Sweet Southern Pearl

.........."All this time I was finding myself and I, didn't know I was lost." This morning I was listening to the "Wake Me Up" song by Avicii and Aloe Blacc that came out last fall. That song always reminds me of Boone and always will. It came out right when we moved into our apartment for the year and it played on the radio and on my iTunes nonstop during one of the most precious and memorable seasons of my life. Whenever I hear the song, all I can think about is how glad I am that I had that experience and how different my life would be if I hadn't. I remember being so worried and conflicted AND SCARED OUT OF MY MIND about my decision on where to go for graduate school. Looking back, Appalachian should've been the only choice. It shouldn't have even been a dilemma, knowing what I know now. Being in Boone and having the experiences that I had and making friends and growing like I did, that's something that will stay with me forever.   ...

"See You at the Pole" has been something that I always kinda took for granted when I was in school, especially private Christian school for elementary and middle school. I thought, "Why pray at the pole when we pray in class every day?" And even in high school, I would go, but I never really got  too into it... I was saved and all of my friends knew it, but I wasn't a living, burning, PASSIONATE testimony for the Lord like I could've been. Now I help lead FCS (Fellowship of Christian Students) at the high school I teach at, and let me tell you, these kids are ON FIRE!!! We worked on planning See You at the Pole for weeks, and they were so excited to do it. It really touched my heart and made me feel ashamed of how much I took for granted when I was in school (and still do). Ashland, a fellow teacher and the leader of FCS did a fantastic job of heading it up but letting the kids organize it the way they wanted to, and supporting them in how the wan...

It's 2am. I accidentally took a two hour nap from 10-midnight. It's a school night. I have to get up in about 4 hours. I've been working on grades. All I want to do is bloggggggg! Today was See You at the Pole in schools all over the nation, and I got to be a part of a very special SYATP at the school I teach at. I'll write more about it later today, but my heart is full from the experience. :) FALL is finally upon us, and I'm pretty excited about that. I'm so excited about football games and spending time in BOONE and wearing scarves and pumpkin-y smells and holidays! I love my puppy. She's cuddly and sweet. I'm getting more ideas for my memoir that I'm writing, so I'm HOPING to get some free time to work on that! I'm really enjoying listening to Christian music now more than ever, and so happy about how it makes me feel! I'm IN LOVE with my small group of precious, funny, sweet, adorable middle school girls at church -...

I saw this and it hit home. My mind wants a lot of things, and lately I've been asking God why I don't have certain things my mind keeps telling me I should have. These are both things I used to have that I no longer have and things I've never had before.  But if i stop chasing what i think i should have based on what I feel is best for me, I'll trust God fully let my desires go and therefore be open to the things that God has for me. Only He knows what's best and has had a plan for me since before I was born.  Over the past month I've been working at this and I've gotten a lot better with it. I've learned to let go of what my mind wants and believe with my whole heart that God will give me what my soul needs, whether it comes packaged the way I think it should look or not.  Sometimes the best things come disguised as bad things, and these are the things that help us grow the most.                eBa...

My bathroom in Boone was the exact same layout as my bathroom at home... Same layout, but the one in Boone was SIGNIFICANTLY larger. So after being in that apartment in Boone for a year, I'm used to having more space. Being back at home, I've been bumping into things in my bathroom and getting so annoyed with not having enough space. I don't have enough room for all my clothes and jewelry and shoes and I don't have time to blog and I don't get to see my friends as much and I don't have time to paint... First world problems.  Lord, help me to be thankful that THESE are my "problems" and to realize that in the grand scheme of things, they aren't problems at all. Because there ARE people in this world that would give anything to call these things "problems." eBa

When I think of the term "controlling your thoughts," I typically think of guys controlling less than pure thoughts. I know that's stereotypical but it is what it is. It wasn't until recently that I really realized how much I need to control my thoughts. No, I don't have a problem with what I'd originally thought of as impure thoughts, but I have been known to dwell on material objects and here lately, I've really been thinking and focusing too much on the past and what I consider to be my problems. We had a sermon at church in July on controlling your thoughts and the pastor explained that unless our thoughts are uplifting and glorify God, we shouldn't be thinking them. Furthermore, if our thoughts aren't bad, but so consuming that they take away from God and make an idol of whatever we are thinking about, that's not good either. There's something in there for everyone - and I realized what I need to work on.  I've never had to ...