I will not take my love away
When praises cease and seasons change
while the whole world turns the other way
I will not take my love away
I will not leave you all alone
When striving leads you far from home
And there's no yield for what you've sown
I will not leave you all aone
I will give you what you need
In plenty or in poverty
Forever, always, look to me
And I will give you what you need

Okay, I know that is one of Matt Wertz's new songs but when I heard this I thought of God and how gracious His love is with us. He will never leave us alone even though we just try our hardest to get away. He is the creater of the universe and we think that we can hide from Him? I bet He laughs at that. We just have to be willing. Everyday I am thankful for the blessing that He has given me by wanting a relationship with me. How AWESOME is that? He's beautiful!

let me tell you that i am uber (thanks ben for the spelling : ) )excited. my mom came in the other day and suprised us with a white water rafting trip down the ocoee this monday!!!  i can't wait-it is in honor of my dear father's birthday.

i think it would be great if life had background music. would you agree?

FACTS:
•NORTHERN UGANDA CALLED THE WORST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN THE WORLD TODAY BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF ATTENTION
•1.6 MILLION PEOPLE FORCIBLY DISPLACED
•AN ESTIMATED 20- 50,000 CHILDREN ABDUCTED TO FIGHT AS SOLDIERS
•TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN COMMUTING NIGHTLY
•130 PEOPLE DIE PER DAY IN NORTHERN UGANDA DUE TO VIOLENCE

Why aren't we doing more to stop this? Pray for Africa!

today is great day to end my spring break. i know it's sad but i can't help but be happy in this weather! i drove home from church in my car with all the windows rolled down and the sunroof open just listening to the greatest cd (grey's anatomy soundtrack). it is such good driving music. well that is all for right now. everyone needs to go outside and ENJOY this weather.

don't you love that feeling when you almost feel God embrace you. you start thinking about him or you are in the middle of worship and all of a sudden your heart goes still and then you feel all warm inside. like someone is holding you. but in reality no one is there but a smile comes to your face because you know inside exactly what or who it was. that is AMAZING!

Prepare the way
Prepare the way of the Lord
Jesus...
You are the light of the world
Jesus...
You are the King of the earth
Jesus...

well today was for sure an adventure. i walked out of work and noticed a squirrell laying on the ground with a broken leg. i went inside to find a box to kinda scoot him in just to get him out of the road. can you believe that someone did a hit and run!!! really, what is the world coming to these days? well amy bonin and amy powers both happened to be in the hall and i recruited them to help me. we went to this vet on church street but they couldn't help it bc they only do cats and dogs but they did tell us that he was still alive. on the way there amy b. started saying that she thought he was dead because he hadn't moved at all. but in  fact he was alive and kickin'. the vet called the black fox animal hospital and they told us to bring him in so that they could see what they could do. we left woody(that's the squirrell's name) there to be cared for. so all around it was a satisfactory search to save a squirrell's life. but i thought that if we were girl. scouts still....we would so get a badge for this.

When it comes to a question of our forgiving other people, it is partly the same and partly different. It is the same because, here also, forgiving does not mean excusing. Many people seem to think it does. They think that if you ask them to forgive someone who has cheated or bullied them you are trying to make out that there was really no cheating or no bullying. But if that were so, there would be nothing to forgive. They keep on replying,"But I tell you the man broke the most solemn promise." Exactly: that is precisely what you have to forgive. (This doesn't mean that you must necessarily believe his next promise. It does mean that you must make every effort to kill every taste of resentment in your own heart-every wish to humiliate or hurt him or to pay him out.) The difference between this situation and the one in which you are asking God's forgiveness is this. In our own case we accept excuses too easily; in other people's we do not accept them easily enough.

-c.s. lewis

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Something to think about...I sure did look at forgiveness in a whole different light after reading this. GOD IS SO GREAT!

You know what I think? I think C.S. Lewis got it, the whole picture of what life is all about. As I left the theatre I couldn't help but look around  to see all the people leaving and I stood there wondering how many people could see the real story in this movie. Not just a movie that was good for the their kids to go see, but the story of the ultimate sacrifice.  I wonder if they knew.....

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"We believe that the best way to make decisions is to think, when I am 87 years old, will I be glad I did that?"

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$61 is how much money we had to pay to get my poor cat out of the pound and i had to promise them my first born as well(not really) but it seemed that way since we had to pay Sixty-one Dollars!!!

***edit***

the reason why he was there is because he goes outside to do his thing because originally he was an outdoor cat before we got him so he doesn't like to stay inside very long. well...there is apparently a leash law for cats and that is why they picked him up...he didn't come back for like 2 nights so we got worried and we went to the pound to see if by chance he got picked up..well he did. he was just chillin' in the cage thing.

Jamie, what you doing now?
What you doing now girl?
Please, please tell me
Cause I need to know, I need to know now
When I was down, you came to me
And promised you'd always be
By my side, now you're gone
And I'm waiting patiently
Jamie, I want you to know

Jamie, oh Jamie, I'm so glad you're mine
We'll be together a long time

Jamie, what you doing now?
He's dialin' your car phone
Please, please be true
You know that I trust you, do that which you must do
When I was down, you came to me
And promised you'd always be
By my side, now you're gone
And I'm waiting patiently
Jamie, I want you to know

Jamie, oh Jamie, I'm so glad you're mine
We'll be together a long time

You've got the Beach Boys, and your firm's got the Stones
But I know you won't leave me alone

Sometimes it seems you're not with me
It hurts me so much, it hurts me so much
Sometimes it seems you're not with me
It hurts me so much, it hurts me so much

You are the most, you're so rad, you're so fresh
And I'm so glad I am yours, you are mine
Show me where and I will sign
When I was down, you came to me
And promised you'd always be
By my side, now you're gone
And I'm waiting, waiting

Jamie, oh Jamie, I'm so glad you're mine
We'll be together a long time
-Dashboard Confessional

Jason Mraz in FOUR more days!!! It will be a perfect way to end my semester and it will be after i take my history final..blah blah blah...so mr. mraz can cheer me up!

even though we fight and sometimes and don't get along...i know that no matter how much other people hate me or if for some reason the world turns their back on me...i'll know...she'll always be there.

God reminded me of something today. I was kind of feeling a little down about some things and God reminded me how much security i have in Him. His promises to me are secure and reliable. Another thing He told me was that friends will come and go and that doesn't matter. That you shouldn't put all your energy into people or things that aren't for sure always going to be there. I need to do that more. I tend to rely on things of this world when I need to make sure to first see that God is always here...He will always be my rock in my life. But it sometimes hurts to think that some friends might leave you.

oh man.....!!!! so beautiful.

i need to be more spontaneous!

this morning was the worst morning ever!

1. i was walking across tn blvd and my backpack broke and fell in the middle of the street. i had to run back and grab it really quick bf it got ran over. scared me to death!

2. when i got to the other side i noticed i was bleeding really bad. apparently when i was running back and forth i broke the blister the was trying to heal from a shoe i had worn last week. so my pants and shoe had all this blood on it. (i know what your thinking. you think its sick and so do i.)

3. i had to limp to the cope building to go to the office where i work so i could get a bandaid. well apparently i somehow broke the ear piece of my ipod earphones. the wire was exposed and the whole thing just flew off! let's keep in mind that i just bought those this weekend.

oh Lord I am FREE in you. Oh Lord I am COMPLETE in you.....I WILL OVERCOME!

i had prayed earlier this morning that i would have a great day and i just had a great time talking to God this morning so i know that it was Satan trying to ruin my day.

but i know that it could be a lot worse. and i still think that God is the GREATEST!

I love the mountains in the fall.

my grandpa used to take me up to this mountain to hike.

WHAT I LIKE:

1. ordering banana pancakes without nuts dedicated to jack johnson

2. boy band music

3. playing air guitar to "can't stop" by red hot chili peppers

4. fishing with my grandpa when i was little

5. the colors of fall

6. coldplay lyrics

7. intimate moments with God

8. laughing so hard you can't breath

9. crystal lite peach tea

10. laughing at my own jokes even though they aren't very funny

p.s. haha just kidding about the old lady thing

i would really appreciate if all of you would pray for my family. my grandfather has alzheimers and he caught pneumonia last week. he isn't expected to last through the night but it is in the Lords hands when He wants him to come home. but just pray for unity for our family. thanks so much.

UPDATE:thanks everyone who is praying for my family. my grandfather "Pa" passed away last night peacefully. he is finally getting to go home and i couldn't be more excited for him. but at the same time the earthly side of me is upset that he can't be here with us in person.

okay everyone. mark your calanders because on Dec. 1st we are going to have a big blow out fiesta for amy and RACHELbonin. so in case you were wondering...that is what we will be doing. so don't make any plans.

that is the word that describes exactly how i feel. i went to the doctor this afternoon and aparently i have some kind of infection. but my best friend in the whole wide world came over and brought me a balloon, card, and my favorite kind of candy. i love my lauren! my throat feels like a thousand knives were stuffed down it...sad times. well...that pretty much sums up my day. hope everyone had a better day.

also..one thing i did realize is how boring daytime tv is. i watched the flippin martha stewart show and her guest host was rosie odonnell. but suprisingly i found it pretty interesting. they talked about rosie going to visit martha in jail. but anyways...i learned how to make candy apples and boonilla shakes. mmhmm...you read right...i said boonilla shakes. which in all actuality is just a vanilla shake with a "ghost" face drawn on the glass cup. that is such a sad sad story..but it my sad sad story. but i am on day #2 of being sick and staying at home. maybe me and martha can learn how to make a halloween wreth or something.

winter is my favorite season. (even though it is only fall but it feels like winter.) i figured that out about myself. i really do enjoy getting all bundled up and putting on the hats and scarves. but the best thing of all is when you are walking and the cold wind is blowing in your face and then your eyes start to water. to me that is the best feeling. i also love how everytime i am about to leave the house my moms tells me to put on a hat and that it's cold outside.<as if i didn't know> but i thank the Lord that i have a mom that cares enough about me to tell me that.  just the way she says it makes me happy. but the only sad part about it is that i can't wear my flip flops anymore. i tried the other day and i way too much of a chicken. maybe i will bust them out every once in awhile. I LOVE WINTER!

::can u please pray for my grandfather. he was sent to the emergency room tonight from the nursing home and we don't really know what's wrong with him. he has alzheimers so being sick like that really doesn't make things better. so just pray for the doctors and my family. thanks so much.::

yeah kids..that is my best friend. me and lauren went to downtown franklin and it was amazing! we went to starbucks and then went to go see elizabethtown again, but it was the theatre that orlando bloom was in. mmmhmmm that's right i said orlando bloom. he was there for the premiere. then what came after was the best part. me and lauren rolled down her windows and danced insanely in the middle of a street. i do need to add that there were hardly any cars on this road. but i had never danced like that before in my life and i have to say that is was the best thing i have ever done. i felt God in the most powerful way when i did that. it was like i was doing it for Him and i could feel Him smiling and just laughing at me. it was really cool. the only thing to do now is to go to bed and not wake up until an extremely late hour. hope all of you do the same.

The Lord your God is amoung you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring [you] quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy. -Zephaniah 3:17

The perfect love is described in this verse perfectly.