Day 5: You can't trust everything that you see on Pinterest

Didn't go to any of my classes today because i wasnt feeling amazing, but I had a great day at home with my younger sister Katy. We were looking at Pinterest and found clementine candles that we thought would be fun to make. Well, we first tried this with an orange, and not really knowing what we were dong...we failed. Then, after watching an instructional video on how to make it we continued on to attempt 2...and 3...and 4...and finally 5!!! Well the video tells you to cut the circumference of the clementine just deep enough to get through the skin. Then, you peel back the skin anhave two half circles, one still has to have the middle thing attached to it to use as the wick. You fill the half with the 1/4 of the way with olive oil (which, if you didn't already know, is flammable) and let the wick soak it up, the light it and its supposed to be this super cute little candle. Well in the video the guy is holding the clementine in his hand the whole time he is lighting it and so i assumed that the bottom wouldn't get very hot. I was wrong...We burned my mom's counter...which dd not make her happy and since then we have heard joke after endless joke about it.


This is what they looked like :)

Today i was also reminded that God has put some incredible people in my life that I never really take advantage of. I had a great talk tonight with three people that mean a lot to me and i was just reminded that God has an amazing plan for each and every one of us. That our friends are the ones that should be lifting us up, not the ones that join the rest of the world in tearing us down. They are supposed to be our shoulder to cry on, the ones that we share our really stupid moments with, and the ones that we have the best inside jokes with. It has been really hard for me this last year with all my friends going away for college and me staying here. We all still talk, but we definitely don't get to hang out as much. I feel like this year I have really had to learn to be content with the things that I have here, like my family ( both blood and church) and the friends that I have come to make at school. This year is a chance for change and a chance for new norms!!

May God bless you!!

Til tomorrow
XO Abby

Day 4

So today was nothing special...it was actually pretty boring. English was ridiculous and I am 90% positive that my teacher hates me because i wrote my first essay about how i came to know Christ and every paper since then my grades have been getting lower. Child Development made my night though. Even though it is a three hour class i really love the teacher and we are talking about babies :) I have come to realize that the fact that anyone gets pregnant is really a miracle.And the way that a baby is created and becomes a baby...its just amazing :)

I had an amazing talk with Wendy Marshall today about the values of society. We were talking about the shows that are on now, the most popular ones and even some of the ones that we watched. It is really sad that now media is trying to force teens to believe that it is ok to have sex outside of marriage and not only that but to have it with multiple people and that it isn't something to be ashamed of, but rather something to take pride in. Not only is this stuff that teens don't need to be filling their heads with but now even kids in grade school are watching these. At such a young age they are being filled with these lies of what you are "supposed" to do and how high school is going to be. I'm not going to lie, i do not always make the best decisions on what tv shows or what movies i should be watching. I wish that they had shows out there that promoted purity, honest, and integrity but, sadly, these are very rare and very hard to find.

I realized today that it seems like the people that you love the most are the people that can also hurt you the most. It seems like it is so easy to forgive a complete stranger, but it seems so hard to forgive the ones that you love. I guess thats because you expected more out of them...

May God bless you today <3

Til tomorrow
XO Abby

Day 3: "There could never be a more beautiful you"

So today I had the psychology test that i dreaded (and actually studied for) and i felt pretty good about it. I guess thats why people encourage you to study :) The test definitely seemed less stressful that way. After my 3 hour do-nothing-but-wait-for-my-next-class session at starbucks, i finished up with a super boring dose of Sociology. Headed home and tonight i was blessed with going to youth group. Going there and seeing these junior high students worshiping the Lord and being able to be who they really are was great. There was no sound for worship tonight so all we had was an acoustic guitar and an acoustic bass and you could actually hear everyone singing. That is definitely my favorite, being able to hear every voice, whether good or bad, making a joyful noise to the Lord.

My day was made today with a little package from Kenya!! I got a note from Kate Kjeldgaard and it just brightened up my whole day. I have been missing them a lot lately and it was great to get a keepsake from them. 8 months (ish) and they will be home :). I am so excited to read about and see pictures of all the things that they are doing over in Africa and every time we skype Kate she is always so excited to tell us all about Africa and i know there is no place where she would rather be.

So (on a totally different note) my song lyrics for today are: "There could never be a more beautiful you. Defy the lies, disguises, and hoops they make you jump through. You were made to serve a purpose, that only you can do. So, there could never be a more beautiful you." I feel like every girl needs to be reminded of this on a daily basis. Today, it was freezing and pouring rain and as I was walking to class in my sweatshirt, jeans, and boots (which had like half my jean tucked in them) i pass girls in tank tops and booty shorts. They are hanging out in groups of guys that are of course giving them the attention that they are desiring an all I could think was "Girl, you must be freezing". Why do we do that to ourselves? It seems like nowadays girls will do just about anything to get a guy to look her way, to give her a smile, or maybe if you are the lucky one to make out with her. When did this become the new norm? Why do we choose to lower ourselves to this? We can all do so much better if you just hold yourself to a better standard. We see the girls with their boyfriends that look so happy, and we long for that. I have most definitely been guilty of that. But, as i look around today girls are no longer having any respect for themselves, an honestly who are you really trying to attract looking like that. Is the man that only looks at you for those reasons really the man that you think you are going to be with for the rest of your life. I know we all want that "Happily Ever After" fairy tale ending, an some day in our own ways we will have that. So, stay strong, be who you are, and do not lower yourself to who the world tries to get you to believe you are "supposed" to be. You are "fearfully and wonderfully made"(Psalm 139:14).

"Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2

May God bless you today, and remember there could NEVER be a more beautiful YOU!!

XOXO Abby

Day 2

So today has again been AMAZING!!! The Young Africans led the service at church this morning and what an incredible blessing it was. Their hearts are so filled with worship for the Lord that even when i didn't understand the words that they were saying i still felt my heart being pulled to worship along with them. Once again my favorite song that they did was How He Loves by David Crowder. That song is a great reminder of the unfailing love that God has for us. After the 2 services were over and they had lunch they left to continue on their tour. It is amazing to me what kind of impact they had on the people of our congregation. I could see some people's eyes open up when they realized how grateful these kids were. There were tears and smiles as we heard them say their dreams and their promises to Africa. I hope that one day i will be able to be a chaperon on one of their tours and be apart of this great cause.

After they had left i went onto CR worship practice which was again...interesting, and then went to a play interest meeting. My love for singing is what is making me the most excited for this play of "Esther-ordinary Faith". I can't wait til this all comes together. And finaly, one of my favorite parts of the week, the Curry children came over. They make me laugh so much and I just love spending Sunday evenings with them. Tonight Ryan told us that he wanted to have a naked dance party haha. He is 4 so this was especially funny and sadly for Ryan, i do not see this actually happening :).

Well i have finally finished studying for my psychology test that is tomorrow and feel pretty well prepared. Second day and i already almost missed the cut off :) May God bless you wherever you find yourself at when you are reading this!!

Til tomorrow,
XO Abby

Day 1

Well, today i had the amazing privilege to hear the African Children's Choir. What an amazing blessing it was to see these people that most would expect to have no hope praising the Lord for what He has done for them. They have very little and yet have so much love and such grateful hearts. We got a chance to hear each of their dreams for their lives, ranging from a TV host, to a doctor, to a lawyer, to a psychologist, and even an architect. They will stop at nothing to make their dreams come true. These kids are now known as the Young Africans because they were in the children's choir when they were younger. They now are graduated from high school and are awaiting to see if they have been accepted into the universities back home. For them, an education is everything. I look at them and see how amazing their love is and look around where we are today and realize how selfish we have become. One of the girls shared that the room that she shares with her brother is 60 sq ft and how she is grateful for that, and i think about how many times i complain about sharing my room with my sister. Seeing all these people, singing songs like How He Loves by David Crowder was just another reminder that we are so spoiled and so blessed beyond measure here and everyday we take advantage of it. While we sit with our cell phones, or IPods in hand complaining about how bored we are, or that we never get anything that we want, I hope that we can all be reminded of how much we already have and take advatage of. I hope that we can become amazed with the little things again. Like how an ant can carry things multiple times their own weight, or the miracle of a child, or how I am even able to hit these buttons and have words come up on the screen. These are things that we bypass everyday as things that are just "supposed to be". This week let's take time to fall in love again with the little things.
XO AGott