I've Moved...Again!!

That's right. I have moved again. I am now living in Arizona. Why you may ask? My mom is going to pastor here and I prayed and felt led to go. So here I am! It is very hot here, but I am very thankful that it is dry. I think North Carolina is beautiful, but I do not care for the humidity. A lot of changed have happened in my life since I last posted. Namely, I'm not in nursing school anymore. It is a long story and I would love to tell you it when you have the time. Basically, Nursing + Sara = no way! It was not at all what I was expecting. I learned a lot though and gained valuable experience I do not regret. As for what I want to do with the rest of my life? I have no idea. One thing I do know is that I want to win souls for Christ. I want to serve God to the best of my ability. He means the world to me and I love Him so!! I was set forth as I lay minister this summer and I have felt God anointing me for the work ahead. I don't know exactly where He is going to lead me, but I want to trust Him. I read on someone's blog that they were having difficulties trusting God and I have to say that I struggle with that. I know without a doubt that He loves me, but I guess being in this world makes me frustrated and confused. I know I have to trust Him with college, a job, my ministry, and so many other things, but a lot of times I want to take things into my own hands or just worry myself to death. My poor family. 

I got to attend the General Assembly the year and it was awesome! The best I've been too in my short life. I know that next year will be even better. The way God moved Sunday morning was amazing. I felt his presence so strong. I also enjoyed International Youth Camp immensely. I got to meet some new people and God's presence was there in a mighty way as well. I learned how to be a better witness and how to be a more effective cabin leader. I am excited about our next Youth/Family Camp. I'm also excited about what God is going to do here in Phoenix. We have a great group of young people that love the Lord. I know we can do a lot to help win souls and grow the Church here. I just need to get past my insecurities. Well, this post is longer than I thought it would be. I love you all.

       Sara

Long Overdue Post

Hey!

Sorry it has been months since my last post. I have an account with Facebook and Twitter now so I seem to use them more.

So what is new with me? Well, I got into the nursing program at Wilson CC. I start classes tomorrow. I am so excited!! Just got back from NC State Convention on Sunday. It was really good and I got a blessing on sunday morning. Also got to see my friend Linda which is always great. I got all four of my wisdom teeth removed last thursday. That is definitely a painful experience. I have been having a lot of jaw pain and headaches, but I am glad they are gone because they were impacted and infected.

I will not be making it to the Assembly this year which is a big bummer. I always look forward to it. I just cannot take time off from school. I hope to attend next year thought. Well, I better go. I need to get some rest for my first day of classes. I love and miss you all.

    Sara 

Pictures of My Mission Trip to England! Commentary to follow.

Off to England!

Hey,

I do not have much time to post since my mom and I will be leaving for the airport in a few minutes. It is finally here! I am heading to England on a mission trip. The mission team will consist of my mom and I as well as Bro. and Sis. Griffin, Sis. Theresa Ard, and Sis. Jada Knowling. Just about everyone on the team are preachers. lol! So my mom and I will fly out of Greensboro and then meet the team in Detroit, Michigan. From there, we will fly about 11 hrs. to Amsterdam, Holland, and then we will arrive in Birmingham, England. I am so, so excited! Can ya tell? Youth Convention starts this weekend and Sis. Griffin will be the guest speaker. Then we will spend Sunday visiting the churches in England. We will also be passing out tracks and going door to door next week. Keep us in your prayers and I will post pictures when I get back. Lots of Love!

     Sara

Great News!

Hey everyone,

I'm sorry I have not posted for about a month now. I get so busy sometimes that when I have a free moment I chose to spend it relaxing instead of blogging.

So what has happened since my last post? Well, I went to District Convention in Lucoma a couple of weeks ago. It was such a blessing and I really enjoyed all of the boosts and messages. I also went on Spring Break a couple of weeks ago. I always enjoy a break from school. : )

The great news I have to tell ya is that I just got a letter from the college I am attending and I have been accepted into the nursing program! Wahoo! I will be starting classes in the fall to become a registered nurse and I am so excited. After two long years of school, I am finally in a nursing program. I give God the glory and I thank Him so much because I could not have done it without Him. I also appreciate all the prayers everyone has prayed in my behalf. God has truly given me the desire of my heart which is to be a nurse and help people.

 

So I have two years of the toughest schooling ahead of me, but I know that God will help me. Anyways, I just wanted to let you all know. I am so happy! 

I need to go because I have to pack as my mom and I are driving to Alabama tomorrow to attend a Ladies' Retreat. My mom is going to teach a class. I am looking forward to it. I will try and post more soon. 

        Lots of love,

        

         Sara

Part 3

Okay, so I had to make a Part 3 too.

I need to post more often! Ha!

The last few photos are of when my friend, Linda, came to visit me. She helped me paint my room and we had fun staying up late and making goofy home videos on my computer. Linda has become one of my best friends since I have moved here. I met her at Family Camp and we noticed each other right away as we were both about the same height. I was amazed to find another girl who was as tall as me! At the end of camp, I felt God lay it in my heart to invite her to go to the Assembly. She said she would love to go and from then on we have been fast friends. We are very similar in a lot of things and get some good laughs over that fact. 

Well, actually this picture is of when I visited Linda. Her brother was getting married and she invited me to come down and help her with her hair. That was a fun weekend too!

So here are the pictures of when we painted my room. It was originally a little girl's room and had a baby pink color on the walls. I decided to paint my room brown. Not sure why I chose that color, but I did. It is called "Sumatra Brown." Anyways, you may be wondering why there are letters and drawings on the wall. Linda and I thought it would be fun to play around with the paint and draw some pictures on the wall since we were going to paint over it anyways. I must say it was a blast. The walls were like giant canvases and we just wrote our names and doodled all over them like five year olds. Hey, you're only young once!

Sorry but I do not have any after photos of my room yet. I want to wait until I get my furniture in my room and my decorations up. I will post before and after photos of it as soon as I can though. 

My mom and I have finished painting all of the wood trim in the living room a white color and painted the walls a gold color the other day. We have also painted my parents room a color called "natural" and it turned out really good. Aaron's room has been painted "Cut Ruby" which should match his Texas-themed decor pretty well. We still have to finish stripping the wallpaper in the dining room, but are almost finished with that. We are going to probably touch up the trim in there and then we will paint the walls a light blue color. The trim in the kitchen still needs to be painted white as well as the trim in the downstairs bathroom. I tell ya, that is a lot of work! My mom and I had to paint the trim 3 times in the living room. We were wore out afterwards. So we are going to paint the kitchen the same light blue as the dining room, but we still have to remove the wallpaper in there. After all of that, we will head upstairs and paint the master bathroom the natural color I mentioned earlier and also paint the hallways that color too. Then we will tackle the bathroom Aaron and I share. It has wallpaper that has been painted over with a very ugly lime green color. We are going to paint the bathroom the natural color after we get the wallpaper off. The last project my mom and I will tackle is our 3rd floor which needs the popcorn ceilings taken down and the walls painted. We will eventually tear out the 80's looking blue carpet, but that will probably be a little while.

After the inside of the house is done, we will focus on the outside and planting flowers and such. We also need to take care of the small above-ground pool that came with the house. My mom is thinking about painting the shutters on the house a nice red color since the original color has faded with time. I think once dad gets home he will help with a lot of the outside stuff. So we have a lot of work ahead of us, but I am looking forward to it as this is now our very own home. It is so peaceful here and God has really blessed us. The house has some wear and tear, but that is really the charm of it. Well, I better go. I will make sure to post pictures as we make more improvements on the house. I love you all and want you to know you are in my thoughts and prayers. There is no family like the family in The Church of God and I would not trade you all for anything in this world. Congratulations to the couples who have been richly blessed with the news of a baby on the way! God is so good!

    Sara : )

Part 2

So here is Part 2 of my post:

This is mainly going to be pictures with a little commentary since it is getting late and I need to head to bed. The first picture is of my niece Rylee. I took this while my family and I were visiting Adam and Jen at Christmas. 

Me and Rylee

    

This is the entrance of the Hilton Palacio del Rio. We stayed on the riverwalk in downtown San Antontio and stayed here for a night.

 

The rooms at the Hilton were gorgeous and here is the one we stayed in.

After we checked into our hotel, we all decided to go to the mall on the riverwalk. Here is Josh and Rylee holding hands. So cute!

Mom and Aaron on the Riverwalk

The RiverWalk was decked out in Christmas lights and so beautiful.

Here is my brother Adam and his family.

Joshie was so tired by the end of the night as you can see in this photo. He definitely had a glazed over look!

Aaron and I