Things Are Looking Up

Good morning everyone! Well, I'm a little down-hearted because I just got finished watching the episode "Journey's End" on Doctor Who (the newer series). The Doctor should have just taken Rose with him...the 2nd Doctor be darned. Someone else could have watched him. The real Doctor and Rose could have flown away in the Tardis and lived happily ever after...until Rose got old and withered away, but whatever! Still a better love story then Twilight.

All Doctor-Who-ness aside, I've got some good news! My financial aid at BCTC has finally been taken care of! I accepted and submitted it yesterday, actually. Now I'm just waiting for the "pending" notification to go away; then my tuition and books are paid for and I'll get a refund sometime in the next month or so. Woot! Woot! God is good-all the time. : )

I've been thinking about starting another small blog on Tumblr. Something has been eating at me lately. I've got this blog all about my Marine and me...which is so, so important to me. It seems to take up a lot of my time...but I'm spending more time worrying and thinking about it then my God. And He should always come first. 

I've been eaten by condemnation and guilt though. How could something take place before my Loving Lord and Savior? So I've decided to start a blog about faith and love in the Lord on Tumblr. I don't have a name for it yet, and I'm not quite sure how it's going to go...but I think it'll help me keep on track more. I'll have something public I'm obligated to; which is embarrassing to say that I have to be obligated to work harder for God...but distractions have been all around me. I think I can get more focused on Him with something physical that I have to write about everyday. 

I'm still praying on it. I'm going to continue praying on it, and I'll let you all know if and when I get it up. 

Some side news-good new! 

I have the best most-likely-probably-yeah-they're-gonna-be-future-in-laws in the world. Yesterday I sent a text to Austin's mom telling her that my dad and I had decided to have a pizza/movie night (Avengers and supreme if you wanna know) yesterday night, so I wouldn't be a church. Well I got a phone call from her not even a two minutes after that. 

We chatted a little and then she said that her and Aust's dad were going to see Austin in NC around the weekend of July 4th. I think Austin gets a day or two of leave or something. Anyway...then she asked if I could take off work and go with them as my birthday gift!
Of course, I accepted and said "yes". How could I resist? 

However, I still have to see if I can get off work for five-ish days...I'll take it as my vacation or something. My boss can't say no (well she could...) it's my birthday! (My birthday is really June 29th but whatever...). I'm hoping and praying that I can get off. I'll work on my days off or something to make up for it. I can do that much at least.
The trip is just in the planning stage though...so who knows? I'm just excited at the thought of seeing Austin. I miss him. 

But I'm going to get some exercise before it rains...maybe go to mom's house for a swim or something. I haven't visited her in a while. I miss her too! 

Thanks for reading everyone, things are looking up,

My God's good<3

-Sarah

"Everything"

My God is my everything, but I know I don't always treat Him that way. In fact, that's most of the time.
I'm so ashamed of that. God gives me so, so many blessings; my family, my health, my house, the fact I woke up this morning, I can breathe, I can walk, I can share the gospel freely! God gives me these things and so much more, but I take it all for granted...I take Him for granted. I break His heart daily and somehow, someway, God always finds the patience and mercy to forgive me and love me.
My Lord died for me; why is it so hard to give Him everything? It sounds like it should be so, so easy to just give yourself and everything over to God. For some reason, I always seem to go in circles.
It feels like I get so, so close to Him...and them I mess up and I drift away. Like a slow fade. I don't even notice that it's happening until I'm so low, I'm on my knees crying out for help.
But I've found that's the perfect position to pray. And I always find that He's always there. Always waiting. He didn't walk away, I did. I'm really tired of walking away. Of drifting away...

There's a song by Lifehouse called "Everything". They hosted a skit for their song. It's beautiful. It's so touching.

Every time I watch this I cry. It just reminds me how thankful I am of my God. How much He has given me. How much He protects me from. He takes away dangers I don't even know exist. He's always constantly working for my well-being...and He just wants me to love Him with my whole heart.

So I'm asking for some prayer, because I'm going through a big trial. I've been questioning a lot of things in my life right now, and I've been doing my best to listen to God and do the right thing and make the right decisions. There are things to be taken out of my life...but there are things to be given. I'm just not sure what those are yet.

"-And be amazed and be changed by a perfect God," - "Perfect People" by Natalie Grant

"If God is for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31

Thanks for listening,

-Sarah

"I Hate Sand"

My last post was whiny and down-trodded. I apologize, but I really was a wreck at the moment.

God really hears you when you pray though, and He works things out in His time. Not yours. I praise Him and thank Him every day that it works out like that, because if He gave me everything I wanted, I wouldn't be a very happy person. I wouldn't be the best person I can be. (I'm still not, but I'm getting there!)

An update on Austin:
I know it's not safe to give away the exact day that your soldier is moving somewhere; so I'll just say that Austin is leaving for California very, very soon. He called me yesterday (it was amazing to hear his voice! it always is!) and gave me the impression that he's not very excited about it himself...though, in his circumstances I wouldn't be either. 29 Palms happens to be in the middle of the desert. One comment I heard Austin say over and over was,

"I hate sand."

It was a good phone call. We just really joked a lot; we're a joking couple. Austin can get serious and sweet too though. It's something I love about him. He always surprises me.
Austin's deployment day has been moved too. It's not in December or January anymore. They day he'll be setting off is within the next two months and he's supposed to be gone for around a year. Austin told me that we should still be able to talk and so forth...maybe. Hopefully. I'm really praying on it. I don't know if I could go a year without hearing from him...

Austin should get some leave time after he gets back from California though, in June. I'm really, really looking forward to it. As soon as I know when; I'm taking off work those days and using them as my "vacation days". (Which we really don't have a set amount of days, but a couple of girls are taking a week off at sometime or a another for vacation sooo...) I can't wait to see him! I already have a count-down app set on my phone!
Now, I just have to find him a birthday present...wish me luck!


That's all I'm writing for now, but there should be more later. It's my day off soooo-yep. :)

Thanks for reading!

-Sara

Possible Career Change and I got Baptizd!

Maybe I'm crazy, and this is just one of those ideas that I'm just throwing out there about myself...(like I've done a couple times...) but there's something I've been thinking about lately (and it's NOT guy-related!):

Children + Nursing = Children's Nurse.

Yep. Out there, I know. It's another idea from the medical field, but this isn't coming out of some want for money like my pharmacy idea (that you can read about here). I know. It sounds terrible, but click on the link and read about it first before you judge me! I really thought I wanted that...but it turned out it was just a...faze. I hate those.
I really hope this isn't one. I mean, I really do. Which is why I'm thinking and re-thinking and giving myself time before I go jumping to conclusions about my future. I've been doing some research about being a children's nurse. I'll have to get a regular nursing degree (which takes 2-4 years), get 3-12 months time of internship (preferably as a pediatrics's assistant) and then I have to take a really long, difficult test.

So I really don't want to jump into this before I'm sure-sure-sure. That's three times as sure as normal.
But it all came about when I took a Disaster Relief Training Course not too long ago.

After the initial class, you had an additional specialized class that you could choose from. At first I was going to do food safety with Tanya and Jesse (Aust's parents-we all went together with our church) but something just stopped me. I really had a feeling about the Child Care Class, so I switched over last minute. I'm now "certified" to take care of children in an emergency situation at any Disaster Relief site.
The class was neat. The lady talking to us told us about all the kids and taking care of them. We didn't clean them up and bandage them (that was usually the Red Cross's job-they get to them before we do) but we would take care of them when the parent's weren't around or couldn't be found.

But the class just got me thinking. A lot. I get excited when I think about working with kids. In any situation. I was also thinking about becoming a social worker. I really do love children. I love to play with them and make them laugh! They're just so sweet and too cute! Everyone says I have the patience for working with children too, which I do.
I'm really just gonna look more into Children's Nursing and see if that's what I really want to do. I'm gonna do some major praying on it.

Speaking of prayer, I got baptized today! I've been baptized before, but never at the church I go to now (and am now an "official member" of even though I've been going there a year...). I was nervous, not gonna lie. I had to walk up in front of a bunch of people (which gives me willies anyway!) and trust someone not to drop or drown me while dunking me in water...did I mention it was in front of a bunch of people?! Then afterwards your all dripping wet...and most likely don't have a bra on 'cause you took it off so it wouldn't get wet...and you ladies know what I'm talking about! (So I'll stop there and stop feeding the imaginations of the men reading this) But my grandparents, Austin's grandparents, two of Austin's cousins, my dad and my sister all came to watch. To top it all off, I sung too! I'm now part of the "Valley Girls" (a small group of women that sing together) and am going to start singing with them! I work on most practice days, but Tanya said she could give me CD's or something...it'll all work out. :)

I'm stealing this photo from my sister's instagram! Thanks Rach ;)

 I've got a video that Tanya took, but ya'll aren't seeing that. Haha. Ha. Ha.

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah

Tattoos and the Modern "Christian"

Oh, deary me. There's been something on my mind lately that I've been thinking about. I want a tattoo.
However, there are many that believe that followers of Christ shouldn't get tattoos. It's a spiritual debate that's been going on for a while...and there are so many opinions that I've been having trouble coming up with one of my own. I've read posts, online web pages, and searched Google until my fingers are tired. Not an answer did I find that set my mind at ease.
So I did some research of my own and pulled out my own trusty Bible.

I went to Levitcus first, because it's been the highlight of the argument against "Christians" getting tattoos so far. Verse 19:28 in Leviticus states;
"Never slash your body to mourn the dead, and never get a tattoo. I am the Lord."
Well, that was a simple search-and-answer. Case closed. Until I started talking to my dad about it to get his opinion. He said that he didn't believe that, because above Lev. 19:28 the Bible also states to "never cut your hair". My dad made the point that everyone would be going to Hell if that was the case. You can't believe one part of the Bible and not the other, and you can't take out the parts you don't like either. He got me thinking, so I read deeper.
I noticed that God was telling Moses to tell all of these things to the people of Isreal. To a certain people.

Honestly, I think a tattoo is like anything else. A personal choice. It could be a sin though, if decided for the wrong reasons. If you're pure in intentions, however, I really don't see a problem with it. I know what my first tattoo will be of though, if I decide to get one:

I really want a cross somewhere on my body. A small one, as a testament of my commitment to my Lord and Savior. A tattoo is permanent, and so is my love and relationship with my God. It would be nice to have as a small reminder when things get rough. I'm not all that sure of the placement though. I was thinking a very small one on the inside of my wrist, or my finger. Quite possibly my ankle.
I have a few more tattoos I'm interested in, not committed on getting like the small cross.

I love the meaning behind the anchor, heart and cross. I love the anchor period. I'm gonna have to look up Hebrews 6:19 sometime too!

These are more of a thought than anything, though if I got to travel enough, I would love to get the compass. I'm too much of a chicken to get the large dream catcher on my spine...I love the colors of the feather!

I don't know. There are so many to choose from and I don't want to make the decision lightly on such a permanent thing. I'm definitely giving my choice some thought and time.
And don't take my view on getting a tattoo as a "Christian" as your own decision. I encourage you to do some research on your own and come up with your own conclusion. It's a personal thing.

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah

An Amazing Easter Weekend

Okay, I understand that I've been absent this weekend, but for a good reason!

Austin came in this weekend. Yes. Yes. YES! I had forgotten if he said he was coming in for Easter weekend or the next...so it was kind of a little surprise when he called me Friday morning and was all "Hey, I'm home. Wanna come over?" I had to work at four but it was only nine-thirty so I was all for it. I swear, it was the fastest I had ever gotten ready.

I met up with his family and him at his grandparents house and we went out to lunch. Goodness, I'd missed him. It was great spending time with him and his family all at the same time. They're all such cut-ups and so comfortable to be around. It's just a fun time with them all together.
After lunch we went back to Austin's house and him and I watched Family Guy and David Chapel (not sure I'm spelling his name right...) on Netflix.
Then I had to woooork. Blah. But Terry, my boss, let me off early, bless her heart : )

Saturday I had to work from eleven to four, which wasn't bad. Afterwards I met up with Austin and his little brother Matthew at his house. They were planning out some strategies for an online game...or something or another like that. I wasn't too sure. He's such a nerd, but he's my nerd, lol.
We just kinda lazed around at his house until it was dinner time. We went over to Aust's grandparent's house and feasted on lasagna, salad and garlic bread. It was so good!

Easter was fun. I got ready in the dress I got for the occasion. (If you look to the right, you'll see the picture of me I stole from my mother. She won't mind...hopefully.)
When I got to Austin's that morning, him, Matt and his grandparent's were waiting for me in the car...I was a little late. It was all good though, we got there at a good time. In fact, I probably did them a favor.
After the early morning service at mammi and pawpi's (what I call Aust's grandparents) church, there was a ton of food to eat! I got some fresh fruit and I home-made cinnamon roll. It was all soooo good.
We went back to house when we were finished and everyone ('cept moi) went to go change and get ready for the actual church service at our normal church (Vally Baptist).
I was goofing around with Matthew on the piano when Jesse, Aust's dad, yells out "Sarah, you're going to have to close your eyes! And not open them for the rest of the day! Don't look at my kid!" I was clue-less.
At least until Austin walked out.
He was in a brand-new black suit I hadn't seen before, complete with a greenish-teal colored tie that went beautifully with his eyes. He looked so, so amazing! Tanya (Austin's mom) took some pictures of us; I'll share them on here with ya'll when I get the chance. I mean, I'm conflicted to share them with you guys 'cause I don't want you staring at my Austin for that long...he looked so good. Just...ahhhhhhhhhh....

The church service was awesome. You could just feel God there. Tanya taught our women's class and I was just about in tears with her re-telling of God's arising. She put so much emotion into it. I felt like I was there. I felt like Mary, in confusion and heart-ache, wondering where they had moved my Lord's body. I was just moved. I felt God and I loved it. I wanted more.
Our pastor talked about how so many people get dressed up and go to church on Easter Sunday. Thousands of people who normally don't, go and sit and listen to the service, but don't ever come back 'til the next year. How can you love God only 1 day out the 365 in a year? (Not to say you don't love God if you choose not to go to church; that's your personal relationship with Him and I would never judge anyone like that.) My heart just aches for those lost. I want to do something about it.
Austin surprised us all by saying the opening prayer. It's stupid, but I just felt this pride-thing seeing him up there. It sounds stupid, but I did. Austin has a really good voice. I don't mean that sound-wise (well, good sound-wise too but that's not the point I'm making) but speaker-wise. He seemed so at ease up there...
He sat next to me the whole time and held my hand when I didn't need it to turn pages in my bible. I loved it.
I love him.
But I hated it when he had to leave. Which, of course, he had to. We left a little bit early from church because they had to be on the road by 12:30 to make it to his flight back to North Carolina. He was flying out of Louisville, which is about 3 hours away. His flight was at 4:15, so they had to get a move on. After getting teased for our goodbye kisses and sweet-nothings, Austin and I parted ways. I drove Matthew home and he made jokes and kept me laughing the whole way home. Maybe my defeated-mood was noticed.

After I dropped him off, I went over to my nanny's house. She was having an her Easter Dinner. We feasted and told jokes and laughed and just had a great time together. Everyone asked after Aust and wanted to know where he was going next and what he was doing. That's what I love about my family; all of them. They care.

And I special thank you to my sister, Rachael! When I woke up Easter morning, this is what I found. I have the most amazing sister in the universe and beyond and I wouldn't trade her for a thing. I named the teddy-bear "Austi". "He's supposed to keep you company," Rachael said.

Yeah, I had the best Easter weekend. I really did. I hope everyone's was as good as mine. I know I had real blessings this year.

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah