through the storm He is Lord

Readers, please lift up my friend, and singing partner, Garrett in prayer tonight.
We found out some not so fun news today that his brain tumor has returned and I am choosing not to accept that! Please pray for his tumor removal surgery, his radiation therapy and for complete healing and NO more tumors in Jesus' name!
Garrett's friendship and wisdom has blessed me immensely and seriously has changed my college experience here. Garrett picked my voice out of a room of voices to sing with him at Texas State's FCA (total CRAZY God thing), which turned into singing at a church in Lockhart, which turned into singing at Texas State College Life and the many places (garages, classrooms etc.) in between.
Thankful that in the process of all our singing craziness we became such good friends and I had him to encourage me countless times in all areas of my life whether it be singing or even dancing when I was on the University's dance team. This guy was there cheering me on every step of the way.
He loves the Lord and it doesn't take long to notice that once you start talking to him or when you listen to him sing.

One of our favorite songs to sing together is Give Me Faith by Elevation Worship

The chorus and bridge are especially true for us tonight

Chorus:
Give me faith to trust what You say
That You're good, and Your love is great.
I'm broken inside, I give You my life.

Bridge:
I may be weak, but
Your Spirit's strong in me.
My flesh may fail, but
My God You never will.

The god that Garrett and I serve has never failed us, and this tumor isn't a sign of Him failing us now. In the context of God's strength, this tumor is so small. Thank you to those who are reading this and are praying for Garrett.

Feel free to leave prayers/ uplifting messages for Garrett here, on the post on facebook or on the YouTube video below.

Garrett has had this news before and he continued to sing to the Lord anyway. Here's a video of him and I at Texas State's College Life singing Cornerstone by Hillsong -- check out how the Lord blessed him with the gift of music

sorry for those experiencing difficulties with the video, hopefully it will fix itself soon haha!

giving of thanks

Reminiscing on Thanksgiving day 2012. At 4:00am I woke up inside the Hilton New York, curled my hair, slabbed on makeup and proudly put on my maroon Texas State University Strutters uniform. The cold, dark subway tunnel led me to one of the greatest experiences of my life. After my little sister and I got interviewed and my team missed our cue for the parade.. I walked (ran) the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade route in New York. Most people have watching the Macy's Parade in New York on their bucket list, I got to be in it.. how blessed am I? I continuously thank God for that day and that trip because it happened all because of His favor and provision. I had been offered a trip to be in the parade since the summer after my freshman year of high school and it was never a possibility for me to go, God orchestrated it so that years later I would transfer to a University that had a known dance team, I would soon make that team and that year we would be the first performers in that parade .. all the same year that my little sister had the opportunity to go. After making the team I found out about the trip and had already said that I was unable to go, but my director made sure that every single one of us was able to go and I am so thankful for her, my family and for all of the people who made this dream of mine come true.
This year on Thanksgiving I am in Greenville, South Carolina with my family, newest nephew Carson Allen asleep in my arms. Tomorrow we fly back to Texas..as a whole family. My sister and her little family are moving from South Carolina back to Texas with us which is something to be thankful for!



I've been reading the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and it has changed my prayer life and the way I view the world around me, it teaches/ reminds you to give thanks in all of the little things, which could easily be made into the big things. There's a "joy dare" for each day of the year and today's joy dare is to give thanks for gifts in community; on this day I am super thankful for the community that helped get me to New York last year, my CBC community (even though i've moved and don't really go there anymore, growing up this is where i spent most of my time and got influenced the most), and my Young Life community who constantly pushes me out of my comfort zone and teaches me how to be a better Jesus follower.
I dare you to join this joy dare by finding this month's joy dare list from One Thousand gifts and verbalizing what it is that you are thankful for.

I pray that you all find something(s) to be thankful for today, I'm thankful for YOU!

click here to see a video of our performance!

Worship Post Wednesday

Worship [according to the dictionary]

noun ; reverent honor paid to God 

                                       

While that definition is totally true, I'm not sure it does enough justice to the greatness that is worship.

I was at a night of worship with All Sons & Daughters a few weeks ago where they referenced worship as "giving God His breath back" ...woah. LOVE that! I love looking at worship as a way of reminding myself of His goodness and celebrating Him, who He is and what He has done. 

Some have a mindset that singing songs at church is the only form of worship we have, and I would strongly beg to differ, but I also don't want to neglect the importance of praise and worship songs because those are such a great part of my own personal worship life (I'll probably write a separate post about that later). I think that everything can be worship if you are focused on giving the Lord glory and honor with what you are doing in that moment. Prayer can be your worship, the way you live your life could (and should) be a form of worship -- the list goes on!


 I was blessed to grow up in a church where they welcomed my ability and passion for dance and gave me opportunities to use that gift in our church services to "give God His breath back", to show that He is the one who gave me this ability and that I choose to use it for Him so that if anyone sees anything good or admirable in me or my dancing that they are seeing what is good and admirable in my Jesus, to show that sometimes I'm so full of joy that I can't help but dance and leap and just smile (because that's what I do!), to show raw emotion (even sadness) in response to His story or what He is doing in my life. Dance is just one of many forms of worship, and every form of worship touches His heart the same, "not one style of genuine worship is superior to another, the ground is level at the foot of the cross". Don't for a moment believe the lie that your unique gift / form of worship is not good enough. Worship is not a performance and it's not about how talented or "good enough" we are -- it's about the condition of our heart. It's not confined to a church building, it should be something continuous, it should be an attitude! I know I personally need that reminder.. a lot! 

I'm no expert on worship, but I have been poured into a lot lately in this area of my life and it's something I become more passionate about as time passes so I thought I'd sit down and take a breather and type out some thoughts :)  

Hope this finds blog finds you well, love you all!

Women of Faith 2013

This all started a few weeks ago when I called my mom and told her I wanted to go to the Women of Faith Conference -- by this time I figured it was too late, but some of my favorite people were going to be there so I figured it was worth trying, right?!
We talked about it off and on for a while trying to make a game plan because we had some connections. I planned to come home this weekend just in case, and good thing I did because instead of even having to use our sources, Mom won tickets! WHAT?! Yes. God blesses me like crazy ya'll. What an unexpected gift.
Day one was awesome

We got to go to a meet and greet with Mom's friend Lysa, who just so happened to be a speaker at the conference. Such a cute lady and such a speaker of truth. Loved getting to hear her speak this weekend.

To be quite honest, I have an unhealthy admiration for Kari Jobe and she was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to this conference. So naturally I was ecstatic that night one's concert was none other than .. Kari Jobe! So good!


While I knew Kari was going to be there, I didn't know that some other people from the Gateway worship team were going to be there too, so when I saw one of my social media friends Amber Rhoads up on stage that was another element of excitement in itself -- I had never seen her in person and here she was! This girl was awesome live, so naturally my first instinct is to tell her that she rocks and cross my fingers that I get to meet her, even though I weirdly felt like I already knew her.
Without hesitation she agreed to meet up with me today -- which leads me to day 2 of the conference.

First off, Christine Caine spoke.. love love love her.
Amber led worship with the other Gateway girls this morning then during our lunch break [get this] she comes to ME. Climbs up a jillion flights of stairs and goes straight to my seat. I was so taken back by this woman's humbleness. I was not expecting that at ALL. As if I needed more to like her, she proceeds to tell me and Mom [who I'm pretty sure is Amber's new number one fan..] part of her amazing story. LOVE that I got to share the Pink Out day of the conference with this fellow daughter of a breast cancer survivor. What a special moment.  -- And the kindness continues! Amber goes back down to lead worship again then comes back up to my seat to give me her new CD.







Speaking of her new CD.. GO BUY IT ON ITUNES! I'm listening to it right now, Broken Beautiful by Amber Rhoads do it do it do it. My favorite track is Broken Beautiful. Shocking, I know ;)
This girl made.my.day. ya'll.   What a joy it is to meet people who have almost been like worship leader mentors to me. Even greater is that her love for Jesus is SO real, and that was evident in her acts of kindness to make me feel special today. Seriously, everyone around me was talking about me whenever she'd leave, wondering why she came to see me. I felt like a million bucks.
So she's the real deal. Go buy her music, and go see her live if you can because she got some PIPES.

Amber ~ So so blessed by you today! Thank you for leading us in such sweet time of praise and worship this weekend. I look up to you for so many reasons and now I am so excited that I can [officially] call you friend! :)

Started off last week finding out I get to lead these guys in worship. What a blessing being surrounded by old friends and new and what a great thing YoungLife is on the Texas State University campus! So thankful for the freedom of religion.

We also had our very first Austin Stone at Texas State which ROCKED.

Super proud to call The Austin Stone Community Church MY church.

The week ended just as sweet as it began

Leadership retreat was a breath of fresh air and a splash of water on a dry soul. 

We sang songs in the dark, we learned how to be better fishers of men, we prayed for our ministry and we just had fun in each others company. Thankful for so many of these people's examples and for their friendship. 

A new school year is a blank canvas to be written on with dreams and faith.


I hope everyone had a great first week of school! Praying this one is a monumental one for me, and for you too! Don't be afraid to dream big, don't be afraid to go out on a limb and follow blindly where the Lord leads you.

God didn't let me go too long wondering why that whole SMA thing even happened. Before I had thought, maybe just maybe He's pulling an Abraham on me.. and He was. He confirmed it today as I was doing some reading through Kisses From Katie [awesome book, especially for those with a heart for missions]. But the Lord knew how much I enjoyed the Wimberley team and He knew I had just gotten comfortable. He just wanted to see if I would say yes to His call and lose that comfort for His sake, only to find out in the end that I don't have to. These people are some of my most prized after only a year of knowing them, and while I didn't risk my relationships with them by going to SMA  [they were all super supportive and I thank God for that because that would have made it so much harder] I would have definitely thrown plenty of Monday nights away that could have been spent being absolutely ridiculous with my friends.
Ceirra and James, I'm so glad that you guys followed the call with me.
If nothing else we have that long and agonizing day to look back on how strong we were in our beliefs and trust that the Lord would provide and that we would minister to kids the way we have been taught how. It also helps that we completed those extra trainings and have those fun memories to share that nobody else in our county has. Ya'll are incredible leaders and incredible friends.
I thank God for you and for our crazy experience.

Well you can pretty much ignore my last post..
After going through SMA training, an 11 hour day of meetings, headaches, almost vomiting, strengthening friendships, chick fil a,kids toys and bombarding our area director's house   -- all three of us that were offered the job turned it down. I could just delete the last blog post and erase it from my life because it's like it never even happened, but God was trying to teach the three of us something through that day/ the SMA experience, and I'm still not quite sure what it was to be honest with you. It's weird that all three of us had some sort of confirmation that we were supposed to continue with SMA, but in the end none of us did -- and that too was a peaceful decision. We met a great man and leader through the process, and I know I'm grateful for that new friendship.

It's a long story that took up an 11 hour day. It doesn't need much discussing besides the fact that I'm back at Wimberley and that is absolutely where my heart lies, so I am happy!

I will go where You shine

First of all, disclaimer: I am not quitting YoungLife haha. The beginning of this blog post kind of makes it sound like I am, but I assure you I'm not going anywhere!

My YoungLife journey hasn't been as long as some, but it's been a crazy ride just in this past year
 -- more than most would probably say for their experience.
I haven't even technically been a leader for even a year, yet I'm already going through a transition. After being placed at Wimberley High School, I was set. I loved everyone, I mean EVERYONE on my team. All of our personalities fit so well together, we fed off of each other's high energy and it just felt so right. I was comfortable. The thought of ever leaving these people was nowhere close to ever crossing my mind, after all .. I had just gotten placed, which means our journey together as teammates was just beginning.
June 25th is when things started shifting. I remember the day, which is weird because at the time all of this didn't seem like stuff I really needed to think about. I was about to get on the tram to my summer school class and I got a text from my area director which was then followed by a phone call. After telling him I was on my way to school he quickly filled my brain with some ideas and threw out that he was starting a new YoungLife group at a school that wasn't in the plans during placement and he was picking three people from our county to take a position at San Marcos Baptist Academy and be paid to be a YoungLife leader. I'm sitting on the bus and all of these people are watching me as I'm trying to make sense through the loud noises of the tram engine and the occasional squeak of the tires of what the person on the other end is saying to me. Our conversation was very brief and vague, I just ended the conversation with "I have time to think and pray about this..right?" I didn't even know if I had to make this decision on the spot. Luckily, I didn't.
At that point in time, I was still holding on fairly tight to my title as a Wimberley leader. Why would I ever give up something that only gave me feelings that were associated with goodness?
Maybe the thought that I didn't know if I would work well with these new people had crossed my mind. What if we weren't alike?  Almost all of my friends from CollegeLife and leadership training were placed on my team with me, why would I leave that? I already had what I wanted.
I let it go for most of the summer and didn't even think about it, then I buckled down and knew I really needed to pray about this. I think that's when God started softening my heart. I spent one Sunday by the pool and I looked up and let the Lord dream for me. He gave me dreams in cloud shapes, specifically the shapes of continents. (Africa was one!). Just two days after that happened I went in for my meeting with SMA, they handed me some papers that told me about the school and I look down and see "Mission Field: Our student body represents countries such as Angola, Cameroon, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. Our domestic student population represents five different states outside of Texas and 45 cities within our state" -- some come from Austin, San Marcos, Wimberley, Buda, Kyle, etc.
-- Not only is that impressive but the vision of continents and countries in the clouds was for this, and I believe that vision is going to go far beyond the walls of this school for me. "Why do you want to be here?" they asked. My first thought was uh.. I was kind of picked, I didn't have much of a choice on that one. But then words came out of my mouth so naturally, and they were truthful, which was the big thing. "I haven't stepped foot outside of this country [except for Mexico], but I can tell you the Lord gave me a heart for mission related work and people of the nations." and I then proceeded to tell them about my love for Africa and her people. Lucky me, there's some of those people attending this school. If you haven't gathered this by the extreme amount of diversity, SMA is a boarding school and, as you can tell by the name, a private school. For those of you in YoungLife you know that this isn't the norm for outreach schools for YoungLife, so that's going to be another adjustment for me. But this is good, it's really good.
My emotions are still undecided on how I feel right now, but I know this is where I'm being led, and that's all that really matters.

One of my devotionals recently that comforted and confirmed my feelings says it best,
"Saying yes to the Lord goes far beyond logistics.
It goes beyond a block in our schedules, a note in our planners.
It reaches beyond the gifts we feel comfortable using, 
beyond the box that our status and culture and insecurities
would like us to live within. 
A yes to the Lord is impossible to qualify on earth because it is a Kingdom business.
It has eternal repercussions, soul-changing ripples that reach all the way to Heaven's shore." 

I know that I'm about to be made uncomfortable. There's only three of us on a team, which means we're doing work for all of the other teammates that are non existent. We're starting from the ground up, but it's going to be great because I'm starting to see that the moments of being uncomfortable are what draws me closer to the Father's heart, and that... that is so worth it.

Lord I find You in the seeking, Lord I find You in the doubt.

This week I learned that Sarah from the Bible and I have something in common,
we're restless in the wait 

When God promised her and Abraham that He would give them a child, even at their old age, she got tired of waiting and tried to take matters into her own hands. I catch myself doing that, a lot. 
Sarah, who tired of waiting for her child to be conceived, told her husband to sleep with their slave thinking that she could start a family through the slave. Well, once their slave became pregnant Sarah was pissed. -- So obviously taking things into her own hands turned out well. Not.
Even after Sarah pulled that move, the Lord kept His promise to Abraham and Sarah and gave them a child. He who promises is always faithful, even now.

I desire the day when I will not tire of waiting for the Lord to carry out His plan.
I desire the day when I won't try to take matters into my own hands and I surrender all control.

Father, please turn my restlessness into rest

Being in a season of waiting, I asked the Lord to wait with me.
I asked Him to sustain my faith       and He gave me this today. (via Jesus Calling)

"Keep walking with Me along the path I have chosen for you. I could instantly grant you the spiritual riches you desire, but that is not My way for you. Together we will forge a pathway up the high mountain. The journey is hard and you are weak. Some day you will dance lightfooted on the high peaks, but for now, your walk is often heavy. All I require of you is to take the next step, clinging to My hand for strength and direction. Though the path is difficult and the scenery is dull at the moment, there are sparkling surprises just around the bend. Stay on the path I have selected for you. It truly is the path of life."

The Life of a Nanny

I'm not sure what the technical definition of a nanny is.
I like to think that it's someone who holds more responsibilities than just a babysitter. Someone who works longer hours and has cleaning the house, washing the dishes, feeding the dogs (as well as the kids) on their job description.
My idea of what a nanny is being said, the Lord opened up an incredible opportunity in my little college town this summer and I have been training to be a nanny for a little girl here. "Training to be a nanny..?" you ask. -- Yep. As much experience with children that I've had, most people that come into this job have to have training, why? The girl that I'm working with has epilepsy.
Not only did I have to be trained on what to do when she has seizures, she has what feels like hundreds of meds that she has to take throughout the day, she has a very strict diet and I have to count all of the carbs that she eats (if she goes over a certain number of carbs that could set off her seizures), she can't be exposed to heat for very long (can also set off seizures), she has a service dog and I occasionally take her to therapy. WHEW! So yes, I've been training.

Today was my first day with her all by myself, and I'm not going to lie..I was nervous. This girl can throw fits if something isn't going her way. It's hard, it's really hard. Don't get me wrong, she's the biggest cuddle bug when she wants to be. (see photo) for a part of today she laid on me and wrapped her arms around mine while we watched the same episode of Blue's Clues.. three times.
- She is special needs and has repetitive tendencies. She is ten but has the brain development of a five year old.
As a Special Education major, this job was so fitting. I'm learning so much and getting to experience some of the things that I've learned about in some of my classes in my field already.
This job is teaching me patience..oh, is it teaching me patience. I often have to check my heart to make sure that my discipline is out of good intentions and doesn't come from a place of frustration.
It's also teaching me trust. Took a big leap accepting this job and an even bigger one starting on my own today. I didn't want to go on my own out of fear of messing up, but this weekend when I was at my home church in San Antonio the message was on work and how you should go for it and just try your best. Granted somebody's life is in my hands, but I didn't think I was at the point of risking her life haha so I jumped. Had to remind myself that I am confident and covered by the power of His great love.

If anyone out there is needing that extra push..
here it is.

JUMP.

pArTy In ThE uSa

Oh this fourth of July was wonderful.
Such fun times; baking, pool parties, walking the streets of Austin, eating snowcones until our tongues changed colors [patriotic colors I might add], downtown adventures, whole foods and fireworks.

I am so blessed and proud to be an American.
Thank You Lord for allowing me to live in a place where I am so privileged with what I have.
What a gift to be able to worship my god freely.
Dang. God bless America.




"I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free."

 

A How To List From Peter

  How To: add to your faith
- A tutorial from Peter


Step 1: Add GOODNESS [do what you know is right]
Step 2: Add KNOWLEDGE [study The Word and pray without ceasing]
Step 3: Add SELF-CONTROL [operate in the spirit]
Step 4: Add PERSEVERANCE [see the Lord's tasks through, even when it's hard]
Step 5: Add GODLINESS [let others know who you belong to in the way that you act]
Step 6: Add AFFECTION AND LOVE [give your time and talents and life for others]



-- Father help me to strive for these things every day that I might strengthen my faith in You!
Thank You for using Peter to lay out a to do list [You know I love those] so simple and organized so that an obsessive compulsive girl like me can understand what it is that I can do to grow.
Praying that this list would turn into actions as I put them to use in my every day life.

"When Your words came, I ate them;

    they were my joy and my heart’s delight"

- Jeremiah 15:16

My cinnamon bunches of oats were nothing compared to the breakfast the Lord had waiting for me in His word this morning as I opened up to 1 Peter

"To God’s people, God the Father decided to choose you as His people, and His Spirit has made you holy. You have obeyed Jesus Christ and are sprinkled with his blood." -- me. He chose me.. to be set apart and sprinkled by His blood. He made me different. He made me forever long to see things through His eyes. Oh Spirit change me as I read Your truth! Where better to do work of the Gospel than here at this school that is dripping with sin and lost and confused souls? I think this was spot on seeing as I started summer school today. Sitting amongst people who may not know the God I know -- all I can do is shine and hope that they see a little of Him in the way I act. Here's to summer school adventures with my heavenly Daddy.

Thank you to my She Reads Truth sisters for praying over my first day! And thank you for pointing me in the direction of 1 Peter this morning, what a tasty treat for my hungry soul. 

Love to you all <3

HOSANNA!

I started a new devotional today and today's title was "Hosanna!"
Reading through Matthew 21 as Jesus rides through Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowd shouts "Hosanna to the son of David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" -- hosanna can mean multiple things; it can be an offering of praise or a cry for help and deliverance.
Riding through Jerusalem on that day, only the Lord knew the TRUE weight of "Hosanna!" (save us!). As I sit here tonight, I can't help but think of my own "hosanna" cries. The Lord is still the only one who knows the true weight of that cry, even as it comes from my heart here today.
Just days after these people were crying out to the Lord they turned on Him and crucified Him. Another parallel to my life as I fail Him daily -- yet He still hears. Yet He still saves us as we cry out to Him.
HALLELUJAH WHAT A SAVIOR WE HAVE IN JESUS!

In Revelation [7:9-10] it shows us what Jesus must have been thinking about as He listened to the cries of His own persecutors. "I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation and language and they stood before the thrown before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands as they shouted "Our God who sits upon the throne has the power to save His people and so does the Lamb." "

What a beautiful sight.
He was all human and lived in that moment and felt the hurt of His people and later on His own personal hurt, but He too was all God and saw into the future what was awaiting Him at His throne.
What I would give to be able to live purely in the moment like Jesus. I already have outfits picked out for next month! I am a mess, He loves me still!

Have a great night my friends!

HOPE

Another one of those days.
I shot up at 6:30 this morning for no reason at all. Decided to get some quality quiet time in.

The past few days Kari Jobe has been focusing on the word hope, so naturally I have been too ;)












Hebrews 6:19 - We have this hope as an anchor for the soul; firm and secure.


Holding onto HOPE is worth it!

#TwerkWeek2013

This past week I had the privilege of working for Sharptop Cove Young Life Camp with a bunch of my fellow Young Life leaders from school.
What an adventure. What a bonding experience.
The trip hadn't even started yet and God was already working on me. If you know me you know that I hate driving. Well lo and behold my area director told me that I was driving a van..to Georgia. Um...k. Perks of being old enough to drive rental vans right? The week before we left I drove a bunch of my young life kids to the beach so I had a little tester there, but driving to the beach and driving 18 hours to another state isn't really the same..like at all. The first day I drove us to New Orleans, Louisiana and the second day I drove us the rest of the way to Jasper, Georgia. GOD IS A GOD OF POWER. I am able to do immeasurably more than I can imagine because of Him in me. Driving there and back was so much fun because of the sweet time I got to spend with my friends and because I got to listen to my music :) can't forget that.
Our night in New Orleans was so much fun. We ate at Cafe Du Monde for dessert..so good. We also go to experience Bourbon Street.. very interesting for a bunch of Christ followers. The street is so dark and dirty in more ways than one. We literally saw women selling themselves. It was really heart wrenching to see.
The next day we woke up early, drove through two states and at a pit stop we realized we left three people back in Louisiana, sooo that was an exciting story. All of the other people at work week knew us by that event haha.
After getting everyone to Georgia we had an incredible week preparing the camp for the kids that are going to be going through there this summer and experiencing the Lord. I got to know my fellow leaders so much better and make memories that are going to carry me through this year. I climbed Sharptop Mountain and got the greatest reward/ view at the top. We had club every day, it had been a while since I was the one experiencing club instead of being the person behind the scenes making club happen. Worship was so sweet. One night a girl in Capernaum led us in worship and I about lost it.
All this to say is while we had so much fun, there was so much work going on that week. Ecclesiastes 3:22 says There is nothing better for a person to enjoy their work because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?// We planted so many "seeds" at work week. Honestly we are probably never going to see the fruit that will come from our labor, but knowing in the back of my mind that kids are going to get saved on the ground that we spent a whole week preparing for them is all I need.  I've been praying for all of the people that are spending their summer at Sharptop Cove and that they experience the Father in a mighty way.

Start Spreading The News, I'm Leavin' Today..

These past two weeks have been some of the most stressful of the semester ahh! Finally getting to sit down.
This time last week I ended my dancing career.We had our spring show for Strutters and that was our last performance as a team for the year, and possibly my last performance ever. I've been dancing for as long as I can remember and the fact that it's not going to play such a big role in my life anymore is really weird, but exciting. God has other things planned for me that I'm ecstatic to get to experience. Young Life is going to be a time commitment of its own and that seems to be where the Lord has led me for the time being.
Speaking of Young Life..

Some of my YL team members and other friends I've made through Young Life came to support me at my last show. These guys could have spent their weekend doing anything else, but they came [and PAID] to watch me dance. I dance for them for free on Monday nights when I act like a spaz at YL club. // Things like THAT are what validates that me choosing to go after leadership with them is what I'm supposed to be doing right now. Some of the sweetest and self-less people I've met.





Among my other self-less friends is these two
 They don't even go to my school but they drove in to come cheer me on. I don't do anything to deserve all the freaking incredible friends that I have. They fill me with so much joy by encouraging me and going out of their way to make me feel special.

Didn't get pictures with everyone that came that night, but I'm grateful for all who came and supported me and knew how big this was. Words won't do justice what I feel in my heart towards all of my sweet family and friends. Your actions speak volumes to me and I love you!


 Thank You Lord for dance and what an outlet of worship it has been/ will be for me. Thank You for all of the unneeded success and opportunities that I've been blessed with because of dance -- none of them by my doing, but Yours. Texas Ladybugs, Kids choir/ Club 56 hip hop, Puresound hip hop, Gaelen pep squad, Grenadier drill team, Lancer Dancers varsity dance team, all of the Community Bible Church services in between and THE Texas State University Strutters.. You've been with me through it all. I hope I blessed You with the allotted time You gave me to have dance as my focus. Minus a few more meetings and our Strutter formal, this chapter is coming to a close and I'm starting a new one. I'll never stop considering myself a dancer, if something happens and I'm supposed to dance here and there, it happens. My sole focus just needs to be elsewhere. That being said, I'm going to miss all of the time I spend with the sweet girls I made on the team this year a lot, but I can't wait to dance into this new season with these peeps.
Thank You, Jesus.

I was made for this.

A lot of you know I've been going through training to be a Young Life leader. I've been mentally preparing myself for if this is even something that would be for me since before I even got to this University. Once I actually got to dive in, something clicked that maybe didn't click with the jillion of other organizations that I tried out when I got here. All of them great, not all of them made for this imperfect girl with a fire for the Lord and a childlike heart (and appearance so I've been told..). The sense of belonging was good. I don't know that I've ever felt so pursued for friendship than with the friends I've made through Young Life. We all want to be together all the time. I took that feeling of belonging and happiness that this organization gave me and ran with it and began training this Spring. Young Life at this University is by no means a huge organization.. we're tiny. Because of this, our training process is a lot different than most schools. It's more intimate, which is great. And sometimes even a little nerve racking because you don't just slip through the cracks. Your area director knows your name and how many times you went to college club before you even started training. You know everyone in your pledge class. The interview process is different. The list goes on. Sometimes it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel "Am I ever going to be a leader?!". For homework one week we were told to set aside an hour or so to pray and make sure that being a leader is really what we were called to do. I asked and Daddy showed up. Scripture after scripture confirming "Ali, YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS." So I kept pressing on, eventually started shadowing a WyldLife club. Liked it. Had my final interviews and had a certain school that I thought I would get placed at in the area. It's where I thought I should be placed. With that in mind I anxiously awaited placement day.

This past Sunday I was given a CRAZY awesome birthday gift.

The gift of NOT being placed with the school I thought I should be placed at.

The gift of being placed where the Lord led my area directors to place me.

The gift of a new family.

The gift of being placed at ... WIMBERLEY HIGH SCHOOL.

The second they called my name my heart knew this was a match! I didn't have a single second guess. Three of my close friends that I made through training got placed on my team, but after spending time with everyone who had just gotten placed on the team + the old members.. I was obsessed with all of them. So much that I spent the next night with them (which just so happened to be my 21st birthday) because I just wanted to get to know them more. 

We had club on my birthday, started off the night by blaring / screaming Taylor Swift's 22 and had a blast with our high schoolers. I can't wait to work alongside these hilarious, energetic and loving people.

I am confident in this; 

That He who began a good work in me didn't set a desire in my heart and then change His mind and take it away in the middle of leadership training.

That He who began a good work in me completed it the day I was placed with my Wimbo team.

That He who began a good work is about to start a new work in me 

..called being a Young Life leader.

Acting crazy, Making a scene, Like it's her birthday.

Oh man, birthday week guys.

Blessed beyond what I can even comprehend with this little mind of mine.

The day before my birthday I was finally placed on a Young Life team (I have a whole other blog about that coming later). After placement a few of my friends came over and got me a cake and we just hung out, which was fun. Then I actually spent most of my night / morning working on / worrying about a project. Yes, on my 21st birthday people. Tell me how cool I am. 

I had a really rough start to my day, I was focusing on myself and what I was lacking. 

The day before I had pretty much just cancelled all of my plans to celebrate my birthday with other people, it was stressing me out. So after a long day at school I went to Young Life with my new team. It was absolutely what I needed. Focusing on Jesus and not myself. Having dance parties and screaming songs at the top of my lungs. I'm not your typical 21 year old and it doesn't really bother me. I've never been one for being normal, why start now :)

Both of my roommates are 21 so when I got home late from club they were there waiting for me and we had our first night of being adults together. It was a nice end to the night and I looked back on the day thankful. Thankful God chose me to live this life.

It's always like Spring time with You; making all things new

It's the week after spring break, I figured I should update about it!

I left to go back home a day earlier than planned because my family had flown in and had been at my parent's house for a few days, so everyone was posting pictures of my nephew and I just couldn't wait to see them any longer.We had family time which we never get to do since my older sister lives out of town. We also celebrated my sister's birthday while she was here so that was fun!

After a few days at home I went to Mission Austin 2013 with FEFC.

Me and 3 other college kids (and our friend Kirsten who invited us on this adventure) were leaders of a group of middle schoolers and we fixed up a children's home all week and glorified the Lord while doing it! It was bunches of fun. The kids were crazy and I got to spend the week with some fun people.

I went back home for a few days then went to SXSW with Daddy, so that was fun.



























I spent my last day of break doing a live recording with some friends then went to my last Young Life leadership training! It was such an eventful break and I can't wait to share what all is going on in my life with yall!

Birthdays and Cupcakes

My big sister, brother in law, nephew (and soon to be niece or nephew -- my sister is preggo again!) flew into Texas for me and my little sister's spring break. Today is big sister's birthday so we got to do some shopping and fun stuff today!






Tonight for dessert I baked cupcakes for sister's birthday!

For those of you who don't know, I love to bake haha. If you want to make these cute cupcakes in a cone it's really simple :)
















Get cake mix, the ingredients it tells you on the back of the box (eggs,vegetable oil, etc.), ice cream cones, icing and if you want to make them fun get some sprinkles!
Make the cake batter as usual and fill up the cones halfway (the batter will expand in the oven) then follow the baking directions for the cake. Most say to bake at 350 degrees for about 20 or so minutes, but make sure you check what your specific mix says. Once the cupcakes look done and may have a little browning at the top, let the cupcakes cool BUT get a fork and gently poke holes at the bottom of the cone so that the cake on the inside of the cone can cool as well. Once they've cooled ice, sprinkle and enjoy!

You're Making All Things New

Who am I

that God would make me completely pick up my beautifully detailed schedule (written in INK in my planner) and trash it to dive head first into something that would make me so uncomfortable. And do it gladly. 

Thinking about it, I'm even a little shocked about the last part. I was just caught up in the moment. I got a text just days before this past weekend began about being a part of a retreat that people have been registered and mentally prepared for for MONTHS. They were asking ME to come. -- God turns the tables on me like that from time to time. Like you sign up for retreat/workshops, you don't get texts basically saying "Hey you've been paid for so.." .. like, is there an out to that? I guess in some cases, possibly, but not in mine. So after a drawn out practice at Strutters filming promos for our spring show (APRIL 12th&13th put it on your calendars now!) me and two of my teammates drove about 4 hours to Glen Rose to meet up with our school's FCA at FCA's College Advance Weekend. About 30 universities from Texas met up in one place and got crunk for Jesus. The second I got there I was like "Crap, I'm not athletic."  I've been in FCA since I got to this school and other dancers are in it, it's just like whatever really. You don't have to be a labeled athlete to be in a room and talk about Jesus with us. But this was the first time I was made well aware that there were a lot of athletes in FCA.. who knew. I was in for a fun weekend. Day two of advance we had huddle games. all. day. it was a competition. I sucked. It was hilarious. My poor teammates were so patient with me and encouraged me when I would faceplant or miss getting the basketball in the hoop or whatever else we were doing. That whole day we learned how to honor God in our extra curriculars and it was awesome and is really a renewal of the mind. It's so easy to slip back into old habits. Aside from learning that life tactic, I think God brought me there for relationship.  

Each person got placed into a huddle with people from other schools so you don't know anyone. There was one girl in my huddle from San Antonio that I met, she was super sweet. Then the last night new believers prayed the prayer of salvation, you know the usual, and then the new believers stood up. I turned around to look and there was the girl from my huddle. I started bawling. Here we are at a retreat for fellowship of CHRISTIAN athletes. If you're stupid like me you kind of just assume, hey everyone who comes here is a christian. WRONG. Aside from the girl in my huddle there was about 40 people there that night that stood up. I was so taken back by all of my new beautiful brothers and sisters! 3 girls in my huddle accepted Christ and I was just crying happy tears every time I looked at them. God is so good. 

That night my school's FCA met up after all of our group stuff and we stayed up late getting to know eachother. I was there with some wonderful people.

Retreat was great, it ended then we drove back home. Where I barely had any down time and I was off to my first leadership training for Young Life!!!!! 

It was amazing and God is doing new things already. I'm going to be in a new small group and I have a new LTG on top of that. I had dinner with my LTG last night and I am so excited to continue to train with these people.

Monday night I had the privilege of leading worship for FCA's G.L.O.W with my talented friend Garrett. It was a blast. The Lord is so good to me. 

Hope you have a blessed rest of the week friends!

God is here and God is good

My weekend consisted of going to Austin for a book signing with my mom, we went shopping and out to lunch too! It was a fun girls day.

Sunday I visited two new churches, it was physically and spiritually draining but I got to revive my spirit by walking around Austin with a friend and then through a cute park. I'm liking nature these days. Who doesn't love some beautiful natural scenery?

I'm done with the first two days of the spring semester! It went well besides the fact that it's freeeeezing. I'm not a fan of the cold, I'm definitely a baby. Like I complained so much today because I had to do so much walking out in the cold. I hate complaining, but it was really awful. My face hurt from the cold. Never a good thing. 

After every class today I ran into my roommate on campus, that never happens so it was shocking seeing her a jillion times at school haha. After we were done for the day we went shopping and got us some warm Starbucks drinks. It definitely hit the spot. Then tonight me and my other roommate had soup for dinner -- ahh so good on a cold day like today. All three of us were at home and ate dinner together, which also rarely happens because all three of us are so busy and our schedules usually don't match up to the other's. I was physically cold, but my heart was warmed up by a night in with those two! 

It was exciting to see my teammates again this week too! We're getting ready for basketball season and our spring show, so this should be a fun semester! Can't wait to see what Daddy has in store for Spring 2013.

Wanting God More Than My Craving

I haven't forgotten! Believe me, with my social media fast going on I have a lot more time on my hands. I've just been waiting for a breakthrough day so I have some substance to write about. Today was a breakthrough day :)   I woke up early, hit the gym and ran 3 miles. Then I rewarded myself by picking up two packages at the clubhouse. (Which just so happen to be two pairs of shoes I ordered. That's another topic for another day. Shoes are another "craving" I'm going to have to limit soon.) I carried my packages back to my cute little house, did some crunches and push ups, grabbed some celery and started my Made To Crave studying for the day. Today's was so good! 

Today I found myself asking God to strip away anything that could turn my heart from Him. Today I found myself longing to be a woman who denies myself daily and follows the Lord -- just as He commands me to. [Luke 9:23]

Praises to Daddy-  

~I have gone 4 days without social media. This is huge for me, I'm a people person (Except for when I don't want to be, hehe) so this progress is SO not by my own strength.

~ Today, I picked up a food that I'm fasting from and almost somehow convinced myself that I could get away with eating it with my celery.. sweet Lord gave me strength to turn it down!

After denying myself something I was craving, I read my Made To Crave devotional which was about Eve and Jesus and how they handled Satan's temptations.

 Eve, when confronted in the garden, focused on the object of her desire (the forbidden fruit) and didn't even care to ask God what she should do. "She saw it. She wanted it. She bought the lie. She took it. She suffered for it."  

Then there's Jesus. Satan confronted Him while He was fasting -- OF COURSE HE WAS HUNGRY. Satan offered Him food, but He resisted because His physical needs were being met by God.(Physical Craving)  Satan also tried to convince Jesus to have His angels come save Him. Of course if anyone should show off to make themselves look good, feel powerful and be elevated in other's eyes.. it's Jesus, but Jesus' security came from being a child of God -- not His human achievements. (Craving to feel significant) 

"While Eve focused on the object of her temptation, Jesus kept His focus on God's truth, He refuted each of Satan's lures with scripture."

"He saw it. He wanted God more. He quoted the truth. He resisted. He was rewarded for it."

What a perfect day for that to be my devotional! It was so encouraging.

I also went to my friend Connor's apartment and made her work out with me too. So I have 4 miles down for the day! Halleluyerrrr,

I'm feeling so great. I'm also feeling sore, which I love. These days it's about "doin' me" -- with Jesus. I can always use prayers for more progress.

And as always, I would love to pray for any of yall's needs!

Happy Friday!

First Post of 2013

Hello lovelies!
I am currently one of "those people" who is on a little break from social media. -- I'm just doing mine for the rest of the week, I knew it would be a smart thing to do, I need it right now. This is my first complete day without checking my facebook, twitter or instagram. It is very freeing, it is also slightly driving me insane. When I'm bored (or even when I'm not bored) I love interacting with people through all of my little social media outlets. Blogging may even be considered social media, but I'm not necessarily interacting with people so here I am.

Obviously I've had a little more free time. I'm trying to move all of my music from my family's computer + a bunch of music my friends send me on a regular basis to my iTunes library. This means listening to and analyzing a lot of songs. During school I felt like I barely had time for myself to do that, so this is nice.

 That's my journal over there on the left. Excuse some of my handwriting, it changes every day so I never know what it's going to look like. Along with my personal notes to my Daddy, I write lyrics (from whatever style of music speaks to me that day) or sayings or stuff like that. This is today's.
TODAY is my revival. I've been holding onto a lot that I'm ready to start letting go of. Maybe I'll write about it one day. We shall see.
For now, if you keep reading, you'll find out how is God speaking to and pushing me these days.







Since we last talked, I had a white Christmas. It was wonderful. My family didn't open any presents on Christmas this year so it didn't really feel like Christmas, but it was still fun seeing the family and playing in snow.

My New Year(s)? haha was also very chill, which I loved. There was just three of us, we played Just Dance 4 literally all night/morning. We took a break at midnight and watched fireworks and drank some fun bubbly drinks. Then proceeded to play Just Dance 4. We also played other games and had a little photo sesh throughout the night. So laid back. (And we burned a bunch of calories! What more do you want?) I was dead.


New Years Day for as long as I can remember my family goes to one of our church family's houses. A bunch of families go and play football and eat and WE SING. Which I love and always look forward to. It happens without fail. The lady of the family was actually one of my choir teachers at church when I was in elementary school and she was the first person to (literally) force me to sing on a microphone. She has played such a big part of my life because of her encouraging me to express myself with worship, which is still one of my favorite things.

To bring in the New Year I started a new book and devotional. I'm not a big reader.. at all. The only kind of books that can keep my attention are not books you read for entertainment, which is odd, but I love me some devotional/ christian living type books. LOVE 'em. I'm currently reading Made To Crave by Lysa Terkeurst. The Lord is already doing things in my life through this book -- one of them being my little break from social media.

The book basically started out by calling me out on my obsessive thoughts. Majority of girls (Maybe even boys! -- I don't know because I've never understood the male mind) have them, whether it be wanting a better body, more acceptance from the people around you, attention from a boy (or girl) or money to buy material things -- if you just had this it would make you happy. I am guilty of a lot of those, to the point where they control my life. I think about them 24/7 and they affect a lot of my life decisions. It's exhausting being controlled by the things consuming the forefront of your mind. The fact that any of those things listed above could satisfy you once you had them .. is a lie. And the obsessiveness? It needs to be replaced by something not of this world.. The One who made it.
The Made To Crave devotional is a little different and focuses on craving God and not food. Whether you overeat or have a eating disorder or you just want to come along for the ride of trying to glorify your Father with that beautiful temple that is your body, it's an awesome motivator. I have also fasted from one of my ..famous "food groups" if you will. I say this to encourage you. Push yourself to do what you need to do to be healthy, and if you don't have the will power get a friend to help you along!

I will try to keep yall up with my progress and what I learn throughout my Made To Crave experience. If any of you decide to start reading and acting on Made To Crave I would love to hear from you!

Hope you are all having a great start to your new year!