Angel Baby...

So, this trip home has been so fabulous. Namely, because I got to meet the love of my life...

...Kiera.

I can't even express how quickly she stole my heart. Really, she's had it since day 1 of her life but being able to actually see her in real life solidified it. She's the sweetest little baby and LOVES to be held. Her skin is so soft, she has gorgeous big blue eyes, and she's basically perfect in every way.

I am so thankful for all of your prayers. She's a fighter and I have total faith in her perseverance to continue overcoming battles as they come up in this fallen world. More than anything, I'm thankful to Jesus who has carried her in his arms since the day she came into this earth.

Welcome to the world, sweet girl. May you know that you were created with an incredible purpose, are loved beyond measure, and are unbelievably beautiful.

Broken

Without going into a lot of detail, there is just a lot of brokenness in my family right now...
My precious baby cousin Kiera is in ICU with respiratory issues and there are other things going on that make me feel so helpless. Most of the time, I am beyond fine with not being in control of life in this crazy world. Situations like this make me feel so differently. I just want to step in and fix everything and save Kiera from going through so much pain...

...but I can't. I have to trust in Jesus with all that is within me. He knows everything about Kiera's sweet little body and loves her way more than I ever could. At this point, the words of Pslam 51:17 are bringing me so much comfort.

"Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice."

My Uncle Tommy just came home from a different hospital yesterday. He had congestive heart failure but is doing much better and just needs to take it easy. I really really want to take a weekend off and go home to be with my family but I know that me being there would not change any of the situations and would probably not be good for my life. If you guys could just pray that Jesus would have his hand in these situations and that the Holy Spirit would cover our family with peace, that would be so great.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."-John 14:27

Warning: be sure to enter all digits correctly.

So I have a great story to tell....at least I think it's really amusing. Hopefully you do too!

I'm having dinner with my friend Aubrey tonight but didn't have her number in my phone, so I called Lindsay to get it from her. She sent it in a text message and I memorized it quickly and retyped it to send a text message to Aubrey. Our conversation proceeded as follows:

Me: Hey girl!! Are we still good for dinner tonight?

Them: For sure. Where and when.

Me: Well, we had talked about tflats...is that still good?

Them: oh yeah

Me: What time? Does 6 still work for you?

Them: ok

Sounds like a normal conversation, right? WRONG. I realized quickly after that that I had mistyped the number and was texting a complete stranger! He actually called me and I had to explain myself. He told me that he thought I was a friend playing a joke on him and asked me what city I was in to which I responded that I wasn't really comfortable giving him that information. Then, he told me that he was driving from north to south Florida so he probably wouldn't be near me anyways.

Awkward? Yes.

Amusing? HECK yes.

Prayer works.

Can I just say that seeing how the Lord has been working in the lives of so many people I love has been totally overwhelming recently?
Precious Jesus, thank you for moving in lives...bringing freedom, healing, and life! You are so good to us.

Crazy people....

In reference to the crazy "pastor" who wants to burn the Koran:

"The idea that we would burn the sacred texts of someone else's religion is contrary to what this country stands for. It's contrary to what this nation was founded on. My hope is that this individual prays on it and refrains from doing it."-President Obama

I don't think I could say it any better myself, except to add the fact that what this man is wanting to do is contrary to the Jesus that I know. I don't know what "god" he's talking to, but it's not the One that speaks to me. Praying that the burn doesn't happen this weekend and that crazies like that pastor might one day see people the way that Jesus really sees them.

Observations from fall thus far...

I'm just not in the mood to really write anything, so I think I'll just write a list of some things that I thought were amusing/exciting/part of life in the past week.

• Today in my Foundations of Reading class, we had to go around with a bingo card and find people that satisfied the requirement. One of the objectives was to find something who was on a professional sports team. I had TWO people come up to me and ask me if I played sports because I looked sporty. I laughed me head off and took it as a compliment. Maybe running club is finally paying off! Haha...
• Speaking of that class, the teacher (bless her heart...) is EXTREMELY wordy. I think I'll enjoy it for the most part, but I'm going to have a really hard time not tuning her out. She spent 3 hours going over the syllabus today.
• I totally threw my shoulder out somehow. It's gradually getting better, but I'm desperately trying to take it easy so that I don't further hurt it. I must have had violent dreams or something one night...
• Freshley is going to be AWESOME this year. I've only met a few of the wonderful students that we'll have in our group, but I am so in love with the leaders that we have and I'm super excited to see how the Lord works this year.
• I am ridiculously already in love with my Children's Literature class. I forgot how much I loved reading when I was younger. The major assignment for the class is a huge reading journal where we have to write about 37 children's books. Can you say heaven?
• I might be getting a job at the library! My every-good-adjective-ever friend Lindsay told me that there was an opening where she works in the copying/printing office and I have an interview for tomorrow morning at 8 AM! It's basically a job checking machines occasionally and offers a lot of free time for homework and such. Praying that it goes well tomorrow!
• My roommates are awesome. End of story. This summer was great with people moving in and out, and I loved living with all of them, but I'm so thankful for Ali and Jaclyn and for them being settled in. Hooray!

So that's basically been my life lately. Hope you are blessed!

Love,

Brit

Heartbroken

You know how some things that you have to do are so much harder than you ever realized they would be? I do.

I've had the privilege of sponsoring a sweet little girl named Kalkidan from Ethiopia these past 4ish years. Because of my lack of a consistent job and rising expenses, I had to call and cancel my sponsorship this morning. I was months behind on contributions and just do not have the resources to be a good, consistent sponsor.

I called Compassion this morning and the man I talked to was so nice. He suggested that I write her one last letter letting her know that I love her and that I'm always praying. I know that God will provide for her, but it doesn't do much to stop the tears.

Now, on to writing this letter. I love you, sweet girl. So much.

Helllloooooo, summer!

You know, hanging out in a vineyard. What a beautiful wedding it was!

We went to a fabulous thrift store and found these gems...

Playing around some more...

Princess party!

The whole road trip crew...

I felt like it hadn't been that long since I had updated my blog, however, it appears that a whole summer semester has passed since the last update! It's unbelievable how time tends to fly...

Summer semester was so interesting. I do not suggest trying to cram already difficult classes into 8 weeks. It is simply obnoxious. However, now it leaves the rest of the summer completely class free, so I have much to be thankful for. Speaking of thankfulness, I really feel like being thankful is what the Lord has continually been reminding me of lately.

Life has been relatively calm for me in these past few months (thank the Lord), however, it has not been that way for so many people that I care so deeply about. For about 2 weeks I just felt like life was crashing down for many of my dearest friends and it was so overwhelming. I'm a "fix-it" personality and it killed me on the inside to not be able to change the circumstances that were causing them so much pain. Before all of this happened, I had kind of lost touch with the Lord in that I was not making the effort to go deeper in my own personal journey. I'm frustrated with myself for not seeing that earlier, but I'm also so thankful that He was so present in every hard time. I was at the end of my human helping abilities, with no words left to speak to bring any comfort at all to the people that I loved. Jesus was there all along working in ways that I was never capable of in the first place. I love being reminded of that. I need to be reminded more often than I realize...

As far as everything else goes, there have been so many fun events going on lately. For instance, we had a princess party, a birthday bowling fest, a latin/chinese food and dance party, an epic road trip to GA to celebrate the wedding of the one and only Katie Nash and to have many adventures otherwise. I'll post some pictures to give a better look at all the fun.

I realize that I ask for prayer on here a lot, but here I am...going again. I am really looking for a job. I've applied at Publix and it looks like a good possibility if some positions open up in the next few weeks. I talked to a manager today and she said to come back in 2 weeks to check again, so it would be really fabulous if you could pray that something would open up in that time, or that God would open a door somewhere else.

Hope your summers are really wonderful so far! Praying that God reminds you of all there is to be thankful for this week, and that you are not quite as thick-headed as I tend to be. :)

Love,

Brit

Blast from the past....

You can officially start calling me Ms. Baker as today was the first day of my substitute teaching career! Let me just tell you...it was bizarre. I thought it might be a funny experience simply because I was teaching at the very same school I attended not too many years ago and I was so right!

As soon as I arrived, I found that I would be teaching in the same classroom in which I attended kindergarten. As if that was not strange enough, I was teaching alongside women who taught me when I was little! When I arrived, I had my first group of 2nd grade students for reading. They.were.monsters! It was interesting to me that I actually got along really well with the "troublemakers" that Stacee warned me about but did not enjoy the "good kids". They were such tattletales and could not stand to mind their own business. Part of being in 2nd grade, I guess :)

After lunch, I got a new group of kids for math time. We went to recess first, where so many memories came up. I saw where I was "married" in 1st grade, where Rhonda broke her arm in 3rd, where I fell off the swing set and got caught on my overall strap, where one of my best friends in the world told me that she was moving away, etc. etc. etc. I remembered the day the new playground equipment arrived in 3rd grade and how it was so exciting (and now looks old and worn just like everything else). After recess it was time for tech lab with Mrs. Anderson, the same lady who was there when I was in school. When I came to pick the kids up she showed me how my picture was still proudly displayed in her room because of a huge contraption a few friends and I had made that had never been topped. Quite an afternoon of reminiscing...

We came back, had a quick math lesson, then switched to homeroom where we watched Spongebob while cleaning up and getting ready to go home. It was certainly an adventurous afternoon and reminded me of why I want to be a teacher. No day is ever the same and the students deserve someone who sees their potential more than they do. Needless to say, it was a great first experience! :)

Brit

Summer Time!

Just a short little blurb to say....

Hello, summer! For at least 2 weeks or so...haha

Life...in all its messiness.

Life has been crazy complicated yet totally joyous lately. I've really been appreciating the concept of community and have been constantly reminded of the beautiful people that the Lord has blessed me with. Recently, some things have come up where there are some complicated situations that really are not that big of a deal, but in my current mental state everything is blown out of proportion. This song has really been blessing me lately...maybe the words in it are what you need to be reminded of, too.

1. Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,
   Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
   Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,
   Jesus, I come to Thee;
   Out of my sickness, into Thy health,
   Out of my want and into Thy wealth,
   Out of my sin and into Thyself,
   Jesus, I come to Thee.
2. Out of my shameful failure and loss,
   Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
   Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,
   Jesus, I come to Thee;
   Out of earth’s sorrows, into Thy balm,
   Out of life’s storms and into Thy calm,
   Out of distress to jubilant psalm,
   Jesus, I come to Thee.
3. Out of unrest and arrogant pride,
   Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
   Into Thy blessed will to abide,
   Jesus, I come to Thee;
   Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
   Out of despair, into raptures above,
   Upward for aye on wings like a dove,
   Jesus, I come to Thee.
4. Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,
   Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
   Into the joy and light of Thy home,
   Jesus, I come to Thee;
   Out of the depths of ruin untold,
   Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,
   Ever Thy glorious face to behold,
   Jesus, I come to Thee.

Blessings

So, lately God has been reminding me of how He blesses me on a daily basis. The little things, the big things, and everything in between. A couple of specifics:

• People! People who encourage, keep me on track, love, make me laugh, listen, talk, etc etc etc. Relationships are central to life for me, and I'm so thankful that my Jesus knows that and has provided such great people to live my life with.
• Finally getting be part of a worship band again. Music is one of my favorite ways to communicate with the Lord and so it's really great to be part of that again!
• Living with my brother has been wonderful. Granted, we don't see each other as much as we'd like, but those nights where we're both just goofy or get to talk about our days are always fun.
• Schhhooool! Yes, I know, I just said that. I really used to dread going to class, feeling like I was wasting my time/money. Now, I love it! For the most part, I have great classes with subjects that I really enjoy. What a blessing!
• Annnddd. dun dun dun dun! Jesus has really been helping me continually be filled with Him. I'm not advertising in any means, but I finally feel like I'm at the point in my life where I'm not closing the door on relationship opportunities that arise. There is obviously still going to be lots of prayer and petition before going into anything, but it's not not an option anymore. As I've opened this door, I feel like there were a few days where I was wanting a relationship so badly that being fulfilled in Jesus didn't even really mean much. Buttt, in His grace he gave me some time to spend with Him and reminded me that He is my first love. All in all, I'm really happy and comfortable with where I'm at now. :)

How has Jesus been working with you, lately?

Love you all, so much!

Brit

Swamp Caaabbaaaaaggeeee!

Alright ladies, we have quite the task before us.

Find everything fun/quirky about Swamp Cabbage and participate in all the festivities.

There will probably be quite a few people from UCF coming down, so I want to offer up the most authentic, countrified experience ever.

Love,

Brit

PS. should we do the mudhole? haha...

The first step to overcoming an addiction...

...is to recognize that you have a problem. There, I said it.

I am addicted to board games!

I guess I've always held a certain fascination with them. There are just so many great aspects! For instance...

1. FREE! Once you buy them of course.

2. Unlike watching movies (which I also thoroughly enjoy), there is actually interaction between people.

3. It's a great way to break the ice and get conversation started with people that you don't know.

4. They never get old. A game is different every time, depending on how things play out and who is playing.

Not really sure why I wanted to write about this, but alas, I wrote. I guess it was because I wanted to share my weekend with everyone, and board games encompassed much of it. I also studied for my math test that is happening in a couple hours. Kind of nervous! Especially since like a ding-dong, I read all of every chapter whereas if I would have reviewed my notes first, I would have seen that only parts of some chapters were necessary. Lesson: READ YOUR NOTES FIRST!

So, what's your favorite way to spend time with people? Or some favorite board games?

My current favorites: Quelf!, Rummikub, Taboo, Catch Phrase, Apples to Appples...

Love,

Brit

Rallying in prayer...

Alright, guys. I came across the story of a sweet little girl named Kate, and thought I'd do my part to spread the word.

Kate was diagnosed with a brain tumor in late June 2009, and now is fighting the battle for her life. Her parents are grounded in their faith and are asking for prayer support through this stage in their lives. I cannot even imagine going through what Kate and her family are experiencing now. The least and the best thing we can do is pray for them. I'll post the website in case any of you want to follow her story.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

Love,

Brit