God Has a Boaz Waiting For YOU, So DON'T Settle For BOZO!!

My time-line growing up. It's funny because I thought I was going to be married and have at least 3 kids by now. I was wrong. God had something better in store for me.

Age 5: Played Wedding
            * This is where you would dress up and have your own wedding. I married my rabbit, neighborhood cat, and some other random things (I was 5 and wanted to marry everything that I loved)

Age10: Was going to marry Will Chesher
            *My first crush

Age 17: Had my Bridesmaids picked out
            *Of course there was like 10 of them because I had to have every single one of my best friends in it!

Age 18: Had my Wedding Planned (all I needed was the groom)
            *My friend Stefe and I would always talk about our weddings and would plan them whenever we saw something cute or what we wanted in our wedding

Age 19: Found the Groom (so I thought)
            *I have nothing for this

Age 21: Heartbroken/Found Jesus J
            *Not going into too much detail but I think the title explains it

Age 23: Found a Great Christian Guy (Nope just another phony)
            *LIAR

Age 24: Re-planned my whole wedding (just missing the groom)

            *Naturally everything changed but a few things

Age 25+: Heartbroken/Dated a few more guys/Content with being Single!!
            *Dated some real losers. Didn’t want to lower my standards!! I’m a    princess, just waiting on my Prince J

Why are you writing a blog about being single?? Well, it’s something that I deal with. Not as much as I used to when I was younger. It’s weird because now that I’m older it doesn’t bother me as much. Sure, there are days that I struggle with it but there are days when I thank God for taking me down this road.  Most all my friends are: dating, engaged, married, married with babies. Sometimes I get jealous of them because they have a life that I want, BUT, I know that God has something different in store for me. Not saying that I am not going to get married one of these days and have lots of little babies, just not right now.  This is what helps me get through the days when I am having bad or negative thoughts.  I know that I am beautifully and wonderfully made, because that’s how God created me to be. We must continually remind ourselves that our security and confidence comes from who we are in Christ, not in what we do. The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1  A very wise and big influence in my life always tells me “Purpose in your heart not to settle for second best, but wait for God’s best no matter how long it takes.”  The more I think about it I would rather be single and happy than married to the wrong one and be miserable! If it’s our desire to be married, and we know God wants to give us the desire of our hearts, then we know that we are single only for a season. So we might as well enjoy this season! To be able to enjoy this season, we have to get into faith instead of being anxious. I believe, that God is ordering our steps and preparing the right mate for me.

Discouragement

I get very discouraged as I said in the above paragraph. We all have had opportunities to get discouraged. Even Jesus himself was tempted to be discouraged. In Matthew 16 Jesus tell his disciples how he was going to go to the cross and suffer the most horrible death any human being ever suffered. Now that could be very discouraging. Then right at that moment Peter stuck his foot in his mouth…Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”   Matthew 16:22

In the Greek translation of this verse, Peter is literally saying to Jesus, “Pity yourself.” In other words, Peter was trying to get Jesus to feel sorry for Himself. Actually, it wasn’t Peter; it was the devil himself. He is the source behind all discouragement.

            We must realize the source of our discouragement and do what Jesus did about it. And that is, He spoke to it! He spoke to discouragement. In verse 23 He said,”… Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Whenever self-pity tries to come our way, be like Jesus and command it to leave your life.

                Your words are very powerful. After you speak to discouragement, you can start saying, “I believe I’m full of joy,” because Proverbs 15:23 says, “A person finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word!”  Even your level of joy is determined by the words that you speak.

*If you’re having any doubts about being single, DON’T because God has a greater plan for you. Just trust in him and he will lead the way. This is something that I struggle with but with God’s help I know that it’s going to be worth the wait!!  

I just wanted to leave you with a picture that I took when I was in Gatlinburg, TN last year

2011 Review

Memorable things that happened throughout the year

·         Gatlinburg, TN with some pretty sweet people. On this little get away it was the first time that I ever got to drive the 15 passenger van, bonded, grew in my faith and where new friendships were made J

• Baby Mania- Madisyn Brielle, Elizabeth Nicole (Libby), Westley, Peyton, and Hannah.  These are the babies that were born during 2011

 

 

WEDDING

 My really good friend Valerie Grace got married to her prince charming Scotty J

*We have been friends since the 5^th grade and still are. Love friendships like that

Bubba Comes HOME from the Sandbox

This was such a fun vacation. My dad’s side of the family all went to North Carolina to surprise my brother. We spent a whole week on the beach, lounging, swimming, and just being crazy. It was such an AWESOME vacation and I loved every minute of it. 

Mission Trip with Elmore Youth

This was a very fun and growing experience. I met a lot of people from all over the U.S and still keep in contact with them. They are all nice people, with a heart for God. This was my last mission trip with the Elmore youth because I felt that God was calling me elsewhere and my friend Ryan felt the same. I got to spend a whole week with some pretty amazing kids and youth leaders. The theme was John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  This week of serving was such an awesome experience. We got to go to different locations and we weren’t in our groups. It was such a great experience. I still keep in contact with the A2 church down in Georgia. (Hopefully one day I can make it down there and visit) Nathan from Cincinnati (Which I am excited because I might get to see him in a few weeks) I love meeting people who share the same faith as I do. 

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 7.2   

I went with a bunch of people to go and see the 2^nd part of Harry Potter 7. Always a good time with these folks. We were a big hit. We made it on local and national news. Loved it!!

 *I made this :)

My Birthday

That’s a celebration in itself J I went to Red Robin with some friends and then went to go and see my hero..CAPTAIN AMERICA!! It was so much fun. A small group of my close friends went to dinner and then we walked over to watch the movie. It was a BLAST!! All though it didn’t start out that well. Got into a fight with a friend the day before and they refused to call,text or come out to celebrate my special day. I was really hurt by this but when I was at dinner and was looking around. I smiled because everyone that I love and care about were right there and I wouldn’t of had it any other way. I am seriously blessed with some of the best people this world has

 

 

 

*Not pictured: Amanda, Shay and Karen 

Childhood Bestie gets MARRIED!!!

My Best Friend growing up is Megan Martin. We lived next door to each other since we were infants. She is the person out of all my friends that I have known the longest. Meg and Ben are just perfect for each other. He treats her like a princess. Makes me smile because I can’t wait for that!!

Happy Birthday & Good Luck

It was a good day yet sad day. My friend Andrea turned the Big 3-0! (She probably would kill me if she knew that I posted that) and Scott was leaving for the big sandbox. Having this family in my life is just a blessing. From the littles (Evie)all the way to biggest (JD) They are such a loving family and I know that I can count on them all

"A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.”    Proverbs 15:13

  

Love this picture. Makes me smile every time I look at it. Hanging out with all them is such a joy. My 2^nd family J

*Scott was using his survival technique by cutting the cake with dental floss.

Renewing of Love

Scott and Andrea renewed their love for each other. It was a surprise for Andrea because the last 2 years Scott has not been home to celebrate. He called this “Operation Seagull” It was a lot of fun and Andrea was really surprised 

CONCERTS!!

Who doesn’t love a good concert? I love concerts. Unfortunatley I only went to 2 concerts..well 3 concerts this year. U2, Lifehouse and Cartel. All were AMAZING

 

The End of a Journey

Rye and I ended our time at EMCOG youth. It was very ssad to leave all those AMAZING people and yet we knew that God was calling us else where. It’s so weird to explain, but it is something that we both were called to go else where. I went back to my old Church and Rye went back to a church that his family was attending. 

1^st Trip to Chicago

*You can read about this in another blog.

It's not Good-Bye, More Like See You Later!!

 "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." John 15:13

This picture speaks so much to me!! I think it's because I love Hugs :) Can't wait for you to be home Scott!! 

1^st Ohio State Game

This was my 1^st OSU game in the horseshoe and I loved it. It was cold but so worth is!!

This pretty much sums up 2011. Granted there is lots more that I would love to share but will at a later date. Some new blogs that I am working on are: New Friendships, Calling and some others. Just have to redo some of them and add pictures, because I am such a picture person :) Hope you enjoyed my 2011 in review!!