duh beach

Can you believe it? I'm at the beach for an entire week. It's actually like.. a vacation! Yesterday John and I played on the beach for a few hours. He wasn't allowed to skim board in our area, so I was a little worried for his boredom, but we played in the ocean, took a walk, and then eventually he had it, and walked down to the "surfing" area so he could skim board.

Later that night, we went to dinner with Dad and Jess, and got SEAFOOD! (glorious crab legs), and then went Beachwear store hopping for the rest of the night. We managed to hit about 5 stores, all selling basically the same things. We got annoyed when we bought one thing at one store, then saw the same thing for cheaper. John should be pretty preoccupied today; we bought lots of games and such. John's actually really fun to shop with. Hint: when looking for a boy, make sure he's a fun shopper!

Here I am in front of our balcony. It's 10:40am, and I'm still in my PJs with unbrushed hair :)

Oh the joys of zero responsibility.

Perfection, perfection, perfection...

So, last night I lead Youth Group, which I was really excited about. A few things went awry and were kinda fails, but I didn't mind about those. We did a hilarious skit that I think went over well, so I was pumped about that... then came my talk...

I was really excited about it because I felt like I had some good points and that God really placed them on my heart.

Then, after the service I asked John what he thought. He said it all went well except for when I was talking about the "God's provision" part. I didn't quite verbalize what I really thought correctly. When I was talking about seeking God, and he will give you all that you NEED, I didn't really emphasize the NEED part, so to a middle schooler that may sound like, ok draw close to God and he will give me a PS2.

Anyways, although this sounds like a minute detail, I take teaching scripture VERY seriously (I mean the stakes are life or death! eternity with God!) So of course I kinda freaked out and was very upset. I kept replaying what I had said in my head over and over, and even woke up thinking about what I SHOULD'VE said.

After thinking about this travesty, I realized that the Devil REALLY uses my insecurities about perfection to get the best of me. Obviously, he wasn't too happy about me bringing Truth to those kids, so he used the tiniest little thing to bring me down. I'm deciding to not let Satan conquer me and to just learn from this experience and hopefully be more careful next time.

Confession #2

...I started a home decor box....

I had some free time today, so I perused through some home living magazines and picked out some cute ideas for my home decor box. This is actually a second step. I have a bin full of stuff I want to use when I move out, now I'm just collecting more ideas!

shabby rugs, bathroom shelves, dresser, lamps, and vases, shoe door hanger and bathroom decor :)

I Have a Confession...

I just created a box labelled "Wedding" to put ideas, magazine and internet pulls, pics, etc in.

I have never been one to obsesses and/or plan my future wedding, but I figure I'm now in the stage in life where I am pretty positive God has revealed the man for me, and we are to be married within the next few years (after school and such). So I figure, if I see a good idea, why not save it!?

Here are some of my fave things I have seen recently:

Cute and simple table cards

Bright lime green napkin rings

Sweet bridesmaid bouquets

If you haven't noticed, I think I want one of my colors to be lime green, so if you see any ideas, shoot them my way!

SALES!

As most of you may already know, I love love love sales. I went to the Kroger on Broad St (by Pump Rd) and bought tons of stuff, and saved tons! Here's a pic to prove

I bought 75% off makeup (mascaras from $9 to $2!), multiples of deodarent and handsoap, tombstone pizzas for $3 each... and lots of other stuff. Bargain shopping makes me happy. I am quite giddy.

Kindness

So, I'm still doing my series on the Fruits of the Spirit for ECHO, and this week is Kindness.

Originally, I was thinking oh great, kindness, what a crazy inspirational topic... NOT

But as I was researching and going through Scripture, I realized that the Bible mentions God's kindness towards us when he sent his one and only son to die on the cross for our sins. Kindness seems like such a sweet, almost insignificant adjective, but as I kept reading, I realized that kindness actually means something more.

When I think of Jesus' ultimate sacrifice, I think of LOVE, forgiveness, grace, mercy.... not usually kindness-- it has always struck me as a word like "nice."

Truthfully, God conveyed his kindness through this sacrifice and by changing the world from broken and scarred into clean and redeemed. ...pretty amazing

Tonight I will be talking about God's kindness to us, kindness turns us away from sins, changing in order to portray God's kindness, and emulating God's kindness unto others.

Pray!

Top Things

Top things I love to do:

In no particular order because that would stress me out...

Lunch with Dad and shopping with Jess

Reality Television Marathons

Performing

Reading on the beach, tanning on the beach, eating crab legs at the beach

Going on actual dates with John/Spending quality time with John

Seeing kids actually "getting" Jesus/ having some type of impact in a kid's life

Seeing Broadway shows/ NYC trips in general

THE PHILS/ Travel in general

Having sweet quiet times and really feeling on track with God

Tubing on Lake Hopatcong

Girls nights