30X30 - Road Trip to Grandparents

Road Trip to Grandparents - CHECK!

The day after Christmas we set off... all six members of the Humphrey family ready to hit the road and travel 19 hours north. We had not been to my grandparents house for Christmas in over 5 years so it was fun to be back in the cold!

Driving 19 hours is a lot different as an adult than it was when we were kids... there is no such thing as a "comfortable position" for sleeping in the car after the age of say ten, so that part was very interesting but we did make it! Thankfully I got a lot of reading done for Antioch while not sleeping... Taylor and I were the designated watchmen while are

I love my family! This trip I had a few goals... Since my grandparents are not getting any younger I wanted to make sure I had heard their story at least one time in my life. So one night after dinner I asked them "How did y'all meet?" and then the stories ensued.

Not only did I learn about my grandparents' history (it was the grace of God that brought my grandpa to my grandma's house while he was in town) but my grandma also told some stories about Dad as well. It was a great time. I really cherish moments like these... when you just get to be together!

I am so grateful for the path that my Grandparents have laid for us. They have faithfully followed the Lord through His training program for them, the ups and downs of life and it is amazing to hear about. They will have a legacy live on through their kids, my siblings and cousins and one day all of our kids. I pray that the Lord allows us to hear more and more stories and to have more time with them.

Now of course, we could not make a trip to Green Bay without going to Lambeau Field. I was so excited because the Packers were actually playing the Lions while we were in town. We were not able to get tickets so Dad and I did the next best thing and went out to the stadium to be apart of the tail gating experience. It was crazy! It was cold! It was amazing! 

My next step is to actually get into the stadium and see what its like as a packed out game! I am determined to do it before I die! 

 

Outside the Pro Shop, they put in a new statue. The Lambeau Leap. Those who wanted to took turns taking out first Lambeau Leap (it is only a couple feet off the ground)! It was funny but very popular.

DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN

We took a day trip up to Door County to walk around and do a little shopping. It is very different in the winter. Not a lot of shops were open and the Bay was frozen over. It was still fun time together!

This was a fun treat for my mom. On our way home we were able to stop in Chicago and meet up with Aunt Nancy. It had been so long since we had seen her. I know that it really loved my mom to get that time with her sister. I am grateful that it worked out. I had a good time talking with her and so I know my mom must have too.


A Review

Two thousand and fifteen is upon us! WOW!

 

As I reflect on the last 12 months I realize that they were filled with many transitions and many firsts within those transitions. I am very grateful for where the Lord has taken me. I never would have guessed that 2014 would have held all that it did.

 

*I transitioned from college life to career life, with my first "big-girl" job.

*I transitioned from living on my own to living back with my parents (TWICE).

*My ministry and growth went through a few transitions - college ministry mentality to church life and Antioch.

*I learned to transition my perspective and grew in my understanding on certain topics.

*I have had to transition through how friendships work in a busy, busy life. I had forgotten what it is like to work at them.

 

Two thousand and fourteen was a great year. I set out to do some very specific things last year. There was a lot of good but not without some difficulty. The Lord was faithful and gracious through it all and I believe I have seen growth in areas I never would have seen had I not been where I was and done what the Lord called me to do. I hope to get back into consistently posting this year, not exactly sure why I let it slip in 2014.

 

I am very excited for what God is going to do in 2015!!

My 30 by 30

Around my 25th birthday (less than a month ago) I made a list.

For some that know me that is not a surprising fact. I love to make lists... of the things I have to accomplish, the things I need to purchase, the people I want to spend time with, books I want to read... you name it I have probably made a list for it. This list is a little more in-depth for me because you see, I wont be completing this list for the next five years.

I made a list of 30 things that I want to accomplish before my 30th birthday. The concept is simple but the task most likely will not be.

1. Go to a Green Bay Packers game at Lambeau Field

2. Go Skydiving

3. Own a gun

4. Visit (at least) two of my libraries

5. Learn to drive a motorcycle

6. Visit Las Vegas

7. Live by myself (no roommates)

8. Graduate Antioch

9. Buy groceries for someone in need

10. Road trip to Grandparents

11. Camping in Colorado

12. Memorable concert or festival

13. Learn more Spanish

14. Dress more professional

15. Attend a midnight movie premiere

16. Get a tattoo

17. Pay off ALL my debt

18. Learn to drive a stick shift

19. Help bring someone to the Lord

20. Road trip with Siblings

21. Engineers without Borders (or something similar)

22. Eat an animal that I have killed 

23. Learn guitar

24. Some of time volunteering

25. Donate my hair to Locks of Love

26. Get my E.I.T license 

27. Lasik eye surgery

28. Read 50 new books (including Antioch)

29. Visit Hogwarts 

30. Be a part of a music video or movie

I want to see the world... I want to try new things... I want to experience new places, people, foods... I want to do things for others... I want people to know Jesus more because of how I live my life... I want to live the time that I am given to the fullest.

I know for a fact that I am going to do way more than this in the next five years. I am not confined to these 30 things. I wanted to set some goals and give myself something to look forward to and plan for (I love to make plans), but that does not mean extra adventures won't pop up or other doors won't swing open. I pray that I will be able to grab up every opportunity the Lord throws my way, no matter how "big" or how "small" I think it is. Because really, I am the one who makes different things "big" and "small" to God it is all the same, he cares how I respond to these "big/small" things not how I categorize them. 

I am really excited to complete these, I put quite a bit of time into coming up with them and I am not sure how some of them are going to come to fruition but I am going to get through as many as I can in the next five years. 
My hope is to share the experience with you as they are completed.



Norman

I am learning to like Fort Worth more and more. I am thankful that Father has directed me to Fort Worth and I still get to visit Norman every once in a while. 

I took a trip back to Norman this past weekend to see my sister and attend my dear friend Sarah's baby shower. It was such a great time!! 

I realized driving up there that it really has been a long time since I had made the drive (over 4 months, which might not seem like a lot but when your use to making the trip once maybe twice every other month it is). Nothing looked familiar to me anymore. At one point I could not even tell where I was anymore and thought I was going the wrong way haha. 

I realized how much I miss Norman and the people that Jesus had placed in my life while I was there. Things are so much simpler there, there is no responsibility there (at least not anymore since I have moved, it really is vacation for me), some of my closest friends are there (who I use to see on a regular basis), it is just fun!  

I got to see so many people this weekend, not just at the baby shower but I jam packed my Saturday to make time for as many people as I could!! Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all spent with different people, in between the shower and dinner I made time with friends and after dinner just keep going. I think I saw and talked to more people this weekend than I have in a few weeks. I was in extrovert heaven. By that evening I could not help by smile and be extremely happy. I told one of my friends that night that my heart was so full. It was just what I needed and I did not even know it. 

Life is very different here in Fort Worth. Of course, I knew that that would be true of wherever I ended up after college. College is a bubble, nothing like the "adult world" and that is okay. This weekend really showed me that I am still not use to it yet. I have a new job that is allowing me to really transition into the "adult life", realizing that before having this job I was living in a very different mind set. Being done with school did not feel real to me, working at BBW felt like an extended summer.

Now that this new stage of life is upon me, I know I still have so much learn. The next few years are going to be so foundational and character building for me and I am excited to see how it happens.

Happy Birthday Jesus

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Thank you for coming as a man to live and eventually die for me!

Things Promised

I have been reading a book called Money Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn for the Antioch Project that I am starting in January but doing my reading for now. 

What is the Antioch Project you ask?? Good questions... I would be asking myself the same thing if I didn't already know. Well the Antioch Project is a five year intentional ministry training program offered by the Hope Global Network for those who believe God is calling them to vocational ministry or key lay leadership roles. One key thing that makes this training different from say going to seminary is that the Antioch Project using not only classroom training but also hands-on, character shaping and leadership skills forming training through personal study, hands-on training in ministry and mentoring/coaching in ministry. 

You should look into it here!!

Back to the book. In chapter 11: The Pilgrim Mentality, he makes such a simple but mind blowing statement about not being at home in this world. "Abraham didn't know where he was going but he knew with whom he was going. He was able to live in this world and not receive the things promised knowing there was an eternity in which promises would be fulfilled and a city awaiting him as far superior to an earthly city as its Architect and Builder is superior to men (page 164)." 

I do not know where my life is going to end up 40 years from now and I have not be promised anything specific from the Lord at this point in my life but I do know just like Abraham that I am on the journey with Jesus. 
When I read those two sentences I immediately thought of getting married someday. What little girl doesn't dream of getting married to her knight in shining armor one day, it is ingrained into us as young girls. Now as I have gotten older I have learned that Prince Charming does not exists outside of Disney and I can not hold on to a promise that has never actually been made to me (I do not know if this is something the Lord is going to grant me) but getting married is a desire of mine and I know that He wants to give us the desires of our heart (Psalms 37:4). The sections that I underlined was the kicker. Am I able to be completely content in this world knowing that marriage, children, etc. might not come BUT someday eternity will fulfill me far more than I ever could have thought??? 

How _______ is that to grasp? The things of this world: getting married, family, friends, love, joy, and the things we accumulate can never satisfy us like eternity with God will one day. Am I living by faith in God and not the things that I have or might have in the future? I want to sit here and be able to write that I would be content and OK in the life if I did not get married and that my desire is just that a desire BUT sadly I think for a long time I have expected that one day I will get married and have a family. I date with the expectation that God will allow one fellow to stick around. I don't think I have ever really thought about the fact that I could NOT get married and be single for the rest of my life.... WOW! What a simple and real revelation!! 

I AM NOT PROMISED A HUSBAND! 
I am promised that God is going to love me and be by my side for the rest of my life and into eternity, how is that not better than a husband! 
I will wait and let God do it for me and if a man is part of "it" than I will be happy not happier but just the same 'ole happy that Jesus makes me everyday!

Just that Name

"When I wake up in the Land of Glory

And with the saints I will tell my story

There will be one Name that I proclaim"

The Only Name by Big Daddy Weave

I am so amazed at God's love for me. Seven months ago I graduated from the University of Oklahoma and thought I would be moving to California at the end of the summer. God has directed my life to a different path and I couldn't be more grateful. I am so happy to say that I am now a Staff Professional at Terracon Consulting in Dallas. After months and months of applying and searching for a job God has given me one that I am very excited about. Thank you to all those prayer warriors out there that prayed with me through these last few months. I am very grateful!!

I am just in awe of the faithfulness of my God. Like it says in Luke 16 "Whoever can be trusted with little can also much trusted with much..." I have seen this become reality in my own life. I have not been perfect by any means but have just tired my best to honor and glorify The Lord with my life. I believe deciding to stay in Fort Worth (which was only possible by God's grace) was the start of God doing some amazing things. This allowed me to then trust enough to deal with and process through some past hurts. I decided to become a member of a church I didn't think I would come back to. My next step was to make sure I was continuing with my life long training and so I committed to The Antioch Project (a ministry training program through that very same church I became a member of) which I will start in January. I didn't always have the best attitude about my present situation, I was working at Bath and Body Works and living at home (two things that were not on my radar back in May) but I learned more and more what it looks like to live out 1 Corinthians 10:31 with a right attitude.

I have prayed many prayers over the last seven months, not all of them I have gotten an answer for yet but one I have: I prayed that God would give me a job by the end of the year and His timing is perfect December 11, 2013 I got my offer letter. It is so amazing to see the God of the Universe work in our small lives and give us our hearts desires. He could have waiting until January 1st to give me a job and He still would have been praised.

I truly believe that my new job is a blessing and reward from Jesus for being faithful, available and teachable! I knew that staying positive and trusting who was in control of my life was going to be better in eternity than worrying and doubting the place God had me in.

There is only one name that I can give all the praise to for helping me through these last seven months and that is Jesus Christ. I am so incredibly blessed and can not wait to start my new job!!