Friends and the Preacher's Kid

I had written this shortly after I went to school. I never could figure out a way to post it until now and every time I was on the internet during the school year I didn't have the flash drive that I had saved this on. So here it is now! :)

 

 

Friends

 

This is for you Pk’s out there.

Never underestimate the power of friends. They can share a load just by listening, they can raise your spirits with just a few words, and they can make everything go away even if just for a few hours.

I think as Pk’s we end up secluding ourselves unintentionally. Instead of sharing burdens, we look for other ways to deal with the stress. Some act out, some have breakdowns, some just don’t care, some take it to the extreme of leaving it all behind. I dealt by internalizing it all. It’s hard to have friends, especially in your Dad’s church. We know too much and you always feel like you have to be on guard, or a perfect shining example of the Christian life.

I lived about 4 years without anyone. Big mistake! I ended up feeling so secluded and trapped. I will never let that happen again. The difference this last year since I have had a friend nearby, and then moving back to where so many old friends live has been eye-opening to what I had become. By internalizing everything that had happened, I had become almost unfeeling. Feeling hurt too much. However, by closing myself off, I also missed the joy of sharing the good things with people. You know what they say, “life is better shared”. It’s true! Even the bad things get better and easier to deal with when someone else helps carry the load.

So, reach out. Find someone to share with. Renew old friendships, and then do everything in your power to maintain them. You never know when they might just save your sanity!

 

Can I also add a bit about finding other Pk’s to befriend? NO ONE will understand you better. (Other than God, of course) Friends and parents will try to, but unless they have been there, they won’t. Find one that’s been a Pk longer than you. They have walked in your shoes; they alone know the exact thing you need in a trial. And when you are on the listening end of the relationship, listen, and then don’t pass it on. Agree right up front that what you say stays between the two of you. It has always been the unwritten, unspoken agreement, but I fear people are forgetting that these days. Don’t judge right away, sometimes we just need to vent. Admit it! You’ve needed to before!

I recently got to spend time with another Pk. I came away so refreshed, so encouraged, and not feeling so alone anymore! Someone else had gone thru what I was going thru! I was not crazy!

Finally, pray for your friends! When they share a burden, pick it up and pray for them. Don’t expect them to pray for you when you aren’t returning the favor. Can I say especially, PRAY FOR YOUR PK FRIENDS! You know better than anyone what to pray for. Even if it’s just a stress-free day. Send a note or a small gift unexpectedly, you have no idea how much that can change a day, week, or month. Just to know someone cares, and is praying.

 

 

God, thank you for my friends. Thank you for their listening ears and for their prayers on my behalf. Thank you for the encouragement they bring every time I see or talk to them. Help me to remember to keep them in my prayers every day, and to do my part to be a good friend. I pray for my Pk friends especially that you will give them wisdom as they tackle this life you have laid out for them. Guard their mouths, and give them patience. Send someone to encourage them when I can’t. Thank you for the gift of friendships!

Amen

Success!!!

Yay! It worked! So the picture is some of my gang from school at Fine Arts. From left to right: Heather, Julia, my roommate Gem, Me! Kassandra, and Ashley.

Hello!

I'm trying a new way to blog. Thanks to John for telling me how to do this! If it works I can blog from my email!!! Hopefully I can get the pics to send from here too... :)

Contentment

So, everyone keeps asking me what is the most memorable/important/valuable lesson that I have learned this year in school. Well, I have learned so much it could have had the potential to turn into a very long process of introspection, but God has been hammering this one lesson into my life all year. So my answer to the question is: Contentment! Now it is still a work in process, I think it is something I will always struggle with, but God has taught me a lot in this area this year. I did my devotional for speech class on contentment and it was such a wonderful time of learning for me. It was a wonderful study and God taught me so much thru that assignment. My room at school is now covered with quotes on contentment. My favorite is:
"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of what you already have." Unknown Author
It is a daily struggle for me, but I have learned that it's a decision that I have to make daily. All I have to remember is that I am "complete in HIM!" Colossians 2:10

Another Semester Already????

I can't believe that it has already been another semester! Wow! I have had a busy year so far! I had a full course load and I also worked. I was in 3 choirs. One of them was a graduate recital. It was a requirement for one of my friends to graduate with her Master's. I will post videos of it soon! :) School was amazing this semester! I learned a whole bunch and........ 4.0 continues!!! Praise God! He alone got me thru this semester! It was a rough one! I am staying in the bubble for the summer. I am home for a week on vacation and am going to try to blog as much as possible before I leave! Must set up a way to blog while in the bubble.... :) 'Til later!

Me!~

4 Months in Pictures!

I am not dead!! I promise! I was woefully neglectful of ya'll though, and I apologize! I will try to be better this year! If I am not you can always visit my sister's blog because she actually gets internet at school.
We are going to work backwards because I can't figure an easy way to reverse them.... :)


New Years Day my sis suprised me with a trip to Daytona!!!!!!!

Can you tell I'm excited???

Christmas Day with the Senn Family! (and Mickey....)

Yes, we were at Disney World for Christmas week, my birthday and New Years! This is a glimpse of the AWESOME fireworks display on Christmas day.

Christmas Dinner! Can you say Yummy????

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Awwww!!! 23 years later!!!! (must find that original pic...)

Becci, Mom and Me!

The Fab Four at Christmas Lights! One of the highlights of the Christmas season at PCC. They have an outdoor concert and light all the Christmas lights on campus at the end. I waited 4 1/2 hours in the bitter cold to save our awesome seats! I'm still cold guys.....

John Andrews, Me, Josh Bankston, Becci

Fine Arts and 3 of the Fab Four in their natural state.... Yes... John has that look quite often! ;)

Becci, John Andrews, Josh Bankston

Fine Arts again! Becci and Me! (apparently no one recognizes us in this pic....)

My answered prayer!!!!

Dawn's Senior recital!!! She did an awesome job!

Me, Dawn Watson, Becci

Greek Rush..... A rite of passage I had missed before and have now experienced. Thank God that's over!!! LOL

Me and a VERY short Cougar..... (John Andrews, the little brother)

Thanks for all the prayers ya'll! I had a wonderful first semester and made some awesome friends. More about that later! Love to all!!!

Me!

PS..... I GOT STRAIGHT A'S!!!! 4.0 and the President's List!!!! Whooo Hoooo!!!

Mysterious Ways!

Have you ever wished for something really hard, knowing that it will *never* happen, but you still want it very much so you pray for it??? "It will never happen" you say, but it gets put on a list in the back of your mind. It gets to be a list of "impossible dreams" really! And then, have you ever looked back on that list and realized just how many prayers were answered off that list??? And most of them in the most unusual/creative ways! And then you get convicted for not believing that with God NOTHING is impossible! We know it as a truth, we quote the verse, we have the head knowledge. As the preacher said on Sunday "we believe in it, but we haven't really believed on it".

Well, this year has been like that for me. I had a list of prayer requests like that at the beginning of the year. Things I wanted, but knew they were next to impossible to get. They ranged from wanting to be there when a best friends first child (a miracle child that I have prayed for for a very long time) born, to spending more time with family, and many things in between. As I sit here waiting for the school year to start, I've had the opportunity to go over my list. I was shocked to find almost every prayer was answered! (I know.... not believing on again!) But, imagine my shock when I realized that 1 event enabled every single prayer to be answered!

Sometimes when you go thru something awful, you are tempted to question "Why me God?? What did I do wrong??" Never realizing that God is actually using something bad to work miracles! I lost my job earlier this year. It was a horrible situation that caused a lot of pain. And right here I want to thank all of you who believed in me, and have been such an encouragement to me, and never let me doubt that God was working, even if we couldn't see. So, from something as bad as this, God answered the "impossible dream" prayer list! Yes, that's right! I lost my job, and as a result almost everything on the list became possible! God works in Mysterious ways! LOL

Because I lost my job, I got to stay at home and spend the summer with my family. I got to be a daily part of their ministry again, something that I hadn't been able to do in 4 1/2 years.
Because I lost my job, I was able to visit a dear friend in a burn center in another state right after her accident. It was such a blessing to be there and see God's hand!
Because I lost my job, I got to be at the hospital to see the miracle baby minutes after he was born!
Because I lost my job, I am going to school next week to get my degree. I will walk with my sister in the graduation ceremony! (Her with her Master's, me with my Associates)
Because I lost my job, God moved me to where I have been begging Him to move me for years!

The list goes on and on! And all because of 1 event that most people would say that no good could come from. I can't wait to see what happens next! So when you wish you could do something, Stop Wishing! Start Praying!! You might be surprised at how God works!


P.S. I have an appeal hearing over the phone on Wednesday morning concerning my job and unemployment. PLEASE keep me in your prayers that day! It will be my 2nd day of school and I am already a basket case. I just want to put it all behind me, but it refuses to stay there. :)