Where is your opening door?

At Worship Team practice this morning, our final song was "I Will Follow." The song starts by saying where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, I'll stay. Where you more, I'll move. I will follow." God has told me to go and I will be going.

After many nights of wondering and praying for this summer, the door has opened up for me to go back and serve at Sandy Cove this coming summer. I prayed that God wanted me there and I wasn't just going to escape home for a couple weeks. I plan on being gone from mid June to early August. However, this is where God opened a bigger door.

While talking with my Mother, I said, "What if when I went out there this summer, I just stayed there and didn't come home?" Immediately a lightbulb went off. The next night I found myself applying for Wilmington University in Delaware. A very reliable friend of mine told me about the school and it has the same degree I'm shooting for here but instead of going to a state school, it will be private. I never thought I would consider attending another private school but God had different plans.

Most private school take the application process of college very seriously. I knew that I wouldn't hear back for weeks, maybe even a month or two. Once again, God knew. Two days after applying, I was accepted. Doors didn't stop opening there.

After telling my family and a few friends, a very close couple in Maryland opened their house to me. God kept opening doors to me and he made it clear that it was my job to go through them. Not only am I extremely excited to be going back to Maryland for the summer but I am excited to be moving there and starting a new adventure. I ask that you pray for my family and I these next few months and we start to embark on this journey and with all the changes that will be happening. I also ask that you ready the hearts of the family in Maryland that has opened their house to me. I am so grateful for this opportunity. It will be a huge change to move 1,233 miles from home but I'm not alone in this move.

God will be there every step of the way. Ecclesiastes 3:1-7 says, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together." Please join in me for praying for this adventure.

Do Not Worry

Philippians 4:6, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."

Just yesterday I was asking myself how I am going to afford to get to school this week. With driving over 200 miles a week, it adds up.

With just getting a new transmission in my car, I asked a guy from church to test drive my car and just to make sure the problem was solved.  Later that night we would be meeting up with them to play a game as a family. So I just took my car home after the game.

As I'm driving home I noticed that my gas gage wasn't on E and my gas light wasn't dinging at me. Not only did he just test drive my car, he filled my car up with gas.

There was no reason he had to do this for me, however he did it anyway. There aren't words to describe how thankful I am for him doing this. Just like that I am not worried about how I am going to get to school and I reminded that worrying gets you no where. I am also reminded that in times of need, pray.

Is it ok?

When boys are turning into men, they are always told, "Be a man and suck it up." Whether they are crying, in pain, or complaining, they are told to be a man. Are men not allowed to cry? Does it show us they're weak?

Well not to be the bearer of bad news but we are all weak. But why is it that we pick out men and don't want them to cry? When Jesus hung on the cross for us, not only did he cry but he wept. He wept and he said, "It is finished."

When you find yourself in the situation with a crying male, remember Jesus. Remember that Jesus died for you. And when he died for you he wept. There is nothing wrong with seeing a male cry. It does not show he is weak one bit. "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

When a man cries it does not show that he is weak, it shows that he is human.

Your Story

Where does your story begin? Does it begin at a farm house in the heart of Tennessee? Or maybe you lived in Southern Florida apartment. The first 13 years of my life were spent on a lake. My parents had bought a cabin before I was born and had made it into a year round house. A large part of my story didn't take place at home or church, but on stage.

When I was 10 years old, my Mother had mentioned that the high school was looking for 3 middle schoolers to help out with the production of Sound of Music. It didn't phase me how big this was. Never did the high school ever ask for younger kids to help out in a Senior High play. After my Mother had told me how awesome and fun it would be, I decided to give it go. 

A few days later I found myself in the high school choir room. It was packed with 4th, 5th, and 6th grade girls. We were to sing "My Favorite Thing" and to dance to the song "Lonely Goatheard." Afterward I felt fine. Not having a clue if I would move on, I was ok with whatever happened. However, my Mother was cheering me on to get a part. A week later my Mother recieved a phone call, the Director said he wanted me to come in for a callback. Full of excitement we headed into callbacks. At this time they narrowed it down from 85 kids to around 20. They needed to pick out 7 that could act, sing, dance, and look like siblings. They lined us up in a row and asked 7 of us at a time to read lines. When that was done they sent us all home. Now we waited.  

The next few days would be a long few days for not only me, but for my Mother. We then recieved the call. My Director asked if I would fill the role of Gretl Von Trapp. At that time I had no idea that this would just be the beginning of an amazing life expirience.

Gretl was by far the best blessing I'd received as a child. Within the next 7 years I would get the honor to act in more than 10 theatre productions including Little Shop of Horrors, Hello Dolly, She Loves Me, Hair, and my all time favorite Once Upon a Mattress. 

Two weeks before auditions my Junior year, I lost my voice. In tears, I practiced my audition song over and over again. For some reason it just wasn't working. I finally took out my iPod and just started playing songs. I had to find one that didn't sound terrible. With my voice gone, I figured it would be best to find a song sung by a male since naturally they have deeper voices. After singing through the first 3 lines of "Son of Man" I knew this was my song.

"The power to be strong
And the wisdom to be wise,
All these things will
Come to you in time.
On this journey that you're making,
There'll be answers that you'll seek.
And it's you who'll climb the mountain,
It's you who'll reach the peak." -Phil Collins

My Junior year I was given the honor and privilege of fulfilling the part of Lady Larken in Once Upon a Mattress. I was able to sing, dance, and act beside some of the most talented people I know.

Theatre wasn't just part of my story but it shaped who I am today. After I graduated I was asked to perform in another show and even though it wasn't on the same stage, stage will always be my home.

Good Luck!

I just recently heard the saying, "A class can be retaken. Life cannot." Let's just say, this really got me thinking.

In High School I pulled extremely good grades. I graduated above average in my class and ended up getting some really nice scholarships and grants for college. My first two years of college were extremely easy. I finally had all of my generals done and was into my core classes for my major. So far I had gotten away with decent grades except for maybe one science class. It was nice to see a high GPA going into my Junior year.

As I started registering for classes, I came across an elective I had forgotten to take. It was a 100 (Freshman) level course in Ethical History. I figured as long as I stay up on my readings and quizzes, I will be just fine. The second week of class we were asked to read an article and write a review on what it was about, what the authors point of view was, and our opinion. My professor went around and one at a time corrected our papers in front of us. He picked up my paper, took one look at it, and asked me if I had even read the article. My heart sank into my stomach. Of course I read the article and I assumed I knew what it was about. I was wrong. I walked out of the class close to tears. After only being in the class for two weeks I thought I was doomed. I have three more papers and one more project to pull my grade up and I pray that I am able to pull a decent grade.

That was only the first mistake I had made this semester. A little over two weeks in, another professor approached me and told me she needed to see me after class. I knew that I had done nothing wrong just based on the tone of voice she used but it still had me worried. After class I approached her podium and she all of the sudden got very serious. She said, "I noticed that I have you in two of my classes. You do realize that this class is the introduction course for the other one." I didn't know this until she had brought it up. It made me realize why I didn't understand most of the theories, vocabulary words, and topics we were discussing in my other class. After asking her what to do, she replied by saying, "Well I can only tell you good luck and start studying because there is a good chance you won't pass the other class." Perfect, so not only do I have this tough 100 level course, I am taking an introduction class and 300 level course that I know nothing about.

This week made me really rethink through "A class can be retaken. Life cannot." Everyday I want to strive to prove my professor wrong. I want to pass all my classes. This is the first semester it occurred to me that I may have to retake a class. And you know what? That's ok. As humans we aren't perfect and we will make those mistakes in life. From those mistakes, we have to learn the lessons and sometimes suffer the consequences. Failing a class is much better than failing at life. With life there is no second chance. Once your time is up, you're done.  So, next you fail at something or think you can't do something, prove yourself wrong or at least try doing so. It will show you that you are much stronger than you think you are.