Markers and Games and Books, Oh My!

As many of you know, I have the amazing opportunity of going back to Romania this summer along with a team of incredible women--including my mom!

Romania has been near and dear to my heart for many, many years, and I am so excited to be able to go back this summer. Read more about my heart for this beautiful country HERE and HERE!

I have been overwhelmed and completely blessed by the wonderful people who have supported our trip financially this time around. We have raised the necessary funds to go, although some of our team is still working toward that goal--please pray for God's provision!

In addition to prayer and financial support, we are also in need of some ministry supplies. This is where YOU come in! We are in need of the following:

matching sheets and comforter - pillow, shams

(Disney characters will be wonderful)

plastic plates, cups

educational DVD & books

towels

stereo

toys
books
Balloons (regular sized NOT water balloons)
Sequence (at least 2)
Dutch Blitz (at least 2)
Jump Ropes
Badminton sets (for camp)
Markers
Beads (small ones)
Play Dough
Nail Polish Remover
Nail Polish (light colors)
Cotton Balls
Small Scissors (for young children)
Zip-lock bags (various sizes)
Soccer Balls (size 5)
Volleyballs
Wiggly Eyes (the kind found at craft stores)

If you'd like to help our team with some of these supplies and bless the amazing children in Romania, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know!!! I know some of you would love to help, I know some of you have some awesome connections, so I thought I'd throw it out there. 

Thanks so much for your incredible support. Trips like this--changed lives like this--are not possible without you! 

Photo Credit

Yah, I Flew A Helicopter.

A couple of years ago, I rode in a helicopter for the first time. The second it took off, I FELL IN LOVE. No joke. Read about that experience HERE! I was like a giddy little girl getting a pony for Christmas. It was a bit ridiculous. Ever since then, I was dying to take to the skies again.

So, for my birthday (a year and a half ago), my mom gave me a helicopter flight lesson!  WHAT?!? Are you kidding me? I was so excited I cried. 

Why, might you ask, did it take me until now to redeem this amazing gift?.....well, bad weather, Romania, East Coast trip, and psycho foot. 

Now that we have some of that under control, this past weekend it was!

I wasn't the least bit nervous (surprising, actually), but I was really excited. My ground school consisted of a few minutes of "this is this and that is that and do this when this happens....ready?" Uhhh, WHAT?!?! Sure....why not? Let's fly!

Brandon (my instructor) took off (of course), but when we were in clear skies, he gave me the controls. IT. WAS. SO. HARD! Your feet are doing one thing, your left hand is doing something else, your right hand is doing something else, and there's SO much to look at! I was a bit overwhelmed, but it was seriously amazing to think that I was FLYING A FLIPPIN' HELICOPTER! After a while. we headed back to the airport to practice "hovering." Now THAT was difficult! But, Brandon said I did pretty well--I didn't freak him out like some people do. Phew! 

Take a look at me hovering! CRAZY!

This is Brandon, my instructor. 

Here I am with Mama post flight.

This thing is TINY!

LOVED LOVED LOVED this! Now, what shall I do next? I want to ride a horse.

I Was On KATIE!!!

Remember that time I went to Katie and pretty much loved every stinking minute of it?

If not, read about it here!!

Well, today the show aired, and in case you missed it, HERE WE ARE!!!

...and here!

...and here! :::Sigh::: I just love Katie...

While we're on the topic of being on TV, remember THIS TIME when I did the weather? Let's just say, I shouldn't quit my day job, but that doesn't mean I can't LOVE it! :)


Hmmm.....what shall be my next TV adventure?!? IDEAS?

Beautiful.

According to http://realbeautysketches.dove.us/, only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful.

Only 4%.

No wonder Satan uses this widespread insecurity to shoot us down and keep us down.

As I continued to ponder my post from yesterday, I remembered this DOVE video I saw not too long ago, and I'd love to share it with you.

It.

Is.

Incredible. 

Please take a few precious moments of your time to watch it, think about it, and let it speak to your heart.

We are far more beautiful than we think. 


We are daughters of the King, the Creator of the universe.

He knows the number of hairs on our head.

He sees every tear we cry.

He knows the depths of our sinful hearts, yet He loves us far more than we could ever hope to imagine.


We are far more beautiful than we think.


Thank you Dove for this beautiful message.

Thank you FATHER for making us beautiful! 

(Not) Beautiful.

The summer before I moved away to college, Bethany Dillon came into town and performed a small show at a church with Shawn McDonald and Monk and Neagle.

I purchased her CD probably a few months prior to that, and I fell in love with her music. During the show I actually stood in the front row with a few friends and sang every song. Afterward, when we got to meet the artists, Bethany told me that she had fun singing with me during the show. What?! She noticed? I just loved her, and that comment made my night. I admired that she wrote (most of) her own music, I admired how mature she was for her young age, and I admired her love for the Lord and his people.

I especially loved (love) her song "Beautiful"....it spoke (and still speaks) straight to my soul:


Beautiful 

I was so unique 
Now I feel skin deep 
I count on the make-up to cover it all 
Crying myself to sleep cause I cannot keep their attention 
I thought I could be strong 
But it's killing me 

Does someone hear my cry? 
I'm dying for new life 

[Chorus]
I want to be beautiful 
Make you stand in awe 
Look inside my heart, 
and be amazed 
I want to hear you say 
Who I am is quite enough 
Just want to be worthy of love 
And beautiful 

Sometimes I wish I was someone other than me 
Fighting to make the mirror happy 
Trying to find whatever is missing 
Won't you help me back to glory 

If God had gifted me with the talent of song writing, I could have poured those words onto a page along with my tears. I felt each one of them so deeply. Throughout junior high and high school (and probably even before that), I had always felt like my friends and cousins were prettier, skinnier, and more beautiful than me. I struggled with being self-conscious. I wanted more than anything to feel accepted and beautiful and loved.

Graduating from high school, moving away from home, and starting college was obviously a time of huge adjustment. My plans were to enjoy college life, meet someone wonderful, fall in love, get married, etc. etc. etc.....and finally feel beautiful. In my fairy-tale, happily-ever-after, Disney-princess upbringing, that's how life worked. Your prince charming comes along, you feel loved and accepted, and you become the most beautiful girl in the world to someone...

Well, almost ten years later, we all know that that prince-charming-happily-ever-after-finally-beautiful thing hasn't happened yet....

For so long I've focused on the first part of Bethany's song--the deep desire to be beautiful, to not feel self-conscious all the time, to be quite enough, to make someone stand in awe, to be worthy of love. 

Isn't that every girl's desire? Doesn't every girl battle with this on some level? Don't we imagine that all of our dreams will come true when we meet our "prince charming"? Don't we all just want to be beautiful? 

I still struggle with not feeling beautiful. I battle with self-consciousness probably more than anyone would ever know. I fight with the image in the mirror and wonder what man will ever find me beautiful. Instead of seeing my blue eyes and bright smile in pictures, I see my fat, white arms. This isn't easy to type. I'm not writing this to get compliments--believe me, people could tell me I looked pretty all day long, and I'd still be battling this demon at night. I'm writing this to be real. I'm writing this to share a struggle that I'm sure many women face, but don't always talk about. 

I'm writing this to share God's amazing truth that He's been trying to drill into my ridiculously think-Satan's- lies-believing-head. 

Bethany's song doesn't end with the lyrics I've posted above. As I've grown up a bit over the years, I have come to realize the amazingly deeper truth written into the end of the song. 

You make me beautiful 
You make me stand in awe 
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed 
I love to hear You say 
Who I am is quite enough 
You make me worthy of love and beautiful


I'm not beautiful because of the image that peers back at me in the mirror. I'm not beautiful because someone says so. I won't become beautiful when (or if) a man finally accepts me. I'm beautiful because God made me beautifully. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. In Christ, I am quite enough. HE has made me worthy of love and beautiful.  

I have an image of Psalm 139 as the background on my phone--in an effort to focus on God's truth and not my own selfish insecurities.

We have to stop believing the lies that Satan loves to flood upon us. We have to stop thinking of ourselves as less because we don't look like the image on the magazine or television screen or the girl next to us in a bridesmaid dress. We have to stop finding our value in relationships or spouses or complements.

We need to focus on who we are in Christ and live as daughters of the King--accepted, enough, loved, and BEAUTIFUL.

K-A-T-I-E!!!

While most little girls were playing with their Barbies and baby dolls, I was dressing up and playing "Katie Couric". 

No joke. 

For as long as I can remember, I've had a fascination with the news, 20/20, and the Today Show. 

So, it's no surprise then that my old next door neighbor and I would dress up, pull over chairs or stools, and put on news programs for our families or neighbors or stuffed animals. I admit, we were odd kids, but pretty darn awesome at the same time.  

I'm not sure what it was about Katie that first captured my attention, but I can always remember having a deep admiration for her and her work. 

If you asked me when I was younger who I wanted to be when I grew up, I'd tell you Katie Couric. If I could switch places with anyone for a day, it'd be Katie. 

Yes, I became a teacher, but there's always been a little inner journalist inside me wishing she could burst out. Since I know that teaching is where God has me (and I love it!), I have to feed that little inner journalist bits and pieces where I can (like being on the news this time.... and this time)!

I was quite saddened when Katie left the Today show. I'd watch her on the CBS evening news on occasion, but it was never the same. So, I was thrilled when she started her own talk show. She could finally be herself again--laughing and joking and crying and being real with people. Perhaps that's why I love her so much. She's real. 

When I heard earlier this week that Katie was coming to LA to film a few shows, I was ecstatic. I tried all week to get tickets. I was put on the waitlist, then they were sold out, then I was back on the waitlist--I was dying! Finally, yesterday, the status changed from waitlist to available. FREAK OUT!

So, Mom and I drove down to Hollywood late last night, woke up FAR too early, stood in line anxious and excited, and finally got seated in the studio. I was loving it! 

I had a slight freak out when I saw Katie for the first time. She came out, thanked us for coming, and explained how they'd be filming the show that day. You could just tell that she truly loves what she does. She's so fun to watch! Will.i.am and Zooey Deschanel were the special guests--and both were incredible. We got to take home both of their new CDs! LOVE free stuff! I was seriously so sad to see it end. It was such a fun experience! 

I suppose we'll just have to go see her again when we travel to New York next. Ahhh shucks! :)

Be sure to tune in and watch our episode on MAY 8th on CBS! If you're looking at the audience we were on the very right hand side in the 3rd row. Mom's wearing blue and I'm wearing bright orangish. 

ENJOY! 

Craftiness!

Confession: I LOVE being crafty.

Confession #2: I'm not very good at it. 

I mean, really, I just used a hot glue gun for the first time a few months ago. Aaaand, I can't even sew. At all. Imagine the possibilities if I could sew! I should take a class... 

Ok, that's all beside the point....

Last weekend I decided to be a bit crafty, but I knew I had to start small. 

What could be smaller than a light switch plate? Is that what you call them??

STEP 1: Gather your supplies: light switch plate (either from your wall or from a hardware store); Mod Podge (I used the matte kind); an Xacto knife; some sort of paintbrush or sponge; whatever paper you're going to use to cover the plate; a magazine or some other surface you can use to cut on.

STEP 2: Have your paper ready (I chose to use a book page for this one), and cover the front of the plate with a nice layer of Mod Podge. Oh! And make sure you protect the surface you're working on! I used wax paper.

STEP 3: Press the plate face down onto the paper (not onto the side you want showing--did that. oops!) Flip the plate over and press down and smooth out the paper for about 30 seconds or so (let's be real, I didn't time myself--just press it down until it feels like it's sticking!).

STEP 4: Flip the plate back over, cut a slit from the corner of the paper to the corner of the plate. Put a bit of Mod Podge on the back of the plate and fold over each side (pressing down until it feels like it's sticking). Then, when it's "dry", trim off the little corner edges that are left.

STEP 5: Add a couple of layers of Mod Podge to the front of the plate (letting each layer dry before adding the new one). Sorry, I guess I don't have a picture for that. I'm sure you can figure it out.


STEP 6: Get a magazine (or some other surface that won't be super damaged when using an Xacto knife. Flip the plate over to the back and cut out the holes where your light switches go. Flip it back over the front (as shown below) and cut out the holes where the screws go.

NOTE: If I were to do this again, I'd do this step slightly differently. With the plate flipped over, I'd cut an X across the space where the light switch goes. Then, I'd simply fold over the extra paper onto the back and Mod Podge it like I had done with the rest of the paper. (Hope that makes sense--sorry I don't have a visual.) Just cutting out the rectangle made for some imperfections that I wasn't a huge fan of.

STEP 7:  Let dry and mount back on the wall!!! Below is one I did with a book page. The book pages are a lot more fragile than other paper, so this one ripped a bit when I was trying to get a bubble out of it. Oh well, little imperfections are still neat looking!

Here's another one done with a book page.

And, yet another one.... This was actually the first one I did, so I learned a bit from my mistakes. 

And, finally one done with scrapbook paper. I think this one turned out the best, although I LOVE my book-page plates!

Being crafty is fun (and can be easy!)!! Give it a try and let me know how it goes!