Celebrations...

I have had a wonderful weekend.

It was a weekend of happiness and celebrations. I added another year to my life and a dear friend added a diamond to her left hand. It was such a happy time full of memories, laughter, and excitement.

The weekend started Saturday morning when I got a call from Aggieland Florist. They were informing me that I had a delievery that they wanted to drop by. Though I was still in my pj's, I was happy to open the door for beautiful flowers.

There was a very sweet card enclosed letting me know that a very amazing man in Malawi was responsible for these beautiful things appearing at my door. It was such an amazing way to bless me from 12000 miles away.

I immediately got on the phone (and by immediately...i mean I am dealing with calling Africa so it takes me about 45 minutes to get through) and got to talk to the most amazing guy on this earth (This was the best part of my birthday I must say).

The rest of the day was pretty low key.

However, that night something exciting was happening. One of my close friends, Kelly Imrie was getting asked if she would spend the rest of her life with this amazing guy named Chris Haney. So at 3am I was woken up by this girl who squeled "I am engaged!" It was the best way to spend the 3am hour of my birthday! There is something so exciting about the engagement of two people who desire to follow the will of the Lord. I couldn't fall back to sleep for a while because I was just so happy.

The next time I woke up on my birthday morning, I actually got up and got ready for church. My next surprise was waiting in my inbox. There was this incredibly sweet poem written by the one and only Ryan Price. Now many of you think that playing piano and taking wonderful pictures are his only talents...but don't let him fool you. He is so gifted in the arts. The poem blessed me so much...and I will spare yall the mushyness and just let you create in your own minds an amazing poem!

Then I went off to church and got to spend the first 2 hours of my birthday with my amazing church family. I couldn't think of a better way to spend the morning of my birthday.

When I came home I found my house had been overtaken by pink streamers and ballons.

My sweet roomate had decorated while I was gone.

Later that day we made cakes for our "Celebration Night!" I say "we" because each of my roomates took a different part of the cake making process. Mixing, baking, icing, and decorating...it was a team effort! We made a birthday cake and a "Happy Engagement" cake.

It was so fun!

The night culiminated in the gathering of great friends. We ate together and all sat and listened to Kelly share the story of her knight in shining armor ask for her hand in marriage. It was so sweet to get to share this time together. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend of rejoicing in the blessings from the Lord.

Painting Pictures of Egypt...

Sara Groves has this really great song called, "Painting Pictures of Egypt" the chours goes like this:

"I've been painting pictures of Egypt,

leaving out what it lacked,

the future feels so hard, and I wanna go back,

but the places that used to fit me,

cannot hold the things I've learned,

and those roads are closed off too me while my back was turned."

This song resonnates in my soul. I am guilty of singing this tune too often in my life. I am always wishing I was somewhere else in life. I am like those silly Israelites that yearned for Egypt...the very thing they prayed for God to deliever them from.

That is me. I am guilty. The future feels so hard, and I wanna go back. This semester I started real life. You know that thing that you spend 4 solid years telling people you are going to do when you finish college...I am doing it.

Actually, I have been telling people that I am going to be a math teacher for like 6 years. Now I am a math teacher. Yeah...like a real life person with a paycheck and insurance and all that stuff. I have life insurance. gulp! seriously, I feel old.

While I was in college I longed for the days of no tests and no difficult math proofs. I longed to do something I cared about and something that mattered. I was so ready to graduate last may. but now...often I find myself painting pictures of the past...

(of course I mean that figuratively because have no artistic ability)

I find myself wanting to stay up late and take afternoon naps, I want to have a flexible schedule. I want free time. I know you college students are reading this thinking you have no free time...but it isn't true. If you can go to the grocery store between the hours of 8-5..you have free time.

So I have a problem. Its a huge problem. It is called discontentment...and it is not okay. I have to fight the thoughts inside of me that "if I could just be there...then it would be easier." I have to fight the thoughts of "I wish I was her...she has it good". I am discontent. That is not pleasing to the Lord.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."

-1 Timothy 6:6-8

Godliness with contentment is great gain...wow. That is a verse I could sit on for a long time. I want to know that great gain. Then I love how verse 8 says, if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that...we will.

Not: we should or you better be or we might be, but WE WILL. God is telling us to be content all we need is food and clothing.

I have food.

I have clothing.

God's word says I will be content. Thus I am living a lie by not being content. I need to live by truth.

I need to start painting pictures of Bryan High because this is where I am, and I am not going back.

Back Home in My 7 Exit Town!

I'M BACK HOME!! It feels so good.

Today I was driving on my beloved highway 6 and I saw the sign, "College Station, next 7 exits". I love that this town has 7 exits. I love that there is one highway that runs through here.

I love that we have a "rush half hour". I love that no place takes more than 20 minutes to get to. I love how every time I come back some new place has popped up...and I realize it because I know about every store and restaurant in this town. It's so good to be home.

Now of course what I really love about this town is my amazing church, but those are just a couple of the other things I love. You see I didn't grow up in a 7 exit town. We have about 3 times that many highways, let alone a killizon amount of exits. So I appreciate the "small" town life of college station.

One of the best parts about being back is that I know without a shadow of a doubt that this is exactly where the Lord wants me to be. I have been waiting to write a blog entry on this until my job became offical, and then I was in Africa, and then I was in Colorado, so I am just now sitting down to get this baby out.

So as I was finishing up my last semester of my senior year, last april/may, I was also concluding my time in the Her Hands class. On the last night, Heather shared with us the challenge to really ask the Lord where He wanted us to go in our future, rather than just picking up and leaving this town because it is what everyone else does. I knew that I had one more semester here anyways because I was student teaching. But I knew that after that I did not have plans.

Heather expressed to us how blessed we were to live in a town that had a church that preached truth and had believers that cared about mentoring. I knew she was right. Living Hope has been one of the most tremendous blessings in my walk with Christ that I can't imagine leaving it.

So I started praying. I knew that my parents would want me to get a job when I finished student teaching. And with all the lessons I have learned, I would be a fool not to follow their advice. I was pretty sure that me being a math teacher I could find a job in December in a big town...but I wasn't so sure about finding a job here in the 7 exit city.

But I also knew 2 truths.

God desires us to know truth and to live in a body of authentic believers.

God knows how to give his children gifts. (Matthew 7:9-11)

So I just kept on praying for a job. All semester as I was student teaching at Bryan High School I prayed for a job. Some days I didn't think about it. Some days it was heavy on my heart. Some days I would have faith that I would be here in January, and some days I doubted that that was God's will.

I asked my hope group to pray. I asked my friends to pray. I know the power of prayer, and God kept my faith that He was in control.

So then came my last week of student teaching.

At this point I knew that Bryan would hire me to be a substitute, but my parents weren't crazy about that. They wanted me to have a full-time job.

That Wednesday night in hope group I just begged them to pray for me to get a full time job here. I was so desparate to remain here, but I knew I had to have a job to live under the submission of my parents. I started considering that maybe this is not where the Lord wanted me to be. Maybe my desires were different than His. So as I was praying for a job I started to ask God to make my heart desire leaving here.

Then Thursday night came. The night before my last day of student teaching, still no jobs available at Bryan High or College Station High School. I spoke to my parents on the phone and they said that I needed to work over Thanksgiving break to find a job in Dallas since I couldn't find one here.

I got off the phone and I was devasted. I just didn't want to leave. I couldn't understand why God wanted me to leave this place of ministry and community. So the only thing I knew to do was to pray. Pray hard. And to ask other believers to pray for me. I sent out some emails that night and just asked His people to pray. I also asked them to pray that my heart would change about going to Dallas if that was His will.

It was amazing, Friday morning I woke up and I felt completely different. My heart was ready to move where ever the Lord wanted me. His joy replaced my doubt and saddness.

So I went to school. I was emotional about my last day and leaving my kids, so I wasn't thinking too much about anything more than that. About mid-morning an administrator came in with our math coordinator and said,

"Sara, we really want you to teach here next semester."

I replied, "well, so do I, but you don't have a position available"

She then said, "Well, we have created a position for you. It would be a full-time teaching job will all the benefits and everything. Would you like to accept?"

I seriously almost fell out of my chair. I was speechless. Then the math coordinator just talked about how she new this is where I needed to be and they were so excited that they could create this position.

I was stunned. Great is His faithfulness. Great is His desire for us to live in a community of believers. Great is our blessings when we submit to the Lord and our authority. Great is His provision if we will only trust Him. Great is His love for His children.

So of course I accepted, and I am set to start this amazing job Monday January 7th. I could not be more excited.

I want to thank my dear brothers and sisters who partnered with me in prayer and rejoiced with me as we saw the Lord be faithful. Most of all, I am thankful to the Lord for His great love in which He constantly desires to grow our faith.

Praise God for bringing me back to my 7 exit town!