God is a big God with a heart for the details.

God may lead you where you have never been but He will be holding your hand the entire way.

My heart has been made incredibly happy tonight by the provisions of God and how He can change lives.

I may not be the most outgoing or talkative person but I learn a lot by watching the world around me and God is teaching me with the little details. I am so thankful for the strong people He has placed in my life. They have not only touched my heart but their actions have taught me a lot about living a life for Jesus.

It's so crazy in my mind to think that God will use me to reach others in the same way. It's a scary and exhilarating thought all in one- somedays I have no idea how I can be used by God and then in the moments when it happens I question why I ever doubted God. He is after all God and our lives are perfectly planned out by him- I don't think it can get much better than that. :)

A Dandelion's Song

For all the times when words weren't enough. This says it perfectly.

Walking along the path, I spot
puffy white orb-
A Dandelion
a weed
Infinitely more beautiful than its
grassy fellows
endless, identical
To Me
I feel akin to this fluffy oddball
I am drawn
childlike
I grasp the delicate stem,
Bringing it near to my lips
Make a wish
a prayer.
I wish for peace,
in the world
in my heart
I wish for love,
true love
I wish for direction,
hope
I blow with all my breathe
wish with all my being-
Disperse
miniature white parachutes.
In my mind
I Too
Detach
in a million different directions,
I Am
the hopes
the dreams
the prayers
the wishes of the world
a generation;
my peers
my family
Myself-
I Am blown.
Carried by a passing breeze
soft, gentle then-
Grabbed by a far more violent gust
I fall
tumble
rise
twist
Change directions.
I have traveled far-
have far to travel
not sure now far
I Am Not Lost-
just searching
for a purpose
a reason
an answer
a place to land
to stay-
To Take Root

-Author Unknown-

Beautiful Day

I was so excited for this lovely picture that I captured today. Loving dreamy quality. :)

Today has been a wonderful day- all because I chose to have a positive attitude.

I went to school at 7:30 this morning to take the ACT and after hearing everyone gripe about how awful it was going to be I made the decision to be happy about taking the test. Attitude really does make a difference because I went in this morning excited and surprisingly not nervous. Though I did struggle with some of the questions I knew I was doing my best and I was happy to be there.

After coming home my sister and I went to take some pictures. :) I had been waiting to use this gorgeous antique chest I had found several weeks ago and today seemed like the perfect day.

This picture just seems to make my heart smile. Love it.

New camera lens!!

I had been having camera trouble for the past couple weeks. The shutter on my camera kept locking up every time I tried to shoot long distance. I had no idea what was wrong and I was really hoping it wasn't something with the actual camera its self.

Upon taking my camera into Lawrence Photo they informed me that it was merely the setting I was shooting on, but when they took the camera outside for a test shoot they quickly encountered the same problems I was having. Its not very reassuring to have a worker at Lawrence Photo tell you they have never had that problem before and they don't know what wrong. Ahhhhh!

Since I only had one lens I was shooting with I asked if they would test another lens on my camera body to see if it was the lens causing problems.

Thankfully they didn't have any problems once they switched lenses.

I took my broken lens home but things just seemed to get worse. I had been able to shoot close up without any problem but then my lens started having focusing problems close up too :(.

After receiving a slightly unexpected financial blessing I was able to go back to Lawrence today and buy a new lens. I even got to upgrade from what I was shooting with before :).

After talking with the people there today we realized I had probably been shooting with a lens that had problems since I first got it. I bought it used so I guess that is to be expected. It was slightly funny to see how a lens should normally work and how mine wasn't doing those things.

So excited to use my new lens and see how a properly working lens is suppose to shoot. :)

Opportunities

I was recently asked to gather some of my photographs to possibly be displayed at art walk next month. Its amazing the opportunities that God provides as we go on this journey with Him.

In the midst of looking through some of the stuff I had taken I was quickly reminded of Haiti and the dream that has been placed on my heart to go there. I feel called to go and do ministry as well as bring back a photo journalism type project with the theme of "touch".

As of right now I have no idea how everything will work out- but do we ever really know? If I am meant to be there God will open doors and provide the opportunities I need to get there.

Praying for the November trip and that something will change in my parent's hearts as God speaks to them.

Believing for something so much bigger than anything I could ever accomplish on my own.

So Blessed :)

So, its the night before my 17th birthday and I am being reminded of how incredibly blessed I am. Two lovely ladies just made my day with their kindness that goes farther than words can even describe.

I got the privilege of listening to three amazing services today and I am so excited to see what God is going to do through discipleship. :) After one message from Pastor Nathan on worship I can already tell a difference. And this is just the beginning.

So as I sat through service tonight I couldn't help but think- If you are still alive then God isn't done with you. He has an individual plan for each and every one of His children. Some of us have testimonies from our past that He is going to use to reach others.

Every year at this time I am reminded of how blessed I truly am.

My story may be different but it is the story that reassures me that God has a plan for my life.

I was born two months premature weighing only 3lbs 15 ounces. I was delivered by emergency c-section and rather than being placed in an incubator I was covered with a blanket and the doctor ran me to the NICU. The doctors told my parents that it was unlikely that I would survive and that if I did probably wouldn't ever walk, talk, or doing anything a normal child might do. I was born without a heartbeat and I wasn't breathing. I spent a month on a ventilator after having a pulmonary hemorrhage at a couple days old and I spent even longer in the NICU. For me to tell you this all today after living the life I have lived so far is a miracle.

In my heart I know that God has a plan for me whether I understand it or not- that or I wouldn't be here today.

Life is a journey for us all and God will always be there providing when we surrender our lives to Him. I am learning that His love is never ending. Tonight that love is what continues to give me hope.

Inspired

Took a walk with my dad the other day and when I came across these beautiful flowers I had to take a picture. I love it because it just goes to show that in the midst of something slightly chaotic there can be beauty. These gorgeous purple flowers are sprouting even thought they are surrounded and covered by leaves.

Sometimes this is how I feel about life, but then I remember that God uses some of that chaos, and what we would consider to be craziness, for the glory of His name. The moments that make up our journey in life shape us and everything that we encounter is for a reason.

I am definitely in the midst of change in my life but I am learning that change is okay. Life is not always going to be all planned out and perfect.

I love that while on this journey of mine I have been given the privilege to be apart of something bigger than myself. Tonight at small group I found the discussion to be quite inspiring. I am not entirely sure why since it didn't differ much from the message last night, but I guess my heart was in a different place and a little more open to hearing what God wanted me to hear. One thing that really stood out to me is that our walk with God and our prayer life is a day by day process. Something I have been working on and will continue to work on is enjoying the moment and just taking this journey one day at a time.

I was definitely challenged tonight to take more note of those moments when God shows up at the just the right time. I know they are everyday things and by taking note of those moments I will be able to remember them, recognize them later and give thanks to God for them.