Forever You are Faithful

SURPRISE! I am officially a Texas State Strutter. I say surprise because I barely told a soul I was even trying out haha. I've been praying about whether it's even something I should consider and God wanted me to have some fun next year so He told me "go!" basically at the last minute. I turned in my application in the day it was due which was last week and then this morning I woke up at 6am and drug myself to San Marcos and God had His way. I still don't know quite what to think, I think it all just happened so fast haha. Whether emotions show it or not, I am excited. Not to mention BLESSED! I haven't done that type of dancing/skills/intensity since I was in high school.. which I graduated from two years ago. God obviously wanted me on this team because I was 1 out of the 18 whose number was on that list today.
I started my day out by walking into the gym and being greeted by one of my new recent friends who just so happens to be the captain of the strutters this year and of course my twin Taylor who is also a current strutter officer. I without a doubt had the best tryout experience of all the girls there because of these two ladies. Who else's best friend rushes through their lunch so they have time to go over a dance routine with you? Who else's best friend prays over you before you dance in front of a room of dancers and judges? MINE! MINE! -- I have the best <3
Lesson learned from even these past few blogs alone, if You obey the Lord He will greatly reward you! It may require some sacrifice along the way, you may have to give up something you think is good but if God says no .. listen. He has a million other GREAT things waiting for you!

All the girls whose numbers were on the list were gathered in a hallway then we all walked into a room of screaming strutters hahahaha so fun. After all the tryout craziness Taylor, Lauren and I got some froyo.. for those of you who don't know Taylor she never eats froyo. -- that's a lie. And then I met up with the family in New Braunfels, went to church, and then we grabbed some dinner and dessert with one of my adopted families. (I'm spoiled, I have multiple families that treat me like their own). This is me and my bitesized BFFS. Andie is taking the photo or else she would be in it. Me and the littles were looking at a book of wedding cakes :) I love weddings.
And now .. I AM HOME! It's been a long day. My body is worn out. I'm sore, I have scrapes, I have bruises. BUT this is kind of normal for me, oddly enough.  -- You can see the forming of a nice lil bruise on my knee, let's hope that sucker heals quickly (it probably won't since i'll be dancing on it all week preparing for Easter..) but there's a chance! I also have some awesome toe knuckle bruises.. yes I know, so cute. I have no idea why there's a picture of my bruised knee on here, I just like taking pictures too much apparently. As if that wasn't enough I had a pinched nerve in my neck this morning, I don't think that's ever happened to me before but I got over it haha. This is not all to complain, like I said I'm used to the majority of the aforementioned  things. It's to show how weak I was throughout the day but God carried me through! I've been drilling myself to the ground with school,work and preparation for Easter services next weekend I already went into that tryout worn out and sleepless, but God put me in that situation and He got me through it.
Anyways, people's response to the strutter situation is so sweet! I've gotten messages,texts,comments,likes, you name it. It all means a lot. I'm so thankful for all of you!
Considering I can literally barely move I'm so sore and beat up, I am going to be taking full advantage of my Sabbath tomorrow :) I start a full week of back to back rehearsals and performances on Monday so I have to make sure I'm alive for that hehe.
Hope everyone enjoys their Sunday!

After school today I grabbed lunch with someone I adore. Someone I consider one of my mentors, Meredith Defrees. I love my time with her, I always feel so uplifted afterwards. Even though we don't get to see eachother that often, God truly blesses our time together every time. It's so crazy how we got put into eachother's lives. God knew she was going to be exactly what I needed at a point in time, and that time is now.
Tonight my baby sister made the varsity dance team at her school! My older sister and I were on the same team when we were in high school so our legacy has been passed down. So proud of her, she's such a cute little dancer and she has worked really hard. Glory to God :)

-- disclaimer: this photo was before I lost weight haha

This week sort of went by quickly, I'm not sure where it went. I've been working my tush off on school because I will be living at church next week and I have a busy weekend this weekend as well so I'm just trying to do all of this weeks workload + next weeks ahhh! Overwhelming, but preparations for services like next week have always been something I've enjoyed since I was a little girl. I love the people I work with and spending so much time together doing what we love for someone we love is so great.
I'm going to stop while I'm ahead, praying you all have a great weekend!

All I go through, it leads me to You

March 25th -- on that day 20 years ago I was born. (The number 20 has a ring to it. Even typing it just now gave me the tingles..I'm 20,weird.) Before reaching the age of 20 I have gone through more than some go through in a lifetime. Although most of the things I've "gotten through" don't hold the greatest memories or feelings, one thing that God spoke to my heart at Winter Jam the night before my birthday was all I go through will always lead me closer to Him. Always. If I'm genuinely pursuing to know the Lord's heart and plan for me, the Lord says if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. I'm so excited to see what the Lord has in store for the years to come, He definitely keeps me on my toes. In a way I'm thankful for all the yuckiness I've experienced because it truly has gotten me to the point that I'm at. I will never stop growing, learning or maturing. It's an ongoing process.
Thank you to all who made my birthday weekend so much fun. Friends & family I love you all.

Friday a group of friends went downtown to Mi Tierras for dinner. I didn't really want it to be for my birthday, but that idea kind of died when I turned around and the staff from the restaurant started singing happy birthday to me and then handed me cake and balloons.. haha. Regardless of the silliness I'm glad I got to spend time with my friends. It gets harder and harder these days to get us all together.

Saturday is probably what you've all been waiting for. Here's the play by play. Saturday morning Chandler and I went to the AT&T center (wayyyy before the doors were even supposed to open) eventually we got in and with the help of someone who I love dearly -- shout out. Chandler,Taylor,Lauren and I decided the second row was lookin pretty nice. Winter Jam was seriously incredible. I went there only focused on one artist (Kari Jobe), but I ended up getting into almost every artist/band regardless if I had heard them before or not. The atmosphere that night was just amazing. Being surrounded by thousands of people worshiping, it was beautiful. So anyways, some of those bands go on and then we get to a point where someone's like "Kari Jobe is next!" so at that point I literally get nauseous because that means I'm that much closer to getting to meet her. It was quite funny to look back at. I'm ridiculous. Turns out she wasn't next and then I got more upset than nauseous hahahaha so I guess that helped ;). THEN after that band is when my girl Kari came out. AHHHH! She opened with her newest single "We Are" and then sang "Love Came Down" --her version is my favorite ever, then she sang "You Are For Me" -- IN SPANISH! <3 I'm obsessed people. She closed her set with "The Revelation Song" which is what most people (who aren't obsessed like I am) know her by. Ugh it was just so amazing. Throughout the day Kari Jobe's manager had been texting me and it was now time to meet her... I brought my friend Taylor with me and we met up with Kari's manager and he took us back. She signed our posters, took pictures with us and talked to us for a little bit. She told me she liked my perfume and she told me what scent it was without me telling her .. so apparently we have the same taste in perfume. LEGIT. We're obviously supposed to be best friends .. duh. But it was one of the greatest nights of my life. Meeting someone who I've looked up to for so long was indescribable. I am blessed.
   

Sunday (my actual birthday) obviously wasn't as eventful as the two days before, but it was nice. I went out to lunch with the fam and then I had rehearsal for CBC's Easter service. So I got to see a bunch of people I loved as well as do what I love (dance). Later in the day my friend Taylor surprised me with flowers and a card, so sweet. Such a great weekend.

Thank you to all of you for your kind words that I received through facebook,twitter and text. They all meant so much and it was so humbling to get all the messages from people on Saturday who knew I was meeting Kari and knew how excited I was. You sharing in that excitement with me made it all the more exciting. So fortunate to have such amazing people in my life!

Dream Big

I don't even know how I'm able to write this post right now, I've literally been shaking for hours. If you don't know me at all then you probably haven't heard of my dedication to artist Kari Jobe. I've been a fan of hers since before most people knew who she was and I have converted a lot of my closest friends to becoming fanatics too. I say all this because the feeling that some of my friends understand me is just so fun haha. Well, last year I made a friend named Jordan, we found out we were both obsessed with Kari Jobe and we hit it off from there. -- that will come into the picture later. The past few years I've been experiencing hard times left and right. While that time was difficult, things are starting to turn around for me. My future is looking bright and there is joy ahead. In Joshua a story that has continued to stay in my heart weeks after I read it is in chapters 18-21. There were tribes in Israel that had already been given their promised land and 7 tribes were still waiting to receive their share. Joshua had to wait 7 years and experience hardships along the way BUT the Lord was faithful and he received the land he was promised. Joshua 21:45 The LORD promised to do many good things, and He kept his promise every time. This weekend I turn 20 years old. It's a milestone for me. It signifies leaving my 'teen'age years behind and entering adulthood (not sure i'll ever consider myself an adult. I'm 5feet 2inches and still act obnoxious.) This weekend signifies a new beginning for me. Months ago I found out that my role model Kari was going to be in San Antonio the day before my birthday. I knew right then and there I had to do everything in my being to meet her. Well, today marks the day that I start receiving my own personal harvest from the Lord that I've been waiting for. My friend Jordan and I collaborated and came up with a great plan. Jordan took full force and things started rolling. 

Around 1:30 this afternoon I got a notification that Kari Jobe had followed me on twitter.

.... um WHAT!? Probably shouldn't have been checking twitter when I was driving because that was a potentially dangerous situation. I immediately started calling everyone who would even care/ know how much this person meant to me. -- oh it gets better, the Lord withholds  no good thing from those who love Him. Moments later I get a message from  Kari Jobe herself saying she'd love for me to come to her meet and greet at her show this weekend. 

OOOOOHHHH MMMYYY GOOOSSHHH! I've had time to settle down from everything, but that time is insignificant because I clearly have not gotten over it/ calmed down. It's been hours and I'm still shaking and just so excited. Thank you Jordan and thank You Lord! SO EXCITED FOR THIS WEEKEND! What a blessing. 20 is going to be a great year of harvest for me. 

Ruth & Naomi

I'm currently watching the Warshak children. The two youngest are taking their naps and the oldest and I are eating chocolate chip cookies and watching some Curious George so I thought I would have some quiet time. I'm worn out! Today I read the story of Ruth and Naomi. What a sacred bond, I only hope my future mother in law and I have a relationship such as theirs. And then there's Boaz.. After watching a silly youtube video a while back I've been made aware that I am a typical christian girly girl basically down to every last inch. It's hysterical really. So now whenever I think about boaz I can't help but laugh.

It's kind of embarrassing how much stuff I relate to in this video. But it's so true.

Anyways, back to Ruth.. she stayed in a town where she was unloved and unwanted all because it meant being faithful to the Lord. She walked diligently with Him. Because of this God rewarded her .. with BOAZ!!!! <3 Ugh. love it.    If only we knew that following God even though it may seem as though He's leading us into a place we don't want to be, there are blessings (huge ones) waiting on the other end that don't even compare. For me personally there are places/people that make me feel somewhat unloved.I think we all have those, maybe the Lord is calling us to stick it out and do great work in and through those places and people. Maybe, just maybe. 

Stay tuned on that one ;)

This week has been a hard week on the CBC family. The loss of Mason McCoy and today my friend Aaron's cousin who I posted was missing via my twitter a while back was found, and sadly he was not found alive. Sending up prayers of comfort for both of these families.