officially done with sophomoreness

stats is over!!!! i'm very glad. i spent the last couple of weeks doing stats just about all day (well with a few breaks in between =P). i went to the library a lot. because they have microsoft office and i do not =). i learned a lot about my town in those days. our library is not quiet. not really at all. it's friendly instead. people go there and talk and catch up on news. people even call the librarians when they don't know where their kids are. it's kinda cool. not quiet but very social. and i'm thankful too that God gave motivation to finish. because i procrastinated waaaay too much at the beginning. it'll be nice to have a little time to relax now. twill be nice to have time with my family before i head out for the summer.

speaking of which. this will be my california family for the summer. mel and her parents are in the middle...i'll be staying with them on weekends. and mel and lance(the boy in the pic who is not one of the parents) and ben(who is not in the picture at all) and i will be counseling together during the week!

nothin much

a summer update
stats is going well....few more days and i'm done!
it's kept me busy too. i haven't really been lonely here, til tonight a little. i like this little town...just don't really know more than my 4 people here.=P shout out to pubbers who may happen to stumble across bloggings...i miss you guys! =)
tomorrow i get to babysit jillian for the first time! =D!
and then i'll be done with homework in a few days and get to enjoy summer with the family for a few weeks. yay!

sleep well, all

summer is...roadtrips and camps with favorite people

i just found out that in a few weeks i'm going on a roadtrip with one of my best friends that i grew up with and our grandma! who gets to do that! it's great!

i'm home now...haven't unpacked yet because i'm getting lots of stats homework done...two more weeks of that and then shopping and stuff for california and then roadtripping with the cousin and gma!

p.s. i have a plane ticket! i'm really going to california! God provided a great deal and really good flights...they have everything that i was praying for. i won't even have to miss any of family camp!

happy summer break, all!

tomorrow...

i go home =D
(technically. cuz it's friday now and so i get to go home with my family tomorrow!)

i say goodbye...
(technically. cuz i haven't gone to sleep since thursday so it counts as thursday somehow =P)
...to some friends i will see again in a few weeks. some in a few months. and some who won't be back next year at all. ='(

but then i go home!

jen and i had one last walk tonight. talked about all that has happened this year. it's been good. a lot. i think i have changed more this year than any other part of my life that i can think of. and it's been good.

i love my friends here. i will miss them a lot. i love summer and my family. it'll be good.

so long CU

quality time...

...it's definitely one of my top love languages.

and i've gotten a lot of it lately =). it makes me glad. i got to go to a cookout with some friends for our ministries tonight. and i got to have my last bible study with my girls. both good times.

and i've gotten to spend a lot of time outside studying or just resting with friends lately. i like it!

and then we got to go to an end-of-year-partyish thing tonight for our saturday church. it was so good. i love being able to be around families like that and have kids running all over and just see people interacting and loving each other. it made my week i think =). i got to sit and talk with one of the moms there and hear a lot more about the church's background and what God's done in the lives there. it was good. very good. i have been given so much.

and now i need to write a paper. =D gnite all.

this is my group...i like them a lot! elliv was fun, three claps to our boys and the act they did!

it's been a good weekend...most of my stuff is moved out already, but i won't actually leave til next saturday. i got to have a good walk with my old RA today and i'm looking forward to good last memories with friends this week before we head out for the summer. happy monday!

if i had a list of my favorite sophomore memories...

...last night would be somewhere quite close to the top.
a wrong turn or two on the roads made for a beautiful drive, a gorgeous sunset, a much needed reminder of the sovereignty and power of our God, time talking to Him and singing to Him with some of my favorite people, much laughter, and many smiles. a great memory to wrap up the year.

*picture to follow perhaps*

and p.s. i was walking back from class today and i'm pretty sure i smelled lilacs!!! =D it's such a comfort smell for me....i love lilacs! it made me really happy =). yay for spring! hope it's just as beautiful out where you are today!

what makes me smile...

been a kinda tough couple of days. the schoolwork's been light this week though, so that helps. God is gracious to send time for working through pain, friends for loving and encouraging, reminders of His faithfulness, and healing too.

and some things always seem to just make me smile even in the middle of a rough day or two. thought i'd show you one of those. it's a picture of me with two of my favorite girls! and it makes my heart very happy!

"blessed..."

"Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him"

i was thinking about blessings tonight and that's what Paul had to say about it. of all the blessings none of them can compare with that one. but i can think of so many tonight.

i think of my family...who love me and love Jesus and will let me go serve Him across the country this summer and will be here waiting and loving me when i get back;

i think of the chance to be here at school, it hit me this week how some people work hard at school because their parents have paid so much money for them to be here or even because they've paid so much to be here themselves but honestly, Jesus is the one who has provided the money for me to be here, this year especially He's given the scholarships. and it kind of makes me think a little more about how much i pay attention in classes. and i think of the fact that i have a few profs specifically who love Jesus and model that to me every day.

i think of the friends He has given me here. i love them and i'm so grateful for them. for the good conversations and the laughter and the hugs through the tears when those come too and the meals and the roadtrips and the picnics and so many good times. i'm grateful for the things that i learn from them and for the conversations with them that make me want to go and spend more time with Jesus and for the encouragement in my schoolwork and in life in general. they mean a lot to me!

i think of midtown, my saturday church. the love that i see there is huge; the love shown to those in the community because of the love for Jesus and the opportunites i get there. i got to work in the nursery this week and it was so much fun! i haven't gotten to do official nursery duty since i was a junior in high school and i loved it! mel and i got to watch a couple adorable little kids and it was great!

i think of creekside, my sunday church, and how much i love the people there and the examples that they set for me also. i love them!

i think of the quizmeet this weekend and the friends there. i even got to see jenna and jillian! i got to play with jillian for the first time! i'm really excited to babysit them this summer! so excited!

so yeah....those are the things that have made me feel loved this week and so very blessed! and i could go on and on(but i already did that for plenty long enough for a blog =P) i'm working on praising Him in the tough times, but when i think about it in the good times i like to tell you the things that i thank Him for then too! He has given me so much!

"My God is so big, so strong and so mighty; there's nothing my God cannot do"

i'm going to California!!!

i will miss Kids Kamp and counseling with Mandy and seeing friends and family there incredibly; i will miss my family at home. but i've prayed about it a lot and i really think this is where God wants me this summer. and I trust He will take care of the rest. thank you so much for all of your prayers!

i just got a phone call offering me a job counseling at a camp in California!

i'm still taking a couple of days to pray about it and other options and then i'll give him my answer. so i'd appreciate prayers over the next couple days still while i make the final decision =) and big thanks to all of you who have been praying already!

"let's think of something to do while we're waiting..."

break is good. so is sleeping all day and wearing sweats all day and getting schoolwork done without being worn out and watching tv and talking to lots of family and seeing old friends and eating good homemade food and thinking and celebrating Easter and all that He's done.

praying about this summer still. i got an email from the CA camp this weekend that said i should hear back about that job this week sometime. and then i went to church today and remembered why i love my Ohio camp so much =). so we'll see what God will do....lots of prayer right now. good options either way.

hope you had a happy easter!

my heart tonight...

my heart wants ludlow falls.
very, very much. especially lately as i keep seeing more and more friends from there.

but i know cali would be good too. and i've wanted to go counsel for a whole summer for a very long time. and when i'm not thinking about my camp i'm really, really excited about California.

i'm torn. so torn.
at least i can have family camp at ludlow falls either way! that's helps!
but i don't know what i'll choose...or even if i'll have to choose.
prayers are appreciated as always.

much love, faithful readers ;)

it's spring and i like it!

it's spring! and i like it!

we had pickadate tonight (aka pickafriend if you want to be less awkward =P...basically you and your friends surprise each other with "dates" and it's just a fun way to get to know new people)
i went with my friend matt from momm, we all had a lot of fun...picnicing at john bryan and playing the walmart game and catch phrase...good times

life is good....New Testament test this week...i've learned a lot in that class....so thankful for my school.
and for the gorgeous weather and summer plans and friends and relaxing times and life :)


ooh, and i'm on a nichole nordeman and beach boys kick right now. in case you wondered. beach boys are just fun. and her music makes me want to spend time with Jesus...and i like that in music .

i guess we call it spring fever...

struggling to focus these days and ready for break i spose :-). a good week though.

we're planning a pickadate for this weekend. it's exciting to see how God's answered prayer and brought details together...i didn't really think we could pull it off for awhile there. should be interesting and none of us willetts girls know the secret of who we're going with yet...hooray for surprises!

much to do right now. not much concentration to do it.

pray for God's guidance for the future, this summer, next semester, my life please?

i got into all the classes i wanted next semester...big answer to prayer!

off to finish the speech i'm giving tomorrow. have a good night.

"this is my Father's world"

discontentment vs. contentment vs. apathy...
i feel like i swing back and forth between the two ends and don't stop for long enough in the middle, but i'm learning about that.
i was reminded tonight of how very, very much i have. and how very little others have. and of the ones who are given much, much is demanded. i'm still not sure what that means in my everyday life, but i'm thankful for the reminders to pray and for people who show me how to give.

in other news it's time to register for classes soon...my advisor says i'm even kind of ahead of schedule apparently which is nice...and i just sent in my application to counsel at camp this summer...in California. I just spend earth science lab today looking at maps and it's true--California is all the way on the other side of the continent...but if God takes me there i'll get to spend a few extra weeks with my family before i leave and i would be done in time to come back for family camp! so prayers would be appreciated as the director looks through applications. i also have been given the opportunity to lead a discipleship group again next year and i'm really excited about that, and jen (my roommate to be) and i just signed up to lead a getting started group of freshman together. looks like it will be a fun year!

but only if i get past this lack of motivation and get homework done! gnite all =)

oh and He gave us beautiful weather!

ramblings turned grateful

what to say....another week of school gone by. twas a good week, i felt very productive and organized and that's always a nice feeling. it was good to be back at my own churches again and see people i hadn't seen for awhile. i'm thankful for my relationships right now....being at Midtown worshiping with people I love and then being at Creekside with more people iwhat to say....another week of school gone by. twas a good week, i felt very productive and organized and that's always a nice feeling. it was good to be back at my own churches again and see people i hadn't seen for awhile. i'm thankful for my relationships right now....being at Midtown worshiping with people I love and then being at Creekside with more people i love....both times it just kinda hit me while we were singing how much i love being surrounded by these people who mean so much to me and being in unity and being able to worship together.
i'm thankful for my school....for the fact that i have to take a New Testament class and for all that i've learned there this semester. like that justification means declared righteous. not really one of the big things you expect to learn in college, actually i'm pretty positive i knew that before. but my prof mentioned that a week or two ago almost in passing really, but it hit me hard....declared righteous. incredible.
i'm thankful for times of contentment. for how far God has brought me this year. how much He has taught me. i remember sitting down with a friend at some point this year and talking about how if we all knew the things that were going to happen this school year a lot of us probably would never have wanted to come. but so much good has come from it. i've changed and grown much this year. there have been tough times. stretching times. hurtful times. but so much healing too. God has taught me things in the midst of pain that i don't think i would've learned other ways. (and He's taught me in the good times too!) there were things i thought i understood that i've had to face in a whole new way. like what forgiveness means and what loving like Jesus means. and obviously i don't understand it all now, but i don't think i ever realized how much of it i didn't understand before, if that makes sense. and it's encouraging to look back and see the struggles change...that things get better sometimes and that even though i get frustrated with needing to learn the same things over and over, there's growth along the way.

so yeah, mini-summary of the life of elizabeth in sophomore year and it isn't even over yet, but that's what was on my heart today... i have been blessed with so very much....so many good memories from this year....so, so much in so many ways.....and i'm really glad to be here

break was wonderful...when i'm not so tired i'll try to post some pics and fun stuff like that.

i just found out tonight that i didn't make DC this year. kinda disappointing and kinda relieving but i'm convinced that God's will was done...that decision was very covered in prayer. it was exciting to see who did make it though, because i'm praying about/planning to lead a small group again next year and i would learn a lot under some of those girls. a lot a lot! so that's exciting!

the weather is beautiful.

the ocean was beautiful!
we were there for 3 days and it was amazing to get to see the changes in the ocean and the colors and the sunrise and the beach! twas beautiful!

and yet i have time to blog =)

these days.
when i'm so busy that i feel like i don't have time to even sit down and think.
make me so very thankful for long walks back from class!

"so i cast all of my cares upon You.
I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet.
and anytime I don't know what to do,
I will cast all of my cares upon You."

i'm thankful for good friends, family, upcoming breaks, growing pains, and Jesus:that He's there and makes it worth it.
that came out soudning cheesy. but i'm worn out and it's so very true. =D