Camp Courageous: Day 5

Well, I successfully made it through another day. Each morning I wake up nearly in tears thinking about the day I have in store for me and then I just begin to cover the day in prayer and am so comforted knowing that the kids and I are being prayed over. This morning I went with some of our girls to woodshop where they experimented with wood burners (that was a first) and decorated little wooden cars to compete in the "BG 500 Race."

After early risers, we had breakfast and then went to our Mornin' Explorin' activities which included nature (collecting leaves and glueing them on paper...now if that's not exiting, I don't know what is) and then Fun and Games. During Fun and Games, one of the girls in our group got itchy and after she asked me to "pat her hair" (No joke. Ha!), we took her back to the lodge to shower. That's when the excitement began. After getting in and out of the shower, we checked her head and found that food from the messy games was caked into her real hair under her weave. SO, we cut out her weave. Yeahhh, there is a reason I am a white girl. Ha! It was seriously one of the most hilarious experiences I have had in a while...I now know why it's called weave. In Erika's (one of my peer counselors) words "we are the two whitest girls cutting out this girls weave." After her weave was out and her braids were undone, she transformed from a pretty little girl to a little Einstein. Oh Erika and I lost it after she went in to shower. Wow. After our beauty school dropout time, we went to lunch...which neither of us were hungry for after our ordeal. Goodness gracious. Then came siesta time...whoo hoo! I got a nice hour long nap which gave me the boost I was in desperate need of.

After siesta, I went to woodshop again with the girls to finish their cars and then we got our swim on. Halfway through swimming, my favorite little girl asked if she could get out because she was hurting. After getting out and talking to her, she told me she was having sickle pain. SO, we got dressed quickly and headed to the medical center where they gave her pain medicine and had her lay down. While chatting with her as she rested and waited for the medicine to kick in, in walked another one of our girls experiencing severe sickle pain. This weather is TOUGH on these poor girls because sickle cell causes them to have a hard time managing their body temperature. SO, they put her on an IV to pump liquids and medicine. Gosh, my heart absolutely broke in that moment as I watched those little girls laying in the hospital beds. The deeper we get into this week, the more emotionally attached I have become to these girls and my heart just ached for them...and for their parents. I sat on the side of their beds trying to imagine what it must be like for their parents to helplessly watch their daughters as they are being poked and prodded while they sit back and can do nothing. And then I had to stop imagining because I couldn't break down and cry in front of the girls. While watching the girls lay in those hospital beds broke my heart, I am thankful for the one on one time and conversations I had with each of them. After assuring that the girls were okay and in good hands, I ran over and caught the tail end of dinner.

After dinner, we had the "BG 500" where the kids who had decorated their cars got to push them down a long track one by one while being announced and cheered for. So cute! Gosh, the kids here are so ridiculously cute it's unreal. Goodness gracious. After the race, we didn't tell the girls what time it was and wound up getting them to bed early. Score! Haha. And now, I am going to bed early AND get to sleep in. Ooooh yeah! Sweet dreams sweet people!

The Race Track

Way Holding Her Car

Camp Courageous: Day 4

Phew, what a day. You wouldn't believe these sweet kiddos are sick by the way they structure each day...that phrase "no rest for the weary" couldn't be any more accurate. Ha! This morning was rouuuugh. I made the unfortunate mistake of staying up late last night, as the excitement from the "messy games" woke me up too much to fall asleep right away. Anywaysss, I prayed throughout the morning that the Lord would give me the strength and patience that I was lacking and He totally answered those prayers. What a faithful God we have!

Despite my total physical and mental exhaustion, I had to pretend like I was as chipper as a little bird (I may have just made that up...not sure) and watched one of our girls take pictures of everything under the moon and stars for an hour. Ha! We then went to breakfast, then the stable where the girls rode the horses (sadly I didn't get to use my expert horse whispering guiding skills...probably for the best), then we went bowling, and then embroidery where the girls got to embroider some bandanas. Ooh yeah, there is nothing cooler than walking around with a bandana WITH your name on it. Then we had lunch and siesta! That was super nice as I had a bad headache and thoroughly enjoyed taking an hour long nap. After that, we went to a horse show and learned about "Rocky Horses" and then I went to fishing and boating which was HOT HOT HOT! And it was hilarious to watch the kids as they caught their fish...apparently it is a camp tradition to "catch, kiss, and release." Umm, yeah you heard me, KISS the fish. Totally priceless to watch kids fight over who would be first to kiss the fish. Kids really do do the darndst things. Haha.

Sweet Madelina and I...So proud of her for "Wrangling" those Fish

Priceless

Paddle Boating in the Swan

After baking in the sun for a bit, we had dinner and then came back to the lodge to get ready for the dance the campers had. On our way to the dance (the cafeteria) we stopped at the "beauty salon" where we had 8 minutes to do makeup, hair, and paint nails. I did makeup for 2 girls, spray painted 2 girls' hair, and I think I painted about 8 hands. I'd say that's some kind of record seeing as it takes me 8 minutes to paint my nails alone. Ha! It was super cute to see all of the girls getting primped and ready for the dance. Unfortunately, one of our girls wasn't feeling well so instead of busting a move, I played board games with her...again, probably for the best. ;) After the dance it was finally bedtime for the girls! Haha.

After the girls fell asleep, I was able to organize my very disheveled suitcase and take a nice long shower. Ahhhh. It's the little things. Ha! Today has definitely been the best day so far. Your prayers are being so boldly answered and I am so humbled by your love and support. Gosh, these kids are crazy awesome! Tonight at the dance I got teary eyed watching kids with wheelchairs, braces, walkers, and major illnesses dance their little hearts out. If only we could bottle up the joy they have! This week has taught me so much already but most of all, or at least today, I have learned how to serve humbly and how to love boldly as well as how to live a life full of joy despite your circumstances. Gosh, if these kids can smile, laugh, and live bold and joyful lives, we have no reason to let anything stop us from doing the same. I am so grateful and humbled that the Lord has blessed me with an able body and am honored that He has given me the opportunity to love on some kids who have some very able (and beautiful) hearts! Keep the prayers coming, they are being answered in a big way! Even if we can't talk about God here, He is so present and is moving in hearts here.

 Ps- For those of you wondering, after 2 showers consisting of scrubbing my hair twice in each, I believe it is safe to say that the "Chug Chug" has officially left its unwelcomed residence in my hair. Phew. Everytime the wind blew today I nearly "chug chug-ed." Ha! Yay for shampoo and body spray!

Camp Courageous: Day 3

This has been such a long day! Haha. Waking up at 6:30 was not that bad…only partially painful. After waking up and zombie walking to the bathroom to get ready, we woke up our sweet girls. That’s when the real fun began. Each kid got to choose their “early riser” activity before breakfast, what a hilarious concept! I got assigned to go with the “music” campers. There is nothing sweeter than the sound of twelve kids banging the tar out of some drums. That’ll wake you up. We then had breakfast and moved on to more activities. At this point, I am too tired to remember all that we did but I know that we squeezed a whole lot of activities into one afternoon including- archery, swimming (twice…yeah, it was super fun to put on my very wet and freezing cold bathing suit not once but twice today), and cooking. After dinner, we had what they call the “Messy Games.” Yeahhh, that was ridiculous. As a counselor, I had the honor of being completely covered in paint, icecream, water, pudding, and a concoction they call “Chug Chug” aka oatmeal, paint, soap, and whatever else they decide to throw in that day. Yummmmy. After washing my hair twice, I still smell quite nasty. Oh the joys of camp. Ha!

Our Den After Being Painted Up- Representing the Yellow Lodge

Midway Through the Craziness 

The Finished Product...Nasty

This day has definitely been the best day yet. Super duper long but more organized and filled with more fun activities, so that was a plus. It’s fairly ridiculous how quickly our “siesta” time goes by (a whopping hour of our 13+ hour long day) and how slooooowly the time goes by during certain activities. Ha!

I have very little time to process all that is happening, as even now as I try to sit and process I am surrounded by people. I am learning so much about myself, including some strengths and weaknesses I didn’t know I had as well as having ample opportunity to practice patience, gentleness, and kindness…even when your campers are pouring “Chug Chug” on top of your head. Today it was awesome to see our girls build friendships with one another as well as with us. I got my first letter from one of my campers declaring that I was her #1 “Fav” Counselor. I’d call that a success. Ha! Also, the precious letters I have been receiving in the mail mean more to me than I am able to say. Seriously. I am so overwhelmed by the love and amazing people I have in my life! Unbelievable.

Right now I am so exhausted and my brain is running on empty so that’s all I can think of to say tonight. Thanks for taking the time to read this and for investing in me and loving me like only each of you can. You guys are ridiculous.

A verse I have been clinging to this week, along with several others has been Isaiah 40:28-31. SUCH words of truth and comfort as I am very weary (and sleepy) and need strength that can only come from the Lord!

Camp Courageous: Day 2

What a day this has been. In some ways I feel like it has lasted forever and a day and in others I feel like it went by quickly. The morning started off early...which was actually "sleeping in" for the week. Oh goodness, if you know me you know this is bad news bears. The Lord is absolutely going to have to provide strength each morning because I certainly will not have it on my own. This morning we had another medical meeting which went more in depth as to what illnesses we will be working with this week. I think they named off about 12 different illnesses the kids are diagnosed with ranging from sickle cell, to cancer, to asplenia (without a spleen), to a variety of blood disorders, epilepsy, ITP, etc. After our meeting, the volunteers went to the barn to learn how to lead a horse. Dang, those things are so strong. Ha! I signed a paper saying I was an official horse leader (some call me the horse whisperer) but we'll see how that goes. Ha! After hanging out with our new 4 legged friends, we headed back to the lodge and began meeting our campers.

My "den" is leading six girls ranging from 13-14 years old with a variety of illnesses. I was a little disappointed when I saw that I would be working with such old girls, however I quickly rebuked that by recognizing that this camp has been prayed over and I am exactly where the Lord needs me to be. This is also an awesome opportunity to get experience interacting with and loving on this age group, as I really have limited experience with older kids. After hanging with the girls for several hours and making bracelets, coloring pictures, talking, laughing, etc. we went to dinner, where we chanted cheer after cheer. Hugs and high-fives and cheers are big here. Ha! Kind of awkward when you have no clue what the cheers are, but I'm faking it til' I make it and am covering up my mistakes with a smile. Haha.

After dinner, we hung out as an entire lodge, learning more cheers (my current favorite is "jump, shake your rompus, jump jump, shake your rompus...hilarious), played some ice breakers, and hung out until we walked over to the camp fire. At the camp fire we did...you guessed it, more cheers and campfire songs. Ooh yeah. We came back, got the girls ready for bed, and then headed to another medical meeting for more detailed descriptions for each girls diagnosis. Our girls are precious and all opted for a hug over a high-five tonight...my kind of girls. Haha. I am super excited to see how my relationships with them grow and can't wait to see them experience all of the fun they have in store for them! In all honesty, this is harder than I expected it to be and I am already completely emotionally and physically wiped out. Goodness. I know that this is an awesome opportunity to rely on the Lord like I never have before and get my strength, enthusiasm, patience, and love from the Ultimate source. He is already showing me how to love and serve more unconditionally and is certainly allowing me to go outside of my comfort zone to grow and learn to be and act more like Him.  Oh I am so drained and am so happy to be laying in my bed. My alarm is set for 6:30 so that ought to be interesting. Haha. While this experience is certainly stretching me and making me quite uncomfortable, I am really thankful to be here and am blessed to have the opportunity to grow, learn, and ultimately love on these sweet kids in a way that reflects the Lord and gives Him glory. Keep the prayers coming, I feel them and appreciate them so much!

Camp Courageous: Day 1

Well goodness gracious, my brain is officially on overload and my eye lids are super heavy...a feeling I think I'm going to have to learn to get used to this week. Ha! Today I drove from Louisville to Scottsville and while I typically don't enjoy driving (especially in unfamiliar territory since I get lost in a box, ha!) it was awesome to take that time to worship and pray and mentally/emotionally prepare for what was in store...and enjoy some time ALONE as that will be my last opportunity for awhile. When I got here, I felt like I was reliving my first day of college...super awkward, super overwhelmed, and like a fish out of water. I introduced myself and volunteered to help decorate our "den" for our jungle themed week in an attempt to expedite the awkward stage...yeahhh, that didn't help to much. ;) We'll get there though.

My Humble Abode for the Week

After decorating for a little while, the volunteers were herded to the gym for a tour and an orientation. The campus is absolutely beautiful...the orientation was not so beautiful. Haha. Apparently there is an endangered and rare species called "children." All thanks to the orientation, I now know what this unheard of species is and how to handle them in all situations. Phew. All kidding aside, they packed a WHOLE lot of information into a very short amount of time and my brain is still trying to recover from the headache it caused. And I thought college was hard. Haha.

A Little Look at the Camp Grounds

 After our orientation and dinner, we had some free time so my sweet friend from UK, Madelina and I drove to Bowling Green and got some froyo and adventured through Wal-Mart. It is SUCH blessing to have her here! Oh my goodness. The Lord seriously has blessed that precious girl with such a beautiful heart and bold spirit and is certainly making a big difference in a whole lot of lives.

Reunited and it feels SO good!

 I am super excited to meet the sweet kiddos tomorrow. I definitely prefer kids over adults. Ha! Apparently I'll be working with the "youngest of the old campers" whatever that means. I'm thinking probably 9-12 year olds. All I know for sure is that the Lord has been preparing me for the past 5 months and He is going to place exactly who I can connect with and love on most. Oh I am so excited to meet them! Coming into this, I thought this ministry would be solely focused on the campers, but it has already been made clear that it extends beyond the campers and to the staff. It's apparent that many of the staff members are trying to fill a void by working here and are searching for their purpose. I'm afraid they won't find something good enough to fill that void, but I know someone who can! I'm praying that the Lord would allow me to act and speak differently and would give me boldness as well as gentleness and kindness when interacting with my peers and love them like Jesus. Alright, while it's not even midnight here, my body is officially aching and begging for me to get some sleep. Hopefully at least part of this is coherent...it's dangerous to let your stream of consciousness run wild. Add in the fact that I have written all of this in "Notes" on my phone and this could all be one confusing heap of words. Haha. Oh well. Please keep the prayers coming! :) Nighty night!

Sweet Summer Days

Phew, this summer has been a whirlwind. A super fun and blessed whirlwind, that is. This summer is unlike any summer in the past, since the majority of my friends now are fun college and live all over Kentucky. SO, instead of filling every second of every day up with plans, I have been able to spend a lot of time with my family and the few precious friends that I have here. Somehow, I manage to stay ridiculously busy, but I love it! That way! I have neglected to blog recently, simply because there has been so much on my heart and mind and also due to the fact that when I finally stop after a crazy day, I am too tired to think. Ha!

¡Pura Vida!...

The day after school got out (literally the day after I moved back home…I had 2 hours of sleep that night) my family had the opportunity to go to Costa Rica for our family vacation. It was SO nice to escape our hectic lives and simply spend some time together resting and relaxing. Costa Rica was absolutely gorgeous and we enjoyed exploring the country and stumbling across fun adventures.

Zip-Lining  Through the Jungle

Poás Volcano 

Just Chilling with a Tucan

Beautiful Waterfalls

While there were so many hilarious moments during the trip, here is a little sample of how ridiculous my family is…

Cliff Diving Fo Dayz

The most hilarious moments of the trip took place in the car. Our SUV was stick shift, and well, that just caused all sorts of problems and hilarious moments. I lost count of how many times we slid back, stalled, and gunned it. We were “those tourists” all week, and it was priceless. Every single time we got in the car, something so ridiculous and “American” would happen. Our favorite moment of all went something like this…

Before going on another adventure, we decided to stop at a grocery store to load up on some sunscreen and water. We found a store and decided to park on the road across from it but after realizing that we were in a fairly precarious spot, we decided it would be best to pull into the parking lot. Mom got out of the car to direct dad as to when it would be safe to cross since the store was on a hilly and windy road. When the coast was clear, mom signaled and dad gunned it across the road…right….over….a…cliff. Mind you, the cliff was only about three and half feet tall. What is so priceless was the reaction from everyone. Mom, who watched the whole thing happen, stood with her mouth gaping open and in total shock and disbelief. Dad, Rachel, and I had zero reaction. As two wheels were in the parking lot and two were on the cliff, there were no words spoken. It wasn’t until we got out of the car and after dad had announced “we’re here” to everyone who had stopped what they were doing to look at the stupid Americans, that we fully realized what had happened. The SUV took the cliff diving like a champ and escaped with only a few battle wounds (which blended in with the previous damage).

No Habla Espano
We also lived up to our “American-ness” by failing at speaking Spanish everywhere we went. We would all try to speak the “pequena” (small) amount of Spanish that we knew and always got sweet and sympathetic smiles from the locals as we stumbled over our words and mixed languages. Dad was the closest, okay maybe furthest one of us to be fluent. He was an expert at showing how talented he was by being bi or trilingual during one conversation. We probably should have brushed up on our Spanish a little bit before we went, but it was a learning experience and certainly gave us a lot to laugh about.

The trip was an absolutely blast and was such a blessing. It was so wonderful to spend that time with my precious family and explore a new country.

Here Comes the Bride…

Well, I have officially reached the age that my peers are beginning to get married. It is so weird! Haha. Already this summer, we have had the opportunity to celebrate two weddings. Both weddings were so beautiful and it was so fun (and super weird) to see some of our dearest friends begin new chapters in their lives. Both couples are so Godly and beautiful and it was an honor to celebrate their marriage!

Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Cate

Friends For 16 Years

Celebrating Elyse and Aaron's Wedding

Sisterbears

Random Adventures…

The summer has consisted of weddings, graduation parties, working or should I say “working” at the pool, going away parties, babysitting, pool days, lots and lots of Orange Leaf, and loving on some awesome people! Since it would take forever and a day to write about each fun adventure, I’m just going to document the fun times with some pictures.

Reds Game with Sweet Friends

Cincinnati Zoo with the Weiland Girls

Reunited with the Sweeney's

Orange Leaf with Precious Friends

All Church Serve Day

Serving with Sweet Friends

Hart's Going Away Party...Sweet Owie

My Crazy Family

Pool Day with Ayda Girl

We Love Our Relatives

Happy Father’s Day…

The Lord has blessed me with an absolutely incredible Dad. My Dad is such a Godly man who leads our family and is faithful and obedient to the Lord. He also has one of the sweetest and gentle hearts of anyone I have ever met mixed with a hilarious sense of humor. I love my Daddy so much more than earthly words can express and am honored to be his daughter. I hope to find a man who leads and loves like he does someday.

The Twins

The Whole Family

Sweet Daddy-O

I have also been blessed by having two amazing grandpas. My Papa, who passed away several years ago, was a hardworking man who loved his family, loved to laugh, and loved God. He raised my Dad to be a man of integrity, perseverance, gentleness, kindness, and love. I miss my Papa dearly and I look forward to the day I will see him again. My other grandpa, Pappy is an amazing man. Pappy always makes me smile and gives the best hugs. While our days with Pappy may be limited, I am so thankful I got to celebrate Father’s Day with him and will soak up every opportunity to spend time with him and love on him that I can. Pappy has such a gentle yet strong-willed spirit and has always provided for and led his family with love, encouragement, laughter, and with a Godly perspective. 

Pappy-O

I am so humbled and grateful to have these three men to be examples of Godly, hardworking, and amazing men.

We Prescribe Fun…

This coming week, I have the opportunity to be a counselor at Camp Courageous, a camp designed to give kids who are terminally ill the opportunity to have a camp experience and have the time of their lives. I am so honored by the opportunity to go and am excited to see how the Lord will use me as His hands and feet to love on His children and how He will shape my heart to be more like His. Please join me in praying for the kids, their parents, and for me, as I know this will be an extremely difficult week emotionally, mentally, and physically. I hope to update my blog each night, so that I can reflect on each day’s events as well as give y’all an opportunity to see your prayers at work. To Him be ALL the glory.

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 4:10-11

Where Has the Time Gone?

Where has freshmen year gone? I am seriously trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my freshmen year is almost over and I am not being very successful. There have been so many moments these last few days that I have stopped and thought, “There is no way! I just got here.” To my surprise however, I have been here for nine months and have grown in ways I didn’t know were possible. As I sit here typing this, surrounded by friends, I am absolutely overwhelmed by how far I have come and how faithful the Lord has been this year.

YOLO List…

Several weeks ago, as Lydia and I reflected on how quickly the end of the year was approaching, we came up with a YOLO List to ensure that we enjoyed our last few weeks of freshmen year as much as possible. Our list included:

-Dinner with some sweet friends: ✔

The last few weeks of school were packed full of breakfast, lunch, and dinner dates with precious friends. I sure am going to miss my Lexington family!

-Take a random driving adventure through Lexington: ✔

Lydia and I went driving one day and after choosing one main road, we chose which way to turn as we had to. We had such a blast driving through the boonies of Lexington and wound up driving through a winery and visiting Midway. Listening to music, driving aimlessly, talking to my sweet roomie, and enjoying God’s gorgeous creation…yup, it was a great day!

-Bake in the Don: ✔

For Jeremy’s surprise birthday party, Lydia and I baked fo dayz and got a little carried away with our break-and-bake baking extravaganza.

-Sleep on the Balcony: ✔

Oh yes, this little city girl spent the (whole) night outside on the balcony. On our second to last night in the dorm, we decided that it was as good a night as ever to camp out on the balcony. We hauled out our mattress pads, blankets, and pillows and made our little beds. Once outside, I began to wonder what in the world I was doing. The questions that went through my head were: 1. What happens when the sun rises and Emilee isn’t ready to rise? 2. What happens when the excessive ambulance sirens blare in the middle of the night? 3. I wonder if I’ll wake up dewey? 4. There could very possibly be bugs crawling all around me. 5. I have to prove to Lydia that I can sleep outside for a full night (haha). Good news, I made it through the night and slept surprisingly well. Another YOLO List mission complete- Boom!

-Dance Parties ✔

Well, as with the rest of the year Lydia and I made it a point to have dance (our favorite was interpretive dancing) sessions. These sessions served as roomie bonding time and perfect study breaks. Yup, we’re cool.

-Yell the C-A-T-S cheer from the balcony as a tour group passed by: ✔

-Yeah, we got some awesome and confused looks. We are anticipating a call from the welcoming committee any day now.

-Attend a baseball game: ✔

This was a super fun night! It was awesome to enjoy a summer night with friends. Good times, good times.

-Take random adventures: ✔

These last few weeks have been the most spontaneous and fun weeks I’ve ever had…so many late night, random adventures. And it’s been amazing!

-Roll down the Bowl outside of Willy T ✔

Yeah, probably not the wisest decision I’ve ever made. I have scratches and a nice purple bruise on my cheek to prove this YOLO List completion.

Lessons Learned…

-Naps are God’s gift to college students

-The power of prayer is amazing (I already knew this, but it has been affirmed many times this year)

-Receiving letters in the mail has the ability to totally make a day

-Making friends is hard but totally worth it

-Having nightly sleepovers with one of your best friends is amazing

-Having an opportunity to worship and serve nearly every day of the week is so fulfilling and amazing

-Sleep is totally overrated…at night

-8AM classes are painful to wake up for

-Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter are much more appealing as soon as you start doing homework

-Deep conversations with your roomie at the wee hours of the night are the best conversations there are

-The library is for socializing purposes only

-Laughing solves everything in the moment

-Dorm internet has a sense of humor and loves playing pranks on you when you need it most

-iCal has been my best friend this year

-Spontaneous and random late night adventures are super fun- YOLO

-The human brain only has the ability to retain so much information before you start saying and doing ridiculous things, which you cannot be held responsible for

-Always have a spare toothbrush (incase you drop yours on the yucky community bathroom floor)

-Don’t be above wearing things twice…or more

-Worship music in other languages (Hillsong in Spanish) is the perfect solution to not being tempted to sing along when you want to listen to music while studying

-Interpretive dancing=roommate bonding time (and entertainment for all)

-Balancing on bedposts at all hours of the night is highly entertaining

-Don’t use real silverware or dishes for that matter, plastic is the way to go

-Dressed up in college is jeans and a "nice" shirt
-Yoga pants and a t-shirt are completely appropriate in almost all circumstances

-Forgetting your towel in your room and remembering after your shower is highly unfortunate

-Lip synching is hilarious and serves a double purpose of roomie bonding time

-Parking anywhere on campus is a nightmare

-Showers are often a battlefield of hairballs…shower shoes are 100% necessary

-Macaroni and Cheese is a balanced meal…grain and dairy!

-Creativity and being innovative are necessary and encouraged in the dorm room

-Watching people freak out during finals week is both sad and extremely entertaining

-Having a church home away from home is a ridiculous blessing

-People are amazing

-Flowers around campus are beautiful and highly distracting
-Wearing pajama pants to class is not only completely hilarious, it is quite comfortable...yup, I was that girl during finals week.

All kidding aside, I really am overwhelmed at how much I have grown this year and how incredibly faithful and gracious the Lord has been this year. So many times, Lydia and I have looked at each other and have said, “Gosh, it’s so awesome to have friends!” or “Can you believe how far we have come?” The Lord has put such incredibly special people in my life that have brought me such joy, have taught me so much about life, about God, and about myself, and have just made this year so memorable and amazing. I cannot imagine going through this year without my Lexington family and am so humbled that the Lord so beautifully orchestrated our paths to cross. As I sit here thinking back to the first few days of school, I am shaking my head at how much I have grown and how faithful the Lord has been. I remember crying myself to sleep nearly every night for the first several weeks, feeling so alone while being surrounded by thousands of people, so overwhelmed, and so homesick. Now I’m crying because I’m leaving the place that has been home to me for 9+ months, the place where I’m constantly surrounded by friends, where I get to serve and love on people, and where I am constantly being fed and encouraged in my faith. This has been one of the most challenging and best years of my life and I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for this SOPHOMORE Wildcat!

Sweet Lydia…

Goodness, I cannot imagine going through this year without my sweet roomie, Lydia. Our room was always filled with so much love, laughter, great conversations, encouragement, and a little schoolwork mixed in every now and then too. When I think back to how we became roommates I just giggle thinking of how present the Lord was in aligning our paths and hearts. I wish words could describe how thankful I am for Lydia. Some of my favorite memories from freshmen year have been in our dorm room and some of the most meaningful conversations I’ve had have been with sweet Lydia. She is such a beautiful woman of God who has such a sweet and gentle spirit and she lives such a purposeful life. She has taught me so much about myself, about life, and about the Lord. Yeah, I love her so much. I can’t wait for many more memories to come!

Last Freshmen Year Class

Look How Far We've Come! First Day and Last Day in the Dorm

Final Days Fo Dayz...

These last few days have been SO much fun! School work has been secondary to my social life (sorry Mom and Dad) and I have so enjoyed getting to enjoy the beautiful summer nights with sweet friends going on random adventures, stooping, laughing, talking, and just enjoying these sweet last few days. We also got to have a banquet for our sweet Woodhill families and absolutely loved getting to love on our sweet friends and share dinner with them, laugh, talk, play frisbee, and enjoy our time together. Life is so good. God is so good. I am so thankful.

We Love Our Sweet Girls

The Lord Works In Amazing Ways…

On our very last day of class, Lydia and I decided that we would use our “swipes on swipes on swipes” and “Flex fo dayz” to buy groceries for our Woodhill families. We went to the closest store and the shelves were completely bare. SO, that was a fail. We decided to get my car and drive to the next closest store and when we got there, there were no parking spots. Double fail. At this point, we were both super frustrated as we had 100 other things we needed to do before we could leave for the summer, but decided to try the last store and if we had problems, we would just forget about it. We drove up and found a parking spot right away, good start. We proceeded to go in and started raiding the shelves. After making quite a scene by piling literally everything we could get our hands on, the woman working behind the counter came over to ask what we were doing. This is the conversation that followed:

Tomika: “My word, y’all getting all your groceries before you go home?

Emilee: “No, actually we serve at a place called Woodhill and are getting some groceries for some of our sweet families since some of them don't have any food.”

Tomika: “Did you say Woodhill?

Emilee: “Yeah, it’s a neighborhood about 10 minutes away where we just go and love on some awesome people.”

Tomika: “I live there.”

Emilee: “Do you really? Yeah, we just heard about some families who don’t have any food so we just thought we’d buy some for them with our Flex Dollars.”

Tomika: “Yeah, I’m one of those people. I have a daughter who’s 7 months pregnant and I don’t have the money to buy us food.”

Emilee: “Well goodness, you pick out anything you want and we’ll buy it for you. Seriously, anything!”

So, after convincing her that we were serious, she started shopping and telling us about herself. When we were checking out, a boy behind me was waiting to buy some beef jerky so I had him go ahead of me since we would take a lot longer. When he checked out, he had over $200 left on his Flex Account. He kind of shrugged and told us it was too late since he was headed out of town right after he finished checking out. We explained to him what we were doing and told him we could use his money for our families if he was willing to let us use his money. He graciously agreed and we started shopping again. By the time we were finished we had spent over $500 on groceries and toiletries and a backpack full for Tomika. When we had finished checking out, I asked Tomika if there was anything we could pray for her about, not sure if she would want us to pray then or just keep her in our prayers. She reached her hands out (instant tears) and we were able to pray with her. After we finished praying, she came over and gave Lydia and I a hug and we said goodbye. We walked away so humbled that the Lord had allowed us the opportunity to meet Tomika and couldn’t wipe the smiles off of our faces as we thought about how evident the Lord had been in paving our way to Tomika. It was the perfect way to end our freshmen year, that’s for sure!

Well, this year has been amazing and I cannot wait for many more friendships and memories to come! One incredible year down, three to go.