The Madness Continues

Breaking A Guinness World Record…

How many people can say that their weekend consisted of breaking a Guinness World Record? Only about 8,957. At 11:55PM on Friday night, CSF hosted the Worlds Largest Water Balloon fight.  175,141 water balloons were strategically lined across the Johnson Center field and over 8,000 people gathered to partake in the madness.  After months of planning and preparing, the water balloon fight was over in less than three minutes. Mass chaos are the only two words I can use to describe this event. Another ridiculous and fun memory made with my amazing friends. 

To Fully Appreciate the Madness- Check Out the Official Video:

Pre-Water Balloon Fight

Mass Chaos

When You Mess With the Bull, You Get the Horns…

I am so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing home away from home church. The 608 service at Southland refuels me every week and reignites the fire within me to begin the new week excited for what the Lord has in store for me and the opportunities He will bless me with to bring glory to Him. This weekends service was focused on grace and seeing others the way we were intended to be seen. Hebrews 12:15 convicted me to bring glory and honor to the Lord in every aspect of my life and to love others the way He loves me. The scripture states “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.” No pressure. As Christians we have the honor and responsibility to be a reflection of the Lord in EVERY interaction we have with others and in all aspects of our lives. We were not put on this earth to be self-seeking and self-glorifying, but to shower the broken, lost, and “unwanted” people of this world with grace, love, and encouragement. The Lord commands us to simply LOVE each other in John 15:17. As Jon Weece said, “To love a person, is to see them the way God intended them to be.” It is so easy to get caught up in our selfish desires and too often use the word “need” instead of “want.” What we NEED is God’s unconditional love and relentless grace…everything else is just icing to the cake.

After a phenomenal service, Southland hosted a “Ride the Bull” party in an effort to welcome students back to school and help them get plugged in at CSF and Southland. Well, as the name of the event suggests, there was a mechanical bull to ride for anyone brave enough to “take the bull by its horns.”  Being the “in the moment” kind of person that I am, I decided that riding a mechanical bull was definitely something worth experiencing. Waiting in line, the anticipation grew as I got closer and closer to facing the bull. Words can’t really describe the experience so I decided to attach the video of the ordeal. They say a picture’s worth a thousand words…so how much is a video worth? Y’all can be the judge of that…

**Side note- I now have a beautiful purple "battle wound" to prove my bull-riding skills**

As I begin this first FULL week of classes, I pray that the Lord would help me to focus on Him and cast my anxieties and stress upon Him. I also pray that I would be blessed with opportunities to bring other’s joy and love others the way God has commanded me to.

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." -1 Peter 4:8-11

Reality Check

One Day Down…How Many To Go?

Well...I’m an official STUDENT at the University of Kentucky. I was reminded today once again of how amazing the power of prayer is. I woke up with such a sense of peace, knowing that the Lord had fully prepared me and would never hand me more than I could handle. The only downer of the day was that I had to wake up at 8:00…not a good thing when you are not a morning person. All of my professors were very kind and seemed genuinely passionate about teaching, which was extremely encouraging and beautiful to see. After ensuring a “good” seat in each class, I met some of my fellow classmates and am excited to see how the Lord will use me to be a light in their lives and look forward to building friendships with and learning alongside of them.

Annual First Day Picture

Sup Noob Freshman

I quickly realized that I have not fully transitioned into “school mode” as I sat squirming in my chair. After attending my classes for the day, I walked back to the dorm completely overwhelmed, exhausted, but excited and thankful for such a positive day. Once back in the dorm, Lydia and I decided that the most logical way of processing the day’s overload of information would be to take a nap. SO, being the little freshman that we are, we curled up in our comfy beds and fell fast asleep.  After getting our beauty rest we buckled down and began the daunting task of reading our syllabi and mapping out our semester. Goodness gracious, I am certainly not in high school anymore. Praying that the Lord would keep my sights focused solely on Him and that my school work and stress of succeeding would never come before Him. HE is so good and deserves my full attention and praise.

Healing Is In HIS Hands... 

After a day of selfishly devoting my thoughts and prayers to my worries, stresses, and desires, my thoughts and prayers were refocused when I heard the news that some of my dear friends had been in a car accident. My precious little friend, Ally is at Children’s Hospital with life threatening injuries. Sweet Ally is so full of joy and love and has been such a tremendous blessing in my life. I am praying that the Lord would be the doctor’s hands and give them clarity and direction on how to best treat her. I know that HE is the ultimate Healer and has her in the palm of His righteous hand. All we can do is pray and TRUST that He will heal her. Please join me in praying for strength and healing as well as a sense of peace that transcends all understanding for her parents. Reality check. Life is precious and is taken for granted far too often. Rather than focusing on MYSELF as I walked from class to class, I should have taken that time to pray for the broken, lost, and unsaved peers I passed by and searched for opportunities to share the love, hope, and grace our amazing Lord offers. I don’t want to squander my life away by spending my time and energy on temporary things, but desire to live an intentional life giving glory to the Lord at all times. I have taken great comfort in knowing that HE is in control and have been reminded of Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

My prayer now, is not that I would have the most fun or be the most successful, but to live the most intentional and God-honoring life possible and seek opportunities to be a shining light to others and touch as many lives as possible. To HIM be the glory.

Calm(ish) Before the Storm

Oops I Did It Again…

In an effort to avoid getting lost on campus and not have FRESHMAN banners across our foreheads, we decided to explore campus and find our classes. After successfully finding each building, we parted ways to attend our “College Meetings.” I was told to go to the “Taylor Education Building” so naturally I put the address into my GPS and began my trek. After arriving at my “desired destination” I became aware of my surroundings and came to the realization that I was indeed NOT where I was supposed to be. Being the directionally challenged girl that I am, I quickly became frustrated that I had “done it again.” Since this was of course not the first time, I headed back in the direction I had come from praying I would have an idiot savant moment. Well…that moment didn’t come. After back tracking and aimlessly walking all over creation, an HOUR later, I finally stumbled upon (literally stumbled, as I tripped on stick walking up the drive and now have a perfectly round bruise on my toe) the education building- sweaty, frustrated, tired, and late.

After this traumatic (and now hilarious) adventure, I decided to map out my aimless walking in red and the direct pathway in blue just to show you how ridiculous this whole ordeal really was. I’ve convinced myself that the whole adventure was really just my desire to become acquainted with the campus and take Robert Frost’s advice by “taking the road less traveled by…” I’ve decided to become a campus tour guide and will be passing out business cards soon. Forget physical therapy, I have found my true calling...

Thankfully the College of Education staff were extremely kind and welcomed me with warm smiles and sympathetic head nods as I explained my dilemma. Laughter aside, I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to begin the journey towards my dreams and look forward to seeing where the Lord takes me. He has instilled in me a desire to love and bring joy to others so I am comforted in knowing that wherever He leads me, I will be able to serve and love His people. To HIM be the glory!

Lesson learned, campus explored, and accidental exercise complete!

We ended the night with Shift at CSF, a service completely focused on building relationships with freshman and having intentional time to meet, learn, and grow together. CSF has already been such a tremendous blessing and I look forward to the opportunities I will have to pursue my Prince and learn more about HIM as well as make unconditional and lasting friendships with my fellow brothers and sisters of Christ. We were also able to sign up for our “Shift Groups” where we will be studying “King’s Cross” by Tim Keller and growing closer to HIM as we grow closer to one another and fully embrace being Princesses of the King. I am so excited to see what doors GOD will open (thankfully I won’t have to) and will gladly and enthusiastically follow wherever He leads.

I Actually Have To Do School Work?...

I am armed and ready to truly begin my college experience with the start of this first semester. I am convinced that the Lord will work in and through me in amazing ways if I fully surrender myself to Him and glorify Him in everything I do. My goals for this semester are:

I would be blessed with countless opportunities to be a SHINING light for His glory

I would grow closer to the Lord and be intentional in my pursuit for Him

I would stay focused and motivated in all aspects of my life

I would serve others and be His hands and feet

I would build intentional and lasting friendships

I would create memories that would last a lifetime

I would maximize every opportunity I am blessed with and maintain a positive attitude

I would live a life pleasing to the Lord and inspiring for those around me

I would be successful in my academics

I would develop strong and effective study habits both in the Word and in my studies

 “Be strong and courageous. Do NOT be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” –Joshua 1:9

“Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” –Matthew 6:34

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” -1 Peter 5:7

“I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.” –Philippians 4:13

“This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” –Psalm 118:24

New Adventures...

Well, I’ve decided to start blogging to both process/journal my college experience as well as provide some entertainment, encouragement, and JOY to anyone who ventures to read this. No promises on how good of a “blogger” I’m going to be, but I guess there is only one way to find out…

Ohhhhh C-A-T-S CATS CATS CATS! It’s official- I am a UK Wildcat. These past few days have been full of emotions, new experiences, laughter, opportunities to meet new people, and a time to transition into “adulthood”…or at least move one step closer. I have been so overwhelmed with the love, support, and encouragement the incredible people in my life have blessed me with. I have certainly felt the prayers and have been so comforted and humbled in knowing that I have such a beautiful and amazing support system back home. I miss everyone back home terribly but LOVE the fact that we have so many forms of communication to keep in touch as well as the opportunity to be more intentional in our friendships.

It’s been amazing to see how much the Lord has been working in my heart and calling me to surrender myself completely to HIM and simply TRUST that He is in control. Trust. According to Merriam Dictionary, trust is defined as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or trust of someone or something.” This four-letter word is mentioned in the Bible approximately 147 times. 147 times! Proverbs 3:5 has brought me so much comfort these past few days and has also convicted me to give it all to the One who deserves it all. “TRUST in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” How comforting is that? If we put our TRUST, our desires, our fears, our dreams, our hope in the Lord, HE will take care of the rest and lead us where we can best serve and glorify Him. What an honor it is to have the opportunity to serve our Father. As I begin this new chapter in life, I am SO excited to see where the Lord takes me and am praying that He would stretch me and would bless me with me opportunities to love on His people, witness, and grow in my faith.

There is never a dull moment in the life of Emilee Hancock. While these past few days have been overwhelming and emotional…I have laughed a lot and praise God that He has blessed me with those moments. SO, in an effort to bring some JOY into your life, I’ll share a few of the funny moments we have experienced thus far:

Pre-College-

Doors are hard...
Freshman Orientation at UK was two days of pure stress and information overload. I felt like I walked around with a big FRESHMAN banner across my forehead. Seeing as I have ZERO sense of direction, I got turned around multiple times and aimlessly wandered around campus praying that somehow I would wind up where I was told to go. After finally finding my way to White Hall, I walked through the long corridor searching for my mom amidst the chaos of freshman, parents, and UK students. Unfortunately, she was no where to be found so I decided to venture back outside. As I approached the doors of White Hall I was perplexed as a huge pole stood just outside the door. I thought to myself (as I awkwardly stood in front of the door), "Why in the world would they put a pole right in front of the door?" After standing for a good five minutes I considered my options-

1. Turn around and exit the way I came in.
2. Open the door only wide enough to slide past without hitting the pole.
3. Wait for someone else and see what they did.

Finally I worked up the courage to push the door open just enough to slide through...turns out the pole moves when you open the door BECAUSE IT WAS THE HANDLE! I walked away completely mortified and laughed out loud at myself as I walked away. After laughing, I became quite discouraged as I thought, "If I can't even figure out how to open doors, how in the world am I going to be successful in college? I quickly began to pray that opening doors would be the hardest part of college.

SO, just when I thought the embarrassment of "the door incident" was behind me, a kid walked up to me as I was eating my pancake (at midnight at CSF) asking if I was the girl who had struggled to open the door at freshman orientation. Turns out he had a front row seat to the whole ordeal and got quite a kick out of it. I'm not sure if I'll ever live this down...

#FreshmanSwag

Day 1-

Showers and Fire Alarms…

Two words: Community Bathrooms. While our dorm is very nice and clean, community bathrooms are a whole new adventure in and of themselves. After a FULL day of K-Week activities, crazy emotions, and an overload of information, my sweet roommate and I decided to take our first college showers. WELL…after realizing that I was fully dressed with no where to put my dry clothes, ice cold water pounding on my back, and a wad of wet hair at my feet, I realized I was in for a treat. Let’s just say…we’re not in Kansas anymore. Lydia and I left the bathroom slightly scarred and laughing at how completely traumatic our first shower experience had been and tried to convince each other that we would eventually figure out a routine and everything would be okay.

After rummaging around our new “home” trying to get ready for bed, we finally fell into our new beds completely mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted around 3:30 AM. Two short hours later, a high pitch screeching alarm and man’s voice saying, “ATTENTION, ATTENTION an EMERGENCY has been detected. Please evacuate Donovan Hall.”  awakened us with a start. We grabbed our shoes and followed our fellow zombie-like peers down the hallway- glasses, retainers, frizzy hair and all. Seeing as neither Lydia nor I are “morning people” we sat mute and thoroughly upset that we were sitting on the cold and hard concrete outside in our pajamas instead of sleeping peacefully in our comfy beds. After a half hour of this nonsense, we sleepily herded back upstairs and fell back asleep.

First day as a college freshman-complete!

Day 2-

The Sky is Falling…

Our new humble abode is decked out with precious pictures, signs, mirrors, and curtains. The only downfall to these decorations is that they are held with fishing line, Velcro, and plastic hooks. Turns out they aren’t the most reliable resources. Sunday morning I woke with curtains covering my bed, a wooden picture and mirrors on the floor as well as a wet bed. To answer your question- I am a freshman in college and have mastered the skill of using a toilet. The pipes above my bed had apparently dripped throughout the night resulting in an awkwardly wet blanket when I woke up. Being the inventive college students that we are, before going to bed that night Lydia and I did the most logical thing and wrapped paper towels around the culprit and called it a night.

Thankfully, nothing else decided to fall during the night and the paper towels soaked up the leaking pipe. Guess it’s time to call the maintenance man…

Day 4-

Dancing. Shopping. Saving.
It's amazing how much fun you can have when you are surrounded with sweet friends and don't have a care in the world. We went to "Meijer Mania" where we got tons of free samples and some good deals on food...that we did not need to buy. We were highly tempted as we passed the "Pet Section" of Meijer to adopt a fish and went so far as to name it Donny...short for Donovan. Unfortunately being the college students that we are, we decided that we didn't want to be "teenager mothers" to sweet Donny because it would cost too much. A DJ kept the place hoppin' and provided some quality entertainment and music for us to dance to as we shopped down the aisles. How I wish we could watch the security videos from tonight...I'm certain they were epic as everyone was in such a joyful and goofy mood. After our shopping extravaganza, we entertained ourselves by communicating using "sign language" as we waited for the bus. Our language was FAR from accurate, but quite entertaining and hilarious. Too bad our laughter gave away our very believable "deafness."

Meijer Mania- 11:00 PM...Best Grocery Shopping Experience Ever

First Grocery Experience As Roomies

More laughter with sweet friends...blessed.

The past few days have been packed FULL of fun activities- from eating pancakes at noon and midnight at CSF, to learning official UK cheers, to figuring out the art of using a community bathroom and much more- we have maximized our time here and look forward to seeing what other adventures God will bless us with.

Here are a couple of pictures of our latest adventures:

Our Precious Dorm Room

My Sweet Big Sis!

Raiders to Wildcats