May 28, 2012

Free

"He knew what he was doing when he decided to be ruthlessly tortured and then hang on that cross. Not so that you could continue on in your habitual sin, consistently falling, taking one step forward, and two steps back. He went through what he did so that you would be FREE from sin. No longer enslaved to it anymore." -Micah Surrendered

Holy Moly, me oh my

I am obsessed. You should be too.

May 24, 2012

Awesome and Awkward

Awkward
  • Getting tied up at work last week. Yes. tied up.
  • Meditating in my meditation class. So I'm praying while I'm supposed to be meditating and I'm asking God to teach me things when all of a sudden this lovely little number jumps in my head..."teach me how to dougie, teach me, teach me how to dougie...um God, no. Don't teach me how to dougie. Okay, FOCUS." I am not designed to meditate. This is why I prayer journal.
  • Running into the dude on campus I had a 5 minute required "get to know you" interaction with in class. Oh, yeah, hello...whats your name again?
  • Being 5-10 minutes late to class, but 10 minutes early to work. Um, why?
  • All the kids at work saying "Sarah's got a boyfriend!" as loud as possible.
  • Losing connect-4 like 10 times in a row to a 2nd grader. Yep.
  • Mishearing almost everything people say. Yesterday, my friend said "it's my cross to bear" and I heard "crossed eyed bear." I'm telling you people, I need to see a doctor about this. I'm sure my friends do appreciate the humor I bring..maybe.
Awesome
  • hanging out with this guy (<-----) pretty much everyday :)
  • Spending last Saturday on an adventure hike at Alsea falls
  • My plans for this weekend are nothing short of complete epicness. I'm seeing the Shins on Friday, seeing my favoriteist favorite person ever, MONICA, spending the weekend in Prineville with 15 of my bestest buds. Hello awesomness.
  • Playing chaotic at work. Best game ever.
  • Trying out new reciepes. YUM. My taste buds and stomach appreciate you pinterest.
  • The term is almost over and I leave for camp in 18 days. 18 DAYS!
  • Also, did I mention Caeli is coming to camp with me? I was so excited I pretty much attacked jumped on her in pure and utter joy.
  • Thinking about being a 4th grade teacher. I think I need to make up my mind.
  • My God. He's the best.

May 22, 2012

He will use it

I'm a firm believer that God will use everything for His glory.

Everything.

Including that one thing you wish you could take back. The one sin you can't seem to beat. The one person you can't reach. The one relationship that seems like it will never be reconciled. God uses everything for his glory.

"And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28


Other than God telling me in his word, do you know why else I believe this?
I've experienced it. First hand.

In September, my life as I knew it came crashing down. I was faced with my own sin and the consequences of my actions like never before. I hit my rock bottem. Every choice I had made up until the point was affecting me so strongly I only had one choice: to pray. So I did. I prayed all the time. I blew through prayer journals. I spent a lot of time alone, praying. I knew God would bring people into my life when I was ready. But first, I needed to be grounded and get right with Him.
So I did. God changed me. He completly transformed me. He worked in my heart so that I would finally believe how beautiful I was. How treasured I am. How intentionally I was made by the Creator of the Universe. God planned me. God picked out every part of my story and how He was going to use it. And He has. There are a lot of things I have done that I am not proud of, but God used them. He used them to comfort a friend of mine, to bring someone back to Him, to grow relationships and heal past hurts. God cares about all the little details, and He uses all of it. Every. Single. Thing.
Now, I have a life filled with love. God's love, that I can pour out into others lives and hearts. A life filled with people. But I am no longer seeking to fufill the needs deep within my heart. I am joyful in getting to experience life with others. The joys, the tears, the sucesses, and the failures. I am so thankful for the relationships God has redeemed in my life and for the new people he has brought into it. Life is good and God is great.

May 14, 2012

Mothers


I'd like you to meet my mom. She is one the sweetest, most kind hearted people I have ever have the pleasure of knowing. And I'm the luckiest, cuz shes my mom.

She is absolutely beautiful. She is a woman who follows God and reaches into the hearts of others. She is always loving and always doing. Sometimes, we have to remind her to slow down and let other people serve her. But she still won't have any of it. She loves to serve.

In January, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I was devastated and pretty much burst into tears. She had to fight the scary battle of cancer and here I am-600 miles away from her. Needless to say, it was really hard to be away from home. In April, the doctors and her were finishing up some tests to see the status of her cancer post-surgery. She has remarkable progress and the cancer did not spread to any bones or muscles, which was my biggest fear. She is now completely cancer free.

OSU had a Mother's Weekend the first weekend in May and my mom told me she wouldn't be able to attend due to cancer treatments. I was totally bummed, but I quickly got on the phone with my dad and came up with what I would consider a brilliant plan: To surprise my mom on Mother's Day.

My flight landed Friday night and my brother and dad told my mom they were going to pick something up from Craigslist. In my household, that is not something she would think ANYTHING of at all. Stasia, my brother's wife stayed at home cooking dinner with my mom. My mom was just telling Stasia how she wished I could have come home this weekend too. Minutes later, I walk into the kitchen and stand behind my mom until she turns around and notices. I'll let the pictures share the rest of the story. :)





My dad and I explained to my mom how this whole thing was my idea and how he almost gave away the surprise several times. We all laughed and she just kept jumping up and down and hugging me tightly.
A big thanks to Stasia for photographing this rare moment!
My mom and I spent the rest of Friday night sharing, giggling, hugging a lot more and staying up waaaaayyyyy to late talking. We're such girls.

Heres the rest of my weekend in pictures:


Meet Leo Laporte: Twit Studios

overlooking Peuteluma, CA

Mom, I don't know what I would do without you. You are one of my bestest friends. I love you so much.

May 4, 2012

The Hunt

The hunt was on. Last Friday, 7 pm, at my church.

We had a scavenger hunt night. Becuase most of you are really not interested, here are the highlights.

Meet the team: We raise the bar
Me, Caeli, Greg, and Grant

We make a pretty rad band

We know how to jump rope like a boss

we all rock matching t-shirts
Meet Captain Metabolism
Best story ever: Paper reads "Get a high five from a barista" Caeli approaches the counter and says, "Can I have a high five to go?" The barista panicks, turns around from the counter and talks to his co-worker, "what is a high five?" Caeli puts her hand up and asks for a high five again. I died.
Make a Pyramid with two strangers. Luckily ours were drunk and high. HELLO fellas
Spell a word with your bodies: YAMS
This is our awkward family photo

We misred the paper, and it said to bird feed AND draw a picture with your foot. NOT bird feed with your foot. Oops.
It was a GREAT night and it ended really late playing fruit ninja, dance central, and watching Horrible Bosses. I've got some pretty rad people in my life.