Following HIS Lead

okay..so i love how the Lord works because as i was writing the previous post I felt like i was focusing on all this negative stuff, but really couldnt express the positive of what my heart truly feels. and tonight for tim skaggs going away, his daughter miranda performed this song that the worship leader from the village in dallas wrote and it really expresses the desires of my heart to a T: so i'll share it

Here I Am

Take me far away from here
Save me from this world of fear
Break me from the things I hold so near
they’re so far from You

Verse 2
Reveal to me what You want me to do
Place me where Your will draws me to
Lord be pleased with the worship I bring to You
I sing to You, I shout to You!

Chorus

Here I am, send me out let me shine for Your glory
I will read, I’ll live out and proclaim Your Word
Take me now, show me how I need to live not for me
But for You and Your glory.


there ya go.

i feel that the following picture, somewhat encompasses the Christian bubble of College Station, (and while I know this is a "brand" of cereal, sold in many other grocery stores in America, its highly appropriate that i found it at our HEB)



yes, thats right folks, breakfast good for the body AND soul: Ezekiel 4.9. and i'm not saying that this is yet another Christian-culture consumer good, like action figure Jesus or a "Jesus is my homeboy" shirt, because after reading the box, it is a good cereal for a healthy diet and is supported biblically; but in my farewell to College Station, seeing this cereal in the store Friday night really pin-pointed for me why me leaving is a God-thing.

im looking forward to moving out of the Bible belt, because Im tired of the "good Christians go overseas after college and wear chacos" mentality. and i admit that I thought like that for awhile and its harmful thinking. Having lived away briefly and met the Lord more intimately, to being back in it, ive learned the Lord calls us to more. a "that" which is possible in Bryan-College Station, New York City or Seattle, and Greenville North Carolina, anywhere. its a daily surrendering and loving that is beyond yourself wherever you are, be it a stay ay home mom, a consultant, a minister, an engineer, or a student.

so its only appropriate that my last Sunday at Central left me wanting more after listening to the sermon. no, nothing was said that was wrong or that i adamantly disagreed with, but it just left me thinking theres so much more, the picture is much bigger than Chris expressed to our congregation and i feel that our upper-middle class church is going to miss the boat, because our Lord is greater than we can even begin to imagine.


and dont get the wrong impression from this post...im not angry/upset about or think that people shouldnt do missions or go overseas or wear chacos (i have them), im wholeheartedly for all those things, and i love Central and think wonderful things are happening there and i do think the Lord is doing amazing things in this community. but for me, its time for a change and new challenges, the Lord has called others to stay in Aggieland and proclaim truth.

anyways,
more to come this week as i leave in 4 days.

peace out,
lish

okay so i just had to share this because it was so completely hilarious....well, to me it was anyways...

so i'm driving home from the mechanic, i'm on FM 159 by the church and this state trooper passes me going the other directions and u-turns rather quickly. so i think "oh no, was i speeding? is something really wrong with my truck?". so he comes mr. state trooper speeding up towards me and i think he's about to pass me when...he proceeds to "un-pull me over". thats right folks. he pulls up next to me while we're driving, to the point its that awkward parallel driving so i finally look over at him and he's motioning to me about my seatbelt...

see, im short and have to pull my seat up so close that my seatbelt chokes me, so most of the time when im driving i put it under my left arm, so that its still on and protecting, but not decapitating me...anyways, apparently it wasnt good enough, but wasnt bad enough to warrant and actual warning.

anyways...got out of yet another ticket..good thing i was clicked.

grace & peace,
lish

Next on my farewell list are the top ten things i WONT be missing about Aggieland...

10. Cox Communications
9. traffic
8. Fit for Kids
7. allergies
6. flooding
5. construction
4. restaurant waits
3. city ordinances
2. University PD & TS
1. the humidity..so long Brazos Valley

my first introduction to College Station was in 1995. My dad lost his job at the Houston Post newspaper and he got a job in Bryan. He started working in August and we finally moved to 1602 Treehouse Trl. in November, the week before Thanksgiving. It was a miserable time..I was 13, the middle of 7th grade and i had moved from Houston, to this little town where everyone had been friends since kindergarten and no one wanted to be friends with the "new girl", except one girl and her crazy family-the one and only Miss Tracy Rebecca Smith.

Tracy is such a dear friend to me, she almost qualifies as one of those friends that "youve grown up with"...and i am also lucky to call her a roommate (past and present!). Tracy and i have made many memories together from jr. high dnow when i swallowed my retainer, to living at helena jr. high to living life as graduate townies. [see im not the only one with squinty eyes...]

i love tracy-her dreamstar, quizzes and wonderful eye for decoration.

So Trace, you are the first in my farewell to CS.
I cherish your friendship and am going to miss you and all your fun, especially meals at the baker who is blue, like crazy. Thank you for befriending me 10 long years ago. i love ya chica.

grace & peace,
lish

someone got on to me about not putting up good updates..so i have some time this afternoon and thought i'd start a series (dont know how many its gonna be yet) on my farewell to College Station, as i go into the final week of living here in College Station. Included will be the things i will miss most, and the things i wont miss at all, the things that make this place a wonderful place to live and the parts that drive me crazy; i'll probably also recount the fun jobs and the countless areas of entertainment i've had in the past 10+ yrs of living here..enjoy!

10 days and counting....

..........greenville here i come!

well, we're back from the trip. we've actually been back since Tuesday night, but we've got dial up at the house so connecting isnt so convienient.

I've been realaxing, running a few errands here and there for Val while she's been at the film workshop.

its been good. i head back to college station sunday. the plans are to work and pack and head to NC the 9th of august.

if anyone is interested in a piano...i have one that i'm not gonna take with me...to much of a hassle.

thats it.
grace & peace,
lish

well, surprise surprise our plans changed and we arent not home in jackson, ms.

while on our way to nashville, we found out that the jeffs would not be free until 5pm. i was quite sad that i would not be able to see my rockstar friends, BUT Valerie got a call from her film boss and the film people messed up the dates, so she would not have to be at work until Wednesday which meant we could hang out and stay the night in nashville to see Brinkley, Hildebrand and Matt.

back to traveling, while on the road we stopped in Elizabethtown..where one of my favorite movies was filmed, I slept and missed Dinosaur World, but val did get a pic.




Once in Nashville, Val and I crashed at Jeff's place and waited for the guys to get home. And then...(drumroll please...) I ate sushi for the first time!





Yes, its true, me the picky eater that i am put raw fish in my mouth and while i wouldnt say i loved it, it wasnt too bad. Its funny that sushi was jeff's first choice for dinner because the day before Val and i got into this big discussion about my indecisivness, my pickyness and trying sushi...

After dinner, the boys had band practice so, val and i checked out the Parthenon, no we did not travel to Greece...its really in downtown nashville silly. it was a sight.



after we saw the sights it was back to the crib where we again crashed. the boys came home (with Matt! he was in dallas taking care of wedding stuff.) this morning they headed off to their jobs..we got to talk to Lawerence this morning and i think around lunchtime Val and i are officially gonna head home.


pictured above is a pretty classic shot of what our trip has been like :)

well, since my last post we have traveled through PA, WV, OH, IN and currently in KY fixing to go to TN.

in leiu of going to NYC val and i went to grove city, PA, the birthplace of our friendship. it was great to see larry, melissa and the kids,


we had some good food and much needed sleep, and of course, lets not forget SHEETZ.



sunday after church we headed to kentucky to visit yet another one of val's leadershape friends. katie k is really cool-i liked her a lot. we saw superman returns on the IMAX-and in 3-D, quite exciting, let me tell you, and plus we got free disposable cameras!




this morning we got up bright and early, as in 7am (the earliest we've woken up on this trip yet) and spent some time with the Martins! it was so good to hang out with oren and cindy; such a blessing and an encouragement.

as for the rest of our trip, we're planning to be in Nashville to grub with mr. Brinkley and possibly his rockstart roommies, Jeff H and Matt L for lunch, maybe see a little of nashvegas as they like to call it. after nashville its back to Jackson, MS for recovery.

fun fact for the day: I have been to all the midwest/eastern states in the United States of America (thats not including new england). val still lacks minnesota and michigan.

first of all, to all my faithful reader, my sincerest apologies for the lack of posts during our east coast adventure, but our internet availability has been less than stellar; but no worries...we're back online!

the next few posts will account our last couple days along the coast-accompanied with photos :)

enjoy.

current location: brooklawn, NJ
aggie count: 8

Wednesday was a long day.

I met with 3 people at school for 2 hrs. and then we headed out of town and drove to DC. The meetings at school went really well. I met with the summer director of my program, who in fact kinda started the MAIS program. I then went and talked with a girl who graduated from the MAIS program a year ago and now works for the International Affairs department at ECU. Talking with her was very affirming and i decided on my concentraion: International Education Administration. Since i nailed down my concentration i was able to register for my last class. After meeting with Brandi i headed up to the foreign language department, and took care of some legistics stuff and by noon, Val and i were on the road.

My duplex!


Once in DC, literally, right after we walked out of the metro, it began to ran...and not just a light drizzle. We headed up Pennslyvania Ave and saw the White House and Washington Monument. At the WH, we were stopped by a secret service agent, who turned out to be an Aggie (class of '02)..so Val and i were relieved that we werent being arrested and were excited cause he put our Aggie count at 2.




Since it was getting late, and we were coming back Thursday, after a dinner at a hole in the wall joint (and i mean, linoleum was screwed into the wall), we headed out to Baltimore, where we were staying for the night.

Thursday we saw the sights of Maryland and more of DC. We stayed the night with Val's friend Thao, who is a art student at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). Let me just tell you, sleeping on hardwood floors isnt the greatest, especially if it feels like your sleeping in an armpit, and there are semitrucks driving down the street at 6am, but on the upside, Thao was an awesome host-she made us crepes and showed us "the real" Baltimore...tacky flamingos, Mexican wrestling masks, and junkie antique/thrift stores.



After seeing the sites in Baltimore, we headed back to DC where we visited the Smithsonian. we saw the air and space museum and the american history one. it was kinda funny seeing a lot of things that i grew up with on display in a museum.




For dinner, we met up with one of Val's buddies and he took us to a great Thai place in Virginia, close where he lives...He's doing an internship at the dep. of justice and lives outside the city. After dinner, we headed out to Philadelphia, but didnt quite make it cause we got stuck in traffic...yeah who gets stuck in traffic at midnight? me and val do. so we ened up staying on the Delaware border, where we hoped to again update our blogs, but it didnt happen.

Today we slept in until 10 and then headed off to Philadelphia. We got into town and got in line to see the "sacred relic" of our great nation: the Liberty Bell; after an intense security search, we were able to take in all the bell's greatness.


After the Liberty Bell, we walked over to the Visitors Center to figure out what our next moves were going to be. After a yummy philly cheesesteak, we walked around The 2nd bank where many portraits of important US leaders are kept. can you guess whose in the portrait? I'll give you a multiple choice: A. John Kerry or B. Andrew Jackson after The Second Bank, we attempted to get on the internet with Philly's free wifi because we had some free time before our tour of Independence Hall started, but it wasnt working right, so we chilled in the visitor's center.

The "birthplace" of our nation was a cool place. Inside the historical park we went into Congress Hall, and then into the Independence Hall, where the Delcaration of Independence was signed-where yet again, the securtiy was tight..as in take off belts and watches (why? we're not really sure).



After the tour we headed out of town, and found a hotel. Grabbed some dinner at Friendly's and now are relaxing in the hotel room.

Check back around Sunday...tomorra we're headed out to Grove City to visit the Lewis family!

So "life is highway, I'm gonna ride it all night long..."-thats the motto of this trip: ALL NIGHT LONG

my trip to Jackson was quite uneventful-me and my luggage (minus my travel pillow) arrived around 6:00, I ate with Valerie's friend Anna and her family...her and her husband Grant are really cool and they have 2 really sweet kids. I hung out with them until Val got into Jackson which was until 11:00pm. Once home we crashed. Overnight was when things decided to get crazy.
We woke up Monday morning and her car wasn't ready, so we couldn't leave as planned..and so we waited, and waited, and waited and then waited some more. Val had so much grace and patient with the mechanics and we were finally on the road at 6:30pm in Val's mom's Explorer (Thanks Claudine!) cause her car still had problems. So we drove straight through the night Mississippi to Alabama, up to Georgia, South Carolina and finally to my soon to be new home of Greenville, North Carolina.

Here in Greenville has been quite exciting already. i met my roommate, Brandi, shes going to be a grad student in the fall studying Public Health. I think i'm gonna like her a lot and think it will be good living with her. We got ourselves a nice little duplex close to main campus..and its pretty cheap. Tomorra im meeting with my advisor and meeting some peeps in the department and then we'll be heading up to Baltimore, MD.

well, we're gonna find some grub.
grace & peace,
alisha

well, we arrived at 10am this morning droopy eyed and very excited to be out of the explorer.

valerie has the most recent post, check it out at vblakey.blogspot.com, but i'll put up more later...

peace from the east,
lish

unfortunately, this weekend i was without my camera so there are not photos to share with yall of the fun weekend I had with Charlotte, Emory and Mik. BUT i will let you read about it!

Sunday afternoon me, Charlotte and Emory drove up to Charlotte's house on Lake Grandbury to relax, play in the lake and celebrate the 4th of July in style.
Most of the time we were playing 42 and the dominoe "put up" game. Monday we all slept in and purchased the goods needed for the fun that night. after Charlotte's dad got off work we hit the water and i attempted to learn to water ski-and failed miserably. we had fun, the lake was pretty empty, Mik knee boarded, Emory did as well as I did and Charlotte showed us all up..but she grew up on the lake! After dinner, we headed up to the FBC-Grandbury parking lot to launch the 22 2 liters of diet sam's cola and the 7 boxes of mentos we purchased earlier that day. let me tell you it was awesome. apparently the phenomenon is to watch the diet coke spray out of the bottle, but we did it extreme-launching and throwing them in the air, watching them crash down and going flying in crazy directions exploding diet coke everywhere; we even got one to clear a light pole! we also experiemented with regular cola and dr. thunder, but neither worked as well as the diet coke. Tuesday rolled around and we all woke up early to hit the lake while it was smooth. I succeeded at wake boarding as well as knee boarding. After playing we headed to the square for lunch and to walk around, and it was scorching hot. The rest of the day was spent at the Terrel's preparing for the 4th party and once the guest came talking and mingling. Wednesday on the way home to CS i was hurting, and still am a little bit. All my muscles and joints were pretty sore, but it was fun nevertheless

It was a great couple of days to get away and good fellowship with summer friends that i didnt know very well, but got to know better. I was glad to get the invite and the Terrel's hospitality and kindness was such a blessing. My 42 fix was met and we had a bunch of laughs.

thats it...i've been working parttime back at aggieland...not my favorite, but i needed some income.
I leave for North Carolina in 4 days and then will be road tripping it with Valerie all the way up to Philadelphia back down through Kentucky and Nashville. I'll be back home in CS the 23rd and will most likely start packing for the big cross-country move.

I've officially been registered for 2 courses: Global Communication and International Problem Solving; which i've been able to look at one of the syllabi and i cant wait!

grace & peace,
lish