"Weddings, Brides, and Refreshing Symbolism"

From bluegirlsministry.wordpress.com

I’ve spend the past weekend in what feels like my hometown. Really it is my college town, but if you knew how much God changed my life while here, and the lovely relationships formed, you would see it as home too.

It was so nice to be back, to be surrounded by friends, and to have a beautiful reason to celebrate – a wedding!

It was the most beautiful wedding I’ve been privileged to be part of – and I’ve been part of some really great weddings. This wedding was special not only because Becca and Adam are so in love, but mostly because Christ was the center and reason to celebrate.

It was so beautiful to be reminded that life is all about Christ. this weekend, I was able to be part of conversations that I’ve missed in Frisco. Conversations that are centered on Christ, not the next fashion or money or tv. But Jesus. That’s all that matters, and all that we need to center ourselves on.

As we prepared for a wedding, we were reminded that Christ, our bridegroom, is waiting for His Bride – the church. As Becca came down the aisle, and Adam waited for her, Michael (the preacher) said, “Adam, your bride has arrived; Rebecca, your groom is waiting.” What beautiful symbolism of Christ and the Church! Such a good reminder that Christ is coming to heal this world and make all things new, therefore we shall run to Him. So edify Christ, edify the Body, cherish the Church, nothing else matters.

"The Question of Why"

From bluegirlsministry.wordpress.com

In May, I stepped into the role of ‘girls minister’ at FBC Frisco. So many times I’ve been asked why it is that I do what I do.

Simple, Jesus told me to.

I grew up going to church, and came to accept Christ at an early age. While in the youth group, walking with the Lord became really personal and real to me. One of the most defining moments in my faith came the summer after my freshman year of high school at church camp. Every Thursday at camp we would spend the morning in what was called a “concert of prayer.” The entire camp would gather and pray over the government, schools, families, churches, missionaries, and so on. This one year, as we were praying over our youth ministers, my youth minister came up and put his hand on my shoulder, and we stood praying for each other for a while. It was a very special moment. When we were done praying, Adam gave me a hug and asked me if I had ever considered being a missionary. I said yes, my grandparents were missionaries in Africa, so going on missions was always an option. I had been on a few mission trips prior to that, and loved serving God that way. Adam told me that when he placed his hand on my shoulder, he had the most vivid image of me on the mission field surrounded by little black children. We talked more about it, and we really felt that God had shown Adam a clear direction for my life. God had called me to foreign missions. The call was as real and as clear as my mom’s call to dinner each night. The emotions of that day were so contrasting. What peace and excitement I felt that God would call me, but what fear there was also in living a life completely different from everything the world expects.

I continued to serve God and the church in various ways through high school. I was very involved in our youth group, and we experienced several youth pastor changes throughout my time in high school. I went out of the country on several trips, but found that serving God and being “on mission” did not strictly mean leaving Frisco.

In 11^th grade, two faith-impacting things happened: I made a best friend, and my youth group was without a youth pastor for a very long time. I had friends all through school, but never ones that I felt were true friends. I especially struggled in the youth group fitting in with the girls in my Sunday school classes. They were much “cooler” and more popular than me, and had been friends for so long that I just did not fit in. Amy moved to our church and we hit it off immediately. We were at a similar point spiritually, and we are so alike in many ways. Looking back, I feel that this was a changing point in my life - I had friends!

Losing Adam as a youth pastor was not as devastating as we thought it would be. It was a good move for him, and their family has done great, impactful things for the Church. What happened when he left, however, was nothing. For a good amount of time there were no Bible studies happening, no outside events. Nothing. As I saw my youth group slow down, Amy and a few other close friends and I decided that we needed to do something. What could we do? We were only 17. It was intimidating to teach our peers, so we decided to do what we could manage. We started a middle school girls Bible study. When I tell people of this, they look at me like I’m crazy for willingly hanging out with middle schoolers. It was one of the most rewarding times. To teach girls the Word, to pour into them and build relationships, to laugh and have fun in a godly way; that time taught me so much.

When I went off to college, I began visiting churches with my roommate. The second church we went to immediately felt like home. The church reminded me of FBC Frisco, and the people were so welcoming. Before the service was even over I had made up my mind to make it my church home in Arkadelphia. During the Sunday school class, a lady made an announcement asking for helpers with the youth group. Somehow, my introverted self found her at the end of the service and volunteered to help. What started as a small step, turned into what I think defines my time at college. For the first few years, I served with about ten other college students as an intern team under Jason and Sarah, the husband-and-wife youth ministers. It was such a blessing to be able to learn from Jason, and to do ministry and life with the team. We really became so close, and lived with a desire to impact students’ lives. The last two years, Jason asked me to fill the associate’s position as associate youth minister and girls minister. I willingly agreed and spent the summer with the Park Hill Youth. These kids became family. Jason and Sarah are more like parents than bosses, and God moved in such big ways through my time there. I’m struggling to even put words to my experiences in Arkansas, but overall God put a passion in me to reach teenagers for the Kingdom.

Throughout this time, there was always the 9^th grade call to foreign missions in the back of my mind. I had spent the summer after 10^th grade in Uruguay with missionaries, and a few other summer weeks in Jamaica since then with missions, but once college hit, my mission field was Arkansas. At times this was confusing. Hadn’t God called me to little children surrounding me in Africa? Why did my passport expire, keeping me in the States? I was loving where I was at, and God was teaching me so much, but what about that call? Last summer, my younger brother and I decided to go out of the country. We both love adventure, foreign missions and Spanish. Therefore we contacted some missionary friends and asked if they needed help for the summer. They needed some summer interns, and they willingly let us stay with them in Santiago, Chile. What a blast! We had the opportunity to teach in schools, share Jesus, and learn to ski in the Andes. (And so much more.) However, the entire time we were there Brandon and I would have conversations about why we were there. Not us specifically, but American missionaries in general. We did not feel that our trip was contrary to God’s will, but we did wonder why the IMB had so many missionaries in Chile when most of the churches in Santiago were run by Chileans and functioned on their own. What right did we as Americans have to impose our ideals on them? There was an uneasy feeling. As I was praying about it one day, God told me that the reason I felt so uneasy about the missions was because He wanted me in the States for a while. Maybe someday, for a time, I’ll live overseas. But for now I’m in the country.

A few weeks after Chile, I was having lunch with Chris and he asked me what I learned while in Chile and I told him about being in the country and not overseas. He thought for a moment and said that there’s an opening for a girls minister with the FBC youth group, and that we should pray about it if I’m interested. We were both pretty excited about it and hesitant at the same time. This would be so new for both of us. We knew we could work together because we had in the past, but is this the right position? For about six months we just prayed about it. No talking about it, no planning, just praying. The more I prayed, the more excited I became. Ideas kept coming in my head. My dad was even very excited about girls ministry, and has brainstormed so many helpful ideas with me. Almost a year after those initial conversations, the idea came to fruition.

So here I am. Why Frisco, why Teal, why girls ministry? Because God has placed me here to build relationships, to walk with others as we walk with Christ. It’s simple really. I just tell God’s story and love much because I have been loved much.

"Why Teal"

From bluegirlsministry.wordpress.com

Since before I became the girls minister at FBC Frisco, I've been wracking my brain for the perfect name for this girls ministry. I've googled plenty of other girls ministries, and have found some good names and a lot of really cheesy names. I wanted the name of our ministry to mean something, to be unique, and to be catchy and cool. I am tired of lame acronyms and have been on the hunt for the best. I know that every name could be modified but today I have chosen "Teal | A girly shade of Blue."

I sat down many times today to make this blog, plan out a mission statement, and get a name for this girls ministry. It's been difficult and not every goal has been accomplished. But I think we have a name!

At high school camp, earlier in the summer, I was hit with the idea of Yellow as our girls ministry name. The spirit during rec this year was unbeatable, and the "yellow team" (11th grade) was huge and very spirited. I had the thought that since we are called "Blue" as a whole youth ministry, why not name the girls portion a color. What better to compliment Blue than yellow? Well, as I thought it over more and more, the word "yellow" is just so long and awkward to say, and I wasn't sold on the idea. I talked it over with a few people, and they liked the color theme, but yellow wasn't really the color to do that with.

So then I used the ever handy dictionary.com to find some synonyms of "blue." The keepers were cyan, periwinkle, sapphire, and teal. None really caught my eye. :-/ But the more I thought about teal and a "lighter shade of blue" or "Girly shade of blue" the more Teal grew on me. It is also really pretty, so I figured we'd think on it.

As I was using dictionary.com, I found a few things.

1. The actual definition of teal is: "Any of several species of small dabbling ducks, of worldwide distribution, usually traveling in tight flocks and frequenting ponds and marshes."
Not that I particularly love birds, but ducks are neat and what stood out to me is that they travel in "Tight flocks." The verse that I have in mind as the central verse for our girls ministry is John 13.35: "And they will know you are my (Jesus') disciples if you have love for one another."
I feel that the tight flock ties in nicely with that verse. God calls us to be a unified body of believers and for our lives to be defined by how we love. It is essential that as girls, we stick together in a close flock.

2. The color teal got its name because of a bird (see above comment). This bird has teal all around its eye. I find this interesting because eyes are very important. Descartes (an old French philosopher) said that "the eyes are the window to the soul."
I love that! In scripture, time and time again, the psalmists write of lifting our eyes up to the Lord, both in praise and in times of trouble. If our eyes are the window to our souls, and we are to constantly lift them up to the Lord, then it is as if we are to continually have our eyes and souls fixed on God so that He can see our very soul. God doesn't need just our eyes to look at Him in order for Him to see our souls, He does that all the time - He knows our very thoughts. However, our attitude and entire beings should be so fixed on God and our lives should be walking in the direction of the Lord that when God looks into our souls, He is glorified and ever so proud. I think these teal birds are onto something.. (:
Matthew 6 also says this about the eye: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" I think this lines up with Descartes and challenges us to live holy lives.

3. Have you ever had a weird dream and then looked it up on the internet to see what it meant, even though it might be sort of superstitious? Me too...probably more often than I want to believe. Well, I looked up "teal" on one of those sights for color and found that teal represents "idealistic, faithful, sentimental; Emotional healing, rich, unique, and expensive." I like those words. I especially like that teal represents that which is unique and expensive. As daughters of the King, we are of greatest worth! Ephesians tells us that we are "His masterpiece" and Hebrews calls us royalty. We are so much more cherished and loved than the world lets on to. Christ loved us so much that He died for us; we were bought at a great price. As daughters of God, we are unique, set apart from the world, and cherished by our Maker. How wonderful to have such a gracious God!


So there are my thoughts on "Teal." It's simply a girly shade of Blue.

May we be girls that hold ourselves and others as unique daughters of the King, keep our eyes and lives in line with Christ, and that are united in love - very much like a tight flock.

Oh so much to say...

So much has happened since I last posted. Wow, that was Spring Break?! It seems like a lifetime ago.
I desire to update you on so much that has happened! God is so good and faithful and gracious. How blessed I am to be His daughter and to be loved as much as He loves me. Makes me a little giddy just thinking on it.
Things that have happened (and I intend to elaborate later):
-graduation
-new job began
-weddings
-4 weeks of camps
-girls ministry plans
-summer!

Soon I will sit down and process/update you readers on life, but for now, I want to direct you to the new FBC Frisco Girls Ministry blog and hear your feedback.  It's fully under construction, but there's a bit of something there.

http://bluegirlsministry.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/why-teal/

May your summer be full and restful.

Brittany

Spring Break in Chicago!

Spring Break has come and gone for the last time in my college career. That's a sobering thought. But what I did for spring break is anything but sobering! Each year as spring break comes around, my friends and I have tried to get trips together but it never seems to work out. Someone always has a doctor's appointment or plans with other people, so usually I just go home or to my grandparents. Well this year was different! My friend Kim and I had talked about going somewhere in early February. She has family all over the States, so we figured we could just go crash with them and enjoy a roadtrip. We sort of left plans at that and due to stressful school didn't plan anything for a while. As spring break drew nearer, we realized that we should probably plan something, and Kim realized that depending on where she was going to grad (or possibly med) school, she might need to visit there. After a    l   o   n   g   decision process, she decided on grad school at Wheaton College in Illinois.  So for spring break, we were headed to Chicago!

Our other former roommate, Leasha, couldn't make it up to Arkansas until Sunday so we had a few days to relax around Arkadelphia. It was wonderful! It felt like the summer I stayed in town all over again. Nate and Sean were around, we went to the lake and watched movies. It was lovely! That Friday, we saw our friend (Last semester's suitemate), Alyssa, married off, and I made her wedding cake (A lemon cake with raspberry filling and lemon icing. So tasty!) It turned out wonderfully!

After our relaxing, celebratory weekend, Leasha, Kim and I loaded up too early and hit the road.
We stayed in the town of Wheaton and went into Chicago all day Wednesday. Our main goal was to find K/L a place to live, so we looked at many apartments.

We had the opportunity to shop. A lot. Which is very uncharacteristic of us, but we found that we enjoyed it.
Our day in downtown Chicago was a blast! We saw every major attraction except Wrigley Field, and we were ok with that. Here's a few pictures of our trip. They probably explain things better than I can! (:

Chicago from the John Hancock
Building on the 96th floor.

"The Bean" at night. We had a lot of fun here.

More from the 96th floor

Kim and the Wardrobe from the Narnia movie.
Wheaton has a C.S. Lewis museum
that we caught just as it was closing.

C.S. Lewis head with the battle mask from
Narnia 2 in the background.

Wheaton College

C.S. Lewis' desk, where he wrote part of the Narnia books!

J.R.R. Tolkien's desk where Lord of the Rings was written!

A dinner of Thai food!

Picnic in John Q. Adams Park where
John Adams once lived. Neat!

We met this sweet puppy on the train.

Her name was Gracie. She had to get
off right after this because apparently
you're not allowed to have dogs on trains.

Our train ticket into Chicago

We met the Cake Boss!! Buddy was filming part of his
show and we got to take a picture with him.
(and we might be on his show! So, watch out
for the one where's he's in Chicago!)

Navy Pier

Chicago from Navy Pier

One of our favorite moments: Exploring the American
Girl Doll Store!
It was so cool! I'm sure the people around us
thought we were crazies.
Oh well! It was a blast.

It was good to be away from school for a while, but I still learned so much while I was in Chicago. We had the opportunity to spend time with many intelligent people.  It gave me a new appreciation for learning.
I also learned how thankful I am not to be moving to a city where I know no one and searching for a place to live, work, and getting acquainted with new culture.
Hope your spring break was as relaxing and fun as mine! (:

This Girls Minister's Dilemma

  Well, it's late and I cannot sleep.  My roommate slumbers away while I toss and turn, my mind wild with ideas.  I decided instead of fighting sleep, which may partly be due to the iced coffee this afternoon, I would be productive.  I have many thoughts and I wish to document them for future use, as well as to share them with you.

  I suppose I should update you on big changes coming from "Tales in Arkadelphia".  In a few short months, shorter than I care to count, this small town college girl will be a college graduate bound for the large suburbs once again.  I plan to pursue graduate school, but most importantly (at least to me...) I have the most fortunate position of starting a girls minister position at a church in Frisco.  (I do not think the position is public yet, hence why I leave details out.)  This excites me to no end!  The youth pastor and I have been praying about this possible opportunity since this last summer, and God is faithful and the position is coming to fruition! The closer May comes the more excited I am about it.  I suppose I will need a new name for this sporadically kept blog. Suggestions are certainly welcome. 

  My thoughts tonight resonate with a conversation that I have been having with myself for the past few weeks and which climaxed tonight during a phone call from my dad.  How encouraging and wonderful to have a father who is so supportive of my future plans! I cannot express how full my heart is because of this.  Despite how difficult this semester has been due to challenging classes and other life things, my days seem increasingly filled with girls ministry happenings here in Arkansas.  We are beginning to plan girls retreat and I cannot wait for the weekend to get here!  The conversation, due to this "all-things-girls-ministry" mindset, that has arisen has been "What is girls ministry??"

  I have begun to realize in the four years that I have been a part of the youth ministry at Park Hill and as I seek to define my future ministry that there are not many resources in the world for girls ministry.  This is a relatively new field, which means scarce resources.  There are plenty of ministries that travel around and host girls retreats[1], but what I seek is for full-time girls ministers.  I applaud the ministries that exist, however these ministries come in for a weekend and preach good truth to girls and then leave.  The Sunday school teachers and ministers are the ones who do life with the girls.  I want with such zeal for young women to know the love of Christ and what it truly means to be women of the Word, after God's heart, sanctified for Him.  There are so many things that I want to share with teenage ladies, but I'm not sure exactly how to go about it.  Thus, I am on a quest!

  I have begun to search for other girls ministers (because they are out there) and to see how they are doing ministry.  What I have mostly found is that girls ministry seems to be a subset of the overarching youth ministry.  In a sense it should be.  However, I propose that there is more.  I have found that the department of girls ministry has grown more in the past few years because ministers are realizing that girls are different from boys. Whoa, I know that may have just blown your mind, but hang with me.  Most youth ministries are led by men.  Which is great for many reasons, but I think that men are realizing that they cannot adequately minister to girls because they are different.  A 35 year old male cannot possibly know what it is like to be a middle school girl that is insecure of her figure, how well she fits in, or trying to find out who she is.  Boys go through adolescence on a different degree scale.  God made us this way, and it is good, because He made it so.  And because of these differences girls ministers are being hired, but what is our purpose?

  I have read many godly women's blogs[2] about how they are doing girls ministries and I am so thankful to be surrounded by saints with a heart that echoes my own for young women.  But what I have found is that girls ministry, for many, looks exactly like youth ministry except only girls are coming, and there is a lot more nail polish and fewer footballs.  I have seen as a common theme that on a large scale, girls ministry consists of a girls retreat in the spring, maybe some events just for fun, and some Bible studies that only ladies come to.  All of these things are good.[3] However, as I have been thinking and talking with my dad, my girls ministry needs to be something more than an extension of youth ministry.  It should not replace youth ministry, but there is a specific purpose for this.  I think that it should make ministers of our students[4], it should include mentorship-both for girls and by girls, it should be a year round program, it should be biblical, and should make women out of girls.  I'm not fully sure of what this means specifically yet, and I think that it will be a continual quest.

  So, as I jealously seek to know how to best minister to the ladies that have been and will be entrusted to me, and as I seek to redirect this blog, I plan to spend the next few weeks hashing out what I find to be girls ministry.  Any advice is welcomed, and all prayers are craved as I search Scripture and try to find God's heart for us as women.

 InJoy,

Brittany

---

[1] http://www.sageministries.org/, http://idministries.com/, http://revolvetour.com/ are just a few.

[2] See http://blog.lproof.org/, http://radiantgirlministries.blogspot.com/, and http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/girlsministry/

[3] Well, I must say that I have a problem with the word events, but I think that is a different topic. I see too often that youth ministers fill their time with events and miss the point of making disciples and building relationships. I can literally set myself on fire and call it an event and attract 200 students, but what good does that do for the gospel? How have students left knowing what it looks like to live as God commands us? The word event in my mind suggests a onetime deal, a spiritual high, and leaving people on their own to figure out life. As a rule, I try to stay away from just an event.  I digress.

[4] For a full expansion of this idea, see Greg Ogden’s book, Unfinished Business: Returning the Ministryto the People of God. 

Fifteen For Friday

 I was going to make this Five for Friday, but I have too much to say (Or rather, too many photos to display), so Fifteen it is.

1. I returned to Arkadelphia this week and school began. It was a wonderful mix of emotions leaving and returning. I didn't really want to leave, but am glad to be here now.

2. I've been sick all week. This makes for starting class rather dreary.

3. It's great to be back with my roommates and dorm-family and other friends. Apparently I missed them. (:

4. God is Great. His greatness has overwhelmed me this week. And for that I'm thankful. More thankful than I could say.

5. I saw the loveliest rosebuds with dew drops on them today. Splendid!

6. We are using Pinterest in one of my Psychology classes for assignments. That's brilliant and a huge temptation all at the same time!

7. All of my classes are wonderful this semester! All of them. Usually there is that one that is not the best, but this semester (or at least so far) I am enjoying all of them.  It will be a lot of work, but I'll learn lots and have fun doing it. Excitement!

8. The newest David Crowder*Band album, "Give Us Rest or (A Requiem Mass in C [The Happiest of All Keys]) has been on repeat all week long. If you haven't gotten it yet, please do so as of ten minutes ago, that's how urgent and wonderful it is.

9. Highlight of the week was probably being back at Refuge. It is so wonderful to worship as a campus and to study God's Word together with peers leading us.  We began a series on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-8) with the Beatitudes.  I was challenged to began to pray that my life matches up with these blessings.

10. It took me until today to fully unload every one of my suitcases... (I got here Monday night, and had four so that's not too bad, right?)

11. This week began my first semester of not being in a Spanish class. Oh, how I missed it!

12. My brother proudly plays epic-conquer-the-world computer games in his free time. Actually, both of them do. They are who I aspire to be. (Not really in the computer game attribute...so only part of that was sarcastic.) :)

13. Highlights of my Christmas break included: Speaking Spanish with both brothers in Oklahoma, Raw, barely-planned worship on Christmas morning, Seeing God's presence and movement at Passion2012, driving my grandparents to Downtown Dallas to look at a library, and bountiful family-time including baking and movies and laughs.

14. None of the pictures taken below were taken in a moving vehicle. They were taken in a vehicle, but I promise (Mom) that the car was not moving. (:

15. I decided to take a drive and I couldn't help but take my camera. I woke up to tremendous amounts of fog this morning but the sky cleared and left the earth moist and saturated in color. I simply had to attempt to capture it with my camera.  I found a lovely dirt road and blared some ABBA (which was a little strange to be listening to in the country, Blake Shelton or Tim McGraw should have been blaring...oops) and snapped a few shots on the side of the road. These were my 15 favorites. (:

Happy weekend! May it be relaxing and productive.

InJoy,
Brittany

Give Us Rest...In the Presence of God (or DavidCrowder*Band's Last.)

I just returned from #Passion2012 Friday at 4 a.m. It was phenomenal. God did so much and His presence was so tangible.  I hope to fill in about the time there and some of what I've learned in the days following.
The DavidCrowder*Band played their last concert on Monday night, and it was amazing! (Hillsong was in concert the following night and was awesome, as well.)  I wrote a few thoughts that God was speaking to me down in my journal at a moment in the DC*B concert. I decided I should share it with you all.
     "Sitting, Standing, Being at the last David Crowder*Band concert. "How He loves" is playing, and what a warm, beautiful picture of what it will be like when the Kingdom of Heaven comes.  The love of God is felt like a warm embrace.  Purifying, satisfying, and holy.
     God is with us always. We will be in His presence fully in the "forever," but He is still with us presently.
    Do we live like that?  Do we live as if we are in the presence of the Almighty, Holy God every minute? In all situations?
     Do we live like we are completely saved and set free; alive; now? Here?
              Why not..........?"
Each situation puts us in the presence of God, in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Whether we are in a musical worship service, writing a book, reading a book, being with friends, or sleeping. Oh, Lord, make us holy, wholly in your presence.

A Return.

I've been a bit MIA lately, and for that I do apologize. (It seems that I start every post like that, so maybe I should start apologizing and start expecting that I'm bad at blogging.) So much has gone on in life and my last semester was so full that this blog shifted to the bottom of the list, and trust me, it was a long list.  So maybe I'll do better this next year. I begin my last semester as a college student in about a week and a half and it would be good to chronicle this adventure. I am highly looking forward to this next phase and then the next. But currently, I'm enjoying living in the now and living out the plan God has for me.

So I return to this blog, very different than when I last wrote, but still the same small-town-girl.  There's much I've learned since my last visit, but I do not have space or time to eloquently describe it. So may this return be one of newness.  May we start fresh from here and grow and walk together this journey that God has laid out for us.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

March 31, 2011
Forest Gump famously said that "Life is like a box of chocolates."  Well, I'm not one to argue with Forest, but at the moment, I'd say life is like a cookie.  You know what that moment's like? The one where you bite into the most perfectly gooey white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. It melts in your mouth and is perfectly sweet, but not too sweet. That's what the nuts are for. And to add that special crunch. You want to keep eating it because it's so good, but at the same time you want to eat it slow so that it lasts longer. You've got cookie dough flavors and chocolate flavors swirling in your mouth and they mix to make the most perfect blend. Mmmm. You savor the moment and at that very instant all is right with the world. It doesn't matter that you just ate broccoli ten minutes before, because right now you're savoring a cookie. Well, that's what I'm comparing life to right now. It might be a bad analogy, but as I was eating a wonderful white chocolate macadamia nut cookie about five minutes ago, something flashed in my head to compare it to life.
My life right now, it's a cookie. Sometimes it's gooey, sometimes it's crunchy, and sometimes there are sweet chocolate chips that are encountered but other times there's the bitter nuts. I walked out of the second biggest test of my life about an hour ago. Tests were never this intense until I encountered Hispanic Culture and Civilization. They are what every high school student is terrified of when the statement of college exams are mentioned, but never really encounter that freshman year. As I looked back over my test to make sure I had written everything I could remember about Carlos IV or Francisco de Goya or Los Características del Romanticismo, I actually smiled. I felt confident that I did my best on that test. It's a good feeling. That's the gooey-ness of my cookie. [How far can we carry this cheesy analogy??]
Let me back up a bit. Spring Break was amazing. The youth of Park Hill went on a retreat to Castle Bluff (camp grounds) and it was a wonderful time! I am so truly blessed to get to work with such wonderful kids and leaders. So many relationships were built and strengthened, many great laughs, a giant spontaneous dance party, and the Good Word was preached (Dr. Joey Dodson taught on Philippians; amazing!). Not a lot of sleep happened, but it was well worth it and I'd do it again soon in a heartbeat. [Let's call that the chocolate. The sweet moments that make life notable. Because, really, who remembers that cookies have flour or an egg? They remember that there was chocolate!]
I left from there and went home. Followed by much sleep and relaxation! I attempted to do some homework and was decently successful.
I returned to school and was hit by a few massive exams and right as I was studying for the above mentioned exam, I was hit with the truth that I had a week to find a new roommate. The situation of roommates, which I had been assured was remaining the same, was not.  Insert crunch here.  Not only was I shocked that our plans would change at such a last minute time, I was almost peeved that I was notified at a pivotal studying moment.  It's amazing how God works things out for His good.  What I saw as such a hard moment, and the moments following looking for a roommate (OBU has these things called "roommate mixers" and they're the most awkward situations ever! I left in tears), God taught me a lot about trust and peace.  He showed me that He had a plan for a new roommate and new living situation. [[It turns out that Danielle, my current roommate, was in the same situation.  We didn't know each other hardly, but we found that the other needed a roommate the day before sign-ups were due.  There was a new transfer student that needed a home, and another girl who was going to study abroad, but decided not to.  God placed us at just the right time to be together, and it has been the biggest blessing.  We have so many laughs together and it is so wonderful to be surrounded by Godly women.

So, looking back over the situation, cookies are great things. There may be hard times and there may be sweet times, but overall cookies are a wonderful thing. Life is wonderful. Set alone, baking soda and eggs are gross yet sugar is real great. But mixed together they are necessary to make up a cookie.  In the same way, there are hard days and dull days and great days.  All of it makes up life. And overall, God is good and in control and returning. That's the best truth I know. It makes each crunchy day well worth it.  May you enjoy your cookie as much as I do.]]

[[I found this little post in the archives, but it hadn't been finished. So I decided to finish it, almost a year later. The parts put in double brackets were new the new things.]]