I watched this with my roommate and bawled. Oh my goodness the love of God is so rich & pure, so measureless and strong. 

lovely.

Yesterday i did a hashtag that read this

Which to my ignorance, looks like something else. So let me clarify, IT IS HITTING that i am graduating. I brought smiles to many people yesterday with my accidental swear word over twitter. It made me laugh recognizing that i am so out of it these days, just smiling and taking in my last days as an undergrad here at CBU. 

Last night i had my interview for the credential program, and while i was in my interview for the mild to moderate program, the woman looked at me and said i think your in the wrong field. My mind stopped in its tracks wondering where in the world this woman was going with her next statement. The Lord has called me to work with children with special needs, I KNOW THAT. She then looked at me and said, “honey, you need to be with the moderate to severe program.” 

So with a few phone calls, i was in a interview with one of my favorite professors here, and he told me to go register for my classes for the program. You can only imagine my excitement. As i spoke with the academic counselor, she told me that due to my switching of programs, there were a few classes i have taken in my undergrad that i didn’t need now that i was going a different route, and there was one class i needed in order to begin the credential program in the fall. I wanted to cry, right then and there in the cubicle with the kind woman who told me the news.  She informed me she would make some phone calls to see what she could do. 

I left and immediately burst into tears. I have worked so hard to get to grad school and then to have that information was just so frusterating.

But then i remembered my parents were at school. I was awarded the School of Education Student of the Year award. My mamma hugged me and i felt instantly better. I put my little black dress on and took pictures with my family and was reminded ho truly blessed i am. 

Sweet mamma & daddy supporting me :) 

My little meg, who i just adore. This girl showed up in jeans & a sweatshirt and i asked her if she was going the way she was dressed and she simply responded… “you forget i am COCO Chanel.” I love her.

Dr. Short who has been my professor the past few years, gave a lovely speech that brought tears to my eyes before she gave me the award. I simply love & admire her. So grateful for all she has taught me! 

my cup runs over.

Then it was time for our last event in the Village & it was so fun. This incredible group of men & women have blessed me immensely this past year. So thankful for them! 

I mean look at this face. I just love this man. He blesses my soul. 

This girl blesses my soul & with each day i love her more! 

Then it was off to the cafe for LATE NIGHT BREAKFAST & alumni shirts. 

Again, It’(s) hitting that i am graduating.

Staff & Faculty serve the students! 

KIng & Queen :) 

I love moments like this :) 

Our crazy table @ late night breakfast! 

The year is quickly coming to a close, but i am thankful! Tonight is the RECSPY’s. I will update with pictures tomorrow! 

This past weekend I got to sing at a Jazz event with a local church to raise money for their summer overseas ministries! It was a blast, and below are some pictures i stole from their website!

The gang laughing & dancing!

Singing “I’m so lonesome I could cry” with Dr. Mooney

The audience at the Fender Museum

Dr. Mooney & the guys playing “Spain”

This weekend reminded me of my love for Jazz & it was lovely to have spent it with some of my favorite people.

UM… PERFECTION?

Excuse me while i take a moment to be a girl :)

This movie, oh. my. lands! It was AMAZING! Just the way he looks at her. The way he stands up for her & the way he passionately loves her. It’s a movie, i get it, but i am also human & can dream! 

I made her…she is different. She is unique. With love I formed her in her mother’s womb. I fashioned her with great joy. I remember with great pleasure the day I created her. I love her smile. I love her ways. I love to hear her laugh And the silly things she says and does. She brings me great pleasure. This is how I made her. I made her pretty and not beautiful. I wanted her to search out her heart and learn that it would be ME in her that would make her beautiful… And it would be Me that would draw others to her. I made her in such a way that she would need me. I made her a little more lonesome than she would like to be… Only because I need for her to learn and depend on Me. I know her heart. I know that if I had not made her like this, She would go her own chosen way And forget Me…her Creator. Because I love her, I have seen her broken heart… and the tears she cried alone. I have cried with her and had a broken heart too. Many times she has stumbled and fallen alone… Only because she would not hold my hand. So many lessons she’s learned the hard way because she would not listen to My voice. So many times I have sat back and sadly watched her go her merry way alone… Only to watch her return to my arms, sad and broken. And now she is Mine again. I made her, and I bought her… Because I love her. I have to reshape and remold her To renew her to what I planned for her to be It has not been easy for her or for Me. I want her to be conformed to My image. This high goal I have set for her…

Because I love her.

i am literally obsessed with blackberries. i just love them! 

It has been a long day. I have been up for 20 hours. 

Dad picked me up at 4am and i had my bible, and journal and of course my camera. Music to keep me company while everyone slept. See, i have this terrible things where, once I am up its hard to go back to sleep, especially in a 15 passenger van on the bumpy highway. 

I was excited because it meant i got to see my little meg, & it meant i got to go back to Mexicali. In high school i spent two of my spring breaks in the dirt of mexico, loving on kids and singing my heart out under the stars in mexico. I have fond memories of growth, and little kids smiles and tacos & churros. 

This is tent city. For a week, kids pitch tents, use squatty potty’s & dig a hole for their spit from brushing their teeth (sorry for the visual) It’s filled with kids with enthusiasm for Christ and a longing to be closer to Him.

This was a long awaited hug between shan & meg! 

She cried, i cried, all in all she was surprised & i was glad! 

The kids from Meg’s high school watching the Baptism.

bap·tism

  [bap-tiz-uhm] 

noun

1.

Ecclesiastical . a ceremonial immersion in water, orapplication of water, as an initiatory rite or sacrament ofthe Christian church.

2.

any similar ceremony or action of initiation, dedication, etc.

She spoke before she got baptized and she cried, and i cried. No i wept. Because i am proud of that girl. She is incredible inside and out. She has walked a hard road this year, and she has learned a lot. The  Lord has revealed himself to her, and she has grown leaps and bounds & I am so full of joy over her life.

I love this girl. 

Then, as i held her in my arms, i cried, because she is such a gift to me & i adore her.

The whole clan including Lucy & her family who i have known since my time in Mexicali! 

And we have funny faces & i love it! :) 

And this is why we go, to love on little kids and to be living proof of a living God. 

I got back tonight, just in time to lead worship with my friend Danny, who might i add blessed me immensly tonight.

Leading worship with Danny, Tyler & Matt! 

Then they brought me flowers, & chocolate & a starbucks card with a sweet Thank you card that literally reminded me how blessed I am. 

My cup truly runneth over, and beautiful days like today I am reminded that this life is not about me. Megan Fate, our chapel speaker asked me & some friends at lunch what Easter would look like if it was not about us. If instead we made it about our family & those surrounding us. 

Today i tried to live by that, i did not get to spend Easter with my family, so today it was about meg, my sweet little meg who I love & cherish. Today my cup overflowed with Joy & thanks to my precious Savior who loves me far beyond anything I can comprehend. Thankful for the cross & the opportunity to boast in it. 

Be blessed. 

My little meg is getting baptized tomorrow. She is fully giving her life over to Jesus Christ and submitting her life under His authority. I graduate in 3 & 1/2 weeks and i have school work up to my ears. I have others that need me, and i have class i will be missing. 

But tomorrow, my dad will roll up in the 15 passenger van @ 4am and I will pile in the backseat, because i love that girl more than she knows and  I wanna be there when she goes under that water and comes up raised to walk in Christ. 

So I finished my senior capstone a day early, submitted it, and tomorrow will surprise my little meg in Mexico as she gets baptized. Life is about the little things folks, and so therefore, tomorrow… I will go :) 

{pictures to come}

sweet summertime, you are near & i will embrace you with open arms! 

simply beautiful! 

Today for the first time, i looked in the mirror and thought, that girl in the reflection is beautiful.

I’m no size zero, i have plenty of blemishes on my face, and my arms have this red rash that i would give anything to be gone. There are many things about my body that i wish i could change, yet staring at myself in the mirror this morning, i thought, Lord… I praise you because i am fearfully & wonderfully made & that reflection is lovely. 

It’s taken me a while to get to this place. A place of security & genuine thanks to my savior for creating me goofy, and silly & quite lovely. Over the past four years i have changed, i have been stretched and made into the woman i am today, which is beautiful. I have {many} flaws and though i still have a LONG way to go, I am on my way.

If it has taken four years to discover what i did today, it was all worth it. It didn’t take some special boy telling me, or others complimenting me, it took the Lord shaping me & stripping me of my comforts to be the woman I am today. I am thankful for all He has done to this beauty, He has made me feel beautiful because He lives and dwells inside my soul. He is wild & precious & I love Him and I will live my life to be a beautiful reflection of the gospel that saved me. 

Psalm 139.