"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:10-11

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!

Anna making cinnamon raisin buns

yum!

Christianne got a Duke T-shirt

Wes and his new keyboard

Ben's new pocket knives

Mom got a new apron

my presents. my favorite is my ESV study Bible :)

tomorrow is Christmas! :)

Just a short update. My voice is just now starting to sound a little better. Maybe it'll be back to normal for Christmas. I sure hope so!

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I think I overdid it yesterday. I had a cold and my throat was extremely sore, yet I still went to work and talked for 9 hours on headset for drive-thru. By the end I could barely talk.
My voice isn't any better today, so all I can do is whisper. Oh well, at least I'm not working today. Later I'm planning to go shopping and pretend I'm Deaf (since I can't talk). That should be fun. :)

I decided I'm not going to school next semester. There's nothing I really want to study for, so I figured it would be better to not spend money on taking classes I don't need. The only problem is, I don't want to stay at Chick-fil-A forever. I want to do something different, but there's nothing else I want to do. Hmm.....

Oh, I recently bought all 6 Harry Potter movies on DVD. I'm happy we have them now, 'cause we can watch them whenever we want. I just love those movies!

I know I stole this from my sister's blog, but I thought it was great so I'm posting it. :)


You Know You're From Charlotte When...

1. You can't drive a mile in any direction without seeing yet another Harris Teeter

2. You know someone who has hit a deer while driving

3. You understand that Charlotte has four seasons: Humid, Very Humid, Insanely Humid, and Christmas

4. You thought Discovery Place was the best thing ever when you were a kid

5. People clean out the grocery stores whenever snow is forecast, and then it snows a quarter of an inch (or not at all)

6. You remember when Charlotte had a real basketball team

7. Everyone wears flip-flops in January...and can get away with it

8. No matter what you do or where you go, some crazy SUV driver will cut you off

9. You know that barbecue is a noun, not a verb

10. There is a Starbucks in every single shopping center

11. You know the Charlotte Knights are not even in North Carolina, let alone Charlotte

12. You know someone who works for BofA or Wachovia

13. You know to give directions that bypass that infamous intersection: Queens Road and Queens Road

14. You are scared to leave home for more than three months for fear that new development will cause you to get lost on the return trip

15. You know to never, EVER drive from Matthews to Waxhaw on Providence Road at 5:00. Under ANY circumstances

16. You've been to Kate's Skates with your youth group on a Monday night

17. You can drive through previously rural areas around the city, naming which neighborhoods, apartment complexes and schools used to be cow pastures and peach fields

18. You question the "photo enforced" speed limit signs along Pineville-Matthews Road; are they real? Let me drive a little faster and find out...

19. You sometimes wonder if the city motto is "We're better than Raleigh"

20. You know that the Arboretum isn't a place where they grow trees

21. You are already driving 10mph over the speed limit and a police car passes you because you are driving too slow

22. You drive straight on one road for 5 miles and it has already changed names 4 times

23. Every summer you got season tickets to Carowinds, and used them only twice

24. Cars' turn signal bulbs never burn out (from inactivity)

25. Red means "stop", green means "go", and yellow means "floor it!"

random

I'm done with school for this semester! Yay! :)
I still have yet to decide if I want to go on to the next level of sign language next semester. See, the next level is a second short session, and I don't really want to do a short session. But I kinda want to learn more ASL. And I like the fact that I don't work the days that I have class. I'd better decide soon, 'cause the class is almost full. Hmm.....

So, I turned 20 on Sunday. Wow. God had been so good!

Oh, and I'm going to attempt to learn how to play guitar soon. I figured it's time I learn how to play an instrument. =P

=)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

fun weekend!

I'm really sore right now. Considering what I did this weekend, I'm not surprised.

Saturday evening, I went to a swing dance. That was my first time dancing, and it was fun! :) We danced for nearly 4 hours. We did swing dance, waltz, and line dance. I didn't really enjoy the waltz, but the other two were great.

Then Sunday afternoon, I went 4-wheeling. I got so muddy, but I didn't care 'cause it was so much fun! I've never done anything like that before, but I'm glad I did. Wow, a year ago I would have been way too scared to do that. I'm definitely breaking out of my comfort zone a lot more than I used to, thanks to the grace of God in my life. I love new adventures! :)

Here are a few pictures from the swing dance.

the Virginia Reel

God is so good!

October was a very good month. It certainly was hard, but it was a good kind of hard.

I thought I had my life straightened out. Then I realized I was miserable. I didn't feel God near me, and I had trouble rejoicing in my circumstances. I tried to figure out what was going on, but didn't get anywhere.

Then God spoke to me through a prophetic word at an M28 meeting. He showed me my sin that was keeping me from enjoying His presence. So I prayed over the next few days that God would help me change, and by His grace, I overcame the sin. I was full of joy for a while, then became downcast again. I was so confused. Why, when I just had a victory, did I suddenly lose my joy?

God again spoke to me through a message at M28. Surprise, surprise, there was another sin I needed to deal with. I was tempted to be discouraged, but God reminded me that He never changes. He was faithful to help me overcome one sin, and He will always be faithful to help me overcome any and every sin that I struggle with. And, praise be to God, He gave me the victory again.

Through those two battles with sin, I learned that I cannot get by without God. I need Him in my life. Prayer is more important to me now than it ever was before, and I love getting up in the morning to read God's Word. My relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in my life right now, and I dearly hope that never changes. I am so joyful! :)

"My heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let Your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:9-11

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!" Psalm 34:8

God is so good!

picture post :)

birthday girl

Happy 17th birthday, Hannah!

You're such an amazing friend. Love you! :)

God is near

I must remind myself of the truths in this song every day. God is near, no matter what I feel.

When the trials come and sorrows fall on me
You are my strength, the ground beneath my feet
When temptation calls to worry about my life
I will place my hope in the cross of Jesus Christ
And joy will be my song
Yes joy will be my song

For You are near, near to me
You still my anxious thoughts
And You bring Your peace
You are near when I call
You drive out all my fears
And calm this troubled heart
You're near to me

You told me to rejoice in every circumstance
And trust in You alone and in Your sovereign plan
You beckon me to come and bring You my requests
You promised that Your peace would come and bring me rest
And joy will be my song
Yes joy will be my song

For You are near, near to me
You still my anxious thoughts
And You bring Your peace
You are near when I call
You drive out all my fears
And calm this troubled heart
You're near to me

When I don't hear You, You're still near
When I don't feel You, You're still near
When I think that You have abandoned me
You're still near, You are near
You'll never leave me
You're still near
You are near!

girls retreat!

Friday and Saturday (the 9th and 10th) I went on the Mission28 girls retreat. I learned so much about God in those two days, particularly Saturday. The two messages were helpful, but the thing that impacted me the most was the hour and 30 minutes they gave us for personal devotions. During that time, God revealed a certain sin in my life that was keeping me from enjoying Him. Then He showed me what I needed to do to combat that sin and change. The rest of my devotions I cried out to God to give me grace to do what He told me. When I came away from my time with the Lord, I felt joyful for the first time in a long time, knowing that God had forgiven my sin and would help me change. It was so refreshing! :)

On to the more interesting part.
The retreat was at Cherokee Cove in the mountains of Tennessee. And oh my, what pretty views! Here are some pictures from the trip there Friday.

On the way there, we stopped at the Annex Mast General Store. They had lots of neat stuff. I really liked this one shirt they had.

Part of the store was all candy. I wish I would've gotten a picture inside, but all I got was the sign. Oh well, you'll just have to use your imagination. ;)

flowers outside the store

When we got to our cabin, we had some time to hang out before dinner. There was a cool two-seat swing in the back yard.

The back of our cabin.

the mountain view

sunset

inside the cabin

early morning mist

I thought this was cute.

At each bed, there was a Bible verse. This is the one at my bed. It was just what I needed to hear. :)

on our way down the mountain

God is so good!

birthday girl

Happy 17th birthday, Becca! You're amazing! :)

Isaiah

I've been reading Isaiah, and it is a book filled with thanksgiving and praise to God. One of the recent Sunday messages was about prayer, and one point in the message was to remember to thank God when you experience His blessing. I've been trying to grow in this way, and reading Isaiah has helped a lot. I really do have so much to be thankful for, how can I not praise God for it?

Here are the verses that impacted me the most.


"He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth." Isaiah 25:8

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3

"The Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him." Isaiah 30:18

"In love You have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back." Isaiah 38:17

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Isaiah 40:8

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable." Isaiah 40:28

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

"[The Lord] gives power to the faint; and to him who has no might He increases strength." Isaiah 40:29


God is so amazingly good to us! :) We must not forget to praise Him for all He has done, and continues to do, for us.

a few pictures :)