Get it!

So I made an afternoon trip to the arch enemy yesterday...the gym. Planet fitness is a great place to people watch as you work out. I stroll in..get the card scanned and hang my keys on the rack where you see a plethora of jangles. I hop on the torture device, also known as the elliptical, and pedal away. I get the bright idea to "keep my body guessing" according to the magazine I read a zillion years ago.."vary your exercises...hike one day..jog another..kayak the third.." yada yada. So I jab the cardio button, turn on my good friend Sho baraka(Lions and Liars..check out his new album!) and get going. After about 5 minutes on the elliptical I'm gasping for air and desperately clinging to the handles to get a good stance so WHEN I fall off this thing..something will catch me. I scan the room and I notice this man in the weight lifting area, not because he's lifting one of those 5,000 pound weights with his pinky finger but because he is full out dancing to whatever music was on his iPod. It was GREAT. He would stop his workout to get after it. I loved it! It reminded me of the freedom in Christ. " It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1. Freedom in it's greek definition means to "be liberated from various kinds of ownership,released, not enslaved". Stand firm in it's greek context means to " establish, be present, settled the matter". Also, what they mean by a "yoke of slavery" isn't yoke as in egg..during that time it was a draft bar that was placed on animals to drag various objects. Now..go back to the verse and read it now that we have picked it apart a little..I'm serious..do it. Now think about it for a hot second..take however long and really wrestle with it.

I was released from various kinds of ownership to one owner who loves me unconditionally and so sacrificially that he sent his son to die for a relationship with his people, Hallelujah! That man in the gym didn't care.. he wanted to dance to his music and enjoy that while he was working out, so he went after it. I want to "Stand firm then and do not be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" Let's get after it.

"Identity is found in the God we trust. Any other identity will self destruct" Lecrae

Check out these two songs (click the link)

Identity by Lecrae

and

Get loose by 116 clique

Brittany

Check out that shiny blue helmet!

Today as I was on my way home from lunch with 2 dear friends I'm driving the usual way by the intramural fields to Greek housing, only to my delight to find a dear friend, Mr. Biker man. You see..upon the usual drive-by at the intramural fields you find many types of people: people who are looking for a date..these are girls who are usually running with their hair down or guys just leaning against the fence stretching. People who are gearing up for a triathlon..these are your people who are sprinting and timing themselves or using every possible jog/walker to lap them while timing themselves. People who are social walkers..walking and talking ninety to nothing with words that are barely recognizable. But much to my surprise I came across something I've never seen. There was a sweet older man (you guessed it..Mr. Biker man) who was on his bike with gear that would make Lance Armstrong cry in jealousy. On his shiny blue helmet there was a black bar that came out horizontally and then straight down vertically with a circular mirror attached right at eye level. Yup..you guessed it! Mr. Biker man had a rear view mirror on his helmet so he could see what was behind him. I noticed this because it's blinding light pelted my eyes, as I drove by, with my clear not even the slightest bit tinted windows. In the second that I was blinded I thought about the verse in Philippians 3:12-13 Paul says "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead," This is one thing that I struggle with big time and also something that the Lord has been gently but firmly squeezing out of my life lately. I like to think that I have forgotten the past, whether things that have happened to me or things that I've chosen to do but in some way or another I keep one string attached, I hold myself to it. In reality..it's not just one string..it's straight up bondage which robs me of the joy and life altering truth of knowing Christ and who He says I am because of Him and His son. If you know me at all it's no secret that I am really hard on myself, I hold myself to ridiculous standards, the ramifications of this and holding myself to the past have sent shock waves in my walk with Jesus this semester, it's been extremely tough but such a joy. (2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.) The Lord took hold of me while I was in a crave driven lifestyle which only left me dissatisfied and mangled. Paul said "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" Pressing in it's greek root definition means "to make every effort, pursue, go running off after, to strive for a goal intensely". Which means it's going to be a heck of a fight, not something that in my natural self will want to come easy. For 20 years I lived a life built on lies that were affirmed by billboards, TV ads, movies, music, and peers. 20 years.. that’s 7,300 days! I’m 23 now and these past 3 years since the Lord has completely changed me have been characterized like a bull in a china shop. Lies have been smashed with God's word and replaced with utter truth. One song that really characterizes it is one we sang this morning “Amazing love, how can it be? That you my King would die for me. Amazing love I know it’s true and it’s my joy to honor You, in all I do.”

" He never gives a thorn without this added grace, He takes the thorn to pin aside the veil which hides His face." -John Piper

"God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all spheres of life. The wasted life is a life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work, not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives." -John Piper

-Brittany

Yeah..we're pretty much pro's at studying.

Kelsey and I both had HUGE exams today, brutal, life threatening exams. Kelsey's is for radiology..enough said. Mine is for Elementary Education..full of theories, theorists, how they intertwine, Law Acts, methods, way too much information to possible retain. So we attempt an almost all nighter, Kelsey makes it, I fail..events unfolded as follows:

10:00PM Kelsey and I reunite from our days. She comes walk/jogging in having a cardiac arrest she just realized on top of her test that a huge assignment is due in 2 hours. Joyous!

During this time I continually interrupt with stories that I think are funny and have no real point.

11:57PM Kelsey gets her assignments turned in and we decide it's time to "gotta get dat". We have a crumpfest break down to Fergie's "Gotta get dat boom boom pow"

During this next time span we have 2 truth study nuggets where Kelsey picks a bible verse at random and spits some truth!

We had to confront our neighbors with hysterical laughter because they heard an awkward conversation. We all 4 scream laughing.

Kelsey starts her laundry

1:00AM Kelsey and I decide to try to manipulate our minds..we keep talking and saying "Phew..glad it's only 7 at night! I'm still full from dinner! Plunty of time to studyyyy!"..doesn't work.

2:10AM Dance break number 2. We decide to put scarves on and dance like Shakira. We just decided she's taking us on tour.

Kelsey continually gets up and cleans, even angling pictures and her scripture memory cards.

Kelsey and I drop beats back and forth from our desks, Wonder how the neighbors liked it?

2:41AM I go to sit back down at my desk and mumble what the beginning of my slide said and Kelsey replies "What did you say? I just heard you say 'pay attention..you're stupid' " and then I say "Uhh..I said 'domains of children's development'..

We chuckle

2:49AM I walk over to Kelsey's side..her hair is down now, scarf still on, and she is cutting her split ends with scissors.

2:57AM Try to listen to a worship song- We encounter Kenny G..enough said.

I make my lunch for tomorrow and iron my clothes and Kelsey says "Are you going to bed?? When you do that it means you are about to go to bed." To which I reply "Uhh..Nope, got a lot to do"

3:15AM I am a failure at all nighters, a liar to Kelsey now, and go to bed.

All in all..today..we are exhausted and our tests results to come. Hypothesis: Epic fail.

Our backups?
None.


-Brittany

Milk warrants a pick up line..

So..I had a grand experience at the circle K near campus..After loads of mexican one night we go back to Richards dorm but it's cold out so hot chocolate...we need milk. So my car full of people go grab some. So from the time I enter said Circle K the cashier man is talking to me THROUGH and OVER the whole gas station "HEYYYYYY It's cold outside huh? Better bundle up!" So I get the milk and come towards the counter to pay and the following conversation happens..

Cashier man:"So..Milk huh? Because I know you for sure can't buy these(points to cigarettes) or that (points to beer).

Me:"Yuuup milk..really? How old do you think I am?"

Cashier man:"17 MAYBE 18 at best.."

Me:"uhh..really? That's funny, i get that all the time! I'm 23"

Cashier man:"(dying laughing) HAHAHA..I doubt that..I would have to see ID to believe it and still then I wouldn't be sure."

Me:"Oh..I don't have my ID but I am.. you really think I'm lying?"

Cashier man:"No..I don't. Actually yeah.. yeah..you are lying for sure."

Me:"Oh..uhh..well I'm def not 17 or 18 or lying sooo... umm ok, thanks bye!"

..it was awesomely awkward. But ohhh it get's better. A couple weeks later me and some of my best friends are hanging out and one of them blurted out "You will never guess what happened to me at the circle K just now!" and she repeated the previous conversation! Same guy..same line..happened to her too. After a lot of jokes and laughter the circle K story will forever live in history.

This experience reminds me of how much the Lord pursues and longs for me. "Since you are PRECIOUS and honored in my sight and because I LOVE YOU, I will give men in exhange for you, and people in EXCHANGE FOR YOUR LIFE." Isaiah 43:4 and " I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" John 10:10. That doesn't mean that if I tack on Jesus to my life that then I will have abundant life..that means it was never abundant to begin with. He gives life so that then it is abundant. He breathes life into my once dead heart. I didn't have life before him. In Isaiah He says "Since you are precious.." He considers me precious.." I will give men in exchange for you.." He gave His son's life in exchange for mine, sent Him die MY shameful & brutal death. How can I not respond to that with my whole life?

The Lord is all satisfying and is always in pursuit of an intimate, deep, life altering and defining relationship. Thank you Lord for always showing up in my life, giving me life and pursuing me. Thank you Lord for stepping down from Glory and taking on every inch of my shame that I rightfully deserved. May this deeply move me everyday.

Brittany

The Adventures of Bugs and Sully

A little background info: Tonight was my first night back in good ole Mob town, and I was dying to watch A Little Princess, so Wags, Mary Emma, Julia, and I headed to Target in search of it. After the kind Target employee directed Mary Emma to Shirley Temple's A Little Princess (not what i'm looking for), I felt a little disappointed. BUT!! then it caught my eye, A LITTLE PRINCESS (the right one this time). I felt like a kid on Christmas morning!! After grabbing a few other things, we headed back to the house and were warmly greeted by Brittany and her dirty laundry. She set her heaping basket down and followed us up the stairs. We hadn't seen each other in a couple weeks, so we embraced for a good 2 minutes and proceed to sit down in the middle of the floor at the top of the stairs and catch up on the past few weeks. After a good 45 minute to an hour of talking about big things God had been doing in each of our lives, we retreat back to our room. A little while later, Brit reminded me that we have the movie to watch, but forgetful me can't remember where i left it in all of the welcome back from Target excitement. I searched the house high and low, and while I was looking in the study room for the third time- Lightbulb. I had carried a box of tshirts upstairs and put the movie in it, and the box had been taken to a dorm. I came back to report this to Brittany, again in hopes of a solution. Well it was about negative 12 degrees here in Mobile (really about 27), but we decided the movie is worth the brutal winds and arranged to pick the movie up at this particular dorm. We got decked in a plethora of random articles of warm clothing (check it out for yourself) and made a mad dash to my freezing car. I blasted the air as i usually do. My thinking is that if I blast it all the cold air will come out faster and then warm air will come faster too. Obviously Britt doesn't agree with my philosophy, so with attitude flipped the air completely off. Probably because the 2 inch gap between her flowery capri pants and monster's Inc. slippers revealing her bare shin was freezing. We finally get to the building but because of how parking is set up we still had a way to walk to this particular dorm. On the count of 3, we jumped out of the car as the frigid wind took our breath away. Like stiff, hunched over, old women we slowly scuffled/jogged towards our destination. In order to forget how cold it was, we made random comments such as:
Britt: what if you looked out of your window and saw 2 girls running at 12 am dressed like this?
or
Me: Make way for monster's inc and looney toons!!!!!! (followed by a ninja kick)
We finally made it to the dorm (well we werent 100% sure it was the right one, thankfully it was) and got the the movie, then, with a sense of great victory, ran back to my car to get warm, this time with onlooking passerby's.
In all the fun and laughter, we couldn't help but hurt for those who won't be going back to warm homes, warm cars, warm clothes, and warm food tonight. We live in a culture that is very indulgent, and it can be easy to get caught up in it. Gotta fight! As ambassadors for Christ (2 corinthians 5:20), we are called to be the Hands and Feet of Christ- meeting spiritual and physical needs. So the question rings in our heads, "What are we doing!?" with 12 jackets in our closets, multiple scarfs, warm slippers, piles of blankets/pillows on our beds, and everything else we need to suit our selfish comforts.
Lord, make this a reality to us. Move us to act. You are all we need, You are our comfort, not these clothes, not a full belly, nothing but You. Enable us to act- move us to give our lives away!

Matthew 25:45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.'"

Proverbs 14:31 "He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God"

Kelsey and Brittany

Welcome to my life

So to be honest, i wasn't sure how i felt about this whole blogging thing. I am very much the one-on-one introvert type... but after much encouragement from my lovely roommate and a text message from her saying "Just posted to our blog! You post about the car lighter :)" i felt obligated. kidding- it might be fun! so here it is... a 2 for 1. oh and thanks Ashton and Amanda for inspiring us ha :)

Every time Nick, my boyfriend, and I get together, we always look for fun and innovative things to do; i.e. going to the zoo in Christmas sweaters, Grizzlies games, comedy shows, ornament shopping, making homemade pizza, and countless other random adventures. On this particular night, restlessly sitting in the Whicker living room, I suddenly get the brilliant idea that we should learn some dance moves on youtube. So we begin with some swing dancing. After much effort, we're just not getting it. We move on from swinging and get to the heart of both of us- STOMPING. After a diligent search on youtube we find the perfect instructor and our new best friend BREE! MEET BREE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngeM0ROkZWM&feature=PlayList&p=E49DA33DC8B5FBBB&index=0
Many hours and laughs later, our hands were stinging and our thighs were purple so we called it quits. Yeah i know it's silly, but it reminded me how thankful I am for laughter.
Lord, thank you for giving us laughter. More than that thank you for abundant, eternal, ultimate joy in Yourself. Psalm 126:2-3 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.


Story numero 2- (yes britt finally the car lighter story :))
Brittany, Sarah, and I are on our way to Nashville for New Year's Conference with Campus Outreach. It's about 5 hours into the trip with 2 hours to go. Sarah is dozing off in the backseat, Brittany is... multitasking aka driving, tailgating, and texting (ha :)), and I am of course getting restless. So i decide to try out Brittany's cigarette lighter thing. I push it in and await the results. About 10 seconds later the dang thing violently pops out of its hole and is flying towards Brittany. It goes under her seat out of sight and reach. Panic rising inside of me, I look to Brittany for a solution. To my surprise she has her legs up off the ground (not quite sure why) and is hysterically laughing. Thinking she doesn't grasp the horror of what has just happened, i scream "Brittany, the cigarette lighter is on the floor!!! It's going to burn your car!!!" Then Sarah, coming out of a daze and calmly asks (culprit in hand) "is this what you're looking for?"
My reaction to the "emergency" looks a little like the way i deal with my sin sometimes. I panic, thinking it will tear me down, and look to other things to fix it. The truth is yes sin is destructive and detestable to God, but because Jesus gave His life there is repentance, healing, and forgiveness. In His death and resurrection Christ is victorious over death and sin. He gives abundant grace to enable me to turn from sin and cling to Himself. He is the only solution, and He never fails!

Acts 2:24 But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. -Jesus

-Kelsey

Double doors, boxes and workers..oh my!

So after a 7 hour drive back from good ole' Nashville, TN. Kelsey and I grab dinner and then head to CVS to pick something up because we were already out. We head into CVS and while Kelsey is getting what she needs I decide to go to the little girls room. So the CVS lady was like "Yeah..it's in the back through those double doors.." So merrily I walk along to the back..the only set of double doors are these beautiful gleaming grey warehouse looking doors. So what do I do? I go through them..she told me double doors and they were the only ones I saw so duh! What I enter into is a room FULL of boxes everywhere..most def their storage room. Do I turn around..nope! I keep walking actually climbing over boxes looking for the restroom. Until I end up in the break room and another CVS worker is like "Uhh..." yes, i stumped him for words. So I tell him my mission and he directs me to where she originally intended. I climb away laughing hysterically. When I came back to the CVS pharmacy and told them my adventure..they were all laughing. It was great.

So I think that everything is an opportunity and can be an opportunity to learn about Christ. My box climbing adventure really makes me think about what is commanded of my life. (If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me Luke 9:23) My life should look radically crazy to american culture. I should be doing things that don't make sense. (Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14) I can either walk in life through a safe, organized CVS store or go through the double doors where there are a lot of boxes, hard work and sacrifice. While there are boxes and it's a life of being uncomfortable I am sure of who I am heading towards and it should be my joy! (Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head." Matthew 8:20) He always has His glory and how changing me can better display Him and less of me in mind. He wants to deeply satisfy me and greatly display himself. He yearns for a deep relationship with His people. This life isn't about me...whatever that looks like, bring it!


"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him." Matthew 4:18-20


"Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4: 14

-Brittany