Turkey Day in Dogville

It's time for a holiday... so naturally I went home to see my family. Well, with 73 dogs... as Jesse McCartney would say, "how do you sleep?"

I was so excited to see the fam... have some laughs, eat some good food... ya know, just chill for a bit. And it was good. It was. We played games and laughed a lot... it was just horribly distracting to have literally 70 dogs running around barking, and making a mess everywhere. I mean, Mom and Aunt Sally are doing the best they know how to... with kennels and such. It's just too much. I feel kinda bad but I couldn't stay there any longer. After Thanksgiving, I hitched a ride to Memphis. It was too crazy loud to even talk to my sister sitting on the couch next to me. No joke. And the thing is, I know Mom didn't want a dog shelter in her house. They just need to learn to say no when people bring them dogs. But what do I know?

So here I am, back at the Hinton's house with my puppy. And here we are, sitting with our laptops, like old times. good stuff.

They love Mei. L.O.V.E her. no surprise there though. Who doesn't?

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at Highland. Can't wait.

ATL life

They call me Ms.Terry...

So I've been teaching at Greater Atlanta Christian School for a couple months now... and I must say, it's been quite a learning experience. First of all, I love my kids. The kids that I teach are so diverse and I've learned so much from them. The second week of school, at the Spiritual Retreat I was given the honor of baptizing one of my students, Hannah Holdridge, into Christ. That's just how the year started off... and it's gotten better every day. I get to talk to my kids about my Lord and hear about their questions and see them grow. It's pretty much the best job I could have. Not to mention, 2 of my best friends in the world teach at my school. Sandy and Derek are both amazing teachers as well as friends. Also, I finally got a puppy. :) Mei is my baby girl and I am crazy about her. I really do love my life here.

So much has happened in the past few months and I haven't been blogging, but I'm going to start keeping up with it again. I need an outlet to process and reflect, and I also need to know that someone is praying specifically about what I'm living... ya know?

Well... anyhow...

I'm crazy busy with grading and stuff but I need to go to bed. The mornings come quickly around here so Mei and I are off to sleep.

Praying for Baby Jayden... Lord I know you are the Healer and the Protector and I trust in your hands!

Praying for GRG this weekend.... I'm coming home Sugar Land!!

Love you.

Camp of the Hills stole my heart.

I just had the most incredible week.

I took my 8th and 9th graders to Camp of the Hills in Marble Falls, TX last week. We were the volunteer staff for the session, and had the privilege of cooking, serving and cleaning up after every meal of the week. Three times a day, for 200+ people, we worked in the kitchen. It was so much fun. 

CotH is a camp for inner city kids. They bus them into the Hill Country and give them an experience of a lifetime. They get to be loved on like never before, and they see Jesus. The counselors at CotH were dedicated to serving the kids and teaching them about the Lord's love and new life in Christ alone. I was really impressed by this camp's mission. I'm even thinking about possibly working as a counselor there next summer. I felt so at home there. 

Oh ya... I also got married to the camp director while I was there... (good story... I'll tell you later.) Good times. :)

On another note...

I'm freaking out a bit. 

I'm moving to Atlanta in 2 weeks. 

2 weeks.

That's craziness.

I've got so much to do before I leave... Lock-in's, One more mission trip, so many people to spend time with, projects to finish, and not to mention... packing up. 

Then I start working at GAC in ATL on July 29th. How crazy is THAT?

My heart is breaking as I think about leaving here. I've grown to love it here at First Colony... and I have fallen in love with my kids... and so many friends. God has blessed my life here. How do I say goodbye? How do I thank these people for all that they have taught me, all that they have given me? 

My heart is breaking,  but I'm always excited about what the future holds for me in Atlanta. God has provided for me life, once again, in a huge way... with a job thats better than anything I could have imagined. in 3 weeks, I'll be Ms.Terry... a High School Bible Teacher at Greater Atlanta Christian School. I'll be living with my best friend, and only 4 hours from my family. God has been for faithful... and I wish I knew how to thank Him. 

The Lord is my Shepherd

I shall not be in want

He makes me lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside still waters

He restores my soul

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his names sake

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I will fear no evil

For you are with me

Your rod, and your staff, they comfort me

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

You anoint my head with oil

My cup overflows!

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever!

(Psalm 23)

Getting ready for a marathon.

The next couple months are freaking me out... just. thinking. about. them.

In 30 days, I'll be moving to Atlanta, GA... to start my new job as a High School Bible Teacher and Campus Minister. It's so bitter sweet to think about. I am so torn... 

I don't want to leave the people I love. Sugar Land has been my home for almost a year. I've fallen in love with my kids... and with First Colony in general. How is it ever easy to leave people that you love? I hate it more than anything. I feel like I'm torn into pieces when I have to do this. Especially leaving Katie and Trisha. I don't know what my life is going to be like without them. I know they will just be a text message away... but I know things are going to change. Change is so weird... because I know there will be great things that will come of my move... but I also know that it's going to hurt really badly to be ripped away from these people that I've grown so close to. 

On the other side, I know that being in Atlanta is going to be an incredible time to get to grow in ministry and in new friendships. I'm looking forward to living with my childhood best friend... and working as a Bible Teacher EVERYDAY! I'm also looking forward to having a more stable schedule. I mean... lets be real... my schedule right now, as a youth minister, is pretty all over the place. I don't have weekends.... and I barely have time to have friends by own age. I'm also looking forward to being closer to the fam. 4 hours away is gonna be such a piece of cake. 

God's timing is so evident in the way all of this went down. 

This is the deal... 

My last day at First Colony is July 22nd... and I'm planning on driving to ATL on the 25th with Derek (thank God he will be riding with me!).

My first "work day" at GAC is on July 30th. 

I'll work on teacher prep stuff and moving in and stuff... and then 

I'm flying to Little Rock to meet up with my best friends for the weekend. (We havent been all together in over a year.)

Then... on Monday...

SCHOOL STARTS!

The kids start school on August 3rd!!! 

I'm going to be "Ms.Terry" on August 3rd. Is that not INSANE?!!!

Ya... thats fast. 

I'm pretty freaked out about it. 

I'm pretty excited too. 

I know this is what I'm meant to do. I have complete peace about it.... and I'm so grateful. God has been so good to me... I can't even put into words... how Faithful he has been. 

Summer is crazy.

I need to sleep.

Camp of the Hills is next week.

Big deal mission trip.

I'm taking my 8th & 9th graders.

Pray for us ok?

Thanks. 

Peace and Love

Change go'n come.

Basically, I haven't had time to breathe, let alone blog. Whoops. Let's remedy that. 

So the winds of change are filling my backyard, and I've got questions up the freakin' wah-zoo. My job situation is coming along, and I'm quite amazed at how things are falling into place. The thing is, I've got two things falling into place, and don't know if I'm choosing correctly. Or really, is there a "correct" choice at all? 

Choice # 1) The principal at a really great private school called me a couple weeks ago, and asked me to apply for a teaching position that is not even officially open yet, so that I would be sure to have a good shot at the job. whoa.  My childhood best friend, Sandy, teaches at this school, and so does my college buddy, Derek. The job would start in the Fall, which is when my internship ends here. Yeah, that's legit.

Choice #2) The Super-intendant at a private school here in Houston called me last week, and asked me to come in this week to discuss the possibility of being their first ever, Female Chaplain.  Yeah, amazing. I'd basically be the Female youth minister for the school. Incredible. The job would start in August as well. 

AHHHHHH!!! 

Please pray for discernment, and God's control in my life. 

Here am I, Send me.

Spring Break was crazy busy. It wasn't really a break at all. The only thing that the word break conjures up is the torn feeling I've been having in my right shoulder. I don't know, but I think all the photography I've been doing has started to mess with my shoulder. Is that silly? I mean, I for real can't figure out what else could have caused this pain. Luckily, I live with the most generous family, and they are sending me to a physical therapist to get it checked out. (I don't deserve the life I live.)

We did a ton with the youth group over break, and Travis and I are thoroughly exhausted. I am glad to say though, that we got the next two days off. (YAHOO!)

So I'll write more later... 

But as for now,

I'm on my way to dream of the beach and gelato ice cream. 

Yes please.

Night friends. 

Thoughts at 2:36am

I have no idea why I'm still awake, but I think it has to do with the fact that I just watched American Idol. I can't clam down. That show just fills me up. 

I still have no idea where I'm going to be by the end of August... and I'm starting to feel like I might end up working at a school. At first I was a bit apprehensive about that, but it's starting to feel better every time I remember that I would have summers and weekends off. Yes Please. I hope I get to move in with Katie and Koko. Koko is a sure thing... but Katie is a necessity. Please Lord. 

I got an iPhone this Monday. 

My life has changed. 

Everyone should have an iPhone.

I also got a purple case for her... to match my macbook and iPod. :)

Yes. I like purple. problem? didn't think so. 

I seem really materialistic huh? Man I sure am blessed.

I got a pedicure today and the color I picked out happen to be really lovely in the bottle, just not quite so lovely on my toes. Dark turquoise turned into florescent green. Whoops. Happy St. Pattys Day.
Also, the ladies at the nail place were really rude to me and my friend. I know I couldn't understand them because of the language barrier, but I could see what they were getting at ya know? Not nice. No thanks Sweet Water Nails.
So then Katie wanted to go get a manicure later. And since today was my day off I went ahead and went with her (I'm so spoiled and I'm almost embarrassed about how wonderful my life is here). Well anyhow, the lady who did my manicure was so friendly. Her name was Susan and she grew up in California by the beach so we talked about missing the water. She also told me about her host Mother (the woman who she lived with when she came from Vietnam as a teenager.) It was wonderful talking with her. So refreshing to have a conversation instead of sitting there akwardly as someone serves me by pampering my hands and feet like I'm some princess. Does anyone else ever feel humiliated when being pampered like that? I do. But with Susan, I felt like I was just visiting with a friend. It was wonderful.

Ok. Completely exhausted.
Sleepin over at Katie's tonight.
:)

Celebrate Good Times

So I had a pretty wonderful birthday.

Thanks to some pretty wonderful people. 

I can't believe how completely blessed I feel. 

Here is the sum-up of my day :)

Midnight brought me a few great conversations with good friends who couldn't wait to call me for sweet birthday wishes. Bree included of course. It was so odd to be without her. To those friends and family, I say thank you. 

The morning was delightful. Bordo, Gina, Travis and Sherilan (the youth staff) took me to one of my very favorite places... Panera Bread. And with my blueberry bagel and cream cheese in hand, I realized how blessed I am to be at First Colony. 

So then back at the office, the ministry staff had a cake for me... delish. 

Trisha made me the most tasty strawberry cupcakes that I was given to bring to work... so I ate those too. 

(needless to say I was getting pretty full at this point.)

For lunch, I was so blessed to spend some time with Joyce Swanson, one of the sweetest, Spirit filled Mom's I've ever met. We went to this restaurant called "The Hobbit" which was themed after the Lord of the Rings. Cyndi (my baby sis) would have LOVED it. I don't know if I felt like I was in the Shire, but I most definitely enjoyed the experience. Joyce, you have made me feel so at home here. You and Deborah are so dear to my heart.

When I returned to the office, Travis and Katie were there... being sneaky in my office, not letting me in. :) So I waited until they called me in... 

Katie walked me into the office... and with the lights turned out, balloons filling the room and candles lit, they started singing ... very loudly (haha). I just stood there... hugging Katie the whole time they were singing... and I could barely hold myself together. I thought to myself, 

"Thank you God for Katie!!! and Thank you for Travis!!! How could I be so loved?"

As they finished the song... and waited for me to blow out the candles, I said, "Oh no! we need a picture!" 

and ran to get my camera... (haha whoops!) And Travis said, "You WOULD do that."

After that, they had me open a few presents... 

get ready to freak out with me....

You wont believe what they got for me.

It's way too much.

OKAY okay... I'll tell you. 

THEY GOT ME A GARMIN GPS!!!! (AHHHHH!!!)

Can you believe that??!

How are my friends so amazing to me? ! ! !

For real... WHAT were you guys thinking?

AHHH!!!!!!

Okay, so as the celebrating continued... I was getting pretty full, and emotionally drained as well. So before our birthday dinner... I went home and sat on my love-seat for a little bit and read my ridiculous amount of facebook wall posts (one of my favorite parts of my birthday of course... Come on... don't act surprised. )

The next part of day was quite wonderful. I went over to Katie's house, and we got dressed to go out to  fancy dinner. I had no idea where we were going, and I liked it that way. Travis and Jamie escorted us... and we enjoyed a lovely dinner at an really hip Italian place called Grotto, which was in Houston. 

And we ate, and ate some more! 

(I feel sure that I ate more on Monday than I've ever eaten in one day.)

I had a perfect filet of salmon with shrimp, mushrooms and

 potatoes. Oh. My. Goodness. It was fabulous. That's all I can say. 

Dessert was prime time. We all got something different, and shared. My gelato was fancy :)

                           

Getting all dressed up is just too much fun :)

Thank you for such an incredible day Katie, Travis, Jamie, Trisha, Joyce, Matt, FCYG...

I thank my God for you guys. 

What a wonderful life I live. 

I am now a whole pack of candles...

Joyfully,

Jess