Doors & Windows

With graduation, and student teaching approaching the half way mark, I've been thinking more and more about my future and God's direction in my life. I'll admit I am a bit nervous and scared, but oddly enough, not worried. For some reason I do have this peace that whatever happens will work out. There is beauty in thinking that it's just a BIG adventure about to take place and if I just take it one day and step at a time God will "make my path straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6). He opens and closes one door and another window one day at a time.

For me, I believe that one of three things will happen (although God has proven me wrong before and the following may or may not occur). Ok so there are three options or directions I feel that God could lead me. First off, as soon as I graduate, I'll be moving back home to help my parents fix up and sell their house so they can move to Roanoke, and my mother won't have to drive so far and so long everyday--plus it'll help them save on gas! I plan on putting a few applications in for substitute teaching in a couple of the surrounding counties and hopefully between fixing the house and substituting I'll stay pretty busy. But then what happens after that? Well (1) I could apply for teacher positions and get a job and start my first year teaching next Fall (2) I could apply to grad school at Virginia Tech--get accepted and attend next fall (still no idea what I'd go into) or (3) join the Peace Corps and serve in that for two years--the plus side of that is I could teach while I'm in the Peace Corps!

So considering those options, I'm not really sure where I'm headed. But, believe it or not, I'm really at peace with whatever door He opens, I'm just anxious to find out which door it is! I'm so excited for whatever the Lord brings. I know His plans are better than anything I could imagine, so I can't wait to see where I'm gonna go, who I'm gonna meet, and how my life will turn out! Please be in prayer over this decision for me. I currently go to a Bible study on Wednesday nights and the book we're reading is "Chazown" and it's about finding God's calling and direction! It's been such a huge blessing and help for me, so just continue to pray God will lead and I'll follow! And may you be so bold as to let God lead you as well!

Student Teaching

Ok so this is long overdue, but in all fairness I have been extremely busy as of late! First off let me say that the rest of summer was amazing! I was able to go with the SUB and Residence Life on their fall retreat to Claytor Lake and Carowinds! It was so much fun! I was afraid that I would feel out of place amongst them, but thanfully I did not. After returning from the fall leadership retreat, I left the van only to hop in Marcus' car and head back down to Mathews to see and spend time with Davis family. Again, that was such an amazing trip! Of course those days flew by and I had to come back to Bluefield, but this time Adam came back with Marcus and me, which made the trip go by even quicker (well minus that HUGE detour we took to swing by my house--thanks guys :-) ) Once we got back to Bluefield time with my friends was limited as I had to start preparing for student teaching.

We had to be there at the beginning for all the back to school meetings which started on August 18, but the students didn't arrive until that Thursday, August 21st. What a whirlwind of a day! I have 160 students to keep up with! And it wasn't until this past week that I finally remembered all of their names and faces. Overall student teaching is going much better than I thought it would. I'm with Mrs. Blevins teaching 8th grade Civics/Economics. I was a bit unsure of teaching this subject because this is my weakest area in History, but surprinsgly I feel very comfortable with it (at least for now). I love all of my students. There are a few trouble makers and a couple of students that are just crying out for attention, but overall they are a great group of students and I can already see how difficult it will be to leave them when I switch to my next placement. One thing I'm especially eager and looking forward to getting to the SOLs dealing with politics and the election coming up. I'm so proud of my students because they've been keeping up with each the Democratic and Republican Conventions. I was able to watch a bit of each, but I must say I'm sticking to my Republican roots and will be voting for McCain/Palin! Sorry Obama, although I will say that I have been keeping up with him just as much so I will be well aware of what his agenda will be if he's elected President. Ok so next week will be very interesting! Mrs. Blevins is handing over all her classes to me so I'll be teaching Periods 1-5 and 7 (6th period is our planning). So hopefully this time next week I'll be updating on that experience, just pray and hope it goes well!

Mathews, VA

Let me be the first to put my foot in my mouth! I always gave the eastern side of the state (VA) a hard time because I haven't been that much of a fan of the flat land. But this weekend, after YEC I rode with Luke and Jacob to Luke's house in Mathews, VA. What an incredible time I had! God has blessed me so much with knowing the Davis family. Not only are they a blast to be around, but they are encouraging and uplifiting! :-)

We arrived around lunch time on Saturday and what a cRaZy day it was! When we arrived we all sat in the living room just chit-chatting and catching up on life. After mingling Marcus and Jacob went with Luke to see and ride the jet ski, while Adam, Joel, Mr. Davis, and myself finsihed a St. Nicholas puzzle while listening and singing along to positive and encouraging KLove. Simply sitting there in the kitchen with those men of God was wonderful. Once we finished we too made our way outside and checked out the jet ski. At that point Luke actually took me out and did a few tricks on it. All I knew was that my hair would get wind blown so appearance was out the window! That ride was a rush, literally with the wind blowing in your face and the cold water hitting the sides of the jet ski.

After briefly riding the jet ski our afternoon was filled with first exploring the red bus I had heard so much about! The Davis boys (Luke, Adam, and Joel) along with their good friend Kyle went in, bought, remodeled, and refurnished it into a type of RV-Bus thing--its by far one of the coolest things I've seen or heard of. Next we explored the premises around the house, and then took a trip down the road to the Davis' grandparents house. We poked around in their old barn, snooped around the back yard (which by the way opens up to the bay-spectacular view) and rummaged around the basement (very rare) and up into the house itself. Grandpa Davis gave us a bit of history and the low down on the house. I loved the history of that house. It is a beautiful white Cape-cod style house built during the days of the Civil War! Of course I can't forget the wonderful BIG dog, Lacy--the Davis' golden retriever/labroador that's actually black not yellow. She followed us around everywhere we went. While Adam was showing us around the house, his grandfather (whom was already there) was sitting out in the screened porch when his wife and daughter, aka Aunt Lori came back from the store. We sat with them and talked a while before heading back to the house to go swimming, tubing, and jet skiing for the rest of the afternoon.

Tubing is the craziest thing ever! You are flying on that thing and bouncing all over the place. Adam and I rode together and I was the "spotter" for Jacob and Marcus. After their turn, Marcus and I rode until we hit a huge wave and Marcus lost his grip and we both fell off. Haha. Then when we got back on Marcus fell off again because he couldn't hold on, his arms and hands were tired. So then Jacob and I went tubing together. All was fun and going great until we took a hard turn and hit a big wave at the same and went flying like three feet in the air! When we came back down my ankles hit and my chin hit the plastic thing in the middle of the float, so needless to say I have a battlewound bruise on my chin. We actually had to end tubing and jet skiing early because it started thundering. After tying everything down and/or bringing it in we came back in and read the newspapers until it started pouring. And boy did it pour! It was as if heaven unleashed all the rain it held in. It poured and the wind blew fiercely, hail the size of nickels fell and then boom the power went out. Ok so it didn't go boom, I added that for sound effect. ;-)

During the thunderstorm we read the paper, tinkered on the piano, and played the game Split Second. I am proud to say that under Adam's guidance I learned a new song, although I'm not really sure what it's called. After entertaining ourselves we ate dinner and then Mrs. Davis' parents came over and sat on the front porch chitchatting along with their itty bitty dog, Peaches. After talking Adam and I caught up with Luke and Jacob who were trying to fish so that we could hopefully catch some crabs (which unfortunately didn't happen, but was fun trying). After sitting out on the dock for a while and after the sun set we played frisbee out in the front yard. It was neat because the frisbee actually has two little lights on it so we could see the frisbee but not each other; this was really cool because the frisbee would go flying in the air and then stop because someone caught it. I played frisbee until my bladder couldn't take it anymore and I had to use the bathroom on Mrs. Davis' parents RV. Can I just say at this point I had no shame or embarrassment! Haha. After using the bathroom Marcus, Adam, and I went and sat out at the end of the dock with our feet dangling in the water as we looked/watched for moon jellies, shooting stars, and lighting off in the distance. This was my favorite thing by far :-D I can't even remember the last time I actually took time to look at the stars. But sitting there was so peaceful. I felt content and extremely blessed to be there with those two guys.

After sitting under the stars we went inside where the boys brought their matresses downstairs since it would be cooler to sleep down there than upstairs (due to power still being out). Finally, after getting everything downstairs the power came back on. We all decided that because we wanted to watch a movie that we would just stay up and stay down there. Before watching the movie we had an assembly line for washing dishes. Mrs. Davis washed the dishes, I dried them, and Adam put them away. Once that was done all of us (minus Mr. & Mrs. Davis) watched The Italian Job, but due to sleep deprivation earlier in the week none of us managed to stay awake and finsih it so that is now on my to do list.

The next morning was glorious! I woke up before all the boys did so I made my way outside and sat on the dock listening to some praise and worship music on my Zen and read my Bible. I read mostly from Psalms. It refreshed my soul to read God's word and sit outside with water and nature surrounding me. When I came back in I couldn't help but notice that Luke and Marcus were up so I sat with them and talked until one by one each of the boys woke up. When everyone was finally up and going we had breakfast, Mr. & Mrs. Davis left for church, Luke & Jacob left to get gas for the jet ski, and Adam & I played and sang "Come Thou Fount" on the piano, while Joel read, and Marcus showered. When Jacob & Luke got back we spent the rest of our time out on the water. Adam, Luke, and Jacob jet skiied and water skiied, Marcus and I were stranded out in the bay on the float (not a very fun experience), Joel kayaked, and Lacy swam around (even saving Adam at one point). Much to my disappointment we had to call it a day by eating lunch and then packing up our stuff and leaving.

The trip back to Bluefield took a little over 6 hours with a pit stop in Colonial Heights to visit Marcus parents and see the house he grew up in. All in all this trip was amazing and I'll be the first to say that I love that part of the state and I hope to be back there very soon!

YEC & Kings Dominion

Wow! What an incredible week and weekend! From July 30-August 1 I was asked to help at YEC (Youth EnCounter) for the college. The trip down flew by--I rode with Jacob and DT--we stopped and had lunch in Roanoke and then Jacob and I watched "Van Helsing" until my computer died. Once we got to Richmond we went straight to the RIR -- Richmond International Raceway where we helped set up the Bluefield College tent/exhibit. That night everyone helping with YEC had dinner at O'Charleys. It was no nice to be surrounded by people I hadn't seen that often or not at all.

By Thursday we helped out and ran the exhibit all day! It was so hot and muggy. I helped greet people as well as set up the pins for human bowling. Poor Luke & Jacob had to buckle and roll the people in the "bowling" ball--the sure did work hard but were wiped out by the end of the day! I was actually asked to speak and give a short message/testimony/encouragement during session 1. About an hour before I was really nervous, but once I was able to listen to Sonicflood and the comedian Thor Ramsey I felt more at ease and ready to go. My little message was short and to the point---about being "Driven" (which was this year's theme) and how I'm driven by serving. I don't think I did all that well, but it sufficed. After all, it was for the Lord and those youth, not me! That night we were asked to hold signs for those to follow duing the invitational and afterwards we were able to hear Grits and Sanctus Real perform. It was great! After a long day we were all wiped out. By the time we got back to the hotel we all crashed!

Friday was amazing! The last session was held that morning. It was also the morning we gave away scholarships and some cool prizes (Wii and Ipod Touch). After cleaning up our tent/exhibit and holding up the signs once more for another invitational we left and made our way to Kings Dominion. I must add here that we ate at Sheetz for lunch and much to my embarrassment I was in line waiting for my order and a man had come and set his really huge drinks behind me that I just happened to knock over and all over the place! I was mortified. Well not so much mortified as I was scared that the man would yell at me. But thank goodness he was nice and helpful! Ok so after Sheetz we went to Kings Dominion where we all nearly died of a heat stroke becuase it was so hot! We rode Shock Wave, Drop Tower/Zone, the Grizzly, Fear of Flight, Ricochet, Rebel Yell, the Volcanoe, the Crypt, and the Hurler, and of course we hit up the water park! It was so much fun! I hadn't been to an amusement park in a while so it was nice to feel like a kid again (what was even better is that the school paid our way in)! Not only was it "fun" but I was able to spend more time with great people: Luke, Sharde, Kris, Jacob, Brinton, Brittany, Sarah, Tori, and Mark. After our adventures were over and before we made our way back to the hotel for the last time we stopped and had some Italian ice cream at Gelatto's. All in all this was a great trip and I'd give it a rating of two thumbs up!

Feeling God

Many people have different ways to describe God, but few seem to capture how they "feel" God. Yesterday, I felt God. It was a warm Friday, much hotter than usual and the sun was shining extremely bright, radiating through all the trees, leaves, and water--yes water! Marcus and I took yesterday evening to pack a small dinner and head over for a swim at the Brush Fork Falls near Athens, WV.

Upon arriving, we walked the half mile to get to the falls in our beat up flip flops, trampling over rocks, dirt, and mud. As we promenaded to our destination, the sound of water lapping in the creek to our left said we were headed in the right direction. As we neared our destination, the loud gurgle of the waterfalls came into the distance as did the view. We walked the rocky distance down the mountain to go set our stuff down before taking the plunge and jumping off the falls.

Standing above the water below was SCARY! I love the thrill of flying through the air but not exactly falling--ergo me and my heart were petfrified! I did what every smart girl does and made the boy jump off first to make sure it was safe. Once I saw that Marcus was alive then I jumped. To my surprise I went down a bit further than I thought I would and ended up bumping into some very rough rocks--needless to say I now have bumped and bruised knees!

Once my body reeled from the shock of hitting the rocks, Marcus and I swam around and even went under the falls themselves. Once we were tired of swimming around in the "pool" area we took on the challenge of climbing up the waterfall(s) themselves! I was surprised at how easy it was to climb up. I was afraid that I would hit a slick area and bust my butt and/or crack my head open. But thankfully, none of that happened although I did bump my knees and stub my toes a few times. Ouch! After climbing up we sat under the waterfalls and let the push and rush of the water flow over our bodies--well my aching body at this point, LoL.

But that's when it happened. As I sat vulnerable to nature with the water falling over my body, that's when I felt God. He was cool, sleek and refreshing. Just wanted I needed to feel replenished, whole, and new. I needed nothing more and nothing less than to sit in that moment and feel Him. It was so glorious that all I could do in response was smile! I hope that somebody in your life, you'll get to feel God, too, and it is nothing more or less than what you need!

Jessica & Philip's Wedding

First off I apologize for taking so long in posting about Jessica & Philip's wedding! It's been such a crazy summer and I haven't kept up with this as much as I would have liked. Ok so getting to the good stuff! Jessica and I have known one another since we met at Camp Bethel in Woolwine, VA since the summer of 2000. Who would've ever guessed that a week at a Christian camp would make us friends for life??? I can even remember when she called me up and told me about Philip--in October of 2002--when Philip moved to Patrick County and they rode the bus together---how sweet and cute!

So YES they were high school sweet hearts! :-) Since then they have grown in friendshipe, faith, and love together. Every time I came home from school Philip would graciously let me take his girl away and have a girls' night. He is a good 'ol country boy and she's a sugar & spice and everything nice country girl. Seriously only God could have brought two amazing people like them together! So after dating for five years, Philip proposed and asked Jessica to be his wife and several months later the two were married on June 21, 2008.

The bridal shower was held in the bottom of Jess & Philip's home church--it was decorated in lime green and pink--it was so pretty! A light dinner was provided by ladies of the church and some of Jess' family. And of course there were presents everywhere! Let me put it this way, Jess & Philip received almost twice of everything they had on their registry list!! Now that's what you call blessed! Unfortunately I was unable to make it to the lingerie aka bachelorette party--but from what I heard it was a heck of a time! The maid of honor, Amanda, and the other bridesmaids: Charity and Amy are amazing girls that are a blast to be around!! Seriously it was so amazing how well we all got along!!

Finally the day before the wedding came!! The dress rehearsal was held on Friday, June 20th at 5pm at Pocahontas Baptist Church in Bassett (where the wedding was held). While it was sweltering outside it was cool inside! Of course the groom and groomsmen and the father of the bride all goofed off while all of us ladies were ready to get down to business and match up the timing of people coming down the aisle and who walked in/out with who. Finally after the boys started paying attention and we finally did a few run thrus we all drove up to Jess & Philip's home church where the rehearsal dinner was held with family and friends. For the dinner we had down home country meal the included fried chicken, mashed potatoes, rolls, and the like. What could be better for dinner held in Jess & Philip's honor??? :-P

As night turned into day the wedding day had finally arrived!! I must admit that I was late in getting up that morning, but no worries, I did show up on time (I know you must be suprised!) but yep I actually got to something on time! All of the bridal party was asked to be at the church at 2pm. We each got ready, did our hair (if it wasn't already done), put make-up on, and did last minute checks before taking a few pre-wedding pictures. Finally the time came (4pm) for the wedding to begin) walking down the aisle of the church was so beautiful! The sun filtered in thru the glass stained windows and several dozen candles had been lit at the altar. It was such a sight to see, but that's not even the best part! As Pachebel's Canon in D Minor played, the guests stood as the bride maid her grand entrance. Well because there were so many people in front of me I was unalbe to see Jessica, but the look on Philip's face was priceless! His eyes filled with tears as he shrugged and jerked with emotion. It was so amazing to see someone as tough as he was to show emotion over someone that means so much to him--Jess is one blessed girl! The wedding lasted about thirty minutes then afterwards we took an ooberly amount of pictures and finally left heading to the Bassett Country Club for the Reception around 6pm. The reception was also incredible. Guests were everywhere, as a slide show of pictures played while dinner was served and as people danced. There was of course the typical cutting of the cake, toasting of the best man, tossing of the bouquet, and tossing of the garter---which was hilarious (Jessica lifted her dress up to where the garter was so she exposed all of her leg and Philip of course rising to the challenge took off his vest like it was some hard task and bent over beside her leg and bit the garter sliding if off her leg!). Oh what a fun reception! By the end of the night I was so tired! All things considered everything went off without a hitch and it was a wedding to remember! Congratulations Jess & Philip!

What a joy and honor and especially a good time it was to be in there wedding and share in their special day!! For those of you who have been waiting, here are the pictures from the bridal shower (that was held on May 31 and the wedding!!

Say What You Need To Say...Can You Hear Me?

Sometimes I walk around and I have thoughts bOuNcInG around in my head. I know this happens to everyone, but tonight I thought I'd let them BoUnCe onto this blog...You see, today I thought of all those things that I wish I'd say. Those things that matter most. And I wonder, why can't I say what's on my mind, or more importantly in my heart? Those who know me best know I'm extremely outgoing and I tend to speak what's on my mind, but then again I really don't. I have learned the hard way the importance of "guarding your heart" and how pain leaves its imprint on it after the damage is done. It's a rough lesson. I think it's something I'm still learning to do. But I truly hate guarding my heart. I wish I were as free and radical as modern day America appears to be (without the promiscuity, disgrace, and disgust). There's always something more I wish I'd say.

"Say"
Take out all your wasted honor
Every little past frustration
Take all your so called problems
Better put them in quotations

Say what you need to say...

Have no fear for givin' in
Have no fear for givin' over
You better know that in the end
It's better to say too much
Than to never say what you need to say again

Even if your hands are shakin'
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open

Say what you need to say...

Matt & Amy's Wedding

Yesterday at 1pm I gathered with the Vernatter and Bolen families to watch my best friend Amy and her fiance Matt finally tie the knot and get hitched :-) It was such a joy and blessing to be a part of their wedding! I have known Amy since the

tenth grade, when she first moved to Bassett, VA from Shady Spring, WV. And I have followed her pure God centered relationship with Matt from the beginning, when they first wrote to each other, from the Thanksgiving break when he asked her to be his girl, up until the beach trip when he asked for her hand in marriage, and now, the wedding! But let me tell you, weddings don't just happen! They are a lot of work! For months Amy has been planning and working out all the minor details for this big happy day! Let's rewind...

Beginning in the Fall of 2007 Amy and her mother shopped and browsed around to find the essential piece of a wedding, the dress! She found her sweetheart beaded dress at David's Bridal. This also the place where Emily, her maid of honor, Amy's mother, Amy, and I met one afternoon for lunch at TGIFriday's, so that we too would find our matching dresses that would coordinate with the color scheme Amy had chosen. Our dresses which you see here, are a green color called Peridot (pair-a-doe) which you can see above to the right. In March I was finally able to pick up my dress from David's Bridal. Two weeks before the wedding however Amy had decided that she wanted our dresses shortened so I had a wonderful seamstress, Melissa Kerr help me out my cutting and hemming my dress to the length it is in the picture.

Ok enough about dresses and color schemes. What must every bride have before she walks down the aisle? Of course, a bridal shower! The shower was held on March 29 at Bassett Worship Center, Amy's home church in Bassett, VA. The shower was hosted by the wonderful ladies of the church. Here are some pictures from that shower. They include a picture of me and Amy before it started, then of course her unwrapping a lot of the gifts aka necessities that she and Matt will use in their new home! She recieved items from pots, towels, dishware, dishtowels, candles, picture frames, silverware, and so on.

To the left lies a picture of a game Amy invented, "Pin the Kiss on Matt" as you can see her aim was a little off! But she was closer than mine, I landed on his shoulder! LoL. Below is a picture of the Corningware my parents got for the couple, and to the right is the gift I got her! Every girl needs a little bit of lingerie before she gets married right?! Well you gotta give me a little credit, it wasnt' that scandalous! After the bridal shower I actually haven't been home or have seen Amy until the day before her wedding.

I arrived at the Black Knight Country Club around 12:30 Friday, June 6 and helped decorate the rest of the reception area. Two hours later we finally arrived at the church for rehearsal practice, and finally around 5:30 we made it to the rehearsal dinner, excuse me, picnic, that was held at Little Beaver State Park, isn't it beautiful! In the center are Matt's friends, Tess (the photographer), her fiance, Andrew, and all the way on the right, Matt's best man, Mike! Those were some fun kids! Next is Amy and Matt making their way around chit-chatting with everybody that was at the dinner.

The night before the wedding wasn't too scandalous or busy. Amy ran around on errands until 10pm while Emily and I were at Grandma Vernatter's house just chillin, eating, and talking on our cell phones. Once Amy arrived we helped her with some last minute stuff including making t-shirts that she and Matt would wear when they left the building to go on the honeymoon. You'll see those in a little bit, but now I'd like to include some pictures from the wedding and reception!

Here is the lovely bride taking some pictures before the wedding. I think that taking pictures helped calm her nerves before going down the aisle. Isn't she beautiful?! And her dress is gorgeous, too! Absolutley love the beadwork and layering that the dress takes! Each one of the bridesmaids were to stand with the bride and take pictures individually, so as you can see here is a picture of Amy and I. Below is a picture of all of the bridesmaids and maid of honor with the bride. It was such a beautiful day!

Because I was in the wedding I didn't get the chance to take any pictures of the ceremony. But the ceremony was traditional and unique. Amy's processional was from the Narnia movie (it was wistful and romantic, just like a princess entering the castle), her father gave her away and included a promise ring that symbolized the purity he and his wife had had and the purity Amy and Matt had and how that was passed on to them. The couple took communion, traditional vows and exchange of rings, and recited 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 aloud, the lit the unity candle, and then of course kissed :-). The ceremony lasted a total of 20 minutes. After the couple greeted everyone that came to the church, we took pictures which are below, and then of course we made our way to the reception for dancing, eating, and of course the fairwell to the newleyweds who are currently at Harbor Island, Jamaica! Thanks for sticking along to read this!

The End.