Highlights of 2010

I was going to make a list of the things in 2010 that stood out to me. But I'm feeling quite uninspired to make a list (which is very strange for me).

So we're gonna make it brief...


Traveled to Haiti in March with the sweetest group of people from my school. Oh, and fell in like with my co-leader that week :)

Let Matt pursue me and we developed a beautiful relationship, striving to keep God at the center. So lovely. I am beyond blessed.

Spent the most wonderful summer in Haiti. I got to teach beautiful women (And an amazing man) English. I built the sweetest relationships with the most lovely girls. I grew in the Lord and saw that He has an incredible plan for my life. I just have to be still and know that He is God and wait on His timing.

Had a very challenging semester. It pushed me and pulled me in every direction. It stretched me physically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. And I finished with all A's! (Yes, I'm bragging. If any of you saw me on a regular basis this past semester you would understand why I'm so ecstatic about this. hard work finally paid off!)

Most of all I'm beyond blessed by the people in my life who supported me and loved me through one of the most challenging, incredible, beautiful years of my life.


2010 has been lovely. One of the best years yet. But I know the best is yet to come :)

Random? Yeah, That's My Life.

• Moneysavingmom.com is officially the coolest website. I'm addicted. 

• There is a little female cardinal that comes to my front door every day and pecks at the metal base of our door as she chirps. She's beautiful and we saw the male cardinal on Christmas. Cardinal's have always been my favorite. 

• Matt and his parents come down tomorrow! I'm so excited to have [almost] all our families together (We'll miss you Evan!) 

• I miss my beautiful roommates. 

• My dog is super cuddly in the mornings :) It makes me smile 

• I'm actually excited for New Years this year!! Normally I could care less. 

• I've been able to sleep in for the first time in months and my body is quite happy about that. 

• My post is dragging on. I'm sure. So I'll quit while I'm ahead. :) 

Merry Christmas!

I'm so thankful for the birth of my Savior. 

Without Him I'd have nothing. 

Plain and simple.

I love my Jesus. 

This Boy.

Makes me smile.

Break My Heart For What Breaks Yours.

In one moment my passions were redefined. 

In that moment my heart broke. Instantly. Words cannot express my feelings, my thoughts, or my pain. 

I've always had a heart for girls ministry. I've always longed to tell girls they're worth so much more than boys tell them they are. Than what this world tells them. 

I had women invest in me, and I want to invest in others. 

Never has my heart broke more than the other night. Knowing a girl was slowly giving herself away to a boy... at the age of 12. And I could do something about it. 

So here I am. 

and I WILL do something about this pattern.

I WILL make a difference. 

This has got to stop. 

Girls need to know they're loved and valuable in the eyes of Christ. 

It is necessary 

For Mental Sanity

I'm posting, when I should be studying, or sleeping, just to maintain some sanity in my life.

This weekend was wonderful.

So here's my weekend in pictures :)

Date night with my love: Pottery painting :)

He's so wonderful. 

precious.

my mug!

Christmas party!

cookies!

sweet friends :)

Finals Week=Mental Breakdown

Enough said.

Turtle.

Today I took my two best friends to a turtle rehabilitation center. :)

they both love turtles. It's been a great weekend! here's a few pics from today. More to come for sure :)

Big turtles!

And Baby turtles :)

And BEST FRIENDS!

My heart.

Is restless. 


Learning to rest in the Lord.

But in this moment, I find my heart breaking over the fact that I do not know the next time I will make it to Haiti. Tears fill my eyes at this thought and stream down my face.

Oh Lord, I'm begging you. Send me soon. Give me an opportunity, funds, whatever it takes.

You Don't Want to Miss This.

Never have I EVER seen a more powerful website.

This is my all time favorite website as of yesterday.

Check it out. You WONT be disappointed.

Voices of Haiti.

Her message: "Give us this day our daily bread". 

My Heart.

Is overwhelmed with love so sweet.

Is longing for a big hug and smile from Frantz and all the mommies at Hope House.

Two beautiful things.

Random Thoughts.

I'm ridiculously in love with an amazing man who continually reveals Christ to me on a daily basis. 

I want to be in Haiti. Beyond what I can explain.

I've been having RIDICULOUS dreams lately. 

Two weeks left of school... seems so far away. I'm ready to be done with projects and lesson plans. 

I'm currently writing this to avoid homework because I can't seem to focus. Go figure. 

I have the most amazing friends a girl could ask for. 

As stressful as my life can get, it's beyond amazing :) 

Basically, the Lord is taking me on some crazy journeys and I'm perfectly alright with it even if it's hard, easy, beautiful, exciting, difficult, challenging, etc. Count me in!

I'm so excited to see where this road will lead and what the Lord has in store.

This is my favorite place in West Palm Beach. Absolute favorite. Everything about it screams beauty and I wish I could sit here forever just soaking in the beauty, reading the Word, and spending time with Matt. Love love love love love. 

Date Night.

Matt and I went on a date Friday night. 

It was wonderful :) 

Here are a few pictures to explain the night.

We had dinner at City Place :) It's decorated for Christmas. I love it.

Then we went putt putting :)

And then we walked around the beach :) It was a great night

Basically.

I want to blog.

But my computer hates me.

Maybe one day soon I'll post again.

Here's the Deal....

My hard-drive crashed.

All my photographs are gone.

All my homework is gone.

Everything, all the programs, every little detail that made my computer "mine" is gone.

My computer=blank slate.

No Microsoft Word, no Skype, no Itunes, no Photoshop. Gone. Gone Gone.

It's been the most draining week of my life.

But

I'm thankful for a supportive mom who always knows just what to say.

I'm thankful for a loving boyfriend who shows me love and grace when I dont deserve it.

and I'm thankful for sweet friends who understand my business and love me regardless.

Now...

If only I can keep my eyes dry for more than one day we'll be all set :)

Teaching is Funny.

I wore a cute striped skirt to teach reading to third graders today. Here is a question one of my students asked me:

"Ms. Amanda, why do you look like a prisoner in that skirt?"

Hahahahah!

These kids are hilarious! :) Gotta love 'em.

Hi.

I want a life.

Perhaps.

Watch this video. Truth.

Perhaps then its fair to say, that when we ignore the prosituted child,

that we actually lend our hand to their abuse.

That when we ignore the widow and the orphan in their distress,

that we actually add to their pain.

When we ignore the slave who remains captive

that it’s us who is entrapping them.

When we forget the refugee,

that it is us who is displacing them

When we choose not to help the poor and the needy

that we actually rob them.

Perhaps the only fair thing to say,
is that when we forsake the lives of others
we actually forsake our own.

Almost There.

Who knew the process of sewing a bag could reveal so much about life to me. 

Anyone who sews, especially hand sewing, knows its a tedious task that requires patience. 

Lesson #1-Patience. I may be tired of waiting to see the end result, but overall I know the end will be beautiful and I will see the big picture. (yes, I'm talking about life and my bag haha). 

Lesson #2- Contentment. I'm almost done with my bag. The body is completed and all I have left is to add the handles. How does this relate? I'm almost there. I want to rush to the end. I want to be done. I want to see the finished result. I'm ready to move forward. However, time is needed to get to the end and I need to be content with that. 

Sorry if this is confusing and makes no sense. I'm not quite sure my brain is making much sense at all today. But thats okay. :) 

So what am I learning in life? To be patient and content. 

Woy.

Ill post pictures when I'm finished. Keep looking :)

Blessed.

Dear Jesus, 

Thank you for wonderful roommates like these ones. 

I'm truly blessed :)

A Rekindled Desire.

It would be a lie for me to say that my relationship with the Lord is wonderful and growing. In all honesty, it has been the last thing on my mind the past few weeks as I've been busy with loads of school work and commitments. It's something I've longed for. It's the one thing that has been lacking. And I've known that. So why on earth did I continue leaving it on the end of my list?

Tuesday morning I couldn't do it any longer. I miss my passion for the Word. I miss my desire to be with Jesus every morning. So I woke up, grabbed my Bible and my journal and just dug in. And the only thing that I could think was why on earth have I been putting this aside.

I love the Word of God. It is the thing that holds me up, keeps me going, draws me closer to Him. I love it. The past year has been wonderful. I've loved waking up (almost) every morning to spend time with the Lord. It's made all the difference. And although my busy schedule will remain busy and my commitments wont change, my heart has rekindled its desire to be with the Lord. Continually. Not just when I wake up. But all day. Every day.



On a side note, I am going home today for the first time in 2 months. It's crazy to think that I was gone this summer, home for a week, then gone for 2 months at school. WHAT?! I'm bringing Matt and can't wait for a relaxing weekend of homework, hanging with my mom, and seeing my dog :) I know, I'm a dork. But I miss him.

AND I'm going home next weekend for a few days too after I go home with Matt! This will be wonderful :) 

Best friend.

My best friend has a blog.

Follow her. :)

She's the most wonderful best friend ever.

Celebrating Love, Being Ten, and a Birthday.

Well well well.. what can I say... 

This weekend was pure love. It was the first time in oh, about three weeks that I've gotten to do something other than schoolwork. Yes, I actually had fun. :) 

To celebrate 6 months together, which is today, Matt and I disappeared for the day to the beach. It was the perfect day and no, neither of us got sunburned. I love him. 

Also, to celebrate 10/10/10 at 10:10:10, my lovely friends hosted a party. The only requirement was that we dress like 10 year olds :) So that is precisely what me and my roommates did. 

We're cute 10 year olds :) 

Today is not only Matt and I's 6 month monthiversary, but it is also my daddy's birthday. No words can express how much I wish I could celebrate with him. He is the man who taught me how to love. He is the man I first loved. He was my hero, my inspiration. I wish I was 10 years old so I could celebrate with him again. I do believe the year I was ten I made him a chocolate cake on his birthday. I may have to make one tonight just because. :) 

So much celebrating in one weekend. Celebrating falling in love with an amazing man. Celebrating a date and time that will never occur again. And celebrating the birthday of the man I will always love and miss, my daddy. 

Me at 20 and 10. There is a scary similarity in these pictures :) Haha.

Is This Real?

I'm currently about to crawl back into my cozy bed. I am pretty sure I'm dreaming because I haven't had a break or time to relax in forever.

I'm just really excited.

Nap time, I'm glad you are finally here :)

I Don't Want To.

I don't want to live like this. 

The past few weeks I have been overwhelmed, stretched thin, exhausted, stressed, and just plain too busy. I hate this for more reasons than I can explain. I would be perfectly content living my life this stressed if it was because of something important. However, this is not the case. I've been put in this position of exhaustion because of school work. Yes, I know, education is important. But is it REALLY? I have had no time to pour into my relationships with the people that I'm surrounded by. This is not how I want to live. My fruitful conversations with Matt have been few to none, my conversations with my mom have been brief and not as frequently as I would like, my time and conversations with my best friend have been almost nonexistent, and the most important relationship, my relationship with the Lord, has been placed on the back burner and seems to be dragging. This is not how I want to live. I am sorry, but there is no way that me learning how to teach students what motion is is more important than my relationships. Especially with my relationship with the Lord. 

This is not how I want to live.

I don't want to live a busy life filled with insignificant, trivial, and frivolous things. I want to live a simple life. That may be a busy life but at least it will be busy because of things that actually matter in this world. I want to live a simple life, one of sacrifice and service, one of love and compassion, one of hope and truth. I want to live a life that reflects the gospel. I want to embody the gospel and tell it to the people I come in contact with. I want to share with them the hope that I have in Jesus Christ. The gospel is the most important thing in all of life. I firmly believe this. So why am I not living this way? Will I really allow my schooling to hold me back from living the way Jesus created me to live? I do not want to let this hold me back. I want to be free to share, to live, to serve, to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

This is how I want to live.

When I think about Haiti and all the third world countries, I see over and over that all these beautiful people want is to survive. They are willing to do everything they can to survive... even if that means risking the very life they are trying to keep alive. (Oxymoron?). Now, let me ask you this: why are people so willing to lay their life down for survival yet so many of us are not willing to lay our life down for the gospel? This thought is absurd. I'm sorry if that is blunt, but it is true. Why are we not willing to give up our lives for the sake of the gospel even though we have FULL assurance in our eternity in Heaven with our Creator? Why are we not willing to give up this insignificant life to bring life to the people who may spend their eternity in Hell if we do not go? 

The cry of my heart is to live a life that is not my own. I want to be used by the Lord to further the Kingdom and to reach the people of this world with His love and truth. 

This is how I want to live.

So this is where I find myself. Stuck. 

My body is stuck here, in America, at school, overwhelmed by lesson plans and activities for children, by lack of time, lack of sleep. And what for? 

Nothing. 

This is not how I want to live.

My heart is stuck in Haiti. With the people in need across the nations, in need of the gospel, in need of truth, love, hope, in need of life. And what would this be fore? 

Everything.

This is how I want to live.

I am.

DRAINED.

Inspiration.

I'm obsessed with maps. 

I want to have them all over my house. 

I am unusually enthralled with the color blue that takes up large parts of maps. 

It may be my new favorite color.

Maps inspire me.

I guess they inspire me for multiple reasons. 

But most of all they set in me a passion to live out the Great Commission.

I want to travel the world to share the gospel with all nations. 

I want to go. 

One Year.

One year ago was one of the most important days of my life. But I didn't know it then.

One year ago I was excited for something. But I had no idea the extent of it.

One year ago was the first missions leader meeting.

One year ago I met my co-leader for our trip to Haiti.

One year ago I met the love of my life :)

Fair warning... this post will be corny but I don't care.

On September 30th, 2009 at 10pm we had our first leaders meeting. I was waiting for it all day long and couldn't wait to go and hear about our trip and responsibilities. I was also excited to meet my co-leader. I had no idea who he was or what to expect him to be like. All I knew is that I would be working closely alongside him for the next 6 months in preparation for our trip to Haiti and a week there. As I was walking to my meeting that night I was on the phone with a dear friend who kept asking me about him. I was slightly puzzled as to why she was so curious and at that point i knew nothing about him. The only thing I knew was that his name was Matthew Johnson. Then she squealed in excitement saying, "He could be 'the one". I laughed and said, "No, I don't think so." Little did I know. In my head I said no. Over and over again. I couldn't date my co-leader. No no no. Too messy, too sticky, not gonna happen. I remember walking into our meeting and being the first one there (story of my life) and then him coming in not long after. My friend Tina pointed him out to me and said, "That's your co-leader". So we met each other and then sat down together and the meeting began.

That was one year ago. Little did I know that day that a year from then, today, I would be in love with Matt. He has been such a blessing in my life. The way he loves me, encourages me, and leads me closer to the Lord is unreal and I'm beyond grateful for it.

I love you, Matthew Johnson. You mean the world to me. I'm glad I met you one year ago.  :)

This was our first photo ever taken together. At the Miami airport after our trip to Haiti. :)

And this is us now :)

Imagine.

Last week I went on a field trip to a national wildlife reserve near my school. We walked through the marsh for quite some time and all my mind could think about was the river walk in Haiti. As I walked through this marsh with my classmates, I was in another world. I was imagining the children running up and grabbing onto my hands. I imagined them asking me questions in Creole and me only being able to answer a few of them. I imagined the children yelling "BEBE FOU!" at Ashley as she ran ahead and they chased her. Then instantly I was snapped back to reality as the guide explained to us how they were preserving the everglades by pouring millions of dollars into measuring the water and how it flows in the marsh... 

Enough said. 

(Florida Marsh)

That's where I found myself wondering how in the world I got there. I'm standing in the marsh, listening to how important it is to protect the everglades and the water and I'm wondering... isn't it more important that there are people across the world that are dying because they do not have clean water or any water at all? 

From then on I could not focus any longer on the information being fed to us by the tour guide. My mind was back in Haiti along with my heart. It was with all the children I've grown to love so dearly. It was with the mommies. The babies. It was with every single person that I came in contact with while I was there. 

To be fully honest, I would have chosen to be on the river walk, walking through a village surrounded by mountains and beautiful trees over being at the wildlife preserve. And that's just the truth. 

(River Walk)

(Beauty of the Creator)

Sewing? Yes please.

Today I have an insanely odd urge to sew something awesome. Like a purse or something. 

Maybe something like this: 

The bottom middle one looks sweet. 

And maybe with a cool antique map fabric? Something like this: 

Hmm... I'd want to hand sew it too... it'd take a while but I'd love it. 

Saturday project? Possibly :)

Handwriting Course? But I Like My Handwriting.

I am currently learning how to write like a computer. And basically how to write on a chalkboard when teaching children how to read letters. 

Fun? Not exactly. 

In other words, my shoes from Not For Sale came in today. They're wonderful. Beyond. So happy.

 

And... since I'm making links... 

Matt got a blog :) Follow him so he'll actually write in it haha 

Well I guess it's time to go back to learning how to write in perfect font. Farewell for now. 

Echo.

"Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name." 

Psalm 86:11

"With all my heart I have sought you; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You." 

Psalm 119:10-11

These two verses have been echoing through my head continually. Everywhere I go, there they are. There is so much beauty and truth in these verses I just wanted to share them with you all :) 

Date Night :)

We went to the cutest ice cream place on the Island....

There was candy too....

Julia and Delton came with :) love double date nights .... 

Then we went to a Cathedral to take pictures....

We walked... talked... and held hands... 

It was wonderful :)