reminded me, its not our money anyway. As we walked into the sanford airport, they asked if they could pray for me and without hesitation (as I would have probably done in the past) said yes. We just prayed right there and we hugged and we both told each other that we loved each other. I need to remind you that all this happened within about an hour flight. I was just so reminded how good God is and how when you are following Him he will bless you in ways that only He can. That is only the beginning, but this is pretty long, so I'm going to do another blog about 11-11-11, because it only gets better! Hope you all have an amazing day, and I promise you when you offer your life to God he will give it back to you in so many ways that you could not have even hoped or imagined for. Love you all! 8 weeks :D Pura Vida!

Something Worth Fighting For

I don't normally like to capitalize every single word like I did in the title of today's blog, but I know a lot of people do so I thought I would try it. I realize its probably not grammatically correct but it does seem to give it some prestige or something. Anywho, it has been an incredibly LONG time since I've written, but A LOT has changed since the last time I wrote, when I was just a baby alum, so I thought I would fill you in.

So let me get started by telling you how it all started. I realize some of you are going to judge me for what I'm about to say, but I stopped caring about that a long time ago. So for those of you that don't know, I'm a pretty big Harry Potter fan, and yes, a lot of people think that is dumb and satanic and whatever, but let me just tell you that God spoke through HP and pretty much changed the course of my life. So say what you will, but sometimes God uses the most unlikely things to get through to us. So anyway, for those of you that don't watch them, basically its a battle between good and evil. At the end of the 5th movie, the good guy (Harry) makes a statement to his friends that says although it seems like there is no hope or no chance of them defeating the bad guy, that they have something he doesn't...something worth fighting for. When I heard this, I was like "man I want something worth fighting for. I wan't to train like Dumbledore's army and get in the action" and then God said something to me, so simple, yet so profound. He said, "You DO have something worth fighting for. Something SO much bigger than any extravagant plot line in some movie." And I realized, yeah I do have something worth fighting for. There are people, myself included, who are believing lies about themselves and believing that the situations they are in is "just the way it is" and "this is how it always will be" and say things like "this is just the way I am." They are just accepting the conditions they are in like depression, eating disorders, addictions, sickness, etc but here is the truth. There is a God who gave His life so you could have a hope and a future. That you can be free from addictions or sin, and the troubles in this life. You don't have to accept it. You can fight back. And I want to fight back, against the lie that I always believed. I want people to know they can be free, and live the amazing life God has for them. So with that passion and desire in my heart, I knew I wanted to be trained on how to fight back. How to fight the lies and to show other people how to fight too. Because we do have something worth fighting for. Everlasting life.

So that brings be to now. In order to get trained and to live the life God has called me to live, I will be leaving in January to attend a discipleship training school in either Chico, California or Los Angeles, California for 12 weeks. Then I will be going to another country for 12 weeks to put into practice what I have learned. This is where God has always been leading me. All the good and the bad in my life has led me to this point. But I'm ready to take the next step. I definitely have no expectations at all that this is going to be easy or fun or "the time of my life" but I know its where I need to be. I am probably going to be blogging more in the future about my journey there, and I will continue to blog once I'm out there so you can know whats going on. But I just wanted to let everyone know whats going on with me. There will be more details about this whole process in the future, but that is enough for now because this blog is already much too long already. but I love you all. have an awesome day. and remember Pura Vida.

*If you don't remember what pura vida means, go check out my other blog from my past life, "Life of an American College Student."

Growing up

So apparently there is talk of a certain someone coming back today at 6:00 p.m. so I guess that leaves time for one more blog. You know I was just thinking today about how I think I've reached that point in my life where I find God cool. you know what point I'm talking about? I think everyone reaches that point in there life at some time (maybe not necessarily concerning God) ...normally when you move out of the house or go away to college. That point where you realize your parents are cool and what they used to say actually made a lot of sense. That they are actually very intelligent and have so much wisdom, and basically that they are just cool. Yeah I think I've reached that point with God. Because I'm learning so much about Him and realizing just how awesome he is. I reached this point with my parents a few years ago, I guess when I went to college. I realized how amazing my parents are, and how much wisdom they have. For example, I realized how awesome my parents are with money. When I was growing up, I used to think my family was poor. I mean we only shopped at the jockey lot and I only wore hand-me-downs from my cousins who had passed it down to 2 of my other cousins, then my sister, and then me. We never really had name brand stuff or the nicest cars or anything. so therefore when I saw other kids who bought clothes with the tags still on them, I just assumed that my family was poor. But here is the kicker, we used to go to Disneyworld almost every year of my childhood it seemed. We used to take trips all the time, and we have honestly taken at least two vacations a year since I was born. I've been able to go to other countries on mission trips, and lastly, My sister and I have both graduated college with ZERO debt (which is virtually impossible nowadays). I say this in no way to brag or boast (I know my parents probably wouldn't want me to say it, but when there is an opportunity to give glory to God Almighty for meeting our needs why not right? and to say that my parents have made smart choices with their money. they didn't use it to put on a show, but to make memories, and for this I am so grateful now. They have instilled this into my siblings and I. Now back to the whole God being cool thing. You know I realize as I learn more about God, that he really is so smart. You know most of the things (like commandments and laws and stuff) he said in the Bible are FOR us, not FOR him. So many times growing up, I thought he said all those things because the only way we could be good enough for him was to do them. It was like his way of showing us he was better than us or something. And just like the rules your parents give you, you think they are dumb. Until you reach a point where you realize that they did it cuz they love you. God had all of these things written down for us, because He wants us to have the best life imaginable. We were designed to live life with Him. And when we don't, things get messy. That's not how life was supposed to be lived. That's why he tells us not to sin. Because God is water and sin is oil. They just don't mix. We shouldn't not sin because we are afraid we will go to hell or because we want to be a witness to others (not that those are bad reasons), but they are like dieting so you can be skinny or so other people will find you attractive. Unless you diet to be healthy, it won't last and its probably unhealthy. We shouldn't sin because it separates us from God. So sin is essentially anything that keeps us from Him. That plain and simple. one last think and I'll shut my yapper. Lately I've been dealing with not having hard feelings toward someone that I feel did me wrong, that hurt me. I'm not really bitter, I'm just still dealing with wanting the best for that person. I've been praying that God would help me to fully forgive them and to heal my life. But then the other day, something happened. I just started praying FOR that person, instead of about them. And you know what, it was hard to have hard feelings for them when I was praying for them. And then that thing called a light bulb went off and I realized why God says, bless those that curse you and pray for you enemies. Because its about YOU not them. He knows that praying for them and blessing them is the way for you to get over them. Its not so you can be holy and righteous and "do the right thing." It's so you can be whole. And that is the life he wants for you. So that is my thought for today. It is awesome to realize that we really do mature in our relationship with Christ, just like we mature in life. Have any of you reached this point? would love to hear your thoughts. Peace, love, and pura vida.

Love

Yes, I have created a new blog, considering I think it is appropriate as I move into this thing called the "real world" or so everyone my entire life told me that's what it's called once you get out of college. So far things haven't been too different since becoming an alum, I've mainly just been working and writing the many many thank you notes for all of the amazing gifts I received (I'm just going to put a big THANK YOU here to everyone for all of your love and support that you showed during my graduation. It was just another reminder of how blessed I am to have all of you in my life). Well just in this past week, I already feel like God has revealed so much of himself to me. It's crazy. So I guess I want this blog to be more about the things I am learning about Him and people and just the "real world" in general vs the many awkward situations that arise in my life (although I am sure that there will be many of those to come and I will probably still share). So this morning I was reading in Exodus and I found this scripture in Exodus 34 that said, "Do not worship any other god, for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." Say what? I get the whole jealousy thing, as I have spoke on it before, but the whole "For the Lord whose name is Jealous" threw me way off. So in my study bible, I looked at the footnotes that some guys decided to write, and its said to see ex. 20:5. Wow, that was revolutionary. So I go to 20:5 and it was saying that jealousy is a part of the vocabulary of love. Isn't jealousy the green monster or something like that? It's actually part of the definition of love? So then I proceed to pull out our GINORMOUS (is that even a word? whatever you get the point) aka REALLY large two part dictionary to look up the definition of love. And this my friend is the point of the story. I was quite saddened by the many definitions The World Book Encyclopedia 1963 dictionary gave me. These are some of the definitions it gave for love, "1. a strong or passionate affection for a person of the opposite sex. 2. an instance of such a feeling (an instance, really? is that all love is) 3. This feeling as a subject for books or as a personified influence 4. A loved one (I hate when they use the word in the definition, that seems completely superfluous 5. fond or tender feeling; warm liking, affection; attatchement 6. strong liking. and last but certainly not least 7. something charming. Hmm does somethings seem a little off to anyone else here? So apparently love is just a feeling now or maybe that's how its always been. I was really shocked because now I see that the definitions I just listed really are the only definitions of love we have in our society. It's just a feeling, and when that feeling goes away, so does our commitment and faithfulness to that thing or person we once "loved". In the bible, it said love demands devotion (at least that's what it meant when it said jealousy is part of the vocab of Love) I'm not saying I really know the definition of love, but I am shocked that all my fears were true. That love is simply defined as a feeling, completely conditional on our emotions. That makes me sad. The other day I was talking to my grandma and I was asking her about how her relationship with my grandpa (like how they met, and how long they dated before they married and stuff like that) and you know she said something that blew me away because my grandma is like the sweetest person in the entire world and we normally don't have deep conversations I guess, "she was like, "It hasn't always been a bed of Roses (she said this two or three times so I'm guessing she was trying to make a point). You know, one time I was told him [my grandfather] that I was going to leave and he said (here's the kicker) 'Well if you leave, I'm going with you'. And then she said, "And I've been with him ever since." Man, my grandma is awesome. I'm pretty sure my grandmother didn't always "feel" like she was in love, but it was my grandfather's devotion that kept her there. hmm. that is a strange concept for my generation to understand, committment. I am the first to say I struggle with it, terrified of it, actually. But God has taught me that it's really all about devotion. That's why when things aren't going good, you can still worship Him. That's really all he requires of us. He's kind of taken care of the rest. anyway, those are just some thoughts from a college grad. I would love to hear any of your thoughts on the subject (If anyone is still reading these, if not its fine, I write because I like to, not really for anyone else). Peace. Love. and Pura Vida