This week, I went on 2 retreats for 3 days. I cannot say this enough: I love IJM. It is the best organization ever, and the people I work with are amazing in so many ways.

On Tuesday, we had day 1 of our staff retreat, “choose your own adventure” style. So, naturally (not), I chose to go horseback riding FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! I don’t even think I’ve ever pet a horse. Maybe I have.

This is me and my main man General. He was the sweetest! I pet him the whole time and he just trotted along and didn’t throw me off.

The view from atop General. The best! I was feeling crazy and bold when I was holding my reigns with only one hand.

This is my new and wonderful friend Kathy, riding her horse, Goldie. Guess what? GOLDIE AND GENERAL ARE DATING! They’ve been dating for years! Isn’t that the best? Also, Kathy and I being friends gets confusing for people at work, mostly because both of our names start with Kath and we both have brown curly hair. For this reason, people say we look alike. However, we think it’s the hair that is distracting them. (Except just now I was scrolling through thumbnails and clicked on this photo of her thinking it was me. Yikes.)

Check out Freddy! Alesha’s super slow but precious horse that was behind me in line on the trail. Also, check out those LASHES!

After we rode horses, we went to a vineyard! It was great. I want to go to more vineyards.

On a very sad note, we had to put our beloved Tripod down this week. He was my favorite cat ever. Here’s a photo of him in his glory days, loving the three-legged life.

On a happier (but still slightly sad) note, the family that Sarah and I live with fosters golden retrievers! The one they had when we moved in was named Tanner, and they just found a home for him this week. See what I mean? Happy but sad.

There’s no good transition from that, so I’ll just come right out with it: at the retreat on Wednesday, I encountered this wonderful bit of encouragement:

Speaking of, I miss college. The living was easy, my boyfriend had long hair and pierced ears, and Chic-fil-a was merely a 2-minute walk from my classroom door.

But, alas. DC is undoubtedly the best city in the world. It LITERALLY has everything you could ever want in a city. Everyone should live here for the rest of their lives. Actually, don’t EVERYONE move here. The traffic is already horrendous all the time. But, other than that, everyone living here sounds really fun.

Oh, look. It’s 9:16. Bedtime.

I leave you with this: If you tarry ’til you’re better, you will never come at all.

International Justice Misison is awesome. Jesus is really awesome.

IJM is awesome because they (we?!) love justice. Guess why? Because the Lord loves it. Isaiah 61:8 literally says “I, the Lord, love justice.” But more than that, the whole bible paints this amazing picture of how much He loves justice, how much he hates injustice, how we should deal with injustice while on earth, and how He deals with injustice!

If you don’t have time to go read the whole Bible to get the full picture right now, Gary Haugen explains it this way:

“Fundamentally, justice has to do with the exercise of power. To say that God is a God of justice is to say that he cares about the right exercise of power or authority. God is the ultimate power and authority in the universe, so justice occurs when power and authority are exercised in conformity with his standards. In fact, in the Old Testament the Hebrew words for justice and righteousness are almost interchangeable, both indicating a conformity to God’s standards of holiness or moral excellence. Ultimately, the sovereign God of the universe will establish justice over all peoples and spirits because at that time all power and authority in the cosmos will be exercised in accordance with his standards of moral purity. So justice occurs on earth when power and authority between people is exercised in conformity with God’s standards of moral excellence. There is always a distribution of power among people in every human society: political, social, economic, moral, religious, cultural, familial, coercive, financial, intellectual, and so on. To say that God is a God of justice is one way of saying that he is concerned about whether those who have power or authority over others are exercising it in accordance with his standards.“

There is a lot of injustice in the world. And the Lord hates it. And He’s invited us to join Him in pushing back darkness and fighting it!

One way to do that (literally so shameless! But I really mean it! And I don’t get anything if you do this.) is to become a Freedom Partner. All you have to do is give $24 a month! And so much great stuff happens (just click the link to get more details)! You would be massively contributing to IJM’s work, and we’ll keep you updated about all the great stuff that the Lord is doing with your money.

Oh, and here’s the best part. IF YOU BECOME A FREEDOM PARTNER IN SEPTEMBER, SOMEONE IS GOING TO MATCH YOUR DONATION! Your donation is literally doubled. But you’re still paying the same amount. Isn’t that awesome?!

$24 a month is $6 a week. That’s one cup of overpriced specialty coffee or two cups of cheap coffee that you could make better at your house anyway a week!! And then women and children can be rescued out of sex slavery, bonded laborers can be freed, orphans and widows can be protected, rights can be restored to the oppressed citizen, and the illegally detained prisoners can be set free.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven down to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” -2 Corinthians 4:7-10.

International Justice Mission is the greatest organization in the world, hands down. It infinitely surpassed all of my (very high) expectations on day 1.  I spent the entire day learning about the spiritual foundations of the organization with 64 new IJM interns, fellows, and employees that are about to be scattered throughout the world for the sake of the Lord, the sake of the poor and oppressed, and the sake of justice.  We took a break to eat lunch with our new friends, all of whom are very well accomplished and very eager to use their gifts to advance the Kingdom, and another break to share our own stories, stories of the Lord’s grace in our lives and stories of His calling us to justice work through IJM.

And we ended with a state fair themed welcome party at our headquarters. What a day.

“It is exceedingly strange that any follower of Jesus Christ should ever have needed to ask whether social involvement was their concern.” -John Stott.

1. She has inspired me to start blogging again. Let’s be honest. Occasionally putting up some quotes and photos hardly counts as blogging.

2. On day 3 of no shower, day 2 of knowing her, I said, “Oh, my hair is so greasy.” Upon feeling it, she simply replied, “Oh..honey.”

3. She has a great sense of direction.

4. She is awful with google maps on Pete the Glittery iPhone.

5. She hates the morning. We have agreed to not speak to one another until we’ve had our coffee, showers, and are in the car on the way to work. Even then, conversation will likely be very, very limited.

6. She is very easy to peer pressure. Just yesterday, we peer-pressured her into buying a slurpee from 711 at 12:30 am. A day before that, I convinced her to be a Gamecock fan.

7. She solicits my fashion advice.

8. She loves The Glee Project as much as Seth and me do.

9. She likes chai and Dunkin Donuts coffee.

10. She genuinely talks to herself. And she does so unashamedly.

This is going to be a great 3 months on Barnacle. Here’s to lookin’ at you, Sarah. And to Battlestar Galactica.

was my last first day of class ever. Also, I went on the best date ever.  Oh, and I started dating Seth!@#$%#@@*&^$#@#!@!##@

It’s been QUITE the year, to say the least.

On our first date, we went to Greenville. And it was literally the best. We started dating and also held hands.  

Went to football games together.  Our last season as students, and we were DATING! The literal best.

Went on a lot of double dates with Rebecca and Ian. Dream come true!

Went to the fair and rode the swings and giggled a lot.  We also rode the ferris wheel over and over, because it’s romantic and it felt like we were in a movie.

Dressed up as PB & J for Halloween. 

Went and saw Harry Potter with our friends/celebrated Thanksgiving early.  Brought our favorite owl along with us.

Were reunited with Kali, roadtripped to Atlanta, and watched the Gamecocks lose the SEC championship. Still great.

Went on a great Valentines Day date.  Ate heart shaped pizzas, rode bumper cars, and were generally SO HAPPY!

Went to Charleston with the Weaks/had a weeklong double date.

Took my favorite picture of us ever. (Photo credit: Tim Weak)

Vacationed at the Hoover Dam/went to VAN.

Graduated from the greatest University in the world.

Had a graduation party.

Celebrated graduating a lot of times.

Went to A LOT of weddings.

Missed him so much while he was in Europe.  Praise the Lord for gchat.  And skype!!

Road tripped to Omaha.

…for the triple date of a lifetime.

Spent the 4th of July in Chicago with 3 of our favorite people.

And then he met the Baggs! 

And then our parents met each other, and it was awesome.

Seth, you’re the literal best.  You’re also a total babe. There is no other boy in this world that is as great as you.  Thanks for the best year ever.  And for loving me and consistently showing me the gospel. YOU DA, YOU DA BEST.

Lervvvvvvvvvvvvvv you!

 

 

“I never despair of anyone becoming a decided Christian, whatever he may have been in days gone by. I know how great the change is from death to life; I know the mountains of division which seem to stand between some men and heaven; I know the hardness, the prejudices, the desperate sinfulness of the natural heart.

But I remember that God the Father made the glorious world out of nothing. I remember that the voice of the Lord Jesus could reach Lazarus when, four days dead, and recall him even from the grave. I remember the amazing victories the Spirit of God has won in every nation under heaven. I remember all this—and feel that I never need despair.

The arm of the Spirit is not shortened! His power is not decayed! He is like the Lord Jesus—the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is still doing wonders, and will do to the very end. I shall not be surprised to hear, even in this life, that the hardest man I know has become softened, and the proudest has taken his place at the feet of Jesus as a weaned child. I shall not be surprised to meet many on the right hand in the day of judgment, whom I shall leave, when I die, traveling in the broad way.

I never despair, because I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

-J.C. Ryle

“and for this reason the holy supper has been left to us, as a reminder that it is in our lord jesus chris that we must wholly seek all things pertaining to the life of our souls.  for we profess that he is our food, even to satisfy us to the full.  and therefore the reason why we come to it to eat and drink is to be reminded that we have in jesus christ not the half of our life only, but the whole of it, and that when we are fed with him, we must be content with him and not seek one drop or crumb, as they say, elsewhere.  and that is the very reason why he gives himself to us.  he does not think it enough to give us in his sacraments some part and portion of his righteousness, of the merits of the sacrifice of his death and passion, and of the obedience that he has rendered to god his father and of all the gifts that he has received from god his father in their plentitude; but he says, i am yours, possess ye me.” –john calvin.

Happy birthday, my dear princess Drewsuf.  I miss you and I love you.

Rang in the new year in Hotlanta.

Turned 21 at the beach with 20 of my closest friends.

Saw the most snow I’ve ever seen in South Carolina and Tyler turned 21.

Went to Oxford, MS.

Hakum fell asleep before midnight on his 21st.

Stroman turned 21.

Taylor got elected VP! (Ebbie and Peter got elected, too).

Had the best spring break ever with the street sharks.

Kicked it in DC for a couple of days.  Passed a couple of laws.

Kaeleigh got married!

Brought Rebecca home with me for Easter.

Bid a lot of senior Ambassadors adieu.

Felt appreciated at volunteer appreciation night and Lindsey turned 21.

Took ridiculous pictures that we would mock anyone else for taking with my awesome lifegroup.

Hung out in Australia with the Yuhas’ for 2 weeks.

Moved to Boston to try to end poverty with some fools.

Had weekly dinner and sleepovers with 2 of my favorite people on the planet.

Took touristy pictures all over Boston and saw the Blue Man Group with my brother and mother.

Spent the 4th of July with my best friends and some colonists.

Kayaked the Charles/flirted with Seth while Rebecca and Tay kayaked us around the Charles.

Did Boston BIG with the giant Squid.

Shopped until I literally dropped with Caro.

Did New York City in 24 hours.

Saw a show on Broadway.

Hayes and Katelyn got married and Seth saw his chances with me go from 5% to 10%.

Visited North Augusta.

Saw Something Corporate in the ATL.

Rendezvoused with my middle school best friend in a random parking lot in the ATL.

Road-tripped to DC with Beth Ann and went to the White House with Jocelyn and MCN.

Went on the most fun date ever.

Started dating my best friend.

Got to be in Marcie’s wedding and see all my campaign friends.

Became the co-captain of the Mentor program with the most ridiculous person I know.

Trained 35 new and awesome Ambassadors.

My bff got herself a man (and a tan).

Elizabeth got engaged!

Took a roadtrip to the mountains with my roommates.

Beat the number 1 team in the country and had Gameday on the Horseshoe!

Helped Lindsey get ready for a hot date.

Lindsey got engaged-surprise!

Went to my favorite place in Columbia.

Twice!

Lost Drew.

Dressed up as PB&J for Halloween.

Went to my last home football game as a senior.

Ate early Thanksgiving with friendz and saw Harry Potter at midnight.

Took Thanksgiving self-portraits with Paula.

Went to the ATL for the SEC Championship.

Successfully graduated all the Rookies, including me, Sara, and Kelcey’s 3 babies.

George finally turned 21!

Had a cowboys and indians party to celebrate.

Skat graduated.

So did Sal.

Kali got engaged!

Tyler visited Greenville.

We picked out a Christmas tree and took a Christmas card picture that struck my mother’s fancy.

Jaime got engaged!

Rebecca spent Christmas and New Years with me.

Went on an awesome double date.

Had our 5th annual boxing day with the frick 4.

Reunited with the Pentagon.

Here’s to a great 2011, and #htsy.

“They will be my people, and I will be their God.  I will give them singleness of heart and action so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them.  I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.” -Jeremiah 32:38-41.

“bring your heart with its profoundest emptiness, its most startling discovery of sin, its lowest frame, its deepest sorrow, and sink it into the depths of the saviour’s love…christ’s love touching your hard heart, will dissolve it; touching your cold heart, will warm it; touching your sinful heart, will purify it; touching your sorrowful heart, will soothe it; touching your wandering heart, will draw it back to jesus. only bring your heart to christ’s love.”

-octavius winslow.