Hallie

Dear Rosebud,

Today you will try out for cheerleader for the very last time. How did this happen? How did you grow up so quickly. It is evident that God is transforming you into a beautiful, courageous, strong-willed young woman. You project your faith onto others and allow His light to be known. You have a tender heart that seeks compassion and grace. While you appear to be very independent on the outside, I know you better than anyone else and know that you are very sensitive to those who are hurting. I pray each day that God will use you wherever you attend college. I pray that people will take notice of your love for Christ and in return desire to know Him. You are going to be incredible today at tryouts. Remember to relax and breathe. You have been through this process five times already...you're a pro! Let those judges see your joy that is revealed through cheering. Smile and have fun! Enjoy today...and be thankful that you'll never have to go through it again :) I love you dearly.

Love,
Ash

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs." Psalm 100:2

In the Midst of Difficult Times...

Remember that God has an unfailing plan.

"The more Satan sees something crucial on that next step, the more he will fight you. Why does God allow such warfare? Sometimes God uses the fight to strengthen muscles we'll need at that next level. If yesterday's wimp is going to become tomorrow's warrior, something has to happen today."

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Quotes

Here are a few quotes that have really encouraged me lately.

On Life
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." Philippians 1:3

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

On Love
"...he is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

On Medicine
"It's a beautiful day to save lives. Let's have some fun." Grey's Anatomy

On Beauty
"You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you." Song of Solomon 4:7

God's Letter to Girls

My sister recently showed me this "letter." She received it from her small group leader at church and it definitely spoke volumes to both of us. I hope it will bless you as it did us, and allow you to think about each word and what ot truly means.

Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone,
to have a deep soul relationship with another,
to be loved thoroughly and exclusively, but God says to a Christian:
no, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and content with being loved by Me alone,
with giving yourself totally and unreservedly to me,
with having an intensely personal and unique relationship with me alone,
discovering that only in me is your satisfaction to be found,
will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you.
You will never be united with another until you are united with Me
exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other desires or longings.
I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow me to give you the most thrilling plan existing,
one that you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best.
Please allow me to bring it to you. You just keep watching me, expecting the greatest things.
Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I am.
Keep listening and learning the things I tell you. You just wait. That’s all.
Don’t be anxious. Don’t worry. Don’t look around at the things others have gotten
or that I have given them. Don’t look at the things you think you want.
You just keep looking off and away up to me, or you’ll miss what I want to show you.
And then, when you’re ready,
I’ll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you would dream of.
You see, until you are ready, and until that one I have for you is ready
(I am working even at this moment to have both of you ready at the same time),
until you are both satisfied exclusively with me and the life I prepared for you,
you won’t be able to experience the Love that exemplifies your relationship with Me,
and this is the perfect Love.
And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful Love.
I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with me,
and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty,
perfection, and Love that I offer you with Myself.
Know that I love you utterly. I am God. Believe it and be satisfied.

So many girls, both young and old, rush into relationships. They are either insecure and need to be loved by someone or they are unable to function alone. I have witnessed so many of these relationships. Everytime the girl ends up broken hearted because she gave her heart to her boyfriend. She did not guard her heart because she believed he was "the one." I am not judging any one of these girls. It truly breaks my heart to see this happen over and over again. I pray that girls will read this "letter" and realize that a man will not solve all of her problems. Only God is capable of that job.

SB 2010

Spring Break has been lovely this year. Despite the whole burnt hand/totaled car aspect, I have thoroughly enjoyed being home. I worked out almost everyday and even brought my brother along a few of the days. Running is so much more enjoyable when you have a buddy to encourage you! I was able to cook quite a bit which always puts me in a great mood :) Other than that, not much else happened. On Thursday, I went shopping with my grandma and got a few more cute items of clothing. Thanks Deeda! I got a navy tank and black (feaux)linen shorts from Old Navy. They did good this year! I also ordered light tan linen pants from American Eagle. I had to buy them online due to the fact they do not sell "short" lengths in the store...thank you Mom for blessing me with severely short legs. Hal and I went shopping at Gap and they had scarves on sale. Despite the voice in my head telling me not to buy ANOTHER scarf, that darn little bird told me otherwise. Can you guess which one I listened to? :) I went out of my comfort zone and bought a spring green scarf. I decided to change my ways and not buy the navy one, shocking I know. It was time though. If you were able to see the amount of blue items I have you would set up an intervention. What can I say, I like blue! I was able to meet my new cousin, Tenley Kay Kunkel. Oh. My. Gosh. I have never seen a more beautiful, precious baby. She has dark brown hair (almost black) and gorgeous navy eyes. I just held her for hours talking to her while she stared back listening. It was heavenly. I have always adored babies, and this little newborn only heightened my adoration for babies. I definitely want to work in the NICU!



So all in all this was a wonderful spring break! Tomorrow is my birthday so tonight my family and I are going to dinner (Benihana, yay hibachi!) and Hal & I are going to watch New Moon! We just bought the 3-disk DVD...can't wait! Tonight's gonna be a good night. Tomorrow my family and I will go to lunch then drive back to UMHB with my parents and Nicole. It will be so great to see everyone again!

I hope you all ahve had a fantastic break! I pray the Lord will keep you safe as you go drive back to school. Enjoy your last night!

And Once Again, Reality Hits

So Spring Break did not start off the way I originally planned. Approximately 40 minutes after leaving Belton, Nicole and I were involved in an accident. Thankfully, no one was hurt. It was a four car chain reaction and I was the 3rd car back. My car and the one behind me were totaled. We're still waiting to hear from the insurance company whether or not my car is repairable. I did say my goodbyes to her on Friday just to be safe...it was tragic, let me tell ya. After three wonderful years, we went our separate ways. I'm still praying that the people will be able to fix her, but have not allowed myself to get my hopes up, given Colbie looks like an accordian. Hopefully we will receive a call tomorrow telling us if she will be spared. We shall see. I really am praying that they can fix her because a new car is definitely not an option. I would really appreciate all of your prayers that Colbie will be repaired (p.s. Colbie is my car's name).

It truly was a miracle that no one was severely injured in the accident! After reflecting on exactly what happened, there should have been more injuries. God definitely had a few angels watching over everyone that day. We were just very sore for the next few days and had seatbelt burns, but we were all very thankful that we did not endure anything more serious.

Now it's time to enjoy Spring Break! Hallie and I did a little therapy shopping and treated ourselved with Gooey's. We had some great conversations and drove around for hours with the windows down listening to wonderful music. There's nothing like sister bonding time :) If you're looking for cute spring/summer clothes, Gap, Old Navy, and American Eagle are the places to be! My bank account has endured a little damage over the past few days...but every purchase was absolutely worth it!

I have loved spending time with my family. Despite the fact that they are all mentally unstable, I love them dearly and feel abundantly blessed to have them in my life. When we get together, the noise level increases exponentially as does the constant flow of bickering. We love each other so much, but choose to express that love through raised voices and harsh comments. That's just how we roll.

I plan on reading a few books and catching up on movies and TV shows. It will be so wonderful to just relax and not have anywhere to be or any priorities. Another plus to this week is that I finally get to work out again!!!!! Can you sense my excitement? ;) I have decided to once again pick up running and it has been so great. Today, Kyle and I ran together and it was a blast. Normally, I enjoy working out by myself, but it was actually nice to have someone there to encourage me. Plus, it was nice to have a little brother/sister bonding time.

Well, I must go. Hal and I are watching an episode of CSI: Miami. I must say it's rather intense! Oh boy, a suicide bomber just showed up. And there's the sunglasses guy. I pray that you all have a fantastic Spring Break. Be sure to soak up a lot of Vitamin D and enjoy the relaxation.

Oh one more thing. If you need a little encouragement, read Psalm 55. It will help :)