time to grow

I know I'm a couple days late on this.. Or a couple weeks. Saying I've had a lot going on would be a complete understatement. School is really piling on- but only a couple more weeks! I'm so in need of a break from school. We had Easter holiday last weekend, which was so appreciated. But it just wasn't long enough! But enough complaining for now. On to why I'm writing this..

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with my mom. And can I just stop and take a minute to tell you what an awesome lady she is. She is always there with some brilliant advice or sweet encouragement exactly when I need it. And she is still always willing to edit papers for me. I don't know how anyone else gets by in life without a brilliant grammar teacher for a mom. She's the best.

Anyway, we were on the phone and we were talking about how, due to the recent budget cuts in education, pretty much every district across the state is having to lay off teachers or shift teachers around. Which is the most frightening thing to me, considering I'm an education major hoping to have a teaching job in two years.. with pretty much no back-up plan. yikes. Anyway, my mom was talking to me about that happening within her school district and she said the phrase,

"you've got to bloom where your planted"

she gets it. so of course it got me thinking.. we're not always gonna be dealt the greatest hand in life. So far, I've been so blessed to live where I live, go to school where I do, and know the people I know. But life isn't always a cake walk. But the way you handle your struggles is what's key.

I mentioned a couple weeks ago how I've been really praying for God to just send me somewhere. And that's still my prayer. For God just to use me for His glory. It doesn't matter where I am, as long as I can make the best of my situation and be a light for Him.

I'm really applying this to this up coming summer. I'm SO excited about my internship at Bammel and I'm just praying that God will be able to use me to bring him the glory.

so that's it for tonight. I'm off to do homework and play Dr. Roommate for Morgan- she's not feeling so hot! :(

xoxo

carry me through

So I had this big blog typed up, but I just wasn't really feeling it. Instead, let me tell you about my evening. Becca came in town this afternoon. It's always so good to see her.. it feels just like old times. So once she got in town, we grabbed some dinner, shopped around the mall some, and of course got froyo. Then afterword morgan told us she had a surprise for us and she drove us out to the zoo. And behind the zoo there is the most beautiful pond..

(That's not edited at all! How beautiful!)

We just sat here for a few minutes and soaked up God's awesome presence. It was just what I needed. This week, scratch that, this whole semester has been stressful. Lots of projects, lots of papers, and lots of teachers getting laid on in Texas right now (so why am I even bothering to become one?). All of that equates to one stressed-out little courtney!

And right behind that pond is a playground! So we spent an hour tonight just swinging. It was so peaceful. The cool thing about Abilene is you can actually see the stars, so getting to spend some time just chilling out and admiring God's beauty.

At the play ground there were these two little girls playing together. They weren't friends before hand because one of them just walked up to the other and said "what's your name? want to play?" ...I miss that! I think that's why I'm so drawn to being around kids. They have such an innocent view of everything.. It reminds me of the verse Matthew 18:3..

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

That's about it for this week. This next week I have quite a bit to think about.. so prayers would be appreciated it! But I think spending some time with God out at the pond is just what I need to get through it.

xoxo