Just wanted to quickly share with you guys that our 3D Easter service at Elevation Global: Boone had 7 salvations. That's a total of 14 salvations since we started 3 weeks ago!! PRAISE! I had the honor of praying with two new sisters in Christ and I just LOVED watching them accept God's love and grace. The Lord is certainly moving in Boone, NC...


"Your life is one of the greatest testimonies to the GOODNESS and creative capabilities of God that you are EVER going to behold. For what He has already given you, for after He can redeem your life after it falls apart, or remake your heart after its been shattered. No matter what you have experienced, your life is stamped by the GOODNESS of God." 

Lord, you are SO GOOD. I adore watching you work in my life. 


PS. Excited for our final week of Grapes and Giants this coming Sunday at Elevation Global: Boone! Check out this sneak peak into our next series on relationships: Mr & Mrs. Betterhalf!

What Makes a Good Leader

I am so honored to share this news with you- Next year, I will be the President of Sigma Alpha Omega, the Christian sorority on App's campus. I am THRILLED! The Lord continues to pour out His blessings in my life, and I am in awe watching Him work. I am so blessed to have served under such amazing leadership this year as Prayer Chair and I have learned so much from each of the seniors about Christ and community with one another. Here is the new Exec Board for next year! We were celebrating our beautiful seniors at Senior Night last night. In the words of Kelsye Hughey (my VP!) the fate of the sorority rests in our hands... dun dun dunnnnn. haha

My two favorite seniors!

My sweet sister Shelley. I'm going to miss her so much! Good thing we're related.

Old and new Prez!

The Lord has been teaching me about what makes a good leader and I shared what I've been learning with the other SAO leaders at the transition meeting. Check it out:

"A common leadership saying is that a leader can only lead people as far as they have gone themselves. I couldn’t agree more. But there’s one facet of this truth that we need to be careful of, especially when it comes to the way we communicate to inspire and motivate the people we’re leading.

A person walking ten miles ahead of you is a hard person to follow.

It’s one thing to say you’ve been ten miles ahead and you’re going to lead them to the destination. It’s another thing to tell people I’m ten miles ahead, come find me. Leaders lead the way. Leaders should inspire people to raise their game by their life and what they say. Leaders can only take people as far as they have gone themselves. 

The highest compliment you can give to those you lead is to demand the best from them. Don't apologize for expecting excellence. God deserves it, and people are capable of it. Call it out.

But leaders also have to live and communicate in such a way that the people following them believe it’s possible to get to where they’re going. What you need to do is be a person who can challenge them to move from 5 to 10. And then 10 to 15. And so on. You’ve already been there, so you can inspire them to get there. But it’s also something they’ll believe is possible.

In your leadership, aim to be an example that people can aspire to while still being a person that people can relate to. Then you’ll be able to lead people to where you’ve been.

http://www.stevenfurtick.com/leadership/a-hard-person-to-follo/

Thankful for the opportunity to become a great leader- one who expects excellence while also being a constant supporter. 

3D Easter

This week, Elevation Global: AppState has been preparing for our 3D Easter Worship Experience! Our God is a creative God and we are so excited for what He is going to do through this creative presentation of the gospel. We are thrilled that we have the opportunity to worship simultaneously with Elevation Church and global sites all around the world. To prepare for such an amazing service, we had an Egg Drop Tuesday afternoon! 1000 orange eggs were spread all over Sanford Mall on campus and in the Walmart parking lot. Each egg contained a flyer promoting our service on Sunday and also a raffle ticket (We're giving away an iPad at the service, can I get a woo hoo?!)  We also gave out Elevation t-shirts, cds, bumper stickers, water bottles, candy, etc. It was amazing to see how many students were drawn to come talk with us because they saw so many orange eggs covering the ground on Sanford. 

We are praying that God will instill desire and passion into the hearts of those attending on Sunday. We are praying for record attendance and life change. We desire to participate in a mission to manifest the kingdom of God in every sphere of our influence. We desire to respond to God’s call to Christians everywhere to embrace, harness, and ultimately shape the culture.We are praying to be placed in the middle of a move of God.  Excited to see what God does through 3D Easter and prepared to give HIM all the glory when He does the impossible. Stay tuned.

Monday Blessings

I am so thankful for the busy, but amazing weekend that I had. Friday night I had the privilege to participate in Relay for Life with my SAO sisters. It was an incredibly rewarding experience to walk for those who have been affected with cancer. I walked for my sweet friend Emily Rose who passed away from leukemia my senior year of high school. I feel so honored to have had the privilege of getting to know her as a friend, a fellow cheerleader, and a sister in Christ. 

Saturday night was my sorority's formal! I went with my friend, Natalie, and we had so much fun getting ready together! We quickly realized that we didn't need dates to have a good time and we proceeded to dance the night away. 

Last night was week 3 of our Grapes and Giants series at Elevation Global: AppState. We heard an INCREDIBLE message from Pastor James McDonald on the way God works. Pastor Mcdonald brought the heat and one life was changed forever. You can listen to his sermon here:
http://www.elevationchurch.org/sermons/grapesandgiants/part3. The message was based off of the story in 2 Kings 4:1-7: The woman and the oil. "We all face times of desperate need. God allows his children to go through adversity. Have confidence in the fact that this is when God is preparing to do something BIG." It was exactly what I needed to hear and I am so blessed to be a part of something so life changing. 

To You our hearts are open
Nothing here is hidden

You are our one desire

You alone are holy

Only You are worthy

God, let Your fire fall down

Let our shout be Your anthem

Your renown fill the skies

We are here for You, we are here for You...

We welcome You with praise

We welcome You with praise

Almighty God of love

Be welcomed in this place

I pray that you have a wonderful week and that you see God at work in your daily life. Allow Him to fill you to overflowing. God fills only what we offer. When we stop bringing, God stops pouring. Offer him your LIFE. 

For YOUR Kingdom

Here are some pictures from our Kickoff of Elevation Global: AppState. We're so excited about this initiative that is starting in Boone, NC. We are in awe watching God move about this campus, transforming lives. We have already had 6 salvations: 6 more souls for Heaven. 6 more people who will advance the Kingdom and share the love of Jesus Christ. Praise!

Something FUN: Perfect Pairings!

So, I have a new obsession. My older sister, Shelley, and our friend Alyson are starting their very own business! They are both business management majors, young entrepreneurs and seniors! They will be graduating in May and off into the world to make an impact. 

Shelley and Alyson are:

- Extremely creative

- Fashionable

- Full of cute, affordable ideas

- Techno savy

- Passionate

And their business is called Perfect Pairings Events.  Shelley and Alyson have a passion for "pairing" the "perfect" details, decorations, and essentials for your special days. They also are designing CUSTOM hair bows, clips, headbands, decorative garland, and much more! Their designs is absolutely ADORABLE and I encourage all of you to check them out! Luckily, I get to model some of their cute designs around campus! 

I am confident that their new business is going to become a great success and a HOT topic around the App campus and in Charlotte. Check out their blog at http://perfectpairingsevents.blogspot.com/ 

So happy my parents could come up this weekend to celebrate Shelley's birthday! (Wishing little sister Melanie could have came! We miss her!) For her birthday, Shelley received a new camera from her sweet boyfriend, Jeremy, and I gave her a huge photo album! (Along with many other things...) We put both to good use this weekend. We saw these beautiful pink tulips while we were walking around the Appalachian campus and we just had to take a few pictures to capture the moment. (Pink tulips are my favorite!) 

"Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord." - Psalm 150:6

Grapes & Giants

So excited about our 2nd Elevation Global: AppState service tomorrow!! This series is all about a Walk Through of Ephesians. I am excited to see God continue to do amazing things on this campus. He is only getting started! After the amazing Kickoff last week, we are anticipating big things! This message is entitled, Purpose: the Prequel to Power.  It is based around the fact that God has made the promise and given the blessings, but I must take possession. Before God made the world, He made a plan for me. I can't wait to listen to what I hear is an amazing sermon! Praying for God to speak and move in someone's heart tomorrow. We long for more salvations. 17,000 students on the Appalachian campus. 1,000 are dedicated Christians. Can you see our mission? Praying for God to do what He does best: the impossible.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=204829089540974&index=1

Happy Birthday Shelley!!

Happy 22nd Birthday to my older sister Shelley!!! 

I cannot believe that she is already so old and GRADUATING from college. It seems like just yesterday, we were playing dress up together and eating cheese biscuits at our Papa and Nanny’s. Shelley is absolutely the best older sister I could have ever asked for. I am so blessed to have her as my sister, friend, role model, counselor, and laughing buddy. I have loved getting to know her so much more over the last four years and it has been so wonderful to live with her as roommates this year! I truly have come to know her as a soul mate. I can share anything with Shelley. I can cry with her, laugh with her, share in her delights and her heartaches. I can relate with her and fight with her. And we remain sisters still. 

- I am thankful for who she is and who she is becoming. 

- I am thankful for the memories that we are creating together. 

- I am thankful for her words of wisdom, her strong faith in Christ, her cheerful spirit, and her honest heart. 

- I am thankful that together with Melanie, we make up the Three Muskateers. 

- I am thankful that Shelley is learning that she doesn't need to fast forward her life any but truly treasure each and every day. 

I consider it a honor and a privilege to be Shelley's little sister. I love her so much and I wish her the HAPPIEST, MOST WONDERFUL, doggone BEST birthday ever!

ELEVATION GLOBAL: APPSTATE - Kickoff!

Last night was the Kickoff of Elevation Global: Appstate!! Let me just say that it was one wild ride. We had originally planned to have the service in the Student Union, but as numbers kept increasing, we had to change locations. It turns out that this has been a HUGE blessing. We moved to the Legends  Club on campus which fit our needs perfectly. 

When we arrived at Legends last night, the core team, band, and volunteers circled up and we prayed over the building. We prayed that God would move during the service and that we would see lives changed. We prayed that there would be no complications and that God would use this church to make an impact on the Appalachian campus. After we prayed, we began to set up- everything came together so fast! The chairs were set up in a matter of minutes; the band started sound check and rehearsing; the volunteers grabbed their t shirts and were trained in greeting and being a VIP attendant; the Prayer team continued to pray over the building. We did experience a few complications before the service - the devil was LOVING it. But our God is so much STRONGER than any resistance we were facing at the time...and we opened the doors to Elevation Global right on time. 

I am thankful for so many things this morning...

- 321 people in attendance! 

- 2 salvations!

- Our amazing worship band: They created an environment where college students can worship our mighty God freely. They sounded INCREDIBLE.

- All of our volunteers: They were so eager and happy to serve last night. Full of energy and full of love! They welcomed people into the building and made every person feel at home. I am so grateful for all of them! 

- The Core Team: I just LOVE all of them!! They are so full of energy and new ideas. Each of them have such a strong passion for Jesus and for ministry at AppState. They also have amazing leadership gifts- I feel so honored to work with them. 

- Thank you to our production team who worked so hard to make everything go smoothly through out the service. They demanded nothing less than excellence and that is what we are all about.

- We were joined by Pastor Josh Blackson- Operations Pastor at Elevation Church - Providence, and Stephen Webb- Project Manager at Elevation Church. We felt so honored to have them with us, supporting us completely. A few members of the Core Team got the chance to sit down with Pastor Josh Blackson and his small group of high school students after the service. It was so great to have the chance to give them advice and words of wisdom now as college students. 

- Thank you to Pastor Steven Furtick who presented us with an amazing message from last week's sermon: Grapes and Giants- Power UP. We were so inspired and encouraged by it and we're grateful to have him as our Pastor. 

I am just completely in AWE of the God we serve. He who is able to make the impossible possible. He goes above and beyond our expectations. He calls us to trust in HIM when things get a little chaotic because He was the one who started this initiative at AppState. His POWER is limitless. And His name was lifted HIGH at Elevation Global last night. Cannot wait until next week- Our God is just getting started.