"To love someone properly probably means that you won’t be very popular. Pure love, loving the way it was intended, is unfortunately a foreign concept to many. Love is messy. Love will involve hardship, demand patience, require forgiveness, test maturity, strain friendship, challenge priorities, refine character, ignite the heart and unleash the soul. Love is not something you sing about, it’s the reason you sing. Love is not something you write about, it’s the reason you write. Love is not something you live to find, it’s the reason that you are alive."

Mark Hart

For you open your hands......

He travels near and far
Never far from my soul
Desiring to be the in all of what consumes me

My heart is burning for words of affirmation
As my words of acclamation draw him near
My soul cries out

He yearns to fulfill my own desires
As he holds his hands out with love
His grace has no boundaries

I am entangled in the strings of his glory
As feelings of a prisoner arise
He bares down with truth

His anger is slow upon me
For how gracious is the Lord God Almighty
Quick to love with no fault

Your splendor and glory
Will flow from my mouth singing
How Great is the Lord

For you take me as I am
You daughter of this generation
Calling me forth in your name

~Lauren Ashley


"I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. Great is the Lord! He is most worth of praise! No one can measure his greatness." Psalm 145:1-3

A New Chapter

The time is soon approaching when I will have to face this great wide world on my own, and it's only when I place my understanding in the peace that God will direct my path that I am ok with all of the feelings I am experiencing. I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster. One day I am like a giddy school girl thinking about going out and experiencing things first hand on my own. And then the following day I quiver up with fear of all the unknowns. Decisions are needing to be made very soon, and as much as I want to have the answers right away, I know that is most important to take it to God. He will direct me and let me know where I need to go, and what direction will work best in the plan that he has for me.

In all of the going to God, it is easy to still want what I want and be selfish about it. There have been many of times where I wanted to completely go against what God was telling me to do, because selfishly I wanted to fulfill my desires and that time, and not on his. It has only been of late that I have realized that God is opening his hands and fulfilling my desires one at a time.....on HIS time. I am content in this now, because I am reminded that God would not have placed a passion or a desire in my heart if he didn't intend to fully follow through with it.

I say all of this because it sets my foundation and building blocks for having and living a fulfilling life. I want to experience the world, I want to laugh without seizing, I want to smile at the little things in life. Granted, I have been doing all of these things....but now I have been reminded of the abundance grace God has on me, and how much of life he wants me to experience. He doesn't want me to worry about anything, but to come to him and talk it out. What a mighty God we serve! A God who wants all things good for us! Amen~

side note: can we please go dancing again girls? :)

How do you make the words that flow from your mouth believable to another person? How do I make them convincible and life altering? It’s all up in there, just waiting to get poured out, but when you finally get the chance youre just in a rush and it comes out sounding like a mush of crap.

How do you let a person know that you are really sorry. You apologize and explain as thoroughly as you feel you can, that you made a mistake, but somehow you just know that they’re not going to buy it.

Why do we do and say the things we do?

We do them…..then we think about them…..and then we realize that we should have thought about them before we did them. That was our first mistake.

There comes a point after finding out that you made this mistake that YOU JUST WANT TO RUN TO THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN YOU CAN AND SCREAM AS LOUD AS YOU CAN…YOU WANT THEM TO KNOW YOURE SORRY…AND YOU DON’T KNOW HOW ELSE TO DO IT.

Well there’s my mumbo jumbo pile of mush for the night……I am pretty clear of the fact that it makes no sense to anyone.

If every word I said, could make you laugh……I’d talk forever!

ONU Fire Women!

So, this past weekend I traveled with my gospel choir from school. We went to Reed City, Mi.....home of Yoplait yogurt! That's right haha. The host family that myself and 5 other girls stayed with were so nice...simply amazing. The husband is a volunteer firefighter, so he took us to the fire station to show us around. We were able to try on all the equipment and even go for a ride on the truck. It was really one of the neatest experiences I've been a part of. How often can you say that you've been able to try on their uniform, gas mask, or even take a ride in the truck? Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment :)

Let me leave you with some lyrics from a song we sang this weekend....it's really been speaking to me lately in my life, and I hope it does the same for you.

exceedingly
abundantly
above all
all you can ask or think
according to the power
that worketh in you

God is able to do just what he said he would do
He's gonna fullfill every promise to you
don't give up on God
cause He won't give up on you
He's able

How amazing is it to have a God that will never give up on us? That no matter how many times we run from him and don't trust him, he is trying harder then ever to move heaven and earth for us to be free?

Halloween to remember..........

It's tradition here at school that the President of my university will open his house up to any students who would like to come on over. Let it be said that our President, Dr. Bowling is a well liked man here, and always has the insight of a genius. I feel like every time I am around him I should have a pen and pencil in my hands, just so I can write down his profound thoughts! haha!

So last night it just so happened that myself and a group of friends did not feel like dressing up for Halloween or even participating in any of the events, so we just moseyed on over to the Bowlings home. Jill his wife greeted us at the door, and let us in. It just so happened that the Bowlings had some friends in from out of town, that came in to surprise Jill for her birthday.

They asked us to sing a few songs, which we did of course. I mean, you can't exactly say no to the President and his guests. Then we sat around and talked for an hour and a half. Let me repeat that.....an hour and a half. With the President and his guests. haha! It was neat to hear about all of their old memories here at Olivet, and the memories they shared together. Bowling at one point talked about how we need to live each day focusing just on that day. We need to live life to the greatest we can possibly live it....profound I tell you....maybe not in my words, but coming out of his mouth it was like food for my soul! haha!

Needless to say it was a great night all in all, and something that I will remember for a long time. When we were making our way out Dr. Bowling spoke up and said, in these words, "I would love to do this again. Please email me and we will set up another time soon!" He loved us! haha!

So on a latter note I've decided to live each day focusing just on that day. I don't have control over what is going to happen the next day or the next, and that's not always easy to accept, not being in control of your future. But I've realized that you will never be content in life if you are always worrying about the future and where you are going to end up.