My dear Chaney...

So I've been kinda vague about this...now i'll be really direct. Pray for my dear little sister. And when I say little, I mean 20 year old sophomore at A&M sister...That's Chaney on the right with the Nall trio at my graduation this past December. She's really sick. About a month agoish, she started throwing up. And if you know Nalls, we eat our food and we like it. It stays in us. Well here we are now, and she's still throwing up. She's been to the doctor and had tests run and it's been diagnosed as a really wierd mono with throwing up caused by anxiety...She gets better and then she gets worse. My parents don't have the heart to officially withdraw her out of A&M for the semester and to make that official decision yet, but that time will have to come soon. She's only signed up for 9 hours but her heart is to be here, in College Station. But her body does not want to cooperate. It's hard to recover from mono when you stay up half the night throwing up and are so weak from having very little in your body. She probably hates that I'm writing this but at the same time I know she's grateful for the prayers. We need them. Our fam, especially Chaney and my parents. Hopefully we'll get some more bloodwork done soon and find out if there's any new status. Any encouragement you can offer to them, do! Chaney sits at home all day long with very little to do and I know it's SO hard for her to sit at home while everyone else is off at school. So pray. That's all I got. And pray in faith too, that God will move, because He will. Pray for understanding in the way He moves, as it may not be how some of us like...And even if only about 2 people read this, that's two more people praying! If you've already done something for her, THANKS!!! She is so blessed by it all. Yall are great and thanks.

Judah. WHAT? WHAT?

So this week, there's this organization called Impact doing something called counselor selections. In a nutshell (a small one) the purpose of Impact is to have a retreat for incoming college freshmen with followup afterwards that provides these freshmen with opportunities to learn about how to get involved in a local church (HUGE) as well as develop some relationships with other believers before they head into college. Then they have some believers they're already connected with who can help get them plugged into the body in College Station. Tight right? Well anyway, the reason for this post is that this exact time last year, I was reading 281 applications for counselors to try and find 12 who my great partner matt and i felt fit our vision for camp. And when I say "our" vision, I mean the one the Lord gave us. From the beginning we knew a few things were set in stone. Family. That's what the body of Christ is and that's what we wanted to represent. The other was to have people in all different places in life. And authentic. We literally wanted to tell our freshmen, somebody here has been through that. And what happened? This exact time last year, I was introduced to 15 of my best friends. They don't even read this page but I like them so much I'm still writing about them:) Matt, Sarah, Elaine, Josh, Josh, Josh (yes there's three), Alex, Stephen, Russell, Claire, Dana, Faith, Kali, Lauren, and Stuts. (2 cochairs, 2 prayer teamers, 12 counselors:) Cheesy sounding? yes. But it's true. The Lord has lately been sharing with me the incredible community I have been blessed with whether they are physically gone or not. This is one of the awesome groups of people I am so incredibly thankful for. Family. Yah. We were the camp that was told to hang out with other people...really, but we like each other so much we would hang out 5 days a week...and bring anyone and everyone else along. All walks of life. Check. Aunthentic. Totally. Literally, from Mr. Perfect Christian to Miss Party Queen, we were able to share our struggles on everything with these freshmen. Even this week, I saw one today and talked to 4 of them. They will all be at my wedding one day, without a doubt. I remember reading pieces of paper and going, "Lord how in the world does this work?" and being BEYOND blessed now looking back a year later. My original thought, I just want to play with my friends before I graduate. Why would I do co-chair? And yet here I sit a year later, not even able to fathom how different my life would be without my Alpha Judah kids. It's not about an organization, it's about seeing the body come together for a common purpose, to share what Christ has shown us while in college and pour into our younger brothers and sisters. If it was about an organization, these relationships would have fallen apart a LONG time ago. Dang I'm blessed by these people. And on another note, pray for my dear little sister Chaney. She's really sick. Much love.

Finding Purpose.

Nope not finding nemo, finding purpose. As I sit here in my house on Crepe Myrtle, I think about my purpose. I've thought about this a lot lately. Upon graduating and working at Starbucks, I think Satan has really begun to prey on me about my purpose in life. When people find out I've gtaduated, they ask what I'm up to now...I tell them I work at Starbucks and hang out. Apparently most people find this answer unsatisfactory and they give me a weak fake smile, like oh good, when in their minds they are thinking, how lame. Thanks to those of you I know who actually are happy for me:) Anyway, back to purpose. But getting this reaction multiple times has led to me feeling dissatisfied with what I'm doing in life right now. So I've been struggling with this some lately...My life in the scheme of things feels so meaningless, to quote King Solomon, working at a coffee shop and hanging out. There are so many greater things I'm told I could do in my life...But then the Lord brought me back to this book I read last year...Practice in the Prescence of God by Brother Lawrence. Now if you don't know about Bro Law, he's tight. This guy was a dish washing monk for 40 years and loved it because he was able to glorify God while doing it. The book is just a collection of letters and conversations from his life put together by others. As I've been repicking up this book on my 10 minute breaks, God has continually brought me back to the truth, that in EVERYTHING, do it to the glory of the Lord. So there it is...and that is my focus, that's what I want my focus to be continually. And right now, I'm learning that standing in a coffee shop, with lines out the door half the time, unknowing how to make drinks fast enough or how to work the cash register correctly...to God's glory. Yes our lives are short but we can use our circumstances to make HIM known. I'm not sure I know exactly how that works at Starbucks, but I plan to find out.

LOCKED OUT

so my days have been pretty chill with not a lot to write about lately...until last night. I was playin with some of my judah friends after a great time at the wall bouldering and climbing (which i'm feelin today:) and after watching a movie, i peaced out. As I walked up to my new home and turned the locks on the back door, I noticed it still wasn't opening. After the lock and the dead bolt, nothing was happening...and then I realized our third lock, which you can only turn from INSIDE was locked....LOCKED OUT at 3 am. Not losing hope, I got back in my car and drove around front, thinking the light may have been left on in the front...I saw the light was on and went to try my key...i realized my key wasn't turning and all of the sudden, I hear this deep, "Who's there?" which scared the beegeeses out of me, for lack of a better term. I realize I'm standing on a hot pink door mat with a red heart-we DON'T own one of those. I yell to the voice, "What house number is this?" figuring out that when I got to the front of the house, out of hopefulness, I went next door. Dang it. So I went to the front of MY house and tried the locks in front. Lock. Deadbolt, dang it. The inside lock is on in the front too. Now my dear roommate Elizabeth sleeps in the front bedroom so I figured I'd have more success banging in the front of the house to wake her up. All this time I've been calling her over and over on the cell phone to no avail...not to mention banging on windows, back door, and now front door...Ringing the doorbell over and over and banging on our front door...still no Elizabeth-it's been about 20 minutes now...and did I mention it's about 35 degrees? As a last resort, I started knocking on Elizabeth's bedroom windows and I hear some kind of muffled sound....She's awake! The light comes on and a sleepy Lizbeth appears. VICTORY!!!!!!!! I think it was one of the funniest moments I've had in weeks...
On another note, I'm an officially certified barista! My job is great, now it's just getting enough hours! Let me know your thoughts on this story, I think it's hilarious. Have a good one!

Hello! Welcome to Starbucks!

Don't I look awesome? So as you may have guessed, I started training for my new job last Monday (about a week and a half ago!) at Starbucks! So you may ask, how's it going? My answer: WONDERFUL!!!! Nope, I don't have it all down yet, but I'm working on it...things i love about it: the people, both customers and my co-workers, their patience, coffee tasting, working and yet still getting to enjoy the day, Things that will get better: My quickness and my memory of the drinks!!! :) But I'm not worried...practice, practice, practice! Highlights of ppl include getting to know the regulars names, Josh Bolwerk, Jon Fox, Steve Miller, and Emily Shead visiting! I love it when ppl come visit! I tihnk I actually finish training with the next week or so so come see me! :) I've also been having a LOTR marathon extended versions with Pauler and Bolwerk...we end up watching them about 1 1/2 times b/c Pauler falls a lot. But we love him! And if you didn't know, I love Lord Of The Rings! Nerdy I know. Anyway, yall have a fabulous day and if you see the dear Jessie Silvester or Jon Tettleton tomorrow, give them some birthday love or call them! Happy Birthday kids! DO, I felt you would appreciate the fact that I have my awesome hat and apron to wear daily...when I got it, it made me think of your REI vest! Have a great day everyone!