First Meet

Today is going to be a good day! I can feel it in the air, this is God's day. Today my mom, my dad, and my grandma and I are all headed out to Port Hueneme to see Jason lead worship and preach at his church. I am so excited! I have seen him play drums for worship and mandolin; I have also seen him do a short worship time for his worship design class, but I have never truly seen him in his element. I am so excited to see him on stage worshiping, as well as, excited to hear him speak. I know he is going to be great and God is going to work through him. He has been a bit stressed about his speech so I am happy that it is almost over only because he will feel better. I am really excited to hear it though! This is also the first time our parents are meeting. It was supposed to be just my mom and his mom meeting, then heading to lunch as the four of us. However, my grandma decided she really wanted to go and his mom Mary said that was fine. Then my dad decides he wants to come so that explains that. It should be fine though. I am mostly looking forward to my mom meeting his mom. His mom is so wonderful. I've only met her twice and I love her already. She makes me feel so welcomed, comfortable, loved, and appreciated. It took her less than 5 minutes to do all that and I was completely blown away. I fell in love with her instantly! I have never met anyone as nice as my mom and I was so excited to meet someone who is just as kind-hearted and loving as my own mother. It also explains a lot about Jason, which I love! Anyway, I will have to update how the sermon and meeting actually went, but until then wish us luck!

A New Path

It is amazing how quickly your life can change. One day, you are driving along this road that has twists and turns, but you are prepared for all of them. When all of a sudden, the road has changed and nothing around you looks familiar. You are suddenly lost, just as quickly as you realize this and begin to fear, you spot a familiar sign in the distance and sigh in relief that there is comfort and refuge at the end of this strange and new road.

In so many ways, that has become my life. Everything for me has changed, in more ways than one. A few weeks ago, nothing made sense. I was, however, comfortable. I was confused, but content in my confusion because it was familiar. I could deal with it because I had been dealing with it for 2 years. Now, everything has literally changed. I am no longer in that place, with that man, or doing anything I had done before. Someone who was once so adamantly involved in my life, has since vanished. There are the occasional break down moments where I reach for that phone, dial that all too familiar number, and cry to the man I thought I would be spending the rest of my life with. That wasn't God's plan, and if we are completely honest with ourselves (which we should be) it was never mine either. I knew in the end I could not marry him, I hoped, however, that something would happen, something would change that for me. Something did happen. He did what I could have never done. He walked away. It hurts, it honestly breaks my heart. I am struggling with it more than I let anyone know. Even when I talk to people about how hurt I am, I am hiding. Hiding behind my constant smile, even hiding behind my tears. I lost the man I love, I had to let him go. I am dealing with the pain of that now more than ever and will continue to deal with it for a very long time. Last night, in senior chapel, the preacher talked about us going and God showing. We have to go, for God to show us. Faith is believing, not seeing. How true that is. I had to keep praying for weeks, months really, about what I should do about Chris. I knew I needed more, I needed something to change. It wasn't going to change, I always knew that deep down, but I always hoped because I loved him. When it didn't, and I made that call asking him if he was out, I received the response that stabbed at my insides and let me know what I needed to know. I knew he was going to break up with me, I knew if he wasn't, that I needed to. So after many tears and breakdowns, I got in the car and drove to him. I went, I took that leap of faith praying that God would lead me. I ended up on his door step and God gave me a gift. He gave me the gift of honesty. Honesty with myself, with him, and in the whole situation. He gave me words, words to say to explain how I felt and what I really needed out of this that I wasn't getting. He gave me the gift of not having to do the deed myself. I believe God knew I was not strong enough to do it, not in a place where I could do it, and I needed him to do it. I needed Chris to be the strong one for us for one last time and he was. He did it for me and for him. We needed that, he knows that. He has been true to that as well. I know I couldn't go back. Do I want to? Yes, a lot of the time I do. I want that familiarity back, the comfort, having someone who's knows me better than anyone else. I cannot, however, rightfully do that. God showed me that. After driving home, back to school, I made a call. A call to another man. A man who has stood by my side through all of this. Has repeatedly shown me what I need, what is right, and what God has in store for me. He calmed me down, he talked me home, and he embraced me with open arms when I got there. He is the man I now love. It happened so quickly, yes. It took me by surprise, yes. I never expected this to happen, yes. I am terrified on so many different levels, yes. But despite all of the doubts and fears that creep into my mind on a day to day basis, he has been there. He has never left. I don't believe it ever will. He is in my life because God placed him there. We feel God in our relationship, something neither of us has ever felt before, and something we could never go back from because it is so right there seems to be no other way to really be with someone without Him. I did not know what to think when this all happened. In a way, I still don't. I struggle and I am down, but the difference is I have a God who loves me, a man who loves me, and a man that can make me smile and laugh when I need it the most. He doesn't realize how much he is doing for me, but God does. God knows me, He knows me better than ANYONE. He knows where I would be, what would happen if I did not have these people in my life. I needed to see what it looked like to be loved, what that meant for my life. I needed to see what God's love looked like through another person. He has given me a wonderful man that has shown me all that. He shows me something new every day. He shows me what I need and want, every day. I still cannot believe how easy, quickly, and deeply I fell for him. He has been my best friend for years and now I can genuinely say I am dating my best friend. It took me time to make Chris my best friend, but Jason and I already have that foundation. I couldn't imagine being with him or anyone without it. He makes me want to smile, want to be happy, want to be a better person. That's what it is all about, right? I want to talk to God together, I want to pray together. I want to share everything from struggles to praises together. I have NEVER experienced anything like that before. It is the most incredible feeling. The earthly struggles and hard times that get me down, where Jason doesn't know how to help me, is where I miss Chris. That shouldn't matter, but it does. I need that yes, but everything takes time. Chris knew what I needed physically and emotionally. Jason knows me spiritually and that is more valuable than anything else I ever could have received from my two years with the other man. Do I still miss him and struggle with not being together? Yes, I cannot deny that. God keeps showing me something new, however, that I need even more I just never had it so I never knew the true value behind that spiritual connection. I love them, both of them. In very different ways and I cannot rightfully be with someone knowing my heart is still with another. When that day comes and I have let go of my past, I will give him my heart. My whole heart and the most wonderful part about it is that I know he will be standing there, waiting, smiling, and there will be nothing that will keep us apart. God has a plan. I don't know the plan and frankly, I don't want to know. I trust Him, I trust where He is taking me and all I need to do now is just go. God will take care of everything, I know that. I know not being with Chris is right. I know he never could have given me what God needed me to have. I know that Jason is right. I know that he can give me everything God has in store for my life. He will help me stay in line with God, and He knows I need that more than any material things I could have ever gotten somewhere else. I value him so much and I am literally so thankful God has brought him into my life.

God, You are so great. I love You so much. You have stood by my side through the thickest of times. We have gotten through them together before, and we will do it yet again. You have placed some incredibly wonderful people in my life. I am so thankful for each and every one of them. I am even more thankful I have You Lord. You give me strength, comfort, shelter, refuge, and a life that has meaning. A life I want to praise You with, give to You, and be fruitful in Your loving eyes. I want to be near You. I want to know You better. Help me to seek You first God. Help me to be a beacon of hope and truth for Your Word and Your love. I love You God, I love You.

Forever 21

I cannot believe that today is the day I turn 21. This is such a weird feeling. This is the last "big deal" birthday. From here on out, they are only significant in increments of 10 (ex. 30, 40, 50).

I'm so happy! I have wonderful friends, a wonderful family, wonderful like. I am fortunate enough to be able to go to this incredible Christian school. I love it here and will be sad when I leave. I cannot believe this is my last birthday here. I have experienced so much here and have some wonderful memories and relationships I get to take with me when I leave. This is going to be a crazy day and granted I do not get to spend much time for myself, but I am still happy I get to be with the people I want to be with. 21 years of life, that's so crazy! I look forward to so many more!

Thank you God for the blessing of life, love, and happiness!

Left in the Midst

What have you lost?

I lost my best friend.
I lost the love of my life.
I lost my heart.
I lost him.
I lost a part of myself.
I lost my other half.
I lost hope.
I lost my plans.
I lost my comfort.
I lost my support.
I lost love.
I lost my future.
I lost happiness.
I lost everything.

What am I left with?

Pain, so much pain. Heartache. I am left with an overwhelming desire for it all to be set right, for the pain to subside and for there to be a sense of calm over my soul. Most importantly, I am left with God, broken and alone.

Sweet

Sometimes, people say the sweetest things!

Haha...stop it! But thank you! You're freakin amazing and ridiculously gorgeous inside and out. I didn't tell you this but your faith that God would provide through your whole mom thing was amazing and inspiring and showed just how much you truly are a gorgeous woman of God! Love you!

This was from Sam after I commented on her Facebook profile picture telling her she is gorgeous. Gotta love the encouragement! ;)

To be Continued...

So Tuesday was a good day. I started out with breakfast with Jonathan in the caf, that was fun and we got to talk to each other and other girls in the group. We've been scooping out the ones he might be interested in. Apparently it's my job to "make it happen" for him. We'll see how that goes, but he cracks me up. I'm so happy he is back, he's an awesome best friend and I missed him while he was in Germany. I didn't spend as much time (this is back to choir camp week by the way) in the room singing because of so many things that needed to be taken care of for that evening and the following evening, but I did enough. I had my first meeting with Josh that day. We have known each other since our freshman years, coming in as freshman together and being both music majors, but we never really made it pass the acquaintance stage. It was so nice discussing what we wanted out of this year for both of our ensembles and where we see it going. He is just as organized as I am, at least closer than the last, and I loved that he wanted to sit down and discuss everything thoroughly so we were consistently on the same page. We seem to have the same goals and hopes for both Men's Chorale and Bel Canto and how we went to see them come together. I'm excited to see the bond and sense of community that will be laid out over the next few months. So we discussed beach bash and our plans for that. Then later we met with Kandace and Jake, chaplains for both of our groups, and got their input on the agenda for the worship time with MC and BC. We had a good time that night singing for one another and I feel Bel Canto did one of their best jobs ever that night, especially as a first time performance on a few days practice. I did not get as much of an opportunity to get to know new people, but that's ok. I did get to sing Operator, my song!, that day for the choir. It was so fun! They were so shocked, the returners more than anyone else, but they cheered afterward, which was very sweet.I met with Josh, Marian, Jasymn, and Brian at the caf for dinner to discuss the beach bash. UCO decided to join us this year, which made both Josh and myself very excited. We planned out the whole night. I was handling the food with Pam, Josh was going the next day with her to pick up drinks, we all brought smores stuff, and then we would have a worship time and a time to discuss (the three of us) about what we want out of this year. Josh would give the intro and closing statements with a challenge to be in more community, I would give the speech on what community is and what that looks like for our choir and the year, and Marian would talk about how to act that out and what that will mean for the groups as a whole. It was a good day overall I think. Wednesday wasn't bad either. I had breakfast again with Jonathan. This time we had more of the girls joining us. I think they are warming up to him which he couldn't be happier about. Then went to choir camp. I had my first sectional, that was fun. It was a bit nerve racking having Mrs. Hughes in the room playing for me. She left for the first 15 minutes while I tested their voices and placed them in SS1 of SS2, so that was fun. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though. I love her, she's so great, I was just nervous she would think I did a poor job. She was great though, so I had nothing to worry about. After sectionals we just sang for the rest of the day. We attempted to get out early so we could get to the beach bash on time. I was fairly frustrated with that because I still needed to go pick up the car from the Mooney's (so nice of them to let me use it for the beach bash and drive to DH's house the next day) and I needed to go home and change. I wasn't too late picking up the girls, maybe a couple minutes behind, but the traffic is what got me. It was endless. I didn't get to talk to Elizabeth, Amira, or Emily Sulak much (they were in my car), but since Katherine sat in the front we got a lot of one on one time. I did learn about their majors and what they want to do, but Katherine and I probably bonded the best. She is so sweet, I was happy to have her in my car. I loved getting to know her, that's one of my favorite parts of being president. The girls are all so wonderful and I'm eager to get to know each of them individually.

Comfort Zone

Let's talk a little bit about what my life has been/looked like for the past few weeks.

Choir camp was AMAZING! All the girls are so incredibly wonderful and I had so much fun spending time with them, connecting with them, learning about them, and really getting to know them. It was nice to have a car to drive to the events with this year (thanks to the Mooney's). I got the chance to really get to know the women in my car. They are all so wonderful and have so much to offer. I feel so blessed to be apart of such an incredible group. The parent's dinner went exceptionally well. It was so nice having my mom and grandma there. I walked around like a crazy person and introduced myself to a good chunk of the people, more than last year at least. It was really fun when we took them into a room and let them get to know us. I really do love being in charge, it makes me feel confident and good about myself to be up in front with all my officers backing me up and supporting me. Then we sang, which was nice. Spent a lot of time with Jonathan, love that kid. We have definitely become very close over the past few years and he is definitely my best friend. The whole night he was trying to spot girls he would be interested in dating, then texting me their name telling me to "make it happen." It was nice at the end of the night too. This girl Caitlin came up and somehow ended up spilling her story, she started crying, I hugged her, and I offered (since she was homesick) to come stay with me. She did stay for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night, as did another homesick girl that I didn't find out about until the next morning. After talking with Caitlin for quite awhile, Jessica and her parents came up and talked to me. She was on of the girls I spent a lot of time talking to this summer and her parents were so sweet to thank me for talking with her and helping her all summer. I was touched by that. It makes everything that goes wrong all worth it. It reminded me of when Madison (who is now my really good friend) and her parents came up to me and said the same thing during parent's night. Anyway, I offered for Jessica to stay at my apartment as well if she got lonely. She never did take me up on that, but I think that's a good thing. I'm glad she got acquainted with people on her own floor and with her room. So then Monday came around. I was so happy with how many names I knew. I felt like I knew everyone's name by Monday morning since I had been practicing over the summer to get them all down. I did not get to eat breakfast that morning, however, because when I finally found Rachel she walked up to me crying and I had to take her to the counseling office and then go get her when she was done. I know it is bad to baby them when they get here, but I felt she needed that. After dropping her off I spent some time talking to her mom on the phone. She explained she had a hard time with this when she transitioned from junior high to high school as well. Anyway, she ended up staying with me too in my apartment for three nights. So I had two girls with me. One on Joanna's bed in my room (which she still doesn't know). The other one on the couch, because she felt more comfortable there so she could fall asleep with her boyfriend on the phone. Anyway, it wasn't terrible having them stay, but it was exhausting. I get up very early, go to bed late, and I had to be on my "A" game all day with the girls and keep it up, even when I was at home needing a break. So Monday choir camp was fun, we spent a nice amount of time talking, playing games, singing, and all that. I LOVED getting to take my section into a separate room and play my own game with them. We played 2 truths and a lie. You have to do exactly that, say two truths and one lie and they have to decide which one is the lie. It was fun, they didn't get it right. I said I used to be a semi-professional ballroom dancer, I read the Dictionary for fun, and I'm allergic to lemons. They guessed the dancing, but it's the lemons since I'm not allergic to anything. My returner girls couldn't have an opinion since they, most likely, already knew the answer. Anyway, that was the best time getting to know them. I found out on of the girls Elizabeth can speak Romanian and that made me super happy. So the rest of the day went well. We had our communion that night, which was amazing. I got a lot of it recorded on my camera which was so wonderful. It is my favorite time of the year. The sound we make together as singers is just phenomenal and blows my mind every time! The speakers were incredible, I felt so inspired and I was proud of myself for not crying for the first year ever.... and then Jon talked to me... After worship, Jon Lord came up to talk to me. He asked if there was anything he could pray for me about and that just blew me away. He asks every year, but how thoughtful and wise he is about knowing that I need it the most when choir and school begins makes me so happy to be here in a place where people care enough about you to pray for and with you. So I said just for the girls. That they would have a good year and I can help them in anyway I can. I cried a little bit, and jokingly yelled at Jon for always making me cry. So he put his hands on me and gave this wonderful prayer. Jessica G. came up and jumped into our prayer group. It was so nice having her there, because I really do miss her in choir. I never realized how much her presence meant to me until she left. It is good for her and me to not be in an ensemble together again though. Anyway, they both prayed for me, made me cry harder, then she left. I then did something I did not expect to do and is very much out of my comfort zone, which seems to be God's theme for my life this year. I realized I had never asked Jon what I could pray for him about. It occurred to me that many people don't ask him that, based on his shocked expression, because we are so used to him being the one to reach out, but I felt it was necessary for me to reach out to him as my friend and brother in Christ as well. So he told me and I prayed for him, out loud. I am not like that normally. I am very private about my prayer life, I hate praying out loud because as stupid as it sounds, I don't feel like I'm good at it. After praying for him, he hugged me and thanked me. That was so kind and then I went and led a meeting of the officers to debrief the day. It was so nice sitting in front like that, leading, being in charge. I've done it before, but it just felt different this time. I feel different about who I am now. I have grown, I'm older, soon to graduate, it's crazy! So I led the meeting, they even raised their hands to make comments which was fun. Oh, I almost forgot. We talked about classes and gave advice in camp that day. Did not go very well because we all get contradicting each other, and it was very unorganized, but I gave my opinion about being a music major. I didn't sugar coat it, BS it, I told them it was hard. They have to really want this in order to accomplish it. If you don't really want this, it won't be worth it. I know many friends who did it because they "like" music. That's not what this major is about. It is about working your butt off to get what you desire the most. This takes so much time and effort that if you are dreaming about this, you don't want this to be your career or your life, then it won't be worth it to you. I just thought they should know that going in. I wish someone had told me that. I mentioned several times that this was all my personal opinion, but the non-music majors thought I was too harsh and scared them and the music majors thought I did a good job. In the end I made up for it. I told them I had no intention of changing their minds about their major, scaring them away, or making them feel being a music major is terrible. I just want them to know what comes with that. I said yes, it's hard work, but the moment you get up on that stage (this is all I can remember) for your junior recital in your, not gonna lie, gorgeous dress and hear a room full of people scream at the top of their lungs for 5 minutes at you, cheering and supporting you. People in Bel Canto, your family, your friends, and see the love and support you have behind you all along in one room together that you didn't even realize you had, it makes every tear, every stress, every wrong note, everything else disappear and all worth it. The music majors all clapped, so did the choir. That was fun! Anyway, in the meeting they kind of gave me a hard time about that, which made me upset. Then I talked to Arie about it afterward and ended up telling her a little bit about my summer and what I went through with my other officers and she ended up crying with me and telling me I was a good person, I do a good job. It was a very nice moment for us, which I needed, but it was a good day overall. So that was Monday. Tuesday is coming later because I'm tired of writing for now. :)