And Then My Heart Broke…

I told myself that I was going to go to bed somewhat early…well, its past midnight and I can’t sleep.  I feel as though I’m sort of in this middle place.  That probably doesn’t make very much sense, but I think it sums up how I have been feeling lately.  Tonight my family sat down with a few different catalogues and decided on Christmas gifts.  We’ve been talking about gifts for a few weeks deciding what to get everyone, but these gifts were different.  These catalogues were not the kind you could just pick up at any old store.  Samaritan’s Purse, Heifer, and Buckner (as well as others, I’m sure) put out catalogues of gifts that you can purchase.  These gifts go to people around the world in need.  This was a first for our family.  We’ve given to organizations and offerings like this before, but never to one where we could physically see what we were giving.  For instance, Brady gave some of his money to buy baby chicks for a family and some sports equipment for a community.  Other gifts from my family included giving children the opportunity to read from Buckner, blankets to war victims, Bibles and other Christian literature, and a honeybee hive that will go to a few families in Africa, I think.  I believe that these organizations use the money given wherever it is needed most, especially if one area of need is more important than others, but it is still really neat to see what the money that we are giving goes for. 

As I was looking through these catalogues, I had the hardest time deciding what I wanted to pick out.  The two gifts that I really wanted to invest in was sending medical doctors to impoverished hospitals and rescuing a child out of trafficking.  These were a bit out of my price range, but as I went through the catalogues I just wanted to give to all of it.  It was so hard to just pick one area to help.

I feel like I’m at this place in my life where I’m stuck in the middle.  I am a psychology and Spanish major at Ouachita Baptist University.  I am a junior that just finished my first semester, and have another year and a half to go of school.  I have been asked so many times in the past few weeks what I want to do once I graduate or how I’m going to use my degree. I. Don’t. Know. I simply don’t.  I wish that I did, and I wish that it was a clear shot answer.  I thought that changing my major that spring of freshman year from Secondary Spanish Education to Psychology and Spanish with a Christian Studies Minor was the best choice because it gave me tons of options.  Well, now that I’m close to having to choose one of those options, it doesn’t seem so bright anymore.  I still think that the change was best.  I was so unhappy with Secondary Ed, and love being a psych major.  I just don’t like the zillions of options (especially coming from a girl who freaks at the decision of what to eat at McDonalds…).  I just want my life to count and for God to be pleased with it.  I want to follow Him more than anything, and for what my decision right out of college to be what He wants too.  I know I’ll follow many different “career choices” (possibly) throughout my life, but I want them to all be right. 

The thought of grad school and seminary have been heavy on my list lately.  But they’re just two of the many options.  Seeing those pictures of children today reminded me of how much I want to help people.  I really just want to give all those little orphans everything I can and let them have good lives.  Most importantly I want to share Jesus with them.  I want to help them physically, but what good is it if I don’t feed them spiritually?? None.  I can’t sleep right now because of the thought of what and how I can help better the world and share the love of Christ with them weighs heavy on my heart.  Jesus tells us that helping and loving the poor and needy are high on His list.  The book of James says that true religion is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep ourselves unstained from the world.  As I was thinking earlier of my future plans, I was thinking of how they should be practical and use my degrees.  I still think my degrees should be put to use, but at the same time, God doesn’t call us to be practical.   He calls us to love Him and His people.  He calls simple fishermen to leave their families and life’s work and follow a man who was born in a humble little manger to the lowest of people watching-shepherds, who taught radical things and was ridiculed and was then hung on a tree and then was glorified to the highest and who came to save the world.  These men are then called to take this beautiful gospel message to the ends the earth and persecuted and hated and killed because of this-by worldly standards.  In God’s eyes, this is living the high life.  This is the God we serve.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So here’s to living a radical, impractical life.  Here’s to uncertainties, but the hope and faith that God knows all and here’s to keeping all eyes on Him as He leads the way.  May it be messy and somewhat logical.  May true religion never be tainted in my life.  May my heart always be broken for those in need, and all God’s people.  May I hate evil and the corruption-such as human trafficking-that occurs in this life.  May life be beautiful, always, along the way.

[Side note: I would encourage you and your family or friends to give to organizations such as these, mentioned earlier.  There are so many who aren’t as fortunate as us, especially at Christmas time.  As we’re opening our Xbox 360s or whatever they are, let’s remember those who can’t live as lavishly as we can.  There’s a special joy that comes when we make a sacrifice to a good cause, especially one that’s main goal is to share these things in Christ’s name. If you would like to give, these organizations take donations year round.  The links are there if you click on the names: Buckner Orphanages, Heifer International, Samaritan’s Purse, Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. (All money from Lottie Moon goes directly to Missionaries to support them in their work).]

Quote for the Week:

"Let the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever steady your world today.  Whatever challenge or change confronts you, let it drive you toward the God who never changes, a God so stable and strong you can lean on Him forever."

-Ann Spangler, Praying the Names of God

There's Much To Be Thankful For!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope that you each have a wonderful day, and enjoy 

the time to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for, because there's a lot that falls into that category. 

:)

Tales From Gertrude's Perspective

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Gertrude. Gertrude had blonde hair and grew up with the best family in the world. One day she moved far far away to a foreign land called Arkadelphia. It frightened her to leave her familiar world and start new adventures. She was afraid of the trolls living under bridges that she might encounter along the way. She grew to love this land called Arkadelphia, however, and made it her home. She loved the people in the community, even though it was a dysfunctional community. She loved the church she was involved in. She loved the things she learned in this new place. She came to realize that Arkadelphia, while it may be strange, was a wonderful adventure and she came to realize how and why God had her in this place. One of the things she loved most about this land was the friends she made. She realized that God had placed two of the best friends in her life, among others. The three of these girls, while very different, did almost everything together. They laughed, they cried, the prayed, the argued, they studied, they played. God had brought three girls from different places to do life for a few years together.  They had other friends as well that made the adventure exciting, but these three friends are what Anne of Green Gables would call bosom friends-the truest kind. Chasing prince charming, fighting off the evil witch, and eating lollipops are just a few of the favorite adventures that these three would find themselves in.
One particular night, the moon was high in the sky and the fog was heavy on the moors. It was time for adventure. The girls had said goodnight to all of their other friends at the strange place that served tacos late at night, and decided that sleep was not yet on the agenda.  The stars called to the girls and begged them to gaze upon their beauty and look in awe at the God that created them. The girls went to a familiar field where music came from and spread out some blankets. As they were walking to their beloved field, a bright blinking light summoned them. The girls were confused at what this light could possibly be. Could it be a star? Or is it an airplane. Gertrude concluded that it was most definitely the aliens coming to take them home. As exciting as this adventure would be, it is not how this one ends.  The aliens moved on, and the girls continued with the original adventure.
The girls lay gazing at God's creation in the cold for quite a while. This was the best kind of adventure; one where only heart-felt chats and loads of laughs happened. As the morning approached, the stars got brighter. Friendly bats kept them company as they lay in the grass planning tea parties.  As their time drew to a close, a sudden yipping noise occurred in the forest past the musical moor. This noise was quite faint at first and the girls were unsure whether it was a pack of dogs or a group of newcomers to Arkadelphia.  The noise grew louder and louder and the girls' imaginations ran wild with possibilities. Is it the ogre and his children that just moved into town, or how about the new breed of  freshmen? Could it possibly be a pack of dogs or coyotes coming to attack them? If it were people, why would they be in the forest at night? And if dogs, would they come chase these innocent girls? And if they ran, would that draw the dogs'/people's attention? The minds of Gertrude and her friends raced. The question of what to do lay heavy in the air. Not for too long, luckily. They decided to make a run for it! The chariot was not too far away, and despite a few mud holes, it was safer than standing in the open field in the thick fog. The run to the car felt like a thousand miles to the girls. It was treacherous; clothing was almost lost and boulders were avoided.
Safely back in the chariot, Gertrude threw horses into gear. Shocked at how this peaceful night turned so adventurous, the girls decided the best way to end it was bed time. They had stayed up too late anyway, and they knew that chinese checkers matches and legos awaited the morning.
As Gertrude lay in bed trying to calm her still-beating heart, she smiled in gratefulness at how faithful God is.  She would have never guessed as she was leaving her home that the strange Arkadelphia would hold so many good things. She fell asleep with a smile on her lips and dreamed of the latest Barbie drama that would be played out the next time her friends were over, and the adventures bound to happen. And Gertrude was happy.

-The End-

I Thought You'd Like These Quotes:

To live is so startling, it leaves little time for anything else.

-Emily Dickinson

I hope that you may live your life in such a way that the {anything else} category holds nothing of importance, and the {live} category is all you ever need to be content.

T. S. Eliot

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

Hope your week is as happy as mine has been so far! God has been so faithful. :)

[Update on the weekend and life soon to come, I'm sure]

Wow. That's a Lot of Fabric.

What do you say to someone who is convinced they're dying within the week?  What words are seriously the right ones to say?

Our youth group has been visiting nursing homes since I started working with them two years ago. It's the ministry that they consistently do, and have grown to love. Over the two years, they've become really close to a lady they affectionately call the Quilt Lady.  Dolores Calaway has welcomed our Park Hill youth into her life every Thursday for the past two years.  I think the kids latched on to her because she was the most coherent person in Courtyard Gardens Nursing Home, and she always has a big bowl of chocolate waiting for us. It has been such a blessing to watch the kids interact with all the people we visit in the nursing homes, but especially Ms. Dolores.  Two of our kids, Hunter and Rachel, have especially grown to be close with Ms. Dolores.  The reason behind the "Quilt Lady" title is that Ms. Dolores makes quilts. Tons of them. She has a new one ever few weeks that she's working hard on.  Different patterns, different recipients.  Some to her many many grandchildren, some to her great-grandchildren, others to friends, etc.  We have loved hearing her stories of raising four daughters and of her grandkids, as well as teaching the youth important things as they come up. She has genuinely invested in our lives, and cares so much for these youth. She sweetly calls Hunter her "cute little boyfriend."

I haven't gotten to go to nursing homes since the summer because of band rehearsal, but since that's over for now, I was able to take a break from papers and tag along with our kids yesterday.  We walked into the saddest sight. I think Ms. Dolores has some sort of cancer, and we've seen bad days before, but she always pulls through.  The doctors are basically just giving her pain medication to hold off the pain, but there's nothing that can really be done to cure whatever she has.  Yesterday was particularly bad. We walked in as her daughter (who is nuts and always sings little kid songs to as when we come) was leaving.  Ms. Dolores looked so frail and tired and old sitting in her chair.  She was still glad to see us, but the spirit had almost left her eyes.  She told us that she has gotten progressively worse since Tuesday, and there's nothing anyone can do. The doctors upped the pain meds and it makes her very sleepy, but she said, "We're afraid this is the end. Coming soon."  She told us that the hardest part of her getting worse was that she was going to have to break off relations with us. She told us how much our visits meant to her, and how impressed she was with our loyalty.  I was inspired by her concern for the kids. There were a few of our 'regulars' there that she was worried about and asked what she could do to help their lives. I hope that when I know I'm close to death I can still think about others that much.

Yesterday's visit brought me pretty close to tears. To think of the impact she's had on our lives, and the motivation she gives our students to be selfless for a brief time on Thursdays and serve someone else is wonderful.

As Ms. Dolores was telling us basically goodbye (even though we're going back on Tuesday), she was so sweet. She was trying to tell us about how sick she was, but she kept talking about the current quilt in between bad news.  It was a definitely learning opportunity for me  as I watched Jason carry on the conversation.  He just followed the flow of her words and jumped around with her as she kept changing the subject. The current quilt is for twin babies and she told us that she bought seven yards of fabric for each quilt.  She told us that and then there was a brief moment of pondered silence, in my head I was asking the question, "what do we say to someone who is about to die?" Right as I asked that question in my head, Jason breaks my thoughts by replying to Dolores saying, "Wow. That's a lot of fabric!" It was a nice ice-breaker...

I still don't have an answer to my question, but I'm learning, and I guess if anything, the most important thing is to let them know how loved they are and how much Christ loves them. Making them comfortable might be wise as well. I don't want to say I have the answers, because I'm far from it.

A few of our kids will take Ms. Dolores' death pretty rough, so if you can be in prayer for the Calaway family and for us as we handle death, I'd appreciate it. Hopefully, it will be an opportunity to talk to a few of our kids about real issues, and the legacy or impact they want to leave just as Dolores has had an impact on us. I pray that my life can leave an impact on those around me and not leave them unsure about the uncertainties of death, because I have no uncertainties but I know a lot of people in this world do and are scared by that.  May I live my life in such a way that others see Christ in my and my life points others to Him.

Until next time,
Brittany

All Things Learned | Couches

So I attempted to fix our couch today. It has been in the bad habit lately of sagging whenever someone sits on it. We've been told by people who sit or lay on our floor (for some reason) that springs are hanging out, but I had yet to see the issue for myself until today.
I got out of class early today and had a big test that drained all my brain processes, so I wasn't particularly motivated to do anything too productive. So why not turn to the couch? I turned the couch up and this is what I found:

Not normal. In case you couldn't tell. Those curvy things are supposed to be flat against the fabric, not sticking out scraping the floor.
So what do I do? What any other person would do: try to fix it! There were little hooks that the springs slid into and I just thought that I could put them back. Well...it was harder than I thought. I was able to fix one or two, but the rest were too hard. After stabbing my thumb on a staple that was hidden, I decided to end my little "Mrs.-Fix-It" Adventure and call maintenance. We'll see if they do anything. I learned today that I shouldn't try to fix something I know nothing about...probably not the safest idea. :)

[this is my sad face...if that's not clear.] :)

Like my Cars Band-Aid?? Makes the bleeding much more tolerable, let me tell you!

Well, better luck next time, and I'll wait hopeful that Maintenance will come to my rescue! :)

Verse of the Day: 

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in him."

The LORD is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the LORD.

It is good for a man that he bear

the yoke in his youth.

-Lamentations 3.22-27

When Life Slows Down...

Hello friend,
I apologize for the leave of absence... I've actually started this post three times in hopes of finishing it and now it's finally happening. 
I have an announcement! As of thirty minutes ago, marching season is officially over! My life can stop revolving around the marching field. I can take a sigh of relief as my life slows down for a brief moment in time.
I'm sitting in my living room with the TV on and my roommate curled up on the couch relishing this new-found freedom. I'm not sure if I'll know what to do with all my time. Well actually I do: school work, friend time, and I can finally fully focus on the youth group once again like i should. Bliss!
As I look back over the past month, I see a definite roller coaster. It's been full of fun, good times but there has also been tears and stress and tension. But through it all, I've learned so much.
The past month has been full of Fall Break, Homecoming weekend, Tiger Tunes, Mid-Terms, an Exegetical Paper, Fields of Faith, Battle of The Ravine, Middle School Youth Retreat, and normal social life/school responsibilities. [Each of the links goes to the pictures on the Picassa Web Album that corresponds, somewhat, to each word. :) ]
I wish I could tell you everything that's happened this month, but my feeble words won't be able to catch just what it's been like around here. Why don't I just list off some words and let them describe the month and then you can see pictures and visualize it? 

Sunshine. Spirit. Family. Rain. Prayer. Lots of Prayer. Band. Hillsong. Faithful. Exegetical Paper. Relationships Ended. Projects. Sadness. Conversations. Tears. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Relationships. Healing. Packages. Trust. Stress. Loss. Beauty. Life. Forgiveness. Mended Relationships. Youth. Service. Home. Tiger Tunes. Learning. Battle of the Ravine. Rock Shops. Picnics. Refuge. Thankfulness. Music. Spanish. Games. Friendships. Bonds. Love. Laughter. Lots of Love and Laughter. Chocolate. Pictures. Tests. Romans. Scripture. Letters. Coffee. Star-Gazing. J.J. Heller. Journaling. Movies. Waffle House (For the first time ever!). Bible Study. Schedules. Future. Chai Tea. Lady Gaga. Peace. Meetings. Logos. Perspective Students. Sunrises. Best Thai.  Joy.

As I leave you, I want to share with you two of my current favorite songs. These have been a comfort and a help to me throughout the month. In the good times and the bad ones. They have helped me to re-focus and remind me of Psalm 62.8 says, "Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." I know I can pour out my heart and praise God no matter what. I also know that God is faithful.  If there's one thing I've learned lately, it's that God is faithful through all things. And no matter what goes on, He's got a plan-a perfect plan-and although I may not see why something happened or is happening, God knows and is control of anything that will happen. And in the end, despite rainy days and sadness, Christ overcomes anything and the sun does come out and laughter happens once again.  There's a strong sense of peace that comes when I'm at the point where I can only completely trust God.
Anyway, I'm off my tangent now, here are my songs:


[Forever Reign, by Hillsong]



[Healing Is In Your Hands, by Christy Nockels]



I hope to update you on other things soon, and not wait so long to post things. :) Much Love to you all.

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

-Hebrews 13.20-21

A Little Bit of Spanish Here and There

So I'm currently sitting in my school cafeteria, counting down the hours that I get to go home (after a too long, two month stay here) and eat some real, non-hot dog food, but I can't quite get the fun feeling from the Spanish class I just finished out of my head.

Let me give you a rundown:
This is Conversation Spanish. No English. Ever. Señora Anderson will "yell" over Word documents if we do. Only talking about things that don't seem super important to me. However, I realized today that the point is to get us to talk, and feel comfortable doing so. We have tons of papers and presentations that we have to do throughout the course, and today happened to be a big presentation day.  We were all to prepare a presentation that described something. Going into it I wasn't really sure what that meant, but after some thought decided to do my presentation over the wedding cake I made back in May. My presentation was alright, but the fun part came when everyone else was presenting. Everyone did a really good job, but the guys in our class did great! We only have two, so they pull the weight for keeping the class from turning hormone central. Jordan went right after I did and presented about playing the saxophone. He's a music-ed major and an amazing saxophonist. The funniest part was that Mrs. Anderson, our professor, kept requesting songs for him to play. We ended up all rising as he played the Star Spangled Banner at her proposal. It was quite hilarious for us to be standing up in the bottom of Lile Hall (which is a bit like a dungeon) in the middle of the day listening to Jordan play the Star Spangled Banner beautifully. Nothing beats that!
The other guy in our class, my friend Adam, turned his presentation about some Indonesian recipe into a cooking show, right on the spot. It shocked everyone!
What a fun day in Spanish class! I wish I could say they were all like that. Most, but not all. :)


Oh, and to top it off, the sweet GA's from the church I grew up in sent me a package today! What a great help for the two tests that I have to spend the rest of the day studying for. Thank you, 4th grade class!

I hope your Tuesday is as beautiful as mine is at the moment!
[26 hours and I'll be headed to the great state of Texas!!]

All Things Learned 1 | SYATP

This starts entry one in a series of entries about what I'm learning lately. I've been trying to get this post out for a while but keep getting distracted, and the following is just a portion of what all I want to share, but this is it for time one. (I plan on filling in other stuff later.) :)


Things learned at Saw You At The Pole:
We had our youth See You At The Pole two Wednesday's ago at 7 a.m., and it was so great to see middle schoolers leading prayer and worship songs in front of their school. It has to be all student led, so we got the privilege of being spectators there for support and praying over the kids. It might have been a little rocky, but still great! That night, Park Hill hosted the Saw You At The Pole Rally, which is a city-wide. We had it all planned out for Ericka, on of the admin ESL teachers here for the semester, to talk to our kids, however her mother fell that morning and broke her leg so Ericka was not able to make it. Ericka works in Asia teaching English and telling others about Jesus. So, we scrambled around and found another lady who works in our admissions office that does stuff in Asia similar to Ericka and who was willing to speak to our youth.
Amy talked a lot about what she did while she was a journeyman in China a few years ago right after she graduated from OBU. What stuck out to me the most was her relationships with her teammates. She went to China to teach English with eight girls on the team.  The way she described their team was a eight ladies that were as far across the spectrum as you can imagine. On one end is a girl from New Jersey who was loud and brought the party when she walked in the room. On the far other end is a shy quiet girl who is pretty serious. And in between are six ladies who fill in the spectrum. You get the picture. The mission of these girls was to go and teach English in China and reach people for Christ through their relationships.
The verse that kept coming up to this team was:

John 13.35:

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Basically what I learned from this verse and Amy was that our relationships should be deeper than friendships and completely captivate others to Christ. We should have so much love for one another that it radiates Christ's name. 

I think this really spoke to me because I was dealing with a lot of things in my close friendships where I wasn't completely loving the other persons as I should have been. It was frustrating and we just weren't clicking, but God told me on this crazy Wednesday night that we should love one another so much that others will see that and know Who we truly follow. This is what I want our friendship to be about. Drawing others to Christ because of how we love one another and live life together. :) 

[a few visual aides]

J.J. Heller

I found the first video the other day on a friend's blog, and loved it! I've fallen in love with J.J. Heller's music last year, and have found lots of encouragement from her words. :)

September!

Whew! It's been a long time, and a busy start to school. I'm sitting here in the middle of my floor wanting badly to update my blog, but not even knowing how or where to begin. So I'll just take a crack at it and then if it's a mess I'll mentally flip a coin and see whether or not I'll actually post it. :-) I think I've thought up this post for about three weeks now, and each time get distracted and never post it. I've tried to update all my pictures, so even though I haven't blogged, there's still pictures here.

School has started off with a bang! I have harder classes than before, but I am learning more than previous semesters. This past week was full of a few tests, a more than a few papers, quizzes, a project, and a presentation. As stressful and sleepless as it was, I still managed to make it through and have a bit of fun with friends!
There's so much I'd love to tell you about this past month, but don't think I have the time or words for it, so here are a few highlights since The First Day of School:
[it takes too long to get pictures up, so I'll try to update them on here later, but there's tons on Picassa!

• Lots of quality time spent with friends:
• A great picnic at the lake:
• Angela and I hanging out in my room taking a few fun pictures: 
• Awesome start to the school year with our youth group! 

•  A trip to Texarkana for some Barn Bash clothes and a stop at Olive Garden and then fun car pictures on the way home [taken by Angela, of course because I was driving. We're safe here!]

• Girls Nights!! We've had two so far and we're beginning to revamp them. It's going to be an all Friday event for whoever can attend. We have a name picked out based on a TV show, and we're going to have a no boys allowed lunch followed by fun the rest of the afternoon-usually movies, but we'll see how creative we can get with our Fridays! 

 

• The highlight of this month would probably be Barn Bash this past Monday. Our university has several "social clubs" (which are sort of like sororities or frats, but not as sketchy and not with the names of sororities...it's interesting..) and for an entire week the women's social clubs put on TWIRP (The Women Is Required to Pay) where the girls ask the guys out and go to a party, for example one night is 50s and another 80s and so on. The final night is put on by our Campus Ministries (not a social club) and is a Barn Bash. It's apparently the biggest night of them all. I've never been to TWIRP, it's not much of my thing. Well this year I decided to ask a friend of mine, Trevor, that I didn't really know very well. I met him through Becca and her boyfriend. It was definitely out of the usual for me, but I just decided to do it. What could go wrong, right? Well, turns out nothing! The evening was perfect! He was an awesome date and we had a blast! Dressed up like cowboys/girls, had some bbq, thankfully ended up not dancing. The actual bash part wasn't anything special. Just an excuse to get dressed up and go out. It was fun. We went with Becca and Adam to Taco Bell afterward and had a nice time chatting with them. We then proceeded to play pool for a few hours-where I kicked Trevor's tail and won all three games (if you ask him it's because of technicalities and because he "took individual risks on the events at hand and eventually they added up" in my favor, but I just say I won all three! ;-) Sweet!). It was a lovely evening, he's a super great guy, and has been a fun week ever since, besides all the school work this week. 

A few things God's been teaching me lately:

• Be patient in everything. He will work out things in His timing. And until that happens, He's got something great planned! And if what I'm waiting on doesn't happen, then He's got something even better planned, even if I can't see that at the moment.
• Love. It's such a simple word. We've been going through 1 John in Sunday School this month, and chapter 4 is for tomorrow so I've been reading ahead this week. One of the verses says that if you do not love your brother who you have seen, then how can you love God whom you have not seen? WOW. I mean, the whole book is filled with stuff that makes me say: "holy cow. what do I do with that?? How do I deal with something like that??" But this particular verse in chapter 4 stands out like crazy. I think it's because it's what I've been dealing with all week, and it's a huge reminder that i need to show love to everyone. Even the people that I'm closest to. Am I really treating them how Christ wants me to? This person will never be me or think like me, so I need to love her with the love of Christ anyway. And the people that I don't know well or that annoy me, I still need to show them respect and love them as Christ would. If not, then how can I fully love God?? I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but that's a bit of what I'm learning.

So there's my life in a nut shell.  I'm excited for the rest of the semester and to continue growing in Christ and in relationships with friends. :)

I have to run get ready to march at a football game, but I hope everyone is enjoying September as much as I am!
Love Always,
Brittany Nicole

Hello First Day Of School

In honor of the first day of school, we took first-day-of-school pictures. What first day would be complete without them?? I mean really, how many first days of Junior year of college at OBU does a girl get? Just one. Might as well photograph it! :) It was really fun to stop in the rush off to class and get a few pictures. I'm sure our parents appreciated them. It's not quite the same as with a large bush in front of the same window every year with two little brothers, but close. :)

Here's To First Days Of School Everywhere!

Last Day Of Summer....

We start school tomorrow here at Ouachita, and with that comes a last day of summer. Every summer has to have one. Therefore, today was dubbed that day. Excitement hung in the air as I had a lovely breakfast with friends and then planned out the rest of my day, including registration, unpacking, and staff lunch. This was all quickly interrupted by the loud, annoying beep of the intercom that OBU has put in all the dorms (which I just happened to be standing right under at the moment), telling us to "Stay put. This is not a test. We are in an emergency situation. Police searching for possible armed robbery suspect in area behind OCB/Anthony [two guys dorms]."  Nothing like this ever happens in Arkadelphia! (Well, not usually. It has been quite a bit more exciting around here lately, but not in a good excited way...) We got the OENS text messages and emails telling us that an armed robber was being chased on campus, but that the cops had it under control. What happened was this guy robbed U.S. Bank and took off running, towards campus and the river which runs behind us. Police and FBI (and our campus security) hunted him down, but in the mean time he lost a shoe, the money, and ended up on our soccer fields by a neighborhood and was taken into custody. Everyone is safe, and the day proceeded with normal activity by 12:30. It was a huge event! The entire campus is abuzz with talk of the chase. It's a little nuts! Facebook and Twitter blew up with info about the robbery. We knew what went on before it was on the news! Here are a few tweets/statuses from the excitement: [the names are abbreviated so that I could keep privacy as well as give credit.]

• Apparently the bank I was at 45mins ago got robbed minutes later. They're chasing the bandits all over town. Wild.-CM
• Cop chase on cherry street!!! Police screamed at me to get in the house as they drew their hand guns and shot guns and ran down my road!-JD
• No bank robber apprehended yet. My dog Kahlua however, would love a go at the cops. University security just showed up: what they gonna do?-JD
• Hey OBU, hide ya kids. Hide ya wife. And hide ya Tiger cause they chasin' everybody out here.-CM
• "Go into the nearest building until further notice!" Craziness in Arky involving a robber and guns!-AE
• Even better police quote: "Is anyone at the bank? No. Well, crap, someone needs to be at the bank!"-JD
• They found the money and one shoe: but they are not sure what side of the river he's on now. #Kindalikeprisonbreak-JD
• I've gained like 20 new twitter friends since this bank robbery went down, LOL!-JD
• RT @TwainIAint: Armed robbery + bored campus on lockdown = best OBU Facebook day EVAH!!-JD
• They got him: fun's over.-JD
• Welcome to Ouachita's World! Who ever said it isn't exciting? #thisishome-OBU Campus Activities
• News: Bank Robber dropped enough money near OBU that E. Village dorms will now be renamed in his honor.-DS
• ready to get my airsoft gun-that I don't have on campus ;)- and help the safety, cops, and state troopers catch the thief!!!-NP
• TO ALL FRESHMEN: Except for today, OBU is a safe place. This whole armed robbery things does not happen all the time. Stay inside though until it's over :)  -NP
• BREAKING NEWS: SNIPERS ON BRIDGE OVER CADDO RIVER (according to horrible facebook sources, so it take it with a grain of salt)  -NP
• registration day is normally pretty exciting, but this is just crazy!!! I guess we should all be thankful we weren't stuck in class!-RB "Be thankful we weren't all stuck in Christian Counseling Class"-AG 
• Hopes that this morning's craziness is not indicative of how this semester's going to go!-RB
• I just had lunch w/ the woman who saw the bank robber get captured on campus by FBI agents! AT is a living legend. Best staff lunch ever!-JB

Everyone is safe now, so no worries. Our dorm was on lock-down. We couldn't even get in with our keys if we had wanted to. Also, our suite doors lock and you have to use a card to get in, so we were completely safe. I was stuck in my dorm room with my roommates and good friends. We enjoyed our time visiting and speculating what was happening. At some point, we were all telling our parents about what was going on, and Aubrey's dad texted her back with some excellent safety advice: "You should all hide under your bed." He was probably completely joking, but I decided it would be a great idea to take his advice and use it as a photo opportunity!  Becca, Angela, Aubrey, and I had alot of fun getting these:

Classes start tomorrow, and while I'm not particularly excited about the busyness that comes with school, I can proudly say that I'm ready for classes and excited about the new semester. It took me a bit longer than usual, but I'm excited for marching band, and football games, and new classes, and tons of exciting new youth opportunities-like new leaders and schedules. I'm excited for a great semester! It's already been great, and we've only been here four days. 

I can't wait to see what all is in store! :)

Stuff Ouachitonians Like

One of my friends from church, Jessica, who also happens to attend OBU, has started this blog, and it's too hilarious not to share! I find myself laughing a bit too loudly at her cute wit and sarcasm about our beloved school. Turns out, though, that most of what she says is completely accurate-although cliche-about how things happen around here.
Check it: Stuff Ouachitonians Like. Enjoy! 

Jessica's latest post, #9, has hit home lately-as the kids in our youth group did the exact thing to me the other night. We had a city-wide youth party at the water park here in Arkadoo and I saw one of my friends there (who is dating my suitemate from last year). He has been helping with the youth at Fellowship Church this summer. We had both been in Arkadoo all summer, but hadn't seen each other but once this summer, so we chatted for a while while all my youth kids sat at tables due to lightening. I walked back to the table and half of them had already had me married off to Adam. Wow. The things that go on in this town... 

Happy weekend everyone! It's move in weekend around here, and the parents are coming up with all my stuff tomorrow, so the craziness will commence around lunchtime as dolley's are pulled out, stairs are climbed, carpet is laid, boxes are unpacked, decorations are hung, fridges are refilled, school supplies are found, friends are back, new faces are met, and Fall is in the air, and Summer comes to a close. :) Excitement!!
[Clarification: I'm not excited about summer ending. Just about everyone being back...]
I hope your weekend is a bit less busy than mine will be. :)

Love Always, Brittany

Life As A Nomad

The past few weeks have been insane! Wonderful, but a bit crazy. With moving from the Bean's to the Burgess's to home back to the Burgess's and then to my dorm room/apartment in a few weeks! Nuts. So much has happened in just a few short weeks...or even in just one!

 

I couldn't put all my pictures up, so I picked my favorites. The rest can be found on facebook or on the Picassa Web Album. :) enjoy

Time spent with the family around Arkadelphia and Hot Springs. :)

Family picture time!!

Tubing on Lake Ouachita was a blast!!!

The bath houses in Hot Springs

 

 

 

 

 

Do you need a biscuit?? You can get one there apparently :)

Welcome to Colfax, Texas! One of my favorite places on earth!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bee robbing...so early! But awesome :)

 

 

 

 

 

Inter Milan!! They are a pro team from Italy.
Mom and Dad got tickets (which were originally a ridiculous $65)
for about a 4th of the price!
We went with Nate and Robbie Peace and had a blast!

 

 

 

My pretty dog! She got super scared from a thunder storm
and ended up hiding in our parent's bathroom closet. priceless!

I painted a lot this week! It started with little tables and moved to
this mirror and then a canvas. Brandon and I decided to
attempt to be creative with the mirror and sky
and camera...these are the results. :)

 

 

 

 

shocking!

This is going to go in my dorm room later. :)

 

Mom and I got pedicures! It was amazing :)

:)

Brady's in the band!! He got his french horn this
week and was SO excited about it! He wanted to take it
everywhere with him. He got a few notes
out, and I'm sure will sound great in no time! :)

 

I tried and didn't do too bad either... not that I'm
going to be a pro anytime soon, but it was fun to try.

Mom's new Middle School! It's absolutely gorgeous!
And the sky was so beautiful this day.
I couldn't resist lots of pictures :)

 

So lovely! (I wish OBU's library looked half this good!)

What an awesome past week! It was wonderful to be home and spend time with my family and see friends! I was quite sad to leave, but at the same time I was glad to finally get to Arkadoo. We've hit the ground running since being back. This is the first time I've really gotten to sit down and not be about to fall asleep :) So much fun!