Bucket List 2012

Hello!

So it has been quite some time since mylast post. I have been rather busy traveling, and getting back into a routine at State for Spring semester.

BUT some more things have been completed.

23. See a SHOOTING STAR.

I had the awesome privilege of getting to serve as a leader for Crosspoint Baptist's youth DNOW 2012. I work with this youth group everyweek, specifically with the high school girls, so I was very excited about an entire weekend with these awesome girls.

We stayed at a family's house that was wayyy out on theoutskirts of Starkville. The house was i

n the middle of the woods, completely isolated and at night you couldsee EVERYTHING. It was beautiful outside and so clear. Soo, all that to say, I saw a shooting star.

When I see beautiful things like that, clear skies filled with hundreds of thousands of stars, I am reminded of Romans1:20..That "His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made, so they are without excuse." The Lord is clearly seen in his amazing creation. Thiswas a great reminder to me of this truth.

24. Road Trip with Friends!!

Well I left Albany Christmas day withmy family to go to see our relatives in Huntsville, AL. Then I left from there to go back to Starkville, where I met KB and we began to unpack everything from our break at home and attempt to pack for our 9 dayroadtrip that would start the next day. (Girls trying to pack for 9 days in one bag, in the winter, isalmost impossible)..

After several hours we were finally packed and ready for our roadtrip. The next morning, Mookie,Amy and Ford met us inStarkville. We started loading Melissa's car,and this was a challenge to say the least. We were packed to the max in her car, everyone had something under their feet as well asin their laps. But, finally we were packed and we were headed to Nashville, TN for the Music City Bowl.

We arrived in Nashville and stayed at Gaylord Opryland Hotel. I

have never been so in awe of hotel in my life. It was like it's own city, it was very overwhelming and soo beautiful because it was still decorated for Christmas. We spent 3 days in Nashville, hanging out downtown, line dancing, eating (we did that a lot) and then of course being bulldogs and going to the bowl game. It was a great trip, but just stop one on our 9 day road trip.

Then our next stop was ATLANTA...We were all going for the Passion Conference but we had a few days until that began so we stayed at our friend Andrew's house for New Years. We had a ton of fun, played Just Dance 3 on the Wiifor hours and hours New Years Day. Pretty Hilarious..

Then on the 2nd we began our way into downtown Atlanta to register for Passion and check into our hotel. We stayed at the Westin with Campus Crusade. It was slightly overwhelming. stressful when we arrived because over 1,000 college students were all trying to check in and then get to their rooms using 8 elevators. Pretty Chaotic, but we managed to get our room and get registered before the first session began.

Passion was amazing. Unlike anything I have ever experienced. Jesus was there, and 45,000 college students were there to worship Him... I feel like we were able to experience a small taste of Heaven. It was beautiful.

Our emphasis for our fundraising the entire week was human trafficking, modern-day slavery. This is an issue I was completely unaware of. 27 million people are trapped in slavery around the world today, and this is more than ever before in the history of humanity.This is an issue that must be ignored no longer. I have developed such a passion to see this issue be ended in my lifetime.

When we got back to Starkville for Spring semester, we could not stop thinking about what can we do about this. Melissa just threw out the idea of a race to raise money. We froze and all looked at each other, and knew this was something we , as 21-22 year old college students, could actually do. So we have put together a team of 10 students, 5 girls and 5 guys, and we are planning a 5K race here at Mississippi State. All the money we raise will go to an organization call IJM (International Justice Mission) www.ijm.org IJM specificallyworks to rescue those trapped in sex slavery as well as forced labor slavery.

We have had several meetings with our dean of students here at State, and Campus Crusade is going to sponsor the race. We are trying to raise money through sponsorships with local and corporate businesses. We are trusting the Lord to provide the money to fund the race, so that as much money as possible can go toward IJM. It has been amazing to watch and see how supportive and excited people are about this idea.

We are calling the Race, RUN to RESCUE. and claiming Isaiah 58:6, " No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people." Ignorance regarding this issue is no longer an option. We want to see people rescued from this bondage.

25. Disney Movies

This past weekend KB, Melissa and I went to see Beauty and the Beast 3D. Then we came home and watched Little Mermaid, and also Aladdin. It was a Disney kind of day for sure. :) We are kids at heart.