Wednesday, September 17, 2008

yeah for Surprises!


I'll just start by saying I miss my three best friends like cRaZy!!  My sweet Kristi is a labor and delivery nurse at a hospital in Greenville, NC.  She was such a blessing to have during all the hard times in nursing school!  She truly is a ray of sunshine wherever she goes.  She loves people and has a heart to serve the Lord over seas.  Julia, or better known as Hules, is about to move to Colorado :( to work for a Christian sports camp ministry called Uncharted Waters.  Our friendship is just one of a kind...you just gotta spend some time around us to know how we work! :)  Hules is the kind of friend that would do anything for me.  She would get up early just to make me breakfast during college on the days that I had to be at the hospital really early for clinicals.  And then there's Sarah, my precious room-mate for all four years of college.  There is no one that could have put up wth me like Sarah.  She is working hard at Appalachian State getting her master's in speech pathology.  I want a gentle and quiet heart like Sarah!  All three of them encourage me and build me up in the Lord and that is what is most important! So....Last Saturday night after work I got a call from Kristi saying that she was at the Panera in Norfolk. So I drove over there and sure enough she was standing outside!!  My heart was sooo happy, then as I am hugging Kristi, I see Julia walking up to us...ahhhh!  My heart was about to explode because it has been months since I have seen Julia.  Then I see over Julia's shoulder that Sarah is walking over to us!!  My heart did burst at this point! :)  We only had one night together, but it was full of amazing memories, lots of laughs, and tons of pouring out our hearts!  There is nothing like having your best friends by your side.  I am so blessed to call these amazingly godly and incredibly fun girls my best friends.  Here are some pics from our time together...

























Thursday, September 4, 2008

Just Kidding...This is my real debut! Haha!

I'M GOING TO UGANDA!!
Sooo...Several months ago I heard about the opportunity to go to Uganda on a medical mission with Covenant Mercies. My sweet friend Sharon has shared so many amazing stories with me from when she went 2 years ago. I was definitely hesitant about going....well, I was more like, Lord I am not going to Africa!!! I kept pushing the thought out of my mind, but for some reason it just kept coming back. I went to the New Attitude Conference in May and was surprised by a huge display from Covenant Mercies. My dad encouraged me to go up and just talk with the ladies about their ministry in Africa. So after much encouragement from dad I talked with them...the Lord was slowly opening up my heart as I heard their love for these people. They encouraged me to take an application and pray about it. I was literally refusing to fill it out! :) It was the last day of New Attitude and I pulled it out of my bag and filled it out...it must have been the Lord! I still had to get one of our pastors to sign it. Well, how was that going to happen...I look up and there across the street is Eric Hughes (one of my pastors). At this point I knew that the Lord was drawing my heart to an increase of FAITH in Him. I ran across the street and Eric signed it! I had only one hour to turn the dumb piece of paper in!!! I was so ready to get it out of my hands! As the ladies were taking down their display I gave them the application...and well, the rest is history. UGANDA here I come (February 2009)!

Jeremiah 30:1, 18-21
"Ah, stubborn children," declares the Lord, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit."
Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sounds of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.