How Great Is Our God

We sang one of my favorite songs tonight at Crusade, How Great Is Our God. One reason I love this song so much is because this summer when I was in Russia we sang it at church Sunday morning. It was incredible being able to sing this song in Russian and have my team members around me singing in English. I truly feel how great God is when I can sing my praises to Him in another language and know that he doesn't care about my accent or if I am using the correct grammar. He just appreciates my open heart of worship and praise. I still tear up whenever I sing that song now because it has taken on such a deeper meaning. I hear the words to that song resonate in my heart, and know that God is great and his greatness is everywhere around me.

Наш бог так белик
ной со мнои
Наш бог так белик
Бсе мы бидим

Kaleo: to be called

I'm not exactly sure how to gather all my thoughts about this weekend into one comprehendable blog post. It was more than I expected on some levels and way off from my expectations on other levels.

I guess the big picture I took away from this weekend is to be more open about God's plan for my life. Because of my heart for Russian and specifically orphans I had began to center my focus on working with orphans in Russia. God really opened my eyes this weekend that I, without a doubt have a calling to Russia, but I don't know the rest of the story.

We had three different large sessions with all the conference attendees. Doctor Alvin Reid, Derwin Gray, and J.D. Greear spoke on different aspects of being called. In those I definitely realized that I am called to missions, but right now my mission field is Clemson and I need to make sharing the gospel with the campus my priority. J.D. Greear, pastor at The Summit Church, talked about not sitting and waiting on God to spell out a country or whatever in your cheerios. I was definitely convicted of waiting on God to spell out Russia in my cheerios and not taking advantage of all the lost souls around me.

Another point that really hit home was how awesome, in a sense, my testimony is and how it can be so powerful. One of the breakout sessions talked about our PLACE in ministry and how much our past experiences can be a great way to consider how to minister to others. I was sitting there and felt God really say to me, "this is what I'm talking about..." I had never really thought about God using me in Russia to minister to teenage girls going through what I faced in highschool. All of that kind of goes with being open to what God will have me to do in Russia and not to dare close any doors!

This was an incredible weekend of encouragment having 200 other highschool, college, and seminary students around me facing the same challenges as me. Not to mention, Caitlin and I had a ton of laughs and ten hours to play catch-up.

Plus...I won a me-sized painting of Jesus >>

And no I'm not even kidding!

Clemson football and best friends

This past weekend Ashley came to Clemson to see me! :) It was so good to see her and have a conversation face-to-face. If she hadn't come up now, it might have been until November until we saw each other, which is very sad.

Anyways, she skipped class Friday and drove from Auburn to Clemson and got here around 3:30. We walked downtown, hung out, and did some quick catching up. We had Just More BBQ for dinner, oo yum!! And then went and saw my parents for awhile and then she escaped to see someone special. ;)

Saturday was GAMEDAY! Despite the heat it was an amazing game, for two reasons. One my best friend was there and two Crusade was front row! A bunch of my friends painted up to spell CLEMSON, which resulted in us being on tv and the jumbo-tron multiple times. :)

Oh Ashley experienced Harcombe before the game! And even admitted that running down the hill was one of the coolest traditions ever. Not to mention this was the first she ever stayed for an entire football game, Auburn doesn't have very good fans. haha

Ashley left Sunday and made it safely back to Auburn, but only after experiencing a REAL football game. So an incredible weekend was had and I am so excited about this weekend with the Kaleo conference and seeing Caitlin.

Christian sisterhood

Tonight after Crusade Caroline, Mandy, and I took a spur of the moment drive. We all three had stuff to do and needed to sleep but had so much on our minds we needed to just 'go.' It was incredible and just what I needed. Oh how God is good. I was able to just pour my heart out about classes, stress load, boys <--patience in God's timing, and relationships with people here at Clemson. It was a sweet time of listening to one another, giving and getting Godly advice, and learning more about each other.

I am so thankful for the friends God has blessed me with here at Clemson. I am surronded by Godly men and women that care for me and look out for me. I couldn't make it through days like today without girls like them by my side!! <3

God is good, all the time!

Last spring I was asked to pray about leading a freshmen girls Bible study, well after praying about it and considering my schedule I really felt led to lead a group of girls this year. Last week was the first week Anna Beth and I led our group of girls (who live in Manning.)

Anyways last week we had 20!!! girls come to small group. It was incredible to see an eagerness and a desire to grow from these girls. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. I already love these girls to death and want to get to know them so much better! Their consistency in coming to Crusade, asking questions, and even participating in discussion the first week blew me away. I really shouldn't be surprised because God is just that good! :)

On top of all that, my bible study is WOW! I left Megan's house Monday night mentally exhausted because of the depth we are taking this year. I sat there with such a peace and I could feel God surronding his beautiful daughters with a deep love and joy. I can't imagine how he feels to see all of us gathered, reading his word, discussing our struggles, and growing more intimate with Him. We are starting 1 Peter next week and man am I stoked! Pastor Johnny did an expository series of 1 Peter when I was in highschool but I have matured spiritually since then and I cannot wait for what I will learn.

On top of all that is this thing called school. YUCK!