Breathe.

Swallow, hard.
Like sand, you spill through pores.
Weighted irised lower your glance.
Tremors cannot be choked down.
Anxiety quakes external fibers
and lingers in every exhalation.
Nerves with unwarranted origin
harbor and burrow with confusion.
Warning could not douse fear,
regardless of its absurdity.
One set buried in words,
the rest pointed ahead--
without judgement or ridicule.
Do you not know where you are?
Remembrance comes in conclusion.
Eyes no longer pulled south,
raised with a sigh of content,
relief.
A hurdle overcome,
progression ever present.
Swallow, shaken one.

Breathe.

You're beautiful in your way

'cause God makes no mistakes :)

I don't think I've posted this video before, but I love this little girl's voice :) She's only 10, and she is just too cute! Lub lub.

Today was good. I went to church with Hannah, Brandi, Taylor, Stephanie, and Courtney, and we (minus Court and Steph) hit up E-hall afterwards for some lunch. We are such fools, and it love it! Haha :) Whether we're playing the yellow car/punch-buggy game, singing the "baby shark nananananana" song, or slinging a cup across the table, I am always amused :) I wish I could tell you that I had a productive afternoon, but that would be a lie. Woops! At any rate, tonight's business meeting went well. I shared my testimony, and I didn't cry at all! Yes, I was shaking rather profusely and fidgeting with my hands a lot, but I'm improving! I'm so blessed to have the support system that I do. Thank you, loves :) I got dropped off in Carrier afterwards, but I haven't been very productive here either. I have a "quizexam" in my world religions class tomorrow, and I've done very little studying. Oh well, she drops the lowest two grades.... What an awful mindset! Ugh, if only I could snap out of it. Oh well, such is life. I love you all so much! Goodnight!

P.S.- Can you pray that my soar throat goes away? It hurts a little when I swallow, and tea didn't help at all :/

P.P.S- Epic win:

I love my life

and everyone in it! These past todays have been both relaxing and exciting, and I've loved every second of it :) I didn't post last night, so I'm covering yesterday and today in this post. Brace yourself! Ready.... Go!

After class yesterday, Steph and I rendez-vouzed in Harrisonburg. We got lunch at Taste of Thai, and it was absolutely delicious. Then, we ventured to Earth & Tea, where we were each able to savor a small pot of tea for just three dollars each. What a steal!

I also really loved the India-esque vibe of that place. We will be going back soon :) From there, we went on a little shopping trip with Hannah, Brandi, and Courtney :) I found some cute things that I'm really excited about, one of which is a pair of blue rain shoes :) Yes, I said shoes, not boots. I may post a picture of them later :) By the time we were all finished, there wasn't time to make it to large group, so I had dinner with my lovely sisters before spending the rest of the evening (up until 3:30 AM) in Hannah and Brandi's room. We watched Black Swan and Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter version), Youtube browsed, and Brandi was kind enough to paint Hannah and I's nails. I love my Hannah and Brandi so much; I wish I could adequately put it into words for you. I know that they are always there for me to talk to, and just seeing them makes my day brighter :) They mean the world to me :)

As for today, I promised myself I would finish this application for the WEAG Family Life Internship, and I believe I am officially done! Yay!!! Please be praying that I get this; I want it SO badly! But yes, let me continue with the day's events... I got lunch with my darling sister, Taylor :) She always makes me smile :) Then, a little later, the fantastic four (aka Steph, Andy, Taylor, and myself) went to BDubs to watch the VCU game! I enjoyed being in that atmosphere, even if there was that ONE guy who was the ONLY one rooting for Butler.... Anyways, I had to finish watching the game in my room while I got ready. Please enjoy the recap of Reem and I's conversation. (There were less than three minutes left.)

Me: "Oh my gosh, COME ON VCU! YOU CAN DO IT!"
Reem: "I don't think they're going to win."
Me: "Reem, don't say that! I HAVE FAITH!"
**Butler makes another shot.**
Reem: "...I think the other team has faith too."

Hahaha. It wasn't funny that VCU lost, but if you could have heard her say that.... Haha! It was really quite humorous. But yes, I spent my night at IV's black and white themed semi-formal! It. was. SO FUN! I had a blast getting to dance with my small group and a group of my SAO sisters :D It had been too long since my last dance party, and I felt so free! Seriously, I have the time of my life when I'm dancing, and it feels amazing! Oh, if I could put this night on repeat I would! Everyone looked so gorgeous/handsome, and it was just SO GREAT!

I am so blessed. God has been so good to me, and it truly blows my mind. To know that I have done nothing to earn His grace and love, and yet He continues to shower me with both just floors me. Our God's magnificence goes beyond all measure. No matter how often I thank Him for what He has done for me (and the people I love), it will never be sufficient. He is incredible! He is worthy to be praised, always :) Recently I have noticed that, even in upsetting situations, there is always something to be thankful for. Never lose sight of that, because our Lord and Father always works for the good of His children. We are His sons and daughters, and He loves us :) Praise! Let us reciprocate that love unceasingly!

Goodnight my precious loves. Sweet dreams :)

Let's Dougie into traffic...

Maybe we'll turn out as lucky as this guy!

Yeah... As concerned as I am about the safety of this man, I find it rather humorous that he thought it was a good idea to pull a Frogger. Fail, sir. FAIL.

I spent lots of lovely time with some sisters today, and I am right now too actually! Stephanie and Taylor, who else? There isn't much to say about today aside from the fact that I went to this awesome IV event called Overflow, where we talked about how to share the gospel with others and overcome the fears we have in doing so. We also did some role-playing conversations where one person was a non-Christian, and the other person had to share the message of Jesus as a means to plant the seed! This.... was quite hard, but I'm really glad I was challenged! Megan (my partner) did an amazing job of probing me with questions from a non-Christian perspective. More importantly, I found that it was not as difficult to answer her questions as I thought it would be! It is true, God will work and speak through us :)

"¹⁹ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰ for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

{Matthew 10:19-20}

I found tonight to be really encouraging, especially since I've been thinking a lot recently about how to get my father to go back to church. Even though I'm afraid he will reject the things I say or maybe even put up a wall, I know I have to try. God has been placing that on my heart. I need to reach out to him. Please be praying that I don't let my fear stand in the way of doing so! Bahh! I think I can do it :) Like I said, tonight was a real encouragement. Sure, we are all somewhat afraid of how non-believers will receive the gospel, but we are called to spread God's word. It must be done!

"⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. ⁸ So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. ⁹ He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰ but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."
{2 Timothy 1:6-10}

Dearest friends, we are on the weekend's horizon! Woop woop! Goodnight :)

Steph was here... both of us!!!

Hi, this is Stephanie. I've taken over Stephanie's blog temporarily! I'm in Carrier (surprise!). I'm supposed to be studying for a test... Oops!!! Now back over to Steph:

Well, today's been alright! I was done with class by 11, and I was even able to take a 2-hour nap! PRAISE! I hadn't taken a legit nap in what felt like forever. I spent a decent chunk of today in Carrier as per usual with Taylor, Hannah, and Steph :) I got dinner with Brandi, which made me very happy :) Also, tonight was SAO game night! Twas a lot of fun! We played signs, psychiatrist, and a game called alibi that is kind of like mafia only ten times as crazy! Or maybe it's only that way when we play it..... Haha, who knows?! And now I'm back at Carrier with Taylor and Steph. I don't have any work per-se thats due tomorrow, but I've been looking into classes for next semester and I think I might work on my applications for the WEAG family life internship. I only have 3 questions left to do! Woop woop!

Miscellaneous points:

• I think I'm going to VCU for grad school.
• I wish I didn't have to take a science.
• Taylor just introduced Stephanie and I to her best friend via skype, and she referred to her as being the "equivalent to my Heather." Hahaha, SO GREAT!
• I really have no business being in the library right now; I just like socializing :)
• SAO needs to have a social where we play Silent Library in Carrier :D
• Please notice Steph and I's squinty left eyes in that picture... Haha!
• I wish my hair was back to Rapunzel status already.
• Steph and I found the Asian version of Ke$ha...

On second thought, maybe I'll finish the internship application this weekend.... Bahh! I realize this post was super random, but I hope you all don't mind :) I love you all! Goodnight!

Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold, black and gold...

David (De Raw) was on the news tonight!

Ahhhh! I am so excited for him :) Please do not judge my creeper-ish screenshot, haha! And for those of you who have not heard his song, check it!


So yeah, today was a little rough, or the class part was anyways. I fell asleep in psyc (woops), and I had a test in health. However, I got to see some lovely friends/sisters, so that was nice. After health, Megan and I got to visit our service location for Justice Team's kingdom living project. Joy of Life is a ministry started by this lovely woman named Twyla. She has taken in several kids who slipped through the cracks of adoption, some of whom have special needs. Although she cannot legally adopt them, she has done what she calls "heart adoption," giving them a place to live, play, learn life skills, and get an education. I'm excited to start working there with small groups. There is so much that needs to be done, and I hope that God will use us to really bless Twyla and her family. Her little girl, Lexie, is so cute and sassy :) She is 9 years old, and she really is a riot. When Twyla asked Lexie what her needs were, she said a big sister. I know that Megan and I aren't going to be there every day, but I hope that we can be sister-like figures for her. And I know they are wanting some good male role models for the boys there, so I'm excited to see relationships forge between them and our boy small groups. This is going to be great, I can tell :) Since getting back from there, I've just been doing a short writing assignment and skyping Heather :) I am now ready to head back to Eagle. Goodnight my loves! Sleep well :)

Day full of distractions.

Classes were fine; I only fell asleep in one of them. The rest of my day was spent in the library (and a break for small group). Too bad I got really distracted by facebook, Taylor, Hannah, Isaac, Christa, Stephanie, Nicole, SAO group chat, and skype. Yes, Stephanie and I did absolutely no work for several hours because we were skyping each other....

(Yes, we were sitting right next to each other. Haha!) Then, after we skype-chatted Courtney and group chatted a bunch of SAO girls, Steph and I skyped with Hannah and Brandi...

Do I have a test tomorrow? Yes. Was I productive today? Not at all.  Was it worth it? I think yes :)

Love you all! Goodnight!