Jehovah- shalom

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23

A sheep cannot lie down and rest until four things come true:

1. Sheep must be free from hunger (vs. 2 "green pastures")

2. Sheep must be free from fear (vs. 4)

3. Sheep must be free from friction (tension with others - vs. 5)

4. Sheep must be free from pests (vs. 5-6)

Jehovah-shalom

The Lord does not MAKE or FORCE you to lie down... He ALLOWS us to because He has given us peace!!

why I love my friends:

1. being at college when you get sick is generally not fun, but it is kind of convenient when your friends take care of you (ie: bring you food, buy you things to make you feel better, turn your homework in for you to your teacher, take notes for you). and other things like come sit and watch movies, or hgtv with you.


2. they drive you places because you don't feel good.


3. they take care of you when you can't do anything else for yourself.


these are just a few good things that being sick has made me realize :)

what's been goin on...

1. Initiation is over! It has been for a week technically but, I'm still just so relieved that there is a whole year before I have to think about it again. Megan is initiated, rho beta!


2. I spent this weekend in Clinton with Ethan. I was thinking about how weird it was that we didn't take a single picture, but then I guess it isn't that weird since I was sick about 60% of the time! Since we couldn't celebrate Valentines on the 14th, we just postponed it until this weekend. He did so good! He got me these beautiful orange and gold daisies, my favorite candy, a grow-your-own-boyfriend (which I am so sad I left in Clinton), two movies I wanted and the best part... he took care of me all weekend while I was throwing up. Such a good man.


3. I actually started my full load of classes today. Dr. Holmes is back from California which means the discussions about sex can start again... since that's virtually all we talk about in her classes. ESPECIALLY Gender and Sexuality. What a class. I'm interested to see what the semester will look like now that I have all sixteen hours going.


4. Everyone is getting sick. People are getting the flu, the stomach virus, and all sorts of other not so fun illnesses. Other than my stomach malfunctioning every now and then I haven't gotten too sick, so hopefully that will continue and I can avoid the flu this year.


5. I think I am coming home this weekend, and I can't wait! Lots of drama here lately... it's always nice to just get away and be quiet, calm and relaxed for a while. Big brother Paul has surgery tomorrow on his torn ACL and MCL so just praying for that. 


6. Life is busy, busy, busy. I am trying to get back into the swing of things without getting too worn out! 

Olivia is ENGAGED!!!

Olivia and Jon got engaged.

The story:

Megan and me got Baby Wain and Katy Pope in the back seat of my car with blindfolds. They were "being hazed" by Megan since she's now initiated! Popes called Olivia and got her to come get hazed as well. We drove for a while with the girls blindfolded while Megan grilled them on their Chi Omega knowledge.

We drove out to this beautiful house where Jon was waiting on the porch with a park bench that he put together so they can keep in their back yard forever. We walked Olivia up to the porch where Jon met us and took over from there. 

Jon washed Olivia's feet, starting off a life of serving one another. He let us hide around the corner of the porch so we could be there as soon as he finished. We drove Olivia back to school (she was precious, kept saying how "This is so good", and "Where is he? I like him..." she was the most adorable engaged girl I know.

We had the candlelight after meeting (and after thoroughly lying to all my friends for quite a while). I got to make Olivia's candle. Although I was a little bit nervous it ended up being really cool to make so she can keep it forever now! If you ever have to make a candle, don't fear--use hot glue, it works great. just be careful not to touch it like I did many times tonight. Also, I wrapped the bottoms of the flowers with double stick tape so I could wrap the ribbon around. 

I am so excited to see how God has grown Jon and Olivia up so much in their relationship, and I know this is just the next best step. My big is ENGAGED!!! :) congratulations!!!!

The other good news is, INITIATION IS OVER!! RHO BETA!!!! no more responsibility for a while ;) the best news is I get to see Ethan in FIVE DAYS!!!

back in black

The past two weeks have given me such a feel for what its going to be like as G.M. And its CRAZY!!!! I have been so busy running around getting things done for initiation, making calls and visits, picking things up, texting non-stop (Thank goodness for unlimited texting), messaging, calling, running more... But I love it! Its been so much fun to have this list of things to do, then to do them and feel so accomplished at the end of the day. I think the thing I am most excited about though, is all the interaction I have with the girls. Especially lately for initiation, I am talking to the pledges more than ever and even to the bigs, which are the girls in my pledge class. I can already see how there are so many opportunities to love on these girls. Which I am SO READY FOR! I noticed yesterday when I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off and stressing about getting everything done in time, that I needed to take a step back, calm down, and trust that God would get me through the night. Until I stepped out of the situation, I was not being the most pleasant person to be around. And by just enjoying the time I had with the girls, God really helped me to see how easily my attitude can help or hurt a situation or a relationship. Stress is no reason to snap at someone, and busyness is no reason to be rude. So note taken, but definitely not overcome. That will definitely be a struggle for me I am already predicting! Thank goodness God never runs out of patience with me!!!

I'm so proud of my sweet little for coming this far. She teaches me more than I ever would have thought about just having joy and being a constant encouragement. I am so excited to see her through initiation and finally become a part of Chi Omega.

The best part of this picture, is how accurately it sums up my family and friends. Megan.. who knows whats happening here. And then the creepers in the back... Whats not to love?

And this one I love just because of how much these girls have meant in my life lately. They aren't the only ones, but they are definitely a major reason of why coming back to school and getting in the swing of things has been so enjoyable. I think last semester I got so caught up in being selfish that I forgot how much I love and appreciate the friends God has put in my life. These past few weeks have been such a reminder of that though, and I love it! We had a fun date night to Starbucks last night, and time to just laugh and talk and have fun, after a pretty stressful day. God always provides :)

who dat? mattie whatley is 19. geaux saints.

Mattie's birthday plus the saints winning plus snow day today and no class makes for a GREAT weekend! A bunch of us went to Memphis Saturday night for a little adventure. Yesterday after church and meeting we had a super bowl party in a few places, geaux saints! Today I woke up and it was SNOWING! I don't know that that's ever happened it was so exciting. And then school got cancelled. so its a great day! So much to do this week! getting ready for initiation this weekend, rho beta. life here is good!

precious.

school is good. life is great. God is doing so many things and its been obvious. I have never been so excited about being where I am. of course, miss Jillians little new addition to the family makes this a happy place to be. This is Lilly, the cutest puppy in the world. friends are great, this semester is looking good. oh and DO NOT GO SEE DEAR JOHN. that's all.

SNoW, friends and COLLEGE!

I moved back to Jackson today! After 50-something days of Birmingham, I officially became a college student once again. And I realized how much I loved being home as soon as I drove into Jackson! But I am definitely excited for this semester to get on the road.
This is what I'm most excited about:
1.FRIENDS!!! I love my friends since they are what I associate with college being good.
2.Using GM as such an opportunity to encourage and pour into girls. I love those girls already and I am so excited to get to know them more.
3.Taking all the things I have learned this January and actually putting them into practice. I feel like this semester is going to be SO DIFFERENT. and I love it.
4.Getting ready for South Africa. I just can't WAIT!
5.Learning SPANISH AGAIN!
6.I am NOT excited about taking Biology though.
7.Riding with my friends so as not to put miles on my car... can't have that ;)