yikes...it's been almost a year since my last post... isn't it crazy how quickly life passes...

i am, again, getting ready to go to brazil with sbu on spring break.  this time i'm co-leading the trip. i can't wait.  tonight i picked up my simple little 4 song cd that i recorded in a simple little studio in bolivar.  i'm going to start selling the cd next week to raise funds for my brazil trip.  once when i was at obu, i recorded some songs with a friend in a little chapel on campus.  this is the first time since then that i have recorded anything.  of course i'm excited, but always a little nervous.  i'm more excited about going to brazil and seeing ramon and the rest of those precious kids.  GOD is so good. 

being home is wonderful.  i just moved back to my hometown and besides only having a dial-up internet connection and living so far out in the country that i don't get good cell-phone reception, it's beeng great.  in the mornings i sell donuts in a little daylight donut shop.  somedays i get to substitute teach.  both jobs have their surprises, which always keeps things fun.  

i went to a john mayer concert in okc last weekend.  it was delightful.  i'm not sure what was more enjoyable...the incredible music or the fun on the way there with emily and rachel.  the whole weekend, although short, was well-lived and refreshing.  thank you. 

and finally....perhaps the most exciting thing that has happened since my last post...i graduated.

4 weeks ago i was in brazil.
4 days ago little did i know i went to bed with a nasty stomach virus and woke up very unhappy
4 weeks from now i will be at kamp and out of school

10 days ago i was in branson with dear friends planning for the best summer ever at kaa
10 hours ago i was taking my last exam for my education classes before finals
10 days from now i will be running a half marathon in nashville.

26 hours ago i sat down and watched a documentary that inspired and disturbed me
26 seconds ago i recieved a phone call from bobbie
26 days from now finals week will begin 

crazy and beautiful.  my life can be packed full of places, times, events, and obligations.  but i can't complain, i won't complain....because it is full.  full of people, freedom, love, and hope.  not only is my life full, but my stomach is full of food, my mind is full of knowledge, my home full of comfort. 

i met an amazing little boy in brazil.  his name was ramon.  our friendship changed me.  i'm not going to lie...i'm tearing up just thinking about him.  he brought me so much joy.  i think c.s. lewis said one time something about how love always comes with suffering.  if you love, you will suffer.  or something like that.  there is a waterdeep song that says:  "oh god, it hurts so bad to love anybody down here...oh that's right, you know so well, 1 thorny crown, 3 nails and a spear."  paul says "i want to know christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."  since easter i've been pondering all of this and of course, so much more...

be grateful today that your life is full.  

well...here it is...MY FIRST POST SINCE OCTOBER!  yikes. right now i'm supposed to be writing a paper.  and in 12 hours i'll be on my way to brazil!  i cannot wait.  this week has been absolutely crazy with obligations here and there, but absolutely refreshing with the truth that i've been reminded of.  i've been running more and more lately in preparation for the okc half-marathon at the end of april, and this week the lord has been using those long miles to really remind me of some truth i've been ignoring.  he also used some dear friends' honest words and patience to remind me of this overlooked truth.  i'm been so overwhelmed lately with love for my friends.  people that i know and love back home, friends from ffi, friends from obu, and the wonderful new friends i've made here at sbu, just blow me away with their generousity, encouragement, and honesty.  thank you...all of you.  other small and more fun things that i've been reminded of recently:
- the hammer dulcimer and violin are two of the most beautiful instruments in the world (andy and kelle, thank you for sharing your music with me.)
- sitting in the back during jr. block is way more exciting than the front, but makes for a much harder time paying attention
- brynn hammond is my twin in every way except the way we look...i laugh so much with her AND i get in trouble more when i'm with her...whoops...
- i wish i lived in the mountains
- jogging outside (esp. at the bolivar park) is amazing, and so much better than running at the wellness center (don't get me wrong, the wellness center is great!)
- sleep is overrated
- and lastly, i've been reminded to let people surprise you,  don't corner them behind an easy label, i need to open my eyes to who people truly are and see what my Jesus sees...
 
well, i need to go pack... i wish i had something more insightful or interesting to write about, but i think this should hush all of you who give me a hard time for never updating this site.    pray for me and my team while we are livin' it up with the brazilians!  THANK YOU!   

Carthage, Missouri is beautiful on mapleleaf weekend, even if it's 80-something degrees (hottest mapleleaf festival ever!) and too early in the year for all the leaves to change colors.  It's beautiful because of all the people.  I can't tell you how many people I saw over the weekend that I haven't seen in over a year or longer.  It was both good and bad.  I was reminded of: how many wonderful people I am blessed to know, how easy it is to lose sight of your dreams, that people do anything for the ones they love, the depth of the heart, the choice (or rather the confusion that surrounds the choice, if there really is a choice) between "settling" and the unknown future, how God's commands truly help us experience a full and complete life, and the wonderful smells of burberry london perfume (which, by the way, i think "perfume" goes on the list of words I hate), pumpkin-spice candles, funnel cakes, and fresh autumn air.

bad news:  patty griffin's voice is only in the new movie "elizabethtown" at the end during the credits.  i went to see it with my sister this weekend.  good movie, great music, bad southern accent by kirsten dunst...

i'm perplexed.  tsunami.  hurricanes.  earthquakes.  has it always been this crazy?  is it just the year for natural disaster tragedies?  do all these natural disasters have the scientists confused at all, or is normal?  it doesn't seem normal to me...i mean i'm not going to go all crazy  and freak out and decide not to have babies because the times are getting crazy... but it does get me thinking about our Savior's return...