in him is the fullness of all things

God's ways are so marvelous and mysterious...try as we might, we just cannot figure him out. I know that I go through (embarrassingly many) seasons where I feel like I've figured him out and then God totally shatters whatever limitations that I placed on him. I love it when he does that.  So often I find myself believing the lie that God can only speak to me when I have been "really spiritual", whatever that even means. Well I was not feeling super spiritual when I returned from Chicago. I was so wrapped up in seeing my friends and family that I allowed it to pull my attention away from the Father. I found myself in this really weird place where, even though I was surrounded by earthly fellowship with his body, I was not fellowshipping with him directly. Does that make sense? Each day that passed without me praying or spending time in the word really took it's toll on me. I was asking God to zap me with some spiritual motivation and was frustrated when that w...

Sometimes, making one friend makes all the difference. This girl is one of the first girls that I connected with at my church in Chicago. I don't know if you can ever fully understand the importance of reaching out to new people at church until you yourself are a new person at church. Michelle and I connected initially because we were both fellow suburbanites who commuted to church every week. Not only did she express interest in hanging out with me, but she followed through! After she got my number, she called me within a week and invited me over and so it started! From the beginning of our friendship, I have been exceedingly blessed by Michelle's heart for Jesus. She loves to talk about what he is showing her, what he is doing in her life, and she truly has a desire to grow in deeper knowledge of him.  God used this girl powerfully in my life during my first year of school. It was terribly difficult being so far away from so many friend and family back home, ...

Hello! I know it has been a while since I've updated this blog. Sometimes life just gets in the way, ya know? In the last couple of weeks I've: Completed my first year of pharmacy school Moved off of campus Moved (temporarily) back home for the summer Changed my hair Become employed Got back in touch with my country dancing roots Got a list of books to read for the summer Upgraded from the Crackberry to something Steve Jobs would approve of Seen Josh Garrels perform in Portland Finally experienced some sunshine Long story short, it's been a wonderful, relaxing time back in the Willamette Valley. But strangely, it doesn't quite feel complete. As much as I love Oregon and all that it has to offer, I find myself longing to share it with the people that I've had the immense pleasure of doing life with in Chicago these past several months. When ever I gaze at the horizon interrupted by mountains and trees, I find myself wishing that my Chicago friends w...

My sister and friend, Bethany Canfield . Have you ever seen someone and thought "that person is really cool--I want to become friends with them!"? Well, this is exactly what happened to me with Miss Bethany Canfield. I had been in a season where I was not feeling satisfied with my relationships with girls my age and was finding this growing desire for fellowship with older women in the church. I felt like God was highlighting Bethany as someone that I could possibly find that with, but I was kind of scared to approach her because I hadn't really talked with her before and in my mind (and also in reality!) her cool factor  was just way off the charts. Long story short, God led me to her and her husband's house church and our relationship began to blossom and grow. It's cool because when I was praying about getting to know Bethany more, I was asking God to give me a mentor. But what he had in mind was far greater (duh!). He gave me an older sister. Beth...

So I'm sitting here, trying to study infectious diseases, and my mind keeps on drifting to marriage. Successful marriages. Failed marriages. Marriage between Jesus and his bride. Marriage between me and ______(insert hunky, loving, man of God) If anyone knows me, they know that I don't try to make it any secret that I am excited to be married to the man that God has planned for me. The idea of picking one person to do life with as long as I walk this earth is so exciting. But it's also scary. I would be lying if I said that I didn't have the (small)  fear of having a failed marriage. I mean, just looking at the statistics and the prevalence of divorce, it's hard not to be a little scared...no one goes into marriage (hopefully) expecting  to get divorced...and yet more than 50% of marriages end that way.  I wonder if it is because people have unrealistic ideas of what marriage is going to be like, or the purpose for which God intended it. I think that apart ...

...sounds like a memory, like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night... It's pretty incredible how even just one line from a song has the ability to transport you back to a different time and place. As I sat in the Atheneum Theatre listening to Josh Garrels sing Flood Waters, I was taken back to a warm, sunny evening last June.  Riding by bike through the streets of Corvallis. Leaving the presence of new friends to enjoy the company of old friends. The first warm breeze of the year blowing on my face as I rode, making what would have been an otherwise strenuous activity, a joyous, worshipful one.  It was the first time I had heard, really heard  the words to the song. And as a result, every time I hear those lyrics, I go back in time to that summer evening, and I smile. What are the songs that take you back to specific place or time? Flood waters rise But it won't wash away Love never dies It will hold on more fierce than graves

So, since I have so much free time (ha ha), I decided to start a mini series on the blog called "This is...". It's inspired by the new trend on instagram where someone takes a picture of a person and says "this is 'so and so' and this is what they do and this is why they are awesome..." I feel like God has blessed me with plenty of fantastic women in my life so I want to herald them for all the world to see! So without further adieu,  This is Karen Callis. I have known the Callis family for about as long as I have lived in Corvallis. We were members of the same church for several years and my brothers and I were around the same ages as her kids.  It wasn't really until my senior year of high school that I really had the opportunity to know Karen and her family in a deeper way than I could have possibly imagined. Without going into too much detail, there was a period of about 2 months that I was displaced from my home due to a family crisis...