Labor Day Weekend

I had a wonderfully full labor day weekend. Full of family, and friends, and crafting, and loads of fun! My parents & Deborah came down for the first part of the weekend to help Rebekah move the remainder of her stuff to Dallas and get all settled in her new place...in Dallas!! It's very exciting to me that she lives here now. Even though I know it will take work for me to see her, I think we'll make it happen! As always, it was wonderful to have my family here. After my family left on Sunday, I made a tutu for Miss Harper Joy Sherman's first birthday party that was on Monday and went to dinner with some wonderfully fun girls. Monday, I went to Original Pancake House and enjoyed some delightful pecan pancakes for Stephanie's birthday, helped Kristie finish up her crafty project of journals for her small group girls, and then headed out to celebrate Harper's birthday in McKinney at the Sherman's new house. I rounded out Labor Day catching up with Shawn on her back porch and then enjoying some Picasso's with my roommates. It was a jam packed weekend, but it was so wonderful. The only pictures I have of the whole weekend are from Harper's party, where I pretended to be a professional and take pictures non-stop. If you want to see them all, you can go here.

Michelle, Sarah, me - are we really so old that one of us has a 1 year old?!

Gotta love the first birthday cake!!

Me & Michelle

And the tutu with matching wand - Harper's craft project present from me. I think Jeff would have preferred a baseball bat, but oh well!

Sophomores?!

My small group girls are starting their Sophomore year of high school. Sunday night we kicked off the year with a broomball bash. It was hilarious to watch everyone out on the ice. And crazy that these wonderful girls are sophomores and that I only have three more years with them. I am so excited about what another year with these girls holds!

I was looking through my pictures this week and thought it would be fun to look at pictures of our years together, so here's a brief photo history of my crazy small group!

SIXTH GRADE

Progressive Riot - Maddie, me & Amanda

Connection in New Orlean - Amanda, me & Maddie

SEVENTH GRADE

Pine Cove Retreat - Tori, Maddie, me, Amanda & Maddie

Progressive Riot - Maddie, Amanda, & me

Bowling for Compassion - me, Amanda, Tori, & Maddie

EIGHT GRADE

Pine Cove Retreat - Amanda, Maddie, Rachel, Maddie, Tori & me

Progressive Riot - our last one!

End of the year party - Maddie, Taylor, Amanda, Dunni, Rachel & Tori

FRESHMAN YEAR

Hideaway Retreat - Wow we've grown in size! (Maddie, Amanda, Taylor, Maddie, me, Jeanine, Meagan, Rachel & Tori)

Christmas Party - love these girls!

End of the year party/Massive 15th Birthday Celebration!

Unredeemed

I am absolutely loving Selah's new CD...particularly the song Unredeemed. I have had it on repeat today. I particularly love these words from the chorus:

It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

I love the truth that when the Lord brings us through hard times, our lives might not look the same, things won't be like we expected them to be, but he will redeem it and use it for His glory if we let him by laying our lives at His feet. Such good words.

UNREDEEMED

The cruelest world
The coldest heart
The deepest wound
The endless dark
The lonely ache
The burning tears
The bitter nights
The wasted years

Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

For every choice that led to shame
And all the love that never came
For every vow that someone broke
And every lie that gave up hope
We live in the shadow of the fall
But the cross says these are all
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But you never know the miracle the Father has in store
Just watch and see
It will not be
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

On a More Lighthearted Note...

So...my posts have been a bit heavy lately...and life is not all bad...or tough.

This weekend I headed out of Dallas with all my fellow student ministries leaders for our yearly retreat. It was SO wonderful to take a study break, be out of the big city, and just enjoy time with friends. It was a wonderful time of worship, alone time with God, games of Catch Phrase so intense that they cause you to lose your voice, some very intense tubing on the lake, lots of laughter, good conversations with friends, and a three and a half hour Spades game where Amber & I came out victorious over Nick & Mike. It was a restful weekend and I came away feeling so revived and so thankful to be a part of this wonderful team of people with hearts to serve.

The ever-intense game of Catch Phrase. Some might have walked away a little scared of me...I kept getting words that involved death and killing people...I'm not sure what that means. (Around the circle L front to R front: Kyla, Sarah F, SarahBeth, Debra, Lindsey, Ann, me, & Shawn)

This would be the Spades game. The longest Spades game I have ever played. We attracted an audience. It was great fun! (L to R: Laura, me, Spencer, Nick, Julie, Amber - Mike was taking the picture)

Our wonderful team of leaders who encourage me, challenge me, and just plain entertain me!

Revived

I've been in a funk. I think it started about when this happened...I just haven't realized it. A lot has happened this summer. From failing a test, to my living situation becoming unsure, to losing Mama, I have just been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster. You just have to love how when you're already there - in the ditch of your emotions - that Satan knows how to take you even farther. He taunts you with struggles that you had thought you had conquered years ago. He convinces you to believe hundreds of lies about yourself...about your relationships...about your place in the world.

Needless to say, life has not been pretty lately, I dare say it's been ugly. But God, in his infinite wisdom and timing, is always there. When you think you can't go farther into the emotional pit, you find yourself reading Psalm 143 . From the very first verse, I could relate to the psalmist when he said to the Lord, "come to my relief." Through the words of this psalm and the Shane Bernard song that comes pretty much directly from its verses, I decided I needed a new mindset about the place where I had gotten emotionally. Yes, I had been spending time with the Lord. Yes, I had been asking him to pull me from the pit. But the reasons I was asking him for it were about me. I wanted to feel better...plain and simple.

I don't think anyone would blame me for asking to be pulled out of the funk I was in. But the more I sat with the God's Word, the more I realized that I wanted God to have the glory for getting me out. The chorus of the Shane Bernard song says, "Revive me, Revive me, Not for me, But for Your name." That became my prayer that day. Revive me, FOR YOUR NAME, Lord. Revive me so that I can focus on serving the people you've placed in my life. Revive me so that You can use me in the lives of my high school girls as school starts back up. Revive me so that YOU will be glorified...not me. That is my new prayer. Things are shifting. I can feel it. It's slow, it's gradual, and it's still not easy, but I know that if I keep praying for God to be glorified, then I am going to be in the best place I can possibly be, funk or not.