It's A Crazy Life

Well hello! Long time no talk, my friends. I have absolutely neglected blogging because frankly, I have had too much on my heart to put it into words and not enough time to attempt. I am already more than half way through this semester, which is crazy…crazy awesome. Ha! I cannot believe that tomorrow is April. That is so exciting. April means (hopefully) warm weather, sunshine, flowers, Rachel’s bridal shower, and the last month of school. Bring. It. On. Well, I have struggled to write this blog for dearly two months now but once I got going I didn’t stop. Ha! SOOO, warning: this is a ridiculously long blog post.

My Sweet Valentine…

This year I got to celebrate Valentine’s Day for the first time with my Valentine! Who knew Valentine’s Day could be so much fun? Ha! Unlike years past where Valentine’s Day meant “Singleness Awareness Day,” it was SO much fun to intentionally celebrate my sweet love and spend time with him! We took celebrating this year seriously and celebrated not one but two days. Oh yes! The day before Valentine’s Day, Darin picked me up and we went to a super eclectic little coffee shop to talk and hang out and watched a couple of Jon Weece’s sermons on relationships…yup, cliché. But super awesome. After that we went to a restaurant downtown called Bellini’s and enjoyed some delicious Italian food and of course enjoyed some great conversation. A bonus of eating out the day before Valentine’s Day= we had the restaurant to ourselves. Ha! It was awesome. Then the adventure began. Can I just preface this by saying how amazing my sweet boy is? That night we went to Painting With a Twist, which is a painting studio where an instructor teaches you step by step how to create a masterpiece. On the night we went, the painting was called “Love Birds.” Fitting, huh? We quickly learned that neither of us are artists and giggled at how unnatural everything felt. BUT, we had a really good time laughing and painting and making a fun keepsake to remember our first Valentine’s Day together. Oh I love my sweet boy so much!

Well, the fun continued on the real Valentine’s Day. Sweet boy picked me up from class and surprised me with beautiful yellow and red roses. I absolutely love flowers! They just make me happy. After that, we joined the masses and saw Nicholas Sparks’ newest movie, Safe Haven. We both really enjoyed the story line and enjoyed just spending time together watching a movie. After that, we went to a restaurant called the Julep Cup for dinner. We had SUCH a good time there. The people were so nice and treated us like we were celebrities. Since we went to the movie before dinner, we missed the crazy Valentine’s Day rush and had the whole restaurant to ourselves…we tend to do that. Love it! Then we came back and exchanged gifts...which was awesome. We were both so excited about the gifts we were giving that the giving and receiving was so much fun. Darin gave me a pillowcase (and kept the matching one) representing our long distance relationship. Ha! Hilarious. Totally love it. What a HAPPY Valentine’s Day it was!

Happy Birthday to Two Amazing Women…

I love grandmas. I love the way they love and serve their family and the way they so willingly spoil their grandkids. I love the wisdom they possess and share. I love their hugs. I love their stories. I love their aged skin and twinkling eyes. I love grandmas. At the beginning of the month, I got to celebrate TWO birthdays for two amazing women and grandmas. My sweet Nanny and Darin’s precious Grandma Lois.

March 1^st was Grandma Louis’ 87^th Birthday. You would never guess that she is 87.  Seriously, she is amazing! To celebrate the amazing woman and grandma that she is, Darin and I went to Franklin, Indiana and took her out to eat and visited for several hours. My goodness, we had the best time! Grandma is so full of wisdom and has the BEST stories! I feel like I have known and loved her for years. For several hours Darin and I sat listening to Grandma share story after story and were so captivated by all that she said. She is so awesome. Grandma is the perfect blend of sweet and spunky. I love her tight squeezes and the way she pats my hand as she talks. She is such a special woman and my life is better because she’s in it! Happy 87^th Birthday, Grandma!

The next day, we got to celebrate Nanny’s 85^th Birthday. How fun is that? The whole family met up at Austin’s Steakhouse and celebrated the amazing woman, mom, and grandma she is. I m SO blessed to have such a godly, wise, beautiful, kind, gentle, and simply amazing grandma. She really is amazing. I am so humbled to have such a Godly grandma, who leads our family to Jesus and loves and serves us in such a sacrificial and beautiful way. I never seem to have enough time to visit with my sweet Nanny but absolutely loved celebrating her and the amazing life she lives. Very few things bring me greater joy than being surrounded by family celebrating life and love. It was SO wonderful to be surrounded by family, enjoying great conversations, great food, and some crazy great birthday cake! Happy Birthday, precious Nanny! I am honored and humbled to be your granddaughter and really do love you the most, fraid so dearie!

Love Does…

Bob Goff, author of my favorite book Love Does, came to speak at Southland…and it was awesome! If you haven’t read this book, do it! Bob has such an amazing presence about him and absolutely leaks Jesus as he speaks. His love for God and love for people is inspiring and such a joy to watch. I absolutely loved hearing him speak and was convicted to, “Love God. Love People. And Do Stuff.”

Spring Break in the Sun…

For spring break I got to go to Sarasota, Florida with CSF, which was great! It was SO nice to soak up some sunshine and just relax on the beach doing nothing but reading, sleeping, and relaxing. It was great to worship with sweet friends and take time to sit and reflect on who God is and who He has called me to be. With spring break being so early this year, the weather was a little chillier than last year BUT it was still lovely to escape the cold and snow of Kentucky and enjoy some sweet Florida sunshine!

Sweet Boy’s Birthday…

I had SO much fun celebrating the amazing man that Darin is for his birthday. The festivities started on Wednesday and lasted through Saturday. So much celebrating and so much fun. There was a One Day Catalyst Conference in Lexington on Thursday, so on Wednesday, Darin and Linda came to Lexington…perfect timing, huh? We took Darin out to eat and surprised him by having his sweet sister and her family meet us there. We had SO much fun visiting and celebrating Darin! We absolutely loved getting to spend that time together as a family celebrating Darin and celebrating the start of March Madness! Thursday, the fun continued by coming back to Northern Kentucky with Darin and Linda and having dinner with them and my parents. Phew, putting Linda and my parents together is dangerous…and completely hilarious. We played Spades, ate some ice cream cake, and laughed a bunch. So awesome! Friday (Darin’s birthday), we went to the Pub, watched some basketball, and went to a sweet friend’s wedding. Saturday was a super fun and relaxing day. With March Madness being at it’s prime and with Darin being a huge madness fan, we spent the day relaxing and watching basketball…and more basketball. Ha! While I’m a little basketballed out, spending that time with my sweet boy was so wonderful. I am so thankful that God created Darin in His image and am humbled every single day that I get to love him. He is such an incredibly godly man who points me to Jesus every day. Here’s to many more years of celebrating, loving, and laughing through life together!

Mr. & Mrs. Barry...

My sweet Leah Babik is married! So crazy and so exciting. I am SO excited for Leah and Sean and was so honored to be apart of their special day. The wedding was “so Leah.” It was so beautifully and creatively decorated, so genuine and sweet, and was such a joyful celebration of two amazing people starting their life together. And Leah looked absolutely stunning. She is always beautiful but my goodness, she was just glowing. On top of all the celebrating…I caught my first bouquet. Of course, right? Ha! My goodness gracious. Of all the girls fighting over the bouquet, I reached up (without heels on) and sort of panicked when I realized I had caught it. Pretty much hilarious and quite a memory. Congratulations sweet Leah and Sean! I am so excited to see how God blesses and uses your marriage for His glory. So blessed by your friendship and love you dearly.

School…

School is school. The studying, exams, and homework seem to never end, BUT school is going well all in all. I found out last week that I made it into UK’s Teaching Program, which is exciting! Classes are pretty average this semester and have kept me super busy sooo needless to say, I’m ready for summer! Bring it on.

Woodhill…

Woodhill has been absolutely AMAZING this semester. My goodness. It has been so exciting to see God move powerfully and boldly in the hearts of our families who live in Woodhill. Gosh, it is so humbling to be apart of these precious families lives and to have the opportunity to bring Jesus to them. Woodhill has by far been the most worthwhile thing this year and has brought me so much joy. I continue to pray for the hearts of my sweet families and pray that they would see Jesus through me and come to know Him as their love, their savior, and their redeemer.

He Is RISEN...

Happy Easter, everyone! What a happy and humbling day this holiday is. I am so overwhelmed by the greatness of our God. I am so thankful for a God that has conquered death and who loves us beyond our greatest comprehension. I don’t understand it. Why would God love this broken and sinful girl? Why would He choose to love me in such a sacrificial and unbelievable way? I am so thankful for the cross. I am so thankful for the empty tomb. I am so thankful that Jesus was risen from the dead to save us from death, hopelessness, despair, and brokenness. Because of Jesus, I am saved. I am redeemed, restored, loved, and treasured. And I. Am. Thankful.

Happy Birthday, My Love

Happy Birthday to YOU, Happy Birthday to YOU, Happy Birthday Sweet Darin, Happy Birthday to YOU! Today I have absolutely LOVED celebrating my best friend and my sweet love.

Every single day I am absolutely overwhelmed and humbled by the opportunity to love and be loved by Darin. For years I have dreamed and prayed for a man like him but despite those years of praying and dreaming, I never fathomed a love like this. Darin surpasses every dream I have ever dreamed and every prayer I have ever prayed.

In honor of my sweet boy’s special day, here are my 34 favorite things about him…

1. His love for the Lord.
2. His desire to glorify the Lord.
3. His desire to lead people to Jesus.
4. His beautiful servant’s heart.
5. His love for family.
6. His love for friends.
7. His love.
8. His ability to teach and preach.
9. His genuine and sweet spirit.
10. His intentionality.
11. His loyalty.
12. His integrity.
13. His honesty.
14. His trustworthiness.
15. His competitiveness.
16. His sense of humor.
17. His ability to teach.
18. His laugh.
19. His smile.
20. His eyes.
21. His sarcasm.
22. His affirmation.
23. His hugs and kisses.
24. His silliness.
25. His sentimentality.
26. His sweet words.
27. His love for making memories.
28. His spontaneity.
29. His creativity.
30. His ability to listen.
31. His patience.
32. His confidence.
33. His humility.
34. His adaptability.

Well, this list is certainly not all-inclusive…far from it actually. Long story (kinda) short, is that I am completely in love with Darin and am thankful to have this day to celebrate the amazing man that he is…and of course celebrate March Madness as well. ;)

Happy Birthday, babe! Here’s to many more years of making memories and laughing through life together. You’re my favorite and I love you. Today, tomorrow, forever and for always.

Our Story

Better Together

A cord of three strands is not easily broken. –Ecclesiastes 4:12

The best things in life are meant to be shared. We love our story, so we want to share it with you…

(Photocredit: Meagan White)

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you the great and unsearchable things that you do not know. -Jeremiah 33:3

Sometimes God surprises you with something you’ve always hoped for. Other times He surprises you with something you never could have imagined. For us, He surprised us with both. Both of us continually find ourselves trying to fathom the reality of how much we each long to be in the other’s life in such a significant way. It is undeniably humbling to like someone so amazing and for that person to like you back. Unbelievable.

DARIN: I have always taken relationships very seriously, which is why I’ve never been inclined to just jump into one. I believe a relationship should be absolutely intentional. So, why would I ever desire to “date” someone I did not see as a potential marriage partner? My aim has always been the pursuit of contentedness regardless of circumstance and feeling, committed to waiting until God showed someone obvious to me. In short, dating is dumb and God is sovereign.

EMILEE: Neither Darin or I were looking for a relationship, but always loved the simplicity and fun of our friendship, never giving a thought that we could or ever would be anything more. However, as the Lord began to reveal His will, we trusted that He would align our hearts and allow us to love and be loved in a way we had never experienced before. We have never been interested in “dating just to date” or “dating to find out” and wanted to make sure we were stepping into something that was both God ordained and God glorifying. And ultimately, we wanted to be sure that we would be able to serve, love, and glorify the Lord in a way that we couldn’t do as well separately as we could together. This sounds simplistic, and the end result was, however the journey to this place of intentionality was certainly one of great refining, dependence on the Lord, and complete surrender. As we started our journey, we prayed for obedience, wisdom, patience, and for His will to be done…which turned out to be a pretty dangerous prayer. Ha!

(Photocredit: Meagan White)

Trust the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding. -Proverbs 3:5

DARIN: I had been close with Emilee’s family for several years and had never given a thought, or even a feeling, to Emilee being anything but a sister. In fact, I was extremely excited to be able to play the brother role in her life. And in an instant and a simple moment, God allowed me to see her in a way I had never seen anyone…a way in which I could not imagine my life without her. I knew Emilee was different as soon as I experienced an unforeseen desire to spend my life bringing joy to her life. I knew this was something special, because I had never experienced anything like it before. In fact, I still don’t understand. But, I love it. The desire to give regardless of what I get was a sure sign I was in view of something I could never fathom letting go of.

The more I got to know her heart, the more I longed to be a part of her future. By far the most attractive thing about Emilee is her love for God and her love for people. It is contagious. It is convicting. She just flat out makes me better, especially for the sake of the kingdom.

EMILEE: For an entire year, there was never a doubt in my mind about how Darin felt about me. He was everything I had ever prayed for and more and pursued me in a way I had always dreamed of. The journey of understanding the Lord’s will and getting to a place of absolute surrender definitely caused frustration, however the Lord used this time to place my dependency and trust in Him and allowed me to fall more in love with my Creator. He guarded and protected my heart as He molded me into who He had created me to be and prepared me for who He had in store for me. After several months of surrender and preparation, the Lord allowed me to see Darin in a way I had never seen anyone before. And that makes me SO happy!

(Photocredit: Meagan White) 

The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still. - Exodus 14:14

DARIN: When I first began having feelings for Emilee, I immediately sought the wisdom of those I respected because above all I wanted what was best for Emilee, and was not convinced that I was it. Through many (seriously MANY) emotional days, both good and bad, and through countless questions to God, I discovered clarity, conviction, and confidence to take a step forward in life WITH Emilee. It is surreal. It is humbling. It is amazing.

EMILEE: Having never been in a romantic relationship before, I had a skewed idea of what a relationship looked like. I had read books, watched movies, and had seen firsthand what I wanted and what I did not want in a relationship. Beyond my third person vantage point however, the idea of entering into a relationship completely terrified me. For years I had dreamed and prayed for the man the Lord had been preparing for me. I would swoon over the love stories portrayed in movies and be completely enthralled in the books I read. As I watched and read the stories, I always prayed that someday I would have a love story of my own. Well, after years of refining, teaching, and preparing me, God revealed my Prince Charming. The best friend and “big brother” I had known for years unexpectedly stole my heart and has completely changed my life. Darin surpasses every hope I had ever hoped, every dream I had ever dreamed, and every prayer I have ever prayed (I know it sounds cliché and cheesy, but it’s true). He teaches me how to love better, serve better, and ultimately be better.

Can I just take a minute to say the Top 5 that I love about my sweet boy? I could certainly give more than just 5 but will spare you all. Ha! If you can’t handle the gush, skip on down to the next paragraph.

1. He loves the Lord and seeks to serve and glorify Him in every way possible. He is truly a man after God’s own heart. I absolutely love that about him!

2. He is such a humble servant to all he comes in contact with. He is so generous with his time, money, and resources. I absolutely love the way he loves and serves people and love that I get to serve alongside of him for the rest of my life.

3. He loves his family. He never misses an opportunity to spend intentional time with his family and loves them with such a grateful and humble heart. I love watching his face light up when he talks about his family and love how proud he is of them. They are absolutely amazing and I love getting to love them as well!

4. He loves my family. Darin has been a part of my family for years now and hasn’t left us yet…that tells you something. Ha! He serves, encourages, and loves my family in a way that brings me so much joy. I love how perfectly he fits into my family and love that my family loves him and he loves them.

5. He makes me laugh. I love how quick he is to laugh at himself or with others and love that he enjoys the simple things in life. I feel like I am constantly giggling or smiling at him…or shaking my head at his silliness. I love it.

(Photocredit: Meagan White)

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. - Isaiah 41:10

DARIN: Honestly I have always been afraid of love, because I didn’t believe I had the capacity to love someone, especially in the way a girl deserved. But when my heart was turned toward Emilee, I experienced the unforeseen desire to spend the rest of my life giving all that I could to her in an effort to make her the happiest girl in the world. I am absolutely humbled to even have the opportunity to walk down the road of life alongside her. Her sheer beauty blows me away, but what really makes her shine in my eyes is her love for God and for others. Her desire to give her life away for the sake of the Kingdom focuses me, humbles me, and just flat our makes me better. I love Emilee Hancock with all that I am and simply cannot imagine life without her.

EMILEE: I absolutely LOVE getting to LOVE Darin. I am humbled every day that I get to be the one to love him, serve with him, and do life with him for the rest of our lives. I love so many things about Darin and look forward to falling more in love with him every day as we learn and grow together and make memories for a lifetime. I am excited to learn how to better love, serve, and affirm him and pray that the Lord would refine and humble me to become the best partner in ministry and partner in life for Darin and to ultimately become the woman that God has created me to be. I am excited to be led by Darin as he is led by the Lord and cannot wait to be Kingdom Builders together. I am enjoying every moment of the stage we are in now but certainly smile when I think about all that the Lord has in store for our future together. I can’t wait to see where He leads us and who He leads us to and pray that He would prepare and refine us in the meantime. I love getting to love and be loved by Darin and pray that I’ll never get used to hearing him tell me that he loves me too. I just love love.

(Photocredit: Meagan White)

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added onto you. - Matthew 6:33

So…who are we together? What are we?

First of all, we hate titles and labels…just too trite…and never fully accurate. Yet, we understand the importance of establishing an intended direction…So, regarding more of a direction and less of a label, we are: not dating, but instead a more accurate description of our intent is that we are courting. Our relationship does not exist for the sake of us going out or just having a good time together. Instead, it is a time of both intentional pursuit and intentional waiting. A time committed first and foremost to God as a time of refinement and preparation for what He has for us. We are good together now, but we want to be great together later. This means how we move together now is extremely important for the sake of our future in glorifying God in the utmost.

The bottom line is we are TOGETHER and believe we have been brought together. And that brings us both great joy! BUT, it doesn’t end there. While we love having the opportunity to be together, our relationship is not about us. We want everyone who comes in contact with us to experience joy as well and know that our ultimate purpose of being together is to better love, serve, and glorify God.  We are so much better together at being distributors of His joy.

(Photocredit: Meagan White)

Our journey has been one of many struggles and frustrations but has also been one of so much joy and special moments. Our journey has brought us to the place we are now and has shaped us into the people we are and for that we are so thankful. We have learned to be more dependent on God and how to surrender our lives to Him and trust Him with all that we are and all that we hope to be. Through this refining process, we have been given a beautifully written love story that is perfectly imperfect in our eyes. We are so humbled and thankful to be able to serve and do life TOGETHER and cannot wait to see how the Lord continues to use and bless us as we seek Him. We are so excited to see where He leads us, who He leads us to, and how He shapes us into His likeness. AND we are excited to see what fun adventures we’ll experience, what fun memories we’ll create, and what laughter we’ll share.

So there you have it, that’s our story…a story authored by God our Father, our Encourager, and our only Constant.

The Lord is my strength-my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. -Psalm 28:7

For over a year now this has been our ultimate song of surrender. Our greatest desire is to daily give everything we have to the Lord for the sake of the Kingdom and to bring Him glory.

So Long Christmas Break

Goodness, I'm sad to say that Christmas Break is officially over. Where did the time go? Goodness! When I think about on all that I've done it makes sense that these weeks have flown by...BUT, I don't exactly feel ready to go back to the business and stress of school. It has been an absolutely amazing break full of lots of family, friends, adventures, laughter, and memory making. Unlike most breaks where I totally burn the candle at both ends, this break was definitely more balanced with lots of relaxation and movie days intermixed. Which was awesome!

Here is a quick (okay, maybe not so quick) summary of these last few wonderful weeks...

Well, the time has come that my peers are starting to get married. In fact, so many friends of mine have gotten engaged I can hardly keep count. BUT, that is besides the point. Keith and Leah Slayden (so weird!) are the first of my peers to get married. It was pretty crazy to watch two of my friends get married and so special to watch them start the life together. The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and so much fun! It was awesome to have so many CSF friends to dance and laugh with. Mrs. Leah Slayden looked absolutely stunning as did all of her bridesmaids and Keith and his groomsman looked quite handsome. It was such a God honoring and glorifying service and the start to a beautiful marriage! Congratulations Keith and Leah!

Another fun highlight was going to our Candlelight Christmas Service at church. I always look forward to going to Candlelight and seeing the church decorated beautifully, the people dressed up, and enjoying the amazing service! The songs and reading of Jesus' birth always put me in the Christmas spirit and super excited for all the festivities to come! 

During the break, Rachel and Jeremy and Darin and I went on a double date to the Festival of Lights which was super fun! The lights were absolutely beautiful and it was so fun to walk through the zoo at night together and see some of the animals and the thousands upon thousands of lights. Despite the cold, we had an absolute blast and enjoyed warming up in the car afterwards. Ha!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were of course highlights as well. It's always SO wonderful to have the family all together celebrating and catching up. I always love getting to spend time with family, especially during Christmas time. I definitely missed Pappy this Christmas and my heart longed to squeeze that belly of his, but smiled knowing that he was throwing a birthday party for Jesus in Heaven. Lucky duck! I am so thankful and humbled to be apart of such a loving, God-honoring, and close-knit family. I wish I could see them more often but am always thankful for the time I do get to share with them and cherish each moment of it. I loved getting to spend time with both sides of the family and so enjoyed the great conversations, laughter, and of course delicious food we all got to share together! I love them the most. Fraid so dearies.

After celebrating Christmas with my family, I got to go to Wabash to celebrate with Darin's family. How fun! I had such a wonderful time visiting and celebrating with his family and meeting their sweet friends. Several times I found myself completely overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and humility that I have the opportunity to love this family. They are so amazing. We celebrated Christmas and New Years Eve on the same day and had ourselves so convinced that each were the actual days that I kept thinking of all the people I wanted to text and call and wish a Merry Christmas or Happy New Year. Ha! In between the two "holidays," we geared up and went sledding for a couple hours. It was super fun...I still have the bruises to prove it. Ha! I absolutely LOVED meeting the friends that I have heard about for so long and so enjoyed "bringing in the new year" talking and laughing all together. I also got to go to Darin's home church on Sunday morning, which was awesome! It was pretty funny how many people introduced themselves by saying, "Hi Emilee (before I said my name), I'm ____." Again, I was so humbled to hear how loved and respected Darin is and moved by how genuinely excited people were to meet "Darin's Emilee." I had such a wonderful time celebrating with the Mirante's and was quite sad to leave Wabash. Ha! Guess that just means we'll have to visit again soon! 

This break was full of lazy and relaxing days...which was SO nice! I can't even tell you how many movies we watched over the break. It was kind of ridiculous actually. Ha! I absolutely LOVED having time to just relax with my precious family and so enjoyed reading, puzzling (I mainly watched my family puzzle...but put together a piece or two. Ha!), playing in the snow, watching movies, baking, and sleeping. Oh I am definitely going to miss those lazy days once school starts back up. I love my family and always love spending time together. Such sweet times!

Last but not least, I had the opportunity to go to Passion again this year. It was absolutely amazing to be surrounded by 60,000 students worshipping, praying, and learning together. It was so wonderful to start the new year by coming together and worshipping God with 60,000 of my closest friends. I often got distracted looking around the Georgia Dome and being absolutely amazed by how God was moving in the hearts of so many people while at the same time listening to our worship and our cries to Him. How amazing is that? One of my favorite sounds of all is when just the voices of 60,000 people are singing together to our God with no instruments or worship leaders. So powerful. The week reminded me of how many broken and lost people there are in this world and how desperately they need us to fight for them, whether it be actively or just in prayer. Prayer is so powerful, people! My heart often aches as I fall asleep at night thinking of all the children around the world hungry, hurting, orphaned, sick, lonely, scared, abused, neglected, abandoned...it's often too much for my heart to handle and I just have to pray that God would lead me into opportunities to love the broken and be apart of leading them to Jesus. Oh how I long to love those sweet kids, wherever they may be. The week was extremely humbling, moving, and amazing and one that I am still trying to recover from and process. Ha! 

Well, that's my break in a nutshell. Definitely not all inclusive BUT if it were, I would bore anyone who ventures to read this blog to tears. Ha! I am absolutely overwhelmed by the beautifully blessings the Lord pours over me and am so underserving but so thankful. I had such a wonderful break full of really special moments, great conversations, and sweet memories. Oh man, I'm sad to see it come to an end. 

Now it's time for school to start again...oy vey. After spending so much time with family and Darin, it is definitely tough to transition back into school mode. But, I am praying for continued peace and gratitude for the opportunity to be here. I am trusting that the Lord has me here for a reason and am excited to see where He leads me and who He leads me to. I am excited to see how He continues to refine, teach, and challenge me and how He will lead me closer to Him. I am definitely not looking forward to waking up early, studying late, and running around like a crazy person. But, I know that this is going to be a better semester than last. I am just sure of it. I am going to start the semester expecting it to be positive and exciting and will pray that my introverted self will learn to be a bit more extroverted and a bit more flexible. A bit more generous with my time and a little less reliant on my calendar. I am praying that the Lord reveals some awesome friendships this semester and that I am able to grow closer to Him as I seek to know Him more and please Him in all that I do. I am also hoping that with a little less of a demanding schedule, I will be able to enjoy some down time and start exercising and journaling more regularly. Phew, I have the pre-first day of school butterflies as I think of this upcoming semester but will be praying it away as I fall asleep tonight and will wake up tomorrow ready to start this new semester! Second semester, here I come...

Halfway Through Sophomore Year

Well, I have officially completed another semester of college! It’s pretty crazy when I stop and think about all that has happened this semester. By far this was the most emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausting and trying semester. I have learned a lot from it but would be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m glad this semester is in the books.

I have seriously neglected blogging since school has demanded so much of my time but I don’t want to let this semester slip by before I talk about the highlights. I’m just going to attempt to summarize my semester with pictures...we'll see how that goes.

David Crowder came to the Boone County Fairgrounds to perform after a day full of local speakers and worship leaders...including Darin, Felicity, and the Revolution Band! So proud to be among such famous people. ;) It was SO fun to spend the day hanging out, cheering on, and worshipping with sweet friends...and eating some delicious funnel cake. Yum!

We had some of the most glorious weather this fall. I absolutely LOVED getting to enjoy such sweet sunshine and warm weather so far into the fall. My sweet boy came to visit on one of those glorious days and we had a picnic and walked around the arboretum while enjoying each other's company and the gorgeous fall leaves. It was such a wonderful day!

Happy Holla-Ween! This Halloween, my sweet housemates and I decided to dress up as superheroes but "girlify" them with tutus and makeup. We made our shirts, made our tutus (the day of I might add), and embraced our inner superheroes. UK was a safer place thanks to these superheroes...

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Super(wo)man!

Well, the first kid of the Fab Four Family's is officially married. So weird! It was so fun to celebrate Jessie and Nate's wedding and spend time with precious friends. Everyone looked absolutely beautiful (especially Mrs. Jessie Bargen). I must admit that I have never danced (or sweat) so much at a wedding before. Ha! Once dinner, toasts, the first dance and the Father-Daughter dance were done, the dance floor was open and we busted all kinds of moves for hours. Goodness, we were all in rare form and danced the night away. Oh we had so much fun! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Bargen!

For my birthday, my sweet boy got season tickets for the Contemporary Dance Theater. We have only been to one show so far and it was...different for sure. Ha! Neither of us are very "artsy" so I think we probably missed some of the message the dancers were trying to portray BUT we were entertained and enjoyed getting to experience something totally new together.

Oh how I love Jesus Prom. Each year, Southland puts on a prom for the mentally and physically disabled where each "promer"is assigned to a date and is able to play games, get their hair and makeup done, and dance the night away. Jesus Prom by far is one of the most amazing and humbling nights. It brings me SO much joy to watch these men and women laugh, play, and dance. This year I had a pretty difficult night. I was assigned to a 10 year old girl with Aspergers. Rather than wanting to dance, get her hair and makeup done, or walk around, Destiny wanted only to play games and run...around the entire church. Ha! Phew, it was so exhausting. Little Miss wanted nothing to do with anyone but me and had very little interest in doing anything prom related. Most of the night we spent in a corner talking about animals...her favorite subject. While I was exhausted, that night was a night that I truly had to humble myself and pray that the Lord would give me patience and grace. While last year was so much fun, this year gave me such an appreciation and high respect for parents of children with disabilities and reminded me that while serving others, we are to humble ourselves and put other's desires and needs above our own. All in all, the night was absolutely worthwhile and humbling to spend time with Destiny, talk to her parents, serve with sweet friends, and watch the promers dance with total abandon. Such a beautiful visual.

For our first Christmas gift, Mom and Dad surprised us with tickets to The Story Tour at Southeast Christian Church. The tour is based off of the book The Story (which is the Bible told in a story format) and has songs from the perspective of significant people in the Bible. The CD is one of my favorites as it's amazing to hear the stories I have grown up hearing from the person's perspective and hear the emotion and struggles that each must have experienced. The concert was absolutely beautiful with amazing singers and musicians and incredible lyrics. It was so fun to start off the Christmas season with family (including my aunts Anna and Con-Con) and experience the Bible together in a brand new way.

It's Ugly Christmas Sweater Time. Remember that jealousy is a sin...

There are a few highlights that I don't have pictures of to document but are definitely worth mentioning.

Woodhill this semester has been absolutely amazing! It has been incredible to see how God has moved in that neighborhood and what doors He has opened for us. Goodness it has been so great! Monday's have been one of my favorite days of the entire week. The relationships that we had from last year continue to grow closer and friendships from this semester have been so special. I have fallen in love with one family in particular. The relationship I have with this family is more God ordained than all the others and it has been so incredible to watch how the Lord has loved on this family through us. What an honor. I absolutely love getting to love on, encourage, pray over, and talk to this sweet family each week. My heart aches for all they have had to experience but am so encouraged that through this time, rather than distancing themselves from us, they have drawn closer to us, count on us being there each week, and have an interest and desire to come to church. How good is our God?! On the last night of the semester, while visiting with them, Mary (the wife) said that her psychiatrist has seen a change in her since we've started visiting her and that "she doesn't know what she would do without having us to look forward to each week." That made me tear up. GOD IS SO GOOD!  I am so honored and humbled to get to love on these precious people and am so excited for the conversations and friendships to come! It makes me smile just thinking about Woodhill...that neighborhood holds a special place in my heart.

In addition to Woodhill, Southland Christian Church is opening up a campus on Richmond Road...which is literally across the street form Woodhill. I am seriously SO excited for this campus to open up and to get our families into church. It's been difficult to get our families that want to go to church to church because most of them don't have cars and most of us go to 608 and not morning church. SO, this campus opening up is going to be such blessing for our families and our community. The outward focus that Southland has and their desire to love on ALL of God's people is absolutely amazing and makes me SO excited to be apart of the start of this new adventure. A few months back, Rachel, Jeremy, and I got to meet up with the campus pastor, Gary Black and hear his vision, hear about the ministry opportunities, and tell him about our love for Woodhill. We also got to visit the church while it was still under construction, which was awesome. One of the most amazing parts of the tour was having the opportunity to pray over the baptistry. As we stood praying over the baptistry, my heart flooded thinking of all the people we would welcome into our family and I prayed desperately that our friends at Woodhill would come to know our Jesus! If you can't tell, I am thrilled for this new campus to open and am even more thrilled to see how the Lord will be glorified and honored. All praise be to HIM!

Another fun part of the semester has been living in a house. It has been SO nice to have a room to myself, a bathroom that I only share with Miss Lydia, and precious housemates to do life with. We have enjoyed so much laughter, great conversations, and many dance and singing parties. This last semester kept me super busy and unfortunately caused me to spend a lot of time studying in my room BUT I certainly enjoyed the time I got to spend with the girls and am looking forward to a hopefully calmer next semester where I can spend even more quality time with them.

Wednesday nights were my very favorite days of the week during this semester. With such a busy and demanding schedule, by the time I got to Wednesday I almost always had lost all motivation and energy. WELL, to combat the mid-week blues, my precious friend Jen Larsen and I met up each Wednesday evening for some MUCH needed laughter, talking, and adventuring. My goodness, I cannot speak more highly of this precious sister and say enough how much of a God send she was this semester. The start of our friendship is quite a mystery...which only goes to show how God ordained it is. Jen and I have shared so much laughter and so many tears together as we processed and talked through life and what the Lord was doing in each of our hearts and lives. Gosh, my heart swells when I think of how thankful I am for her friendship and how honored I am to be apart of her life. She is such a beautiful, hilarious, joyful, intentional, special, and Godly woman and teaches me how to better love life and the people in it. She has influenced my life in more ways than she will ever know and has showed me what a true, Godly, and unconditional friendship looks like. I am so humbled to have her in my life and consider her as a bonus sister. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our friendship and know that we will be friends for a lifetime. Oh I love her so much!!

Well, I'm sure I am forgetting many things that have made this semester special but that's all I can think of for now. Here's to the end of this semester and here's to Christmas Break! Ha!