Happy Birthday to me!

So my birthday is in about 20 minutes.

Usually I get really excited about birthdays and usually I get let down. I place these outrageous expectations on one day and it NEVER works out.

Tonight as I was leaving campaigners, I started getting my hopes up for tomorrow. I mean I have had the most amazing week of my life. Really, I have. Tuesday I was in Austin and marched to the capital and rallied and just had a BLAST. Wednesday I got into the social work program and got one of the nicest letters ever from one of my summer staff friends (shout out to SAL!) and then today I just had an all around great day. I feel all this momentum leading up to my 20th birthday which has to be great?! Right?!

So as I started getting my hopes up I realized what was happening. I realized that I ALWAYS get my hopes up and am always let down so I immediately started telling myself not to get my hopes up. That it was just another day and if I have high expectations they are going to betray me and I am going to end up with another sad birthday. THEN I realized that I was being ridiculous.

It's my 20th birthday. The one day that I get to celebrate this crazy idea God had-- giving me life, and letting me be apart of this universe. Have expectations! But in the end, even if it is a horrible day and everything goes wrong remember that God still loves me. God still wants me to be apart of His family and above everything else, God is good.

(p.s. photo by the BEAUTIFUL Kristin Bohacek)

PTL PTL PTL

Praise. The. Lord.

Thank you personally for praying for me.

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about how I felt so isolated in Denton and how I'd tried to make friends and it wasn't happening-- see Are You kidding me?

Well, God has responded. This blog probably wont be too long but I just wanted to say thank you so much. On Wednesday I was able to meet with a fellow UNT transfer student and it was a blast! We got lunch and I had a great time talking and being in fellowship with each other. That night I went to an event at The Village and met a girl that is a member of The Village and we prayed together and it was awesome! THEN, Thursday I went to Frisco a few hours before young life so I could do some bible studying and I met this guy that goes to the Village and he invited me to a home group!!

To say that the Lord has been faithful would be a complete understatement. The Lord has been more then faithful and I am so encouraged by Him.

PTL

Can Someone Keep Me Accountable?

Here is my reading (and a few of them are rereads) list!

Prayer -Yancey
The Ragamuffin Gospel - Manning
50 Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die -Piper
Desiring God - Piper
The Amazing Love Story - Ashburn
Velvet Elvis -Bell
The One Thing You Can't Do In Heaven -Cahill
Crazy Love -Chan
Forgotton God -Chan
Don't Waste Your Life -Piper
Searching For God Knows What - Miller
Same Kind of Different As Me -Hall
C.S. Lewis's Case for Christ -Lindsley
The Heavenly Man -Yun
Mere Christianity -Lewis
Blue Like Jazz - Miller
Jesus Wants To Save Christians- Bell
The Meaning of Prayer -Fosdick
Purpose for the Pain -Yohe
The Case For A Creator -Strobel

Goal= read all these books before the end of the summer.