Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

WOW!!
Man, how my first semester down south has flown by! It's been a crazy amazing experience! God's changed me so much this semester I don't even know what to expect for the next 3 1/2 years to come!

Looking back on this calendar year I realize how many changes have taken place in as little as 12 months! 2 weeks into January I graduated, jumped into community college, traveled a bunch, got a new job...or two...or three[!], jumped into a whole different world full of Southern culture, and met some of the most amazing people while maintaining relationships with the ones I left here in Chi~town. :)

This time last year I was living a totally different life...Man oh man, the places life can bring you to! I wish you all a wonderful, merry Christmas! God bless all your endeavors for His name. :)

I Heart Sarah Barlow!!!! :-D

Sorry it took me so long to update this! Last weekend I had the AMAZING pleasure of having Sarah Barlow come down and visit me down here in Nashville and it was soooo wonderful!!! I don't ever have such a good laugh as I do when Sarah's around!! I tried to give her the college experience in one night though we were all pretty beat. But the night she came in we went out for dinner with Brianna, who Sarah introduced me to, and the conversations we had for 3 hours at Chili's was so empowering!! It was encouraging to be in the midst of such godly young ladies! I'm so thankful that God has placed them in my life! :) These pictures are from the morning Sarah left...haha, we had breakfast in the university dining hall....let's just say the food here is not exactly good for you! Sarah, you are such a blessing!! I thank God for you!!!

Thank You for Loving Me...

Wow,
what can I say to fully describe how much God has made Himself known to me in these past few months? He has blessed me immensely; molded and shaped my character and overall personality. I'm almost afraid to go back to Chicago for the first time at Thanksgiving--I feel like a completely different person.

Hmm... let's see how to start this...every friend that I consider close to me here at school was not anyone I sought out to become friends with myself. God simply placed them before me and the rest is history!

Sometimes I get frustrated because there aren't enough hours in the day. But My Love simply whispers to me that it's okay--just put Him first and everything will fall into place. And they do. I mean, some things have to give, but on the day I stand before Christ I wanna smile knowing that I put aside everything of this earth to soak Him in for He will never be temporary.



I've been learning how to handle relationships--especially being with people 24 hours a day; 7 days a week! It's really been about patience, self-control, learning about each other and choosing to love regardless.

I'm beginning to think that my life is going to unfold very differently than I've ever anticipated. Last night, to my own surprise, I caught myself in prayer; telling God that if He called me to go I would go. As scary and insecure as missions sounds, I know that it would be the most worthwhile thing to do with my time on earth.

I feel like there's a million more things for me to say because of how much God has spoken to me, but in my attempt to sum my experiences up, I will say this:

God has been a part of EVERY THING.

And I'm in love

with Him and how much He takes care of me.

I'm being romanced.

It's so obvious now.

To Update!

So the devotional on Wednesday night went amazing! We had a good group last Wednesday, a whole different group on Saturday and this Wednesday we doubled! Both groups of people came out as well as a few newbies. :) It's sooo amazing how God does things! I love it and I'm so excited to see how he leads...

How great is our God...

Wow! This past week has been a whirlwind of amazing things God has planned out! He's provided me with a job in the Admissions Office here at school for one thing. As for the rest, God's been placing so many people in my life that He wants me to encourage and lead as well as people I can connect to and be blessed by...it's so perfect how He does things!

Last Wednesday, my friend Chris felt a strong need to do a devotion that night and asked if I wanted to join. I said sure so we got 2 or 3 other people to join us.

When we met up in my building lobby, a bunch of our friends were hangin out and we pulled them in too! There ended up being about 8 or 9 of us and we sat outside and discussed a passage in Romans...

It was so awesome! God spoke to every heart there and things just set into place. It sort of became a tag team between Chris and I in leading it, but we didn't plan it that way at all--it just worked!

Everyone wanted to get together and do it again so we got together on Saturday and we're meeting again tonight! I love how God does things! Everyday is such an adventure 'cause I never anticipate what He has in store!

Introducing: The Belmont Crew...

Hey Ya'll! :-P
Since I can't bring my new friends up there for you to meet, I figured I'd introduce you online...oh, technology. Anyway, these are the people here at Belmont that I've become the closest friends to so far. They are awesome and it's pretty hilarious how inseperable we can be sometimes! Lemme introduce you:

This is Cait:

Kara:

Chris:

Justin:

and Zac:

It's been so much fun getting to know them and hearing what God's done in their lives so far. And such an enormous blessing to be able to have a hilarious time with people that aren't interested in getting involved in stupid stuff!

I wish you all could meet them for real--and maybe one day you will! It's definitely a God thing that the six of us became friends--I only have a class with one of them!!

Well, that's all for now...it's time to say goodnight!

All My Love,
Sarah

YA'LL :)

So here I am on my roommate's (Janelle--who says hi) computer (still waitin on my MacBook Pro ;) ) down in Nashville and it's been a pretty good time! I can't say it wasn't hard to say bye to my family 'cause I loooooooove them soooooooooooooooooo much!!! :-D hahaha but I love meeting all these new people and hearing about where everyones from! So, yeah. I was so excited to get online finally 'cause I wanted to check up on all of your lives! I miss you guys!!! Come down and visit whenever you want :)

"Shut Up And Go Be a Man of God"

Wow, I was looking at my friends myspace picture and one of her friend's default name is Shutup and Go be a Man of God !! Haha, can't say I wasn't amused...! lol

[Love Lead Me On, Faith Keep Me Strong.]

Matthew 9:28b

"...and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this?

They said unto him, Yea, Lord."

Yes Lord, I believe You can do this. :)

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On another note, I came across this blog from Captivating Studios and it was so encouraging--check it out!!

The Sinking of My Heart.

For the past 5 months I have been praying for this friend of mine...my heart's so painful and broken for him. Why him of all people??? I guess it's because I would be a lot like him if it wasn't for Jesus Christ in my life.

I have 4 full days left till I move out to Tennessee and I guess I'm just left wondering...where's he gonna go from here? My guess is he'll remain the same. Same job, same searching; same chasing after temporary highs.

It feels like I'm grasping thread and it's slipping through my grip faster and faster.



But I have this letter for him. A letter telling him all about the One that's changed my whole life! And I'm dying[!!] to give it to him...but circumstances just haven't let me. (_My last resort is to mail it, but I want to hand it to him myself._) His life won't have to be the same if he just knew!! I'm at the point where I tell God I don't know what to pray or how to feel about this 'cause I just don't know anything anymore!!

::Sigh:: I just had to let this out somewhere.

"Don't get emotional...just praise God."

The above concept jumped to the surface of my brain yesterday night as I was getting ready for praise & worship practice. I know that God is worthy of my praise regardless of what I'm feeling. My mind was battling to stay fixed on Christ, but He immediately brought focus the moment I began singing.

It felt so good to sing like that again. :)

I had taken some time off from the worship band this summer and having the chance to come back to it made me wonder why I ever stopped! I can pretend like I don't know why, but really, I do. I got so lost in my own world for a lot of reasons--mostly, selfishness and pride silently penetrated my lifestyle. Finally, I gave it up to God after He challenged all my plans.

You see, at church that morning I reconnected with an old friend and she unexpectedly asked me this question:

"Hey Sarah, you want to go to Uganda with me?"

My mind was shaken though I tried not to reveal my initial impression. I told her it did interest me but, more than anything, I have to pray about it first and figure what God's got planned.

Back to the band practice last night--it was my good friend Lee's last night playing guitar because he's leaving tomorrow for San Diego to work with the organization promoting the cause for the Invisible Children. He and I have been through a lot together and seeing the drastic choice he is making challenged me even more.

I've started questioning my plans/ideas of what I should be doing. All I know is that I was not meant to live an ordinary life.

((Needless to say the worship music was amazing last night!! God's spirit was MOVING!!!!))

"Clothes don't always work, food makes you fat, but shoes--shoes always fit."

I have to say, this summer has been chock full of shopping it's disgusting. Lately shoes have been "the fetish" and today my sister and I went over to DSW--the best shoe place in the world--and got an AMAAAZING deal on 2 pairs of shoes, and 2 pairs of socks...


Wanna know how much it cost us?

...............drum roll please...............................

75 cents!!

Yep, that's right, 75 cents for a pair of Franco Sarto ($85) shoes, Nina ($70) shoes, Anne Klein ($6) socks, and Steve Madden ($8) socks!! Haha, not that name brand socks really matter!! lol But heck, if it only costs less than 20 cents a pair, why not!?

Don't ya love great deals??

Amen!!

I saw this picture on DJ's old website and fell in love with the substance of this quote. Just reading it was so reassuring, powerful and encouraging for the standards that I have presently and am choosing to raise for my future that's quickly closing in! Thanks DJ!! I hope you all are blessed by this :)

A New Member of the Family...

I finally pushed myself to submit to accepting this wonderful violin from Natalie Barlow on Friday. If this makes sense, I'm a really bad gift reciever! It's hard for me to accept things from people without rightfully paying for it myself. The Barlows are certainly training me to submit!! THANK YOU NATALIE!!!

On Saturday, I went to Venetian Night and it was a blast! We didn't have the best view of the boats but the firework show afterward definitely made up for it! Afterward, we just hung out in Millenium Park playing soccer and throwing the frisbee around. Oh, how I love summer... :)

Sunday we had a black-out for two hours!! But I'm so thankful for it. It really pushed my family and I to just be together instead of sitting in front of the computer or TV. My sis, dad and I pulled out our guitars, opened the piano and sang while my brother messed around on the violin. It was quality, what can I say? ;)

And if you've read Sarah Barlow's blog today you've seen this picture from our trip downtown. What a relaxing, beautiful day! The only sad part was leaving behind my 17" MacBook Pro at the Mac Store. :'( One day it will be mine!!

Know Your Roots!!

I just spent the past two days bonding with my cousins and it was such a good time! We had so many great chats and hard laughs! I don't think I ever laugh as hard as when I'm with my own family!!

My aunt gave me my very first Indian Sari, the traditional outfit for women. It was so exciting and fun to get dressed up with my sister and cousin because I can't say I'm really well in touch with my Indian side. I can't wait to wear it for my cousins wedding in India this winter!!

There's so much more to the weekend, but all you need to know is this: there is nothing like family. It's a real blessing to be in such a culturally diverse home...one that's built upon the rock of Christ Jesus.

{Sweet Home Chicago}

Boy, this summer has been so jam packed it's ridiculous! I've pretty much run myself into a cold...and right on time for my birthday! Haha, it's pretty much how God sits me down and says, "Okay, Sarah, it's time for a break."

Anyway, being sick is not important. I'm enjoying this week regardless! It's been a trip to the city every other day and will continue that way until Saturday! WooHoo! My family and I came downtown for dinner at this great Ethiopian restaurant on Sunday night. Then last night, I went over for the Outdoor Film Festival at Grant Park to watch "Bringing Up Baby", a classic starring Audrey Hepburn. It is a crazy, yet very entertaining movie! Thursday is the Art Institute and Saturday is Venetian Night so if anyone else is up for it you're welcome to join!!

:

It's so funny how God changes my mind about things that I thought I was so set on. Take the city--two years ago I remember talking to my brother and sister about how I could never live in the/a city 'cause it's just too busy and dirty and all. Now, being in the city makes me smile! I love the fact that everyone else is in a mad rush while I just sit back and watch! :)

I don't know where I'll end up after Nashville this fall, but I know God has His best in mind. :)

"My Savior My God" --Aaron Shust

I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned
I only know at His right hand
Stands one Who is my Savior.

I love how You make me smile.

Man, I should be sleeping right now 'cause I'm tired, it's late, and my contacts are drying out...but I had such a good day that I just have to write about it!

Today, I went to a surprise party for my friend Sarah and it was just a blast. :) I would be content even as a fly on the wall of that house 'cause everyone there is just so full of joy it just makes me smile! A bunch of us met up at Praise Fellowship Church and then went over to her house and totally surprised her! I finally got the privilege of meeting the David Jay I've heard so much about! Haha! And it was great, he was all the good things I've heard about...and all the bad...JUST KIDDING!!!! I've only ever heard good about him!

So while we were there I was so encouraged when talking to Mr. Barlow about telling my friend about having Jesus as his savior. He reminded me that God did not give me a spirit of timidity or fear, but a spirit of boldness and strength. That's exactly what I needed to hear.

On the drive home I just sang to praise music and came clean with God. It feels so good to be forgiven...everytime! I can't even begin to say how grateful I am at the swiftness of God's mercy. He's unbelievable and there's nothing else I can say that would ever accurately describe who He is!

Being cleansed of my sins allows God come closer and take control of every aspect of my life, even my fears. So now, I'm just waiting on God's timing to give me an opportunity to talk with this friend of mine. I know it's all in His perfect, loving hands.