I've made the switch

Hey guys,

I have switched over to blogging at wordpress.com. Find my new blog @ http://carrieross.wordpress.com/

Stuck in this whirlwind called life

Carrie = 50 mph < Life = 150 mph

My math equation (remember I am political science major) accurately describes my life; it seems life has been zooming by while I hold on for dear life.

I was critized by one of my blog readers that I haven't updated in 13 days, but personally there hasn't been anything blog worthy or that I feel is open for public discussion and blog reading...
All of that to say, I am just going to update, so it could get long.

Something really neat I have been able to do over the past few weeks is help my political science professor gather voting statistics for a campaign for 2010. It has been fun to learn how the beginning steps work and what I would need to do and know to run for office.

Bible study, the one I am leading, has been so awesome. The girls are becoming so much more comfortable and we have the faithful 8 or 9 that have a true passion to grow in the Lord. I love seeing their beautiful faces week after week. I feel so blessed to be able to lead them and have been given this oppurtunity. God is so good.

School = yuck! Classes are seriously kicking my butt; however, I am managing to survive with A's and B's. I made an 83 on my last Russian test which was so exciting because it was ten points higher than my last exam.

Oh last weekend was Campus Crusade's Fall Retreat! It was so awesome to get away, spend time with my friends, grow deeper in my walk, and enjoy the beautiful fall weather in the mountains. I got to know some of my freshmen bible study girls better too, which is always exciting. It could not have been a better weekend.

Whew, that is a lot of rambling about absolute nonsense. Basically life is busy and a roller coaster of emotional chaos, but God is faithful throughout it all and I am growing so much just waiting on His plan and timing in my life.

October...

I am not a big fan of October...actually if it wasn't for God's amazing grace and love I would simply hate October. I should probably explain shouldn't I?

October is full of some pretty bad memories for me. Sophomore year of high school I lost my boyfriend, pretty much all of my friends, and turned my back on God during this dreadful month. But see this is where I debate on whether the month is good or bad. Now, God really uses my 'october' to minister to people. Because of what I went through and learning what its like to hit rock bottom before I fully rely on Him I wouldn't be who I am today without October.
Thinking about it, God really likes getting my attention during the month of October...hm. Senior year of highschool at the end of October I found out my mom was sick, once again causing me to fall flat on my face before relying on God. I would say I have mastered the art of reliance and falling on my face, but regretfully I say I still struggle.

I don't know why I decided to write about my 'october' but lets be honest, it kinda gets me down. I rejoice in the power of Jesus to save me from the horrible memories of sophomore year and heal my mom but memories don't disappear easily. So, it is my goal to rejoice this month about being alive with the knowledge that God has conquered my past and the grave!

I don't know what your "October" is, but rejoice in the power of the cross! Rejoice in the blessed assurance of Jesus Christ. :)

Happiness

Today BooMama wrote a list of 25 random things that make her happy, and I decided it would be fun to write 25 random things too. Not to mention, I am procrastinating...

1. popsicles
2. getting letters in the mail
3. family
4. the beach
5. laughing with someone who has a similar sense of humor
6. taking pictures
7. meeting someone from Russia
8. college football
9. eating a pretzel at the mall
10. ferris wheels
11. dressing up
12. reading
13. Nicholas Sparks
14. cuddling
15. playgrounds
16. hiking -- mountains in general
17. Atlantic Station (in Atl.)
18. gymnastics
19. music
20. Dunkin Donuts boston creme doughnuts
21. traveling late at night
22. airplanes
23. scrapbooking
24. Barnes and Noble
25. friends

What about you? Leave a comment or write it on your own blog. Have a wonderful day.

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.