She's 17 today....

Ashlyn, my sister turned 17 today and she is planning on getting her drivers license in a few days. Crazy to think that my younger sister is so grown up. This past Christmas we went to St. Louis together and I loved getting to know the woman she has become. Some of my favorite things about her and memories I have with her....

• Becoming blood sisters by pressing cuts on our fingers together.I think I already had a cut and convinced her to cut herself so we could do it. This made us double blood sisters, a bond that no one could break.
  
• Her love and ability to relate to children
• Make forts or house in various parts of the house, especially my closet.
• Raising our "babies" together
• Pretending to be braving the wild fronter, playing in the tree house and picking vegetables from the garden.
• Her gullibleness
• The time she dug little pot holes all over the backyard to keep bad guys away from our house.
• Her love for the Lord and desire to serve Him.
  
• Teaching her to roller blade and her returning the favor.
  
• The way she makes any new person feel welcome.
• Sharing a room and the patience and understanding that both of us learned from it.
• Her ability to forgive
• The way she loves people for who they are, not caring what others may think.
• "Or find out who your real family is!"---a response she gave to Adam saying when he got married it was going to be at 2 in the morning to see who his real friends were.
• Her attempts, and failures, to be funny when she is trying and then hilarious when she is not thinking anything about it.
• Her optimistic view oflife
  
• Her creativity.
  
• Road trips.
  
• Being the worst of enemies and the best of friends within minutes of each other.
• How beautiful she is.....

and I am sure there are many more, just not coming to mind at the moment. :)

Happy Birthday, Ashlyn!

This one is for Sarah....

The other day my sister, Sarah, informed me that she checked my blog "like five times a day", and since I do not write near enough to satisfy that addiction, I decided to write one dedicated to her.
Some of my favorite memories with this great lady....
* The day she was born, I was five, but I remember the day clearly.
* Long chats at night when we were supposed to be sleeping, and then her telling my most treasured secrets....I think death threats were given. :)
* "Sarah Bug"
* Watching her as Peter Pan in the play.
* All of here other plays that I have seen.
* Going for walks while she was here in Michigan.
* Here love for people and her loving to make people laugh...when she was up here visiting, she would ask me the names of people from church, go up and hug them, and act like she had known them all her life. Needless to say, they were always so confused.
* Hot chocolate
* Her different art creations
* Her different stores, quite the sales lady....comparatively to Bill Gates.
* Santa Stop- emails, phone calls, college student discounts, deals, and the list roles on
* Sitting on the roof in the freezing cold
* Her great sayings like, "she justed used me like a tissue!!"
* and many many more, if you have any memories, please share.

Satisfactory, Sarah?

Back at it

So, I am back at school and everything is going quit well. This is probably going to be the most packed semester yet, but what was I expecting ? Recently the Lord has been teaching me many things, mainly just to be patient and to wait for His timing and go along with His plan and to stop trying to make my own. That being said, please be in prayer for me regarding the next step He wants me to take and that I will trust Him completely through it. While you are at it, pray that I will remain concentrated on the task at hand and do what He wants me to do now. Blessings.

Catching up...

It has been quite about a month since I posted, except for the last two posts...and what a busy month it has been! Just to get you caught up on what has been going on in my life....

* December 6th-10th- The Ezekiel Project took a trip down to Raleigh, NC for an evangelistic Christmas banquet held there. I had the privilege of staying with Jonathan and June Peck who used to be missionaries to the Congo. It was a blessed trip, that I learned a lot from.
* December 12th-last Youth Group
* December 13th- TEP Christmas party and goodbye's
* December 14th- last day of class and headed for GA.
* December 15th-25th arrived in GA on the 15th, visited with family and friends, went to the chapel, spent Christmas with the family, got sick for a couple of days, and slept a good bit
* December 26th-29th- Ashlyn and I drove to St. Louis, MO for the Rise Up and Look Conference. It was great to spend time with her, meet new people, see old friends, see some of the TEP people, hear ministry from the Word, and make many memories.
* December 30th-31st- Went with Adam to Greenville, SC to visit friends.
* December 31st-January 4th- in Augusta spending some last few days here.
* January 4th-5th- visiting family in Atlanta.
* January 6th- drive back with Becca and Brandon from Atlanta to Michigan.
* January 7th- class starts back at TEPSE.

It was so good to see many of you over the Christmas break. Looking back over this year, I have witnessed the Lord's blessing and provision time and time again. Right now He is teaching me, yet again, to be patient and trust Him for the next step. Thank you for all your support, prayers, and encouraging words along the way. Blessing to all.

Happy Brithday, Gramps!

Yesterday, my grandpa celebrated his 68th complete year on earth and today we all had a nice family dinner together for the occasion. I am so blessed to have the grandfather that I do....I respect him to the utmost. God gave this man a very special place in my live. He has used him to show me what a God fearing and servant of a man looks like. Lord willing, we will have many more years to celebrate his life. Love you, papa!

Family

I got home on the 15th of December and have loved being able to see my family. We have so much fun together and it is good to get to know each of them a bit more. I have missed out on part of their lives since being in Michigan, but it does not take me long to realize that I am still a part of the family. :) Thank God for knowing what is best in giving me the family that I have!

Snow Fun

After the youth left, we went outside to play in the snow. We just went out to take pictures, but could not resit the urge. :) We ended up throwing snowballs at some kids outside the restaurant next door, while there parents looked on from inside, cheering us on! At first, I played nice and let them get me, but then they threw some good ones! I had to show them what's what! I loved hearing their squeals when they got snow on their faces and seeing the looks of shear pleasure when they quickly ran up to get me with a snowball of their own.

Happy "Holly Days"

Armada had a town get together called "Holly Days". It started off with Christmas carols, moved onto lighting the tree in the center of town, and ended with a light parade. Hotdogs, desserts, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and free give aways were also included. Before hand, we had the CTU (youth group) over for pizza and a devo and we concluded the night by coming back to the apartment for warm drinks and goodies. Shortly after we got back inside, it started to snow. We had a great time.