Sing a New Song.

One of my best kept secrets is that I have a bit of a voice. I will never really admit it to you and if you compliment me on it I'll probably tell you thanks, but its not that great. For some reason every so often I get this urge to stand up in front of an entire congregation and belt out some tunes about Jesus. Seriously, I'm the kid that didn't even sing in church services while I was sitting in the pews until like 4 years ago. This is a really really weird thing for me. But like I said, every so often (for a reason unbeknownst to me) I've just got to break out in song. 

You may have guessed it, but if not I can tell you that today was one of those days. It was youth Sunday which means that middle and high school students ran the church for four hours this morning - that's a scary thought isn't it?! My rock star little bro and I had the immense honor of showing up at 7:30 so he could rehearse with the band (I'm pretty much his personal chauffeur). I didn't really have plans to sing with them today - skipped out on mandatory practice earlier in the week - but I stood up there and jammed out for a little during practice. And what do ya know...someone handed me a microphone! Well, I figured that was my cue to sing. So I did.

I don't know if you've ever belted a good 25 praise songs in a four hour time span, but it's a pretty awesome experience. You won't have a voice by the end of it but I promise you that doesn't matter at all. One of my favorite things about praise songs is their repetition; once ya know it, ya know it and you can really focus on what the words are saying and turn it into a prayer. I got to do a lot of that today, and loved it. Even if it meant revealing one of my hidden talents...

xoxo,

Abby

Emerson.

Almost two years ago my family started the long an tedious process of trying to find a dog to adopt. It was just months by dad was going to deploy and my mom decided that if he was going to leave for six months then she could get a dog. This was really weird for us, we're cat people and have been since I was seven. I have also been pretty scared of dogs for most of my life and didn't really know how this whole sitch was gonna work out...None the less, we were on the hunt for the perfect pup. At first we got turned down by an agency to adopt a dog we thought was perfect for us. Because of the fact that we had been forced to put down a dog when I was a baby they refused to let us adopt one of their dogs, convinced us that this particular dog was wrong for us, showed us another one, but then never returned any of our emails regarding his adoption. It was pretty disheartening.

On a whim one day my mom drove to another shelter to look at a young puppy. But of course, she fell in love with a different and more calm older beagle. His name was Emerson and the next day after school he greeted me at the door. I didn't like him at first, he became my mom's dog and only seemed to have eyes for her. My friends like to tease because I always act like I hate my dog, most of the time. Its been too years since the little guy has entered our family and although he's needy and a little weird I love him a lot and have learned to love dogs all because of him (:

xoxo,

Abby

It's a terrible terrible picture of me, but you've gotta admit...he's a pretty darn cute little guy!

Prom?

This week I went though the entire spectrum of possible emotions related to prom. On Monday I found out that  the guy I really wanted to go with (he's on the soccer team...remember that) was sick of everyone telling him what to do and who to ask so he had "other plans" and was going to ask someone else. On Tuesday I was totally cool with going solo with another girl friend who didn't have a date. Wednesday I wanted literally nothing to do with prom and didn't want to go. By Thursday I was making plans to go with a totally random blind date in a group full of guys I love; and today, I have a date.

This afternoon I got a text from my dear friend Evin inviting me to the soccer game tonight. I'm a total soccer fanatic but for some reason wasn't planning on attending this one until she asked me to come along. We were on of about 10 students there but still had a really great time just hanging out and watching them game. Evin and I decided pretty early on that we were gonna wait for our guy friends on the team (yup, same guy) and see if they wanted to join us for Skinny Dip - the local frozen yogurt bar. Unfortunately they had to get home but we just chatted in the parking lot for a while and BAM I got asked to prom my the guy I actually wanted to go with. And to think that I wasn't even going to go to this game...I really love how things work out sometimes (:

xoxo,

Abby

Nostalgia.

Of the many adjectives my friends like to assign to me nostalgia tends to be one of their favorites. I'm ALWAYS feeling some sort of nostalgia cause I've just lived so many places that there always seems to be something that I can be reminded of.

Today I spent the afternoon driving around and chatting with an old friend. Living her at the beach is different than other places I've lived because I started school here and am ending school here, with 8 years of being away in the middle. Getting to be in the area that I lived in so many years ago with and old friend brought back so many memories from the golden years (or kindergarten). 

That's one of the things I love about living all over the place; the memories. And all the little things that trigger all those awesome memories. (:

xoxo,

Abby

You Are Special.

I spent the last week on a gorgeous cruise ship sailing its way around the Caribbean Sea. It was an incredible vacation and just the relaxation that I needed. In seven days we visited four ports in three different countries and soaked up as much vitamin D as possible (though it didn't really enhance my tan as much as I had hoped...) I got the chance to do so many cool things; like cave tube in Belize, hike to Mayan ruins in Mexico and play with iguanas in Honduras. Every day I came "home" to a freshly made bed and ate as much delicious food as my heart desired. So many of this things had the potential to be my favorite moment of the whole cruise, but that turned out to be a bit more a simple event.

The grill at the pool bar always seemed to have a ridiculously long line whenever I wanted a hot burger. One particular time the line seemed especially long, and while I waited there a guy - probably in his late teens or early twenties - walked up to the ice cream bar. This guy was a little different from most, he has downs syndrome. What shocked me the most and made me really happy was that instead of looking at him funny the man serving ice cream smiled, greeted him by name and knuckled him. Sometimes I really love people. All through out the week I caught glimpses of crew members being friendly and enthusiastically greeting this man, treating him like a normal person and not a weirdo. It really warmed my heart.

After spending the summer working for a special needs summer camp I have a real appreciation for the unique and for people who embrace them rather than ostracize them. Being able to see past someones disability is a wonderful trait that we should all strive toward.

I spent a week in paradise, my favorite part of that paradise? Watching the crew of the Norwegian Star treat someone in a way that was so different from the norm, but so special.

xoxo,

Abby

Cross Talk.

I don't know what it is about this year, whether it be the terribly saddening number of untimely and unnecessary deaths that have occurred around me this year or that fact that I've really been trying to get closer to the Lord before college, but this year Good Friday seemed to mean so much more to me than it did in the past. I spent yesterday sitting in the car for hours on end being able to really reflect on what Jesus did for me when he died on that cross some two thousand years ago. 

My youth pastor Wayne is pure awesome, and yesterday he real time posted Bible verses that coincided with the time that certain events actually happened on the original Good Friday. Social media has made such an impact on the ability for us to share the gospel with those around us. Being able to tell people at noon on Good Friday that "From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land" (Matthew 27:45) and then at three sharing that at "About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'My God, My God why have you forsaken me?'" (Matthew 27:46) puts a lot more things into perspective than just reading those verses at an evening service in my eyes.

Due to our road trip down to Florida and an unexpected stop at Urgent Care my family unfortunately missed the chance to attend a service last night (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter services have always been some of the most moving and memorable services that I've ever attended). But I think at services like that we don't get the whole picture of what happened. At Young Life camps some time toward the end of the weekend the speaker delivered what is called the "Cross Talk." They share with campers that because of all our sins and imperfection and the fact that Christ loved us so much and wanted us to never have to be separated from Him and His father that He endured the most painful and humiliating deaths so save us from that fate. This talk is almost always accompanied by a scene from The Passion of Christ or some other movie like it. I've seen the clip probably about 4 or 5 times now and it still gets me every time (I HIGHLY recommend watching at least the clip of the crucifixion - it will change your whole view). Watching an actual portrayal of what He went through for ME is terribly convicting and makes this day so much more humbling than ever before.

He did that for ME. I don't know of anyone, ANYONE who would willingly die like He did in order to make me clean and take away all my sins. Wow. Good Friday is the world's "Cross Talk" it's our reminder of how extremely blessed and loved we are and how that reward is entirely our for loving the Lord with all our hearts.

WE deserved to drink the cup of wrath, but on that night HE took it from us and drank it for us. HE saved us from eternal separation from our Heavenly Father.

xoxo,

Abby

Lookin' Out.

I absolutely love the Lord. Actually I don't think that love is a strong enough emotion for my relationship with the Lord. It never ceases to amaze me all the mysterious ways that He works in, it's taught me that surprises can be a really great thing! 

Last night on the drive home from a Wyldlife girls hang out my dear friend Lirpa (that's April backwards) and I chatted all about my stressful and seemingly impossible search for a roommate. We swapped stories of people that we knew who had great and terrible luck with their college roommates and as she stepped out of my car she wished me luck that I'd find a really great girl to room with next year. Even as we set up for hang out last night all the senior leaders were chatting away about how we were going to find awesome girl to spend next year with that shared our beliefs.

And here's the part I love...I found her! Not even thirty minutes after getting home! I got on to Facebook, she popped up in a chat message and the rest is history. It seemed that everything we discussed we had the same feelings about (with the exception of liking coffee/tea...but we can live with that!). What I love the most though is our mutual love for the Lord and wanting to stay involved in Young Life. I was starting to abandon the hope of finding a roomie that wanted to lead because it was proving to be too difficult, but God wouldn't have any of that and plopped her straight down in the middle of my path. I'm so thankful for how we've hit things off and for having the opportunity to even find each other! (:

Situations like this always give me restored hope that the Lord really does have my back, He really proved it to me these last two days. It's not always super obvious and can feel like He's abandoned me, but in the end things will always work out just how He plans them too! I cannot wait until next year and getting to know my new roomie better (:

xoxo,

Abby

Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

I decided to make this weekend a family weekend, which with the busy schedules of the people in my family doesn't get the opportunity of happening so often. Of course this mend interrupting my sleep on a Saturday morning at 6 am to spend the day at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens for my brother's crew regatta. From my experiences in crew two years ago I knew that regatta's are utterly boring and long so I had every intention of leaving the regatta a few hours in after Sam's first race (which I missed of course...such a great sister). But I totally surprised myself when I ended up staying that entire six hours, and the time flew right by! I found myself chatting with parents and kids that I hadn't seen in years, and even hanging with my brother and his new girlfriend.

Sometimes I find myself in situations that really surprise me with how they turn out, this was one of them. It's really crazy how doing something that you think is going to be pointless and boring ends up being a great and satisfying way to spend a Saturday.

xoxo,

Abby