It's a good day...

I woke up this morning refreshed and ready to conquer the day. Maybe because I went to bed early last night but I think mostly because God provided me good friends to hang out with yesterday and rest for my soul.

I am totally pumped about the UYG retreat this weekend. Meeting new people and spending time with some good friends getting to know them and watch God work all over the place! I can't wait.

I woke up this morning to a song called "It's a Good Day" Here are the words:

However long our feet have walked on this world
We've all lived long enough to know
That sometimes life will go our way
And other times it won't
But still I've got this joy inside of me
With each new dawn I do believe to

Say hey, it's a good day
Even if things aren't going my way
Jesus is Lord and I am saved
So, say hey, it's a good day

Circumstance and situations change
You know life can turn on a dime
But there's a constant hope and peace
That I have come to find
And it's all because of who God is
And that He is live and I am His, so

We are all as happy as we make our minds up to be
I have just decided that nothing's gonna take this joy from me

I love the Lord and this attitude he has given me this morning! Praise God!

Have a great day and Be Blessed!!!

Unexpected meeting...

This was the title of one of the chapters of the book I just finished. In the Magician's Nephew (the first of the Narnia series) the kids are trying to obtain the fruit Aslan sent them after when they run into the Witch, a woman they knew well at this point. Unexpected meeting. I felt like that last night. Maybe it was a mixture of the tiredness of my body and the passion I feel in music but regardless, I unexpectedly met my feelings last night. Upon hearing a song I had heard many times before and allowing my mind to reflect on times spent with my Granddad, I felt as though I was fighting a war to keep the river of emotion from flowing out of my eyes.

I was with people, we were driving home, I didn't want to cry. Luckily God sent laughter into my life at just the right time to hold off the tears momentarily. I called a time out in life last night (I also called my mom), retreated from my current atmosphere for a minute and allowed my body to cleanse itself as it so eagerly desired to do.

Cleansed but not refreshed. Not yet at least. God speaks to my heart through his music and he has reminded me of something lately.

You are mine, you are loved
You have always been thought of
When you hurt I feel it every time
You are mine, you are loved
And I'm never giving up
Till I've dried all the tears you cry
Long before you took a breath
I took your pain upon my chest
I knew your name, I heard you call
It was worth it all
It was worth it all
You are worth it all

This is the chorus of a new FFH song called Worth it All and it's written to be sung from God to us, to me. Last night God sung this song to me.

Thank you Lord for drying my tears, taking my pain and loving me. Cleanse me. Cleanse my heart and my soul. Rest my body and refresh it. Help me to wake up each morning and sing to you. It is worth it all. -Amen

A&M

Watched the A&M and Syr. game tonight with Mark and Dave. They were hilarious! A&M won in case you were wondering. I think I would watch a lot more bball if the people I watched with acted like those guys! That was fun!

Baby Face...

I promised them and here they are. The faces of Ty.

This is Silly Ty




This is Crazy Ty
You can't see it but he is wiggling his legs and arms too.












This is Cheesy Ty. When you tell him to say cheese for a picture this is what you get.








This is Scary Ty. Imagine him rolling his eyes back and forth and then laughing. This is the least scariest face I have ever seen. It's precious. If you do this face back to him he laughs. It's cute.


So there you have it. Here are the faces of Ty. Here's one last one that doesn't have an official name but it's just so cute I had to include it.

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So I am back at school now working and sleepin' and trying to get ahead on school while I have the chance. I miss my little Snickerdoodle but I will see him again soon enough. I am getting really excited about going to Belton. And I am even getting excited about going to Grad School which I honestly never thought would happen. Speaking of Grad School I need to finish my application essay so I can turn it in on Monday.

Have a super evening everyone! Be Blessed!!!

I know nothing about soccer!!!

Ok so funny story of the night was at the soccer game. I went to watch Drew play with a bunch of church people. It was his birthday so we went out there with a sign and a banner. I realized that I know nothing about soccer because 3/4 of the time I had no idea why the ref blew his whistle. Hum... The best part of the game, outside Drew's score, was the kid on the other team who kneed the ball into his own face!!! If you will just close your eyes and imagine this cocky high school kid kneeing the ball into his face I'm sure you would laugh. It was great. I also enjoyed the dramatic line judge (I guess that's what they call um). Every time he threw up his flag it was with passion and vigor!

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So I have been home the last couple of days visiting the family. Jeff and Ty are here and I have throughly enjoyed hangin' out with my little snickerdoodle. I love calling him that because he will say it back to me and it comes out less than perfect. That's what I love about Ty right now. He can't always say the whole word or phrase but what he says is so much cuter than what you tell him to say. It's precious. Right now Ty has these faces that he does. There are four and at some point I will post them. We have, Crazy Ty, Happy Ty, Smiling Ty and Scary Ty. They are too too cute!

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The Chronicles of Narnia. I am half way done with The Magician's Nephew and I love it. I want to finish it before I get back to Abilene so I can read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe before Spring break is over.

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Easter. Mom wants me to come home and sing again. This will be the third year in a row. I don't know who with or what song but I'm sure she will tell me with two weeks to learn it and perfect it. Last year was fun. Remember that? Takin' the keyboard out to Will Hare park and watching the sunset while learning this new song! So many things about that trip were awesome! (Easter shorts) I am so grateful to God for giving me awesome friends to make incredible memories with. Life is good! Praise God for that!

I think it's time to call it quits. It is my mine and my dads nightly ritual (when I'm home) to watch Law and Order: CI or SVU until there are no more to watch, then go to bed! It's on!

Goodnight friends!!!

Be Blessed!!!

Waiting...

Not that "right here waiting for you," Richard Marx, waiting on your love waiting. This is that, huddled in a corner in a dark room, alarms going off, army men strolling the halls with guns sort of waiting.

Now I am well aware of the over dramatization of that previous statement, but I do however feel as if I am waiting for a bomb to go off. The timer is set for 3:00 p.m., place Bible Room 103, 2nd chair, back row, left side (looking at the room of course). The test will not be an easy task and promises to be a forceful attack with the enemy pulling out all the stops. Advantage: We get to use the play book! Praise God for that, and for the lessons learned about open book test in the past. For this I am thankful and for the essay portion this soldier feels adequately prepared. It's the 50 people and 30 identifies I am struggling with-this part is not open book.

Waiting.......and waiting.............and studying.............and waiting.

Be Blessed!!!

The First Test

Believe it or not, I will soon embark on my first test of the semester. It's gonna be a doosey! It's a Jeff Childers Christian Spirituality test. We studied last night, it was a lot of fun. I don't really know if those words, study and fun, should go together but none the less, we combined the two in a rousing 2 hours of Spiritual camaraderie. Test is Thursday!

Be Blessed!!!

I Got It: Belton 2

Well, like I said the interview went really well and I felt really good about it. Jordan called me Monday and confirmed that the group I interviewed with felt the same way and they offered me the job so I will be spending the next 15 months at Belton Church of Christ and I couldn't be more excited!! I know God is going to do awesome things there and I am humbled that he has given me the opportunity to be a part of them.

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It has been a great week here in Abilene. The weather if BEAUTIFUL!!! In the 80's and 90's! I know crazy!! I love it!!

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Tomorrow in Come As You Are we are celebrating Lent and are going to do some really cool things with the worship. The song list is awesome. Friday we are singing in Chapel again and the songs are gonna be awesome. God is so good! Everywhere I turn I can see him working! I love the times when I am carefree! Praise God for these times of peace!

Be Blessed!!!

Belton 1

Well, I am in Belton. I came in last night to interview tomorrow for the 15 month residency at the church. I am really excited about everything and a little nervous. That's normal right; to be nervous? I hope all goes well. I am trusting God to guide my words and answers to questions. He's come through for me so many times so I figure he's a good guy to lean on.

I wish I wasn't sick. I am feeling so much better now than I have felt all week but I still and stuffy and borderline tenor so not back to full functionality yet. I am praying for a miracle tonight. I have to teach class in the morning and answer a lot of questions all day tomorrow. Can you imagine the shock all will experience if they see me then hear me talking like a man? WEIRD!!! So if you get a chance say a prayer for my voice-I need to sound like a woman tomorrow!

I just got off the phone with Jordan Hubbard, the youth minister here at Belton. He is leading singing tomorrow and sounds worse than me. Welcome to my world Jordan! At least you're a man!

Well, while the nerves settle for the night I think I will join Mac and Kathleen in a movie.

Be Blessed!!!

What to do what to do...

While working this morning, Jonathan decided to expand my knowledge of soccer by a couple of players only one of which I really remember because he brought in the "gold medal" of games as it's commonly reffered to by...me; FIFA 06! That's right I held it! For a long time.

Anyway all that to say, while I was examining the cover JRed took a seat on the "couch" in the office and decided to put our counseling skills to practice. This resulted in trying to figure out what Jonathan needed to do for the rest of his life.

Somewhere in the conversation, Jonathan made a pun and Chase said, he didn't really like puns that much but that Jonathan's was funny.

This comment was followed by Jonathan's most common phrase of the day, "So what should I do with my life?"

You know what's coming. Chase replied, "You should be a professional punner." Ha Ha Ha. Too bad he doesn't play football.

Be Blessed!!!