Fun Upcoming Events

How is it that one minute you have endless free weekends, and the next....not a free one in sight? Haha. My weekends are filling quickly with lots of random things, and it's really just a sign that the holidays are approaching. And that makes me VERY happy :) Here's a look at a few fun upcoming events that I am really looking forward to:

FUSION DALLAS+09

I am really looking forward to this conference. I will be going with my 20s group from church, and I can't wait! The Fusion Experience is an event for all 20 & 30 somethings in the DFW metroplex who love Jesus and want their lives to reflect their faith. I almost didn't go, but at the last minute felt like God really wanted me there. So I am excited to hear how He is going to speak.

BSF 50th Anniversary Gala
BSF is celebrating it's 50th anniversary, and I am excited to be able to attend the Jubilate Gala they are hosting to praise God for all the great work He has done. This is going to be a special evening of praise for the powerful work of God's Word across the globe in the past 50 years. It will be a special evening for my dad and the sweet staff at headquarters who have been such a big part of my life. I am so grateful for the faithful ministry of BSF; it has meant so much to my family and my own personal faith and growth in the Lord.

Thanksgiving 2009 in Dallas!

This year my parents are coming up here to spend Thanksgiving in Dallas with me and my brother. While part of me is going to miss the big family feast, I am super excited to have a nice quiet holiday with my parents and brother...just the four of us. Holidays tend to be so rushed and packed full of things to do when I go home, so I am looking forward to a relaxed Thanksgiving here...and not having to travel! :)

Laura's Birthday!

My sweet friend Laura's birthday is coming up in early December. I don't know yet what we are going to do to celebrate, but I am excited about celebrating with her! We will have to be sure to do something special to honor her special day :)

Christmas Parties!

Ok. I know it is just now November, but I already have 3 Christmas parties that I am planning to attend. And it just makes me so excited for Christmas! It's hard to think about Christmas, considering that the high on Friday is supposed to be 80 degrees...but we'll get there ;) I do have to throw this thought out there: while I am looking forward to Christmas, I have no intention of celebrating anything Christmas-related until the day after Thanksgiving. It's just not right. Why would you want to skip over the fun and blessing of Thanksgiving? Those of you who know me know that I have VERY strong feelings on this issue...absolutely NO Christmas music or decorations until AFTER Thanksgiving. I adhere to a very strict order of events ;) This is just a peak at the things I am looking forward to...

Skydiving For My Birthday
Since we're looking ahead to the things I am looking forward to...I REALLY want to go skydiving for my birthday!! I have always wanted to go skydiving; it's one of the things on my list of things to do before I die. My next birthday is a milestone year, so I wanted to do something special. So what better way to celebrate than to jump out of a plane?? I have opened it up to anyone who would like to jump with me, but even if I am the only one who jumps, I hope to be able to do this in February :)

Weekend-O-Fun

I was finally able to take some vacation time...I am only extending my weekend 3 days, but it's nice to have some time without having to think about work. Friday I had a leisurely morning; I slept in, enjoyed coffee and the Word in my pajamas, talked with my mom...really, I could have done that on a Saturday, but I enjoyed it 10x more simply because everyone else was at work :)

That night, I hosted our singles night, and we had a BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) Pumpkin Carving night. We had such a great time just hanging out and having a friendly competition with our designs. Here are some pictures from our night-o-fun:

Kelly and Clint hard at work

Smile for the camera!

Oh Laura...

Sweet Lindsey!

Melissa and Nathan cleaning out their pumpkins

Cutting wicks to get ready to light the finished pumpkins!

Look how fun our designs are! Can you guess which one is mine?

Last night, our 20s group was the clean up crew for the church's Kids' Karnival, and afterward we headed over the Cafe Brazil to hang out and enjoy the rest of Halloween. Today was a great Sunday, and I am looking forward to to having 2 more days off!

No Matter What

My journey from this...

to this...

So I am trying this whole new approach to stress, and so far it’s working out pretty well for me. The whole idea is simple: just don’t stress! LOL. For those who know me well, you understand what that statement actually means for this crazy blogger. Someone once told me that they were convinced my middle name was “stress.” Not what I would call a compliment.

Simply put, I don’t really have a great track record when it comes to “letting go and letting God.” If you have followed my blog over the past few years, you probably noticed the struggle. My heart really is to follow His plan and do His will; but somehow I always manage to get in the way. Unfortunately, I may have to accept the fact that I am completely broken and will spend my whole life trying to get it right. I pray that’s not the case, but we’re talking some deep-rooted personality flaws here.

It’s funny (or probably not so funny) how when you don’t listen or choose to do things God's way, He has a way of orchestrating things so you get back on track. This, my friends, is the biggest expression of God’s love and patience toward me, as I tend to veer off course a lot. I am a hopeless mess who absolutely and completely needs her Savior. I think this past year I have learned this lesson more than any other. Praise God that He took all that I trusted in away so that I could recognize that fact. Since then, I resolved that things were going to be different.

So that brings us back to my new approach of not stressing (and moving from the crazy monkey to the more laid back monkey, metaphorically speaking- haha). I can honestly say that I have been stress-free for 6 months now. Granted, things are going well. Bad, frustrating, and disappointing things have happened, but nothing completely earth shattering. Perhaps my perspective has changed given the past year; things that used to stress me out seem so trivial now. God has been faithful and I have slowly grown to trust Him more and more each day. I feel as though I am falling in love with my Savior all over again- something I have prayed for for a long time. Don’t misunderstand me- I still have mountains of work to do. But one step at a time; and remember I have to make up a few steps from when I took a few steps back.

But it’s easy to trust God in the good times, right? Things are going well, and praising His name is easy! I am not so naïve anymore and understand that it really only matters when reality hits. So all this time, in the midst of praising Him for all the good things in my life right now, I have been praying (praying hard) that God would make this new-found faith real. Part of my journey to the heart of God is truly grasping that God is sovereign and has the best plan for me…no matter what.

I feel as though I had my first test this week. Something important (something that was promised to me) was supposed to happen and now things are changing. My flesh is frustrated with the way things are being handled, and I feel as though I am at war. I am fighting to trust God no matter what happens with this situation. It’s hard, and it is a minute by minute struggle. But God is faithful and has provided strength and peace through the process. I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I am praying desperately that the words of this blog will be as true then as they are right now. I want to be that Christian- the one who is able to trust God in the hard/frustrating/seemingly unfair times and be ok with whatever He answers. And really, I want to be more than just ok; I want to be joyful. Even if that answer is “just kidding- change of plans” ora flat out “no.”

So please pray for me. Right now, I am filled with God’s peace, and I am committed to trusting Him. For the first time in my entire life, I am actually not stressed about something I normally would be. And that, my friends, is a victory in Christ worth blogging about :)

Looking Back

It's interesting to look back at this past year. In so many ways, I am speechless at how much has happened in a year's time. I know that people usually look back at the year in December. But for me, so many pivotal things happened in the fall of last year. I know I have said over and over about how amazed I am at where God has brought me. But so help me, I don't ever want to stop saying it.

A year ago I found the church family I have grown to love...

A year ago, I was praying for courage to leave the job I loved, and I had no idea the journey God would take me on...

A year ago, I was starting my role as a discussion leader at BSF...

A year ago, if you had asked me what I would be doing, I would never have thought of insurance or human resources...

A year ago, I was afraid of the silence that I heard from God. And yet He has carried me through an entire year, teaching me to trust His plan, wait for His timing, seek His heart, and hope for the good things He promised.

So looking back, God is good. Looking at what is here and now, God is good. And looking forward, God is good!

I'm a CLCS...What?!?

Sales School is officially over! I survived the 3 weeks and now know more about commercial insurance than I ever thought I would :) As interesting as my classmates were, and as much as I am not a fan of sales, I am grateful for the training opportunities that my company has given me.

Not only did I walk away with a plethora of insurance knowledge, I also walked away with the first set of professional letters to go after my name. I am officially a CLCS: a Commercial Lines Coverage Specialist. Isn't that exciting? They even gave me this spiffy certificate!


And yes, I will probably hang this somewhere in my office- haha. But for now, I plan to finish up some work and then try to get some sleep this weekend before the craziness of getting back to the office next week.