warming my heart

i had the privilege to eat breakfast with such a sweet lady today. doing such a simple everyday task, we shared many stories and told each other our hearts feelings. some of them were harder to talk about than others, but most easily flowed out over eggs and coffee. 

we share a love for writing. we share a passion for jesus. we share an adoration for our best friends. 

we both are bad at school. we both love coffee too much. we both want to experience something other than colorado. 

she and i are very similar. but we're different enough to share stories the other has yet to experience. 

 she spoke wisdom into my life. she gave me gentle reminders. she laughed at my jokes. 

she was exactly what my heart needed on a cloudy morning.

today i'm thankful for old friends and pancakes.

meet my dear friend here:

http://lesteslove.blog.com

a year's end

it's cheesy i know, but it's so true.

a year changes your life. 

this year, for example, has flipped my life upside down and gave it a 180 degree turn. my friend asked me to give her a synopsis of this year. this is what i told her

"i thought this would be the best, easiest transition of my life. instead it's been the hardest year of my life. but i've loved every second of the hurt and mess."

i was right about one thing in my expectations. this year has been the best. i've been broken and frustrated and devastated in my own piles of sin. i've felt hopeless. i've been more alone and battled more self-worth than any other time in my life. i've been stuck in the pit of the valley.

joel plaskett sings a song called absentminded melody in which he sings, "the only thing worse than growing up is never really knowing how." 

its so true. because growing up is hard and no one knows how. and you can ask your parents how to write a check and throw a party and change your oil but they can't teach you to heal your heart when it's broken and sad and in pieces, that's something you learn from being alone and sad and in pieces.

this year has taught me so many good things. yes its been hard, but life is hard. i've clung to the hope that jesus protects my heart when i can't even manage to think about the brokenness inside of it. it has really has changed my life, as cheesy as it sounds [it's the cold hard beautiful truth.]

Dunking our Souls

Today, in front of her whole church body one of my close friends proclaimed her surrendered life to Christ. It was such an honor to be able to share such a special day with her. It was a beautiful illustration of our ability to proclaim that we are His. I'm so proud of her, she is fearless in my mind. She has given me many smiles in our friendship and I continue to pray for her heart as we both start college in the next few weeks. While at her baptism I couldn't help but feel something wonderful. Through her testimony, I felt so encompassed by God's unfailing love. His presence never ceases to astound me in the most random times. What a wonderful surprise it was.

Congratulations my sweet, I'm so very proud of you.