Makes Me Smile

Making shower invitations.

Little girl makeovers (notice my eyeliner).

Church-wide baptism.

Dominican family visits.

My name spelled correctly.

Texts from my youngest brother.

My boss's office.

My new wallpaper.

Little things from the male barista at Starbucks.

Lots of little things that make me smile,

thoughtful for everything after awhile.

Another Hello Goodbye

In a nutshell, I am a hectic, crazy and emotional state. God is doing a lot in my life and I am in a state of waiting for him to show me what I am supposed to be doing and where I am supposed to be. A lot of emotional is being held within and part of it is coming from my girls.

I love each and every one of them dearly. I think of them every single day. I don't have kids, but those girls are my children. Recently, they have all moved up from the children's ministry in to the early adolescent ministry, which is another post to come, and my emotions have been in constant shambles. Holding myself together, we prepared to plan and have a banquet for them to celebrate this time. I wasn't looking forward to it, because in the past it's been nothing but me crying my eyes out, but I got ready and got excited to celebrate with them.

The night came and it was wonderful. God took hold of my thoughts and my emotions and we had a wonderful time together. With my camera dying, I struggled to get every picture I wanted, and luckily I did.

 What a joyous time. I thank the Lord that we were able to share in this excitement, and although I am crazy emotional about not knowing what the Lord has for us, I know that this is just another ending to another beginning.

Family Ties

This past weekend my brothers and I had the honor of having some pictures taken by the wonderful Rebecca Kelly. Her photography is amazing and I could spend forever looking at what she has done. We met up at the square in Murfreesboro and she snapped away! I was so anxious to get these back, but I had no idea how wonderful they would be! They are awesome, and I am in love with them. Here's some she shared with me.

I think this one is my favorite.

I love how she captured the detail and beauty of my tattoo.

Okay, maybe this one is my favorite.

The famous, Abbey Road.

I cannot say how great these truly are. She is wonderful and with my brother leaving for the Army in a week I will cherish these. They definitely capture our close relationship. If you need some great photos, definitely check her out.

Photos courtesy of Rebecca Kelly Photography. [click here!]

Trust brings joy

I am almost a week out from my last post and almost three posts behind. That gives you a little taste into what this past week has been like for me. Without getting into too much detail or too many tangents I am gong to try and share that...so bear with me.

For the last couple of months I have felt some tension with where I am at with my job. For many reasons, both mine and God's, I felt like it was time for me to leave or that the possibility of my resigning was coming closer and maybe a reality. For weeks I've prayed my heart out, asking for guidance, wisdom and discernment of what to do and when to do it.

After about a month of praying and still feeling this tension, I knew that God would tell me if I really needed to make a change and I let this all go with the trust and faith that if he wanted something to change he would tell me. Well, as God usually does with me, I was hit like a train with the realization that now was the time. When I first realized what he was saying I was flooded with emotion. I was sad. It was sad that this time in my life was coming to an end, but almost in the same moment he spoke to me and in his dear and tender character, told me that there was no need to be sad. He said that anything worth saving from this experience would be saved and he filled me with joy and excitement for what's to come.

Since that moment, I have been the happiest I've ever been. The days following that realization haven't been easy, but they've been what God willed. I couldn't have gotten through them without him, but that comes with anything worth doing. He's given me so much wisdom, excitement and encouragement and I have never felt stronger. I know he has an amazing plan for me. Sometimes it's hard because I don't know what is going to happen or when it will happen, but I know that it's all working for a purpose that he designed specifically for me. I am chosen; I should be joyous in the fact that he is using me for something that is going to make an impact. And I am.

With all that said, I am in a good place. Some people look at me and would never wish for this life. But I tell you, my friend, this is the life to have. I am not working at a job that I loved very much, but I am working for the Lord and according to his will. I am leading a simple, meek life that good is using and is going to use to do big things, some of which I'll never know or see. But this really, is the life. I'm not longer 'intern abbey,' but God has bigger and better things for this girl.

He's Home

Today was an incredibly hard day, which I'll write about later, but in the midst of it all I had planned to pick up my youngest brother, Barton, from the airport and I was really looking forward to it. For the past two weeks he has been spending some time with some family in Texas. After our vacation he went home with them to spend some quality time together. It's the longest we had spent apart in a long time, so we had to improvise. Skype soon came to be our communication outlet.

I had talked to my cousin when she dropped him off and got excited to see him. My other brother, Matt, and I hopped in the car and headed to the airport. As soon as we walked in Matt instantly saw him. We ran up to him, gave him a hug and waited for his bags to come along.

I had the strong urge to fly somewhere. 

Or hop on this for a ride.

Just waiting.

So good to see him.

While we were waiting we realized that Ricky Skaggs was standing next to us!

We even left with an autograph.

And the three musketeers are reunited for now.

Vacation | What I Enjoyed

Sitting on the beach.

Eating fresh seafood.

Doing puzzles instead of work.

Waking up without an alarm.

Creating memories with family.

Staring up at this all day from the pool.

Serious talks with my brothers.

Going seven days without makeup.

Getting caught being silly.

Being surrounded by noise almost 24/7.

Taking afternoon naps.

Having personal wake up calls.

Cooking dinner for my family.

Living days in a swimsuit.

Waking up to this view.

Laughing so hard I cried...every day.

Watching movies during afternoon rain storms.

Just spending time with family.

Being buried alive in sand by the boys.
Reliving childhood memories.

Enjoying the sweetness of young ones.

Sharing midnight conversations with my brother.

Drinking coke and eating junk food.

Sitting outside and not be driven out by Tennessee heat.

Playing bingo with my family.

Being embarrassed by my aunts.

Keeping cool in the pool.

Collecting seashells.

Eating fresh shrimp with Worcestershire sauce.

Celebrating my brother before he leaves.

Being a complete family.

Seeing my brothers all day, every day.

Spending time with my family.

Watching tv with four or five kids next to me.

Reading books on the beach.

Roadtrip breakfast with my brother.

Making memories that will last forever.

Being myself around my family.

Enjoying simple moments with them all.

Playing in the kiddy-pool.

Morning coffee with Jesus.

Seeing everyone love one another.

Loving my family for who they are.

Walmart trips with the tourists.

Night time crab hunts.

Watching the sunrise by myself.

Playing football in the ocean.

Seeing one of my oldest friends.

Family beach portraits...

...well...when we make beach portraits enjoyable.

Seeing God work in us all and giving Him the glory through out every single day.