His Purpose, Not My Plans

Hi there. If you know me well enough, you probably have an idea about where this is coming from. If you don't know me, then know that for the past year I've served on the Executive board for the Panhellenic community at USC, specifically directing formal recruitment. And if you don't know what that means, we can just say it's been a heck of a busy year. It's with a bit of a bittersweet heart that I write this post. Sweet, because my time will once again be my own (kinda, wedding to plan and college degree to obtain). Bitter, because this has been such a monumental chapter in my life. I have grown in ways I never thought possible, I have learned skills I never thought imaginable, I have taught things that I didn't understand before, and I have come to have a heart for college women. But, before I pass on my title and take my final bow, there are a few things I would like to say about sorority life. First of all , I am incredibly proud to be a Panhell...

My friend, What a broken world we live in. Relationships are being tested. Political lines are being drawn in households. Beliefs are being questioned. Doubts are arising. It is a challenging time to be a college student in America. For many of us, trying to discover where our beliefs lie, where our values meet up with what we're being educated on.. it feels that we are being pulled in a hundred directions. Perhaps it is more accurate for me to say that it is a challenging time to be anyone in America right now. Neighbors are fighting neighbors. Crime is everywhere. Lies seem common and justice seems rare. No matter where you stand on any of the million disagreements occurring in our country right now, I hope you can agree with me that our world is in a sad, sad state. We live in a sinful world. It is apparent everywhere you turn. And we are constantly facing the consequences of this sinful world. Our time is filled with tearing each other down and building our own...

My friend, It's been a long while since I've written. Let me just say that junior year of college hits like a freight train going at full speed with no warning horns.  Rumor on the street is that people are already asking you what lies beyond graduation. Crazy right ? We have a whole year and some before that.  But we're constantly wondering what lies before us, aren't we? Asking ourselves a million times a day how the decisions we make now will affect us later on. Where will I be in two years, five years, ten years? What city, what state? What will my career be, where will I live? What relationships will I have? Will I be financially stable? Will I be happy? Will I have friends? Will I be married?  It's mind boggling how much time we spend worried, concerned, anxious about the next steps.  My friend, we get into the terrible habit of getting caught up in our worries and our anxieties and instead of going before the Lord and ask...

This post started last week in my speech class, when we were asked to give a demonstration speech on something we were good at. The professor told us to find something we were "basically perfect at doing". So I started thinking.. well, what I am good at doing? In what area am I perfect? Which led to, how many things do I do wrong on a regular basis? How many things do I not know how to do? How many things have I've screwed up before? and I came to this conclusion. We are a culture that strives for perfection in a world where perfection is not possible. For me, it's that I'm constantly trying to be the best possible  daughter, girlfriend, friend, college ministry member, Greek life member, and student that I could ever be. I run full speed, every day. Sometimes I think I go to more meetings with my part time job and Greek life position than I go to class (but I promise dad I'm going to class). It's like if I just can do this task really quick, i...

I've been sitting here trying to write this for the past hour. Why is it that sometimes words appear so easily in my head, yet are so hard to translate to paper? Anyways, I wanted to take a few minutes and talk to you about 2018. New Year, New Me as some may say. And that's true. There are new classes, new positions in organizations, new goals for work and school. I hope you're excited for the newness of the season and maybe keep your resolution to drink more water and less coffee. Or at least try.  But I wanted to remind you of something else as you start 2018. This morning I was flipping through my notebook. Not like a deep personal journal, but more like a school notes, work notes, address book, list book, date book, prayer journal all in one kinda notebook. And as I flipped through starting last March going to now, I was really amazed to see all that had happened. Certain projects that were completed, things that I had prayed and prayed about that the Lord ...