Sunday, July 7, 2013

Summer Lovin'

This summer has been such a blessing and a learning experience. I have had the blessed opportunity to work for a Summer camp called Maple Grove Farms and to work in retail for New York and Company. I believe that both of these opportunities were provided by the divine intervention of my heavenly Daddy. 
      Recently though I must admit that I had forgotten that He works divinely and intentionally in our lives. I got greedy. I started to think about how much more money my friends and sister were making per hour at their jobs. I started to doubt if I had chosen the right places to devout all my time too. I started to become lazy, feeling as if I was getting paid to little for the quality work that I performed. Then today at work God spoke to my selfish and sinful heart. I was hyped up on a Rootbeer float and literally "floating" on cloud nine excited for my work shift. My co workers were, as they always are, flabbergasted to see someone with such excitement to be at work. I didn't let their strange stares or negativity impact me. Instead I started thanking God for the job and the hours I was being given. It was amazing to see the difference the little prayers had on my attitude. He sustained me even when I hit my sugar crash and all the energy was draining. I was still able to grin from ear to ear. 
      He brought to my mind a quote I once heard from one of my dear friends "Treat work like you are overpaid and underworked no matter if its true". Let me tell this is not easy! In the world we live in today we are told that we are always underpaid and overworked, which may be true. We never stop to think about the blessings and lessons that He is trying to show us throughout our environment. One of my all time favorite quotes/mottos is "wherever you go whatever the weather always bring your own sunshine". So combining these two attitudes I realized that I should always be excited to go into work and that I should always bring my 100% performance. Even when I know other coworkers aren't giving it their all or if there is the possibility to still get paid without doing the work. It shouldn't be about what we can get away with and still get paid. God calls us to do our best whatever it is like we were working for Him instead of man.  
       I am extremely thankful for this lesson and perspective He demonstrated to me tonight! Because lets face it life is too short to be grumpy and displeased every time we go in for a work shift! I feel like this situation also resembles what it means to have a relationship with our Savior. Let me explain. I went to work. Instead of complaining and grumbling I turned to God and gave him my concerns and decided to thank Him. He then gave me the strength and perspective to continue the positive attitude through the rest of the night. My work load didn't change, my energy didn't increase ten fold, I didn't get a pay raise, and I didn't get off any earlier but I was happier and fulfilled. That is what it is to live in His wonderful embrace. Life doesn't get easier, the load doesn't lighten, in face it occasionally gets harder. BUT you have the wonderful friendship of the majestic, extravagant, loving Father who makes life worth it. Who made life. I am so grateful and thankful that he allows a sinful sinner like myself to get to communicate with Him daily! May I continue to grow closer and seek His companionship more! May I also continue to work with a happy and grateful heart! 

xoxo 
abz 

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Definition

How would you define yourself?
What words come to your mind first?

A few that swim into my head are kind, awkward, confused, young, southern

       The American culture is obsessed with definitions. We have to define every aspect of our lives. The media tries to persuade us to make our definitions from products, alcohol, employment, clothing, body type, weight loss. Think about it one of the first questions you ever ask someone is what they do for a living. Our first impression and definition of a person comes from what they have chosen to do for a living. Or for college students its the inevitable, unavoidable question of "what is your major" aka what are you planning on doing with your life. Yet, we never dig into the deep questions like what was the specific moment that led you to want to do blank, how did you make it here, or is it their life passion. We just put them into labels just as we are putting ourselves into labels.
       I've been noticing the objects I allow to define myself recently. Sadly, they aren't places in which I should be looking or taking definitions. I've let grade define me, I've let family define me, I've let society define me, and I need to be letting God define me.
        I'm sure every perfectionist college student has battled with letting grades define their hard work, worth, and diligence. I know I have. Not having a 4.0 means I'm not as intelligent or hard working as I should be. Leading me to believe that a B means I'm a failure and never going to go anywhere in life. I get so wrapped on my definition from that letter grade that I'm not retaining anything from the class. Instead I'm doing whatever I can do to get an A which many times means not learning anything that actually adds to my knowledge. It's so silly and I know it. I can't tell you how many times I have to remind myself that receiving a "B" isn't the end of the world. Yet, even though I know that those are just letters and they don't define me I'll still be reminding myself next week.
        I had never really considered the definition I was receiving from my family till some recent events in my family. I can still remember the thought like being able to recall your favorite song from the first beat. I was reflecting on this event and I thought to myself, I seriously said these words "Wow, I had always thought I was better and above this kind of lifestyle but I guess I'm worse off then I thought". First off can we just dissect how selfish and sinful that statement is. The fact that I would have the audacity to be above a certain type of lifestyle. I am just as horrible as the worst person you could ever imagine. I pray to our precious Savior that he will work in my heart to create one that reflects His. Second why is one of my family members decisions reflecting my character and my definition? Why must we define someone based on their surroundings. Yes they shape how they have become who they are today but they by no means define them. So don't by into the devils lies. You are a beautiful creature made in the image of God for his purpose! AND HE WILL WORK IN YOUR BEST INTEREST IF YOU LOVE HIM. Friends may we all learn that his wounds have destroyed definitions. We all come to the cross naked. We leave our definitions and our sins on that cross and walk away with a new definition. A new identity. We are free to be the redeemed.
        I will not be defined by being a teacher. It will explain the passions of my personality and interests. BUT, there is more to the person beyond. There is more to the homeless person, the construction worker, the stay at home mom, the CEO. They are beautiful jewels created by our heavenly Father and they all tell a story about Grace.
       This is why you are NOT defined by the mistakes you have made. It took me two years to finally understand that quote. But it feels so GOOD! I am NOT DEFINED BY MY MISTAKES I am defined by a man who gave his life so that I might find life.

You are free of the bandages that have held you down.
The Battle is won.
It is finished
leave behind the shackles
and walk into the freedom that is GRACE!


Tuesday, March 13, 2012

A Quiet Get Away

Spring Break is around the corner and all I want is a quiet get away. 
Honestly I think I would be perfectly fine with getting a cabin and disappearing for two days. 
Going somewhere with a beautiful view.
A porch. 
A lake. 
A dock. 
Having 4 or 5 books 
and doing absolutely nothing
Just two days to think by myself. 
To read
To sleep
To relax
To do absolutely nothing
But 
Reflect on the nature around me and the God who created it. 

Friday, August 26, 2011

OH HAAAAY!

Hey Hey Hey!
 By golly it has been the fastest month of my life! I really can't believe that in two days I will have been back in knoxville for 30 days! I seriously felt like I just left my house! Life has been crazy lol!! I never imagined the work load that we were going to have during our two weeks of training for RA. Seriously they had us going from 9am to 10 pm. most days! It was exhausting but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I utterly love being an RA. Seriously I could not have fathomed how much I was going to bond with my staff or how fast we would all become best friends. I love my hall director she is the sweetest, funniest, sassest, bestest boss ever!! I love my apartment although it is no where near being done! So if you ever wanna come visit please do I've got sooo much space it is ridiculous! I love being a sophomore too. It's just that much easier than being a freshman. I know more stuff I'm not freaking out about everything. I'm a lot more outgoing this semester. Last year I kept to myself and really didn't meet a lot of new people. I really want that to change this year and so far it has. I really want to do a lot with this year.
                   Goals for this Year:
1. Meet more people
2. Be more personable
3. Be the best RA
4. Find something to do with kids
5. Maybe do a small theater play.
6. Get all A's.

I was talking to one of my fellow RA's about this program head start that sounds like soo much fun! It is for toddlers to kindergarten and it a school for underprivileged kids. So much so that the teacher even drives the bus to pick them up and take them home. It sounds right up my alley! Now all that I have to do is find someone who would be willing to do it with me because I need transportation! Well I now am going to go walk the halls!
More to come.
Abz

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

A trantramatic 5 year old

I haven't blogged in forever because i am a stubborn 5 year old. 


I'm a stubborn 5 year old in many ways. but mainly in that I through tamper fits at the thought of growing up. You know like that little girl who just recently got a new baby brother and tries to defy the idea that she can no longer drink out a bottle or steal all of mommy's attention. Thats me. It seriously is a problem and a weird one at that. What kind of person doesn't want to grow up. I've always disliked the idea of growing up. Seriously I planned my life and I had it stopping at 18. My senior year of highschool was everything I was looking forward to. I didn't even put a thought to what would happen after that it was just a black abyss. Well my senior year came and went. Just like that. Everything I'd been planning for rapidly sped past me. I was left having to make decisions on where I would go to college. I had no idea what I wanted. I never wanted to think about what would come next. the fact that I would soon no longer get to use the excuse that I was a teenager and didn't know better. Or that I wasn't going to be able to use my parents as an excuse to cop out of going to things I didn't want to go to. So I ignored the idea of what I wanted after my senior year. I picked a college that wasn't memphis cause I knew I didn't want that. To be honest I wasn't very excited. I loved the summer before freshman year at UT. It was like a heavenly limbo. I got to act like a big kid with a little more freedom yet I was still that little kid who lived at home. Then all the fun stopped and it hit me like a ton of bricks the night before I left for knoxville. I was leaving home. I wasn't going to be a daily part of my families routine. I couldn't come home with my good test grade just to get that approving smile from my mommy. No i was about to drive 6 hours away from the only city I had ever known to go to a school where I only knew a handful of people. I was going to have to suck it up be a big kid and make myself meet people. I bawled that night. While other kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement of leaving home I was clinging to every last moment of staying home. Don't get me wrong I was excited about leaving but I was terrified about the unknown. Was I going to make friends. Was school going to be really hard. Would I make good grades. Would I gain the freshman fifteen. Would I find some place where I fit in. It was a lot to mentally picture and I seemed to see it all the night before I left. I was that little 5 year old girl sitting in her bedroom with her old princess dress on not wanting to take it off for anything or anyone. 


Today I'm still that little five year old girl but a little less dramatic. I love college. I love the idea of growing up. I made friends. I found a place where I fit in. School wasn't hard. I succeeded more than my expectations. It is funny how much a year can change a person. I know I'm still the same girl in many ways but I've started to be more rational about life. Sure from time to time I still freak out about growing up but I've realized that it is an adventure that shouldn't continue with kicking and screaming. I still stubbornly don't like to think about growing up henceforth the lack of blog-age. It's funny how much writing down your thoughts helps you to see the big picture and make sense of the things emotions tend to muddify. (i know lots of unreal words in this post) I find myself not writing when I don't want to think about anything. For example if I have a relationship that needs fixing and it will most likely end up taking a turn that decreases that friendship I stop writing I stop thinking about it and try and go back to being a 5 year old. A five year old who doesn't have to worry about little arguments and just continues to dance in the sun though the storm is about to come. I like being an ostrich who sticks her head in the sand in hopes that everything will just work itself out. Like if i close my eyes everything will go away because I can't see it. Yet, at some point I slowly lift my head out of the sand and notice that everything is still the same just intensified because I let time build up behind it. My daddy taught me to think and for that I am seriously extremely grateful. I really have come to understand just how much he taught me that I really just didn't grasp till now. I feel like because of my parents and the way they raised me I'm at sometimes a lot more mature than many of the people my age. Its like they cursed me with the ability to actually think through things while other freshman just live up being in college. It's a blessing and a curse but mostly just a blessing...I just can't use the excuse but I'm young and in college because my parents taught me better. 


i guess i'm writing this to admit I hate growing up. I don't like making big decisions. I don't like not being a little kid anymore. That at times I wish I could go back and be that little girl who liked to steal all her parents attention. Yet, that as I grow older these things become less scary. That I'm learning and God is showing me that there is soo much more to come. That though one chapter is closed he is opening and working on a new chapter that will be more enthralling than the other. So I'm learning to love growing up. To love change. To love being the big sister who gets to come home and spoil her younger siblings. The big sister who no longer selfishly grabs at mom and dads attention but tries to be a better example. To love the idea of making it on my own.


So fellow bloggers I'm back. I will be more consistent because this year I will not ignore the big decisions. I will not ignore being a grown up. I will take my princess dress off and put it in a box to remember the chapter behind me and look forward to the chapter that is being written.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Freshman year in the bag

So I know I dropped off the side of the world but I am going to try and make my comeback now! So to kick off this big debut why not start off with a countdown/list of things to know for your freshman year of college!

20 things learned from freshman year:
1. No matter how good you think the cafeteria food is now you will hate it by the end of the school year.

2. The cafeteria food will kill you! You think paula dean likes butter you haven't met your college caf yet!

3. That tiny dorm room won't be that small until the last 2 months of school, then it feels like a cardboard box.

4. Freshmen boys are not smart at all. So be friends and thats it!

5. You will fight with your room mate. When that time comes remember to hear their side.

6. Try new things and get involved.

7. Get out from your old highschool crowd and make new friends.

8. Call your Mom, Dad, Sister, and Brother frequently.

9. Guard Your Heart.

10.  Go to the gym and try some of their classes, they are fun!

11. Talk to a random stranger out on the lawn, on the elevator, in class.

12. STUDY!! you don't want to be stuck with a 6 year bill because you wanted to party.

13. Go to class! Teachers see that and it will HELP your grade! office hours will be your best friend!

14. 8 a.m. classes are death. I don't care if you are miss sunshine and get up at the crack of dawn in                 college that changes and 8'oclocks will feel like you are trying to pull yourself out of a swamp.

15. Don't always take your advisors words as the best thing. Know what you want to do and how to get there. Advisors are people too, they will mess up, besides your not their only student. They don't remember every little detail to your ideas for your life.

16. Plan ahead, Dream, and don't let anyone steal your happiness.

17. Everyone has a unique story so be slow to judge, you never know the full store from the first                    impression.

18. Explore your college town! Eat at the one of a kind restaurant, run by the river, visit their zoo.

19. Don't forget who you are and what you stand for.
              There are a lot of voices and people that will pull you in different directions.
                                         Listen to your voice above the rest.

20. Find what you are passionate about and chase it down.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Dominating Like A Champ

i SURVIVED my crazy week!!!

********Insert victory dance******

Last week was ROUGH but I made it through....Did I get a lot of sleep or do as well as I would have liked?..No but I tried my hardest! This week is sooo much light! Just two papers! This week also starts campaign week!! I am sooo nervous to see who is going to win. Campaign starts tomorrow and voting happens next tuesday and wednesday. I also find out about RA on monday or tuesday...So next week will either be a really really good week or could be a really really bad week. I'm hoping for a good week!!
The more I go to biology class the harder it gets to pay attention. NOt good I need to pay attentnion so i can get better grades! I am really really depressed it got SO COLD again!!!! not cool at all...It is seriously freezing cold here! like freezing! brrrrrr I hope wherever you are it is warm! I don't like the cold and I was sooo ready for summer! Ugh knoxville weather.