Sweet Homewood Alabama!

WARNING: This will most likely be a long post with several pictures. Please bear with me.

As some of you may know, back in March Browning had what is called "Match Day." During match day, each 4th year medical student received an envelope that says where they will do their residency. Browning matched to UAB in Birmingham! We have been so excited knowing this is where God has desired for him to train and for us to go on an adventure together.

(Me and Browning on match day!)

Fast forward until June and its time to pack up and move....We have now been settled in our new home in Homewood, Alabama (our city near Birmingham) for two weeks and so much has happened. Our adventures started at 7am on June 3rd in Houston. We were all packed up and ready to go when I attempted to start my car and the battery was dead.... What a perfect start to a 12 hour road trip.

(Browning, Browning's dad, and Ryan working on the car. Browning's mom and I were the cheerleaders.)                                    

After the first attempt to jump my car, it was up and running and we were on our way to Alabama. Special thanks to Ryan Rister for helping us load up the Penske, drive Browning's car to Birmingham and unload everything in our house!! He was such a life saver and we enjoyed having our first guest!

( Browning, me and Ryan as we say bye to Houston and hello to Alabama. And no, Browning and I did not plan our matching shirts...)

After several hours of driving we were all getting hungry. Browning wanted to get a roast beef sandwich from Arby's.... Well, I have never eaten there and never thought I would, but of course in honor of the movie 'Baby Mama' I knew I had to...

"I'd rather be at an Arby's right now. There is better food and cooler people there..."

Finally, 12 hours later, we all arrived in Birmingham, Alabama! The sun was setting over the mountains and the air smelt like fresh pine trees. Browning and I are so thrilled for this adventure the Lord has set for us! We spent the night with an incredible loving and generous family that has welcomed us into town with open arms. Monday morning, it was closing day. We were so excited to move into our first home. 

(We are excited about signing our lives away...)

After we signed it was time to move in. Unfortunately we woke up and it had stormed all night and during our signing, but after lunch it turned into a beautiful move-in day! 

(Here we are in front of our new house on a rainy day!)

After a few days of getting the house situated, we fell in love with a sweet dog we saw a picture of through an incredible dog rescue organization. We had a meet and greet with her and ended up taking her home with us. Her name is Lady and she is about 5-6 months old. She has completely stolen our hearts and we absolutely love her! Below are a couple of pictures of her... (We might be obsessed...)

(Browning with Lady)

(Lady being sweet with her gator)

(Chillin after a long walk)

(Lady the model...)

(Lady confused at music coming from my phone)

More posts to come with life updates and pictures of the house! We are really enjoying our time in Birmingham so far but really missed our family and friend back in Texas. We have a spare bedroom and would love visitors... just saying! 

Change.

Change; [cheynj]- to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of(something) different from what it is or from what it wouldbe if 
left alone: to change one's name; to change one'sopinion; to change the course of history.


Change occurs in life. Change occurs with marriage, with jobs, with friendships and with yourself. The one thing we do know is that God never changes or wavers. He declares in Malachi 3:6 that,    “I the LORD do not change..." What a glorious promise. If only in the midst of change we relied on His promises and trusted in His word. Although our lives on earth change and our circumstances are altered by various situations, the promise of God, is that He is alive and moving in it all. 


My work life has brought a lot of changes and emotions recently. Not bad, just different. A few months ago, I was told about a moving opportunity to a new unit. I thought about it for a couple days and decided I couldn't move from the ER, that I had grown to love so much. God had really taught me a lot and really strengthened me through my time in the ER and I couldn't let myself move from what was comfortable for me. Little did I know that the Lord had other plans in mind. A few more days went by and I couldn't stop thinking about this opportunity. I knew there was a reason I couldn't let the thought go. If I chose to move, my hours and responsibilities would look different. They would change. I prayed a lot about this opportunity. I talked with my husband, family, friends and more importantly God. I felt a tug that it was my time to move. To change. I left the ER in tears and anxiety. I moved to a new unit in June and have been there for a couple of months now. It sure is different, but it is good. It has been a change. It is what God desired for me at this time in my life. How could I argue with that? Ultimately, I still get to love on kids amidst hardships and help them and their families cope with their hospitalization and diagnosis. I have the best job in the world. 


Change. As a result of this change, my work life has changed. My home life has changed. My hours have changed. My role on an inpatient unit has changed from my role in the ER. My perspective has changed. This change and challenge has allowed my relationship with our God to change. This was a leap of faith for me. This was a change God allowed me to make and allowed Him to work in me. This decision taught me a lot about trust. Trust taught me a lot about God's character. God's character is spoken through His scripture, just as He declared in Malachi. God NEVER changes. 


Our lives change. Our circumstances change. Our perspective changes. Our responsibilities change. We change. 
But the promise that will never change is that God never wavers. He never changes. May this promise encourage you today. Whatever your circumstances are, may you feel the presence of God. May His word bring your peace. Allow Him to change your heart. He has a lot to teach us and show us. Be moldable. 


Song Of The Day: The One You Need by Shane & Shane

yearn.

yearn

by shane barnard

holy design
this place in time
that i might seek and find my God
my God

Lord i want to yearn for You
i want to burn with passion
over You and only You
Lord i want to yearn

Your joy is mine
yet why am i fine
with all my singing and bringing grain
in light of Him

oh You give life and breath
through Him You give all things
in Him we live and move
that's why i sing

acts 17:25-28, hebrews 12:28-29




As this song lingers in my mind, I can't help but desire this. As I read these scriptures, I can't help but desire Him, seek Him, yearn for Him and find joy in Him. These are such powerful and compelling scriptures.

"...God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, 

though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being..."

Acts 17:27-28

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,

let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

for our "God is a consuming fire."

Hebrew 12:28-29

What does it mean to yearn? By definition it means: to have an earnest or strong desire; long; to feel tenderness; be moved. After reading this definition and then reading this scripture, I can't help but wish I constantly lived my life yearning for Christ. He desires us to yearn for Him. He desires for us to desire Him. He moves mountains and He transforms our hearts. Countless times in scripture, God reaches out to His followers. He is a constant. He is the steady rock. He is our joy. He is our passion. Will you choose to let Him be these things for you? 

Why do we let a day pass and forget this? Why is it that we find more value and pride in our jobs, our things and our appearance rather than our salvation and relationship with the Lord? When we yearn for him, living water will flow from within us. I pray I would learn to live radically. I pray that we as a nation would learn what it means to take our faith seriously. More importantly that scripture and our God seriously. The gospel requires a response. As christians, we are not called to simply read scripture and pick and choose what we want to hear from God. He requires all of us when we make the choice to be His disciple, deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. 

"Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple

must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."

Luke 9:23

Is He worth it to you? May this be your prayer...

"My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the LORD;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God."

Psalm 84:2

Song of The Day: Yearn by Shane and Shane

Baylor

A few days ago I was asked the questions, "Why did you love Baylor so much?" and "What about Baylor makes it so great?" I sat in ponder for a minute because the question is a difficult one  to answer, yet so easy. My first response was, "EVERYTHING!" Then I began to reminisce on my four years at Baylor. Oh how I miss it.

I believe that the main reason I love Baylor so much is that the Lord completely mapped out my college experience and desired for me to spend my college experience there. I felt so blessed, encouraged, and loved by Him as I walked through my days at Baylor. I read something this morning that made me think about how right God is and how wrong we can be about our plans and desires. What I read was this:

"No one's agenda but God's will enthrone the Lord of glory. 

God sits in heaven and laughs- not because He thinks it's funny,

but because He knows the truth of the future. His plan will be carried out 

and His Son will be exalted."

This was such confirmation that not only did I desire to go to Baylor but that is what the Lord had planned for me. When I realized this, it made my time at Baylor much more purposeful. 

Another reason I think Baylor was so right for me and was so incredible was the people. Browning, who was my boyfriend all through college and now my husband was such a blessing to me at Baylor. He showed me the ropes of Baylor and challenged me to be a better person. The Lord blessed me with Browning to seeks after the Lord in a way that encourages me and teaches me so much about Him. Not only that but we were able to have so much fun going through college together! Next to Browning my best friends made my experience at Baylor one I will never forget. I remember praying in college that I would meet Christ following girls who would be my best friends. Little did I know that I would meet these girls and that God would surpass my expectations. He blessed me with friends who not only follow Christ, but who live it out, speak it loudly, enable me to learn from them and who are beyond willing to meet with me at any hour or the day and night to share what He is teaching me. Many of my memories at Baylor consist of prayer at Common Grounds with my friends, long walks around the bear trail with friends, excursions to the dam and searching for new adventures in the CO. These are SOME of the people who made my time at Baylor remarkable: 

Browning and I at Homecoming 2010

Friends at the Homecoming Parade 2010

Friends in Denver 2011!

Friends at Dodgeball Tourney!

Owls Nest

Beautiful Friends!

Fun adventures with friends!

These girls mean the world to me!

Kait and I at a Baylor soccer game!

Friends at a Baylor basketball game! Sic 'em!!

My sweet husband and I at a Baylor game!

There are many more amazing friends that I have from Baylor which are not pictured above, 

but I can only post so many pictures at a time. More to come in a later post.

Sic 'Em Bears and Keep Waco Wacko!

Song of the Day: Like an Avalanche by Hillsong United

Recommended Reading: Radical by David Platt

High School Days

I have decided to revert back to my high school days as I spend this rainy and cloudy day off cooped indoors...

Felicity was a TV show that I became addicted to thanks to a close friend of mine. I would watch 10 episodes in a row sitting in the same spot of my bed. I have found myself doing the same today...

Because of the show I became obsessed with Dean & Deluca, which is a coffee shop in New York that many of the characters in the show worked at. I went to New York for high school graduation and made it a priority to visit one of the Dean & Deluca's. It was my favorite part of the trip! I came home with this exact coffee mug that is to this day my favorite coffee mug to drink from. I love coffee!!

Song of the Day: Many Roads- Andrew Peterson

Love Comes First

"Be very careful to love the Lord your God."
                                                Joshua 23:11

Browning and I have been going through a devotional called, "worship the King" by Chris Tiegreen with our church. Each and every day the pages have overflowed with encouragement, wisdom, grace, love, passion and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Today's message was entitled 'Love Comes First.'

This message spoke deeply to my heart. In my head I love God. In my heart I love God. But does my passion and love for Christ pour out of my every being? Do I love Browning like Christ loves me? Do I love my family like Christ loves me? Do I love my friends like Christ loves me? Do I love my co-workers like Christ loves me? Do I love the lost like Christ loves me?

The part of the message that spoke to me the most was at the end. It says, "IN DEED... So how do we love God? We lie at His feet and tell Him we are His. We seek to honor Him in all we do. We want to be like Him. We crave His fellowship. We pray His desires. We are consumed with, obsessed with, and filled with His ways, His works, and His will. The theology, the works, and the feelings will come. They are good--but only after the devotion. Love always comes first."

I sat in wonder this morning. Do I do these things? How do I love God? I will continue to pray that I would do those things listed above in order to show God how I love Him.

"I would hate my own soul if I did not find it loving God." -Augustine

Song of the Day: Dancing in the Minefields- Andrew Peterson

At the Well

"God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." John 4:24

At the Well is the most recent message series at our church, Houston's First Baptist. On Sunday Pastor Gregg Matte taught out of John 4:1-26 discussing the woman at the well. The Lord spoke through Pastor Gregg and used him to speak to me and Browning. May this simple yet impacting message open your eyes and your heart.

John 4:1-14

"Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.  So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.   Now he had to go through Samaria.  So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
  When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
  The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
  Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
  “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?  Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
  Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,  but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”                     


He began with a life-changing statement ending with a question:
You have a thirst in your soul. How is it being met? What are you thirsty for?


God asks us that we take our desires to Him. We are thirsty in our souls and He wants us to take our needs to Him so that He, and only He can quench our thirst.


Jesus makes a powerful statement to the woman at the well when he states, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” Here a lonely, begotten, deserted, thirsty woman is approached by the LIVING God for some water, and she doesn't even realize the thirst she is longing for is standing in front of her face. When you are thirsty, are you starring Christ in the face longing for his spring of water, or are you thirsty for a temporary quench?

Pastor Gregg Matte said, "Our thirst becomes either temptation or satisfaction." He later said that what tempts you the most is what you are thirsting deeply for. Let that be Christ. Let your heart be filled with the Holy Spirit that His water would pour out of your every being.

My question for you and for myself is, what are we thirsty for? What are we repeatedly leaning on the quench our thirst? Is it Christ or is it one of our many other temptations we find satisfying and then find ourselves even more thirsty? Where are we quenching our thirst other than Christ?


He calls us to lay our sins, our thirsts, our struggles down at the cross. We are broken. Our thirsts other than Christ break us. He is our solid rock. He is our freedom. Our satisfaction in Jesus creates a deeper thirst for Jesus.


He says it best.  “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,  but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”                     

Drink Deeply. Share the Well. 

Song of the Day: Share the Well- Caedmon's Call