LOVE, LOVE! I'm in LOVE!

So it's true....I am in love! Finally and forever in love. He's perfect! Strong yet gentle with a subtle southern charm. He loves music so we take advantage of the awesome talent whenever possible. He has such a personality, very well-rounded, and i should add...he's brilliant. He makes me laugh, smile, and I can't help but feel happy even when it's raining. Yup, he's that good. He loves the outdoors which suits me well as I can't get enough sunshine. He's an amazing christian with a heart of gold. He has so much to offer me and we're oh so complimentary. Did I mention he can cook? I could go on....but I don't want to make you jealous.


Who is he? Oh, we met about 3.5 yrs ago, in the heat of the summer. We fell in love in between the lights of fireflies and the smell of fresh cut grass. He goes by the name of Nashville and I can hardly remember why I was timid around him at first. But he's won me over and it is love!


Ok, so i landed wednesday morning at 8am after a little turbulence, fog, and lots of rain. As i made my way home from the airport I quickly found my favorite radio station (how i've missed lightening 100) and couldn't help but smile. It was pouring and i was sitting in morning traffic but i didn't care. It's beautiful...everything's green and blooming and i love the hills and the sights, smells, and oh yes! all the people! i forgot how polite people are....i love the traffic waveback....oh how it warms my little heart. i have missed nashville the last 5 wks even more than i had realized. and percy warner...well, we've become fast friends again! It was an instant feeling of being home. I can't believe i've been here since '04....it seems like just yesterday, but just like auburn's in my blood.....so is nashville and it makes me sad to leave again in a few days. :( but i know i'll be home again soon....and since it looks like i'll be here till January before I have to go away it makes me even more excited! k, i just had to get rid of a little giddyness...i think it was beginning to annoy a few people!

New Song

Last sunday I found new meaning in a song (and i've been singing it all week while watching it unravel in the lives of those surrounding me)......as I was overcome with emotion, not just my own, but that of everyone around me...voices swelling, hands in the air....a standing ovation and clapping for joy. Joy and hope in the Lord. For they had seen His hand and how he had brought them through. They had lived these words. They still are. I was humbled. I stopped singing to listen to the hundreds around me that were singing from the bottom of their hearts. I have always loved this song and it has held a special meaning for me, but that day, i found the literal meaning....straight from Psalm 23.

Even though I walk through the valley

Of the shadow of death,

Your perfect love is casting out fear.

And even when I'm caught in the middle

Of the storms of this life,

I won't turn back; I know you are near.

And I will fear no evil,

For my God is with me.

And if my God is with me,

Whom then shall I fear? Whom then shall I fear?

O, no, You never let go,

Through the calm and through the storm

O, no, You never let go,

In every high and every low

O no, You never let go, Lord You never let go of me.

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on

A glorious light beyond all compare.

And there will be an end to these troubles,

But until that day comes,

We'll live to know You here on the earth.

Yes, I can see a light that is coming

For the heart that holds on,

And there will be an end

To these troubles,

But until that day comes,

Still I will praise You,

Still I will praise You.

A scripture that has been running in my mind since the last post:

"...This is the message from the one who is holy and true. He is the one who has the key of David. He OPENS doors, and no one can shut them; he SHUTS doors, and no one can open them. I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that NO ONE can shut. You have little strength yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me."

-Revelations 3:7-8

Fellowship

and all the other reasons your momma told ya you had to go to church......

There is something to be said for a little corporate worship and gathering together to encourage one another in the name of the Lord, spur each other on (which isn't always a painless process-by definition). I have never understood how some can swear by not needing a church family to thrive and grow their faith. I have trouble when i am not surrounded by believers. Is this because i am such a people person, is it because my faith isn't strong enough to abide alone, or is it simply because it is a biblical concept that we need and long for this fellowship? Even Jesus didn't go out alone. He travelled with his disciples and when he sent them out into the world to witness he sent them out in pairs...and this is for a very good reason. You need someone to hold you accountable, to encourage you, to lift you up, to keep you going when you're not even sure which is the right direction to head in, to keep you company on the long quiet dark roads.

I miss my church family and the constant discipleship i get from it...i miss my community group, and my community of friends that i have spent almost 3 years making-those that have supported me through a lot, who can look me in the eye and tell me to quit complaining and just do it, who don't have to hear the words coming out of my mouth to know what i'm trying to say, cause they know me just that well....even celia's psychoanalyzing my life (however, sometimes i think i just might be your practice pet). i just have a hard time, when all that is pulled away from me, to continuously worship and seek Him like i should. I think this is partially because being immersed in it keeps your eyes focused on the cross, but it also puts everything in the right frame. Maybe i just use that as a crutch....but either way....I could use your prayers, cause it is a little dark down here (even with the constant sunshine) and I don't have any support. I need to be focused on Africa, but I seem to be finding 5 million other things grabbing my attention. I totally know it's all excuses, but still...i need to get my butt in gear :)

Your morning drive with erin

and why i hate days! ok, not daytime...dayshift! sometimes, i forget, and then God reminds me....first, no one should leave their place of dwelling and watch the sunrise as they are making the drive to work...i have many a night watched the sunrise and then hit the hay...and i was NOT working....my brother calls me a vampire...i get plenty of sun and i make the most of it. i just don't think it's necessary to live by farm hours. then there's all that being on dayshift entails...and i AM getting paid more to work it....it is so not worth it. i hate the docs, all the procedures, the noise, the stimulation, rounds, too many parents, quick discharges, and the bright lights....give me some dark rooms, subtle background music, a peaceful calm, and the night is well. i don't care that time passes faster on days! it makes me want to throw my hands in the air and just start screaming till someone takes my assignment and tells me to go home. but, since that would harm the babies...brain bleeds and all....i don't...but i am on the inside, and very loudly i might add! also, i drink way too much coffee to make it through a dayshift...and when i'm having a caffeine lull, i've discovered that i'm not only incoherent, but not very nice to be around. so the countdown? 19 more shifts on days....k, i had to vent. i am in awe of all my day girls! you deserve some cookies...too bad you couldn't get them even if i made them for you. guess it's the thought, right?