Wrapped Up In Love.

In 29 days, I will be on my way to the Dominican Republic for the 5th time. This year most of my best friends in life are going to be right beside me for a week in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I couldn't be more excited. But this year is extra special because my Mom is getting to go with us, and she will get to see why my heart is wrapped up in love with the Dominican. In the Dominican my LOVE for God doesn't waver, my struggles and stresses seem minute, my blessings and riches become more apparent, and my love for others and everything in my life just seems to pour freely from me without effort.  It is just a week full of love for God, love for others, and love for myself. This year I want to look for God in places I haven't looked before. Of course, it is easy to see him in the beauty of the Dominican, the kid's faces, the missionaries down there, and just the people in the DR, but I want to challenge myself to look for him in the wood shacks, the dirty water, in the dying people, and in myself. It is most of the time hard to find God in myself, but I know without a doubt he is there, it is just about me finding him because he knows where I am.

Dear God, Let me see you in ways that I have never seen you before. Let me see you in myself and let me see you in others. Please keep my friends and I safe and prepare us mentally and physically for this trip we are about to embark on. Let my mom find comfort and a new love for you and ease her stresses about this trip, Lord. Thank you for all of the blessings you have given me, especially getting to experience something as life-changing as the Dominican.

If you read my blog please send up prayers for this trip and everybody who is preparing and a part of it!

Thankful for the "NOW"

Why is it so hard for me to be thankful for what is happening to me in the present time? I usually always learn how thankful or how much I loved something after it has already passed. I know it is better to be thankful anytime than not be thankful at all, but I just wish I was more aware of the blessings happening in my life than waiting until they have passed. Mostly this applies to my time in the Dominican or my summer spent in Haiti. But it also applies to my time just in every day life. A time that I think about almost every day was when I was in Haiti. I could name numerous people or things I would give anything to go back and see or do. But one specifically was that I fell in love with my little orphan named Christine. She was the one that I would purposely seek out to hang out with every day when I was over at COTP. I would try and teach her how to walk, but Christine would get tired or maybe she is just lazy. So we both figured out that we loved to take daily naps, so I would just pick her little chunky butt up and lay her on top of me and we would sleep under a hut out in Lagosette, Haiti. Now that I look back on those days, I realize I always took those times for granted. I would love to go back and take one more nap with her, feed her, or just watch her walk now. Even nights in the dorm with my best friends, time at home with my beautiful family or high school friends, or just being in the car with E, it is easy to look over and not be thankful until it has already passed. Today I'm going to start focusing on the present and being thankful for what I have and am doing in the "now". 

Thank you, God! Thank you for all the blessings you have sustained me with! Let me be aware of the blessings that are happening in the now and not forget the most precious times in my life! Please keep my friends and family in your arms of love, and let us always remember you and why we are here. 

Christine:)

True friendship is FELT not SAID.

Lately it has hit me that life is fixing to take a whole new spin. I am a senior in college, and the time that people tell you are the "best years of your life" is almost up. My life has been impacted so much by my time at Freed-Hardeman but mostly by my friends here. And while I'm lucky to have so many great and close friends here, four have been by my side all four years. I had no idea that I would become a part of a group of 5 girls who refer to themselves as the "roommates". Lauren Hickman, Bonnie Davis, Beth Wade, Emma Danley, and myself make up the roommates. Lauren, Bonnie, Beth, and I are seniors, which is scary for many different reasons, but it is also because our time together is almost up. I think all four of us are scared because what are we suppose to do next? Who are we going to be friends with? Where do we go? Home? Move away? Are we still going to be close?

Well last night answered the last question for me. Last night D-time, who is Lauren, picked me and Emma up with Bonnie and Beth in the car. We of course turned the music up and started dancing, and D told us we were going to ghost ride like we did our freshman year. Those of you who don't know what that is, it is when you put the car in drive but everybody opens their doors and gets out while the car idles down the road with nobody inside, all of us dancing outside and running to keep up with the moving car. (mom if you read this don't freak out) Of course, we all were laughing so hard we almost couldn't keep up with the car, and one time I had to stop in the middle of the road, cross my legs, and pray that I didn't pee all over myself. Just to watch everybody jump back in the car made my night and thinking about it now I'm laughing because I can see D stutter stepping/bouncing to get back in the car. But ghost riding with them isn't what makes me know we are going to be "roommates" for life. It is how we can rarely ever hang out anymore, but when we do it is like we have never been apart. It is like the five of us are puzzle pieces and every time we are together, we fit perfectly, each one of us feeding off the others laughter. I will forever be changed by these four best friends of mine. I know come May we are all going separate ways, but I also know that whether we get back together right after graduation or if it's when we are 35, we are going to all pick up where we left off.

Dear Lord, Thank you! Thank you for all of the people you have brought in my life and made an impact on me during my college years. Thank you for my roommates and my four beautiful best friends especially right now. Please lead us in whatever you want us to do and take care of Bonnie, Beth, Lauren, and E as life for all of us is about to change. Let us always remember we have each other and all of the memories we have made together make up who we are, but most importantly let us remember we have You.