The least I can do...

For those of you who are unaware, it's this hot mama's birthday!!!

It's killing me that I can't be with her, seeing as I'm two hours away, and so I figured that this is the best way I can celebrate her with the rest of the world (wide web). 

Because let me tell you, this girl deserves to be celebrated. 

Not just on her birthday, but everyday.

 Her birthday just serves as a good excuse to do so. :)

Let me tell you a little bit about this woman that I am so blessed to call mom.

She is worth far more than rubies.

She is clothed with strength and dignity; 

she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

(Proverbs 31:10a, 25-31)

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be just like her, just like all little girls want to be like their moms.

But now it's so much more than that. As an adult, I have watched her. I'm now aware of the fact that she is sinful. 

I've seen her short comings.

And yet I still want to be just like her. 

As you can see, that's slowly happening...

        

...and I'm so thankful!

She truly is a Proverbs 31 woman in every sense. 

This girl knows how to have a good time.

She can break it down like nobody's business.

She can be incredibly silly.

She is so full of the joy of the Lord. 

Her laughter is contagious.

She is a diva.

She is hilarious.

She is an amazing cook.

She can do some mean laundry and even meaner house cleaning. 

She is a great person to spend lazy days with.

She serves and loves my whole family through the Lord's strength and by His guidance.

She is truthful about her shortcomings, and then turns to the Lord's grace.

She spends serious time with the Lord.

She prays for our family and teaches us Scripture.

She can read me like a book.

She knows exactly when something is wrong with me.

She knows exactly what to do when I'm upset.

She gives me a shoulder to cry on.

She speaks wisdom and insight into my life.

She gives the best advice.

She sacrificially loves me. Like, really sacrificially.

She is so giving of herself to everyone.

She is one of the most merciful and encouraging people I have ever met.

She is an amazing confidant.

She takes care of people's physical, spiritual, emotional and mental problems.

Basically, this woman is incredible, and if you don't know her, it's a shame.

The amazing thing is that I'm not only blessed to call this birthday girl my mom, but I am incredibly blessed to call her my friend. My best friend. 

Mom, I love you so much. Thank you. THANK YOU. For everything. I'm sorry that I can't be there to celebrate you, but I hope you know that I am celebrating you in spirit, and that I am thankful for you every day. I count your life as one of the biggest blessings in my life. I don't understand why the Lord has given me such enormous grace through you, but I rejoice and my heart overflows with thanksgiving because of it. 

I thank my God every time I remember you.

Philippians 1:3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!

Fall Break Fun

This past weekend was my first college break, and although it included a whole lot of driving (8 hours), it was worth it and I'm thankful for the way the weekend turned out. 

I drove home Thursday night after my lab. Consequently, I skipped my first college class on Friday... hey, it had to be done sooner or later...

I spent the day Friday visiting with some dear friends, then came home and got all gussied up for Northwestern's homecoming. It worked out perfectly that the student section theme was "frat" because my brother also looked super spiffy and so, much to his delight I'm sure, we got to take cute sibling pictures.  :)

My two favorite girls were on the Homecoming court, lending to more pictures.

This is before the winners were announced...

...and this is after

Three cheers that these two won 2nd Runner up and 2013 Homecoming Queen! Whoop whoop! Unfortunately, the crown for this year got left at the school, so Savanah and I might have to have a queen photo shoot sometime in the near future... ;)

I'm very thankful that these two deserving girls won these titles, that I got to be there to watch them, hand off the crown, and give them both lots of hugs afterwards. 

During third quarter, however, I headed back to Clemson so that I could be there to cheer on my Tigers the next day against Boston College. 

I made a pit stop, however, to pick up this beautiful, God-fearing girl. My heart is so blessed by her life and her love for the Lord. Needless to say, spending a whole weekend with her was WONDERFUL.

I had a 'full house' Friday night, for in addition to Alayna, Caroline and Marie came and spent the night with me as well. Unfortunately my dorm room is pretty small, and so they had to sleep on the ground (sorry girls!). We did our best to make it comfortable but there's only so much you can do to a rock hard floor... Nonetheless, it was great to see their beautiful faces! They make my heart happy too. 

And here are the weekly game day pictures with some hall mates...

For those of you who didn't watch the game, it was a close one, a little too close, but the Tigers pulled out a win in Death Valley against Boston College. I can't wait to return to this beautiful place in a few short days for ESPN College Game Day round TWO to watch my Tigers take down FSU. 

Where the Blue Ridge yawns it's greatness, where the Tigers play...

Friday after the game Alayna and I came back to the dorm room and watched a movie. The next morning we loaded the car, headed to church, then headed back home to Rock Hill. 

I'm glad that I ended up coming back home for a couple of days.

 Really glad. 

The R&R in my own household was much needed. The extra four hours of driving was worth it to spend more time with these Priddy people. 

The beautiful thing about not having classes Monday and Tuesday is that I only have three days of class ahead of me! And no labs! Praise the Lord!! 

I feel bad for the professors this week though. They're going to have a hard time reeling in students' attention with such a big game just around the corner. I for one am beside myself in excitement for the upcoming game against FSU. 

I LOVE CLEMSON FOOTBALL! 

I'm safely back in good ol' Clemson, SC. I miss home, but it's good to be back in the place that is quickly becoming one of my favorite on planet Earth. 

Fall Getaway 2013

As expected, Fall Getaway with Crosspoint rocked! 

The weekend started off great since I got to take the trip with these lovely ladies.

When we pulled in to Camp Greenville we were greeted with a welcome sign and a beautiful view. The first of many great views from the weekend.

During the retreat we heard truth via Dr. Nathan Finn from Southeastern University. He taught on the Journey of Salvation and touched on three main points or stops along that journey: justification, sanctification, and perseverance. 

Here's a short summary:

-Justification is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, a gift bestowed by God that is totally independent of our good works. 

-Sanctification is the theological term for the ongoing growth and maturing in Christ. It begins when we are justified, but continues throughout the duration of one's Christian life and includes both positional and progressive sanctification.

-Perseverance argues for the permanence of a Christian's salvation - all believers persevere in their faith until the end of their spiritual journey. 

After the messages, we would break into discussion groups with the people in our cabins. I got to meet new girls who love the Lord and discuss theology and what it means practically for our lives. We also got to pray over one another in powerful ways. 

Also, what's a retreat without some games? The best one was probably "Flour Frenzy" where we all went into a field and smacked each other with pantyhose full of flour. As silly as that sounds, it was a blast. 

Here is my CP group in the aftermath of it. Well, my CP group plus a certain photo bomber..

I met so many new people this weekend and grew in the relationships I'd already formed.

 I am incredibly thankful for the people that the Lord is putting in my life. I'm quickly falling in love with their sweet smiles and beautiful hearts. 

(Photo cred to Abby Seelig)

The highlight of the weekend for me, however, was getting to enjoy God's creation. He displays His glory so brilliantly it's insane. 

The first night we got there we had a bonfire, and then a few girls and I laid on the ground and stared at the stars in silence. I have never seen so many stars or a clearer sky in my entire life. 

It truly was glorious. 

The next day, during free time, a group of us went exploring. We walked to ShowerBath Falls where we swam around a little bit. 

We then followed the creek all the way down to where it dropped off into a huge waterfall called Rainbow Falls. We were extremely careful, but got to look out and see the mountains from the top of a water fall, which was pretty awesome!

On the last morning we woke up around 6. The things we do to see the Lord's glory! We walked to Pretty Place, a chapel that overlooks the mountain side. Once we got there, we sat still and waited for the sunrise. We most definitely were not disappointed. 

It's so fascinating to me that the Lord paints pictures like this every morning. 

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." 

-Psalm 19:1-2

It is even more humbling that the Creator and Almighty God who spoke those mountains and that sky into being loves me, a wretched sinner.

Oh Praise Him!

Another miracle is that this picture happened on the FIRST try!

This next picture is of me and my CP group leader Marie. The Lord has already used her mightily in my life, and I am very thankful for her. 

Also, after we left Pretty Place she took us down an unknown trail and brought us to this beautiful sight. 

Cheers to a great weekend. It was relaxing and fulfilling. 

I can't say enough how thankful I am. How good the Lord is. How He is forever faithful. 

Bless the Lord oh my soul!

Catch Up Time!

Man I am really slacking...sorry about that! With that being said, sit back, relax, and get ready for information overload :)

The weekend after parents weekend (so I guess 3 weeks ago?) Clemson had a by week, which means a free Saturday! So, I went on a hike with a few girls from my CP group. 

We just got to relax, enjoy each other's company, and behold God's glory through creation.

I'd call it a pretty successful Saturday!

The week after this, we had a Thursday night away game, and so I went and watched it at Crosspoint. 

GO TIGERS.

Then, the next night, our CP group joined with a couple of adult CP groups from Crosspoint and had Thanksgiving in September. It was every college kid's heaven. 

Here is the majority of our CP group girls. 

Beautiful smiles, full hearts, and full tummies.

I also spent this entire day and night begging my dearest friend to come visit me during her band free weekend. And Praise the Lord that she did! I have missed her way too much.

Even though it rained the whole time she was here, we still had a blast. Just being with this girl makes me happy. I'm so proud of her and everything that she is accomplishing, but more than anything my heart rejoices that she is seeking the Lord in all that she does. This girl is going to do big things y'all. Big things!

Ok and finally, this past weekend! Friday night Crosspoint had a skate night at a skating rink in Anderson with the theme "Thrift Shop USA." I probably hadn't been roller skating since I was in elementary school. We were easily the oldest people there but it was so much fun!

Then, after a quick stop at Cookout, we all went for a late night swim. 

And it was awesome. 

Finally, Game Day! After a by week and a Thursday away game back to back weeks, I was getting a little hungry for some Clemson football in Death Valley.

Here are just a few of my lovely hall mates and I.

This day held a lot of surprises. Wonderful surprises. Such as these two handsome guys. I have missed them so terribly and it was great to see their smiling faces!

As well as the two little fellas in the picture below. They make my heart so happy and never fail to make me die laughing at their silly antics and funny stories. They're are slowly but surely becoming Tigers. Just look at that orange!

It was also good to see my family again. I got to hang out with my brother during the whole game, which was wonderful. It wasn't much of a game (because Clemson dominated) so we just got to catch up and hang out. I miss him so terribly, and even though he's not a fan of my school, I'm a huge fan of him, and I'm pretty sure he loves me a little bit too ;)

I also had my first college visit yesterday from Catalyst students in the form of the one and only Kylie McDonald. Thanks to my late night chemistry lab, I didn't get to go to dinner with all of the Clemson and Anderson students, but I think this might have been better. I have also missed this girl way too much. I loved getting to catch up with her and show her a glimpse of the life I'm forming here. 

Again I say, that the Lord is good. I really can't say it enough. The pictures in this post give only a handful of the wonderful people He has put in my life who love and fear Him. 

He also continually displays His glory through skies like these:

On tap for this weekend: FALL GETAWAY!

Crosspoint is taking it's college ministry to Camp Greenville for a weekend of fellowship, nature, relaxation, and the word of God. I am literally beside myself in excitement. 

Please be in prayer that the Lord would move in mighty ways this weekend!