At this time last year...

It's definitely cliche for me to be writing a blog post about the New Year, however, I believe that sometimes things are cliche for a good reason and if reflecting on this past year makes me unoriginal or boring...I can deal with that.

At this time last year I didn't know what I was going to be doing or where I was going to be living.  My fingers were crossed for Dallas...I loved a church there and wanted to stay in Texas. That was my plan and not God's. Now I'm living in NWA, working for an incredible church and surrounded by incredible new and old friends.

The whole "my plan vs. God's plan" got me thinking...here is the result...

• Junior year of High School--My plan: continue to live very comfortable, average teenage life.  God's plan:  face the trial of losing my mom, which challenged and strengthen my relationship with Him.
• Postgrad year #1--My plan: attend the Kanakuk Institute.  God's plan: wait a year in order to support friends and family and learn that being an elementary ed teacher is not for me.
• Kanakuk Institute--My plan:  work for Kanakuk Kamps...live happily ever after.  God's plan:  get me in full-time ministry (K-Life) so I realize a little more about who He has created me to be and what I love to do the most. 
• Waco K-Life year #4--My plan: student ministries Watermark, Dallas, TX.  God's plan:  student ministries Fellowship Bible, Northwest Arkansas, among too many great people to name/count. 

So many events I could add...but in an attempt to keep this short(ish)...I'm just extremely thankful that I'm not in control of my life.

Happy 2012!

The Pinterest Miracle & Black Friday

I've been meaning to post this since Thanksgiving...better late than never right?!

Thanksgiving was so much fun for my family...besides it being the first time we were together since last Christmas (Elisa we missed you) some random things took place such as...

My dad bought a new farm.  On the property is a house.  L-O-N-G story short (it could seriously be a Lifetime movie) after our feast everyone went to see this new property with the crazy story.  Upon arrival my sister, Laura, and I spot old windows, frames, doors, wood planks, ladders...so many fun craft-able things. Below is a picture of our free treasure...thus our Pinterest Miracle.

(this would be a fortune at any antique store
PINTEREST MIRACLE!)

To appreciate the next story you need to know these things...

• Wal-Mart in Winchester, IN is like a bad High School reunion...my sister and I avoid it like the plague.
• Black Friday shopping scares me.
• My brother-in-law, Jacob, is not scared of Black Friday shopping. 
• I love Kinect so much that last year I bought a game so I could play it on Garrett Perkins Xbox Kinect.

After eating some wonderful food and cleaning up the wonderful mess. Jacob (brother-in-law) was looking over the Black Friday ads.  He mentioned that at Wal-Mart there was an X-Box Kinect Bundle (X-Box, Kinect & game) deal for $200 (original value A LOT).  Before we knew it we had called the Winchester Wal-Mart to see when they were allowing the line to form, packed a bag of games and snacks and hopped in the car to head to our most dreaded Winchester location.  Pictures can explain the rest...

(We were nervous laughing at this point..
Winchester Wal-Mart = YUCK!)

(9th and 10th in line..rumor was that
there were 10-20 packages available)

(We got a voucher! Which meant we
were 2 of 13 ppl to receive the deal)

(SWEET VICTORY)

Thankful that Christmas is right around the corner! Excited to see my family again (and curious to see if Dance Central 2 will be under the tree for me).  

All in a day's craziness

Frustrating craziness...

1. Sat down to eat breakfast and read at 7:35am thinking I had a good 40min to enjoy a slow morning. Realized I was supposed to be at the church at 8:00am instead of 8:30am. So long slow morning.
2. 1:30pm found out I was the only cell group leader attending cell group.  Our group consists of 30 7th grade girls and starts at 3pm. This could be chaos. 
3. 2:45pm headed to cell group. Swerve off the road a little because of a reckless driver.  Get a flat tire. Really stupid driver?
4. Must drive 40mph or under on 540 to Walmart (thanks to the spare). Will I ever get to Walmart?
5. 1.5 hour wait for the tire to be fixed. My Pinterest app isn't even working. 
6. Walmart calls to tell me that my tires were originally put on backwards...fixing will take 30min longer. Really?! Really?! 

Sincerely,
Negative Nancy
(otherwise known as my first reaction)

Better perspective...

1. Having a job where you are asked to arrive early in order to pray together is a blessing.
2. Getting to hog the attention of 30 amazing 7th grade girls...not bad at all. 
3. Just a flat tire...could have been worse.  Amazing host home dad to the rescue...wasn't even late to cell group. 
4. 40mph on the interstate aka opportunity to laugh at yourself. SMH. S.M.H. 
5. Overhearing ridiculous convos between Walmart employees in the Walmart McDonald's & rescued by Shelley (roommate) who entertained me with Laffy Taffy jokes....worth it...totally worth it. 
6. Killing time in the Walmart book section.  Pretty much reading "Eat This, Not That" in its entirety...extremely insightful.

Sincerely,
Positive Polly

For real though...I pray that I continue to learn from days like today...I don't want circumstances (especially the little things) to dictate my attitude.

"Be joyful always..." 1 Thess 5:16

Tension in Transition...

Here's the deal...I've been contemplating on whether or not to write this blog post for about a week now.  I don't want to be the girl who appears to be screaming for sympathy, so if you read further simply know, that is FAR from my intentions.  When I started this blog honesty was was one of my goals and that is why I'm writing this post.

My attempt to put 7 days of thoughts and experiences in a few words...

Problem:  Loneliness (with a side of over analyzing).

Progression of solution:  (Too many fun details to share...here are some highlights)

• The Lord convicted me of being a bit ridiculous in believing in lies that had so easily formed in my mind, because I was too prideful to share how I was feeling with a human being. 
• Faithfully He provided opportunities for me to be honest and open about how I was feeling to some amazing friends. 
• The amazing friends were encouraging and offered up great advice/wisdom. (i.e. you've only lived here 5 months).
• Shift in perspective.  Realizing just how much I am blessed.  I am surrounded by wonderful people, literally surrounded....live with an unbelievable new friend, have my fake fam in Fay (note alliteration), work with some of the most wonderful people who double as great friends and continue to meet stellar individuals who are possible future friends. 

Sure.  This past week has been hard, however, I wouldn't trade it.  I'm more aware of the blessings the Lord has given me...and that is a fun place to be. 

Aspiring to be crafty...

I dedicate this post to Pinterest. (If you are a boy...feel free to stop reading).

A couple of weeks ago I bought a lamp for $2 at a garage sale.  Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it in it's original state, but imagine green and gold (Go Baylor), with no shade.  With a Pinterest state of mind, I had high hopes of making it look wonderful, so I purchases a shade at Target and some spray paint at Lowe's.  Pretty simple right?!...WRONG. 

While spray painting, I discovered that the cord of the lamp was all kinds of jacked up and this is what happened...

• I plugged the lamp in anyway. Smoke. Slight shock. Blew breaker. Silly curiosity.
• Took apart lamp. It had MANY parts. 
• Lowe's trip #2...very helpful employees. 
• Shamefully it took me, 6...count them...6 tries to re-wire the lamp properly.

I learned that I'm persistent, but really not a perfectionist when it comes to crafty things.  If it works, serves the function it's supposed to and doesn't look hideous it's a #win. 

Progression of pics to follow.

at this point I do NOT know what I'm doing.

wired this sucker 6 times

The parts I had leftover...oops.

 

finished project.

Proof that it actually works.

side view...I just wanted the same
number of pics on each row           

She speaks...

This Sunday was my first time to give the talk at Fellowship Student Ministries (FSM).  Opportunities like this make me realize how much I enjoy teaching.  It's challenging, fun and when attempting to communicate Truth it's most definitely convicting.  Here are some highlights...

• James 2:1-13...about favoritism & loving others.
• Lauryn Dixon and Allison Beene (2 former Waco K-Life leaders and now dear friends) came to support me...so thankful for them! 
• At the beginning of my talk, I showed some funny pictures of in order for the students to get to know me more...they are below for your enjoyment.
• Shout out to my Dad for remembering my kindergarten teacher's name for an illustration...clutch.
• In staff meeting this morning it was fun to hear my team members' opinions/thoughts.  They were very encouraging, which was fun.  One constructive critique was, "you are a little too positive." It made me laugh, but its so true.  When talking about "evil motives" I should probably take a break from smiling.  

So...there you have it...first talk done and done. 

P.S. BIG "THANK YOU" to Garrett Perkins and all the sweet Waco K-Life folks who showered me with encouraging texts Saturday night...y'all are the best...for real! 

Why Blog?! Well...several reasons...

•  Since college I’ve lived in Indiana, Missouri, Texas and now Arkansas.  I have wonderful family and friends in all those places and I want to share my life with them, hopefully this blog will help me do so adequately.
• I’m blessed to work in student ministry.  Kids do funny things that should be shared.
•  When the Lord teaches me something, sharing it with others brings me joy.
• Pinterest.  Yes, Pinterest.  I pin.  I do.  I share. Failures and successes, so truth may abound.

My goals…

•  Keep every post short (ish).
• Be honest.
•  Blog once a week (ish).

Hope you enjoy it!