A Heart like His

I have been reminded a lot recently that I need to learn when to joke and when not to joke. My teasing nature can be taken the wrong way sometimes, and unfortunately I hurt people that I love.

I'm realizing that being kind is more important that being funny... And most of the time, I'm not even that funny. I need to learn when to be funny and when to be serious. Sometime, people just need to hear kind words. Maybe they are having a bad day, and normally they would laugh at your joke, but that particular time is just not the right time. We all have those days, and I want to be remembered for being kind... Not funny.

My prayer is that God will make my heart and my words more kind. That He will use me to be an encouragement to others. I want my life and my words to make a difference in someone's life, not to hurt them.

Praying that God will give me a heart like His.

A Heart for Uganda

I have it on my heart to share with you how God has been moving in my life.

I have always had compassion towards children, and working with kid has always been a huge part of my heart. Over the last couple of months, my heart has been pulled towards Uganda. Everything that I hear or see has been about Uganda. It seems to be all around me.

I recently started attending a church that is turned into a campus of Long Hollow Baptist. The first series with Long Hollow was called "Wrecked". It was a series that spoke of the vision of Long Hollow for the next several years, and a large part of this vision dealt with missions. I was radically moved by this. It was revealed to be once again the tug that has been on my heart to go!

As I continued to look into this and explore the calling that God has placed on my heart, I discovered a medical mission trip to Uganda in August.

I'm asking you to take this journey of prayer with me. I have no idea what God has planned specifically, but I am ready and willing to go and do whatever that may be.

Please pray for clarity. Pray that God will make this path clear and that I will have no doubts about the calling He has for me. Pray that I will not make excuses. I have a feeling that there may be a lot of risk taking ahead of me, and as much as I like to pretend that I'm adventurous, I'm really more comfortable staying away from the unknown. And lastly, please pray for courage.

I am so thankful for your love and support, and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to let me share my heart.

Bon Voyage!

For most, vacation is about getting out of town and doing as much as you can.... sightseeing, swimming with dolphins, shopping, etc. For me, vacation is about getting out of town and doing absolutely NOTHING. That's right... sitting on my butt and not doing a thing.

My life is constantly busy. I am always on the go- going somewhere or doing something- so it is relaxing for me to be able to say that I have nothing to do.

My beach vacation (the first of two) has been very relaxing. The weather has not been all that great, so I have been able to spend some time inside. Don't get me wrong, I have gone to the pool, sat in the sand, tanned (even though you can't tell by looking at me), but the majority of my time has been spent finishing "Something Blue" which I've been reading for months, blogging, napping, pinning (Pinterest-- my new love!), and starting "The Five Love Languages" which taught me that my primary love language is Quality Time... imagine that!

It is very rare for me to have nothing on my agenda, so I am taking full advantage of it. After all, I'm gong to the beach with a family that I'm babysitting for in a week, so I will have plenty of beach time that week as well!

Drinking Coffee on Someone Else's Porch

House sitting means two things for me... One: that I get some alone time for a week and two: that I get to pretend that I have my own house.

I am house sitting for the next two weeks, and I just really love it. I mean, REALLY love it. It is so nice to have my own space, quiet time, and to just play "house" while people are on vacation. It's fun for me to imagine that it is my own house.

The house where I am staying has a really awesome back porch that is surprisingly pretty secluded despite the fact that it is in a neighborhood where the houses are about 2 feet away from each other. My favorite part about being in this particular house is getting to sit on the porch in the mornings and drink coffee. My mother says that I sound like an old lady, but I really do enjoy it. It's so peaceful, so beautiful, and so quiet, which is a nice change from my every day life.

One of my best friends Cara Dodd came for a few days and was my room mate in this big house. We had so much fun cooking, sitting on the porch, talking, and just spending time catching up. If you know me at all, you know that although it has been nice to have some quiet and be alone, I can only be alone for so long. Cara's visit was the perfect amount of company to off set my alone time.

I start house sitting for someone else next week, so we'll see what part of their house will be my favorite...

"lonely single people turn into lonely married people"

Cross Point Church is having a wonderful series right now called "5 things that will ruin your marriage" and it has truly been amazing for both married and single people. Pete Wilson, the pastor, says that it is a help guide for married people and a cheat sheet for singles that may one day be married.

First of all, we need to ask ourselves why do we want to be married, or why did I get married?

It is important first of all to know what Marriage is NOT.

It is not a strategy for wholeness. It is not about fulfillment- only Jesus can fulfill us. If someone tells you that you complete them... RUN!

There are a lot of things from this series that have stuck out to me. One thing in particular is when our pastor Pete said this:

"Lonely single people turn into lonely married people."

For all you single people let that sink in for a minute. How often have we caught ourselves thinking that when we get married we won't be lonely anymore, or I have to get married because I'm fearful of being lonely. Marriage is not a cure to loneliness.

So, why get married?

Seeking God....

gives my marriage a purpose.

Read Gen 2:18 and 1:28- a purpose in marriage is companionship and raising children.

God has given us a desire to do something significant together- you are married with a mission.

We should pray together with our spouse or potential spouse.

We are not created just to love each other, but to love others together.

gives my marriage maturity.

Read Colossians 3:23- Do I want God at the center of my marriage, or just in the mix?

For the singles: There is a difference in dating someone that has God in the mix of their life and someone that has God in the center of their life.

gives my marriage grace.

Read Lamentations 3:22-23

Marriage is hard because it unites 2 sinners.

Another thing that Pete did was re-define the concept of the man being the "spiritual leader". This does not mean that the man knows more about the bible or is less of a sinner than his wife, but it means that he is the "spiritual initiator".

You can listen to the whole series online at crosspoint.tv or you can download podcast on iTunes. Just search "cross point tv"

This has truly been an eye-opening series and has given me a totally different outlook on marriage. I pray that you are somehow encouraged by this today.

Crafty Sundays

Yesterday started the first of many “Crafty Sundays” with my sweet friend Megan. She and I both have a LOVE for owls, so we decided to make our own owl pillows. Megan is a sewing master and makes the cutest stuff all the time. I, on the other hand, have never sewn anything in my entire life. Megan had to give me a sewing for dummies lesson and we were off!

It only took us all afternoon, but this is what we accomplished…

Hopefully my sewing abilities will improve with our next project. We had so much fun creating these on our own... that's right... no pattern. We just saw a picture and replicated it.

I'm really loving this new hobby! WHOOOOOOOOOOOO knows what our next project will be! Probably some kind of owl!

HAPPYS and CRAPPYS

So, I have been Deb all day and have been whinning and complaining about how terrible my week is going to be... No worries, you're not going to get through this post without hearing all about it.

Sorry... Let me share with you my "happy/crappys"

So let me start out with what I call the "crappys," or what some people call "lows" or "concerns" etc. My crappys are as follows:

Monday-9 hour clinical orientation day

Tuesday: NCLEX questions due & an A&P Test

Wesnesday: Parent/Child Test & Group Discussion Project due

All of these things are examples of why nursing school sucks, however, I am also experiencing quite a few "happys" this week:

Monnday: Watching the Bachelor with my SWEET friend Megan

Tuesday: Dinner with El, Cait, and Linds

Wesnesday: The dread of school is OVER for the week

Thursday: My precious little brother's 10th birthday

Friday: Non-Commissioned Officers at the Mercy Lounge (more exciting details about this to follow in another post!!!)

AND....

(drum roll....)

Saturday: CHATTANOOGA FOR HANNAH'S WEDDING!!!

So obviously my happys outweigh my crappys... I mean, come on! Saturday alone will make this dreadful week worth while. I will get to be in Chattanooga, see so many people I love, and see my beautiful friend marry the man of her dreams!! Does it get any better?

I cannot even begin to explain how excited/eager I am for the weekend to come. It will be so much fun with the most amazing people ever! Let the week go by fast, and the good times roll...

WOO HOO!