This month.

I'm not a cryer...but today I found myself weeping in the car; missing the paradise I have been calling home the past month and frustrated with the thought of having to go back to the "normal". I tell you this not for a pity party, but to give you a glimpse of how much Crooked Creek Ranch grabbed a hold of me this summer. When I embarked on my first flight out of Raleigh en route to Colorado with my best friend, Hannah, I had no idea how much I would fall in love with this place. The people, the first steps out of our cabin, the conversations, the atmosphere RADIATE Jesus the moment you encounter them. Who knew being in a bakery from 5AM-2PM would bring so much life and laughter. Who knew a group of college kids could bond so quickly over one common denominator. Who knew we could make it up a 14,265 foot mountain. Who knew we could kneed close to 1,000 hamburger buns in a couple hours. Who knew a small city in Colorado would steal my heart so quickly. Not me. But, how cool it is to know the Creator of the universe knew. He hand picked me and 49 other people to be at Crooked Creek Ranch, on summer staff, third session, 2014 and to be apart of His mission in bringing high schoolers to the feet of Jesus.

I walked into my summer journey dry-worn out spiritually and emotionally. And I stepped out of summer full to the brim with Jesus, thirsty for conversation with depth, and an eagerness to learn more and more. That's the cool thing about Young Life camp--it's a glimpse of heaven, what real world should look like, a refresher. The hardest part is holding onto the same God that is alive in those mountains and carrying His promises down the mountain with you and back home. 

This month consisted of a lot of learning. Learning how to kneed dough, learning how to make cinnamon rolls, learning when yeast is done rising, learning what it looks like to laugh til it hurts, learning how to pray boldly & learning what real, intentional community really looks like. A couple things really stuck with me that I learned:

1. God has wired each and everyone of us differently. We all have different strengths and different weakness. Different places where we thrive and where we fall. Different goals and different passions. Why try to be someone else when God was ecstatic to create me just the way I am. He created me to be Sarah, not to be a Sarah who strives to be like this person or that person. The day I was born he delighted in growing me to be in HIS image and no one else's. What an honor. 

2. To wake up each morning and pray that the Lord would allow me to see myself as HE sees me and not as the world sees me. To not believe the lies and words that I start to think about myself but to be still enough to really listen to the words that He calls me.

{beautiful, cherished, gentle, playful, confident}

How convinced am I that He calls me Beloved?

What a month. What a place. What a group of people. My hope is to carry these experiences and these truths that I have learned down from the Colorful State and into Raleigh, into Athens Drive High School, and into the lives of those He's put right in front of me.

 I'll definitely be back, Colorado. 

{Isaiah 55:12-13} the msg. 

“So you’ll go out in joy,

    you’ll be led into a whole and complete life.

The mountains and hills will lead the parade,

    bursting with song.

All the trees of the forest will join the procession,

    exuberant with applause.

No more thistles, but giant sequoias,

    no more thornbushes, but stately pines—

Monuments to me, to God,

    living and lasting evidence of God.”

{Gratitude} Tuesday

Lately, I've been thankful for this book. An easy, refreshing summer read filled with whimsical stories & good truths. 

For one of my best friends who is ENGAGED!

For YL camps-week long, weekend or day trips and the way they fill me to the brim with Jesus. 

Spending time with my two best friends. 

For being on the water. 

For the best bar ever invented. Seriously. Try one. 

For soaking in the sun and consistent reminders. 

"Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!"

Ps. 34:8

happy tuesday homies. 

Paradise

For more than 18 years we have been venturing to Bald Head Island for vacations, birthdays & holidays. This summer we planned to go somewhere new for our summer trip, but of course we ended up at BHI...it's pretty hard to venture away from our spot. It's our absolute favorite. The island is calm but still full of stuff to do, it's our type of place. 

We ride on golfcarts with no plans or agenda. We hop on our bikes when we need something from the grocery store. We sleep hard and wake up early. We spend the day laying in the sun, reading, fishing, and napping. We play...a lot. This past trip we had the entire strip of beach to ourselves. Kell and I got out pretty early, I ran and splashed in the tide like I was literally two years old again. I loved every minute of it. We rock on the porch with a book and watch the sunset. We ride the golfcarts with sandy beach hair smacking us in the face...BIG sandy beach hair. We go the day solely on cheese, crackers, apples & grapes because that just seems like the only suitable beach food. We lay around on sandy couches-too lazy and worn out from the sun to even bother to get up and wipe it off. We cook dinner together. We wake up early to the sounds of mom and dad's jokes and cling of coffee mugs. We rest, we relax, we soak it all up. We are together, and that's what I love the most. 

This is paradise. BHI is more than a vacation spot to us, it's where we make our best memories, laugh hard and love each other fully. I love my family, I love our time together and I love our spot. 

{Gratitude} Tuesday

Lately, I've been thankful for the incredible community I have at NC State. 

For quick trips to Asheville. 

For incredible concerts. 

For eno and chaco wearing weather. 

For these girls and that the two gems on the end are going to SHARP TOP COVE this summer. 

 For Western Wake YL. 

For the freedom of turning to the Lord no matter my circumstances. 

"I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that He gave life to someone who loves the gift."

happy tuesday homies. 

Abide

My spot.

My eno has easily been my favorite purchase of all time. I'm drawn to my yellow & blue spot- it's comfortable, it's calming, it's simple. It's where I would prefer to spend most of my time. I'd like to think hanging in my eno is a little glimpse of what heaven will be like. 

My time in my spot is precious to me, I read, I journal, I pray, and I read some more. I learn and I grow in that eno. I know that sounds crazy. But really, over the years I have learned and grown in the Lord just solely by being still and listening in that spot. It's me, the outdoors, Jesus and a book. That's it. And that's where I thrive. 

This past week at Athens campaigners we focused on the word 'abide'. 

Abide: to dwell

We discussed the importance of abiding in Jesus, spending time with Him and allowing Him to consume you with the Gospel, his love, his mercy and grace. 

As we abide in Him, He abides in us. And I really believe that that is when His spirit is truly and consistently at work within us. 

Find a spot. Be still and dwell in Jesus, let Him saturate you with the Gospel and let His spirit do mighty work inside of you. 

{Gratitude} Tuesday

    Lately, I've been thankful for this book and the straight truth it's been hittin me with. 

For my YL girls who are literally the coolest.

 

For a much needed, much relaxing spring break with my favorites. 

For this friend, and the constant encouragement she pours onto people. 

 For coffee in rainy Downtown Apex.

For this weather and being able to get out on the water in March.

For stillness. For no social media. And more coffee.


"...I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or living in want."
Philippians 4:12

happy tuesday homies

Chosen

My heart beats a little faster when I hear the word "chosen". Sometimes I have to just stop what I'm doing and listen for the Lord to whisper that word into me. 

Sarah,

you 

are 

chosen.

He chose me, He chose my heart to belong to Him. 

I've been reading The Ragamuffin Gospel and my jaw has been dropping page after page.

Get this: 

"If you were to hold out a dime at arm's length while gazing at the night sky, the coin would block out 15 million stars from your view, if your eyes could see with that power."

"The earth's weight has been estimated at six sextillion tons (that's six with twenty-one zeros). Yet it is perfectly balanced and turn easily on its axis."

"We are traveling through space at 19 miles per second or about 68,000 miles per hour."

I mean that is insane. That same all-powerful Creator tells me that I am His and that He chose me.  

Psalm 8

...I look up at your heavens, shaped by your fingers, at the moon and the stars you set firm, what are human beings that you spare a thought for them, or the child of Adam that you care for him?

"We tremble before God's majesty...yet we grow squeamish and skittish before God's love."

When I grow discouraged, I run to the thought of knowing the One who has my heart is the same One who hung those stars in the sky. I run and jump into His arms. Praying that He will hold me close and saturate me with His grace. 

God chose me to spread the Gospel at Athens Drive High School and He never told me it would be easy, but man it's gonna be worth it. He chose me because I was unable, because I am weak. Yet He tells me to get up. He tells me that when I can't hold onto Him, He's still holding onto me. What God started in me He's going to finish. He loves me consistently, He nurtures me consistently and embraces me consistently despite my broken, worn out heart. And in that I will delight and find my hope in.