quote of the day

Dr. B: "Not everybody in Rock Hill cares about Clemson/Carolina. There's 70,000 people!"
Brandon:"I know. I was at the pet store saturday night, that place was packed."

Because I love you

I'm not one to read through the Bible and just pick out a verse that sounds good but as we've been going through John at church, 1:16 has continually stuck out to me. And since it is in fact the season of gratefulness and thanksgiving, I might as well share. "From the fullness of His grace, we have all received one blessing after another." Some days I beleive that (convincingly) more than others. The night before Mom's birthday last week, my small group gathered around me and prayed for me and my family over the holidays. As they were praying I got to thinking (and crying) over how lucky I am to have friends. And it could stop there. But I have friends with some beautiful hearts. Two roommates who have seen me in straight up depressed mode these last 4 months and have always made me laugh and have always taken care of me. I have three best friends who I've grown up with and somehow only get closer as we get older. I had three full rows of just my friends, some who drove 4 hours, just to give me a hug at Mom's funeral. The Thanksgiving lunch table this year wasn't my favorite place to be and no we didn't sit around the table holding hands and singing songs. Thanksgiving and Christmas and birthdays won't ever be the same, but I got an amazing Mom for 24 years and for that I'm thankful. A lot of people don't get a Mom. So out of all that, the coolest thing is that I'm not blessed because I've done a super job at anything or because I work hard at being really good. From the fullness of His grace, the Lord has provided all that I need and then some. From the fullness of His grace and because He loves me, Jesus will never leave me alone and He's all in, all the time. So if I never saw another tangible blessing for the rest of my life, just that fact is enough to thank Jesus for going to the cross for me and every other human. You can't get much more loving than that.

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever."
-Psalm 118:1

Out of 9 I give you 10

Let's just say I woke up this morning (after my 5 hours of sleep) feeling like a battle was still going on and that I had something to do with it. Like Voldemort hasn't been defeated yet. Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows left off at the most gut-wrenching spot in the movie. And I thought I couldn't wait for Part 1 to come out? geez. Waiting on Part 2 in July is going to drive me nuts! And then it's all gonna be over so all you Potter haters can go back to your normal Twilight-watching lives. Before the movie, me and my roommates danced around the kitchen, butter beer in hand, dressed like the best of Hogwarts students. Seeing everyone dressed up in Griffyndore/Winthrop colors, all packed into the theater, bonding over how epic the movie was going to be was by far the most nerdy fun I've had in a while. Makes me really glad to still be somewhat young and able to atleast function at work the next morning on few hours of sleep. So all that to say, the movie of the year was in fact the movie of the year. Two thumbs.

These are dark times

You better hide ya kids, hide ya wife, and hide ya husbands because this week is about to get crazy! Harry Potter fans will party in the USA on Friday morning at 12:01 and I personally cannot wait another second. I haven't read the books so I don't know exactly all of what is going down in the Deathly Hallows Part 1 but I know the most important and epic moments and I have a feeling that I will have felt every emotion that is humanly possible by 3am. Part of me knows that the reason I'm so excited about the midnight showing is because everyone else is and truthfully, if life depended on it, I could wait until Friday at lunch to see it. But I'm not gonna. You might as well dive in with the rest of the muggle world and enjoy the first veiwing when everyone will be "ooohing" and "aaahing" and getting dressed up to beat the dark lord together. You might say that Voldemort is the most villian-ous villian of all time. That kid is nuts. Lots of people are about to die in these last 2 movies, every kid and most adults will have nightmares, hopefully the life of vampire movies will end as we know it. Starting tonight, the Cabin will be showing the 4th, 5th, and 6th movies. One each night until Thursday so if you want to come get your Hedwig fix, you better join us. Also, big shoutout to the Winthrop Quidditch team who fought the tournament against Duke and Appalachian State this weekend, for you got us all in the spirit. Huzzah!

quote of the day

The new Cabin motto....

Britt: "If laughter make you live long...we gonna be OLD!"

quote of the day

At dinner with my small group...

Janna: "You're so cute in your sweatsuit!"
Lynn-d: "I'm looking forward to my workout. I'm feeling pretty energetic, my prenatals are kicking in."

Let it all out

I only put on Relient K albums when I want to bring out the 8th grade version of myself, but my shuffle gave me one of their songs on my walk to the Library this afternoon. We all know how much I love music and lyrics and stuff and this song just hit my day right on the head. It was a tough day, a day when I really missed my Mom and I hate those kind of days. I don't have those days every day anymore, but when I do they really hurt. It's been almost 4 months and for some reason I'm still surprised when I randomly cry or get angry or can't sleep. Incase you don't know and for future reference friends, it is VERY hard to be convinced that God has your best in mind when He takes someone that you love. You get told over and over and over but believing it with consistency just doesn't come very easily. The good thing about that is that the truth doesn't depend on my mood. When I said Yes to Jesus I don't remember Him promising me an easy life or promising that my parents would live forever or that death wouldn't hurt. When I said Yes to Jesus I signed on to take Him at His word, knowing that we're not meant for this crappy, painful world anyway. I have a LONG way to go before I can say "Way to go God, that turned out good!" But today I re-learned that grieving takes longer than a couple of weeks and it takes more than just staying busy all the time. I haven't been and I won't be my normal self anytime soon and that has to be ok with me too.

And you said I know that this will hurt
but if I don't break your heart
then things will just get worse
If the burden seems to much to bear
Remember
the end will justify the pain it took to get us there

Grey Team

I tell ya, my little soccer team is the light of my week. I love coaching them, watching them run around in God knows what direction, listening to the rediculous things they have to say. I have to remind them constantly which way to kick the ball, to pay attention to the fact that we're still playing a game, and to stick that action figure back in your pocket and keep playing hard. I have them repeat things back to me (I hear that works) but as soon as the whistle blows they do the exact opposite. If you've been around me for 10 seconds, you know that I'm more competetive than you are. But I really like what those 5 & 6 year-olds can show me about myself. After the game whether they lose 10-0 (which has happened) or win by 4 goals, the most exciting part of their saturday is of course...the snack. I don't even have time to talk to them after the game, they're already headed straight for the capri-suns and oatmeal pies. With childrens it's all about the little stuff. They're content with next to nothing. I sure wish I could be like that. Instead I want to take over the world, be the boss, win every game, constantly move on to something better and bigger. Contentment is a good good thing and I don't know if it's something you can learn, but I could use a big dose of it lately. Word.