Battery: Recharged

After all the crazy of Wednesday came the crazy of thursday, getting all my work from my teachers and packing along with the normal amount of crazy for a Thursday (classes, work, Prayer group). Thursday ended well in the company of my friends, just chatting and enjoying the night.
Friday came and it was off early in the AM to head to the airport. which was like 4 hours away in Jacksonville. Matt and Phillip drove me there in record time! Thanks guys!
i chilled in the airport waitin for the flight. anxious as ever! I couldnt believe i was going home! it had been January when i pulled out of Stafford last and I couldnt believe that i was going HOME! It was bitter sweet, bitter because of why i was going home, Sweet because it was such a blessing to see everyone and be home for a bit.
The week has definitely flown by.
My parents were surprised, everyone was surprised! Thanks again Pelt Family for keeping the secret and pickin me up at the Airport.
Heres just a lil rundown of the week.

• Friday: Arrived at Reagan National. Pelts picked me up, headed for a bite o dinner on the way home. Got home, mom was the only one there. chilled with her for a bit then mom and i went over to say hello to Ms Cynthia, saw Amie there too. Went to see Zach at the Firehouse. then came home and my dad arrived shortly after that.
• Saturday: Renewed Driver License. visited with the Steiners. got sushi!! chilled at home with dad. Zach came by for a bit too.
• Sunday: SURPRISE to STAFFORD BAPTIST!!! It was so AMAZING to be able to go to church. to see everyone. i am so blessed to have been able to see yall. went out to Lunch with my dad and then to Quantico for some good ole comissary grocery shopping. and to top it off, i got to go to the CWAC shindig and saw EVERYONE else i hadnt seen at stafford (pillar ppl). got to hold baby MoMo. AHHH i loved it! Major Awesomeness, let me tell you, nothing is as special and tugs the heart more then when 8 kids crowd around your car as you arrive adn then ATTACK you with smiles and hugs as soon as you get out of the car. I missed all of them so stinkin much!
• Monday: homework at the church. lunch with Moma Cynthia in Quantico, got to see Mr. Brown, missed Carrie and the kids :( . Dinner with Moma Cynthia, Brittany :), Phillip and Elisabeth! Good times! Elisabeth, it was SOO awesome to FINALLY meet you!! You are such a sweet person, Phillip is very Lucky!
• Tuesday: Crazy day! off to quantico i went, i had officially avoided the doctor long enough, hadnt been in years, had to have a physical to get the doc to sign off on the Yellow Fever shot. def. not planning on replaying that anytime soon. then got my first Conflict-Free Chocolate bar, lasted the week too! it was good. tried to clean some in the house, cleaned my bro's room. it was A MESS! made dinner for my dad. Off to TENFOLD! I love my tenfold ppl! God has really been blessing that ministry. so awesome to come back just a year later and see how much has happened!
• Wednesday: Off to Quantico again! yep thats four times in one week, and the week wasnt over! Had to get blood work cause of my kidney stones a couple years back. then went to lunch with Elleen while waiting to be able to get my Yellow Fever shot. Def got some sushi!! i have definitely stocked up on my sushi intake this week! After lunch it was back to Quantico. YELLOW FEVER SHOT time!!! Thanks for praying for me on that, GOD SHOWED UP!!! YEY!!! went home, raked the front yard. went to church. off to wings to go with Brittany, Bobby, Ben, and Peter Danaher. good times. then went to babysit, baby slept the WHOLE time! so i didnt do much but tried to do some homework. tried to leave there at 1am but got stuck in thier front yard. spent the next 45 minutes pushing me out. their yard got a little messed up(sorry Ms. Sue...). as i was spraying off the clumped on mudd from my car my dad came out (agian, its 1:45am). that was fun
• Thursday. No Quantico today. chilled at the house. Justin came into town, went out to lunch with him and Bobby and Ben at good ole Pancho Villa. let me just say, i find it comical that at home, i hang out with guys and not many girls, and its the complete opposite at school. granted, all the girls from home that i do hang out with normally are off at school... after Grack dropped me off at home i sprayed off the driveway from the mudd clumps that accumulated after i had sprayed off the car. then raked the leaves again and bagged all of them. just want to say, the yard is COVERED again! we have so many trees in our yard! after i raked, i made dinner for my dad, got ready and headed off to ECHO, the first time having it at the Coffee Shop. was also my first time there. It was great! and great conversation with moma Cynthia.
• Friday. Got up, dropped mom off at a school she was nurse subbing for. went to Quantico, i believe that makes the final tally 6 time in quantico, picked up the copy of my records so i can get a doctor down at Ft. Rucker. Stopped by the Marks house to drop off a movie and got to chat with Moma and Papa Marks. ive missed them too, it is so good to have Papa Marks home! then, change of plans, stopped by the Library to get books for a paper i have to write. off to get lunch at the house and head out to get my mom from work. read some in the parking lot waitin for her then after taking lucky on a walk i dropped mom off at Eagles Nest Trading Post, where she gets to be crafty and make stuff. off to The Pelts for dinner and a tour of the new house! both of which were phenominal. i love my time with the Pelts. Goodbyes are no fun.

It AMAZES me so much all the time how awesome the Lord is that even in a time of Loss, He grants peace the surpasses all understanding and how he has abundantly blessed me this week. Im returning to Florida tomorrow night after i go to the Memorial service with my dad for my aunt. This week has been so refreshing. Now i wait to see my brother one last time and i have some homework to finish before i return to school. As refreshing as this week was, i think im just about ready to go back to school. May the Chaos of Life continue!

Wednesday, October 21st, In Review

Warning, the blog is more like an online journal kinda deal. of what really goes on in my heart and mind at times. so, its kinda long...

Wednesday began like most others. Class was good. Chapel was good. I was studying as I walked for the midterm i was to have that afternoon. As usuall on Wednesdays, after chapel we return to the room and chill, do homework, or rest before going to Lunch and then to the rest of our classes. I was going to lay down and rest while studying but decided to get on Facebook (I needed to call my Grandma, she had just gotten home from surgery, and i didnt have her phone number so i was hopeing to get in touch with someone who had her number).
Zach was on so I began to chat with him, was kinda rushing so i just asked him for the number, he messaged back with something i was not expecting in a million years.
"Im on the phone with dad, aunt pam passed away this morning".
(i find these things out on facebook. i guess thats ok. at least i found out).
I was paralyzed. i just kept saying "O my word, O my word, O my word".
My roommate had no idea what was going on, i just kept repeating it. finally i said it out loud. Then my heart broke (Even not being so close to Pam, she was and is my aunt. my dad's sister. who my dad adored and cared for and tried to witness to. Knowing that he was crushed and I wasnt there to comfort him, it was just hard.) and i began to breath heavy as my brother told me my dad was almost crying on the phone with him. 1000 miles away is a hard place to be to comfort someone and my Daddy NEVER criesit was at that moment, and in the moments that followed when my dad called me after getting off the phone with my brother, that i just prayed that the Lord would provide a way to get home.
it was 11am when i found out. we were supposed to meet up in the lunch room at 11:3o. i just wanted to ignore it and thought i had cried it out for the most part already, so i decided it was ok to go to lunch.
Eyes still puffy + mind still raceing + those that love you asking if you are ok= uncontrollable tears
i didnt even finish ordering my sandwich before i had broken down crying in the Lunch room. People kept coming up to me, side hugging and saying words of comfort. I am thankful for them, but i dont like that kind of attention on me...its just...yeah. Liz came up to stand by me and comfort me. I told her i couldnt be in there, her and Leah sent me to the Dock and got my food and off i went.
I walked out of the back door into the most gorgeous summer/fall day we have had in awhile. How Ironic. How amazing. as I waited for Leah and Liz to join me, i finished crying (i dont liek to cry too long) and just sat there, prayed, soaked in the warmth of the sun.
Then the girls came out, and they really helped alot. they were quiet with me. they didnt pry, but allowed me to talk if i needed to. they helped me laugh.
Psalm 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted, and bandages their wounds."
He bandaged the wounds caused that day, that very same day. as i sat and soaked in His warmth, and chatted and was able to laugh with Liz and Leah, He healed my heart. I am still praying that He will heal my dad's heart. My dad is very hard to read. it takes alot to know Him well enough to see through the mask he puts up when it comes to emotions.
The rest of that day is a blur. I couldnt fully focus in any of my other classes. my teacher gave me an extention on my midterm because seriously, yeah, that would not have been a pretty test. My mind was focused on prayer and thinking about how what i needed to do to be ready to leave. At that point, i didnt know how i was getting home. i just knew i was getting home. i mean, theres no questioning needed! Tragedy happens, you do whatever it takes to get there.
When the answer came, i rejected it at first. i didnt want to burden the wonderful ppl who were offering to pay to send me home.
but its kinda like that story where the guy prays to be saved from drowning but rejects the boat, helicopter and everything else saying "No thanks, God will save me". then surprised when he drowns and goes to heaven questioning God as to why he died. and God is like "I sent you a raft, a boat, and a helecopter and you rejected them all!".
So, after praying about it, and accepting the offer, the ticket was bought that night, seriously, at like 12am.
and it was time for me to have an end to an insane day. but a day that was bitter sweet. bitter because of the Loss. Sweet, because my sovereign savior was by my side ever moment of it.

SURPRISE!!!

Im home for the week, arrived last friday, most of you know this and have seen me. i leave on saturday night to head back to Florida. more info bout my time home to come, right now im off to rake some leaves!
Garmans, this is a blonde laughable moment, but i just about drove to the town house to bug you and say hello. then i remembered yall are in Iceland and i Laughed to myself. it was a moment.
Thank you Pelt familia! You all are awesome! thanks for keeping the secret and for pickin me up in DC! i want to see you again before i leave, and i wanna see that house!!!
love you all!

October 21 2009

If yall could please keep my family in your prayers. My dad specifically. My aunt Pam, His big sis, passed away this morning of pnemonia.
Please pray for the rest of the family, she was not a believer. which is really breaking my dad, plus the fact that she was his big sis.
Please keep an eye on my dad for me. I can't be there for him so i ask that yall love on him.

adult-ish-hood

i believe you reach this stage of life when you have successfully balanced your checkbook, and paid your bills, and then look at the digits in your bank account after all is said and done, and laugh at the lack there of of funds.
Money is a funny commodity. whoever thought of it was retarded.



and yet, the world revolves around it. there is something wrong with this picture.

Child-Slavery and Chocolate

I have to write a research paper this term on any topic of my choice. I chose to do mine on Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa. I figured, Im going there in December, i might as well know a little about where im going! Never in the world would I have expected to find out something so hideous about my own country.

As I began my research I was merely looking for general information. I knew of a Civil War that had occured there in 2002 so I began to see try to figure out why they had a Civil War and all the little updates on it since. I know of a group called the LRA, that is in Uganda, so I began to see if, because of the Civil War, there had been a group that arose from the Rebels that also participated in Child Abduction. The LRA (Lords' Resistance Army) abducts children 12 and under and turns them into soldiers, almost like robotic killing machines. I prayed that I wouldnt find such a group, and while I didnt find a rebel group that was turning children into soldiers, i did find something that i believe is just as bad.

Cote d'Ivoire is one of the worlds, if not the most prominent source of cocoa. Cocoa, if you didnt know, is what Coffee and Chocolate come from. There are farms everywhere in Cote d'Ivoire.
That is not the bad fact that im freaking out over, no, what im freaking out over is that most of these farms are being harvested and cared for by child slaves. did you catch that! CHILDREN!!! CHILDREN are being forced to work on these cocoa farms. Some are abducted, most are trafficed in from the surrounding countries, particularly from Mali.
I saw the pictures of how these CHILDREN are treated. if they are too weak to carry something then they are beaten, if they work too slow, they are beaten. and if they try to run away, thier fate is much worse.
Very seldom do they even try to escape because of fear, and if one does escape successfully, then they go to the authorities who do, thankfully, come in and arrest the farmer and free the Children. but that is something that will leave scars on those kids for life!
What is worse is that since this has been brought to the public eye very little has been done to fix it. to end the slavery for good. Ivorian officials are against it and do stop it when they can for the most part, but there are so many farms and not enough help to end it.
And even worse then that is that since it has been brought to the public eye, American companies have been found out that they are getting their Cocoa supply from these enslaved farms. AND HAVE DONE NOTHING TO STOP IT. they claim that they have no idea where they get their cocoa from and that its not their fault.
America! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!
HERE is one of the articles ive read so far.

"For the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10)

I was watching a documentary on this the other day, this breaks my heart. there is a quote from toward the end of the documentary from one of the teenage boys who was freed from the slavery when the farm he had worked was found out. He was asked, "The Cocoa goes into makeing chocolate, have you ever tasted this chocolate?" He replied, "No, none of us have ever tasted chocolate." then he was asked, "If you ever had the opportunity to talk with the people who eat the chocolate, what would you say to them". He answered "If I had to say something to them it would not be nice words. They enjoy something I suffered to make; I worked hard for them, but saw no benefit. They are eating my flesh."

needless to say, its only Conflict-FREE chocolate and coffee for me.

Africa Trip Update

I am sending out my support letters on Monday.
The Big thing is Prayer!! Please join me in Praying for this trip!

• Airfare is the big thing, airfare goes up everday and the cheapest so far is $2330. I know the Lord will provide, but I still ask that you would pray for this. The sooner i can purchase the ticket the better.
• Yellow Fever shot: Because my dad is retired military, i am able to receive free shots from the base clinics. This is great considering how expensive the shots are. I need the Yellow Fever shot to be able to go to Africa. Ft. Rucker is the nearest base. Because of the high demand and short supply of this shot, they give (for obvious reasons) active duty military first priority with the shots and they only offer the shot for every five people who sign up. so basically, the only way i could get the shot is if 4 active duty sign up for the shot and they have the extra spot, which i will gladly fill! So, please pray that this will be able to happen. I have to take the shot no later then 2 weeks before i leave for Africa.
• And on the subject of shots, I am going on Tuesday to get my Tetanus and the first of 3 Hep A/B shots, please pray that they dont make me sick as I have to work that night.

Some other prayer concerns:
· Please pray for the financial support of this trip.
· The Lord would be glorified in every aspect of this trip.
· For the children and families we will come in contact with, that they would come to desire a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
· For our team as we prepare our hearts, so we may be effective vessels for the Lord. We must be decrease so that He can INCREASE!
· For safety while in Africa, both health and in all ways.
· For our team as we have to receive shots and raise funds, The Lord is our Provider and we pray this with confidence that He will provide everything we need.

Im Back On

Hey ya'll. the reason i was off blogging for a bit was because i needed to hear from the Lord without outside influence, i thought a month would be good, but God is so great! and im back on. see the five(i know, its alot) posts below this one if you would like to hear about all the Lord has been doing! its pretty much awesome!

The Promise Remains Tour Oct. 1st 2009

the biggest thing since I moved here occured last night. Todd Agnew, Building 429, and Kimber Rising came to BCF!!

the Concert was A-MAZ-ZA-ZING!!!!!!

I was able to take off of work so that i could help out with the merch tables. AHH SO AWESOME!! I know that Todd Agnew and Building 429 are pretty well known artists, but i want to encourage you to go look up Kimber Rising on the web, you tube or something. they are pretty much awesome! a new bad, only about a year old. These ladies have got SOUL!!! they are id say a mix of Out of Eden and ZoeGirl. and its phenomenal!

I was able to work at their merch table. and they shared with us what their band name is all about. Kimber is Old English for "Leader". Their ministry is based off the idea the Christ is the ultimate leader and of the importance and vision of Christ rising as leader of this Generation.

Building 429 was awesome! Todd Agnew is so good! i was slightly skeptical of Todd, but the songs he plays are amazing!

I was super sore today though, with a mix of dancing at the concert and then helping pack up and move stuff up and down stairs... yeah...twas crazy but twas awesome!

Ive decided that he best work out is any form of dancing, you get such a full body workout in such a fun way! im going to do some further research on this...

Buster

Friday September 25th, 2009
I met a new friend.

the night before when i had gotten off of work, I just got this brilliant desire to go on a walk in the morning while my roomie had prayer group. A walk that i had not gone on before. an area of about 4 1/2 miles. not too bad, basically circling around the entirety of Graceville (so yes, this does mean that Graceville is a town of about 4 1/2 miles...theres other roads, but the main road is the one i was on...)
Well, i got up, did my devo, got ready and headed out. I am a person that LOVES walks! I love being out in the outdoors! I love jamming to my iPod shuffle and enjoying the heat from the sun on my shoulders. its BEAUTIFUL!!
But this day was different. even though it was an UTERLY gorgeous morning. even though I was listening to possibly one of the best books Ive ever read/listened to, Crazy Love by Francis Chan(Thanks Colby, great reconmendation!!!). And even though I had been SO excited the night before...i dont know, i just wasnt feeling it. I had begun to debate whether to cut this trip short and turn down the next road to get back to campus, then i turned the corner and as this complete dread of being out there struck me, my mind reverted back to reality.
I began to try to process what i was thinking.
I didnt understand it. I had been so excited! i was listening to Francis Chan talking about how COMPLETELY AMAZING God is while walking around in this gorgeous morning in God's CREATION!!! There was something so wrong with this picture to me, and i became convicted. as i walked on, i began to pray. "God, this walk may not have begun focused on you, but here i am in your creation hearing about how amazing you are and so for the rest of this trip, Its yours to...."
and i didnt even finish my prayer before i met Buster.
Buster is a dog, and he crossed the street to meet me. The gentleman that was working in his yard tried to call him back home, and he went reluctantly only to return to me a few moments later. I tried to tell him that he had to go home, but he just wasn't having it. The gentleman had given up on trying to call him back to the yard, instead he had resorted to getting Buster's owner.
At first i debated on what i should do. Then, I cant explain my next thought with anything else but that it came from the Lord, but i walked Buster back to his yard as his owner was walking out. I walked up to Buster's owner, half shouting from where i was because buster was already running crazy around the yard. and well, the conversation went kinda like this:

Me: Sir i know im a COMPLETE stranger, but it is such a beautiful day and im out here just taking a walk, and well, if you wouldn't mind, i could walk your dog for you...?
Mr. Tim(Buster's Owner): uh, well, (face shocked sorta contempating) sure! do you go on walks alot cause you can walk him whenever you want to, just come on by and get his leash!

The rest is pretty much history, I introduced myself, he introduced himself, i got the dogs leash and Buster accompanied me on my walk. which included him wrapping around me several times, (he was a pretty sized pup. so i had to do this twirl motion to untangle us.) my ipod fell out of my ear at one point so with a water bottle in one hand, the leash in the other, i had to figure out how to put the earpieces back in and switch back to where i was in the book...(a task i never quite accomplished)...and, well it was a HOT morning. so at one point in the walk, Buster just kinda refused to go on. i had tuckered him out! so he sat right on down. i had to try to find him water, which i just led him over to a lil puddle thing...
I brought him on campus to meet some friends and let him rest and got him water before taking him back to his home.
It was an awesome day! so full of surprise!
i mean, it was one of those, "Man, God is SO AMAZING!!! Im forever surprised by Him!" kinda days. those days always excite me to no end.
I havent gotten to go back yet, but i most definitely will. the only time i really have to go on a walk though is either 6am any day or Friday at like 9am. I think I'll go back soon!

Cote d'Ivoire

Pronounced: COAT-dee-vwar

Americanized Name: Ivory Coast

Location: West Africa

I first heard mention of the trip last May. SO, I began to pray about going. "Lord, if this is your will, pleace make it abundantly clear to me!" that was my prayer over the summer and up until September 22nd when He made it ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. and keeps making it abundantly clear, that He is sending me to Cote d'Ivoire this December!!!

December 21st-31st I will be in Ivory Coast, West Africa giving Christmas gifts to orphans!! im so excited!

If you read the previous post called "12:30am" then you will know that there was a really big decision that i did not go into detail about, just sorta mentioned. well this is that decision.

It encompasses so many other decisions such as; how am I going to pay for next semester if i can't get a job over winter break? Can I handle being away from home for Christmas? It will take a miracle for this money to come together. Is this my will or God's will?

That night when the Lord brought clarity it was a beautiful thing! I know that God is the ultimate provider of everything! and He has shown me that it will be ok. that He has a plan, and im just kinda chillin here, watching the plan unfold. and its quite spectacular!

then the fun begins...

I called my parents and asked if they would be ok with me missing Christmas day. they were bummed but understood. and they felt much better about it when they found out that i am planing on being home the week before and the week after the trip. so im pretty stoked!

I feel so blessed for this opportunity and am praying with the faith and assurance that the Lord will show up and provide for every aspect of this trip!

The Joy

"Life may push my heart to the limit, But i wont let go of the Joy in my soul. Everything can change in a minute, and the world may try, but they're never gonna steal my Joy"

As i listened to that song last week, i realized that I had let the world steal my joy for a time. I had let my Joy in the Lord fade since coming back from camp. I can not pinpoint when it began, but slowly it had just kinda disappeared. it became a task for me to smile. how RIDICULOUS is that!!! I am a person that operates on Joy. that functions on Joy.

Think about it for a sec:

When you dont have the Joy of the Lord in your heart, in your life, in your soul, then everything about you and around you takes this pessimistic turn. Lacking Joy negatively affects everything in your life. It effects your attitude with people therefore effecting your witness. It effects your relationship with God which affects your attitude at work, with school work, with everything.

I wanted my Joy back so much because as i took a look at my life, i didnt like what i was seeing. i was beginning to focus way too much on me and my problems and my issues. NO BUENO!!!

Its definitely a process restoring joy, but i love it, I gave this all over to the Lord and He has truly been showing me so much its great! The joy of the Lord is the source of strength. I dont know if that is scripture. it may just be from 1st Opinions chapter 2 or something but i know for me, my source of strength is the Joy of the Lord.

12:30am

Its amazing how the Lord works in your life when you really don't think it will happen.

Before i begin speaking in riddles that confuse you more than is necessary let me just share with you what I'm talking about. I'm going to back up to about two weeks ago.

Tuesday night, September 22nd, 2009

I had been really struggling to hear the Lord's direction and know what is will was for a few things that have been going on, such as; Where to attend church, how i should take care of my license (long story, it just exprired...), and the biggie that I will share with you a little bit later.

I kept praying about it, asking other ppl about what I should do. But I just wanted to hear the Lord's opinion. I just wanted to know what His will was. And for weeks I just couldn't hear Him. I had no peace about anything.

(There is so much involved in whats been going on in my heart and life lately that this will definitely have to be a two or three part post. For now, I will focus on what the Lord showed me on September 22nd.)

I was laying in my bed, i had decided on the 16th that I needed to clear everything unnecessary out of my mind. So I took a month break off of going on facebook and from posting any blogs. I had realized that that was where I had begun to turn for encouragement and advice, which isnt bad, i just didnt want for it to become a habit. I needed to just hear the Lord, i needed to take my problems or concerns to Him, find my worth and encouragement from Him.

I continued to pray, and still nothing until Tuesday night(kinda wednesday morning, but it was still Tuesday to me). I was laying in bed trying to get to sleep. I was tired, i just couldnt get to sleep. My roommate tried to get me to do some sorta breathing exercise to get me to calm down cause i was semi hyper. that didnt work. I tried to just close my eyes and see if i would just fade off. but that didnt work either. My mind was racing, it was running through a bunch of stuff, and i didnt really know what i was thinking, i just knew that details were being put together. Then i realized that i should probably write this down so i got up and wrote down everything in my head. Figuring out all these little details and making sure i could get them out on paper so I wouldnt loose them.

I took a step back when I was finished and realized what had just happened. The Lord had figured out and shown me everything! All the answers that I had been searching for for weeks, everything i had been concerned about that I had given to the Lord. Everything that was just clouding my mind, God had just taken care of it!

man, can you say GOD IS GOOD!!

I then tried to go to bed again, thinking it was done, but my mind was then so excited, and my heart was still racing at what i had just experienced that i couldnt sleep and more ideas and things just kept flowing through my mind! it was the coolest thing! God was like, "Why are you in bed? Get up, i have so much more to show you!"

Ya'll, im so psyched!

I love that I serve a Lord who doesnt give up on me. I love that the God I love is so faithful even when we are at our lowest. PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!!!!