In the Shadow of thy Wings

   ¹ Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.
   ² I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. 

20 Thanksgivings

1) God first and foremost.       

~For without him ... I would have nothing.

2) Godly Parents who love me for who I am.

 ~ who consistently encourage me!

3) My sister Kenna. I have so much fun with her.

 ~ She makes me laugh, she makes me cry.

4) My sister Lana. I loved watching her grow this year!

~ She's my Rough 'N Tumble girl.

5) My sister Abby. Aw my, what words to describe her? 

~ Earrings! She got hers early. She thrills my soul to death. 

6) My brother Samuel. My little superman dude | a lover boy at heart.

~ He just makes me smile. I appreciate every kiss I get. xoxo

7) My brother Joshy Washy | The Little Casanova.

~ I cherish his cuddles and baby dimples. I like his pictures he sends me.

8) My Memaw. A ray of sunshine in my mailbox, and an amazing cook!

~ I love shopping with her. She's so much fun.

9) My Papa.The best fried apple maker in the whole world.
~ My favorite pictures are catching a random smile.

10) My Best Friend.  The most amazing friend and one of my biggest blessings.
~ He always encourages me | especially to patiently wait on God's timing.

11) Letters in my Mailbox. Like a ray of sunshine.
~ You can't fully appreciate this until you're at school away from home.

12) Long Walks and comfortable Silence.
~ It's nice to just walk and think. It's good for the soul.

13) The ability to Pray anytime | anywhere | for any reason.
~ When I don't know what to do, I know I can pour my heart out to Someone who does!

14) The book of Psalms. Encouraging and Comforting.
~ No matter where I randomly flip, it's always what I need.

15) Smiles. There are so many this year | my face hurts.
~ A bad thing? I think not.

16) Only having 22 days left until I go home.
~ I can't wait to see our Christmas Tree and bake Blue-eyed Gingerbread Men.

17)  My wonderful little Car. An unforeseen blessing.
~ I never expected to have a car, but it's an amazing little Honda Accord.

18) The way Scripture I've read all my life suddenly jumps off the page and hits me hard.

~ It's real. The feeling is amazing. Sends me scrambling for paper to jot it down.

19)  Cat Naps and Sleep in general. I'm not joking!
~ You don't appreciate either until you've gone a long while without it.

20) The single guys winning the Turkey Bowl today! Whoo Hooo!
~ It's been five years and I was cheering them on. Happiness.

How do we do this Blogging thing again?

Whew! September and October have come and gone.

Where to? Well, I really couldn't tell you ... the past two months have really been a blur for me.

One of my professors at school told us at the beginning of the semester to blink and we'd be home for Christmas. Like everyone else, I laughed and thought he was crazy. I didn't even give it a second thought, Christmas was months away | Summer sunshine and flip-flops awaited me at the end of my school day. No, I certainly wouldn't be blinking away nearly a whole semester | finding myself bundling up and counting down to Christmas.

But here I am, winding down from my pre-Thanksgiving fun and realizing there are only 23 days before I happily -- and very unceremoniously -- chuck my belongings into the back of my car and hit the road for Home. 

School has really been a blast though! I'll be the first to admit it was better this year than last year. One difference being, I finally just gave things over to the Lord and let him mold and shape me till the mud and droplets of water flung from this piece of clay. God has taught me so much in such a little time! I can't really believe it, even when I've sat down long enough to think about it. But I'm thankful.

My day consisted of a 2.5 hour long Praise chapel that was totally awesome | some amazing Pumpkin Cheesecake | a round or two of Ping-pong & Checkers --- one of which I happened to win | and a lesson in Chess -- pretty much almost lost, but I'm catching on ya'll. ;)