Okay, so I have no updated my blog in a while. :) Sorry family, I know you have been checking a lot. I have been so busy and when I finally come back to my apartment at the end of the day, I just want to do nothing at all. But, I will inform you all of what I think the Lord is calling me to do right now with my life. I am pretty positive that He wants me to start leading High School kids through an organization called Young Life. Young Life is a non-profit organization designed to teach kids about the LOVE of OUR GOD! It is amazing and every time I leave one of the meetings I am in awe. We are broken. Teenagers are broken. These kids are broken at home, at school, and some in DAILY life in general. Some just need HELP. They need a place to go to "escape" from all their brokenness and feel "safe". This ministry is here to provide that. Young Life reaches out to broken kids (not all kids who we reach out to come from "broken" families) and helps them pick their pieces up.

God really spoke to me when a speaker was talking about being a Young Life leader. She talked about how she is the type of person who loves being there for people and immediately trying to think of encouraging things to tell them to make them feel better when they have no one else to turn too. She said that as a Young Life leader, we have DONE OUR JOB if these kids go to God first, not us. We may want to "fix" it for them, but we just can't. We can provide comfort, but only temporary. God is permanent. As a Young Life leader, the job was successful if they can go off to college and not feel "lost" in their walk with Christ without their leader. They don't need us as their crutch. They need their Healer.This also ties in with friends. I always want to know "WHAT'S UP" when one of my friends is down. Instead, I do not need to think that I need to be the first one there to help, but instead let them go to God first.

I am pretty excited and this has always been something I have wanted to do, but now I think He is REALLY calling me. You know that feeling when you just KNOW that God wants you to do this? I am not going to be going back to a High School to be "most popular", "make best friends", or "date the quarter back", but instead I am going back to High School to help re-build God's children so that they may see Jesus Christ in some kind of way they have no seen before. If only some of them knew HOW MUCH HE LOVED THEM. He changes lives. That is my overall goal. Sometimes your heart feels things your mind just cannot explain in words? Well my heart is telling me something my mind can't really put into words here on this one blog, but I did the best I could. :)

Listening to God requires a deliberate choice to shut out the chaos around you and focus your thoughts. Is God someone you can hear? The Bible says He is, and the Bible is one of the main tools through which He speaks.

We live in a world of noise. Almost everywhere we go, we find sounds competing with our minds, keeping us from letting our thoughts get below the surface level. Hearing God's voice means not listening to the noise of the world around us. It's not easy, but it can be done. Believe me, I have trouble hearing God 24/7, and that is something I am praying about.

King David, author of most of the book of Psalms, gave us a model for meeting with God, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul" (Psalm 143:8).

I am really excited about this new chapter in my life and hope that it ultimately leads me to do what HE wants me to do. He has a plan for everyone and he already knows what you will do before you EVEN come to the path of decision making. How cool is that! I can't wrap my brain around it sometimes. I just have to "let go, and let God."

I ask that you all continue to pray for my decisions about the future as I try to lead broken kids to Christ. I am sure it will be a journey with some bumps along the way, but an uplifting, healing, and most importantly, GROWING experience for everyone involved. Thanks for your support. Love to you all. :)


Neely

Lord, let me be your hands and feet!

Okay, so I have no updated my blog in a while. :) Sorry family, I know you have been checking a lot. I have been so busy and when I finally come back to my apartment at the end of the day, I just want to do nothing at all. But, I will inform you all of what I think the Lord is calling me to do right now with my life. I am pretty positive that He wants me to start leading High School kids through an organization called Young Life. Young Life is a non-profit organization designed to teach kids about the LOVE of OUR GOD! It is amazing and every time I leave one of the meetings I am in awe. We are broken. Teenagers are broken. These kids are broken at home, at school, and some in DAILY life in general. Some just need HELP. They need a place to go to "escape" from all their brokenness and feel "safe". This ministry is here to provide that. Young Life reaches out to broken kids (not all kids who we reach out to come from "broken" families) and helps them pick their pieces up.

God really spoke to me when a speaker was talking about being a Young Life leader. She talked about how she is the type of person who loves being there for people and immediately trying to think of encouraging things to tell them to make them feel better when they have no one else to turn too. She said that as a Young Life leader, we have DONE OUR JOB if these kids go to God first, not us. We may want to "fix" it for them, but we just can't. We can provide comfort, but only temporary. God is permanent. As a Young Life leader, the job was successful if they can go off to college and not feel "lost" in their walk with Christ without their leader. They don't need us as their crutch. They need their Healer.This also ties in with friends. I always want to know "WHAT'S UP" when one of my friends is down. Instead, I do not need to think that I need to be the first one there to help, but instead let them go to God first.

I am pretty excited and this has always been something I have wanted to do, but now I think He is REALLY calling me. You know that feeling when you just KNOW that God wants you to do this? I am not going to be going back to a High School to be "most popular", "make best friends", or "date the quarter back", but instead I am going back to High School to help re-build God's children so that they may see Jesus Christ in some kind of way they have no seen before. If only some of them knew HOW MUCH HE LOVED THEM. He changes lives. That is my overall goal. Sometimes your heart feels things your mind just cannot explain in words? Well my heart is telling me something my mind can't really put into words here on this one blog, but I did the best I could. :)

Listening to God requires a deliberate choice to shut out the chaos around you and focus your thoughts. Is God someone you can hear? The Bible says He is, and the Bible is one of the main tools through which He speaks.

We live in a world of noise. Almost everywhere we go, we find sounds competing with our minds, keeping us from letting our thoughts get below the surface level. Hearing God's voice means not listening to the noise of the world around us. It's not easy, but it can be done. Believe me, I have trouble hearing God 24/7, and that is something I am praying about.

King David, author of most of the book of Psalms, gave us a model for meeting with God, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul" (Psalm 143:8).

I am really excited about this new chapter in my life and hope that it ultimately leads me to do what HE wants me to do. He has a plan for everyone and he already knows what you will do before you EVEN come to the path of decision making. How cool is that! I can't wrap my brain around it sometimes. I just have to "let go, and let God."

I ask that you all continue to pray for my decisions about the future as I try to lead broken kids to Christ. I am sure it will be a journey with some bumps along the way, but an uplifting, healing, and most importantly, GROWING experience for everyone involved. Thanks for your support. Love to you all. :)


Neely

This was so fun!

I decided to try something new and learn how to "applique" shirts. I was not sure how it would turn out since I had never done it before! It was actually not hard at all. I LOVE my cross t-shirt that I had made for me, so I decided, "HECK! I'm going to learn how to make my own so I can have lots!!!" Sooooooooo....One hour in JoAnn's and only 24 dollars later I got the supplies (including long sleeve tees at Target) to make my own shirts! The fabric was so cheap. I got 3/8th's of a yard of one fabric and 3/8ths of a yard in another fabric and it only cost me $7 and that is probably enough fabric for AT LEAST six shirts, probably more. (If I did it perfect everytime and depending on the size of the monogram.) WOO! It was fun! I did stick myself a few times with the needle while sewing. But that WOULD happen. Check out my pics! :)

Neely

In one of those moods again!

I tend to get in my "painting moods". They happen about oh, every few weeks. When I'm at school, probably once every few months. I have so many ideas that I want to paint and do-so I do them all within like 3 days. Most normal people would probably paint just a little everyday. Not me. I can barely wait until the background is dry. I pace the hallway and kitchen. Sometimes it's not dry and I mess the whole durn thing up. That's why now I have switched over to paint that takes about, let's say, at the most ten minutes to dry. It's awesome! Anyway, I did a lime green one with a cross last night that has John 16:33 around it. ""I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." And then today, I did a hot pink one with a cross (different design) that has 2 Corinthians 4:18, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." I love these two verses. I also got an "N". It a big letter made out of paper mache (spelling?) to paint and do something cool on. Haven't thought of any ideas yet though. Okay got to go start HOMEWORK (that should be a curse word or something because it sends chills down my spine.) Gag me with an ever lovin' spoon WHY DON'T YA. Starting to talk to myself, that's a sign that I need to go!
Love,
Neely

My FOUR blessings

My heart is so thankful. This past fall semester I met four girls that have changed my life. Literally! Who KNEW that Biology could be such a blessing! :) (In the order of the picture) Hannah, Jenna, Lindsay, and Sarah. Hannah is a friend who is just easy to "connect" with. Her heart is open to anyone and everyone. She is the most non-judgmental person I know, an ABSOLUTE JOY to be around, and is so, SO excited about life. JENNA is a friend that you know truly cares what you have to say, dependable, and genuinely sweet. She has a great, big loving heart and will break her neck to help you. Lindsay is a friend who is a "soft spoken smiler." She is always smiling and that is one thing I just love about her. She has a great big heart and seems to have room for everyone in it. She is trustworthy, a great listener who understands you, and an overall happy, happy person. Sarah is a friend that I "KNEW OF" for many years because we go to the same church in Memphis, but I never really "KNEW" her. She always makes me laugh and has a VERY sweet soul. She is compassionate, generous, and loving.
Now, Hannah and I met at the VERY beginning of the semester because we had French together and then Biology right after French. We carry the same North Face red and pink backpack. First day of French I was standing in the hall waiting to go in the classroom and she RUNS up to me and (just like bumper boats) bumps her backpack against mine and yells, "Hey! I like your backpack!" I knew as soon as I saw her sprinting we would be great friends. :) We noticed that we had Biology together and were pretty pumped. I am surprised that I didn't scare her off on the first day. I told her that I like to sit by the Emergency Exit just in case there is a classroom shooting. Her eyes got as big as saucers. We were friends because we had two classes together three days a week, but we didn't became GREAT friends until later in the semester. Hannah is compassionate and so friendly to everyone she meets. She will sit down and listen to what you have to say even if it takes hours and she will give you awesome guidance and advice. I am so thankful that she mentioned me working with her at Camp Vesper Point this summer. It is in Chattanooga, TN and is for the entire summer. I am so excited!!! I could not ask for a better person to teach kids how awesome our God is! I have always wanted to be a camp counselor because kids are my passion. So that's Hannah(again) in a nutshell.
Now back to Biology..;).....We started sitting with one of Hannah's friends, Jenna. Jenna also sat by two girls, Lindsay and Sarah. We all instantly bonded and from then on Biology was nothing but one big party. We people watched. We laughed until the other had to tell us to hush. We face-booked. We posted "My Life Is Average" quotes on each other's walls every five seconds. And then laughed again. We made fun of the teacher. I got up to pee every five seconds--but I sat right in the dead middle, so of course I made all kind of racket getting up. And we laughed some more. For my 21st birthday I went to the Oprah show and when I got back we had a "Oprah Party" to see if I was going to be on TV. It was a hoot! They are genuine, compassionate, and overall amazing girls. They have hearts of gold and are truly servant's of the Lord. I missed class one day because I wasn't feeling well and soon enough, Hannah and Jenna were knocking on my door to check on me. Not only are we all friends at high points in our lives, but we are also there during the lowest points. Those are the people in life that mean the most. The ones that will be there for you when the last place you can go is to your knees. Hannah, Lindsay, Jenna and Sarah- I am so thankful for all of y'all. I can't imagine my life without all FOUR of you now! :) Love y'all with all my heart and soul! :)

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Phillipians 1:3

Nals :)

Bowling-#2 favorite class :)

Now that I have talked about ice skating, I can talk about my next favorite class--bowling. Now this class ACTUALLY counts in your GPA--PRAISE THE LORD GOD ABOVE!!!!!! (I probably shouldn't get too excited considering I am the worst bowler in the durn class.) GOOD GRIEF...God just did not bless me with talent in any kind of sport. What's up with that? Oh well, I'll get over it. Bowling is a blast! We are divided up into groups--my group is made up of two boys, Evan and Justin. I think they think that I have some sort of hyperactivity/mental issue going on here. But you have to make it fun in order to HAVE FUN...they'll deal. They are pretty good bowlers. I look like a limp grandma out on the wood floor. They tell me that I "chunk" the ball. It literally (no lie) flys in the air for a good 3 seconds and then lands extremely hard on the wooden floor, almost cracking it. And then it just roooolllllssss into the gutter. Lord. I need bumpers! For the few times that it doesn't go in the gutters, it will straddle the gutter and the wooden floor and make it to the pins-knocking the one on the end down. One pin. One dang dadgum pin. The teacher tends to come to our lane every five minutes and ask me if I need help. Whatever. On another note, I named our team "The Leaners". Every time we get up there, if we lean the way we want the ball to roll, more times than none, it rolls that WAY! So we always LEAN now. "Lean with it, bowl with it." That's our theme song. And every time somebody gets a strike..we have a "strike dance." We point both pointer fingers in the air, dance, and sing, "I gotta strike, I gotta strike!" Excuse me, we YELL it. I am soooo tired when I get to bowling though because it is my last class of the day and I have to actually stand up and participate! But it's so worth it. The maintenance guy at the bowling alley's name is Howard and when we needed him to help us with our stuck ball, I accidentally yelled for him. Except I didn't yell for "Howard", I yelled for "Ronnie." Don't ask. So that is my bowling class all summed up! Oh yeah, and we have to compete in a competition? That's so funny I forgot to laugh. That's not going to fly well with my intermediate bowling skills. It will be an experience for sure!

Later Gators!

Neely

Ice Skating

One week of classes has come and gone. It has been a LONG 8 days of class. I am taking 16 hours-French 211, Political Science, Religious Studies, Education 100, Biology 102, Ice skating and Bowling. Yes, Ice skating AND bowling are classes. And yes, they are my favorite! Ice Skating is on Tuesday and Thursdays at 11:30. I look forward to these days because I get to be with two of my favorite people-Hannah and Lindsay! I pick them up and we go off campus to the Ice Chalet-about 3 miles from campus. I am one HECTIC driver-sorry girls! This past Thursday- we were blasting "One Less Lonely Girl" by Justin Beiber and I nearly hit a pedestrian crossing the street. I didn't see her? And it was not because of the music! Good thing Lindsay yelled. Anywho, we then proceeded to pick up Hannah at her dorm. This always gets me excited because I like to embarrass them by blasting rap music when I pick them up with the windows down. After I have Hannah in the car, then we are off to the Ice Chalet! I nearly pass it every time-so when we get close both of them yell at the top of their lungs, "TURNNN!!!!!!!!!!" And Thursday I ripped in so fast I think we all 3 got a whiplash. We have fun trips there and back--never a boring moment. The car ride--Between Hannah singing and knowing every word to every song, to Lindsay's eyeballs popping out of her head while grabbing the handle above to squeeze when she gets nervous, and my NASCAR driving--it makes for an entertaining ride there. Sometimes I will even start laughing when everything is silent just because being with them makes my heart happy and is just absolutely hilarious! They literally make my day. I don't know what I would do if I hadn't met them. They are God sent! We all get our ice skates on when we get into the building, complete with hats, jackets, and gloves. When we all make our way out to the rink, I usually hang on to the walls for dear life-just in case. Well, this past Thursday we learned how to "stop". I take that back. Everyone else but ME learned how to stop. Unfortunate. We all lined up in a single file line on the wall to skate behind each other and then suddenly the instructor yelled, "STOP!" Everyone comes to a screeching hault..everyone except me. I get out of line and I am still rollin. To the tune of Ridin' Dirty..."They see me skatin', they hatin'. Sorry I had to. Hannah then proceeds to yell for me to stay in the line but I could NOT stop! I pass a few people and then yell, "INCOMING!" I knew I couldn't stop so it probably would be in their best interest to GET OUT OF THE WAY. After trying to learn how to stop we got to free skate. Our teacher turns on music and we skate around. It is very very fun! Lindsay might disagree because the whole time I am following her and I tend to grab her hood (forgetting that we are on ice and SKATING) and YANK her to get back here with me. She nearly busts her booty every time. Poor thing! I am trying to get better. The same day I proceeded to run into the wall. As I said before, I could not stop. I tried, but couldn't. The next thing I heard was an extremely loud noise and I was hunched over the wall (which is really like a wooden fence and comes just below my chest.) Hannah and Lindsay got a kick out of it. But it killed my TOE. So that was Thursdays Ice Skating wrapped up. It is by far the best class I have ever taken! It is AWESOME! Especially since I get to be in there with two amazing friends.They put up with me and they need a reward for that! ;) P.S. My friend Hannah-she is the next Michelle Kwan...man that girl can work them blades!

Love,

The Ice Princess :)