Sweet Southern Pearl

2 0 1 6 ! #BestNine shows you your pictures that got the most likes during the year. These were mine! It makes sense, because some of the biggest highlights of my year were buying a house (THE LIGHTHOUSE), stalking and meeting Tim Tebow, growing closer with family, spending time at church, playing with my beloved Emery, and of course, starting a fresh and wonderful new relationship journey with Drew after three years of searching myself and growing in the Lord as an individual. Some really wonderful things are not pictured, though! - My second precious goddaughter was born on my sister's birthday. Elaina Loren is a bundle of pure joy! - I got to stand beside two of my best friends as they committed their lives to their husbands. Such a sweet honor and so much fun! - I attended my first Alpha Chi Omega convention in sunny Orlando and it was a dream. I met so many wonderful sisters and got closer to a couple in particular! - I finally went to Texas! I h...

Sundays are great. I have always loved the church / lunch routine and it doesn't feel like a Sunday unless that routine happens.  Then I end up driving home or wherever, from lunch, and thinking / counting my blessings.  I was driving yesterday afternoon and thanking God for everything He's blessed me with this Christmas season and in my life, and something occurred to me: I don't love the Lord because He's given me what I've asked for;  I love Him because I never deserved any of it. It brought tears to my eyes. It started out with me thanking God for His faithfulness in answering my prayers for certain things, starting with the very first prayer I remember being answered - when I was little and prayed for a sister even though my mom said no more kids.  Why me, though? Why does God care so much about me that He would give me the little things I ask for? There's no reason. I'm a sinner like everyone else.  I can be hateful and judgmental ...

I really get into the Christmas spirit with my clothes. For a long, long time, all my outfits in the month of December have incorporated red and/or green, gold, sparkles, etc. These are some of my favorite Christmas wardrobe staples:        

Today is the day that John Lennon died, so I decided that my first period would listen to "Imagine," annotate the lyrics, and free write their thoughts about the song. I was already thinking about it this morning when I was getting ready (USING MY AWESOME NEW URBAN DECAY EYE SHADOW BUT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS POST - I JUST WANTED TO MENTION IT BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE A ROCKSTAR TODAY) ...I was listening to "Imagine" and thinking about the lyrics and how I disagree with most of them, but that somehow, the song still motivates me.  Why?! I think I came to a conclusion - As humans, we all want peace. Universally, I think most of us have that in common. Peace on Earth sounds great. Especially at Christmas time.  Last night at church, it was mentioned in the message that we were BORN with a need for a Savior - someone to bring peace. John Lennon's song is a cry for that, although he didn't exactly know how peace can be obtained. My stude...

Shame has been on my mind lately. I wrote a post back in the summer about how it doesn't matter what you've done in the past as long as you've repented and are moving forward. Our sermons at Oak View lately have been about Paul and how he killed Christians before he was saved, and how if God could use him, He can use literally ANYONE.  I've just been thinking a lot recently, though, because I know so many people who struggle with shame from their past. I heard a really good sermon at the Summit Church in Durham about shame a while back. The pastor said something like  "If God has forgiven you and forgotten about your sin, and you STILL harp on it because of shame, you are essentially saying (subconsciously) that you are more important than God. If HE can forget it, YOU definitely should!!" SHAME IS NOT OF THE LORD!!! Shame comes from Satan.  I saw something happen yesterday... someone I know was really excited about a breakthrough sh...

So I've never posted about this, and not really even told many people, but the other day I felt compelled to share the story of how I saw an angel when I was little. I grew up in church and a Christian school and Christian home and was always taught about spiritual warfare, even from a very young age. I remember my mom telling me that her aunts had told her that if you could peel away the atmosphere and what we see on earth, it would be scary and awesome to see the supernatural - angels and demons constantly fighting. One night in December when I was in first or second grade, I was watching TV with my mom in the dark in the den. We turned the TV off and everything was completely dark. As we were walking down the hall to my room, I saw a bright figure about my same height walking towards our Christmas tree. She had shoulder-length hair that curled up at the ends and wings. She was wearing a long dress and had a halo. She was carrying a candle. I wasn't shocked or...

Happy December! Reminding myself not to get so busy that I don't take time to stop and enjoy the little things and make sweet memories this month  ❤️ ️ ❤️ ️ ❤️ ️ Confession: I've always had trouble saying no. I've always been a people-pleaser, and I read a good chapter from a devotional the other day about resisting the urge to people-please. "Whatever we focus most of our attention on will become the driving force in our lives. The more I focus on trying to please people, the more of a magnified force people pleasing will become in my life. The more I focus on trying to figure out how to please God, the more of a magnified force He will become in my life." I get sometimes get so focused on all the things I have to do and don't stop to just take a breather and bask in the goodness of the Lord and spend time with Him.  I NEED that time. We all do. It's easy to get caught up in all the stress of the holiday season and get so overwhelmed th...