Mud, Dancing, and Food. Oh My!

This weekend I went to the BYX formal up in the great city of Gatlinburg, Tennessee and had such an amazing weekend that leaving Gatlinburg was not favorably looked upon (not to mention the horrendous traffic coming out of the city didn't help my desire to not want to leave.)


We (a group of 6 awesome people; Collin, Amanda, Erica, Alexander, Clay, and myself) traveled up on Friday and the adventure began. We picked up Erica and Amanda from their place with us dying with laughter and "Dueling Banjos" blasting through the speakers. And if that wasn't a warning of how much fun this weekend was going to be I couldn't tell you what was. The first stop, we got out and filled up with gas and walked away with free suckers. Don't ask me how that worked, just know that I was perfectly fine to have one especially since it was free. After we got to Gatlinburg and got settled in, I got one of the best view of the stars and overview of a city that I've ever seen in my life. You could see where the glow from the city stopped and the stars began and the further up you looked the more stars popped up and gleamed. And seeing that looking at the stars is one of my most favorite things in the entire world, something that constantly ran through my head was how lucky I was to be able to even get a chance have a view like this. 


After that a dance party proceeded to take place in the cabin of Tennessee Mountain Dream and hilarity ensued. After the party died and somewhat of a night's sleep the second day began. Our group got up and went to get pancakes (apparently this is an extremely popular thing in Gatlinburg) and then we set out on a hike. In the first fifteen minutes, Collin had taken off his shoes and he and Clay we bouncing from rock to rock up the river and the rest of us were following along on the more civilized path. The path got steep and muddy and I even asked Amanda (our fearless leader) to just stop for a minute so I could suck in some more wind because the thing I was doing could hardly be considered breathing. After getting through the trail and scaling a rock face we finally got to the top. (Clay and Collin caught up with us quicker than I thought possible since we had left them to their fun in the river.)


This amazing view right here is what I got to see whenever I arrived at the top of a 2 mile hike. Look at it. The picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. Walking through the mud, losing my breath, and scaling a rock face to get up to see this  was so much more than worth it. I was looking out over this scene and I said it was amazing, I was quickly told "It's more than that, it's majestic." And they couldn't have been more spot on with that adjective. After sitting up in this beauty our group and a few other friends headed back down and somehow ended up singing 90's songs and probably scaring hikers that were headed to the top along the way. 


Whenever we got down from the top, showered, and changed for formal, we went to a restaurant that was literally heaven on Earth. Mama's Farmhouse. Family style southern dinner, where the food never ran our and just like at any souther Mama's house they made you eat more than is healthy for you (or your formal dress) and every single bite somehow tasted better than the last. We stuffed our faces and headed to the dance where we had way too much fun and danced until the last song ended. 


To sum it up, this past weekend was a blast. Not necessarily the most academically motivating weekend but we all need a break from the grind every once and a while, right? I think it just tied me over so I can get to the next weekend. Pensacola. I've got to be doing something good because things are going so right.


Live Today.

Praying for Snails

Now sometimes we pray for things and we are given them in the most direct ways possible. For instance, you can commonly hear "Don't pray for patience, because God will send things to test it." Well duh, God is going to answer your prayer. He promises to answer them. "Seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given." Seem familiar? I was reading through my journal the other day and saw where I had prayed for some outrageous things and yet when they were given to me I griped about wanting something different. It looks to me that God has given me exactly what I asked for but when it's not in the way, fashion, or timing that I necessarily want it's all the sudden the absolute wrong thing to give. 


And at the same time we paint God up to be an only gentle, caring, loving, forgiving God. He is all of this, but the key word here is only. God gets angry. God delivers punishment. God allows us to live with the consequences. One thing I prayed for over the summer was for God to change my life. In my head, I meant the spiritual and reliance on him aspects, not the literal physical and daily routines of my life. Boy, was I delivered a big doozy on that one. I left camp with completely different connections, outlooks, and people than I ever expected (or wanted) to leave with. He showed me just how flawed my priorities and values really were and that he was absolutely not okay with it. He reprimanded me like a father and I had to get a grip of the fact that all the changes (especially the painful ones) were part of the consequences that I had to live with. Were these consequences bad? No, they just stunk. But here again, I see that I prayed for my life to be changed and that's exactly what I was given. 


My roommates and I were talking at the supper table yesterday and the topic of how different we were since last year came up, and how we much more we had changed since high school. If you had told me in high school that I was going to be going for a nursing degree, driving a Kia, writing a blog, tearing my ACL, working at CentriKid, losing a good friend, moving to Athens, listening to country music, and occasionally wearing Vans and skinny jeans within the next two years, and have a completely different group of friends I probably would have said "Well, isn't that something?" walked away and tell myself I had just met the strangest person in my life. But that's only a taste of what I've done and how I've changed. 


Lexi put it a way that made me think, "God allowed things to happen for protection." I didn't want half of these things to happen (Honestly, I did want to go to UF...sorry Grandma and Aunt Lynn) but I looking at where I am now and how joyful and peaceful I am with my life I can't imagine things any differently. Even my mom comments on how much I have changed, I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "This is the Ashley that I've been wanting to see!" or "You are a completely different person, you're truly happy now and it shows thru your voice, laughter, even in the way you carry yourself." Those words show me that through everything that I've been through God was and still is protecting me and guiding me to become the lady I am now and will continue to become. 


The person I am isn't the same. The things I want aren't the same. And the things I pray for aren't the same. This is including the snails.


Live Today.

Clear Eyes. Full Heart. Can't Lose.

I'm going to go ahead and give a shout out to James Burris for the title. 


Oh and to everyone I talked to yesterday (Parker Wayne, Lindsey Isbell, James, Lindsey Cobb, Bekah, and Mom) your wise words mean a lot more than you know. (Lindsey Isbell, thanks for calling me out.)


So, tomorrow is the day that I give this eulogy for Marshall. It is typed up, outlined, put on notecards, and just ready to be delivered. The closer that the time approaches, the further away from the task I want to run. And I also learned something today, tomorrow is Luke's birthday. Luke is Marshall's son who is turning three tomorrow and I know that it is going to be extremely hard on Karen to celebrate without feeling some grief in her heart.

And that's where I begin. If someone had described this week as "crazy" I would look at them and say you are darn right. Even though academically it has not been as stressful, emotions have flown like a river. I have prayed for strength and it has been given. This week has been one of full reliance on a God that knows a plan. Even though I know he has a plan, that doesn't stop the hurt and it doesn't answer the question why it hurts. 


I got to talk to Parker Wayne last night for a long long time and chat with Lindsey Cobb a little today and it was such a blessing to catch up with them and know that even if I go too long without talking to them it's not awkward whenever we talk, it's like we just pick up wherever we left off. We discussed a serious topic and it is "How dare you waste the life that you've been given?" Think about that. We were given this. We didn't ask for it, we didn't even ask for the experiences that we were given. But we are blessed enough to have gotten life, unique experiences, and friends that can always put us in our place and remind us who should be first. 


Needless to say, I am really looking forward to the weekend. I'm going to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the first time for a formal weekend. I'm such a lover of the mountains that I'm just excited to get on the road and get up there! I'm actually going shopping at a thrift store for some flannels and other mountainous apparel because I'm sensing with the sudden temperature drop and pouring condensation the summer clothes I have just simply aren't going to cut it. 


So even though this week has presented challenges, I have Clear Eyes (the knowledge that I can keep going and it's going to be a-okay) a Full Heart (excitement for the weekend and just the future in general) and I know I Can't Lose. Even Marshall's favorite verse resonates this message. 


"³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31


Live Today. 

Writing to Remember

In my lovely list of classes, I am enrolled in SPCM 1100, also known as Introduction to Public Speaking. Now those of you that know me fairly well have probably ascertained that I like to talk. I like to talk about anything. But even more than I like to talk, I love to listen. I love to hear people's stories, experiences, and just hilarious events that have happened in their lives. I like to watch them relive a story when they tell it, especially when it's either something they are passionate about or have a strong memory of, the ones with those components are the best stories. Back to the point, in my speech class we are given various types of speeches that we have to deliver. For example, my forensic speech, where I had to research and come up with a formal accusation of wrong doing, was on the topic of No Child Left Behind. (Got an A on it... woop woop!) 


But this current topic is going to be the hardest speech I will have to write up to this point in my life. It is a ceremonial speech, more specifically, a eulogy. A huge part of my testimony is sharing about the people in my life that have impacted my life and/or have passed away. But never have I been asked to tell the story of their lives. I thought about what topic to pick and I knew that there really was only one that I could do. I'm giving Marshall Coile's Eulogy. Now for those of you who didn't know Marshall, he was an amazing man. He always made the people around him smile and laugh, he put others before himself, and he embodied a man after God's own heart. This is why writing this speech is going to be so tricky. I do not want, in any way, to cheapen or understate how great of a man Marshall was. I want to relate just how much of an impact he made on my life and the lives of people around him. 


I met Marshall and his wife Karen on a rafting trip years ago and they were a lot of fun. They helped out with the youth group and always were hanging around and just being great role models and mentors for FBC youth. We always knew that if we were having a rough day we could talk to Marshall or Karen and they would cheer us up. He always told me that God's plan is the one to follow, even if I was going off to college that didn't mean I could just abandon the spiritual base and the faith I got from home, in fact he challenged me to let my faith and dependence on God grown whenever I came up to Athens. Now if there is one thing Marshall loved, it was UGA football. A die-hard DAWG fan thru and thru. He always joked with me that in order to love UGA, I was going to have to become a Bulldog and boy was he right about that. Whenever I moved up here to Athens... I caught the bug. Now you should just imagine Marshall's surprise (and huge smile) whenever I told him that I had been converted, that is something I will never forget.


 But, I will also never forget when I found out he was diagnosed with cancer. I thought for sure he could beat it, I believed to the very core of my being that he was going to come out alright and we would laugh about it in a few years. I started writing PFM (Pray For Marshall) everywhere and prayed and pleaded with God to help Marshall beat his cancer. And yet to my utter dismay that wasn't God's plan. Whenever he was in the hospital for one of the last times he said that his heart was in a place much bigger than this Earth and he was okay. Nor will I forget the call that I got, on a cold and bright Monday morning at 7:34 am as I was heading to my Athletic Training Lab, when I was told that Marshall had passed away. 


He was gone. The man that had pushed me to be a Georgia Bulldog, inspired me to be a nurse, and had encouraged me to continue to seek God no matter where I was in the world was gone. 


And in writing this eulogy I am reliving every single emotion that I felt and continue to feel in that moment. But even though I sometimes cry as I write, I smile because I remember the times that we laughed and joked. (For example, the "VBS Security" guards) And that is where Marshall lives on. In those tears and in those memories. When I first began writing this speech I could hardly make it through one practice run but now as I remember a quote from my mom I know that I really can make it thru this:


"Sorrow is like the ocean. Sometimes the tide comes in and you are tossed about, your feet can't touch the bottom, and you feel like you're going to drown. But just as the tide goes in, the tide does go out. You are able to stand up again, and you know that you will survive."


I will survive. I am having emotions come up again that are painful and that are going to be rough to deal with, but like my mom says, "I will survive." My tide is high right now and I am trying to stay afloat. And sometimes the fact of knowing how big he smiles whenever I scream in excitement for Georgia is enough to comfort me that even if I fail this speech, his memories and impact on my life will never fade and will never die. So in honor of my speech, but more importantly, in memory of Marshall I will always and forever say...


"GO DAWGS!"


Live Today.

Leaders Are...

If you are in Athens, around Athens, or have even heard me talk about Athens, you know that the church I go to is called Watkinsville First Baptist Church. But, what you may not know is that we are going thru a series about how to be a leader and be a darn good one at that. Each week I know that I'm going to come out of that service with a little more knowledge of what a Godly leader is supposed to look, act, and think like. This past week's sermon probably spoke more to me than any of the other previous one's. Here's the topic:


Leaders Are Ready.    


I want to preface by saying this is not a quality that I certainly thought about for a leader. I think of bold, courageous, servant-hearted, humble, prayers, but the quality of ready never pops up on my top 10 list. But looking back, I certainly see where this comes into play. Every time you are put in a situation, you have to have someone leading you, whether that be God or another person, and that leader has to not only be ready to steer others in the right direction, but also be ready to pick up a new hat or adapt to a change with every single step that is taken. Now, a personal story for me goes to CentriKid. (of course!) I interviewed, waited, and originally got wait-listed, and then in late March/early April I got a call from Meredith Teasley asking me if I wanted a job as a Team Leader for the summer. At first, I asked to get back with her so I could pray and I found out that I didn't have much time to make my decision. I talked with other people (shoutout to my mom, BJ, and Lindsey) and they all told me that this is what I had been praying for and that I was ready and I should take the job. Needless to say, I took the job and had the best (and hardest working) summer of my entire life. 


That's the connection. My life up to that point had been priming me and making me ready to be a leader, and when I was presented for the opportunity to be a Team Leader for CentriKid my heart, mind, and spirit were ready for the job that lay ahead of me. Was it easy? Heavens no. Was it worth it? Heavens yes. My life experience's had also made me ready to minister to a girl that was (and is) going through something very similar to my life story. 


One of my favorite stories to tell is one about a girl that lost her mom during the camp week. I broke the news to her and honestly thought that I was going to say my goodbye to her then, but she chose to stay and play OMC that morning and would leave after that. I didn't know that she had chosen to stay until I got a phone call and was told that she was requesting to talk to me one last time before she left. 


I talked with her about her mom, listened to her stories, prayed for her and with her, and finally told her the verse that was given to me at CentriKid many years before then as I was going thru losing my brother, that verse was Romans 8:28. "For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." She lit up when I told her my life story about losing my brother in 2003 and my dad in 2007 and my great friend Marshall in January, and showed her how that verse gave me constant hope. But here's the part I will NEVER EVER forget, she looked up at me and said,


 "Miss Taylor, you know how we talked about Esther last night and how she was prepared to save her people?"


"Yes, what about it?"


"I think you were prepared for such a time as me."


I tear up every single time I think about this. She made the connection. (This picture was snapped right as she was telling me this.) That was what I was being primed and ready for. To lead that girl. Yes, I lead other people throughout the summer but my losing my brother, father, and friend was all for her and the people that came to camp that were going through or recently had gone through those experiences whenever other people on my team weren't able to relate. 


Did I necessarily know that I was being made ready to be a CentriKid Team Leader? Nope. But I knew from Romans 8:28 that I was being made for something, and I just had to be ready and willing to lead when God allowed that opportunity to come. 


Just because you don't understand why things are happening never means that it's happening without a purpose. Be ready to go whenever that purpose arises.


Live Today.

Well Stars Above

Another weekend done, and another pageant participated in. Now, believe me when I say pageant girls put forth a TON of effort before the competition that goes a bit unrecognized. So, here's to you girls that put in countless hours in the gym, constant supervision of your diet (to rock that swimsuit portion of course), practice your talent portion, work on your modeling, keep up with current events, can answer pretty much any question given to you in about 0.345892347 seconds, and all the while you're juggling school, social life, and that little thing called sleep. I say little because with all that going on you only get a little bit of it. We pageant girls know how to do a lot of things, but one of the best things is to have fun getting to know each other and helping each other backstage.


I competed in the Miss University of Georgia pageant this weekend and I had so much fun and couldn't be more grateful for that experience. That being said, we get to the whole scenario that was the highlight of my night. But here's a backstory...


I completed my interview Friday evening and then got to spend the rest of the night with my aunt, two cousins, and my mom. We went to Mellow Mushroom and had a great dinner, followed by me standing in the hotel room calling out bones and their placement while my mom added them up with a calculator (I never did get to 206 that night) and just general merriment with the family. The next morning, I got up went to dress rehearsal and when the evening gown portion came up I put mine on and got help zipping it up when... it stopped. That zipper didn't budge, so I took the gown off and messed with the zipper, put the gown back on, and miraculously it zipped all the way up without a flaw. 


I walked back to the hotel to get some lunch and lay down, and my cousin suggested Weaver D's for lunch. We went to the neon green building and enjoyed some good southern cooking (not too much mind you, I still had to get in that beast of an evening gown.) After a nap, I woke up and got ready for the exciting night! I arrived at the dressing room, got ready for opening number and the night began without a hitch. Then came evening gown. The people helping out backstage knew that it was going to take a specialized team to get me in mine so they were waiting. And dare I say it? The zipper got stuck again. We fiddled with it, and got it up... and then it happened... right as contestant number 2 was getting on the stage my zipper BUSTED. For those who don't know much about gowns, a busted zipper equals death for a gown. A look of sheer panic came on the helper's face and let the fun begin. 


Other contestants came to my rescue though, with double sided tape, safety pins, even calming words. I asked to have my mother come backstage and help pin me in and all of the sudden I had at least 14 different hands holding this zipper together and each of those hands had a safety pin that got put in place and with only seconds to spare somehow they pinned that dress together. (I did say I don't care if I get stabbed... well I ate my own words with that one. My mom stabbed me with her first pin) I continued to have an enormous amount of help (and laughs) from the contestants and helpers backstage, and I walked out on that stage with a safety pinned evening gown feeling like a million bucks. I didn't win, but believe me when I say that is the best experience I've ever had backstage. 


So thank you to every one who helped pin me in that dress (even you mom, although I do have a hole in my side) and helped me feel like a million dollars whenever the zipper of my dress wasn't worth a penny. 


Live Today.

Purple Sheets

Every Friday one of my teachers from high school that I love dearly, Mrs. Melba Murphy sends out what she calls purple sheets. Purple sheets are thought provoking, self-esteem boosting, and just in general brilliant yet simple concepts. I miss Friday's walking into high school and knowing that fourth period (or third my junior year) I would get purple sheets. Yet, her teaching didn't stop there. Mrs. Murphy is a teacher that challenges you in academics and life, and she encompasses and possess qualities that teachers should have. Her thoughtfulness for me and other students will never be forgotten. Yet, neither will her tests. If you talk to a WCHS student about Melba Murphy I can pretty much guarantee that you will hear at least these two things, Purple Sheets and Murphy Tests. It didn't matter what subject she was teaching they never were a History Test, Psychology Test, or Sociology Test, they were Murphy Tests. Granted, those things gave me some stressful and long nights but the fact that I face a "Murphy Test" with every single college exam I now take lets me know that she was thinking well beyond the confines of that high school and wanted to know that her students would be prepared for the challenge and the level of excellence that was expected of us at the next level. 


Not only did Mrs. Murphy teach me, but she also taught my brother Andy. When I was little he would stay up and study and he would tell me to get ready, the easy stuff was going to end. I was in fourth grade and was thinking that he was just lazy. But, like every other student of her's he not only talked about the academic rigor of her class, but the purple sheets and what he learned that would never apply in the classroom. She impacted his life and even though it was cut short, the impact she made very much counted. Andy took the life skills that he learned in her class outside of there and applied them to the people that he met on the street, on the soccer field, and even to the nurses and doctors that attended to him in the hospital. He always made the people around him laugh and he didn't even stop whenever he was told he was paralyzed and could never play soccer again. One of her favorite phrases is "Life is about accepting your new reality." And I think that thanks to this phrase, not only did Andy make the best of his paralysis, but also our family made the best of what we could when we lost him. 


So thank you Mrs. Murphy for what you have done and continue to do in the high school and in your community around you. I, for one, respect you and cherish the values that were taught in your class and even outside of it. Thank you for the advice, the laughs, the stress, and the Purple Sheets. They have touched lives of the people in your class, and I have seen first hand an innumerable amount of lives that have been touched outside of your classroom walls. 


For those of you that are curious as to what is on a Purple Sheet here is one that I received today.

The Nail in the Fence

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper.  His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail in to the back of the fence.  The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence.  Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.  He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.  He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.  The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.  The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.  He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence.  The fence will never be the same.  When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.  

You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.  It won't matter how many times you say "I'm sorry", the wound is still there.  A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.  Sticks and stones can break your bones and words can break your spirit.  And though we may have the right to be angry, we don't have the right to be cruel.

In what you say of another, apply the tet of kindness, necessity, and truth, and let nothing pass your lips without a 2/3 majority. (Liz Armbruster)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

The Law of Life

The tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light,

That stood out in the open plain

And always got its share of rain

Never became a forest king,

But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil

Who never had to win his share

Of sun ad sky and light and air

Never became a manly man,

But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow in ease

The stronger the wind, the tougher the trees

The farther the sky, the greater the length

The more the storm, the more the strength,

By sun and cold, by rains and snows,

In tree or man good timber grows.

Live Today.

Annnndddd GO.

Since I came back from working camp this summer, the phrase "I hit the ground running" literally has come true. Even though I'm only taking 12 hours, I'm taking three high demand classes, two labs, and a spin class. (And for those who don't think that spinning is hard, please come join me every Tuesday and Thursday morning I will give you props is Manuela doesn't make you want to just lay down of the floor afterwards.) Being a planner I had everything ready to go (or so I thought) for these classes but I've been presented with obstacles inside and outside of school that have made me live by the motto "You can do it all. Just not all at once." Admitting that has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. You're admitting a flaw. You're admitting you can't do it. And as a human that was so very hard for me to get over. Reading in Romans throughout my quiet time has made me admit that I couldn't save myself and that I'm not in control, but to admit to myself that I can't do everything at one time is a whole different ball game.


Now, suffice it to say that the midterms have begun. Not only has school picked up, but also my pageant career has as well. I competed in a pageant last weekend and had the time of my life and this weekend I'm doing the same thing. Now, don't get me wrong I love competing. If you know me, you know that I am just a competitive person and love to have something to do. Do I have to win? No. Do I have to have fun? Yes. And as cliche as it sounds, that and scholarship is really what these pageants are all about for me. I'm excited to see if this is where God wants me to go or if he has yet another direction picked out for my life. That's what I'm beginning to love. The chase of where I'm being led. I mean I will be the first to admit that I am a planner and that I like to have things down pretty much three years in advance (...but really) but being more open to a change and truly being able to welcome and obstacle has made life so much more fun. I know I can't do it all at once, and while I don't always want to admit it I'm not someone who can just turn down fun. I would rather have conquer an obstacle having fun than thinking that a pebble in the road is the end-all-be-all of my day. Besides laughter is the best medicine, right?


Live Today. 

Oh, Hey Roses

Lately, to be honest, I've been getting very very stressed out with the whole applying to nursing school and covering all the bases deal. Shoot, even what I'm going to do this summer stresses me out. It doesn't help when your advisor tells you that you have to take 17 hours next semester to finish up your core... when I've only taken 12 hours pretty much my whole career. Although, then I remember someone else did it before me and someone else is going to do it after me, so I can do it. That and I am given the same 24 hours in a day that Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, George Washington, and many many other famous and brilliant minds were given. Many hours of prayer, thought, decision making, and pondering have gone into this decision for me to be a nurse from not only me, but other people around me and I KNOW this is the path I'm being led down. That my friends, is the comfort I have. God answered a prayer of mine and now I'm going to have to follow it. On Saturday I got asked a question that was only two words but made me analyze why I'm putting myself through multiple sciences and labs every semester, the question was "Why nursing?" Before I gave my answer I stopped and thought about it. I had always let Marshall be the main reason I wanted to go into the profession but for me to truly enjoy it and love being a nurse for the rest of my life I needed something deeper than just losing a friend. I knew the answer, "I want to help people. I want to let them know that while they are at their most vulnerable moment everything will be okay. I want to comfort them, make them better, and make them laugh. The patients are the reason I want to be a nurse."


After I said that answer, I knew that I had found my solid reason. And I also knew that I had not ever taken the time until then to really stop and analyze why. That made me wonder, what other things am I not taking the time to enjoy? It's amazing how much more you learn and take in whenever you are truly present in a moment. For example, this morning, I had walked to class before but I had never paid attention to where I was passing through on my almost jog across campus. I slowed my pace and began to look around, and then I laughed. (And for those of you who know my laugh, it definitely made other people think I was right on the borderline of crazy) I saw roses, actual roses, on a day that I told myself "Take time to stop and smell the roses." Not only had I  completely not known that I passed by the unseen roses on my speedy journey but I also passed by Warnell College of Forestry. Now, I am not a forestry major nor am I thinking to become one, but Marshall Coile was. Marshall was the man who had inspired me to become a Georgia fan and become a nurse (two pretty important things in my life) and I had passed by his school so many times, but never even knew it. I know now that the roses and a forestry school are there, now I am looking for more. Take time to smell the roses, and who knows, you might actually see literal roses along the way. 


Live Today.

Control

Romans 9:19-24

Those were the verses that I read while going through Romans the other day. And looking at it, I know that it's only five verses but the things I got to thinking about and the time constraints I had on me only allowed for me to read and digest those five verses.

²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²²What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patiencevessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory

I was literally struck with what I read. It is such a thought and shows that God is in control of literally everything. He has the power to make people for honorable or dishonorable use, and it's all to bring glory to him. God has, will, and will continue to change people and situations, we just have to honor, acknowledge, and accept his complete control in every aspect of not only our lives, but the lives of others (even the ones who do things we don't particularly care for.) He has it all down and knows what it going to happen, we just have to trust and wait with a glad heart and let him work. 

I got to talk a little through my CentriKid experience this weekend with different people, and to know and have the opportunity to see everything fall together whenever I thought that whatever was happening didn't have a purpose filled me with joy and just a sense of "Okay, I know that I can let go and trust." I know that I'm headed in the right direction and I'm where I'm supposed to be, and that is a great feeling. 

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