brb

Hi all you wonderful people!!!

Just wanted to let ya'll know that I have been/am going to be gone for a few days because of vacation to the beach! Sorry I haven't let you all know about it before now but I should be back by Tuesday (the 21st)! To keep up with my adventures on a slightly more consistent basis feel free to follow my Instagram where I've been posting sporadic beach photos ^-^ 

Can't wait to immerse myself back into the blogger life and respond to all your wonderful comments and my new followers!! You guys are pretty awesome.

THANK YOU

This will be short, but I thought this post was pretty essential. Plus I'm super excited about it. 

So, as some of you may have noticed, I have a totally new blog design!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All of this is thanks to the incredibly talented work of Audrey over at Whimsical Wanderings! She actually just did a blog post about the redesigning- go check it out! And if you're looking for a new design, she is definitely the one to go to! Working with her was so much fun and she was great at helping me to visualize everything without over-complicating (especially since I had absolutely no idea what I was doing). You won't regret it!

Thanks to another great friend, I've also had some pictures of me to go up on the blog and under the "about"/"contact" pages! Rylie has such a great passion and gift for photography. You can go check out a lot more of her work over at JustRylie. I can't wait to take some more pictures with her- the ones that are already up she just snapped randomly! We're planning a full out photoshoot in the near future- so brace yourselves. ;) Hopefully she'll be starting blog of her own soon, so then I can give her a proper shout out. 

Anyway, just wanted to send out a HUGE thank you to you both!!! And, guys, go show them (and their websites!!!) bunches of love for me, because without them my blog just be as ugly as it was a week ago. ;) LOVE YOU ALL.

community /

Okay, so I'm going to try to make this as short and to the point as possible, because it's already late and I want to go to bed. I just want to get some feels out of my system.

Last week I went on a week long local missions trip with my church. I was not incredible optimistic. I looked at the list of people going and how much I would be required to go out of my comfort zone and I was prideful and stubborn. I refused to trust in God and his promises and hand my worries over to him.

But then the missions trip started. And we worked for hours straight in 100 degree weather in the mud and the humidity and we went out to the mall and talked to strangers about our Savior and we were hot and sweaty and gross and exhausted. And we were happy. Because we got to work hard with our hands and serve with our hearts and strive to pour love into these lost people, and these kids with such broken lives. 

And then we slept at the church. And we played hide and seek with all the lights turned out. We played round robin for hours, and we cheered, and we yelled. We sang at the top of our lungs and pounded the beat on the top of the van. We laughed, and we cheered, and we sang, and we prayed. And every night the bonds grew a little closer, and we loved a little stronger. 

And now the week's over. And I miss them all so much. And now that it's over- it's only now that I realize how starved I was for that fellowship. That sense of community that you can only get from being with God's people. I was lonely, but I was too blind to even admit it. But God filled those empty places in a way that I couldn't understand and- guys, God is just so good. I find myself almost subconsciously looking forward to when I can see my people again. Because they are my people. God's people are my people; they're my brothers and sisters, and God taught me that in a new, firsthand way last week. 

So, all that being said, if you're a Christian and you find yourself left searching for that sense of community, take a chance. Reach out to those people around you on a deeper, more meaningful level. I mean, really think about it, what are you waiting for? College? Someone to reach out to you? You be that person; be the friend that you want in someone else. And if you don't go to a solid church somewhere- Christians were meant to be in God's house and with his people. If there's any way for you to get involved, church is, at least should be, the safest place you can be.

But, in the end, where flawed people fail you- remember your Savior. Remember who you're best, most faithful, and never failing friend is: Jesus. He will truly never leave you or forsake you. "for behold I am with you always- even to the end of the age."