After an 8 and 1/2 hour work day, plus two hours of driving, I tend to be tired and say things like....

"I can win, I'm just laughing too hard!" :)

I can tell I was in China for three weeks. When I subconsciously attempted to pick up my fork and use it as a pair of chopsticks, I realized even more. Especially when the fork flew across the room.

I miss China. I didn't think I would.

The street outside of the hotel. The view from the balcony that, well, had the best view. :) 

Home from China!

I'm finally home. Many memories, many photos, many new friends. One thing I've seen more than ever is God's never-ending faithfulness and grace.

Wade (my co-teacher), me, and our assistant teachers-Sunday, Eunice, Haylie, and Cally.

More after sleep! :)

The quote of the day...

"Don't they know we're talented?"
~a friend

What is currently occupying space on my desk and mind...

(not pictured - some of the best tea in the world)

Lest you think that I've waited until the last minute to study, you're wrong. I still am 36 hours and 21 minutes away from the test, or 2,181 minutes, respectively. And I'm studying.

Reflections of a July 4th Victory

Today is a day we celebrate freedom. Legacy. We celebrate those who fought and died for our homes. But what of those who fight the battles of everyday life? Those who have won the victory, freedom in Christ? Those who have fought for the souls of their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren? They are often forgotten.

I knew a woman who fought the good fight. A year ago today she went home to freedom. To her Country. People don't realize the impact they can make on other's lives. I know that Mamaw didn't. Some people say they're Christians, others live it. It's those that live as Christ-followers that leave legacies.

My great-grandmother knew that we were in a battle. Every night she would pray for her family. If she fell asleep before she had prayed for everyone, she would pray again from the beginning. She left a legacy of prayer.

She encouraged me to create, and never laughed at my measly attempts to craft beauty out of hot glue, yarn, and styrofoam. She told me to use my hands to glorify God.

I watched Mamaw forgive the unforgivable. She knew that though there were things she didn't understand, God would work all things for good to His glory. She encouraged others to view things from His perspective.

Frequently you don't realize the value of someone until you've lost them. I know I didn't treasure enough the gift of knowing her. I would be so grateful to talk to her again, to listen to her stories, hear her praying for me. But I'm so grateful for her legacy of prayer, of running the race well, of loving her family.

Before she died, Mamaw kept saying that she had to get up, that she wanted to go to church. I wish I could have seen her excitement to enter her Country to forever worship God. She won the victory.

I can't wait to see her there.

(My family with Mamaw on her 99th birthday)

" O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" ~1 Cor. 15:55

From reading this morning...

We would be better Christians if we spent more time alone, and we would actually accomplish more if we attempted less and spent more time in isolation and quiet waiting upon God. The world has become too much a part of us, and we are afflicted with the idea that we aren't accomplishing anything unless we are always busily running back and forth. We no longer believe in the importance of a calm retreat where we sit silently in the shade. As the people of God, we have become entirely too practical. We believe in having "all our irons in the fire" and that all the time we spend away from the anvil or fire is wasted time. Yet our time is never more profitably spent than when looking up to heaven. We can never have too many of these open spaces in life- hours set aside when our soul is completely open and accessible to any heavenly thought or influence that God may be pleased to send or way. Someone once said, "Meditation is the Sunday of the mind." In these hectic days, we sould often give our mind a "Sunday," a time in which it will do no work but instead will simply be still, look heavenward, and spread itself before the Lord like Gideon's fleece, allowing itself to be soaked with the moisture of the dew of heaven. We should have intervals of time when we do nothing, think nothing, and plan nothing but simply lie on the green lap of nature and "rest a while."

Time spent in this way is not lost time. 

~Streams in the Desert