BBC Champions

So, we've been playing intermural soccer since the first few weeks of school, and yesterday we had our playoffs. In game #1 red played vs. gray and gray (the under-dogs) came out with a 1-0 win in overtime pks. Game #2 was an intense matchup between the green(Chris's team) and blue (my team). We battled back and forth for the hour, but on a great run, the blue team put one back into the net to move on to the finals.

In the evening, we were challenged with the championship riding on the line...battling against gray, we got off to a 2-0 start, with gray coming back early in the second half to notch one goal making the final score 2-1 blue team! Hooray we are champions and win the satisfaction of knowing we had an amazing, fun, full of fellowship season and as a bonus got to exercise multiple times a week, socialize and take a break from the books! God's joy burst from my heart. I enjoy playing soccer for God's glory or as coach Starks would say "it's all about ministry".

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!
I love you!
To a Mom who's specialness surpasses that of any other...
Whom God created beautifully, fearfully & wonderfully a certain number of years ago.
Be blessed on your special day!

soccer games and solo singing

I love being joyful for the Lord.
Oh, how I love rejoicing in my King's goodness, faithfulness, love and pursuit.
I love finding God on the soccer field, in the solo tryouts, everywhere.
This afternoon I spent a large portion of my time playing 2 soccer games.
Lots of running. Hard work! tons of fun!
We won our first game 11-1 and lost the second 3-0 to the same team that beat us last last week 7-1.
Sandwiched between the games, was my lovely solo auditions for chorale.
I felt led to try-out for two of them, and while singing, I felt surrounded by the joy of the Lord. My mouth was formed in a huge smile....my Jesus was standing in the back of the room, smiling at me...His glory shining all around the room. I felt captivated, loved, adored and treasured. He was clapping for me, cheering and encouraging me. My voice rag free with love for the One my heart belongs to and longs for daily.
I left the room, smiling through and through not because of how my voice had sounded, but because I experienced my Jesus in a new way.
Though I'm not sure what God has planned just yet for me in Chorale,I know for sure He's allowed me the opportunity in this ministry for a great reason, and there's something BIG coming. He's going to stretch me and make me bold for Him! I just know it! God is so faithful!

Just hold on...my God will show up and He will take you through the fire again........

oh the joy of His word

"How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of Heaven's Armies. I long, yes I faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God." -Psalm 84:1-2

"The Lord always keeps his promises: he is gracious in all he does. The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads. The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in everything he does.; he is filled with kindness. The Lord is close to all who call on him,yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. The Lord protects all those who love him, but destroys the wicked. I will praise the Lord and may everyone on earth bless his holy name forever and ever." -Psalm 145: 13b-21

He is the One

This morning we closed the service with this song of worship. It was one I'd never heard before but one filled with sweet truth when you look closely and listen to the words. Isn't God amazing? Let His name be praised in all the earth on this beautiful day!

"You’re the One Who made the Heavens
You’re the One Who shaped the Earth
You’re the One Who formed my heart
Long before my birth
I believe You’ll always lead me
All my days have been ordained
All Your thoughts toward me are holy
Full of love and grace

CHORUS:
You are the One You are holy
You are the One You are worthy
You are the One
You are the One everlasting
You are the One I will worship
You are the One I will serve all my days
You are the One
You are the One everlasting
You are the One Jesus
You’re the One"

-'You are the One' by: Lincoln Brewster

attention: i made the cover-page

For the past couple of weeks many BBC students have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the annual pictorials. For anyone curious about what exactly a pictorial is, it's kind of like a miniture phone book of the campus complete with photos,e-mails, program of study, ect.
Well folks, that day has come and here is a view of the cover page, fresh off the printing presses.
If you'll take notice in the lower right hand corner, you will find my smiling face.

I didn't realize it was an accomplishment of sorts to make this cover. I simply thought it was cool. Several upper classmen congratulated me and an innocent bystander ran around the student center wondering why he'd dressed up for picture day if he wasn't going to make the cover page anyway.

So all in all, it's not a big deal for me...but I thought that you all (Dad especially) might enjoy a small post about nothing other than be making the cover page. :)

beautiful-panic

It's Wednesday morning, first day back on campus after the long weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving. I am startled awake suddenly and in a rather unusual act I find myself leaning over my bunk to catch the time on my roomate's alarm clock. The glaring blue numbers send alarm pulsing through my entire body: 7:54am.

I never sleep this late!

Instantly my mind is flaring "chapel day? wait no, no Bib.Lit! Why didn't my alarm go off?! I've never done this before. What is wrong with me? Oh nooooo!!!!! Bib Lit!!! Bib Lit at 8:00!!!"

I jump out of bed, grab a pair of jeans, toss on a t-shirt, throw my hair in a pony tail, toss a piece of gum in my mouth (no time to brush), stumble around for contacts (I might be almost late, but under no circumstances do I feel like wearing my glasses). Dashing to the far side of my bedroom, I toss my planner into my book bag (my books had all been packed the night before). Throwing on a pair of crocs I dash out the door. Flying across the campus, my feet perhaps touched the cement a total of 5 times, I was booking it. I waltz into class pretending that everything is perfectly okay and that I did not, under any circumstances wake up 3 minutes ago...slightly annoyed that my stomach is flooded with nausea, I missed my time with the Lord, no breakfast and to make things even better, I was shaking. I don't mean shivering either, I mean just shaking, tremors perhaps, from my sudden awakening.

I am greeted by that charming smile and the voice of my sweetheart saying "good morning beautiful!" Clearly he is unaware that I have no make-up on, forgot a belt for my too big pants, no jewelry, forgot my watch and have done absolutely nothing with my hair. I felt like a sloppy mess....yet he thought I was beautiful.

This experience this morning made me wonder about the standards we hold ourselves to as young women in this country.
Why do we have to experience extremes to carry a mark of beauty?
What exactly is beautiful?
You see this morning I didn't find myself too beautiful. I was hurried, rushed and had placed no effort in my appearance...but what did Chris see...he saw beauty and I think what far overshadowed my outward appearance was that of my insides...the beauty that is in me, the light of Jesus Christ, the joy of Christ, the love and peace and fruits of the Spirit all burst forth from me...overpowering, overtaking, overwhemling any blemishes on freshly awakened skin, any whispys in a 3 second pony tail, any empty ear lobes lacking shiny dangly earrings.

Do you adorn yourself with beauty from the inside out?
Why is it okay to rot on the inside as long as you look nice on the outside?
Why is shining and growing on the inside sometimes not okay with observers who find the outside displeasing?

Ladies, what are your thoughts?
If any men read this blog, I'd admire your contributions as well.

I'm thankful God taught me this lesson of beauty.
He sees me as beautiful.
I am made in His image, His likeness.
I am beloved...

Worthy of all praise!

"1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens!
Praise him from the skies!

2 Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all the armies of heaven!

3 Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all you twinkling stars!

4 Praise him, skies above!
Praise him, vapors high above the clouds!

5 Let every created thing give praise to the LORD,
for he issued his command, and they came into being.

6 He established them forever and forever.
His orders will never be revoked.

7 Praise the LORD from the earth,
you creatures of the ocean depths,

8 fire and hail, snow and storm,
wind and weather that obey him,

9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,

10 wild animals and all livestock,
reptiles and birds,

11 kings of the earth and all people,
rulers and judges of the earth,

12 young men and maidens,
old men and children.

13 Let them all praise the name of the LORD.
For his name is very great;
his glory towers over the earth and heaven!

14 He has made his people strong,
honoring his godly ones—
the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the LORD!"

This morning during my devotions with the Lord I was brought to Psalm 148.
This Psalm reminded me of our Father's unfailing goodness and glory.
It stirred in my heart the desire to give all honor, glory and praise to the One who created all.
Praise Him you sun, moon and bright shining stars...
Isn't our God worthy to be praised today!?!?!
His glory is shining all around us!

Let all that I am...Praise the Lord!!

adventurous journey

well for all those wondering : Yes, I have arrived safely home.
yesterday evening we (Jess Burden, Chris & I) departed from BBC on our way home...
so we thought.
clearly going home was much more complicated than going to school
first, chris started driving us to st. john...
I knew this wasn't the way, so as graciously as possible, I mentioned how unfamiliar it was that way and perhaps* we could turn around and head towards fredricton.
So chris agreed and we turned around.
We then drove in a way that he believed would get us to fredricton...
I only have one question here "Why does the TransCanda lack signs? Clearly if you're not Candian you have no clue where you're going."
After calling a few Canadian friends, one being an alumnus of our school, chris was still certain we were heading in the right direction.
I wasn't so sure, I'd never seen the apple barn, or the mcdonalds sign or anything familiar.
Hum...so when we got to Moncton, I knew for sure, we had just driven about an hour in the wrong direction.
we get directions from a gas station and turn back...
Our original journey of 3 hrs...turned into 6hrs.
We had some good laughs about it though.
Chris and I have now decided to invest in a Canadian atlas...we we will now spend time "problem solving" ahead of time, plotting out our journeys on a map...so we can play pilot and co-pilot.

Boo for poorly directed Canadian roads.
Boo for 3 extra hours of driving.
Hooray for character building.
Hooray for patience.
Hooray for unconditional love.
Hooray for long talks!
most importantly, Hooray for God's grace & protection in all situations.

His word

Tonight I attended the HUNGRY prayer gathering in the chapel as part of our chorale requirements, but I found it to be much less of a duty and much more of a privilege.

Sitting in a chair, not sure where to begin as I entered into prayer, my heart opened up and I asked God to give me a word that would not necessarily prove (I already know His love, His promises, and that His word does not return void). In this instance I just wanted to know that all that's been in my heart, all that is transpiring and building up in my life, is of Him, is good and is going to continue getting better. I wanted to know that my heart's stand is where it needs to be....perhaps you could say I was looking for a little assurance.

After sharing my heart with our awesome Lord, Romans 8:28 popped into my head, and turning the pages in my Bible I came across a blessing of peace, promise, love and assurance. God is good and faithful all the time. I am privileged to daily fulfill my duties as a daughter of the King. "My heart is confident in You, O Lord!"

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." -Romans 8:28 NLT

autumn

I love fall time.
I adore the cruchy crunch noise that my shoes make as my feet trample the pavement.
I love the chilling breezes and moments of glaring sun that God reveals Himself in.
I love the changing colors and knowing that even though the branches are losing their leaves, their outward beauty, they will continue to live, even through winter's cold and harsh conditions. Why? They have their needs sufficiently provided for. They have all the nutrients necessary to live through a winter of cold without the covering of their beautiful leaves. Jesus is the nurtient we need. He replenishes our souls when we are dry and hungry. He quenches every thirst and when we trust Him, our roots are firmly planted deep into the waters of His river of life.
He is sufficient.
He is my beauty inside and out.
When life causes me to lose my leaves, I still have life, because Christ is in me!

Oh, how I adore autumn.
Time to bundle up with mittens, scarves and sweaters.
Time to lock arms with your love and wander down colorfully painted streets.
Smells of apple pie and spicy pumpkin waft through the breezy air.
I love it, I love it, I love it!
God is good!