Psalm 139

I have a condition...

It drives me crazy. Makes me uneasy. Gets me in trouble. Makes me do things that I should not do.

But ultimately it makes me who I am.

 

This "condition" is being an ESTJ.
Ultimately it is the extrovert part of that.

A little over a week ago I went through my Myers-Briggs personality profile and really just learned more about me as an ESTJ, it is scary how right on it is (in most areas).

 

I am sitting here in my living room, all alone in my house, didn't get invited to lunch by my sister, blaring my music, thinking about who God has made me to be, and molded me into over my 23 years of existence.

Spend five minutes with me and you will see. I am loud, crazy, rambunctious, obnoxious (to some and I know that), straight-forward. I can't even study by myself without needing someones presence around to make the time go by, we don't necessarily have to talk (but that is always a nice study break). I am getting better at being OK with silence (I started learning that through my last relationship). The Lord has really been doing a work in me since I got to college to love who He has made me to be and learn that I can always be growing. 

 

I titled this post Psalm 139 because when I went through a study on my Identity in Christ a few years ago this is the passage that I clung to during that time.

 

O Lord, you have searched me

and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O Lord.

You hem me in—behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths,you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.

When I awake,

I am still with you.

If only you would slay the wicked, O God!

Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

They speak of you with evil intent;

your adversaries misuse your name.

Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,

and abhor those who rise up against you?

I have nothing but hatred for them;

I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Twenty-four verses, Fifty-five lines, all about God's knowledge of who I am inside and out and that I am known by the one who created me. How stinking cool is that to dwell on!
The same God that in Genesis 1 created night and day, the sky we see everyday, the animals that we see in our own homes as well as the local zoo... He created me to be just the person I am now, He knew every aspect of my being and you too before we were even born. Doesn't that make you feel special???

Not only did he create us but when He sent his son to die on the cross for my sin and your sin too, He was thinking about us and how much he loved us each as our own individual selves. Now that is amazing!
 



2013 Goals

I am not one to make New Years resolutions because most of the time I am setting myself up to fail. This year I want to succeed. I am graduating from college and starting into the "real world" so why not start off in a way that I can work with. I am setting 10 goals for 2013 that I am going to have done in the within the next 365 days. Happy 2013!!

 

1. Read 24 new books. I had to start it off with books. I want to read about 2 books each month that I have never read before. I am one to re-read my favorite books over and over again but this year I am working to expand my library.

 

2. Call my friends more, text them less. I am worst at keeping up with people but this year I resolve to do better and talk to those that I love on the phone more often!

 

3. Memory Jar. I have a hard time remembering things throughout the day let alone the year so I want this to help, especially since so much is going to be changing for me this year.

 

4. Own a car. I have successfully made it (five years) to my last semester of college without my own car, but I think it is time that I change this.

 

5. Learn more Christian theology. I know why I follow Christ and my faith is legitimate but due to some conversations that I have had or sat in on I want to know more of the why I believe.

Like it says in 1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,"

 

6. Listen to 12 Sermons. Take time once a month to listen to sermons on different topics from different pastors/speakers.

 

7. Send hand-written letters in the mail. Who doesn't like getting mail and what a great way to surprise them with a smile in between all the bills.

 

8. Start saving doll-hairs for my Libraries Tour (click for explanation). I am going to do this at some point in my life I might as well start working on it now that way it truly can be a reality some day.

 

9. Mail birthday cards. Most of my friends are not in the same city as me to be able to celebrate their birthdays and I have never done this in the past. This is a great time to start.

10. Go to a concert/"splurge" on tickets. I have not been to too many concerts in my life so why not have a little fun in 2013!!

 

I am sure I could come up with some more goals for the year and I might do that even after I post this. To me goals are easier than resolutions.

Do you have any goals for the year? Just share one!!



Sissy

I am so glad I have siblings. I would absolutely hate it if I was an only child. I am the oldest of four with two sisters and a brother. I don't know where who I would be without my sisters!! We may all be very different and not always get along but I am so thankful for the sisters that God has given me! I have the privilege of living with my oldest sister, Caitlin, this year (after four years apart) and so far it has been great. We are learning more and more about each other and just getting to know one another again. We are all very different even though my dad calls Morgan "my mini-me" haha. She is just a ball of fun. She wears what she wants and likes some of the strangest things but does not care what others think of her. I am grateful to be apart of their lives and getting to see them grow in their walks with the Lord is one of the coolest things ever!

 

 

 



 

 



 

I am who I am because God gave me these girls as my sisters!!

I love you Caitlin and Morgan!!

 





One Year Ago

365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months, 1 year. In the grand scheme of things one year is not a long time. It has been a crazy journey this last year and on this day one year ago the Lord really started something in me. I was headed to Cambodia!! Along with six other people (my team) that I have grown to love and care for! How crazy is that, I was on a plane headed to the other side of the world to spend almost three weeks with nationals I had never met!! I had a plan but God knew better! So much has happened in that year! The Lord has taught me so much and used this journey to continue to grow me into a women after his own heart!!! I would not change anything about my experience. I did not do everything perfectly but I know there was a reason for me being on that team!!

My Cambo Family at the Beach

Family Portrait

 

The Van!!





The guys were singing to us!!

 

Our awesome ride: Tuk Tuk Style

Oh wait... its a Limo Tuk Tuk!

Love these Ladies!

 

 

 

 



Teaching English class



Sums up our relationship "Rolling On The Floor Laughing"

 

"Cow Went up the Mountain"

 

 

Iced Coffee

We got to celebrate a birthday while we were there!!

Here is just a small look into what our time was like while we were there! Teaching English and loving on the students that the Father brought our way! It was such a blessing and I wish I was heading back there right now! Lord only knows when that will be and I will wait!

 

Christmas 2012

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

Luke 1:26-37

 

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Luke 2:1-21

This is the account of the one who saved us from death and brought us to life. God humbled himself and became a man to resuce those He loves. Jesus has changed my life and He continues to shape me. Those of you who don't know Him, He is waiting for you!! It is the best decision you will ever make!



Books

Want to know the way to my heart??

Books... Reading... Libraries...

 

I am and will always be a secret nerd bomber!! I am not ashamed of my love for books and reading and just overall learning! I love to get caught up in a story and not knowing what twist and turns the author is bringing next! I get so invested in the books that I am reading that I have a hard time after I close the back cover! When I was younger, during our summer breaks, my parents would do anything in their power to get my siblings to read. We would get a little trinket or prize for every five books that we read during the summer. No shame in saying that I killed it every summer! My parents could not keep up with the amount of books I would go through. So they started putting a page limit on the deal. "Every book you read that is over 300 pages" etc.

 

I could not image what life would be like without books! My personal library continues to grow each year! My dream and secret goal in life is two-fold

1) I will have a library like the one in Beauty and the Beast.

2) I will visit the World's 20 Most Beautiful Libraries

And that is where I am going to camp for the rest of this post! I have a problem.

 

Over the summer I was randomly searching the Internet (for I don't know what) but I came across a website that list the 20 most beautiful libraries in the world and fell in LOVE! I mean I immediately started making plans.

I got on mapquest.com and started to figure out where each library is located and the best route to take to visit each one in the least amount of time! I broke it up into three trips 1) North America 2) Europe and 3) The Others (which this one might have to be more than one trip to get them all)

 

Here is just a little taste of their individual beauty!
 

Abbey Library St. Gallen, Switzerland

 

Biblioteca Geral University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal 

 

Central Library, Seattle

 

George Peabody Library, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

 

Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel, Germany

 

Jay Walker's Private Library

 

Library of Congress, Washington, DC, US

 

Library of Parliament, Ottawa, Canada

 

Library of the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, Austria

 

Melk Monastery Library, Melk, Austria

 

National Library, Belarus

 

Old British Reading Room, British Museum, London, England

 

Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 

 

Rijkmuseum Library, Amsterdam

 

Sansovino Library, Venice, Italy

 

Stiftsbibliothek Klosterneuburg, Klosterneuburg, Austria

 

Strahov Monastery - Theological Library, Prague, Czech Republic

 

Trinity College Library, AKA, The Long Room, Dublin, Ireland

 

Wiblingen Monastary Library, Ulm, Germany 

 

Riksdagen Library, Swedish Parliament Library, Stockholm, Sweden

 

So there they are! All 20 of them! Now I know that this is a huge endeavor to take on but I am determined! Obviously Jay Walker's Personal Library might be a bit of a stretch but I believe the rest of them are manageable before I die! I have mapped out the order of the Europe trip already:

1) Dublin, Ireland

2) London, England

3) Amsterdam, Netherlands

4) Wolfenbüttel, Germany

5) Prague, Czech Republic

6) Klosterneuburg, Austria

7) Melk, Austria

8) Admont, Austria

9) Ulm, Germany

10) St. Gallen, Switzerland

11) Venice, Italy

 

 That is totally doable right?? :-)

I just have to figure out when I am going to do this and who I am going to do it with!! Maybe I will be able to convince my future husband to slowly start visiting these places as we grow old together! *Too sappy?? I love it*

 

How crazy would it be to say I "ran" around the world "chasing" pretty libraries!