And In This Crazy Life And Through These Crazy Times..

(D.J., me, and Stacey. Drinking from a trophy, 100 one dollar bills, a bunch of change, and how could you forget the enormous amount of junk food to sell. Yep life with these two is never dull!)

WOW, I can't believe its April!! March has been absolutely crazy for me! On March 4, 2011, I asked God to open a door for me to minister to someone in some way. Then on March 6, I was talking to a lady I knew who ran a elder care with her husband out of their home. She said they were hiring for more help. I talked with my parents and prayed about it, went in for the interview on Monday and was hired on the spot. It consist of alot of cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the three ladies. My mom calls me the domestic Martha Stewart! I feel like I'm helping my bosses out more by cleaning alot of there personal living space, which seems to be shoved towards the back of their to-do list. There are many funny stories from my job but so far my favorite was when my boss was interviewing me and he said "Oh, your homeschooled? We homeschooled our kids too." Then later he asked how many siblings I had so I said "I have a brother who is a year older then me." He just kinda looked at me and was like "and..." then I told him that was it just me and my brother. He said "Oh, I was expecting ten more names to be listed!" On March 12, I took my SAT, longest morning of my life. I didn't do great (mostly because I was a nervous wreck), so I'm hopefully taking the ACT this Saturday the 9th. We had revival this past week with Dr Ron Comfort, who started Ambassador Baptist College. He was very good and we saw at least over 10 people saved. Tuesday I found out that my application for Leadership at STEP (Skills Training for Emergency Preparedness) so I worked on that till 2:30 Wednesday morning. When I got back on later on I found that the computer never saved the file (even though I know for a FACT I hit the Ctrl + S button) anywho I ended up faxing it in later that day. I still haven't heard back but I think its God testing my patience. The application consisted of two pages worth of questions and I figured I would share some of them with yall and my answers =)

9. Give details of your salvation experience.

I was born into a Christian home and had always heard that Jesus died for my sins. I thought I trusted Christ as my Savior when I was four. However, when I was fourteen, I started thinking a lot about it and realized it never became real for me. I had all the knowledge in my head but never in my heart. I believe I really accepted Christ as my Savior on June 29, 2007. Since then, God has done so many wonderful things in my life! One of the biggest things He has done for me was to deliver me from past hurts. In this, I am really thankful to God for His unfailing love for me, the healing he has brought, and everything He has blessed me with. I love serving and glorifying Him in all I do.

10. Explain why you desire to apply for service with the STEP Staff. Include the goals and vision the Lord has set for your life, and how God has been preparing you for leadership.

When I went through STEP it impacted my life so much that I would love for the Lord to use me as a tool and serve the next set of girls coming through. Nonetheless, I know I could never lead on my own, but with God as my helper, I will have His strength in me to be a servant. Even though I am homeschooled, I participate in my church’s Christian school. Because I am a senior this year I have stepped up to the roll of leadership on my volleyball and basketball teams. I remember when I was in 7th grade there was this senior, Justine, that I really looked up to and my mom said to “remember how she treated you and made you feel important. Because someday you’re going to be that age and have 7th graders looking up to you too.” Well she was right, they really do watch you, how you act, what you say, and when you talk to them, it brightens up their day just like Justine did with me.

11. Expound on what the following terms mean to you and to what level of surrender the Lord has brought you with each one:

One God – I believe in the trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in one. He created the universe, died for our sins that we may have life with Him, and He comforts and teaches us.

Day of Rest - God wants us to work hard and knew we would need a day of rest and rejuvenation. I think every day we should worship Him and glorify Him, but Sundays should be a time to set aside especially for Him.

Godly Relationships with Opposite Gender - I believe it is very important to have a God-centered friendship with guys to encourage, pray, and uplift them in the Lord. Also, I want to stay very guarded in my thoughts towards them.

Godly Music – Godly music should be anything that brings glory and honor to God, and does not go against what the Bible says. God has not brought me to a place where I only listen to Christian music. I listen to some country and other genres. There is some music I will not listen to because I don’t like it.

Honoring Parents - I believe God put my parents above me to guide and direct me. It’s my responsibility to respect and obey their decisions.

Clear Conscience – I need to have nothing between God and me so we can have the closet relationship. I also want to be reconciled with people that I have wronged.

Moral Purity - I desire to glorify God and please Him as His child to have pure thoughts and actions out of my love for Him.

It was very good for me to think more about what I believe. Because I have been raised in a Christian home and gone to church my whole life, I never really thought about what I believe on these areas. I greatly encourage you to think about the answers you would put down for number 11. If you don't mind I would love to hear your answers =)

(Blue team from STEP 2010!! Amazing group of girls, I miss them alot! What is STEP?? Skills Training for Emergency Preparedness (STEP) is a four-week outdoor adventure program for young women ages 15 and older. This challenging program is designed to build confidence on individual and team levels, in preparation to respond to life’s emergencies, while learning to put their trust in the Lord. STEP will help enrich each young woman in spiritual and personal disciplines, physical fitness and emergency skills that will prepare them to fulfill the calling God has for their life. I encourage every young women to go to this program. It is MORE then worth it!! http://www.alertacademy.com/step/)

P.S. This month I will be traveling to Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina to compete in the AACS (American Association of Christian Schools). I will be competing along side my band in Single A Orchestra/Band and Large Instrument Ensemble. We have been going for about 8 years now and have placed every year!! Then the following week I will be traveling with my fellow senior buddies to the Big Apple!! Busy Busy!! =)