Uhland, TX...I'll see you soon.

The end of an era has come...

My time of living in Uhland, TX is over and while I considered staying just for the stories, I knew in my heart it was time to move on. Uhland was a great blessing to me for a time and I have no intention of being a stranger. There are still great adventures to be had. But for now, it was best that I move up to Austin.

On Sunday evening, I packed up my room in Uhland and on Monday morning Kelley and I loaded up her dad's truck and my car and bounced up I35 at about 40 miles an hour, getting honked at the entire way.

And friends, I'm really glad my camera was really close by because if I hadn't had the opportunity to document me looking exhausted, filthy and utterly scrappy as we made this move, I would have been really sad.

And so I present to you the twenty-something single girl version of The Beverly Hillbillies:
Me with the ghetto truck and all of my junk bungee corded down. The truck looks surprisingly clean, but don't be fooled. Oh and the house in the background is not in Uhland. It's where my stuff is chilling out in Austin for a while.
The inside of the truck where I threw all of the extra junk that I didn't know what to do with. I plopped something down on the seat and a large cloud of dust puffed up and settled on my face.

Kelley and I in the AMAZING hats we found in the truck. As much as I would love to say that we wore these bad boys all day long, we didn't. I can only handle looking that redneck for a moment. I am SO glad Kel was around to help me move. It was a lot more fun that way.


AHAHA...oh my gracious...I can't believe I'm putting these pictures up...whatevs...over and out.

First thing Monday morning before we even started loading up the vehicles, I walked out to my car in my flip flops to get my Chacos out of my car. I put the Chacos down on the ground and stepped out of my flip flops. Just as I was putting on my Chacos, Daisy, one of the inbred dogs from next door, comes running up to me and is doing everything in her power to get me to pet her. I said, "Daisy, friend, I don't have time for this right now. I have to get packed." And as she continued to rub her nose all over my leg I said, "No Daisy, go home." I leaned back into my car to get something and when I turned around, she was totally gone. I didn't even hear her feet running across the gravel. I looked down to pick up my flip flops and where there had been two laying beside me, there was now one. I looked all over thinking maybe I kicked it under the car or threw it in the back seat on accident but it was nowhere to be found.

I suppose that's what I get for telling Daisy I didn't have time for her. Or maybe she just knew I was leaving and hoped it would cause me to stay. But, I just smiled and walked in the house knowing that there couldn't be a more perfect end to my time in Uhland, Texas...well, unless an armadillo had waddled up. It was one of the flip flops the podiatrist had been yelling at me for wearing anyway. And now, just as I hold a special place in my heart for Uhland, I guess now Uhland will also forever hold a very special piece of me.

In all seriousness though, God has continued to amaze me with the people He's put into my life and the opportunities He has provided me to just keep moving forward one step at a time. And while it's sometimes hard to accept all that others are more than willing to offer, I am learning to. So I'm now basically a resident of Austin, Texas. My awesome friend Ruth offered to house all of my stuff and my amazing girls Charlotte and Liz offered to house me until I was able to move into my own place. It's a crazy feeling to literally be living out of a cardboard box and still be so at home and at peace, especially when I'm so far away from my home and family. While I normally feel like I can express myself better through writing, even that can't begin to convey my gratitude to God and the friends and family that I've found here.

And now, let the Adventures in Austin begin...

It's been way too long since I last wrote an actual post. And there's a reason for that.

I've been busy.

Probably too busy. See, it's been the kind of busy where I feel like I'm barely keeping in step with life. Where if I slow down, even for a second, I'm going to fall behind. The kind of busy that makes me feel like I'm struggling just to keep my head above water. The kind of busy that makes me run around all day like a chicken with my head cut off but look back on it at the end of the day and can't seem to figure out what got accomplished.

...The kind of busy that causes me to only open my Bible on Sunday mornings because I was able to fit going to church into my schedule. The kind of busy that leaves me waiting to find time to pray. The kind of busy that unintentionally pushes God away and says, "I can do this on my own."

The kind of busy I'm not particularly proud of.

It's interesting because through all of this I do believe I've been doing what God was calling me to do, I've just frequently been doing it without Him and today I received an incredibly grace-filled and gentle reminder that there's just no need for that. A reminder that as my life speeds up, I should be seeking Him more, not less.

One of the things that has kept me busy, although admittedly it was only my own inability to focus that caused it to keep me busy, was a project I needed to complete for the student ministry for this morning. I spent the better part of the week fretting about it, stressing about the fact that it wasn't what the leadership was looking for, that my small group co-leader wouldn't like it and most of all that my girls wouldn't respond to it. I had prayed in a moment of panic that God would provide me with an idea for what it should look like and within minutes He provided not only the idea but many of the resources. And right then is when all of my anxiety should have subsided, but I kept right on worrying, even after it was long finished and just waiting to be used.

This morning as I was getting the lighting ready for the student worship service an amazing new friend Chloe, whose maturity far surpasses being the senior in high school that she is, came to say hi. We chatted for a bit and I jokingly shared my concern that the display I had put together wasn't good enough and wasn't what they were hoping for. I told her I hadn't found enough time to make it look the way I wanted it to and that I was still a little stressed about it.

And I was incredibly blessed by her response...

She said the typical, "Oh I'm sure it's fine! Don't worry about it." And then said..."And no matter what it looks like, God will make it amazing in the eyes of those who need to see it."

And she then continued on with her normal encouragement but I don't know what she said because my head was spinning from this gentle reminder from God that all this time I've been running around trying to serve Him by giving all of myself when the fact of the matter is that all of me is not enough for anyone. Others don't need me, they need Him and I can run myself all the way down offering all that I have to those that I love, but it's just never going to be enough. I was reminded that God is made great in my weakness but I have to let myself be weak in order for Him to be great.

And you know the thing that still amazes me, after all these years of believing is that when I tried to take on life on my own this week, God could have just let me fall on my face. I certainly deserved to. But He didn't. He stayed right behind me the whole time and when I slowed down long enough to listen, He said, "I'm still here."

I have a lot of big changes coming up. Exciting and fun changes, but change nonetheless. It's my prayer that I won't get too far ahead of myself this time around. That I'll dust myself off and start over, this time walking beside, not in front someone far greater than myself.

Oh child, precious one
Let your life shine like the sun
But you say "How long 'til I can come home
'Til I can rest in your arms again"
And I say "Not long but don't miss this life and I'll be
Waiting 'til then"

Live with the wonder of a child
Pray with your arms thrown open wide
Love with a love that has no end
Until I see you again

Oh child, precious one
With each breath know you are loved
But you say "How long 'til I can come home
'Til I can rest in your arms again"
And I say "Not long but don't miss this life and I'll be
Waiting 'til then"

~Mark Schultz

laughing so hard i'm crying

Mom, watch this...you'll love it.

Kitten Vs RC Mouse @ Yahoo! Video

My day just keeps gettin' better.

A real post will come soon, but until then...

Oh, and P.S., the nun beauty pageant got cancelled. Seems a lot of people thought it was sacriligeous or something. Whatevs.

Ah highschool...

AHAHAHA. Awesome.

This is what show choir used to look like kids...

(Whoever can find me gets a free hug.)
*Hint: I look exactly the same, minus 7 years and 20 pounds.