Live well

And be intentional. Whether it be exercising physically or exercising your faith, i encourage you to make it a point to live well and act with intention.

This week starts off my church's spring renewal. I am so pumped to be able to not only be revived as an individual, but also as a congregation! I also have the honor of spending time with the speaker this week. He also is the leader of the team I will be traveling to Zimbabwe with this summer.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet, but this May I am going to Zimbabwe for a mission trip. With less than $800 to go, I am convinced God has been so faithful to this service I am about to embark on.

Last year, Dillon served with the same team in Zimbabwe. He adored every minute, and I am so ecstatic we will be able to experience this service together as a couple. Actually, while we will be flying on the plane Dillon an I will celebrate our 3.5 year anniversary. Hooray :)

For those of you comfortable (or just experienced) with mission work, do you have any tips for me? Aside from personal missions and a few short trips, Africa is going to be my first international calling of my faith. I appreciate any advice for you to help prepare me for my two weeks abroad.

Also, I encourage you to pray for myself and our team. This is going to be a phenomenal experience, as well as a challenging one.

Thanks for your love and support. Let your light shine this week.

Flow

"God made love to be something that cannot be stored - we are rivers, not reservoirs."

I needed this reminders No matter how sad or upset someone can make me, and No matter how many tears I may cry - as a follower of Christ, I am still called to continuously flow love from my being.

Let's be realistic here... as hard as it is sometimes to display love in our lives, things could be far worse. It's not like God is expecting us to be as extreme as rapids, but He still wants us to be moving, advancing, giving. He wants this or the people we already love, the people we do not even know, and especially the ones we don't like.

So here's to today. Heres to making it better than my night, and filling it with God's love. And here's to this past week and a praise for downloading the blogger app on my phone so i can better connect on here.

Enjoy the instagrams of my life lately. I just downloaded vso, so I expect to have even more fun pictures soon :)

Let your light shine.

I did it

Yes.


I did it. And I did it without breaking down.


I have conquered finals. And I even made a 100% on my last final - what a way to end this horrendous week off, right? The grand finale of fireworks were indeed cheer-worthy. 


Praise God I got through this, and I am even more thankful to take the time and be joyful for the incredible opportunity to educate myself more fully. Usually this time of year I get exceptionally bitter, but this year the good Lord put a few different things in my path to maintain my focus and eyes on Him.


One of the things that really stuck out this week was Francesca Battistelli's song called "Don't Miss it." The simple lyrics have reminded me to be thankful for this chance to earn an education. Despite dreading the tests and exams that come with college, I still maintained a positive outlook during the week. Here is the chorus:

"Don't try so hard to move past the moment.These days go by and they're gone before you know it.So come on, open your window, let the light shine in -This is life don't miss it"

I have determined there is still something so pleasant about expanding your knowledge base. This song just helps to establish my joy for life and all things included within that.


However, the most significant impact of my week happened the Sunday before finals week. I started my finals week off with a concert at Lee University in Cleveland, TN - I went with two of my dearest friends to see Gungor.


They are without a doubt one of the most impressive musicians I have ever seen perform. Ever. They are so full of the desire to glorify God that His presence was so overwhelming in the auditorium. 

Having hundreds of fellow Christ followers worshipping in one room is without a doubt powerful. It is so phenomenal to see God work. This concert calmed me and prepared me for the week to come, and helped me to keep God writing my life's script. I maintained God's leadership, and let him take charge.


The only thing God can't do is fail, remember? While God doesn't only want A students, he sure did provide for me - 100% remember?


Let God reign.

PS - Here's the email my professor sent me after the exam:

Hi Laura - I thought you'd want to know that you got every single question right on the exam.  That's a first for me - congratulations.

God is good. Happy summer!

My creature

This makes me giggle. Even when I'm drowning in the dreaded disease known as "finals," I can still be amused by the hilarity of my puppy dog's howl.

This happens almost every time a cop car drives by, or the ice-cream man makes his run down my street.

It never gets old.

Side note, Gibson got a bath today - he really is a good pup. Despite his tremendous amout of shedding, and frequent needs for potty-breaks, I am blessed to have him.  Sometimes people say I saved a life, but in truth we saved each other's lives.

I think the good Lord puts quirky creatures into our paths to keep us sane, Gibson definitely helps level me out.

And don't let me forget to mention how amazing Dillon is. Man, does he do good things for my soul! He makes me laughs, adds to my faith, and reminds me to live life. Dillon often calls me boring because I'm always being productive, but I honestly can't begin to imagine how incredibly dull my life would be if I didn't have him to add some flavor to my days.

I am one lucky gal. <3

Riddle

What's black, white, and red all over?

This time the answer is not the newspaper :)

Me, last Thursday night in my fabulous Calvin Klein dress I found at TJ Maxx for under $40!

Huzzah!

I believe.

This would be me procrastinating the inevitable dread of finals approaching next week, but I love this quote and I had a great desire to play with Illustrator today.

I find this quote to be wildly appropriate in my life right now. Not only do I see God so actively at work in my own life, but I see him consistently doing so many good things for the people around me. A dear friend of mine raised $2,000 for a China mission trip in less than two weeks, another friend is successfully selling shirts for a mission in Haiti.

God shows up in all occasions, and his work can be tremendous so long we open the door to his power. 

Let your light shine, let the sun rise, let the goodness of our Savior beam.

Catch Up

This week I spent most of my hours studying for an intense law exam, and finishing up a 20 page paper. Needless to say,( despite having to work in the morning) I am so very glad it is the weekend before my last week of class. Regardless of finals quickly approaching, I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I cannot wait.

Over Easter weekend I made my lemon cookies for our egg-hunt. If you haven't tried these yet, I seriously recommend you spend an hour of your time and do it. They were the first to be completely devoured by the attendees, plus they simply looked marvelous and happy on the table.

Check out the recipe, you (and the people you share with) will be very happy you did.

Watch Out World

Today I did my first radio co-hosting with Small Business Roundtable. For a couple of months now I have been interning under John Martin, the host, and I now had the opportunity for some airtime.

How fun it is.

If you're interested in getting some tips of being an entrepreneur, I recommend you listen.

I hope you enjoy!

LISTEN HERE.

Captured

I found this "Type Design" source via Pintrest tonight, and I am so happy to announce someone understands my addiction to taking pictures. Personally, I have a strong desire to capture every moment of our lives. Day by day life seems to move faster and faster, and I yearn to remember it visually - through photography.

It's not rare for me to get made fun for always having my camera out.  I have even been told I need to attend rehab for my consistent need to snapshot the life that surrounds me. But despite the jokes, I have no desire to stop.

And this design only helps to fuel my itch to click.

Sean Wes

So I urge you to take more pictures and be open to being in more pictures. Days, months or years down the road you won't regret it - even if you do regret cutting your hair a certain way or whatever fashion trend you submitted to.

Photograph your life, and let your light shine.