A Time to Reflect on Blessings...

With so many of my friends starting to blog, I thought what better way to remember the year 2012 then by blogging; after all, my family is always asking me to keep them updated on my life! I didn't just want this blog to be about me, I wanted it to be a reflection of the blessings God has sent into my life. If you noticed, my blog is named after one of my favorite bible verses: Ecclesiastes 3:2-8. If you have never read this verse...I suggest you mark it in your bible as it is a constant reminder to me in my daily walk that God has a time for everything, both good and bad.


To kick off my new blog, I wanted to reflect on just some of the blessings God placed in my life this year. By no means is this anywhere close to all the blessings I received and are they in no order, just a few to give you a test of 2011... (P.S) I promise none of my future post will be this long!

Family: My family continues to one of the biggest blessings in my life. I am such a lucky young lady to have been raised by wonderful christian parents who continue to support me in my walk with God. My little sister is now a JUNIOR in high school (yes, time flies!) and will be turning 17 soon! She is so much smarter than I ever was or will be and has done wonderful on her SAT test. She is "10 points away from being on the SAT wall at school" and continues to strive to meet her goal. She keeps bouncing back and fourth between getting a major in fashion or going the medicine/health route...guess we'll find out in the fall when she starts applying for colleges! My mom is still working at Southeast High School and loves her job! I always like to take her Starbucks whenever I am home for a little treat! The kids love her there and she enjoys being off when my sister is! My dad is still working for Traveler's Insurance Company and while he does work much longer hours than I know he would like, I still see it as a blessing that he gets to work out of our home and can be here whenever we need him! Plus, he keeps Ben (our dog) company during the day as they are work buddies! Back in November for Thanksgiving and my 21st birthday our family was able to take a trip down to one of my favorite places...Disney World! This was the first family vacation we had taken since I was in high school so it was a well enjoyed trip! We enjoyed spending time as a family and had many laughs along the way! We were able to see my Uncle Chuck while we were there as well and his sweet dog Maxie, which is always a treat to see them! Below is a picture of our family on our first day at Magic Kingdom! 

Joshua: Joshua continues to be a huge blessing in my life as well. We celebrated our 2 year anniversary of dating this November and he continues to help me grow in my faith and is truly a wonderful young man of God. For those of you that didn't know, Josh transferred from Carolina this fall to Wingate University where he is now pursuing religious studies. He is interning at Faith United Methodist Church in Monroe, NC and absolutely loves the youth at the church and knows he has found his calling. Josh was able to travel with our family to Disney World and it was wonderful to take a trip together to such a fun place! Even though he doesn't go to Carolina anymore, we were still able to make the drive and see the Carolina football team at one of their away games. Of course we picked the Clemson game where Carolina got slaughtered, but thats okay, it was fun anyways; and we got to see a dear friend of ours Shelby.

Zeta Tau Alpha: I continue to be a sister of Zeta Tau Alpha at UNC Charlotte and love all my sisters more each day. Our philanthropy of breast cancer education and awareness continues to be close to my heart as my mom is a breast cancer survivor; it never fails I always tear up at our events to see 130 sisters supporting the fight! In November, I was blessed to be elected President for 2012 of Zeta Tau Alpha. I never in a million years thought my dream would come true and it did! God has placed some wonderful people in my life through Zeta and I can only hope I continue to shine his light to my sisters in the year to come as President. 

I was also blessed this year to add new additions to my "Zeta Family." As you might know, in sororities, you have a big sister and then you can have as many little sisters as you would like. My big sister, Jessica, has become one of my biggest mentors and is truly the big sister I never had. At the beginning of the year I had one little sister named Abby. Let me just say, if God could have created me a twin, it would be her! She is such a wonderful christian young lady who is one of my best friends. God blessed me with being able to gain two more little sisters this year. Meredith is a sophomore who transferred to UNC Charlotte from College of Charleston and Sara is a freshman who came through recruitment this year! Both of them are so special to me and I have loved getting to spend time with not only them this year but also their wonderful families! I can only hope our little family continues to grow stronger in 2012! 

Carolina Cross Connection: For anyone who has spent an hour with me, you know about the wonderful ministry of Carolina Cross Connection and the place it holds in my heart. I am so in love with the work that GOD does through this ministry and it is something that keeps bringing me back summer after summer! This year I was able to experience staff for my 3rd year and also be a camper again for the first time in several years! 
College week was such a moving experience. The last week in May, 24 college students spent a week together at Camp Guilrock. We were broken up into normal work groups (CMG's) just like at "normal camp" and were allowed to go out just us students. I was blessed with a wonderful CMG who spent time working for such a loving little girl named Libby. We painted Libby's grandmother's house and yes...being the future teacher that I am, I brought little Libby outside and taught her how to paint! Needless to say, she captured my heart! My CMG during college week was made up of myself, Sarah, Max, and Matt. These three had so much love in their hearts and it was a true joy to work along side of them during the week. In the picture below you'll see me and sweet Libby in the top left and bottom right corners. My CMG in the top right with the lady we worked for on Monday and in the bottom left our crazy college week staff composed of such wonderful ladies of Christ! It was such an honor to be apart of the first ever CCC College week and I'm already counting down the days till this year! 

When June rolled around, I was off to my third staff training for Carolina Cross Connection. You would think that being on staff for two summers already, you would know mostly everything but it continues to amaze me how each summer God not only teaches me more about myself, but about my "job", and the ministry as a whole. Probably the most exciting part of staff training is the revealing of staffs! I was back at JYC for the second time and serving as Lead Field. When my staff was revealed, I cannot lie, I think we were all a little nervous at first; however, we quickly became a family and it is amazing to me how God puts all the puzzle pieces together. Edward, Jenni, Amy, Chelsea, Daniel, and Roy were my summer family and the ones I laughed with, cried with, rejoiced with, and prayed with on a daily basis. 

The last blessing I want to talk about was the blessing I had of working for two sets of children this summer through Carolina Cross Connection. These children taught me that blessings come in all different kinds. Byron was a young boy that I had the honor to build a wheel chair ramp for. When Byron was 3 he was hit by a drunk driver and lost both of his legs from the waist down. Byron's parents had to carry him out of his house in his wheel chair every time he needed to leave because they had no ramp. Needless to say, as soon as God showed me this family, I knew we had to do something. Now Byron has a 24 foot switchback ramp for him to come out of his house! He told me when I was leaving he would try to not do too many "wheelies" off of it :-) oh the humor of an 11 year old! Byron and I still stay in contact to this day through letters and to hear/see how a simple ramp has blessed a family brings tears to my eyes every time I read one of his sweet letters. 

The next set of pictures you will see is of a house that when I pulled into the driveway I thought was abandoned...that's how run down the house was. The grass was literally up to my knees and I cannot lie when I say I was nervous I would come across a snake while walking through it to the front door! When I was taken around back and shown the porch that literally now laid on the ground and the 3-4 foot drop that you would encounter when walking out of a back door, I wasn't sure if the project was do-able. Then...God allowed me to meet the three triplets that lived there; three of the most beautiful little girls to be exact. We ended up being able to do the project and I just fell in love with these little girls. They wanted me to play dolls with them, watch Disney movies, and eat with them; but the thing that made my heart melt was when they asked me to pray with them for their mommy and daddy. Needless to say, God showed me love through them! In the end, we not only built them one porch, but two and the girls were so excited! Just look at the smile on their faces below! 

I hope you and your families have a wonderful and BLESSED 2012! Remember, God has a time for everything...