Tour de Arkansas

Little did I know that four years ago, when I made a decision to go to Ouachita Baptist University, it would effect my life the way that it has. Lifelong friendships were formed, my passion for teaching was deepened and my desire to serve others grew.
Cami and I went to spend time with our family in Crossett for a few days. We both had the privilege of serving as the Children's Minister for the past two summers (Cami in Summer '10, Me the following summer) at First Baptist. Our dear friend Leigha has taken on the role this summer. On Wednesday evening, I was able to share with the kids where God is leading me to teach in Hungary. Throughout our visit we certainly laughed, made a visit to the Zoo, played with some new puppies, cooked for some road bikers traveling across the US, shopped, walked around downtown, enjoyed Sonic milkshakes, watched October Baby and helped paint a children's Sunday School classroom. I am humbled and honored by the love of First Baptist Crossett. The children, church family and Staley's have made an imprint on my heart and are continually in my prayers.

El Dorado just happened to be on the way so I spent the night with Liz! She toured me around downtown, went on a walk in the park, went to a neighbors pool, ate one of Mrs.Ina's favorite dishes with her daughter and grandkids, she showed me the church, student ministry and made smoothies together.

A great place to call home, Arkadelphia. The Teed's welcome me with open arms and are a continual encouragement to me. We ate dinner and spent time discussing Scripture together. Mrs. Sarah and I went on a walk together like we have many times before. I had the privilege of visiting with the Wilbourn's (an elderly couple and their daughter - a group of friends would eat dinner with every other week throughout college) my professors (Mrs. Collins and Mrs.Sharp), Diana and Terrell (siblings that I helped take to church), Simone (my little sister),  Mrs. Robertson and Mrs. McBride, (my fantastic cooperating teacher and terrific teacher from Central), Mrs. Syler and Whitney (my wonderful cooperating teacher from Perritt and her daughter) and dinner with Andrew, Alison and Kendall! How I wished there was more time to spend with people who have had such an impact on my life.

My roommate Laura and I had lunch together at Jason's Deli. What a blessing she has been in my life to always be a listening ear, voice of discernment and sister in Christ to me.

I reunited with Cami in Hot Springs to stay with Sarah G. for a night. She has been in Austrailia for a year serving as a Children's Intern. I am thankful for time to spend time together to talk about life across the globe, returning home and serving an ever faithful God.

The blessings I received in Arkansas are forever embedded in my mind and heart for the love, friendships and memories that were made throughout the past four years. The transition after college is different than what I thought. Especially walking through campus knowing that I won't be coming back in August or for Homecoming was sad. Leaving what is comfortable, moving to a new city, meeting new people, a new language, starting a new job is quite overwhelming. Knowing God is always faithful and that He is my provider gives me peace.  

Fun Times

My dear friend and roommate Liz came to stay with me during her week off of working as a youth intern at a church in El Dorado, Arkansas. We did not spare a moment and filled our time with crafts, baking, cooking, painting, lattes, card games, sleepovers, lunch dates, time with new friends and old, a Ranger’s game, fireworks, QT, two stepping, the Dallas Farmer’s Market, walks on Duck Creek trail, thrift store shopping, Whole Foods, frozen yogurt, and lots of laughter in between. We were excited to spend time with Katelyn - our other roommate before she left for Louisiana Tech for her Dietetics Internship. 

We have traveled many miles together by foot - three half marathons side by side, by car - Hilton Head Island being the farthest, and by plane to New York City for a mission trip. We’ve made many memories throughout college and have many more to come. Liz continually speaks truth and encourages me in my walk with Christ. I am so thankful for her friendship.

Katelyn, Liz and I

Praying for Strangers

This nonfiction book is composed of a personal journey of River Jordan praying for at least one stranger every day. She was able to uncover the needs of human hearts through prayers. She was able to touch the lives of complete strangers, make unexpected connections that profoundly changed her life forever.  

This book encouraged and inspired me to “see” the people that God puts in my path and challenged me to be a blessing to those around me. 

Side Note...

My plane ticket for Budapest has been purchased! I will be flying out of DFW at 7:45 on Thursday, August 23rd. I will have one layover in London for about 3 and half hours then fly directly to Budapest. The reality of me flying half way around the world is ever so slowly sinking in. 

Beach Camp

Oh, how I love the beach! I love the way the sand feels between my toes and the sun’s rays on my skin. I love the sound of the waves crashing and the endless beauty of the water. It reminds me how majestic God is that He would create such a vast and beautiful ocean. A theme of camp was to “Define the Line.” We learned about the Cost of Discipleship, loving God from the inside out, commitment and passion for pursuing Christ. Each morning of camp we heard various sermons from the student pastors from the North, Plano and Dallas campus of Prestonwood focused on the greatest commandment in Mark 12:28-31. “And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

As a condo we did devos and had time to discuss how to apply scripture to our lives. In the afternoons we were divided into different superhero teams for recreation time on the beach. We had free time until it was time for dinner and evening worship. One night after worship we went to the nearby skate rink with all you can eat pizza and bowling. Another night we had condo wars based off of the Hunger Games.

I was blessed with senior girls for HS camp and seventh graders for JH. I am thankful for intentional conversations about what the Lord is doing in each of their lives and how He used them to encourage me. It was a special blessing to make new friends with fellow leaders and for others to be dear friends from high school and college.

Senior Girls 

Seventh grade girls

Fellow Leaders

Lyrics to “Forever Reign” by Hillsong

“You are more than my words will ever say

You are Lord all creation will proclaim

You are here

In your presence I’m made whole

You are God of all else I’m letting go”

Vacation Bible School

At the beginning of June, I went to visit a mentor of mine from high school, Chrisse, at church. I was going to mention that I was available to help with VBS to see if I could help in a small way and find out what dates it was taking place. The children’s minister, Meghann was available and told me of an opening to be the director for Preschool Missions. The opening just became available within the past twenty-four hours due to the previous volunteer physically unable to follow through. On June 11-15, I found myself in the position to teach three, four, and five year olds about missions in Brazil and Africa. Meghann was so sweet to decorate the room that I would be teaching in and sent me an outline for the curriculum. I had a slight freak out being overwhelmed when I found out there would be 40-60 kids coming to my classroom. The week was a great success and found many blessings throughout the week. Many of the teachers were so encouraging of the way I presented the information and captured their attention. After asking questions throughout the week the kids made me laugh quite often from their answers, and I was humbled by the genuineness of a child. Even though I was a little stressed with this opportunity before it began, I am so thankful I had the chance to love on the kids while I taught about missions.

On Monday, we learned the who, what, where, when, how and why of a missionary. Our verse for the day was Mark 16:15 “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all creation.” Each child colored a map of the world with the verse printed on it. 

On Tuesday, we learned about missionary pilots and what they do. Each of the children pretended they were airplanes as the music played and they would stop at a picture that was posted on the wall. There were pictures of different things a missionary would put in their plane. 

On Wednesday, we learned about clean water versus dirty water because our offering contributed to building water wells. 

On Thursday, we learned about the hard work it is to transport water when you don’t have a water well nearby. The kids carried water from one bucket to another within the classroom. They realized the hard work involved in the process to retrieve a small amount of water. Sarah had souvenirs from Zambia the kids were able to pass around like a blanket, pictures, and other various items.

On Friday, we had a special guest who spoke about what it was like when he flew helicopters.  

As I was taking down decorations on Friday, Meghann asked me if I was available to be a leader for high school beach camp because someone backed out that morning. The buses would be leaving in about seven hours for Panama City. I was already signed up to help with junior high camp so Liz, the girls minister, was going to call other volunteers if they would be able to help out. Jenn Darby and I had lunch and laughed about me possibly leaving to go to Panama City in the next few hours and had absolutely nothing packed. Around 3:30 driving back from lunch I received a phone call from Liz telling me she had made some calls and there wasn’t anyone else that would be available. So, I packed my bags, ate dinner, and headed out the door to arrive at the church by eight. 

New Camera

For awhile now I have been interested in a DSLR camera. I have spent time reading different reviews, asking for advice and visiting various electronic and camera stores. I finally decided on one, the Canon Rebel T2i but I was trying to find one on sale. Sarah and I were running errands and stopped at Target. I saw the camera in the display case on CLEARANCE. The display was the only one they had left and it had a small scratch so I received an extra 15% off. I was so pumped that this was the exact camera I wanted and it was at a very reasonable price for the camera that it is. I even told the sales lady that I had been praying about finding a camera because I decided so quickly that I wanted this camera while we were in the store. Haha! I absolutely LOVE taking pictures and I have a lot to learn about all that it can do.

Day Trip

Last Tuesday, Katelyn and I made a trip to Shreveport. We visited my Uncle Ralph who had open heart surgery the day before. He is making a wonderful recovery! It was so good to see family in Shreveport even if it was for just a little bit. We went to visit a house in Shreveport since she will be attending Louisiana Tech for her Dietetics internship. Then, we drove around Shreveport to see where Katelyn will have her rotations for her internship and then made stop by Counter Culture to get a “Humphrey’s Yogurt.” I have sweet memories of going with my Grandma when I was younger. Katelyn had a couple of friends from Coppell moving their stuff from there to Shreveport. That morning she picked up a few things and then we dropped them off that afternoon. After that we headed to Marshall, Texas to have dinner with the Woodfin’s! Erin Woodfin, Katelyn and I have been friends since freshman year and lived on the same hall together for two years. Erin and her husband recently moved into a beautiful new home. We drove back to my house for a sleepover. It was such a fun day! 

Katelyn, Erin and I

Mr. and Mrs. Darby

I have been immensely blessed through my friendship with Jenn over the past thirteen years. We have made memories that will last a lifetime through sleepovers, mission trips from New York to Europe, New Years and maybe a few notes in church. No matter the distance between us, I know I always have a friend in her. I am so proud of the person she is her loyalty and the ways she cares for others. She inspires me by simply being herself. 

Mission trip to New York and Boston in the 9th grade. 

The beautiful bride

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Michael Darby!!