Well... actually I guess the title of this note is a little decieving. Because technically I'm not really going to say much about '08. The reason being... umm it's over and done with, and to be honest I'm very very happy that it is over and done with.

I admit, I learned so much last year. SO much. And I experienced a lot. And I grew. I made friends, I lost friends. I moved, I changed, and in some ways I stayed the same. Thank God though... '08 is over.

I am very ready for '09! Although it's bittersweet going back to school, I can't wait to see my friends, but I hate to leave the comfort of home, and I don't know if Im quite ready for another semester. But. I am going back. Tomorrow.

I have decided to be excited about it. I'm going to go pay a fortune for my books, hopefully I have an extra arm or leg lying around haha, but I am going to buy them, get settled into my room and all that fun stuff. I am slightly excited about the opportunities I will have and the places I may get to go, and the people that I will meet.

So, I will try to write something once a week. Yes I did say TRY. Because I'll probably forget, or not have time... but I will try. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for 2009. It has ring to it doesnt it... 2009... I like it.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

My Summer has been CRAZY! LOL! The Friday I got out of school, I got a job. So I've been working at a stable. I do office work, write expense reports, file receipts, update paperwork, make phone calls, take messages, keep horses paperwork up to date, give out information, give tours, talk to people about what we offer... Public relations that sort of thing. I clean the office, the bathroom, I wash towels and clothes, I clean the tack room and the tack. I keep everything organized and picked up. I also groom, ride, feed and water the horses. I excersise six horses a day to keep them fresh and ready for lessons and shows. Stuff like that.

I also went to Pennsylvania this year. My cousin got married and I am a amatuer photographer so I take pictures behind the professional. Pretty much just candids and snapshots (Canon Rebel Digital SLR for you camara junkies). I am actually planning on getting a Nikon. I just dont have the money at this point.

Then we went to Canada to see Niagra Falls, and a bunch of that stuff. It was pretty and cool and kinda neat. A bottle of water up there was $7! And some INTERESTING peeps rode the elevator with us. Ahem, I believe they may have had one tooo many if you catch my drift. So we did that, and rode about 15 hours in the car up there and then 15 hours back.

We also visited the Amish country which was interesting...

Then a day after we got back I went straight to AU for orientation. Me, Brittany (my roomate), Eylse and Caroline (my suitemates) all got up there and had a total blast. We went dorm shopping and got our schedules together so that was alot of fun.

I then worked about a week, and went to Illinois for our 2008 mission trip. I believe I already blogged on that so I'm not going to say much about it cept for the fact that I was blessed to be able to go.

Then this week we had revival at our church! It was amazing. We had Bucky Kennedy, Mike Stone, Dr. Wayne Robertson and Bill Sturm... they were amazing and God really worked throught them. I was sooo blessed. Everything they said I needed to hear. I feel refreshed in my own spirit and I hope the rest of my church family feels the same.

In but three weeks I go back to school... its crazy. I really cant believe how quickly it has gone by.

• Comments (4) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

So, I figured that for those people who may, by happen-chance, read my blog I ought to tell you who I am. My name is Christi, and I'm 16 years old. I'm a sophmore at Anderson University, majoring in Theatre and minoring in Communications. I want to go into the Film Industry when I finish with school. I want to use film as a ministry. I want to reach the Industry for Christ. I'll do a seperate blog on that though.

I am one of eight children. Seven girls and one boy. My oldest sister is married to a seminary student and they now live in Kentucky. My second oldest sister is a junior in college and she teaches violin and piano. I am third in the line-up. My sister after me is now 14, she is in highschool, she sings, plays the violin and piano and is wonderful with horses. My only bother plays little-leauge basball and I think he is in the th grade. I have three little blonde sisters after that and they are all little dolls. One of them is a complete drama queen, the next one is mischevious, and the littlest is just a show-out and crazy funny.

I grew up in a small county. I have lived here all my life. My dad was a county commisioner for a while and also managed several campaigns so I am very into polotics. I can be very opinionated, and hard-headed as well as very outspoken and blunt. I guess you could say I am outgoing, but I also have my own style and I dont care too much about what people think about me.

When I was five years old I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I remember sitting there as the third chapter of John was read in our family devotions. My simple little mind was shocked to believe that someone would die for me, even though I was a bad little girl and did many things wrong. And not only that he would die for me, but he would take my sins away and help me do better and one day I would live in heaven as His child. As that was explained to me I realized that I couldnt save myself, and right there on the floor beside my bed I accepted Jesus and asked Him to come into my heart. I have never been the same since that moment.

Now I am older. And I want to do God's Will, and I want Him to use me. Mayhap someday he will...

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Well, there is SO much I could write! I've been so blessed! These past couple of weeks, wait, this past year has been a rollercoaster for me! So much going on, good things and bad things ... and I want to say that of all I've learned, the thing that has proved most important is FAITH! Faith really can move mountains! Literally!!

My money troubles for school that were pre-eminent last week, are no longer there, they have dissolved before my eyes and by none of my doing!! All I can say about that is ... God is amazing, prayer works, and miracles really can happen if you believe! I think there is a verse that says God asnwers a "desprate plea" and I've found that so true.

I knew that I was fervently praying, and that I'd asked one or two people to pray for me. But little did I know that my roomate, and my two suitemates had taken it upon themselves to have their churches pray for me as well, and gathered their friends together to ask that God's will be done. Not only that but my best friends were also praying for me I know, I didnt even have to ask them. And then ... in just being still and waiting, through all the prayers ... God worked ... and I am amazed!

I know that was a pretty spiritual subject ... and I hate to blow your minds with how random I can be and I'm not trying to be disrespectful at all. Have you ever considered "Ambiguos Absoulutes?" They are quite intriguing. Such as "You'll know when you get older" ... how do they know you'll know? They don't! Or "Your life flashes before your eyes when you die" ... how do they know that'll happen unless of course they are talking about the fact that you live and your "life passes" before your eyes and then you die. Or "You'll know when you're in love" ... well how in the world can you just know ... what is love truly? How do you define that? And how in the world do you know that everyone will just know! lol I get sidetracked very easily... and this is the thing that sidetracked me today...

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I was tagged by lovedbyGod... and guess what! I was like... ummmmm what do I do?? So I hope I'm doing what you are supposed to do when you get tagged! lol

Eye color: Hazel

Hair color: Ash Brown or Sandy Blonde (I'm a "Blondette")

Favorite colors: Blue! And green.

Your style: Weeeell... I'm a hippy at heart. Layered, loose and long. But I'll wear just about anything as long as it's modest, and somewhat cute. lol

Write with both hands: Yeah, not well but I can.

Whistle: No

Blow a bubble: Yes

Roll your tongue: Yes

Cross your eyes: Yes

Touch your nose with your tongue:  No

Dance: I love to dance!

Stay up all night without sleep: Unfourtunantly!

Speak a different language: Spanish, a little German, a little Italian and just a little Hebrew...but none fluently!

Impersonate someone: Yea, I like to impersonate people. Mostly singers and celebs, and then people I just think are funny...lol

Prank call people: I did once...

Make a card pyramid: I can... but its not like my purpose in life!

Cook anything: Eeeek... sometimes I can cook... most times I just burn things! lol

And I tag Chelly!

• Comments (3) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

So, when I'm at a loss for words ... I blog. Weird, huh? One would think that being at a loss for words I wouldn't have anything to write, yet I have so much to say I can't seem to get it out in any sort of organized fashion.  Right now I have so much on my mind I can't think straight. I want to just go to sleep and wake up to find that everything is how it should be.

Right now I am a sophmore at Anderson University (or I will be starting August 16th). It's a long story how I got to be there, but the long and short of it is ... its a miracle that I'm able to go. But now, things are starting to fall apart. My roomates are there, but we havent gotten anywhere with dorm stuff. My scholorships are there, but they keep changing the amounts. The tuition is definently there but it just keeps going up with additional prices. My major is there, and I can't wait to get started, but it seems more unrealistic then ever.

I want to know that I'm doing right. I want to know that I'm in the will of God. I want to know that I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I feel like so many things are blocking my view of God and His plan for my life. But then I wonder if its just because I need to be somewhere else. I don't know. I'm so frustrated, I've had to have faith in the past, but I feel like its only grown and is only growing more and more impossible as the days go by. I just want to know that I am doing what HE wants me to do, if I'm not I'll stop right now! I don't want to have to live with the worry that I'm working towards a goal that I will never reach. I don't want to live with the fear that I will just become a complete failure.

In attempt to console myself, and to make up for this lame blog I want to end it with my favorite passage about worry ... I wish I could live this way!

Matthew 6:25-34

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

So, this passage always comforts me when I get to feeling like I need to have control, like I need to know what is going to happen. It's funny that sometimes I put my worry before my relationship with God. Crazy, right? This passage just reminds me that my worry doesn't accomplish anything, so I should focus on something that actually makes a difference.

Sometimes during my worry I feel like God has forgotten about me. Like maybe the spotlight has died and he is no longer around. But then I just remind myself of His words "I will never leave the, nor forsake thee" and then I do my best to keep on remembering that and live to bring glory to Him...

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

    It never fails to amaze me...how one hundred people can come together once a year, work together at a grueling pace for one week, ages ranging from 6 to 82 (maybe older?) and get along like a family! Every year I go on a home mission trip. I spent all of last week on this year's trip to Illinois, and I wasn't dissapointed! We layed 30,000 brick in three days! People came together from all over the state to help a bunch of people we'd never met before in a place we'd never heard of! And we worked like a well oiled machine. The weather was unusually perfect, breezy and moist but dry. It didn't rain, until about an hour after we finished, and then it poured!!

   It's so cool how God uses this mission team every year. We get requests from all over the country to build churches. And then, with God's help, we find the one that is right, ready and really anxious to spread the Gospel. Then people from 5-10 different churches and states take the week of the fourth, most of the times its the only week they have off, and congregate at the church that we are going to build. From brick masons to trash-pickers every person has a job. There are people that ALWAYS come every year, and then there are a couple new ones that are thrown (sometimes quite hard) into the mix. We go to church on Sunday, and then...Monday morning at the crack of dawn (5 in the morning) the boss man wakes everyone up and after a breakfast (that some use as an extra five minutes of sleep) of really strong coffee and a biscuit we head to the job site. Then, like clock work, everybody goes straight to their jobs. The masons get on the line, the jointers hunker down, the mud man cranks it up, the morter boys grab their shovels, the tractor guy starts singing, the brick saw starts running, the scaffold crew has a meeting, the water girls take orders, the boss man starts his endless circle around the building and that wall goes up. Its amazing how God works, because one to many people, one less, one wrong or one right will make or break the trip, and he always works it out.

I'm already missing the sound of Mr. Billy Arnold and Mr. David Bryant yelling at each other to "raise the line!" I'm missing Pastor Kenny's bird noises and Mr. Sammy's stories. Vegas and his hair, or Mr. Denny and his deafness. Guy and Mr. Dave and their Californa blondness. Kalen and Dalton and mortar fighting. Trae and Chris and out working them. Kelsey and her cheerleader persona. Mr. Barry Doyle telling me not to get him in trouble. Chales's big laugh, and protectiveness. Helping Mr. Rusty make mortar. Trying to move out of Mr. Francis's way. Rachel and her sweet self. Early mornings, fun nights, cards and wuffle ball, good cups of coffee and stolen cokes, jokes and teasing, pictures and poses, ... awesome memories ... awesome times!

God took the the spotlight as he worked ... yet another miracle!

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

  Well first of all let me say - haha isn’t it funny how I write like I’m addressing a crowd of three-thousand people! – that a lot of times I use writing as an outlet for pent up emotions, fears, and anxiety. So, I dearly hope that this blog won’t be utterly depressing to read. The thing is, I’m a very cheerful, up-beat, hyper, positive type of person. I’m always bouncing *wink* from one thing to the other, antsy to get to the next activity, and longing to be doing something new. I am not seen (or at least I don’t think I am) as a person who dwells on things, and gets depressed easily (I mean, who can get depressed when there is another cup of coffee left in the world!). But this past half of a year has been very difficult for me. I’ve struggled. A lot. Things have changed. A lot. I have a deep respect and love for people. A love and respect that can sometimes grow so deep it is like being stabbed through the heart when that love and respect is lost. I know it’s hard to understand other people’s situations. And I don’t expect people to understand mine. But right now, I am so happy to have an outlet for this … I don’t know what to call it but to say that it is a horrid feeling deep inside my soul. I saw someone tonight. Someone I used to love, respect, look-up to, and maybe I put them on a pedestal – which was a mistake – but then through a terrible turn of events this person was removed from my life this past March (I believe). I lost my respect for this person, and I told myself that I couldn’t love this person any more. I’ve been having nightmares lately and this person has frequently been involved in them, even the one last night. When I saw this person, they looked exactly as they had in my dream. A way in which I’d never seen them before... 

…it broke my heart.

I keep grasping for stability. For something constant. For something reliable. For peace. And all I’ve found to hold on to is God. Not MY faith in God. God. Sometimes I wonder if he sends these trials into my life to remind me where my focus is supposed to be, and maybe even show me that in my life ... He is the main event ... not only am I in His spotlight ... He should be in MY spotlight.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

  It’s almost time. The patter of feet threatens to block out all ability to think. The murmur of voices is so loud it is suffocating. The nerves, the jitters are so thick they could be sliced with a knife. Then it halts, like all life has been frozen. Chillbumps. Deep breath. One foot in front of another. The hush is deafening. And then ... the spotlight.

Okay, so the spotlight means many different things to me. For one, isnt it awesome to know that we as christians never get lost in the crowd! We are always in God's mind, in His view, and in His hand. It's nice not to have to worry that God might be busy with someone else, that we are going to have to wait in line to get His help. Nope. I as a daughter of Christ, always have His attention.  Well, I might have to wait until later to tell you the rest of the things "the spotlight" means ... but I don't know how interesting it is to everyone else. Just an itsy bitsy bit about me and I've "gotta bounce" (I've always wanted to say that ... and now I have. I'm overwhelmed with a sense of acomplishment!). Anyway, so yes I'm 16. I love Coffee. I'm completely random at times. I have a love/hate relationship with writing. I have a burden for a specific mission field. And last but not least ... I love instant mashed potatoes!

• Comments (3) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link