How Sweet It Is

"How sweet it is to be loved by you.
How sweet it is to be loved by you.
I needed the shelter of someone's arms, there you were.
I needed someone to understand my ups and downs, there you were.
With sweet love and devotion...
Deeply touching my emotion...
I want to stop and thank you."

 This past weekend was Mother/Daughter! I absolutely loved having my mom come to Boone and spend some time with me and Shelley. (We missed Melanie though!) My dad came up to so he got a little alone time while us girls had some fun! The theme of the event was "How Sweet It Is" and everything was just beautiful. We ate food Daniel Boone Inn which is my FAVORITE and Mrs. Peggy (our sorority advisor) delivered a beautiful message on friendship and how Jesus should be at the center. It was so fun to dress up and spend some time with some of my best friends and my mom! I LOVED it. Here are some pictures from the event:

 On Sunday, Shelley and I got to travel to Yadkinville for our family reunion! It was so exciting to see my cousins again! I miss them when we're at school! Amazing food + laughter + reuniting with family = AWESOME. 

Shelley and I with our Yadkinville cousins!

The whole family! (minus a few)

Just to add to the amazing weekend.... Elevation Global had our practice run- through service on Sunday night! We are so blessed to announce that someone walked by our room, heard our worship, came in and listened to the sermon, and ACCEPTED CHRIST. We are completely in awe of God's power and hand in this church. It is just incredible and we are all so excited for our kickoff this Sunday! 255 people RSVP'd already! Praise Praise!

Happy 80th Birthday Nanny!

Happy 80th Birthday to my sweet Nanny! I love you! 

Her wisdom taught me the ways of the world. 
Her advice guided me through my childhood. 
Her simple heart taught me about southern charm. 
Her gentle voice helped me learn to read.
Her smile constantly encouraged me.
Her hugs always lifted my spirits.
The love my Papa and her shared has taught me about true love: the dedication and caring that went into their relationship was inspiring. 
She has loved me for 19 years the way only a GRANDMA can.

Girl's Night!

After a long week, it was a relief to finally get together with my girls and have a much needed girls night! Lori, Megan and I went to dinner at Los for some yummy Mexican food and then we met Laura at Lori's house! Our original plan was to make some sort of pastries with nutella, marshmallow, peanut butter, and chocolate syrup... (healthy, I know). 

Long story short, that didn't work, haha! Sooo we ended up making vanilla, nutella, peanut butter, and chocolate milkshakes! (We're not known for our healthy eating habits...)

They were delicious! And we put our milkshakes in fancy glasses just because we're that awesome.

Love my roommate for next year, Lori!! We're two of a kind. 

We ended the night by watching Burlesque and talking about Elevation Global. We are all so excited to see God at work this semester. I love these girls so much and I'm so happy that God has placed them in my life. College Friday nights are the best.

UPDATE!

200 people have RSVP'd so far to Elevation Global: Appstate, launching April 3!! AHH so excited! 


P.S. Went to see our Worship Band- Take Heart- perform at BCM last night. They were absolutely incredible! God is going to rock some socks off on this campus.


http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=171168776267354

Jesus Fills Our Cup

This weekend has been so much fun! Last night was SAO's calender party (dress up as your favorite holiday!). It was absolutely hilarious. There were so many holidays represented: Earth Day, Wedding day, Cinco de Mayo, Grandparents day, etc. I dressed up as National Teacher's Day and Shelley was Valentine's day. My favorite was Labor day! Check this out:

Haha Regina is too funny. 

This morning was my Prayer Brunch! The girls and I were honored to have Sarah Martin, staff writer for She Seeks - A Division of Proverbs 31 Ministries specifically for women in their twenties, come speak to us. I had the privilege of meeting Sarah last night for dinner at Panera! We had so much fun getting to know each other while chatting about college life and Elevation Global. Sarah’s goal is to help young adult women see Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords in EVERY part of their life. Her message this morning was beautiful and exactly what many of us needed to hear. Sarah spoke on how we tend to fill our lives with other things in order to satisfy our desires. She used the analogy of a cup and how we can pour and pour out our lives into other things, but unless we are pouring from the Lord's unlimited supply, then we are soon going to run into depletion. If we allow the Word of God to fill us up and overflow in our lives, then we will be completely satisfied and also have life to give to others. It was a beautiful message and a fantastic reminder to myself that I need to continue to dig deeper into the Word of God and allow it to fill me up. NOTHING in this world can satisfy my desires (for a relationship, for purpose, for jobs, etc.) like Jesus can. Thank you Sarah! 

"So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be FILLED to the measure of ALL the FULLNESS of God." -Ephesians 3:17-20

So thankful for my new friend, Sarah!

Our yummy brunch food

Me and Tracy!

My twin littles!

Sarah talking to Shelley about possible jobs! Haha

Sister love <3

ELEVATION GLOBAL: APPSTATE

I have had the most exciting news burning within me for awhile now and I'm so excited that I finally get to share! Elevation Church is starting a Global campus at Appalachian! Here's the story of how this happened...

A few weeks ago, the Lord laid on my heart to pray for something BIG. To pray for impossible things. This desire to pray for something big coincided with the Bible Study I am leading on Steven Furtick's book, Sun Stand Still. The girls in my Bible Study and myself have been learning how to have audacious faith and learning to act in bold ways for the sake of Christ. Little did I know that the sorority's brother fraternity was also dreaming of big things God could do on this campus! At one of our Joint Bible Study meetings, led by Troy Welty, a few of us brainstormed of some ways that we could make an impact on this campus. 

"What if we started an on campus church so that freshman who didn't have a car or those students who didn't want to wake up early in the morning could have the chance to go to church?" "What if we started a church that could relate to students in a way that was different than the other churches in Boone?" The vision was clear. But how could we go about doing this? 

"What if Elevation was involved?" ...

Almost all of us are from the Charlotte area and attend Elevation Church. We all recognize the life change that the church as had on each of us. Having Elevation working with us in starting an on campus church seemed absolutely incredible, but strangely impossible. We began to pray for God to move on this campus and use us to make a difference. 

“You will never know what it is like to experience God’s power in this way until you have the audacity to believe and pray and act in the confidence that our God is a God of the impossible.” - Sun Stand Still 

There's so many other little details I could share with you about this amazing experience and how it came to be. Long story short, we finally came into contact with two staff members from Elevation. We emailed back and forth and conference called. This past weekend over Spring Break, our little team traveled to the Blakeney and Providence campuses so that we could ask questions and see the "behind the scenes" at Elevation. It was truly an amazing experience. I learned so much about what goes into starting a church.

Elevation Church is calling this Elevation Global. The purpose of a Global Location (Appalachian) is the same as that of Elevation Church - to reach people far from God and fill them with life in Christ. An Elevation Global Location is a unique expression of that vision, specific to its community, where people far from God can come together under the preaching and leadership of Pastor Steven Furtick and partner with Elevation Church in changing the world. Appalachian State University is the first University Global campus! http://www.elevationchurch.org/global/sites

We feel so honored to be a part of something so special. Starting April 3rd, the Lord is going to move powerfully on this campus. We are praying for life change. We are praying for eyes to be opened and for college students to begin to have extraordinary passion for Jesus. We are praying for God to pour out his presence all over this campus. I'm confident that God's name will be lifted HIGH this year. We are ready to experience a move of God.

“The EXTRAORDINARY presence and purpose of God will burn brightly in the life of anyone WILLING to be set on FIRE.”

The truth shown in this video is so heartbreaking to me. I think it's amazing what the women of the Kind Campaign are doing! We may not be able to change the world...but we can be KIND.

My sweet friend Elyse posted this video on my Facebook the other day. The lyrics really spoke to the both of us and what we're currently experiencing in life right now! Thought I would share :)

And the time has come to realize
And see the plan you've been designed for 
So face the fear of all unknown
And see the heart inside
So open up your eyes
So open up your eyes

Charleston!

I'm so happy that I had the chance to go to Charleston for 2 days with amazing friends: Laura, Lindy, and Megan! We had so much fun! While we were there...

- We ate TONS of food (including Grouchos, Moe's and Jestine's Kitchen)

- Walked allllll around Charleston!

- Did plenty of shopping at our fav stores: Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, J Crew, etc.

- Picked out a sweet little hat for Laura and Lindy's newborn nephew (so adorable!)

- Jammed to Laura's Itunes in the car

- Lots and lots of picture-taking!

- Stopped by the University of South Carolina

- Looked like total tourists with our fancy map

- Admired the gorgeous old houses

- Took advantage of Starbucks

- We maybe got a little lost on the way back...

- Had tons of great girl talk!

We all had so much fun and it was great to get away for a little bit! Love these girls! Here are some pictures from the trip!

Sitting by the water

We loved looking at all the multicolored, different styled houses

We LOVE Starbucks!

Take 1...

Take 2...

Take 3- Finally got in the air! haha

Can't believe it's Wednesday already!! Spring Break is going by wayyy too fast! Looking forward to spending some time with my youth group tonight!

Queen City Bound

FINALLY Spring Break is here!! I thought that it would never come. Having been extremely busy this semester with homework, tests, and social events, I haven't been home to Charlotte in 8 weeks!! Here are a few things about Spring Break I am excited for!

Charleston for 2 days with Laura, Lindy, and Megan!

Spending time with my family!

Getting to actually GO to Elevation, rather than watch sermons online!

A few other things I am excited for include sleeping, relaxing, hanging out with friends I haven't seen in awhile, shopping, seeing my grandma, NO homework or studying, and enjoying weather that is 10 degrees warmer than in Boone. YAY for SPRING BREAK 2011! Over and out.

LOVE WEEK

Love Week is an awesome movement in Charlotte from February 26th to March 6th. Elevation Church is partnering with 25 other churches to impact the city of Charlotte with a goal to serve 25,000 volunteer hours.

"With Love Week 2011 in full swing, we're making an incredible impact in the lives of so many around Charlotte. We've sent shoes to protect the feet of those who don't have their own, prepared meals and birthday presents for homeless CMS students, and beautified parks and other locations around the city."

As this week comes to a close, don't miss out on loving YOUR city! Participate in service activities, show love to complete strangers, have a positive attitude! LOVE YOUR CITY the way Christ LOVES us.