Life Lately

Oh gracious, this semester has become a busy one. As many of you may know, I’ve given up social media during the day…but that has not made my schedule any less hectic. Honestly, I’m happy I've made that commitment because I am starting to realize how unnecessary all of it is. Anywho, I decided to stop by and give you a glimpse of my life lately. Whelp, here goes:

My Valentine’s creations this year {please note the corny card I made….that’s what happens when I’m dating a math major}

~My weekend consisting of crafting some sweet jerseys for my friends’ intramural basketball team
~Part of my morning routine, cereal & a to-do list
~Rocking my new mustard pants…I’m in love
~New running shoes, which have been put to good use this week
~De-licioussssss cupcakes that my suitemate brought back from her trip home. So so good!!!

And last, but definitely not least, this past Friday at InterVarsity we listened to my friend give her testimony about how she’s been transformed in college. Afterward, we invited everyone up to write how they want to be transformed. Here are the cool responses we got!


I hope you all had a swell Thursday!

Live Life

Prior to college, I never celebrated Lent. To be honest, I always thought it was just a Catholic thing. I recently switched churches here at school and started attending an Anglican church. It has been a great experience seeing worship in such a reverent setting compared to the very casual church I’m used to back home. I am still learning a lot about the church and its traditions, but I decided to do Lent this year. I was unsure of what to do or give up, until I talked to my friend Mackenzie yesterday. Mackenzie invited me to join her as she is doing World Vision’s “Live Life” campaign.
Each week of Lent, we will be participating in a challenge hosted by World Vision. Here is the break down:

I am so excited to see how God is going to grow me through these challenges leading up to the celebration of His death and resurrection!
Will you join me?

A Day In the City

One of the perks of going to school in New York instead of staying in Pennsylvania is that all of my Bing friends live in different areas. Ok, maybe that’s not totally fun over breaks, butttttttt it means I can go visit them! And well that sounds just dandy to me. This past Wednesday I had the opportunity to do just that, I went to NYC for the day to meet up with some of my favorite ladies. Granted, I’ve been there a handful of times before, but it was so much fun to go with people who actually knew their way around!

We started the day with some dim sum. Let me tell you about that experience…it was quite hectic. The restaurant was packed and everything happened so fast-paced. Before I knew it we had dishes of food on our table (none of which I could pronounce of course) The food was amazing though! I’ll have you know I tried chicken feet there…that was interesting. After dim sum, we headed over to the Met to be all cultured and such. I may or may not have giggled at a few scantly-clad statues. Next we made a cupcake stop at a small bakery. Fun fact: that was one of my only requests of what I wanted to do in the city. I’m only slightly obsessed with those suckers. We made a pit stop at H&M for some shopping and then ended our day in Central Park.

After two train rides, three subway trips, and blocks of walking, I was definitely pooped that night when I got home. But, it was a blast! I am so happy I got to spend a girl's day in the city, and I cannot wait to do it again!

This One’s for the Girls

No, I’m not alluding to the Martina McBride song…but you are quite welcome, as I’m sure that song is stuck in your head now. I’m referring to some of the lovely ladies God hes placed in my life.

I just came home from my friend Kristen’s house where I spent the night with my closest girl friends. These ladies have been there for me for years, and I love how our friendship has only grown as we’ve matured. I am blessed by the sweet bond we share. We spent the night catching up, eating wayyyy to much food, and just enjoying each other’s company. These girls are great. One moment we can be having the most awkward conversation ever, and then segway seamlessly into the ways we see God challenging us to pursue Him. They are all truly an encouragement for me as I grow closer to Him. Although I didn’t take any photos last night, here are a few pictures of us from the past. As you can see, their beauty is real…both inside and out. Oh gracious I love these ladies!

 

 
(as you can see, we are big fans of tradition…every winter we look at Christmas lights together & every summer we have a Melting Pot date)

I also had my first blog date on Thursday! I first found Samantha from Today I Am over the summer (she was my first follower!) and after talking Samantha for months now, we finally sat down and had a Skype date. It was crazy because I wasn’t nervous at all about Skyping her…I just feel like I’ve gotten to her so well through her blog, emails, and letters. I was definitely excited to talk “in person.” Oh mylanta was it a blast! We literally talked for over two hours (and probably could have gone on longer!) We discussed about school and our futures, laughed a whole bunch, and even discussed accents…it was wonderful. My favorite part of all is that we prayed together at the end. Samantha has the sweetest heart, and such a passion for God. I left our conversation encouraged and overjoyed at the time we spent together. It is truly amazing how God can use this blogging community bring two girls that live almost 11 hours apart together! I am so thankful for this new friendship we are building.

So today, my heart is so full. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the friendships God has placed in my life. Whether it is with the girls who have been there for years, or someone I’ve just known a few months, He has placed such encouraging women in my life that I am so glad to call my friends. There is truly nothing like good quality girl time that is rooted in Him!

Thankful Thursday

This week has been stressful….that may be an understatement. It seems like all of my professors want to cram as much material in as possible before the exams, and I am most certainly not a fan. Between assignments and studying, I was overwhelmed these past few days and I felt tired and drained. But, I did title this post “Thankful Thursday” and that was no mistake. As I sit here at my computer, I am overwhelmed with peace, despite everything this week. Peace from God that has led to my thanksgiving.

Today I’m thankful for…

Texts from friends saying they were praying for me.

Sweet hugs that were shared.

Sleeping in on Tuesday morning.

A surprise letter of encouragement from my friend Lacy.

The Advent plan I started this week.

That feeling after my orgo test was done.

Date night silliness including a thrift store run for ugly Christmas sweaters.


Some awesome time with God reminding me of His power through all situations.

Only two weeks separating me from winter break!!

“From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”  ~Psalm 61:2

Thanksgiving 2012

As I prepare to head back to Bing tomorrow, my heart and belly are full. This break was such a wonderful time to truly reflect on what I have to be thankful for. Hours were spent laughing with friends, good meals were shared with family, and I got to rest and relax in the place I call home. I am leaving tomorrow refreshed and ready to get back school (just maybe not the school work!)

For now, I am resting in these words:

”I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
~Psalm 9:1-2

Top: missed the cats obviously // My dad’s turkey brining method…a cat litter box (cleaned of course) // Family recipe for my favorite rolls // Our Thanksgiving spread
Bottom: #SheReadsTruth “Thirteen Days of Thanksgiving” // Snuggling with my kitty // More #SheReadsTruth // Indian buffet lunch with my dad & brother // Black Friday finds

I can’t wait to be home again in just under a month!

A Grand Thanksgiving Feast

Looks something like this…


Oh you know, just an intimate gathering of 30 people.

Complete with 2 turkeys, a 10lb ham, 3lbs of pasta, and lots of other deliciousness.

Jealous?


Top: all dressed up and ready to go // a glimpse of our menu // best dressed
Bottom: some of my lovely small group members // dessert // my wonderful friends who planned this shindig…they are kind of amazing

After this on Saturday night and a church potluck tonight, I am nothing less than excited for real Thanksgiving this Thursday with my family. Now if it was just Wednesday so classes could be done and I could go home!!!

Expedition

As I mentioned before, I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to attend InterVarsity’s annual fall conference Expedition. The weekend was filled with goofy friends, matching pj’s, late night drug store runs, lots of laughter, and God. Meeting me right where I needed Him most.

It. Was. Awesome.

I participated in the prayer track, and I can honestly say I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew I’d be taking away new insight on my prayer life, but I definitely wasn’t expecting the ways God challenged me.

First, He challenged me to reevaluate how I pray. As an extravert, I constantly feel the need to fill the silences. I can easily be that person who rambles in their prayer….but that’s just no good! In fact, Matthew 6:7 speaks blatantly against that. In my track, we learned how to pray in agreement. now, I had done it before, but never properly. But after this weekend, I really see the power in keeping your words few and affirming each other’s prayers. Silence is also becoming more prevalent in my personal prayer. I’m learning (and struggling) to allow God to fill my time instead of just talking at Him….it is a conversation after all!

Second, and one of my favorite aspects of the weekend, was learning about ninja prayer. (Just saying it makes me smile!) Confused? Ninja prayer is where you go into situation, maybe a public place like a café, and pray over your surroundings. You observe the environment, listen in creep on conversations, and pray. The purpose of ninja prayer, or stealthy intercession, is to come in, pray, and leave without people knowing. Its not about you, but totally about the people around you. We had the opportunity to pray over a couple other tracks at the conference, and boy was it powerful! There’s something so wonderful about being completely selfless in your prayer. Coming back to campus, I’ve been excited to try this in the cafes, dining halls, and even in church. It is so easy yet so impactful. Think about it, God has sovereignty over every situation…even the ones we aren’t fully connected with!

Finally, God met me on such a personal level. As I mentioned here, I was convicted on one speaker’s talk on rest, and how I fail to do it. But beyond that, God revealed to me ways that I was still broken and hiding from Him. You see, God had been putting my one friend on my heart a lot lately. I had felt this pull to talk with her for a few weeks and we finally got to hang out at Expedition. I went into the conversation thinking God wanted to use me to encourage her and be there for her, but boy did I underestimate His plans. Our conversation opened up things within me that I hadn’t told anyone. Brokenness I had kept to myself because I didn’t think anyone could relate. But to my amazement, Katie was in the same boat. We talked and cried (well, I cried) and prayed for each other. I left feeling refreshed and free. I have a peace that was from truly handing these things over to Him. I am so joyful that God brought Katie & I together that weekend, because I know for sure it was not by accident. He is just so good.

Anywho, I figured I couldn’t end this post without some pictures of my weekend at Expedition!



Late night snack run…complete with mini Ben & Jerry’s // Maggie and I with our amazing pajamas // post-Expedition Chipotle // Piggyback ride // Katie & I debriefing our fellowship on the prayer track

All of the Binghamton IVCF who went…I love these people so much!

Rest

As I contemplated what to write about in this post, I became overwhelmed with the possible ideas. My heart is so full and I have so much good stuff to share, but somehow I don’t think writing a novel of a blog post is ideal. So I’m starting here. I’m starting with rest. The concept of rest has been strong on my heart recently. Why? Because I don’t do it. I was asked about two weeks ago what I do to rest. My answer: I go be by myself. As soon as the words left my mouth, it hit me. I don’t rest. In fact, since the beginning of the semester, I hadn’t spent any time alone besides when I slept at night or the occasional time I studied alone (study parties have become a habit this semester). Even my quiet times have been a quick morning routine in my bedroom while my roommate is still asleep. I felt convicted by this realization. but also very conflicted. I’m a major extrovert! I hate being alone. I feed off of people’s energy. I feel a strong pull to community. And honestly, I suffer from major FOMO (fear of missing out). But as I pondered the thought, I realized how truly exhausted I was. I felt mentally and physically drained, and frankly…spiritually discouraged. Talking it out with my friend, I realized my feelings of inadequacy in leadership or inability to fruitfully pour into my friends intentionally all comes back to how empty I’ve made myself. I hadn’t allowed myself to be filled. That night, after that conversation, I rested. I apologized to a friend who I promised to hang out with, telling her I needed to just have some time for myself. I went to my room, laid down, prayed, and cleared my head. The result was overwhelming, I felt refreshed.

This past weekend, I went to InterVarsity’s Expedition Conference (more on that later!). I was so excited for the intentional time I would have to with people in my fellowship. We stayed up late each night playing games…resulting in about 9 hours of sleep for me total for the weekend. Don’t get me wrong I LOVED the time I spent with my friends, but I totally threw this rest thing out the window. The irony is that I even told friends who felt bad about going to bed early that it was ok if they were tired, that they needed rest. Silly Sarah, why didn’t you take your own advice?! God challenged me immensely this past weekend, He really identified areas of my life that I needed to give up to Him. But the real kicker came in our last session before we left. The speaker prepared a lesson to help send us back to our campus, full of God’s power and strength. The topic: rest. Woah. It was like the message was written right to me. Jon spoke about the importance of rest in our lives. How God gives sleep to those He loves (Psalm 127:2). He talked about how we need to be restored. That we need to intentionally make time to fill ourselves up in a stress free way. Why? Because God can’t use us if we are to weak to see where He is calling us. There is no shame in needed to be alone and rest, it’s required. We can’t pour into others until we, ourselves, are filled.

This morning, I woke up knowing I needed to rest today. I needed to overcome the stress of homework & midterms…through God’s peace. As I returned from my morning class, preparing for a quick nap, I received this text from my friend Amy: I couldn’t have gotten this text at a better time. I love how God used her to remind me of this truth. (Also, check out her post on rest)

Dear friends, where are you right now with God? With life in general? Are you overwhelmed with stress from school, work, or relationships? Are you feeling stretched too thin by a need to always be active? God does not call us to more than we can handle. He calls us to rest, in Him and His power. My hope is that you can be encouraged today to say no to the clutter in your life and truly humble yourself to His grace. It is okay to be tired, just embrace it :)

Rest well today!

iPhone Happenings

Can I just start by saying how amazing God is? He has been showing himself to me in so many ways this week. Between wonderful friends (and encouraging blog friends), answered prayers, and wonderful truths in His Word…I’ve been so blessed this week. I hope you all have been able to see His glory too this week, because it’s pretty sweet!

Top: Starting Galatians for #SheReadsTruth….this is one of my favorite books // Lunch with friends
Bottom: “One Thousand Gifts” // Devotions packed full of amazing truths // Some of the goofballs I call my friends

Top: Justified by faith // Decided to take advantage of all the time I look at my phone and add some verses // My phone’s lock button broke Wednesday…long story short—hello iPhone 4S!
Bottom: My friend fell asleep while a bunch of us hung out :p // Poop…I’m 5 years old // Chambray & colored denim…feeling trendy

Top: Sneaking pictures during church- Psalm 113 // Another new background // Rainbow
Bottom: Sweet encouraging text from a friend // New $8 watch from Kohl’s // A letter from Kaitlin that made my day!

Top: Even Google understands the true meaning of justified // Wonderful post from Gennean’s blog // Lunch off campus at Whole in the Wall
Bottom: My lovely friend Kristen on our lunch date // Cute vintage pictures // “May the long time Sun shine upon you, All love surround you. And the pure light within you, Guide your way home.”

iPhone Happenings

I would like to start off by saying thank you SUNY system for giving us break for Rosh Hashanah. What’s better than a 4.5 day weekend? Yay New York schools! That being said…my 8:30 class today felt like a Monday class. It was gross. Anywho, this weekend I spent Friday night through Monday afternoon visiting some friends down at Penn State. It was a great birthday weekend…minus the cold that kept me hugging a box of tissues on a couch for most of Sunday. But seriously, it was still a fun weekend. Then yesterday, some friends and I decided to take an impromptu daytrip to Syracuse. We explored the Carousel Mall and chowed down and ahh-mazing bbq at Dinosaur BBQ. I may still have a food coma. All in all, it was a great weekend spent with many wonderful friends!!


Top: See how there’s a cough drop in my tea? Yeah, I lost my cough drop….only to find it disintegrated at the bottom of my cup when I finished. Apparently colds make me lose my common sense // My friend Mary and her ice cream “lollipop” // My very first jar cake!! I’ve been gushing over these since I heard about Tookies over on Aunie’s blog. Granted this was not Tookies…but true to name, it was Wicked Good (I realized I just advertised two opposing companies…shhhh!)
Middle: Julie, one of the girl’s I stayed with at PSU, one night this weekend // Rocking my PSU attire while I was there // One of the MANY stores in State College packed with spirited attire…I’m a little jealous Binghamton doesn’t offer this many options!
Bottom: This picture does no justice, but State College is the cutest town!! // Re-dying our hair while I visited (I’m really loving my pink streak…even though it fades too quickly for my liking)


Top: Starting the new plan for #SheReadsTruth: Galatians!! If you haven’t yet, I totally recommend joining in // A crafty night with one of my best friends // Making road trip Bingo for my Syracuse trip (it was a big hit!)
Bottom: Keeping it classy with sparkling water and Tootsie pops // Boys being inappropriate at the Syracuse mall :p // My new ring set….I’m slightly obsessed with it


Top: A few of the lovely people I went to Syracuse with // Dinosaur BBQ. Ah. Maze. Ing. // My friend Dallas casually sitting in a tractor scoop
Bottom: My carmates for the road trip, minus my friend Jon. We had a blast! // Encouraging words on Kaitlin's blog today. They meant so much to me today! // New necklace from Syracuse (and the biggest Forever 21 I’ve seen)

Well, I’m off to do the homework I procrastinated on this weekend. Have a lovely Wednesday!

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
                                                                    ~Psalm 37:4

Birthday Shenanigans

Well, I’ve successfully made it to my nineteenth year. After all of my birthday madness on Wednesday, I can honestly say I’ve never felt so loved! So many people here at school helped to make my day so special.

My day started out in a way I could have never imagined. At midnight, I was in my room doing homework and my friend Travis called me to tell me that he had someone leave me a present outside of my suite. I walk out of my room to find all of my suitemates and my friend Kristen in the common room waiting for me with cupcakes! Then, my suitemate Shannon told me to go outside. I open the door to my common room to find 30 of my closest friends waiting outside in the hall. 30!!! Even some of my off campus friends! To say I was overwhelmed in that moment is an understatement. Everyone starting singing and I was given a Burger King crown and a cake. You see, my friends from my building have a tradition to surprise people at midnight on their birthday, and we always do the same thing for my friends in InterVarsity…but I didn’t expect both groups to surprise me! It was so crazy. We couldn’t even fit everyone in my room!

Oh & I got caked….three times.

My breakfast: a cupcake of course. My friend surprised me in the afternoon by taking me off campus to show me this amazing view of a valley! It was breath-taking! After my last class of the day, my friend Kristen and I went to Starbucks for some coffee to catch up. I even bought some pumpkin spice Via’s…so good. When I got back to campus, I found my common room decorated by my suitemates.

Throughout the day, I came across random notes people wrote to me :) Finally, I ended the night with a surprise piñata! That sucker was tough to kill!

Between the loving phone calls from home and all of the amazing ways I was surprised throughout the day, I truly felt loved. God has blessed me with so many wonderful people here and I am so grateful. I wouldn’t want to start my nineteenth year any other way, and I’m excited to see God’s plans for me this year!

iPhone Happenings

This week has been very interesting. A little hectic, but I’m starting to get back into the swing of things here at school. Here’s my week in pictures:

Remember when I said I would never be a fashion blogger? Well the full-length mirror in my dorm room is causing my narcissism to kick in. Whoops :p
Don’t judge me…


Top: New Student Outreach for InterVarsity in my housing community // #SheReadsTruth on lies // A beautiful sky between storms
Bottom: Boston crème cupcakes from this recipe. They were so good! // My gorgeous friend Kristen after I helped her get all dolled up for a date night with her boyfriend // Learning about intentional friendships


Top: Banner at the InterVarsity general interest meeting…we had 160 people come! Praise God :) // Late-night Denny’s after InterVaristy // Wegman’s run (two of the girl’s first time)
Bottom: My suite’s newly painted door brick // Walk in integrity // Birthday package of goodies from my parents!


Top: I got a new clear case to put scrapbook paper in // Necklace from my momma
bottom: Fighting pride // Birthday nails


Well, that’s all my iPhone has to say. Have a wonderful week!

Intentional Friendships

I’ve been gearing up to write this post for almost a week now, and the longer I’ve put it off, the more God has been showing me about its importance. I’m not exactly where to begin. God has been revealing to me the importance of true friendships through His Word and the words & actions of my friends so much this week! But I guess I will try to sum this up the best I can.

On Friday, I read Proverbs 27 for my #SheReadsTruth devotional. Two verses grabbed me. “Better is open rebuke than hidden love” & “the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.” These words humbled me and truly made me think about the relationships I invest my time in. Are they earnest? Or am I hiding my love? True love for a friend is wanting the best for them, and that sometimes means telling them the hard truth. The nasty stuff that sucks to talk about. Friends need to be willing to confront one another when they are going down a path that is destructive. I need to be willing to have the awkward conversations that may save someone I love from getting hurt. And, as the prideful person I am, I need to be receptive to the loving rebuke of those who care about me. Earnest friendship is not superficial. It digs down deep to the core. The good and bad.

On Saturday, I had my first InterVarsity small group leaders’ meeting of the semester. Again, this idea of intentionality came up. As we discussed the vision for our groups this semester, we focused a lot on the strong relationship building we want to see. These relationships require time. They require vulnerability. They require challenging each other beyond complacency. My hope is that intentional friendships are born here. That we can ask tough questions, be brutally honest with each other, and encourage each other to show God in everything we do. 

The sermon I heard at church on Sunday was on the mission on the church. We focused a lot on relationship-building.

God was really trying to tell me something. But the most powerful ways He spoke to me have occurred in the past 24 hours. God showed it to me.

Last night, I was doing homework with two friends. My friend Dennis asked me a simple question about how something was going. I, surprising myself, answered a honest answer about what I was struggling with. This led into a long conversation where I poured myself out to them about what I’ve been working through the past few months. Pain and brokenness I was too afraid to talk about. Aching that I hid from my friends because I didn’t want to deal with it. But God did want to deal with it. He wants to heal it. God has been challenging me to open up and be honest about these struggles, but I keep fighting Him. My two friends did the best thing they could in the situation. They listened. They listened while I opened up about my pain and confusion and everything I was dealing with. They comforted me as my emotions swirled up and emptied out. They offered me biblical truth that spoke deep into my core. Their friendship to me was apparent in this moment. They were earnest.

This morning, moments before I sat down to type out this post, God showed me intentional friendship yet again. My sweet friend Amy texted me, out of the blue, with this:It literally brought tears to my eyes as I realized how much I needed to read those words in that moment. How much I needed that reminder to be bold today. I texted Amy back with words of gratitude for how necessary her text was. She responded by saying she “had this weird urge to text me that.” God is good. He spoke through Amy to encourage and empower me. He has given me an intentional friend in her. Amy is an earnest friend.
This are only two examples of the many true friends God has placed in my life. They are a reminder of the kind of friend I need to be. I need to be intentional. I need to not be afraid to confront the yucky stuff. I need to love. Genuinely.