#letsgetpraisy 

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John 4 
#letsgetpraisy
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God saw all the He had made and it was good. It's in the Bible guys. 
#letsgetpraisy
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my goodness those two words just sum it all up. with everything going on lately, the past few weeks have just been too much. this is evidenced by the fact that I have taken 2 out of the maybe 5 non-sickness-induced naps of my last 10 years of life. WOW.

let me set the stage here. my parents had 30 days to decide whether we would be staying in Chicago and they would be finding new jobs or moving to Florida so we could stay with Campus Crusade. so while the fate of where I spend my senior year...
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hey y'all. if anyone even still reads this. this is gonna be crazy long. but hopefully you will be as inspired as I am to see what God is doing in my life and in the lives of those around me. 
 
so last time I wrote I was gearing up for school starting. wow! that feels like years ago. basically I put on my outgoing shoes and gave it my all, trying to show only the best side of myself all the time. as you can guess it didn't quite go that way as getting up at 5:30 am to get ready didn't quite ...
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    well its about time I got around to writing an update. but i'm not really sure what to say. we still don't have a house so thats tough on everyone but we are loving the chance to live next door to my cousins for a couple weeks which i have dreamed of for years but never thought I would get the chance. i'm also getting nervous about volleyball tryouts starting monday and a few back to school parties that i will be attending because that means that there is no backing out. i'm gonna have to...
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   Cute puppy dog that we had to leave for the month :(

  

  I was trying to take a picture of me and Abbie but it came out like this and I thought it was cool.





Natey (a boy I nannied) and I at the Kids' Museum




I had the boys run across a baseball field for exercise and Natey (the little one) fell behind
so his big brother Noah ran back to help him get across. I thought it was so sweet!!!





So cute!!! (Pardon the finger)

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...is quite interesting and frankly, tiring. Every day is different, no routine, no norm. The other day I was singing the song "So Sick" but I substituted my own words: "Oh yes I'm so sick of packing, so sick of this. So sick of not knowing where I will be next". While that may not be the most positive outlook on my situation, that was how I honestly felt. I have repacked my bag at least 5 times in less than a month! It is definitely a crazy time in our lives. It doesn't help that we still do...
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    In case you didn't know, I have been enjoying a 2-week nanny job. I have been staying with a family that has 2 boys- the oldest, Noah, is 5 and the other one, Nathan, is 2 1/2. They are both precious although they definitely have their moments (like when they are hungry or tired or their smoothie spills). The mom is also expecting another baby which is one of the reasons I'm here since she gets really tired. I do a lot of playing and reading and supervising and I love it!! I can't wait ti...
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As the plane landed, instead of cheering I wanted to cry. All of the sudden everything hit me like a brick- I wouldn't be spending time with any of my friends or babysitting my favorite kiddos or going for runs in the beautiful German country side for a whole year. Not only that but I was leaving behind everything that I knew for a life of unknowns and instability. That really freaked me out. Suddenly, I didn't wanna be in this country. Even seeing all the familiar and well-loved stores didn...
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    Even though my birthday was yesterday, my party was a week ago. I did this because a lot of my friends take off to go home to faraway countries or to the States right after school ends and I wanted them to be at my party. It took a bit of planning and we didn't know how smoothly it would go because some people weren't sure if they could come or how long they could stay but we went for it and expected the unexpected.

    It was a blast and almost all of the girls came! We had a great time t...
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    Today was my 16th birthday and it was great!! I have already celebrated my birthday on a couple other days so today wasn't as big of a deal. My sweet dog Abbie woke me up at 9:00 by coming in my room and climbing onto my bed and laying down and letting me pet her. Even though I would've liked to sleep in more, I definitely didn't mind. My mom made an amazing breakfast of a fruit smoothie, eggs and bacon and I took a nice shower and got ready for the day.
 
    I called the Higgs (a family t...

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This poem was also written on the same night as "Pieces". It just highlights my situation and it was when I realized that I really needed to just spend some time with the Lord. It definitely isn't my favorite cuz it doesn't quite flow but oh well.

Revive

Tired, stressed, sleep deprived
I think I need to be revived
I need to have a heart to heart
With the one who made me a work of art

I need some time in His word
So I can fly like a bird
I need to spend some time in prayer
To finally breathe some ...

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Here is another poem I wrote when I was dealing with information about the next few months that I really didn't like because it ruined all the hopes and plans I had. I was disappointed and very angry at both my parents and God. The next morning I had a great devotion time where God settled my heart and asked me to just trust Him. I really love how God meets us in the times we feel the most torn apart and He just covers us in His love and reassures us that He is doing what is best for us even ...
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This is a poem I wrote a few weeks ago when I was thinking about a habit/addiction that I have been dealing with for many years. I don't want the intensity of it to scare anyone because I am ok and I am working through it with God but my emotions were pretty strong at this point so that is what came out in this poem.

Trapped

trapped inside
can't get out
this feeling makes me want to shout

beating the walls again and again
when will this misery end?

searching for the Way
to put my tears at bay

failure,...
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Ok so my life is still insane even though finals and my birthday party and awards night and graduation have come and gone. Now it is "Pack as fast as you possibly can while trying to also have fun and make memories with people" mode. And it doesn't help that I have a gross headcold. But packing has made me get super excited for my new life in America next year and all the potential it holds. I am determined to have a really good attitude about everything that comes my way because I am learnin...

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Wow I cannot believe how close the end of the year is. I am trying to get good fun times with friends and yet use my time wisely to get my schoolwork done (so far it has been more time with friends having fun than school). I am already done with one elective and then I have 6 exams during the first 3 days next week. I sure hope I can focus on school so my grades don't plummet right at the end! Well wish me luck and say a prayer.
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I seriously cannot believe that I will be leaving this amazing place 3 weeks from Monday. I am gonna miss friends, my school, my house, my big room, my nice bed, my dark shade for my window so I can sleep as late as I want, the freezing cold pool, the woods where I walk/run with Abbie all the time, the beautiful scenery that surrouns me, the bike paths, the small town feel and much much more!! BUT I am looking forward to America also. I look forward to living near family (including my cousin ...
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Wow!! Tests, quizzes, field trips, activities, beautiful weather, soccer games, bike rides, track meets, projects....I'd say that makes for a pretty crazy May!! Good thing I only have 3 more weeks!!!
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Hey guys!! I just wanted to let you know that on May 1st I started a two month journey to get fit and raise money to help end child sex slavery. It is through Love146 and it is called Tread on Trafficking. I am getting people to pledge a donation for every mile that I run or give one time donations and I am really excited!! My goal is to jog/walk 75 miles before June 31st and so far I have run over 7 miles! If you would like to see my fundraising page you can click here. I would encourage you...
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Here is my update from my missions trip to Burkina Faso over Spring Break. Enjoy!
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Notice that I skipped the "get set" part. That is how I feel about starting school again tomorrow. I feel like I don't have the time or the energy to get set. I feel unprepared and not in the right mindset for tests, quizzes, homework and just learning in general. The down side of having spring break so late this year is that I have definitely caught the summer bug. I am loving the weather and the low key schedule and I do not want to go back to the little sleep, all work no play schedule of ...

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I'm back!! It is so nice to sleep for 12 hours and take 2 hours to get ready and watch shows and go for walks and not sweat just sitting around the house!! But I had the best trip of my life and I am so thankful for the experiences I had. I will write a long summary soon!
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Hey! I am currently sitting in our guest house in Burkina Faso. Our trip has been quite a roller coaster and I can't wait to write all about it. We have battled heat, sickness, dirt, mosquitoes and thirst (haha love the drama!) and had a lot of funny/life-changing/amazing moments in between. It has been a once in a lifetime experience for sure!!! One thing that is hard right now is that the government has just been overthrown here and there is a lot of unsureness. We had plans to go to a croc...
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My team and I are leaving at 7:45 tomorrow morning. Our destination: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
I CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I AM!!!! Please pray that I would be able to forsake myself and life in the Spirit with boldness, truth, love and strength. I wanna be completely open to God's will whether that is sharing the gospel with someone or just reaching out to touch someone that is dirty to show them that I care. I wanna love my teammates with God's love so that our team will be a reflec...
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I have another website besides this one called Broken Beauty. It is a website for teen girls who have given into Satan's lies (because we all have) and want to get out of the trap. I really like it and I think God has used it in people's lives which is really exciting!! If you wanna check out the site or share it with your friends go to brokenbeauty.yolasite.com.

If the website helps you please let me know!! I would LOVE some feedback!!
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I am so excited because I am leaving for Burkina Faso (that is in Africa) in three days!!! I can't wait to see what God is going to do through us and also what He is going to teach us. There are many ways that things could go differently than we planned so please pray that God's will would be done.
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My weekend was AMAZING!! I am smiling right now just remembering how absolutely fantastic it was :)
Here are some of the highlights:

• the most gorgeous weather I have ever seen
• getting to spend time with my favorite non-blood-related family the Higgs
• reading and finishing an amazing book
• getting to watch whatever I wanted since all the other kids were gone
• getting to eat take out 2 days in a row with my fabulous parents
• doing homework outside in the sun
• singing "It is Well with My Sou...

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Here is a poem I wrote a few months ago about running:

its a feeling you can’t explain

when you’re running

                and running

                                and running

and you’re just about to hit your physical limit

 then you see the finish line in the distance        

you push harder

harder than you thought possible           

and you struggle and push some more 

until suddenly you’re done

 your breathing slows    

 the feeling of nausea fades       

 th...

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Oh man I love this season!! The first flower pushes its way up through the ground, the first apple or cherry blossom shows up on the branch of a tree, the first yellow butterfly flies by while I run in the woods in shorts and a tank top...Spring is definitely my favorite time of year. It is full of hope and beauty and it gives me the strength to get through the last weeks of school.
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Projects, reports, tests, homework...that is why you haven't seen many posts lately.
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I wrote this poem in my journal the morning after I found out we are moving back to the States this next school year. It was really random but I just kept writing what came to mind and I think it turned out nicely if I do say so myself.

Whirlwind
caught in a whirlwind
inside and out
life is chaos, my thoughts a storm
debris rushes by
barely missing my head
I wish time would stop
so I could catch up
caught in a whirlwind
where will I land?

Well I hope you enjoyed it!! Have an awesome Friday.



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    As most of you know, one of my dearest friends came to visit this past weekend. We had a fabulous time and it will take me a VERY long time to go through all our pictures and write all the blog posts so I decided to do it in a few different parts. This first part covers our first evening together and Friday. 
                                                                                     
    Courtney arrived Thursday evening with only the most minor complication and that started our w...
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This song, especially the lyrics, is definitely going to become very close to my heart in this turbulent time. We just found out that we will be spending the next year in the States and there is so much uncertainty and heartache coming our way. It is so important to remember that sometimes the worst suffering is the greatest blessing.


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I got a haircut last night and I am lovin' it- especially the new bangs!





Courtney gets here tomorrow and we are guaranteed to take over 1,000 pictures so don't worry- there will be more!!!
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I have been waiting for this for a while. Only 5 more days until one of my closest friends ever- I call her my fabulous forever friend- is going to be here. She gets here on Thursday night and leaves Monday afternoon. This will be the longest period of time we have together since the summer before our sixth grade year. We have a lot planned:

• A field trip with my German class to Freiburg. It will be interesting since she doesn't speak any German!
• Attending my sister's middle school play
• M...

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Wow get ready for an info overload!!

Last Week
A bit busy but fun and it went by pretty quickly.

Retreat

• Amazing weather in the most beautiful place in the world

• Great speaker who taught a lot on what it means to be real and honest and overcome the deepest struggles in our lives
• Pretty powerful worship
• Small group times that made me want to cry because they were so deep and finding out that other people felt and thought what I felt and thought about BFA and MK life in general
• Fun t...

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What a fabulouls weekend!
1. Hanging out with the Higgs on Friday afternoon and Saturday night at their house watching movies and talking.
2. Awesome worship night on Friday
3. Watching Chuck with my friend Sara and eating ice cream, cookies and lollipops and having a spider fall from the ceiling
4. Going to Basel with the Higgs on Saturday and showing them around (I got to hold both boys for long periods of time which made me really happy!)




5. Getting lots of homework done
6. Invigorating run in ...
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    I have a song on my iPod by the Sidewalk Prophets called "You Love Me Anyway". I really like it because it is about how we mess up and turn our backs on God but He still loves us anyway. Today in my first period class we watched the music video for the song because my teacher's brother produced it and the lead singer of the Sidewalk Prophets was my teacher's college roommate. What a small world. I really like the song and the video is pretty cool too. You should check it out here: http://...
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    Praise the Lord! Today has been kind of hard because I found out that I had to miss out on a fun activity to go to a missions trip meeting and there I found out that an essay I thought was due Tuesday is really due tomorrow. Yikes! So when I got home at 3 I knew I had to buckle down and get some serious work done. I got a few little things done, went for a long run and then went to a dear little boy's birthday party. I felt pretty badly because at the party I was feeling really stressed o...
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    So sorry about the lack of posts- I keep writing them and then they get deleted!!! I hope to be writing more often.

    I have been thinking about Colossians 3:23-24 a lot lately. Here is what it says: " Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." I have a really hard time having a good attitude about doing the dishes, homework, v...

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    After talking to my dad more about this whole school thing, I have realized that the stress of school is really a good preparation for stress in life and learning how to manage my time. That combined with the fact that I was able to get a lot of work done today has definitely made me feel better about going to school. But I still am holding to my theory that homework can be skipped or only partially done if school is beginning to take a toll on my mental, physical or social health. It is ...
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    This week has been really frustrating. I have had two tests and now I have 3 papers due in the very near future. I think I posted before about how I feel like school is sucking away my life and this week has definitely proved my point. Since I need a lot of sleep my day is only 15 hours long. After you take away 7 hours for school, 1 1/2 hours for after school activity and 1/2 hours or 45 min for dinner, that leaves about 2 or 3 hours for other stuff. Since homework takes about 2 of those...
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    There is no other word for how we got our dog Abbie but miracle. I grew up with another golden retriever, Misha, and when he was getting ready to pass away, us kids decided we needed a puppy. We signed contracts saying we would never ask for another Christmas or birthday present for the rest of our lives and we would take care of it all by ourselves. That was 3 1/2 years ago. Now we have a 1 1/2 year old puppy that has become a major part of our lives. Here is how it happened.

    My dad w...
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    Its funny how I can be in a huge group of people and feel more alone than I ever have before. Even in a small group of Christian, loving accepting girls I can feel so incredibly alone. Its weird. Like I feel that I can never share more than a one sentence opinion because I think they don't want to listen to me for any longer. And on the inside I am dying because I would love to share my heart completely and totally on every topic that comes up, especially ones that I have thought a lot ab...
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This weekend was a mix of good and bad. The good was that I got to watch Inception with my class on Friday which was fun. I also got to spend most of Saturday with the munchkins I love the most. Sunday morning was ok- I got to work in nursery so I got to see the munchkins again and 2 of them even came over for lunch with their parents (more on their family later) but I stayed downstairs too long and I realized I had a whole day's worth of work ahead of me and not a whole day to do it. I had t...
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    Ok so now I am really baffled because I wrote a really long post yesterday and I thought I posted it but obviously it did not go through. Maybe God knew that I needed to vent and you all didn't need to hear about how horrible yesterday was. So since it seems to be a God-thing I will spare you the details of my bad day yesterday and I will tell you that almost everything worked out including a miraculous healing, good grades on tests that I thought I failed and other wonderful things. 
    ...
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For Bible class we have to complete 12 hours of community service in the semester. I was planning on just helping out with childcare and nursery and stuff but my Bible teacher challenged us to do something that humbled us and made us take on Christ- like attitudes. I want to do something that challenges me and makes me do something that I normally wouldn't do. I don't have any great ideas yet but I will be brainstorming this weekend. I hope God shows me what He wants me to do.
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    I really like Bible class. Really. It challenges me, interests me and causes me to think all the time. I really like the teacher, I had him for eigth grade history and I liked him then and now I have him for Bible 10. I have it 7th period which is really good because it causes me to wake up and get through the last period of the day. It is also good because I look forward to it all day so it makes the other classes go faster. Today he talked about how "loving is sacrificially giving for o...
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Ugh! I am getting really frustrated with not having enough time to do the things I need to do as well as the things I want to do. I have a pretty busy schedule, I have something after school almost every day whether it's babysitting or going for a run. I am usually home by 5-5:30 and I usually shower or read for 15 minutes before I start homework. I almost never get much done before dinner so I usually don't start making progress until 7:30. And that's if it is not my turn to do the dishes. A...
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Ok, I have to admit I can be pretty lazy sometimes. Like after 5 minutes of looking at my pile of homework or the mess on my floor I say to myself "I need a break, this is too much" and I proceed to read or stalk a blog or surf Itunes for the next 30 minutes. Then, I get really mad at myself for wasting all that time and I break down and have to take another break. I know, it's sad.

But, sometimes I really do need a break. Like after a long day at school and a really hard workout, I do need a...
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Today I went on a walk in the woods with Abbie, my dad and JT. I have been up there a few times lately just as the sun was setting and each time I didn't bring my camera, then later regretted it. But this time I brought it and I was so glad because this is what I was able to capture:
                                                                

And of course one of the cutest dog ever.

I absolutely love going for walks in the woods and be sure that you will see many more pictur...

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