Long Time Coming

So, it has been quite a while since I have posted anything about what I've been up to in the past month & a half, so prepare yourself for a jumbled peek into my life lately (via pictures.) Lol =)

For the past five weeks I have been home from Northland for Christmas break. It has been a really refreshing & relaxing time. It was snowing really hard when everyone was leaving but I made it home safely & started Christmas break out right by preparing some extra special packages for our troops overseas. Back at Thanksgiving I asked our church family to donate Christmas cards to send to the soldiers & they responded generously!

Thanks to them we had over 500 cards that I was able to take back to college with me & they were filled out by the students there. We also stuffed them with tracts & sent a bunch of Christmas cookies. Hopefully the Lord will use those tracts in some of the soldier's lives.

I was also able to hang out with Katelyn (one of my best friends) a lot over break. I didn't think it was possible, but over these past five weeks Katie-lou & I have gotten even closer. It has been so much fun!! This past Tuesday she came over to my house for a movie, but I think that we had more fun after the movie. It was about 3 in the morning, right after boy talk & just before we started watching Tim Hawkins videos, when we started getting a little slap happy.  We were probably a little sleep deprived by that time, but it was still fun. Lol! ...Good times =)

Haha! This picture is from New Years Eve. The Rost family put together an amazing spread of appetizers for the party that we had at our church. It was a cruise theme, which was kind of ironic since it was about -5 outside. Lol. But anyways, I was given the job of toasting things, Stephanie made Won-Tons, & Caleb made this really good slushy stuff. Steph & I still thought we had better supervise though...you just never know with Caleb =)

Yummy!!

My sister Amber, her husband, & daughter Aubrianna were able to come up for a visit too. We had so much fun! We are very close, so it is always great to spend time together. Plus, my niece is getting so big already!!

My mom always complains about being called "grandma" now, but we all know she secretly loves it. How could she not with a grand-baby this adorable?!

One of the reasons Amber came to visit was to hear about our other sister's trip to South America in December. My sister Rebecca, her husband Ben, & 3 other couples went on a missions trip to Paraguay, South America in the beginning of December. They gave a presentation in our church on a Sunday night. Ben also announced that they had gotten an amazing deal on plane tickets: 3 for the price of 2! Turns out, my sister Becca is going to be having a baby in July =) Yay!!

One of the highlights of my break was welcoming my big brother Jeremiah home from his second tour in Iraq. I have missed him so much!! Its always hard being away from my brother, but knowing his life is in danger makes it worse. But God has been so good & He has definitely been protecting Jer-bear (Don't tell Jeremiah I called him that! Lol.)

Jeremiah's first time holding his niece. I believe his exact words were "AWWWWW!!!!!"

So all in all, a very good break. I know that this next semester is going to be especially trying, but I am looking forward to seeing what the Lord will teach me over the next 4 months. Thanks for stopping by! I'll try to be faithful in updating as I return to school =) Have a wonderful weekend!!!

What is God's Will?

Good morning!! So I just realized that I haven't blogged about what's going on in my life in quite a while now, so I promise I will do that soon. Hopefully before I go back to school. But this morning I had this video emailed to me & it was an encouragement to me, so I wanted to share it with you =) I love these guys! Lol. Enjoy.

Doers and Not Hearers Only

James 1:22 says"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

What does the word say?

James 2:14-17 "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of days, I'm sure that you have heard about the heartbreaking tragedy that hit Haiti. I just want to ask my wonderful readers to consider what God would have you to do for these people in need. I know that money is tight for the majority of us right now, but we have been given so much here in America & with that privilege we have a responsibility to give to the needy. Even just a little bit helps! World Vision is an amazing Christian relief organization that I have been familiar with for years. They run an incredible child sponsorship program & I would highly recommend working with them if you are able to make a donation of any size.  Not only will they use your donation to provide for physical needs, but they also have a passion for sharing the gospel & meeting the spiritual needs as well. Here's a link to a website that will match your donation dollar for dollar: http://www.razoo.com/p/haiti And here's a direct link to World Vision's website: http://tinyurl.com/yjg3cy2 

For all of you texting addicts, you can easily make a $10 donation to the Red Cross by texting "Haiti" to 90999, the charge will just be added to your regular monthly phone bill. 

But above all, PLEASE be in prayer for the people of Haiti & the many volunteers that are either already there, or traveling to the country. As important as they are, don't just pray for physical necessities, but also be in prayer for the spiritual needs of the people. You may not have money to make a donation, but you can still impact the lives of Hatians in the midst of all of this chaos. I know that sometimes it may be hard to believe that prayer can really change things in such a tragic situation, but you can rest in the promises of God.

Jeremiah 32:27  “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?"


John 14:13-14 "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."


Matthew 17:20 "He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”


John 16:33  "I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”


Don't make the mistake of limiting God with what He can accomplish when you act in faith. Whether it is by donating $5, or committing extra time in prayer for these poor people. Just as He did when He fed the 5000 with two small fish & five loaves of bread, the Lord can multiply your sacrifices & use them in ways that you can't imagine! Show these people the love of Jesus Christ in any way you can.  I challenge you to act on your faith; find some way to die to yourself the rest of this month so that you can afford to show love to those who are suffering, either in a monetary gift, or extra time in prayer.




2 Corinthians 5:14 "For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died."