Reason for the Season: An Act of Humbling Ourselves

I don't really have any pictures that go along with today's post, but I will attach one that has nothing to do with it and see if I can tie it into what I have to say!


As some of you may know, today is in fact Ash Wednesday and is the first day of the season of Lent which lasts 40 days. This season represents the 40 days that Jesus was fasting in the wilderness.  It is celebrated by Christians all over the world to prepare for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Easter Sunday.  I have always practiced lent to some extent and always somewhat knew what it meant, or was supposed to mean, but I never truly grasped how I was supposed to be affected by it.  Over the next 40 days many people will be giving up different things as a sacrifice.  Something that will be difficult for them to give up in order to humble themselves before the Lord.  


"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you." 
James 4:10


God made the ultimate sacrifice; the death of His son on the cross.  Usually I give up something like soft drinks or fried food, but as I was thinking about it this year I realized that this wouldn't be too difficult for me and in no way would bring me closer to Christ.  Therefore, giving up something like that, for me, would defeat the purpose and I would completely miss the point of these next 40 days.  I have spent hours upon hours toiling over what to give up this year and it hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday after I had prayed about it and I knew exactly what I needed to give up. 


This year for Lent, I am giving up negativity.  Now I know you're thinking, "How in the world do you give up negativity?"  Well, its not going to be easy, but I believe that giving up a negative attitude is what is best for my spiritual growth over the next 40 days and in no way will it be easy.  It will be an addition to my daily walk and will keep me on my toes.  This idea came about the other day when something went wrong and all I could do was be negative about it.  I am always finding myself looking at the glass half empty instead of looking at it as a glass sitting next to the pitcher of water (or whatever your optimistic/pessimistic glass is filled with) that God is holding.  I read a verse recently that most of us know:


"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24


This really got me to thinking.  How many times a week or a day does something not go the way that we plan it and it puts us in an almost irreversible sour mood.  Why not look at these situations as opportunities instead of impossible obstacles.  Under the category of negativity, for me, comes lack of faith and a heavy dose of worry and fear.  Why? I know they aren't the same thing, but when I really thought about it, my occasional lack of faith/trust and fear/worry usually is the source of my negativity.  That being said, I have found that this is something I struggle with very much and that one thing that I just can't seem to let go of.  So for Lent this year, I am giving up negativity in the hopes that this will be the one sacrifice that will truly bring me closer to Christ and strengthen my walk with Him.  


James 1:2-3 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."
Proverbs 17:22 says, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."


These verses really struck me when I was reading them on Monday night.  It was the first step in making my decision to give up negativity.  I hope that in these next 40 days I will be able to hold true to my sacrifice.  It will definitely be a challenge for me, but I do know that with persistence and complete faith in Christ I will be able to start seeing life through brand new eyes.  I'm in no way feeling like I've bitten off more than I can chew, but instead feel like I am making a decision that will affect me for more than the next 40 days...a learning and growing experience.  

This picture reminds me of just how awesome our God really is and that if we look very carefully, He has placed such beauty and wonder in front of us.  We just need to take the time to look around for it and truly appreciate His goodness...its right before our eyes. :)  

Ministry, Allergies, and Reality Checks

The last place I left off was the weekend as I recall.  To bring you all up to date, I will begin my post with the happenings of Sunday.


Like all Sundays, I started out the day with a wonderful church service at North Oxford Baptist Church.  I just love getting to go to church and knowing that I am guaranteed a wonderful message from the pastor.  After church I ate lunch at South Depot Taco Shop (I think that's what its called) on the square and it was really really good! I had a Memphis BBQ taco...if BBQ is an option, I will choose it, even if it is in taco form.  Yummy!  The best part about Sunday was after lunch.  Zack and I have started a new ministry for college students to serve in one of the nursing homes in Oxford.  So many times older people are put into these living facilities and just forgotten about.  Our generation needs so badly to learn from the older generations and give our time to them.  Our goal is to dedicate at least an hour a week to working puzzles, play games, and simply sharing life with these wonderful people!  It truly was an amazing experience and I'm so looking forward to the rest of the Sundays I will be spending at the nursing home.


Then there comes Monday.  I am not a Monday person usually, but this semester it helps that I only have one class.  When I walked into class, the teacher announced that she was handing back our tests that we had taken almost two weeks ago.  I was pretty nervous because this was the test that I had taken without having the material to study because the book was out of stock in the bookstore.  Needless to say, I had learned almost all of it only moments before the test, at least I hoped I had.  Well she calls my name and I look at my paper and I see a 95! I was so pleasantly surprised and thankful!  After class I decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather and do my training outside! Yay!!  Two miles, later, I got into my car all sweaty and nasty and it hit me...my allergies.  I literally sneezed seven times in a row...SEVEN!  Unfortunately, this continued on for the entire day along with a lovely headache and a stuffy nose. :(  On the bright side, the nature that caused my allergies to terrorize me was absolutely beautiful!


Last but definitely not least, today itself.  Today was a fairly good day except of one thing...a reality check.  Yes I am 19, no I am not invincible.  Why do I say this?  Well yesterday I obviously didn't take stretching too seriously before and after my run.  Sometimes I think we all get in the mindset that we are in a way invincible.  I had that mindset yesterday and paid for it in full today.  I could hardly move at all.  Everything from my knee up to my waist was stiff and in such pain that walking down the stairs and to all my classes was a million times more difficult than it should have been.  Luckily, the pain had subsided immensely by the end of the day and I got to take Paisley on a one mile walk.  She has  a whole lot of learning to do when it comes to walking on a leash!




I couldn't resist posting these last few pictures from yesterday of Paisley.  This laziness is exactly why she is my new official running buddy.  This dog will literally fall asleep anywhere!!  She even decided to lay down on the side of the road in the middle of our walk today!  Thank goodness she is so cute!

Fun, Fun, Fun

Well as you can see I am world's worst at updating you guys on my life every single day.  To be honest though, it stresses me out and after much thought I have decided that the last thing I need is MORE stress.  So instead of straining to post something every day and in order to keep from having boring posts about mounds of school work all of the time, I decided that if my day was not that interesting then I would wait until I had something worth writing about.  

So this post is going to be about the past few days!  Its been a great start to the weekend so far and I can't wait for the rest of today and tomorrow.  Sunday is probably my favorite day of the weekend.  As we all know, Valentine's day was this weekend.  I did have a lovely day, but I have already written about that, but the next day I received 2 special valentines in the mail and I was so excited! I absolutely LOVE getting mail!  Both my grandma and my mother sent me sweet cards that brightened my day.  They were exactly what I needed.  Its so wonderful getting things like that in the mail because some days are just rough and getting something in the mailbox from a friend or family member always reminds me that someone is thinking about me and cares...it really makes a difference.  People just don't take the time for "snail mail" anymore...its such a shame!


Then there is Thursday night.  I will start at about noon on Thursday with my story.  Pre-story:  A few weeks ago Zack informed me that the School of Pharmacy was having a formal and asked if I would like to go, and of course I agreed.  Well, about a week ago he decided that he didn't really want to go and because of that I busied my Thursday expecting to do nothing that night...WRONG.  Actual story:  I was informed at noon on Thursday (day of the formal)  that we were in fact going.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!  So of course a million problems starting flashing through my mind, "What am I going to wear? How do I fix my hair? How am I going to do my makeup? When am I going to find time to get ready?"  Even though I panicked and had an hour to get ready, for those of you who know me, this is a major deal, I was able to get ready in time and had wonderful fun!  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of us, and I'm kicking myself for it!  


And now we make it to last night.  I love Fridays.  Usually because it is the one day that I have absolutely nothing to do and no obligations.  It was a lazy day for me until about 5:30 when Zack and I went to a birthday party at one of the parks in Oxford and we took Paisley!  She needed some fresh air after being in her crate all day.  After the party, Zack had to go somewhere so I took Paisley back to my apartment with me and we watched Bride-day Friday on TLC!  One of my favorites, and yes, Paisley will sit and watch TV!  After a few hours, Zack came and picked us up and we went and had a wonderful dinner with his family and hung out over there for a while.  Makes me miss family nights back at home with my own family, but I'm glad they are sweet enough to let me hang out with them.  






So with all of you updated on my life, its time for me to peace out and get my Saturday rolling!

Perfect Valentines

So many of you know, I am not a big fan of Valentine's Day...at all.  I honestly begged Zack not to get anything for me.  Did he listen? Of course not! But like he promised, I didn't mind at all once I opened my gift.  After a pretty rough and frustrating days, I was awakened from my nap to a knock on my apartment door.  Knowing good and well I was the only one who was there to answer the door, I opened it to find my sweet boyfriend with a massive bouquet of flowers and a cute little gift bag.  I should have taken a picture, but that probably wouldn't have gone over well...he still hasn't gotten over the random picture thing for this blog, especially when he has to be in a picture by himself.  


ANYWAYS...after he convinced me to actually open my gift, I was so thrilled to be the proud owner of Lady and the Tramp (one of my favorites), twizzlers, and reese's.  He knows me so well and I am so blessed. (It's Valentine's Day so I'm allowed to be mushy!)  He has been getting  his Valentine's Day gifts over the past week or so.  His gifts were as follows:  2.5 dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies, brownies, 3 more chocolate chip cookies that were (we ate them already) shaped like hearts, and dinner (Chicken Enchiladas).


To keep the day going badly because it was just one of those days, I didn't have dinner ready for him until 9:00.  He is so patient with me, thank goodness.  It did turn out to be very good, or so he says, and I didn't take a picture of it because by the time it was ready, we were absolutely STARVING! After dinner, Paisley, Zack, and I all sat down and watched Lady and the Tramp...we did catch Paisley looking up at the movie every now and then! Too cute!


Even though I did have a valentine this year, I like to remember that the only valentine we ever need is God.  His love surpasses any amount of love that another human heart can give us or that we can give another.  So many times I see people so upset when they don't have someone to spend February 14th with and I just think, "Don't be upset! God loves you! He is the PERFECT valentine!"  We often forget that and its definitely something worth remembering before you eat your weight in your favorite Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor!  Not only is God the perfect valentine, but He has your forever (human) valentine picked out especially for you and is just waiting for the perfect time to place him/her into your life.  




With all that being said, I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day! :)

Awakening

Wow...what a weekend!

Me and the other leaders for my group

This past weekend I went to a small church in Batesville to help lead teenage girls at a Disciple Now event.  This was something that I had never done before, but recently I had felt called to step up and do more leadership things.  I was a bit worried about how the weekend was going to go, sadly, a lack of faith.  When I found out that I was going to be doing this I began praying constantly for these girls that I hadn't even met yet that somehow, some way, the Lord would stir their hearts.  I  had no idea before hand what I was going into and what the girls were like or even how many of them there would be.  All I knew was that I had no clue what I was going to say to these girls this weekend and I had no idea that the outcome would be as wonderful as it was.

I had five girls this weekend ranging between the ages of 11 and 17.  This was the first challenge for me.  I had no clue how I was going to relate to all of these different age girls at the same time! But again, I just closed my eyes for a moment and prayed and asked God to use me in the way He saw fit and to give me the words I needed to share the gospel with these girls.  

ALL of us girls!

I won't go into all of the ups and downs of this weekend because I could talk for hours about this "awakening" experience.  However, I will say that this weekend was filled with many ups and many downs, many tears, laughs, and hugs.  God did some incredible things in the hearts of these teenagers this week and even in my own heart.  Giving the control to God was the best approach I could have taken and is one that most of us fail to take.  I learned to love each and every one of those girls this weekend and formed a tight bond with each and every one of them.  I saw the greatness of God so many times that I'm sure I left more affected than they did!  I'm so excited to see what God continues to do in these girls' lives and am so overjoyed to say that two of my girls accepted Jesus into their hearts over the course of the past few days...what an encouragement!  

I would like to ask that you all pray for each of these girls.  Pray that they continue to walk towards Christ and to seek him whole heartedly without anything holding them back.  I know He has great plans not only for them, but for each and every one of us.  I was very blessed to be humbled like I was this weekend and to be able to spread God's word with these young girls!

Paisley

Well I think the pictures in this post speak for themselves. This is Paisley, Zack's new puppy. She is probably the cutest thing in the world. He rescued her from the shelter and she is the only girl of 5 boys, poor thing!  She is half lab half anatolian shepherd and will end up being massive!  I think she likes me more though and maybe he will let me steal her as my running buddy (crossing my fingers!) We've already bonded quite well, I guess. When we were takin her to Petsmart to get all her things, she decided to throw up ALL OVER ME. It was one of those moments when all you can do is either laugh or cry or laugh until you cry. I took the third option. It wasn't her best first impression, but with those eyes, I couldn't be mad at her.  I'm honestly just glad it was his car and NOT mine!  I'm sure there will be PLENTY of pictures of her in the upcoming posts, she is the perfect model for my photography practice! Maybe he'll even let me dress her up! :) 

So Blessed

Can I just say that today was such a great day!


I won't go into all the in and outs about the things that made today so good because this post would literally be pages and I honestly am too tired to write that much! However, I will ramble about the highlight of my day! Tonight I got the chance to eat with Zack and his family. It was so wonderful! Great food and fun company! But my highlight is after dinner Zack took me back home and before we were to catch up on one of my TV shows, I had to finish up some homework. It wasn't too difficult at first, but then I t got a little tricky! Luckily he was sweet enough to help me. It literally made my day! So there is today's post, short an sweet! :)

Happy Tummy, Happy Kate

Happy Monday you guys! I know you're thinking, "Wow you're a little spirited for it to be a Monday!" I'm also quite surprised with my chipper-ness. Today started out HORRIBLY. I had a test today for one of my education classes and it was miserable. It wouldn't have been so bad if the bookstore had ordered enough books allowing all of us to have to material to study properly...so frustrating. Luckily, a girl in my class was sweet enough to help me out and teach me the things I didn't know before class started! 


After class I decided to sleep off this funk I was settling into and I'm very glad I did because it turned my day completely around. When I woke up, I got a PB&J and started my quiet time. It was so pretty outside so I decided, why not have it on my porch?! Awesome decision. When I had finished my quiet time, Zack and I went on a mission. A group of us college students are starting up a nursing home ministry and we went on the hunt for a nursing home to minister to. Found it! I can't wait to do life with these people every Sunday afternoon! Afterwards we went and got ice cream...it was so good. Wonderful. Fabulous. Then I finished up my homework. 


Then there is dinner. Oh my goodness. Zack knows me well. BBQ. I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner. Finally after dinner, I ended the day by going to FCA and heard a great message! Can't wait to go back next week! As you can see, it's been a long day which means I'm VERY tired so...good night readers! :)

Go Giants!!

And the Giants win the super bowl!!!! Let me just say that I am thrilled about the outcome of this years game! I got to watch the Super Bowl with my church's college group this evening. It was so wonderful getting to spend time with all of these wonderful people and getting to meet new people that I had never even met! Did I mention how happy I am that the Giants won?! :)

Something's Fishy

So today started out like any other Saturday, very slowly.  I'm not really a morning person when it comes to Saturdays, but I guess that will have to change once my runs get longer and longer.  Back to my point...  Today I decided to do a little bit of laundry, so I took my towels out to the washer and got that going.  That is when I looked over and literally could not see my fish.  Now me not being able to see her wasn't because she wasn't there or her fish bowl had been moved, it was because her water was completely opaque.  With the lights on and the blinds open all you could see was a little fishy shadow swimming back and forth.  Guys, you have no idea how confused I was.  Last night her water was practically fresh!

For those of you who don't know, I'm a little scared of fish.  I usually do not have to take on the task of cleaning Hermionie's fish bowl alone.  Zack does it.  Just the fact that she flops around in the next really creeps me out and has only ever led to screams and tears.  This posed a major problem.  Zack is out of town.  What was I to do??  Well I decided that I obviously couldn't leave her in that horribly nasty water until he was able to get her out of the bowl for me, so I took a deep breath, said a little prayer, and got to cleaning.  I'm sure you won't be upset that I didn't take a picture of the dirty water, trust me, it was DISGUSTING.  But the after pictures turned out very nice. :)

After cleaning that gross bowl and washing my hands thoroughly for a couple of minutes, I decided to make cookies!  Little did I know I would be spending hours in the kitchen today.  I made about 4 dozen cookies and it took FOREVER!  Needless to say I'm set with cookies for a while.  By the time I finished the cookies it was getting close to dinner time and after all my hard work today I was not going to settle for a measly PB&J.  So I made some homemade mashed potatoes and some chicken strips with BBQ sauce.  It was delicious.  Ending my day with this meal and a couple of episodes of Seinfeld was the icing on the cake! (Don't worry, I didn't make a cake too!)  


Now that my evening is winding down I'm looking forward to my quiet time (Proverbs 4 and Romans 4).  One of my favorite verses comes from Proverbs 4:12, it says "When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble."  How encouraging this is!  I love this verse so much because it is such a beautiful reminder that I can let go of my struggles and hand them over to God.  I can take leaps of faith and run to Him and He will not let me fall.

Quiet Time

Today has been quite a relaxing day for me!  I got to sleep late because I have 3 day weekends this semester...love it!  When I woke up, I got ready for the day and Zack brought me lunch before he had to leave for FCA retreat this weekend.  He's too sweet! I love Taco Bell and that is exactly what he brought me!  See Taco Bell is one of those things that I have to be in the mood for...good thing because if not, I would eat it ALL the time!  It definitely hit the spot! Yummy!  I'm always amused by the hot sauce packets and their funny messages.  We got a good laugh at a few of them!


After he left, I decided that I wouldn't spend the rainy Friday being unproductive.  I refused.  So I immediately decided to sell the rest of my textbooks from the past few semesters that I had laying around.  Unfortunately a couple of them weren't being bought by any of the bookstores in town, but oh well!  So after I did that I dropped by the bank and put what money I actually have in my checking account...anyone in Oxford need a babysitter?? :)  Seriously though.  


When I got home from this trip I sat in my car and changed out my CD player.  For those of you who do not know my car, my CD player is in my glove box and it was definitely time for a recycle of music.  It took forever!  But it should make for more interesting car rides because I have no idea what is on a couple of them! (Mixed tapes)  This should be interesting.  


Hopefully this weekend I will get some of my big semester projects started and make a dent in them so to avoid much stress later on. Random fact:  pictures for today were taken with the fisheye lens.  I LOVE this thing! Maybe the rain will let up for a few hours so I can take it outside for some great shots!



I'm so excited that I'm not extremely busy this weekend because I will have plenty of time to study and read my Bible.  Recently I have taken it upon myself to read a chapter of Proverbs every day...WONDERFUL IDEA!  I encourage all of you do the same, it really is great.  Along with that, Zack and I have been studying the book of Romans together...also FABULOUS!  I grown to really really love the book of Romans.  So I'm very excited about having some really good quiet times this weekend.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Well today was such a wonderful day! Thursday's are the end of my school week and the start of my weekends, so basically my favorite days of the week. I was so excited because this afternoon a group of us from the BSU started back up one of our ministries in which we play with the children from the local trailer park here in Oxford. I just love seeing those smiling faces every Thursday afternoon!
After kids club, the one and only Zack Brent made dinner. Now this was the first time I had ever experienced his cooking so I was honestly a bit nervous and I was hoping it would turn out as wonderful as he claimed it would be. Well he made chicken and dumplings. I'm not a fan of chicken and dumplings so after mom reads this I'm sure she'll say, "I can't believe he got her to eat that!!" but even though it isn't my favorite, I was very pleased because it was pretty yummy! He did a very good job and have me something to write about in my blog for the day! I sure am one blessed girl! (sorry for being mushy!) :)

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was a crazy day and my best friend's birthday! I hate that I forgot to blog, but I will just write two or today!
Yesterday was awesome. I planned Hannah Beth a birthday party and we were all so excited about it by the time it came around. The other night I decided to make her a spectacular birthday cake, which is pictured to the right. She LOVES owls do what better cake to make than an owl cake! we all went out to dinner at Kabuki, one of the hibachi places in town and had a wonderful meal! She even got a HUGE free drink! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY Hannah Beth! I hope it was absolutely fantastic! :)