Leaps of Faith

I haven't posted on here in over two months, but honestly life has been so busy and I've been learning so much about myself, other people, and about all of the things college brings this past semester. Ever since I've been home from the busyness of college, I've been focusing on spending time with my family and friends and resting. (Rest is such an underrated gift from God. Take time to appreciate it. There may be a blog post coming about this soon.) However, one of the most important things I've been learning these past few months is the importance of being present. This is something our society has such a hard time with. We have so many distractions around us, whether that be our phones, our unstoppable thoughts of what we need to do later, people in need of our attention, or the demands of life in general, we are distracted beyond belief. About two months ago, I took a much needed social media break for just a few weeks and I quickly began to realize the amount o

It's been a little over two months since I've been at Indiana Wesleyan and I have so many words to describe these past two months, but the first one that comes to mind is sustained. College is so rewarding in the many friends I've been able to make, in the people I've been able to pour into, in the relationships with new mentors that I have who are pouring into me, in the good way it has changed my relationship with my parents, in being able to learn more about what I have been called to do for the rest of my life. However, in the same moment, college is demanding, so demanding. It's demanding in the way that you have to be so intentional with the people you make relationships with, in the workload from classes, in managing your time, in the constant opportunities to get involved, in the way that you alone are responsible for how much sleep you get (still desperately trying to figure this one out). I've learned an incredible amount already from the rewards and d

Am I the only one that is ready for Friday to be here already when it's only Tuesday? I certainly hope not. Don't get me wrong, college has been amazing so far and I absolutely love it here at Indiana Wesleyan, however this week has been so overwhelming and exhausting and it's only Tuesday. After being asked several times "how are you?," this morning and wanting to be pretty direct and honest, I had to take a step back and remind myself of how many things I have to be thankful for, in order to relieve some of the anxiety I was having. Of course I'm overwhelmed and exhausted because it's midterm week this week and next, so that means plenty of exams to study for and even more papers to write. However, I took a moment to catch my breath and think about just how many things I have to be thankful for and here is the list I came up with.. I am thankful for coffee dates with friends who remind me of why I'm here. I am thankful for little buttons on my backpa

Dependence: the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else  Dependence is something I've struggled with my whole life. As some of you may know, I am extremely independent and I really dislike someone else being in control of me or having to depend on anyone else. Although I am not sure where I picked up this characteristic or what caused me to, it's true and I'll be honest about it. This has caused me to want to possess adult like characteristics from a young age. I remember constantly hearing my mom tell me as I was growing up "just be a kid, stop worrying about that." Now that I am older, I realize just how much I did worry about as a child that I really shouldn't have. Being under someone else's control or watch made me feel trapped. I remember the freeing feeling I felt as I walked across the stage at graduation, knowing that I would no longer have to ask someone else if I could use the restroom. I remember the freeing feel

No: the word we all normally don't like to hear, the word we hear often as children, the word that some people say too much or the word that some people often don't say enough (me). There are so many questions in life that result in the simple answers of either yes or no. However, sometimes those answers aren't so simple to all of life's difficult and tiring questions. This morning during chapel (side note: I LOVE going to a college that takes time out of the day to worship our amazing God together as a campus!) I was talking to my friend and we were discussing life plans and how we can go into college with one major but so often, we see so many people changing their majors and this particular friend was talking about feeling called to maybe change her major. However, she questioned how it might be difficult or not exactly what she wanted. This conversation really made me start thinking throughout the day about how real her situation was to me at one point not too long

As I've been at Indiana Wesleyan for a week now, it's becoming more and more real. Classes start in two days, I'm anxious for that but with having a little time to rest today, I've realized a few other things. I love college so far and I'm so grateful that God (and God alone) has provided the way for me to come to IWU however college is rough, too. I've come to realize that my relationships with everyone back home are different. As some people may know, I've not always had the best relationship with my Dad as we tend to butt heads on some things, however I've realized that this week I've thought about missing my Dad more than anyone else.. I miss his witty comments and tough love but I'm so glad that God is using this college experience to grow and mend our relationship. Don't get me wrong, I miss a lot of other people, too. The leaving people part has seriously been the roughest part, honestly.. I mean if you know me at all, you know my rich

Sometimes life has a way of just slipping by day by day but lately for me it has been weeks and months that have flown by. I spent summer serving others in Paris, different states and even in a different country, loving on my babysitting kids, and trying to spend as much time as possible with my favorite people. Eventually I found myself packing up most of my belongings and heading three hours Northeast to move in at Indiana Wesleyan University this weekend. I feel like I've experienced all of the emotions over the past week of being mournful telling most of my friends and family goodbye, giving a lot of people the classic eye roll after they tell me "you know what they say.." after I explain to them that I chose to room with my high school best friend, but ultimately being extremely thrilled to move away and get to establish myself and who God has called me to be somewhere other than Paris. Throughout the busyness of New Student Orientation and telling my family goodbye,

belong: be the property of, be a member or part of Lately I've been caught up in the busyness of life. Between moving three hours away in less than two months, babysitting a few days a week, switching bedrooms at my house, spending as much time with friends and family as I can, housesitting, being away from home for a week, preparing for another upcoming week away from home and just the constant grind of daily life, I feel like I haven't had much time for myself and especially to keep up with this blog. I know it's a terrible excuse because really I could make the time if I truly desired to but honestly lately I haven't felt like expressing anything that's going on in my life. However, recently this word has consistently started appearing in my daily thoughts. As some of you may know, I went to see my favorite band, Iron Bell Music (if you haven't heard of them, which you probably haven't, you should definitely check them out!!) in concert about a month ag

There are so many people in my life who I feel are worthy of thanks and gratitude, however some of the most worthy are my teachers, especially my high school teachers. Although I've enjoyed almost all of my teachers, I got four years to grow closer to my high school teachers and many of them have truly helped shape the person I am today, here's some of the ones I would like to thank.. Mrs. Propst, you are seriously the sweetest person I have ever met in my entire life. You are an angel walking on this Earth and I am so very grateful I got the opportunity to learn from you at the old and new school. PHS is truly losing an irreplaceable teacher this year and I pray that someone steps up and teaches students the priceless life lessons you taught, however no one could ever replace you. Your love and lessons are worth more than I could ever put a price value on. Everyone needs a Mrs. Propst in their life, I'm blessed that I had THE Mrs. Propst. Mrs. Howard, you seriously got

Momma, first of all, I'm not sure why there is only one day of the year that celebrates moms, because I think you are worth celebrating every day. There are so many things that I admire about you. Your sacrifices, dedication, and undying support to your three children are simply astounding. There are an endless amount of thank you's that I owe to you. Thank you for feeding us, but not only feeding us but letting us have the last of the fried potatoes, even if they are your favorite. Thank you for sharing your love for kids with us and teaching us so many life lessons through your passion and dedication for your job and the things you do. Thank you for not leaving us, even when you do get a little tired of us. Thank you for answering our ridiculous amount of questions. Thank you for knowing your weaknesses and letting us know when you can't help us. Thank you for expanding our knowledge, and I'm not talking about English and math. Thank you for understanding when we want

To Allie, Eli, Bella and Norah, Let me start off with the fact that you four have changed my life and I love you more than you will ever know. God loves you the most, your parents may love you the second most, but I love you the third most. Throughout the past three years of babysitting you four, I've learned so much about each one of you, but also so much about myself. Allie, I love hearing your stories. Eli, I love watching all of the adventures you want to go on and hearing all of your witty comments. Bella, I love your sweet voice and your innocent soul that sometimes wants nothing more than to just sit on my lap and Norah, I love your little scooting moves and watching all of your firsts. Babysitting for you four has easily been one of the highlights of my high school career and you have only cemented my dream of working with kids for the rest of my life. Although I babysit for several families, there is something special about yours. There is nothing more precious than your

As some of you know, this fall I plan to attend Indiana Wesleyan University which a Christian, private college. I've gotten a lot of questions and comments from a variety of people on this decision of mine, so I thought I would share a little bit about them and my thoughts.. 1. "Do boys even go there?" or "Is it an all girls school?" Actually yes, boys do go there and actually no, it is not an all girls school. I don't know why the concept of a Christian co-ed school is a weird concept to people, but I've gotten these questions more times than I ever thought I would. 2. "That's too churchy for me." First of all, I really despise this term. There are so many more words to describe the church or my college than churchy, such as amazing, beautiful, Christ centered.. Next, the term churchy is defined as "adhering strictly to the prescribed form in ecclesiastical matters." I don't like this term because of it's definition

To my future self, There are a multitude of hopes and prayers I have for you, however here's a few. 1. I hope you have chased your wildest hopes and dreams. Although you plan on pursuing psychology and youth ministries right now, I hope that wherever God has led you that you are content and have chased after that calling. Hebrews 13:5 2. I hope you aren't such a worrier; I hope you're more of a warrior. I hope that you have learned to give your cares to God and to fully rely on Him to take care of you. 1 Peter 5:7 3. I hope you are still blogging or even writing on a higher level. Don't ever give up your hobbies. 4. I hope you have new friends who maybe share your same love for coffee, kids, and Jesus, but I hope you've held your old friends closely, too. 5. I hope you aren't materialistic and are more interested in the more important aspects of life. Rather than what car you have and how much money you make, I hope you are more focused on serving Him and

There are so many weird and different things about our school and as my time in high school winds down, I can't help but to be so excited to be out of high school, however I think I may miss this place just a little more than I would like to admit. 1. Old school vs. new school There are an endless amount of differences between the smelly old high school and the brand new prairie side high school. There are things that I miss about the old school, one of them not being the fifty million stairs (maybe slightly exaggerated) you had to venture through to get all the way from Mrs. Seaton's room to Mrs. Phegley's room in just four minutes; however I'm not sure it's any easier to go to Mr. Bennett's room all the way from Mr. Lynch's room now, either. Rules were different at the old school and everyone was a little more relaxed, however the new school brings abundant opportunities, if they can get the internet to work properly. 2. Parking violations How dare y

Sharing is caring. You are probably thinking how cliche this sounds because we hear this phrase from the time we can even begin to comprehend what sharing actually is. Although I've experienced sharing in so many ways throughout life, there's one way of sharing that has truly impacted me in the most indescribable way. Last night, we started a new series at my youth group. Recently, we've been doing a lot of video series which are awesome and can teach a lot of different lessons, however I personally like listening to people live more. I feel like the emotion that fills them when they are with you and passionately teaching you about something that we all love so much is just something amazing. We started this series of sharing our stories or testimonies in order to better connect with each other, as connected is our annual theme for this year. This is honestly probably already my favorite series we've ever done so far and it just started. Last night our youth pastor shar

Four years ago I was just a little freshman who didn't really have a clue what I wanted to do with my life. When I think about it, a lot actually happened during my freshman year that would really shape me into who I am today. One of the many things that impacted the path of my high school career was joining the FFA. As a freshman, not many people would've hand picked me to be in the FFA. None of my immediate family farms and I truly didn't know much about farming. However, throughout the past four years I've learned so much. I've not only learned about the pros and cons of GMOs, done an abundant amount of dreaded current events, and visited a dairy farm through my agriculture education classes, but I've also competed in public speaking contests, met countless new people, and have been honored to be elected the president of my chapter through FFA. My freshman year I received the Star Greenhand award at our annual chapter banquet, which is what truly pushed me to

Sometimes I have to take a minute to sit back and actually realize what is going on around me. This weekend was one of those times. Almost a year ago to the day, I visited Indiana Wesleyan University for the first time. From the moment I stepped out of the car, I knew it was my future home. I loved the campus, but only being a junior I didn't take it too seriously. In October, I went on another visit with some other teenagers from my youth group and our youth pastor for another tour. It was becoming more and more real and I was loving the campus more and more, too. However, after that tour reality hit me in the face. My parents sat me down to tell me that community college would probably be a better option and then I could transfer to IWU. I wasn't content with that answer; in fact I was disappointed, bitter, and frustrated. My parents thought it was impossible for me to be able to go to IWU. There we were, just five months later. So much has happened over the past five months.

Jealousy, it's something we all deal with. Whether we are the ones who are jealous of someone else or we are the ones people are jealous of, we've all had our fair share of experiences with jealousy. It's so easy for our eyes to become peeled and for our hearts to become bitter at someone else's new car, promotion at work, needs being met, or just even in the smaller ways that God is providing for them. It's easy to stalk someone's social media and see all of the happy moments in their life: their perfect wedding day, too cute to be real kiddos, adorable animals, custom built new home, and on and on it goes. It seems as if they have the picture perfect life. Although their life seems picture perfect, I promise you it's not. We are all guilty of not only seeking out other's perfect moments, but also posting our own. No one posts a picture of the hard relationship moments, screaming baby, or how many long hours they worked in order to be able to buy that h

Normally when we think about learning from people, it's normally from people who are older than us. Whether it be teachers in school, pastors in church, parents at home, or grandparents in our lives; they can all teach us something. However, recently I've learned quite a bit from someone who is actually younger than me. Although this isn't the first time that this has happened for me, it's someone who I always thought I would teach and challenge, not the other way around. My brother is eight years younger than me. Although we have our moments, we've always gotten along pretty well. Our age difference is one of the main reasons that I believe has to due with why we bond so well. The other day my two best friends that I normally walk with were busy so I asked my brother to go on a walk with me. While expecting to get a no, to my pleasant surprise I actually got a yes. I use an app called Charity Miles to track the distance that I walk and the app has sponsors that wil

Something that has become so hard for people, but Americans especially, is waiting. We are so quick to become impatient. I'm guilty. I don't know about anyone else, but most of my life is spent running from one place to another. I run out of the house in the morning to take my siblings to school, lead some club meeting at the school, hurry through the McDonald's drive thru to get coffee so I can get to the church on time. I've only been up for two hours and I've normally already become impatient. Sometimes it's because I think someone is taking too long to get the point across; while other times I've been sitting in the McDonald's drive thru for fifteen minutes wondering why everyone had to come at the same time as me or why it is taking them so long when all I ordered was an iced coffee. I'm constantly catching myself becoming impatient and not wanting to wait for specific things. Although we all become impatient on a daily basis with a variety of s

A week ago, my family lost our obese chocolate lab that tested us to no end but would be waiting for me at the door whether it be three in the afternoon or twelve at night. Almost ten years ago my parents took my sister and I on what seemed like a really long drive at the time (however it was actually only five miles out of town). We picked out a little chocolate lab and brought her to what would be her forever home. My sister would still tell you to this day that I picked out the dog that would end up being our weirdest dog ever. If you've spent even ten minutes inside of our house, you know exactly what I'm talking about. When we got Macey we were in the process of flipping our house, as my parents had bought a fixer upper house that they've completely made to be our perfect home. My parents decided to rip out the old, worn, blue carpet in the dining room (carpet in a dining room is such a bad idea) and replace it with hardwood floors. This would be the first finding of M

Four (what seems like short, but also long at the same time) years ago, I met this vibrant, encouraging, loving girl. Little did I know how close the organization that we both were so passion about would bring us. We experienced spending a miserable amount of hours in our blue corduroy jackets. We experienced being taught at LTS. We experienced being in charge of LTS. We experienced high school issues. We experienced meeting new people and each other's friends for the first time. However, it was all tolerable because we experienced it together and we've made the best memories throughout the past four years together. From being scared of everyone and not having each other's numbers as little freshmen to now being in charge of different FFA events and texting each other almost daily as seniors, I have loved every minute of being Nikayla's friend. I remember being a freshman and being so very excited when I saw Nikayla at an FFA event as she was a familiar face and we h

This is probably the most open and vulnerable post I've made on this blog, but it's on my heart and I've been so blessed these past few weeks that I need to share! A few months ago I brought my sister with me to our youth group, Legacy. I had felt God really pushing me to encourage her to come and to do anything I could to get her there. If you know my sister, you know that we are extremely different. I am outgoing, she is not. I am one of the clumsiest people alive and she is the athletic star of our family. Although we are different, we share a love for many things as well, one of them now being Jesus. After attending Legacy, she expressed an interest in being saved and God gave me the life changing and eye opening experience to lead my sister to Christ. I will never forget that day as we were sitting in my car and there are very few times where I have felt the presence of God more than that day. I was shocked. Why did God chose me? Although I'm still not sure, I'

So a lot of you have probably seen the pictures of artsy pages of my journaling Bible that I've posted on my social media accounts, however mostly on my Facebook album. I have gotten a lot of questions about it, as although it's been out for a few years, it's still becoming more and more popular. A lot of times I get asked, "well what are the rules?" There aren't any! This is why I love it so much, but also why sometimes it frustrates me. It's frustrating because I'm a very structured person and am quite the control freak most of the time (which I'm trying to work on that). However, I also love that it has no rules because I can do whatever I want and I don't have to meet any certain expectations, except my own. Every page is different and every page has a different meaning, however every page does emphasize something from God. Whether that be a song, a verse, a command, or an answer to a prayer, it's something from Him. Another question I

As I am preparing for the weekend as I plan to be gone most of it, cheering on my best friend at the state cheer competition, it has been brought to my attention that the first month of 2017 flew by. It feels like I blinked and January was gone. Throughout January, I made some important decisions, spent countless hours with my best friends, accepted some challenges and worked at bettering myself in a few different aspects. I felt pretty bad sometimes as I got sick for a few days, didn't really devote a lot of time to my blog, and spent a lot of time confused as to what God has in store for me right now. However I know He's got this, I'm such a worrier. Which is why my favorite Bible verse is 1 Peter 5:7. I celebrated a lot of awesome moments as I babysat a little bit, started a college speech class, went on a youth retreat for a weekend, and celebrated my one year anniversary of baptism. I helped one of my friends pick out her prom and MayFete dress and celebrated my sister

This week has been nothing short of an interesting one. I've been planning for an FCA event this weekend, filling out scholarships, babysitting some hilarious kiddos, making some important decisions, and my car was pranked by some of my youth group friends and so much more. I feel like so much has happened this week alone, that it feels like it has been a month. Sometimes I am simply amazed by how much can really happen over a span of seven days. I've found myself in tears every single day this week. Although I am an emotional person, this extremity isn't quite normal for me. Some days it's been out of pure joy, but honestly most days it's been out of frustration, brokenness, or impatience. Although it's been a rough week, I've been constantly reminded of the many blessings that I am surrounded by. I've been reading the book of Proverbs this month, however over the weekend I was encouraged to start the 1-1-1 challenge. It is memorizing a verse each day f

Six tubing lanes, five kicks to the ankle during broomball, four worship sessions, three unforgettable days, two crying sessions, and one amazing God later, SpringHill has kicked our butts. This weekend Legacy has acquired several bruises, a broken pair of glasses, some lost but then found gloves, and so many memories. From hitting and tackling each other with snowballs, to listening to one of our members rap Dirty Water in a room full of random teenagers, to the hours that were spent in the gym by some, to the average cafeteria food, to the prayer circle times in our cabin, there isn't one thing that I won't remember about this life changing weekend. Although the van definitely isn't as excited and loud as it was on the way there, it doesn't mean that we didn't have the best weekend full of tubing, singing our hearts out, and challenging each other in ping pong. Not only has our volume level on the way back changed, so has our love for Jesus. Important decisions an

420 minutes is how long I'll spend in a fifteen passenger van today with some of my very favorite people. People who have picked me up when they saw me at my worst and people who have physically and literally danced with me during the best times. We are anxiously headed to Evart, MI with the music blaring, snacks being passed around & most importantly our hearts opened. We are excited to know that there is a tubing hill waiting for us tomorrow and that we will be able to sing our hearts out together tonight at worship. We are open to see what God is going to challenge and convict us with this weekend. We are looking forward to sharing some amazing yet tough stuff with each other. We are excited to see how much sleep we can go without. We are looking forward to the weird phrases that will be uttered. We are interested to see who can eat the most snacks on the car ride there. We shall see who will spend their money the fastest, probably on an interesting variety of things. We are

We all have special people in our lives, whether that be a grandpa, mom, aunt, cousin, friend, or a combination of several people, we all have our favorites. Well one of my special people is my youth pastor, Trent, although he doesn't just act as my youth pastor. My youth group friends and I are continually talking about how much we love and want to be like Trent and Alyssa and how we truly not only acknowledge, but are thankful for what they do for us. Trent came into my life at a time when I needed him the very most and I haven't looked back since. There are so many things I need to thank him for, but here's the most important. Thank you for teaching me about God and His sacrifices for me. Thank you for not complaining when I text you fifty questions that I fully intend you to answer every single one and trying your best to answer at least most of them. Thank you for always reminding me that I'm enough. Thank you for letting me stay at your house until late hours of t

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rRWeH5bnzU Over the past few weeks, I've felt extremely challenged. Although I feel challenged by God a lot, this was different. As some of you know, I visited Indiana Wesleyan University for the first time almost a year ago. There was something that told me that this was going to be my future home, even when we just pulled into the parking lot. My mom and I had made the three hour drive to visit this college that my youth pastor and his wife had told me about (where they went to college). We toured it, went to chapel, ate lunch, and talked with an admissions counselor. I knew I loved the place, however I didn't think too much of it as I was "only a junior." Well, I wish I hadn't thought about it as only being a junior, because little did I know that here I would be a year later (feels like two days) being completely challenged by God. Time went on and I truly did believe that I would end up going to college there. My parents had

This sweet lady is one of a kind in so many ways. She has done more for me than she will ever know or ever take credit for. In the year that Alyssa has been in my life, she's taught me an unbelievable amount. She has taught me that I was worthy. She has taught me that I am loved, a lot. She has taught me that sometimes you have to pray for things for a really long time and that even after a long time of praying, sometimes the answer is to wait even longer. She has sparked my interest in Bible journaling and jewelry. She has taught me how to love God more than I ever knew was possible. She has taught me how to be strong and courageous. There are so many reasons why I admire and love her. Some of the many being that I know that she genuinely wants the best for me. Alyssa's Bible journaling skills are incomparable to any other and I truly do believe that I will always think her pages are better than everyone else's. She's an amazing and patient mom. She loves so many you

Plans: a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something As humans we make all kinds of plans, plans to go to dinner, plans to get a certain job, plans to get married one day, plans to get a new car, plans to visit family, etc. We constantly are arranging to do or achieve something. Since August, I have been in charge of planning several events and planning to make a significant amount of decisions. Little and big, I have a way of stressing out over all of them. Over the past six months, I have planned to get my car fixed twice, I have planned the Fields of Faith event, I have planned out my week to week schedules, I have planned to babysit for different families, I have planned to travel to visit my family, I have planned a youth group lesson, I have planned to hang out with my friends, I have planned to look for new cars for college, I have planned to visit and select a college to attend in the fall. Although it sounds like I have a lot on my plate (which don't get me wrong,

To freshman year Faith- I don't even know where to start. Here's a few things that I think you're worried about right now that I want to reassure you about. 1. You have no idea of the things you are going to amaze yourself with over the next four years. However, you have to stop being so naïve and learn who your true friends are. Right now I know you are struggling a lot with finding your identity and your true friends, but I promise you'll find some great ones over the next few years. A lot of the people in your life right now will walk out, but some will surprisingly show back up later, but I promise you the ones who don't show back up, they are gone for a reason. Proverbs 3:5 2. Some of the activities you're in right now will fade, such as Student Council and being a class officer; however it's for the better. Little do you know, you will be FFA president and get to lead an awesome group of kids in FCA. Keep working hard and God will be faithful. Roman

Well, I don't even really know where to start. How do you properly thank someone that has selflessly put you before themselves for almost eighteen years? That's what this sweet woman that I am blessed to call my momma has done. There are so many thank you's that I owe to her, but here's a few. Thank you for fighting for me, in more ways that I can count. Thank you for buying that prom dress that you knew we were spending too much money on, but you thought I deserved it. Thank you for reminding me to check my attitude. Thank you for passing me your love for kids. Thank you for teaching me to respect authorities. Thank you for teaching me that I deserve a man that treats me right. Thank you for also teaching me that I don't need a man to be secure, whole, or complete. Thank you for pushing me to be independent. Thank you for supporting me, even my wildest dreams. Thank you for teaching me to give back. Thank you for loving my friends as your own kids. Thank you fo