The 14th of February

Happy Valentines Day Everyone! I hope everyone is having an awesome day.  It's 70 degrees and sunny today in Tuscaloosa, a perfect day to walk around the quad if you've got some free time! Thank you Jesus for the sunshine!


This weekend I went to Purcell Farms in Sylacauga for the JH Staff Reunion. It was so great to see all of my friends that I got so close to over the summer. It really is amazing how deep friendships can go when they are centered around Jesus. I hadn't seen some of these people in eight months, and they came just  as naturally as the friendships that I have here in Tuscaloosa. 

My better half, Ali Stefanek

The Housekeeping Crew that I love SO much!

After an incredible weekend, I've been doing a lot of thinking about how different my life is today than it was this time last year. Last year, I was still living at home, I had maybe five friends that I could always rely on (Take into account that I counted my dog as one of those five), unfortunately I had not pledged AGD yet (MiZ), I was involved in a couple of unhealthy relationships, and I just remember always wanting to move forward and get to the next step in life. Nowadays, I'm a college student and I am living on my own, I finally found something that I am passionate about and now have an idea of what I actually want to do with my life, and I am surrounded by people who love me and care for me deeply. Words cannot describe how much happier I am. I am perfectly content in my skin, which I have never been able to say before. Ask anyone who knew me last year, all I cared about was how my hair looked, if my outfit for school the next day was perfect, and if I had any facebook notifications. Talk about POINTLESS!!!! It started changing when I went to the Ranch this summer. I know I always talk about JH, but once you go you'll see, you never stop talking about it... so deal with it. Being a camper was great, but once I was on staff my world got rocked! I was immediately put on the housekeeping staff when I got to the ranch and I was the opposite of excited. Housekeeping was like a bottom-of-the-totem-pole-scrub-toilets-every-day-no-matter-what kind of job. After being taught how to scrub a boy toilet correctly by Mrs. Grace Dean and how to remove the mildew and fungus out of a shower, I was completely humbled and broken. Long story short, for some strange reason I thought that I was the shiz-nit, and I was the exact opposite. You know the song "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands"? It is so true and I finally believe it! I always thought that I needed to control SOME of the stuff in my life but Jesus says he wants it ALL. Once you give it over to Him, your life will never be the same. 


Basically what I am trying to say in this blog post is that Jesus is faithful. I know that sometimes we don't think He's up there listening, but he IS! He LOVES YOU SO MUCH. People always care about what we look like on the outside when we want to impress someone. But when Jesus looks down, he doesn't see that new CoverGirl mascara or that big red truck with the big black tires, he sees your heart. So my question to you today is, do you think Jesus is proud of what he sees when he looks at you?I don't know about you, but I want Jesus to look over the clouds and pull over Joseph and Abraham to his throne, point down at me, and say, "LOOK! That's my daughter! Look how well she is doing!" Obviously we are nowhere near perfect and we never will be, but all He asks is that we give it all over to Him and try our very best!


I know today is the day of love and picnics and roses and candy and hearts but the love of Jesus is so much sweeter. He will NEVER stop loving us, and even better, you can NEVER do ANYTHING to make him love you less. 


Don't think you have a Valentine today? You do. You have one everyday, and His name is Emmanuel.