Holding onto Jesus for dear life!

College is harder than I thought. Being away from home is harder than I thought. I don't think I have ever studied as long as I did tonight for a test and I still don't feel 100% prepared. I have never read as much as I have in the past week. Holy cow! TONS, and TONS of reading! My brain is fried. I am tired. I like to go to bed early. EXTREMELY early. Not late. Midnight is late for me. REALLY late for me. When I don't get enough sleep (which is happening right now!), I tend to be on the grumpy side. I have literally had to be in constant prayer lately. I don't want to be grumpy. I don't even like being grumpy. I have really had to ask the Lord for an extra measure of His strength, grace, mercy, rest, and peace this past week. I miss my mom and dad (even my brother and dog too!). I miss my friends and mentors. I miss the smell of my house, Bob Evans oatmeal, McDonald's diet cokes, LAC, and my couch. It's the little things in life...

The first few weeks away from home were great. I felt so many doors opening up. Now, not so much. I have (somehow....I must be slacking with my planner!) missed deadlines for ministries and clubs that I was interested in. My class schedule interferes with certain things, and doors have, honestly, just been closing. This is tough. This is when I want my couch, some potato chips, and The Notebook. I KNOW God has me here for a reason, I know that. I KNOW God will take care of me, protect me, guide me, lead me, and hold onto me. I am holding onto Him (pretty darn tight, I might add!). Being in a city four hours away from home, with not many friends is hard. SUPER DUPER hard. All I do have, is my Jesus. Yes, I have my parents, mentors, and friends. But, most of these people I can only communicate with through phone/computer. Yes, I do have Panera, Wal-Mart, and Logans. But, these things, only fulfill me for maybe a few hours.

Jesus Christ, though, WILL fulfill me. Completely fulfill me. I don't fully understand His plan for my life right now, but He never asked me to understand it. He simply asks me to trust Him. That's it. Trust in HIM alone. So, right now, that is truly all I can do. He is the One who will give me extra peace and strength. He is the One who will help me to recall all I have read and studied. He will be the One right next to me when I am scared and lonely. This I KNOW.

I feel like I am throwing a "pity" party and vent session here. I don't mean to. Honestly. I truly love Lee University and am SO glad I am here. I could not see myself anywhere else. The people are great, I have found a church that I love, and I actually love my classes.

What I do want to do is brag on King Jesus. No matter how hard life gets, how lonely you feel, and how stressed out you are, Jesus will never leave you. Never. Don't ever let go of Him in the dark, lonely, stressed out times of this crazy life. Hold onto Him for dear life! He promises (and His promises are SURE!) not to let go.


"I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2

"...to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul." Joshua 22:5b

Open Doors

Choosing a college is a pretty important decision. I made a list of what I wanted in a school, visited school, after school, and fell in love with Lee University. I knew that was where I was supposed to be. And, now that classes have started, I know for sure that Lee was indeed where I am supposed to be. I have prayed for opportunities to open up while at Lee. I am not the best at making new friends, but I knew God would take care of that fear for me if I was willing to hand it over to him. 

God has opened up so many doors in just a week! God is sovereign. I served the middle school girls at my church in Lexington for three years and LOVED every second of it! For some reason, I have a passion to serve, love, encourage, and just hang out with girls that are younger than me (middle school age). 

Last night I was going through my emails and found one that I had missed the other day. It was from a ministry in Cleveland, TN. This ministry is called Life 423. It is a middle school girls ministry that meets weekly in Cleveland middle schools. Open door? I think so! 

I have emailed and signed up to volunteer. I can't wait to start hanging out and encouraging these girls. I pray God will use this ministry to further His Kingdom! 

YAY GOD! So glad I serve a God who holds me in the palm of His hand. I am slowly learning to hold on to Jesus, obey and follow Him and He will bless you. 

EMILY, Remember who YOU are.

Emily, 

Remember who you are. 

You are not a failure. YOu are not incapable. You are not a loser. YOU ARE a Jesus girl capable of VICTORY. YOU are absolutely capable of being empowered. I loves YOU-head to toe. Remember who you are. 

-Jesus

Redefining Beauty

 "And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay purified seven times."


                  Psalm 12:6

First Visit to the Cafeteria and Some other Randoms...

Today I made my first visit to the cafeteria. I had a ham and cheese sandwich on wheat bread. They toasted it and it was delicious. Also, I had a banana. Yum!! Thankfully, I was able to go with my suitmates. I was a little nervous about having to sit by myself. How embarrassing!! But, I was able to sit with them and some other people that they know.

Surprisingly, I did nothing that embarrassing. No tripping or spilling anything! Whew! It was nice to just sit and talk to some friends. I really enjoyed it.

Also today, I finished up all the final little things that I needed to do before starting classes. I got my car (Pongo) all registered, got my mailbox, and the last of my school box. It feels so good to have everything done.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes. I have College Algebra and Sign Language. I am pretty excited to get started. I will have to say though, I am nervous. You know me, I am quite the dumb one.....I am sure something will happen to me!!! (Well, I do have to wear a BOOT the first day of classes....ugh!!!)

College. Say What?

OK, so I have so much to update you on. I don't even know where to start. On August 19, 2011 I moved into the dorm at Lee University. It was such a fun, but overwhelming day. We stood in line for about thirty minutes and then started to unload at about 10:30am. The soccer girls were SO kind to unload all of my stuff out of my dad's car. I then met my roommate, Loren. She is awesome. I could not be happier. I feel so blessed to have been matched up with someone who has a ton of the same interests as me! My suitmates are just as awesome. Michelle and Alison welcomed Loren and I right in! After we had unpacked everything in the room I went out to lunch with my mom and dad. We went to a little deli called Jenkins. It is SOOOO good. They have the best soup! Seriously. After lunch we finished up all the little things that we had to do. We made some Target and Wal-mart runs too! That night I went to dinner with my parents. We had a great time talking about the day and just spending time together. I loved every minute of it. That night was the first night I would sleep in my "new room". I will have to say, I slept like a baby! I was out.

The next morning, I had freshman orientation at 9. We split up into our gateway classes....of course I went to the wrong class! That would happen to me. After gateway groups were over, I went to the community showcase and got a TON of free stuff. :) That night, Loren joined me and my parents. We drove to Chattanooga to eat at Ruby Tuesday. We walked around the mall and called it a night.

Sunday morning I went to First Baptist Church of Cleveland. I am amazed at how great God is! The sermon was on Psalm 91. He talked about how God is our protector. He WILL keep us safe. He comforts us, loves us, and holds us in the palm of His hand. AHH, I LOVE that! I was amazed at God's perfect timing. That sermon was exactly what I needed to hear (and my parents too!). How cool is that?! God is good. ALL the time. The worship was amazing and just what I needed to hear.

After church came the hard part. I had to say goodbye to my parents. It was extremely, extremely difficult. I gave my dad one last hug (at least for awhile!). I am so thankful for my dad and his love for me, but more importantly, the Lord. Then my mom walked me back to my dorm. I set my stuff in the room and then had to say goodbye to my mom.....rough. I love my mom so much and am SOOO thankful for her. She is my best friend. She is truly awesome and I have NO clue what I am going to do without her this year. God blessed me with the two greatest parents of ALL!!!!!

After my parents left, DEKE day started. DEKE day is a day of service. I went with my gateway class to a nursing home. We were able to spend a few hours and serve the people there. I know we blessed them-but in return they blessed us. I think that is just awesome. Serving others and the Lord is such a beautiful thing.

I think I have caught you all up on everything college so far. I am doing pretty well. I have not cried since my parents left (except for a few tears now as I am writing this!). Nights are easier than I thought. Mornings are a little hard. I have a great roommate, great suitmates, and am excited to see where God takes us this year! Classes start Wednesday. Looking forward to having a routine!

The Boys and The Number Nineteen.

If you know me, you know I LOVE the Backstreet Boys. Some may even say that I am OBSESSED with them......I guess you could say that. :) I was able to go to TWO concerts this summer. AHH! I may be crazy, but I don't care. They might be old, but I don't care. "The Boys" put on the BEST show. It is so entertaining and fun! They bring so much energy to the stage. (I really do sound crazy!!) GO BSB!!

Today is my birthday. I am 19. WOW! I remember one year ago....I sat on my bed crying the whole day because I found out that I had plantar fasciitis. What a day! I am so thankful for 19 years.

God made me WONDERFUL. Period. Not Question Mark.

Psalm 139:13-14 
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." 

Over spring break I read the book "Made to Crave" by Lysa Terkeurst. Wow! I have never read a book in two days until this one. It was so good, I could not put it down! I loved it so much, I decided to ask my accountability partner if we could do it as out Bible study during the summer. So, on Tuesday mornings, a good friend and I dig into this book, study guide, and the Word to learn to crave King Jesus more and more.

One of the very first points Lysa talks about comes from Psalm 139. Her first point is: GOD MADE YOU WONDERFUL. Say what? God made ME Wonderful? Yes! God made ME wonderful....NO question mark! I could not fully grasp that TRUTH. The other morning I was lead to Psalm 139. It then hit me, God really did make me wonderful. And the even cooler thing is, that He made EVERYONE wonderful. The God of the Universe knit me and you together in our mother's womb. He loved us even before we were born! He knows how many hairs are on our heads. He knows what we are thinking. He holds our future in the palm of His hand. AHHH, I LOVE that! And it just keeps getting cooler....He made me so that I may glorify HIM! Make Him known and famous. The only thing I have been able to think of lately, is making Jesus known. I so pray that I may shine the light of Jesus to ALL people.

Thank you Lord for revealing Your truth to me. May I be able to take this and make You known, great, and famous.


I love you, Emily. I know your name, Emily. Now, rest in the security of My name and all that it means to your identity. (Isaiah 45:2-3)
-From the book Made to Crave 

Redeeming Love Beyond My Thinking!

I was reminded tonight that, "NOTHING CAN SEPARATE YOU FROM THE LOVE OF JESUS." What an amazing truth! Even though I can't grasp that completely, I know and understand that King Jesus is the ONLY One who can love me NO matter what and who can supply a never-ending amount of grace.

I am thankful that 10 years ago, I started walking with Jesus. I mess up a lot. Sometimes, I tell Him things like, "Walk on the other side of the street Jesus, I can handle this situation alone." "You can let go of my hand, God, I got this." UGH, why do I tell Him those things. I must be crazy...or maybe just human! But, when I lay my head down on my pillow at night, I am able to tell God that I was crazy to think I could do ______(fill in the blank) on my own. And guess what? He says, "OH Emily, I love you anyway." And He is there right then and the next day to hold my hand, and walk down the same street with me again. Now, that is redeeming love and sufficient grace.

Walking each day with Jesus has been breathtaking, and beautiful, and way, way beyond my wildest hopes!

5 days left. SAY WHAT??

This is my last week of high school. WHAT? Holy cow.

First, I want to say that I am a terrible "blogger." My goal was to keep this blog and post throughout my senior year. If you are reading this, you can clearly see that I have failed miserably at doing that.

Second, I want to collect some thoughts from the past couple of months.

I felt like January flew by! For New Years Eve, some girls from church got dressed up and we went to Olive Garden for dinner. It was super fun to get dressed up and hang out with some friends! I had a few LCA swim meets in January. Also, the Strength to Stand Conference was January 15-17. That weekend is one of my favorites. God really challenged me that weekend. I often look back over my notes I took from that retreat. To my TOP 5, I am not giving up yet!!

Oh, then there is the love month, February. I had a swim meet every weekend in February. Talk about crazy! I made the LCA state team, a memory I will never forget. Also, I had my last Dolphins swim meet. Emotions were everywhere!

March, was an exciting month. We went to New York on our senior trip. SO many memories were made. This was such a relaxing, fun week spent with some pretty awesome friends. I loved "sneaking" around China town, visiting Ground Zero, worshiping my Savior at Brooklyn Tabernacle, eating amazing food, talking with friends, standing on chairs waving napkins in the air, and growing closer to my seniors o'leven. What a week!
Also, in March, I attended my last DNOW weekend at church. I can honestly say it was one of the best DNOW's ever. We talked about giving ourselves away for Christ. It was challenging and refreshing. Nathan Millican was the speaker. He really encouraged the group and also gave us some pretty tough challenges. God was at work that weekend.

The first weekend in April, I went to Lee University with my mom to sign up for classes. This was an exciting time for me. I was able to walk around campus and "get the experience" of a college campus. I loved spending that weekend with my mom at my future school!
Then we headed to Marco Island. I went with my family and met some friends down there who were staying at the same resort. I again, can honestly say that this was the best vacation I had ever been on! It was amazing. We did some shopping and eating. We did some serious tanning. We went sail boating. That right there makes me want to go back tomorrow! It was also a lot of fun to spend some time with my friends from school on that trip.
PROM! For senior prom we decided to do something a little different. A large group of seniors decided to have a "cookout" at Taylor Combs house. We all gave money to give to build wells for drinking water. I am not going to lie, I was a little bitter about the whole situation. But, I am SO glad we did this! We raised over $1000 and had the best time!
I was also blessed that night with a little surprise...I won senior Prom Queen 2011. I was on the court with Tori Reynolds, Kaelyn Hiler, Gina Jacobson, and Alison Braun. I love all of these girls soo soo much and it was awesome to share that time with them all! I was so surprised and truly honored that night...I am not too sure I even deserved it, but thank my senior class for that fun, awesome honor. :)

And now, it is May. I can't believe it. These past couple months have been crazy. I have been faced with so much-good and bad. As I am sitting here thinking about the past few months of stress, homework, getting "prettied" up for prom, taking walks with my mom, friendships being made, friendships breaking, reading books, listening to music, going to spin class, preparing for a debate, making graduation party invitations, shopping for a graduation dress, eating out with family, texting friends, finding out I can't run for awhile, babysitting precious kids, dealing with grandparents in the hospital, taking pictures, pranking the school, picking up my cap and gown and so much more I can say that I have truly had the time of my life this year. I am so thankful for a senior class at LCA that is so close. God knew what He was doing when He whispered to my parents to hold me back a year after pre-school...I couldn't imagine graduating with any other class from LCA, but my SENIORS O'LEVEN.

This class has so much potential. I pray that we go out into this world, apply what we have learned, bless others, stay connected with each other, and glorify King Jesus in all we do!!