Oh my gosh. I realize I have been quite absent over the past couple of weeks and I am so sorry! Things got super crazy with finals and work and packing up my old apartment and shoving everything into my little car and moving it all into my new apartment and going on a mini vacation to Grand Haven, Michigan. But now I am happily settled into my new place, enjoying its many quirks (to put it nicely), and making friends with all my new neighbors, so I can finally get back to writing! Yay!
First of all, my apartment. You guys. It's an experience. Day one of living here the neighbors saw me shut my door and then immediately started pounding and singing carols to me to coax me out to party with them. Little did they know, there was no way I was getting out of bed after working all morning, moving all afternoon, and dancing all night at Amy and Luke's wedding (which was amazing). I was exhausted, it was midnight, and I just wanted to crack open my book and drift off into hazy dream land. Sorry, guys. It wasn't you, it was me. So naturally I couldn't turn them down on night two. Turns out everyone is pretty great. And we're getting a "house" puppy. You have no idea how excited I am to welcome that little ball of fur into our "family". (Literally a ball of fur. It's a husky!) But aside from the perks, there were some interesting quirks to the place. For one, as soon as I turned on the living room light, a bulb started flickering in a very horror movie-esque fashion. Creepy at night, especially when you're the only one in the apartment. Two, the first shower I tried to take probably took about 10 minutes longer than usual because I couldn't tell if I got all the shampoo out of my hair and the stream of water barely reached my body. Seriously, we had like, zero water pressure. Rough for a girl with really thick curly hair. Third, there were bugs EVERYWHERE. Centipedes in the bedrooms, ants in the kitchen, a giant ant crawling up my arm (yes, I did squeal and almost die). But after spraying the place down with our trusty cleaning supplies (probably not actually intended to kill bugs, but this is college and you have to be resourceful), I haven't found anything creepy crawling up any more of my limbs. :)
So ok, once everything was settled in and I was getting ready to leave for Michigan for the weekend, guess what I did. Seriously guess. No? Ok, I lost my darn phone. My pretty much still brand new iPhone. And I'm about 90% sure it just grew legs and walked away because it's nowhere to be found, and it has to be somewhere in this apartment. (My money is on the ants...) Thankfully my wise old mother (not to insinuate that you're old mom......) told me I should keep my old phone instead of giving it to the nice Verizon man to recycle just in case something happened to my new one. So after over half an hour on the phone with customer service, I am with a phone. It's a total junker, but it sends texts and it makes phone calls, which is good enough for me! But I am on a continual manhunt for my iPhone because I miss unblock me.....yes really, I miss my puzzle app. Haters is gonna hate.
Once my old/new phone was sufficiently active, my old roommate Kristin picked me up from my new place and we were headed to Michigan for a weekend of fun at the beach and seeing our old friends. The drive up was really great. Polar pops, 90s playlist (thanks, Spotify!), and pretty much no major traffic. Once we got to Em's, we prettied ourselves up for girls night out. This is where things get good. So we go to this bar on the corner called Kirby. It has three levels, which coincidentally correspond with the ages of the people in attendance. The top level is for those of the middle ages. Like, your parents' age. Street level was those in between their clubbing phase and their top level phase of life. You know, still trying to cling onto their youth by dancing around in front of the live cover band like this is spring break gone wrong? Yeah. That age. Now that left the three of us with the lower level, also called the Dark Room. Sounds pretty ominous, right? Yeah. Should've headed that warning. So we get downstairs and the first thing we see is lasers. Laser lights everywhere. I had to remind myself that I was in small town, coastal Michigan. However, the people in attendance really made for a great combination with the ambiance. It was like people who were either out of college or who decided higher education was not their forte, who are trying WAY too hard to "liv it up!" like their still in college. The dj was good, so at least the place had that going for it. Mostly though, it was a hot mess. People dancing on each other like it was a bad high school homecoming, people way too old to be drunk out of their minds, drunk out of their minds, and men with cheesy pick up lines trying to get you to go home with them. Yikes. Not my scene. I'm far more of a pub girl than a club girl. Like, the HIMYM (how I met your mother) bar, McClaren's. A place you can have an actual conversation with a person, the atmosphere is nice, and the alcohol is like a bonus. But despite the dismal start, the weekend quickly picked up when we decided to spend the day at the beach on Saturday. It was hot, but armed with a good book, a few gossip magazines, and Lake Michigan, we were prepared for a good time. Turns out if you're white, you should wear sunblock even if it's only May and the UV rays aren't that intense yet. We got so sunburned. Like, crispy burned. Like an entire day's worth of applying aloe still hasn't really calmed it down. Whatever though. My mother always said beauty is painful and after a couple of days, my shoulders will have a nice golden tan to them, thanks to the 1/4 of me that's Mexican. We ate the local grub, numbed our legs in the cold waters of the lake, and had the awkward moment of seeing our bartender from the night before who sucked and thus also who we didn't tip well. Successful weekend if I do say so myself.
Well, I think that's sufficient for now. Feel updated enough on my life? I hope so. Otherwise I may have to call you out on a stalking problem...
Ta-ta for now!
Liz
Monday, May 21, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Ya Dig?
Do you ever have those moments when you see something and you're like, "Oh, I have to have that!"? Yeah? Me too. There are a few things out in the world of fashion that I've been seriously diggin on that I want in my wardrobe so I can wear them every day! So I thought I'd share them with you all, and hopefully I've found some things you love too! Let me know what you think. :)
First of all, this trend of floral pants is way up on the top of my "to buy" list. I mean really, how stinkin' adorable are these?!
Seriously. And then I want to pair them with something like these:
 |
| For the blouse, I would definitely roll the sleeves and tuck the front into the pants, possibly to show off a cute belt! |
I'm also totally into birds. Maybe not so much the actual animal, but their silhouettes. I enjoy a good mural painting session, and I'm thinking about painting a few around my room when I move into my new apartment. Something along the lines of this:
I love birds on necklaces and as a print for tops as well. They can be a really fun, quirky addition to a more subtle outfit.
Peace and love,
Liz.
Confessions of a Self-Proclaimed Introvert
So you're probably wondering when the confessional takes place, and to that I must say, "Hold your horses! Almost there." Because surely, it was the snazzy title I fashioned that brought you here today. But first, you need briefing on why this post is even coming into existence.
So recently, I've had a lot of work to do, which really means I've had a lot of procrastinating happening. Most would procrastinate by, say, visiting friends, watching tv, or perusing the internet for new cat videos. Me? No, I can't be tied down to the absolute normalcy of those various forms of procrastination! Instead, I tend to do a lot of introspection, which is really just a big, fancy word for literally thinking about myself. Soul-searching, if you will. Well, my friends, some of the things I have begun to realize about myself surprised me. Which, really, is quite sad. Ah, the life of a psychology major...always trying to figure people out.
Ok, the part you've been anticipating like Christmas morning (exaggeration? perhaps.).
Things I've realized about myself during the last 12 hours of intensive procrastination:
1. If I have free time, I will fill it with something. Anything. I cannot simply do nothing. Though I suppose I shouldn't say I will fill that time with "anything," because just today I had about 5 hours to work on projects, but instead I decided to go see and movie and take a quick, dearly needed nap (rough night. a different train went by about every hour, blaring its horn, reawakening me from my already restless slumber). I've never been one to just do nothing. My whole life has been scheduled to the minute, starting when I was about 5 years old. School, dance class, soccer practice, home, dinner, bath, bed. Yes, that was my schedule of activities as a 5 year old. And it never did cease. Thinking back to high school, I don't even know how I'm still alive and functioning. I had class for 7 hours a day, then rehearsal of some kind for at least 2 hours, either work or dance class after that, and typically about 5 hours of homework per night on top of that. That's approximately 18 hours of the day jam-packed with things. Rough.
2. Settling down scares the piss out of me. I used to have this mindset of go to college, meet a man, marry by graduation, settle in somewhere not too far from home, kids by 26, two dogs, white picket fence, the whole nine yards. But now, that seriously makes my stomach tie in knots. I've never wanted to explore more in my life than right now. I want to get away from comfort and experience this world we've been blessed with. I want to move far away and start living. Travel. Go on adventures. Meet people. Experience cultures. Funny, how you think you know exactly what you want when you're so young, only to find out its what scares you almost more than anything. Maybe it's fear of commitment. Maybe it's just my form of repressed teenage rebellion finally leaking its way out drop by drop into consciousness. Whatever it is, I know it's not time for me to settle. There's too much life to live to risk wasting while I'm still able. Also, it really is hilarious that it's only after you've come to this determination that your friends try to set you up with guys. (Sorry, those of you who have requested a date. I don't date. I relationship. [Yeah, I turned it into a verb.] So no, I guess I'm not afraid of committing, I'm afraid of commitment holding me back, which is exactly what starting a relationship a year before I graduate and move on from this place would do.) (Also, sorry if that sounded snarky. That wasn't my intention.)
3. I've begun to realize the sheer finite-ness of our existence on this planet, and it's made me appreciate the relationships I have that much more. I'm realizing how much more we should tell people we love them and how we should revel in sharing stories with each other. It's really a bit trite, but there's real truth behind the newly-popular acronym, YOLO. You only live once. Live hard, love harder, share your story with someone, because who knows when the battery on your clock will run out.
Well, that's it. Disclaimer: I swear I was not on any sort of substance, other than caffeine, while I was thinking these thoughts. Sometimes I just get extra caught in the net of thoughts in my mind.
Hope you found what you came here for.
Peace and love,
Liz.
So recently, I've had a lot of work to do, which really means I've had a lot of procrastinating happening. Most would procrastinate by, say, visiting friends, watching tv, or perusing the internet for new cat videos. Me? No, I can't be tied down to the absolute normalcy of those various forms of procrastination! Instead, I tend to do a lot of introspection, which is really just a big, fancy word for literally thinking about myself. Soul-searching, if you will. Well, my friends, some of the things I have begun to realize about myself surprised me. Which, really, is quite sad. Ah, the life of a psychology major...always trying to figure people out.
Ok, the part you've been anticipating like Christmas morning (exaggeration? perhaps.).
Things I've realized about myself during the last 12 hours of intensive procrastination:
1. If I have free time, I will fill it with something. Anything. I cannot simply do nothing. Though I suppose I shouldn't say I will fill that time with "anything," because just today I had about 5 hours to work on projects, but instead I decided to go see and movie and take a quick, dearly needed nap (rough night. a different train went by about every hour, blaring its horn, reawakening me from my already restless slumber). I've never been one to just do nothing. My whole life has been scheduled to the minute, starting when I was about 5 years old. School, dance class, soccer practice, home, dinner, bath, bed. Yes, that was my schedule of activities as a 5 year old. And it never did cease. Thinking back to high school, I don't even know how I'm still alive and functioning. I had class for 7 hours a day, then rehearsal of some kind for at least 2 hours, either work or dance class after that, and typically about 5 hours of homework per night on top of that. That's approximately 18 hours of the day jam-packed with things. Rough.
2. Settling down scares the piss out of me. I used to have this mindset of go to college, meet a man, marry by graduation, settle in somewhere not too far from home, kids by 26, two dogs, white picket fence, the whole nine yards. But now, that seriously makes my stomach tie in knots. I've never wanted to explore more in my life than right now. I want to get away from comfort and experience this world we've been blessed with. I want to move far away and start living. Travel. Go on adventures. Meet people. Experience cultures. Funny, how you think you know exactly what you want when you're so young, only to find out its what scares you almost more than anything. Maybe it's fear of commitment. Maybe it's just my form of repressed teenage rebellion finally leaking its way out drop by drop into consciousness. Whatever it is, I know it's not time for me to settle. There's too much life to live to risk wasting while I'm still able. Also, it really is hilarious that it's only after you've come to this determination that your friends try to set you up with guys. (Sorry, those of you who have requested a date. I don't date. I relationship. [Yeah, I turned it into a verb.] So no, I guess I'm not afraid of committing, I'm afraid of commitment holding me back, which is exactly what starting a relationship a year before I graduate and move on from this place would do.) (Also, sorry if that sounded snarky. That wasn't my intention.)
3. I've begun to realize the sheer finite-ness of our existence on this planet, and it's made me appreciate the relationships I have that much more. I'm realizing how much more we should tell people we love them and how we should revel in sharing stories with each other. It's really a bit trite, but there's real truth behind the newly-popular acronym, YOLO. You only live once. Live hard, love harder, share your story with someone, because who knows when the battery on your clock will run out.
Well, that's it. Disclaimer: I swear I was not on any sort of substance, other than caffeine, while I was thinking these thoughts. Sometimes I just get extra caught in the net of thoughts in my mind.
Hope you found what you came here for.
Peace and love,
Liz.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Movie and Music Monday Recs
Hey all! So I'm thinking of starting a new thing with this blog called Movie and Music Monday Recs where I recommend some of the new things I'm digging in the worlds of cinema and sound. Got a suggestion? Leave it in the comment box! I'm always up for hearing about new things, and if I really like a suggestion, I'll post it for the following week's recommendations.
I can't imagine going a day without listening to music. Recently, I've really been into Fleet Foxes's self-titled album from 2008. It's great if you're looking for something to relax to. Their sound is something rather unique with folky vocals and acoustic guitar led instrumentals, combining two and three part harmonies. Songs like Sun It Rises will bring out your inner flower child, but in a modernized way. Others, like White Winter Hymnal and Ragged Wood, will make you want to go on a countryside drive with the windows down while the summer breeze billows through your hair. Check out their album on iTunes here.
Alright. Well, I'm about to head out to check out a movie I have high hopes for recommending for next week! Until then, hope you have a great day!
Love always,
Liz
Alright. Well, I'm about to head out to check out a movie I have high hopes for recommending for next week! Until then, hope you have a great day!
Love always,
Liz
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Flexibility
So, after months of being so busy I could barely breathe without having to put it on a schedule, I'm back! And I have news.
Even in the midst of writing this post, I can't decide how I want to put this. The news is rather bittersweet, as are most decisions, but what it really comes down to is flexibility. I'll start at about the midway point, where commitments were made.
As those of you who know me knew, I planned on spending about a week and a half this summer over in Nairobi, Kenya working with kids in a VBS camp. The trip would be from July 26-August 6, perfect timing to save lots of money from working over the summer and not too close to going back to classes. And we would be working with kiddos around the ages of 6-12, which is my favorite age. And if that wasn't enough, we would be going on a safari and maybe even helping break ground at a new site for a church and school. Sounds amazing, right? I thought so too. (Not to say I don't think this will still be amazing. Just realized that sounded weird.)
Also on the agenda this summer was a trip to visit my grandma. We (my family) weren't too sure of when, but figured it would be after she headed back to Florida after my little brother's graduation in late May/early June. Obviously, this posed no conflict with the Kenya trip, and I would be getting to spend some actual quality time with relatives in an attempt to restore the bond as family. (As my dad says, "the farther away you are, the more you just become relatives. When you actually live life around each other, know what each other enjoys and dislikes, spend holidays together, come over just because you missed seeing each other, that's family.") Needless to say, I was super excited about the looming summer, and was trying to not let the summeritis get the best of me while I finished up my last couple months of school.
As time went on, I eagerly attended Kenya team meetings, growing in excitement with every new lesson we learned. The biggest point stressed to us during those meetings continued to be: whatever happens, just be flexible. I didn't think anything of it. I'm pretty good at going with the flow of things. I didn't realize what a warning that would be to me in the next couple of weeks as every plan I had for my summer was tossed out the window.
Thankfully when I got the phone call from my dad it was a Sunday night, just after I got home from Fuel (weekly church service, for those of you who didn't know), and was in high spirits. He called to tell me that the trip to visit my grandma had been changed because family from Switzerland wanted to fly us out to spend time with them, and the only dates that worked were July 17-August 3.
Crap.
Right in the middle of the Kenya trip.
Obviously my dad told me that I needed to make a decision soon because they, my Swiss family, needed to secure our airfare. Seriously? I have like, five days to make this decision? This is huge! Either way, I'm going to be letting a group of people down, whether that is my Kenya team or my family. So, as most girls do, I immediately called my best friend to talk/cry/desperately try to reach a decision. She told me to pray about it and above all else, go with my heart. I think even then I knew what I really wanted to do, but I couldn't lessen some of the other variables at play. After an extreme list of mental pros and cons, I remembered that I had no idea if I could even drop the Kenya trip if I wanted/needed. So I stumbled over to my computer, shot an email to my team leader, sat down and talked to our Fuel pastor, and found out that there is legitimately room for one person to drop out of the trip.
One.
So I thought about it some more, prayed about it, had a small army of friends praying for me as well, and when my dad called me right in the middle of small group yesterday, I picked up and told him I'd call him back.
Got you. :)
But really, after I called my dad back, I told him to tell grandma I'm going with her. I knew I had to go with my gut, and my gut told me to build my relationship with my grandma. Factors contributing to this decision: she's not getting any younger or moving any closer so I should try to get to know her as best as I can while I still have the time, no matter where I go, God will use me right where I am, my family approves of this trip while they were not very willing to hand over my passport for Kenya, and I want to honor my parents' wishes while I'm still technically living under their provision, I will probably never have another opportunity to visit my family in Switzerland, all expenses paid, I can go on another trip to Africa, whatever money I had earned for my trip to Kenya will be split among the rest of the team, edging them each closer to their goal, I will probably not go on another trip with that exact team of people, but I will be spending the entire school year with them, and we can share our stories when we all get back, nobody is going to Europe on a mission trip, and while ok, technically this isn't a mission trip, everywhere you go as a Christian is your mission field, and I plan on taking that to heart and making it obvious through my actions that this is what a Christian life looks like.
So really, that word flexibility had a lot more meaning behind it when I heard it about a month ago than I believed it would. God calls us all to be flexible. Sometimes, we think our timing is right, when really it's not. I do believe I should spend some time in Africa, but right now is just not that time. I also pray that my Kenya teammates can be flexible and understand my reason for pulling out of this trip. I hope that they don't take it personally, because I dearly care for each of them, and I know that God has big things planned for them all. I can't wait to come back from this experience and be able to share with my teammates how God was working through me and my family while He was working through them with the kids down in Nairobi.
Well, that's my story. I hope the meaning of flexibility is something that I continue to grown in, learning selflessness and becoming a more attuned listener. Hope you got something out of reading this, as always with anything I write. :)
Love always,
Liz.
P.s. I got confirmation this morning that this trip with my family is exactly where I need to be, since I'll have the opportunity to talk to a couple family members who have been burned by Christians before. It'll be two and a half weeks of me showing them what it REALLY looks like to be a Christian: loving and caring and pretty normal. So really, that's what I need prayer for; to live an upstanding life while on this trip and to be a great example to my family so they can see that just because one person or one church wrote them off or wronged them, that's not God's heart for them. Thanks!!! :))
Even in the midst of writing this post, I can't decide how I want to put this. The news is rather bittersweet, as are most decisions, but what it really comes down to is flexibility. I'll start at about the midway point, where commitments were made.
As those of you who know me knew, I planned on spending about a week and a half this summer over in Nairobi, Kenya working with kids in a VBS camp. The trip would be from July 26-August 6, perfect timing to save lots of money from working over the summer and not too close to going back to classes. And we would be working with kiddos around the ages of 6-12, which is my favorite age. And if that wasn't enough, we would be going on a safari and maybe even helping break ground at a new site for a church and school. Sounds amazing, right? I thought so too. (Not to say I don't think this will still be amazing. Just realized that sounded weird.)
Also on the agenda this summer was a trip to visit my grandma. We (my family) weren't too sure of when, but figured it would be after she headed back to Florida after my little brother's graduation in late May/early June. Obviously, this posed no conflict with the Kenya trip, and I would be getting to spend some actual quality time with relatives in an attempt to restore the bond as family. (As my dad says, "the farther away you are, the more you just become relatives. When you actually live life around each other, know what each other enjoys and dislikes, spend holidays together, come over just because you missed seeing each other, that's family.") Needless to say, I was super excited about the looming summer, and was trying to not let the summeritis get the best of me while I finished up my last couple months of school.
As time went on, I eagerly attended Kenya team meetings, growing in excitement with every new lesson we learned. The biggest point stressed to us during those meetings continued to be: whatever happens, just be flexible. I didn't think anything of it. I'm pretty good at going with the flow of things. I didn't realize what a warning that would be to me in the next couple of weeks as every plan I had for my summer was tossed out the window.
Thankfully when I got the phone call from my dad it was a Sunday night, just after I got home from Fuel (weekly church service, for those of you who didn't know), and was in high spirits. He called to tell me that the trip to visit my grandma had been changed because family from Switzerland wanted to fly us out to spend time with them, and the only dates that worked were July 17-August 3.
Crap.
Right in the middle of the Kenya trip.
Obviously my dad told me that I needed to make a decision soon because they, my Swiss family, needed to secure our airfare. Seriously? I have like, five days to make this decision? This is huge! Either way, I'm going to be letting a group of people down, whether that is my Kenya team or my family. So, as most girls do, I immediately called my best friend to talk/cry/desperately try to reach a decision. She told me to pray about it and above all else, go with my heart. I think even then I knew what I really wanted to do, but I couldn't lessen some of the other variables at play. After an extreme list of mental pros and cons, I remembered that I had no idea if I could even drop the Kenya trip if I wanted/needed. So I stumbled over to my computer, shot an email to my team leader, sat down and talked to our Fuel pastor, and found out that there is legitimately room for one person to drop out of the trip.
One.
So I thought about it some more, prayed about it, had a small army of friends praying for me as well, and when my dad called me right in the middle of small group yesterday, I picked up and told him I'd call him back.
Got you. :)
But really, after I called my dad back, I told him to tell grandma I'm going with her. I knew I had to go with my gut, and my gut told me to build my relationship with my grandma. Factors contributing to this decision: she's not getting any younger or moving any closer so I should try to get to know her as best as I can while I still have the time, no matter where I go, God will use me right where I am, my family approves of this trip while they were not very willing to hand over my passport for Kenya, and I want to honor my parents' wishes while I'm still technically living under their provision, I will probably never have another opportunity to visit my family in Switzerland, all expenses paid, I can go on another trip to Africa, whatever money I had earned for my trip to Kenya will be split among the rest of the team, edging them each closer to their goal, I will probably not go on another trip with that exact team of people, but I will be spending the entire school year with them, and we can share our stories when we all get back, nobody is going to Europe on a mission trip, and while ok, technically this isn't a mission trip, everywhere you go as a Christian is your mission field, and I plan on taking that to heart and making it obvious through my actions that this is what a Christian life looks like.
So really, that word flexibility had a lot more meaning behind it when I heard it about a month ago than I believed it would. God calls us all to be flexible. Sometimes, we think our timing is right, when really it's not. I do believe I should spend some time in Africa, but right now is just not that time. I also pray that my Kenya teammates can be flexible and understand my reason for pulling out of this trip. I hope that they don't take it personally, because I dearly care for each of them, and I know that God has big things planned for them all. I can't wait to come back from this experience and be able to share with my teammates how God was working through me and my family while He was working through them with the kids down in Nairobi.
Well, that's my story. I hope the meaning of flexibility is something that I continue to grown in, learning selflessness and becoming a more attuned listener. Hope you got something out of reading this, as always with anything I write. :)
Love always,
Liz.
P.s. I got confirmation this morning that this trip with my family is exactly where I need to be, since I'll have the opportunity to talk to a couple family members who have been burned by Christians before. It'll be two and a half weeks of me showing them what it REALLY looks like to be a Christian: loving and caring and pretty normal. So really, that's what I need prayer for; to live an upstanding life while on this trip and to be a great example to my family so they can see that just because one person or one church wrote them off or wronged them, that's not God's heart for them. Thanks!!! :))
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Trust Worthy
Maybe you're wondering why I separated those two words which seemingly easily make a much better compound word when combined. Well kids, here's the story.
It was January 13th and it was the first night of our leadership team advance; a time and place where we, as a leadership team at our college ministry, are able to get to know each other a bit better, pray for the semester ahead of us, be fed through our pastors' teachings, and plan out our semester small groups or outreach events. We had just finished a rather great night of prayer and teaching and worship when it was announced that 2nd semester leaders who weren't on the team 1st semester (that's me) could sign up for a small missions team to head down to Kenya this summer for a couple of weeks. At this my heart leaped and skipped a beat at the same time. It had been close to a year that Africa was on my heart--I knew I needed to be on that trip. So naturally, I put my name down on the "interested" list. I went home, praised God for the opportunity, and rested.
The next day we had more teaching, prayer, and planning. Before we broke off into house kids and small group leaders though we had a small amount of time for the Kenya kids to meet and discuss just a little more what would be necessary to go on the trip. Things like a passport, a willing heart, and $2,000. And that's when I got scared. As a girl who struggles to make ends meet every month with rent and groceries, the thought of finding $2,000 was staggering. But I knew if God had called me to this, He would provide. I trusted His word and I found solace in knowing I would be taken care of.
I started this blog in hopes that by attaching my paypal account to it and adding a little "donate" button at the top of the page, people would be moved by the story and want to give to my cause. It didn't take long for me to realize that wasn't the case. Surely I'm excited that people are continuing to read and be updated and here my stories, don't get me wrong, but the fact that not a single person had given a single dollar was disheartening. And haven't had any donations yet. Not one person has opened up their wallet on this blog. Which lead me to begin to doubt. Was God really going to provide for me? I hadn't seen any sign of it yet, especially since my parents are so much against supporting me and restricted me from sending support letters to any of my family, whether they would be willing to give or not. I didn't know where to turn. I thought about donating plasma or picking up babysitting where I could on top of my other job, or picking up any leftover shifts at Barnes and Noble, or even selling my old ipod or clothes or computer. With my school schedule, work schedule, and leadership meetings I wasn't able to pick up any available shifts at work. None of the families I've babysat for before got back to me. I don't have the right forms of identification with me to donate plasma. I was stuck. I figured I may as well just tell them I can't go.
But then I decided to pray instead. I prayed a desperate prayer. God, I need a miracle here. I have no money, I really don't even think I'll have enough for rent at the end of the month, and I have no idea how I'm going to come across $250 extra by this Tuesday. God I need you to provide. You're my only hope.
And He did.
My miracle went to coffee with me tonight, neither or us aware of what was in store, and after hearing about how I had no idea how I was going to find the money she wrote me a check for $250. Never having experienced this kind of generosity towards myself I looked at her and told her to stop writing. She didn't have to do this for me. But she insisted. "I have the money, you need it. It's that simple. Here." With tears forming in my eyes I took her check. "Just don't cash it tomorrow. I'll need to move a little money around." (Which obviously won't be a problem since banks aren't open on Sundays anyway.) I never expected my miracle to be so close all along. Of course, there's still about $1750 to go, but she assured me it'll be nothing for God and I'll find it no problem.
So what's the take-away here? How about this: God is absolutely worthy of our complete trust. And that is why there is a space up there in the title. Because I think it's important to distinguish the two words. If God can provide $250 from a student in one night, just imagine what He can do with all of your reading this. (Well, I suppose I shouldn't assume there are tons of you reading this. Statistically, it's probably about 10 or 11 of you.) But I digress. If you want to be a part of this story in funding my trip, please don't hesitate to click the donate button at the top. If you're not feeling donating and rather believe you need to be a part in partnering in prayer, that's fantastic as well. But no matter what, be faithful in prayer and continue to listen as God tells you how you can help (anywhere, not necessarily just here).
Blessings loves,
Liz.
It was January 13th and it was the first night of our leadership team advance; a time and place where we, as a leadership team at our college ministry, are able to get to know each other a bit better, pray for the semester ahead of us, be fed through our pastors' teachings, and plan out our semester small groups or outreach events. We had just finished a rather great night of prayer and teaching and worship when it was announced that 2nd semester leaders who weren't on the team 1st semester (that's me) could sign up for a small missions team to head down to Kenya this summer for a couple of weeks. At this my heart leaped and skipped a beat at the same time. It had been close to a year that Africa was on my heart--I knew I needed to be on that trip. So naturally, I put my name down on the "interested" list. I went home, praised God for the opportunity, and rested.
The next day we had more teaching, prayer, and planning. Before we broke off into house kids and small group leaders though we had a small amount of time for the Kenya kids to meet and discuss just a little more what would be necessary to go on the trip. Things like a passport, a willing heart, and $2,000. And that's when I got scared. As a girl who struggles to make ends meet every month with rent and groceries, the thought of finding $2,000 was staggering. But I knew if God had called me to this, He would provide. I trusted His word and I found solace in knowing I would be taken care of.
I started this blog in hopes that by attaching my paypal account to it and adding a little "donate" button at the top of the page, people would be moved by the story and want to give to my cause. It didn't take long for me to realize that wasn't the case. Surely I'm excited that people are continuing to read and be updated and here my stories, don't get me wrong, but the fact that not a single person had given a single dollar was disheartening. And haven't had any donations yet. Not one person has opened up their wallet on this blog. Which lead me to begin to doubt. Was God really going to provide for me? I hadn't seen any sign of it yet, especially since my parents are so much against supporting me and restricted me from sending support letters to any of my family, whether they would be willing to give or not. I didn't know where to turn. I thought about donating plasma or picking up babysitting where I could on top of my other job, or picking up any leftover shifts at Barnes and Noble, or even selling my old ipod or clothes or computer. With my school schedule, work schedule, and leadership meetings I wasn't able to pick up any available shifts at work. None of the families I've babysat for before got back to me. I don't have the right forms of identification with me to donate plasma. I was stuck. I figured I may as well just tell them I can't go.
But then I decided to pray instead. I prayed a desperate prayer. God, I need a miracle here. I have no money, I really don't even think I'll have enough for rent at the end of the month, and I have no idea how I'm going to come across $250 extra by this Tuesday. God I need you to provide. You're my only hope.
And He did.
My miracle went to coffee with me tonight, neither or us aware of what was in store, and after hearing about how I had no idea how I was going to find the money she wrote me a check for $250. Never having experienced this kind of generosity towards myself I looked at her and told her to stop writing. She didn't have to do this for me. But she insisted. "I have the money, you need it. It's that simple. Here." With tears forming in my eyes I took her check. "Just don't cash it tomorrow. I'll need to move a little money around." (Which obviously won't be a problem since banks aren't open on Sundays anyway.) I never expected my miracle to be so close all along. Of course, there's still about $1750 to go, but she assured me it'll be nothing for God and I'll find it no problem.
So what's the take-away here? How about this: God is absolutely worthy of our complete trust. And that is why there is a space up there in the title. Because I think it's important to distinguish the two words. If God can provide $250 from a student in one night, just imagine what He can do with all of your reading this. (Well, I suppose I shouldn't assume there are tons of you reading this. Statistically, it's probably about 10 or 11 of you.) But I digress. If you want to be a part of this story in funding my trip, please don't hesitate to click the donate button at the top. If you're not feeling donating and rather believe you need to be a part in partnering in prayer, that's fantastic as well. But no matter what, be faithful in prayer and continue to listen as God tells you how you can help (anywhere, not necessarily just here).
Blessings loves,
Liz.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
100th
I hit my first 100 views today guys!! I was really excited about it. But that's not the most excited thing that happened today.
My co-leader, Chloe, and I had our first small group of the semester tonight and it was absolutely fantastic!! We were nervous we would get girls who were afraid to get personal and disclose anything about their lives, but boy were we wrong to worry. We have some really great girls with unique personalities who are all meeting at a common goal: to grow deeper with God and learn more about His heart for each of us and to be more in tune with His voice each day. They came up with some great goals for our group and expectations for us as leaders. They were all warm and inviting and I just can't wait for next week when I get to meet more of them and get to know the ones who came tonight better. It's going to be a fantastic semester and I am just praising God for bringing such wonderful people into my life. :)
Also, if you know anything about my friends, SO MANY BABIES!!! Seriously. Little blessings being brought into the world everywhere! And I love it. :)
In short, it's been a good day even though I had my least favorite and most frustrating class and work was rather rough and I'm running on almost zero hours of sleep. And I'm excited. (wink wink small group girls.)
Have a blessed day! (what's left of it!)
Liz.
My co-leader, Chloe, and I had our first small group of the semester tonight and it was absolutely fantastic!! We were nervous we would get girls who were afraid to get personal and disclose anything about their lives, but boy were we wrong to worry. We have some really great girls with unique personalities who are all meeting at a common goal: to grow deeper with God and learn more about His heart for each of us and to be more in tune with His voice each day. They came up with some great goals for our group and expectations for us as leaders. They were all warm and inviting and I just can't wait for next week when I get to meet more of them and get to know the ones who came tonight better. It's going to be a fantastic semester and I am just praising God for bringing such wonderful people into my life. :)
Also, if you know anything about my friends, SO MANY BABIES!!! Seriously. Little blessings being brought into the world everywhere! And I love it. :)
In short, it's been a good day even though I had my least favorite and most frustrating class and work was rather rough and I'm running on almost zero hours of sleep. And I'm excited. (wink wink small group girls.)
Have a blessed day! (what's left of it!)
Liz.
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