At night I'm immersed in the light!

Silly Bands

2010-06-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

I

Don't

Get

It

Streams

2010-06-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

This was the "Streams In The Desert" passage for today.

It. was. powerful.

"He said. 'this is the resting place, let the weary rest'; and, 'This is the place of repose'-but they would not listen (Isaiah 28.12)

Why do you worry? What possible use does your worrying serve? You are aboard such a large ship that you would be unable to steer even if your Captain placed you at the helm. You would not even be able to adjust the sails, yet you worry as if you were the captain or the helmsman of the vessel. Be quiet, dear soul-God is the Master!

Do you think all the commotion and the uproar of this life is evidence that God has left His throne? He has not! His mighty steeds rush furiously ahead, and His chariots are the storms themselves. But the horses have bridles, and it is God who holds the reins, guiding the chariots as He wills.

Our God Jehovah is still the Master! Believe this and you will have peace. 'Don't be afraid'(Matthew 14.27). Charles H. Spurgeon

Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
The storms are raging on God's deep-
God's deep, not yours; be still and sleep

Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
God's hands will still the Tempter's sweep-
God's hands, not yours; be still and sleep

Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
God's love is strong while night hours creep-
God's hands, not yours; be still and sleep

Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
God's Heaven will comfort those who weep-
God's Heaven, not yours; be still and sleep.

I implore you to not give in to despair. It is a dangerous temptation, because our Adversary has refined it to the point that it is quite subtle. Hopelessness constricts and withers the heard, rendering it unable to sense God's blessings and grace. It also causes you to exaggerate the adversities of life and makes your burdens seem to heavy for you to bear. Yet God's plans for you, and His ways of bringing about His plans, are infinitely wise. Madame Guyon "

Streams In The Desert-June 1

Now listen to THIS

Be blessed.

Reality

2010-05-30T19:26:00.001-07:00

The last month or so I have been having this overwhelming burden on my shoulders.

A lot of things are contributing to this I believe.

One big thing in particular, that I believe I realized tonight, is that everything has become very real to me.

Death has become a reality

Evil has become a reality

The constant warfare between heaven and hell became very real to me

Poverty has also become a very real thing to me

I now have this incredible burden on my shoulders for the world I think.

I wish I could wrap my mind around it.

Has this happened to anyone else?

TRUTH

2010-05-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

My friend Lacey here decided to get a tat. It was sort of a last minute thing, which is definitely the BEST time to get something permanently inked onto your body.

Haha....It was such a fun experience. Being a veteran tattoo victim myself I felt a sense of seniority in the matter. Just kidding Lace!

It was fun and it was bonding. I am glad I got to be a part of that for her.

From now on, no matter if we are friends in 50 years or not, she will always remember me! It is as though I am tattooed on her arm as well.

I have also been learning a lot about Truth myself. The Lord has shown me over the last nine months or so just how many lies i believe about myself, about him, about life etc.

I have also learned how those lies that I believe dictate my actions and my thought life.

The only way to combat the lies is to replace them with truth.

I have been learning more so than ever the importance of hiding the word of God in my heart and in my mind.

I guess all those years in AWANA finally did pay off....

13.1

2010-05-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

Yes...it is true...i ran a half marathon....well, sort of.

"Ran" a half marathon is not really a fair statement.

I ran some, yes, i did, and it was uphill.....a lot uphill...

but I walked, a lot.

I would have thought that no matter what, at the finish line i would feel this unbelievable sense of accomplishment, this feeling of being satisfied for all of the hard work I put in over that last few months.

What I felt instead was a feeling of defeat. I felt like somewhat of a failure. I was just not quite good enough.

The events leading up to the actual race were very exciting! The drive to Nashville is beautiful, I was with a dear friend and we had some good music. It was beautiful weather and the anticipation was growing. We arrived in Nashville to find a mob of runners(cerca 36,000of them), they looked like runners.

They had on spandex, they carried water bottles with them, they had Oakley's.

They were Legit.

I

was

not.

I did not let that get me down. After finding a place to park and paying $13 for that place to park, we walked with our heads held high into the expo to pick up our numbers and our shirts. After perusing around the expo checking out the new up to date running gear (including an entire line of fancy fanny packs named NATHAN,yeh i know) we left for dinner with our friends Mary Kathryn and Laura Roper.

It was a fun dinner and I was ready to take on the next morning.

As we drove to LP field (Home of the Titans, an NFL team, not an elementary school mascot I found out later that evening) at around 5am anticipation slowly turned into complete and sheer terror.

What had I gotten myself in to? Was i really about to go run 13.1 miles? I had only done 8, that's it! 8....just a little over half of what I was about to embark on!....I'm an idiot. I am an IDIOT.

We check our bags, we go the lou, we take it all in, and we go find our coral. 32, the next to last coral.

Yeah.

We look in front of us.....a sea of people. Probably one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen.

A literal sea of people lined up with for one common goal. To make it to the finish line.

Too late to turn back. We slowly move up towards the start line. I check my shoe laces, position my head band, make sure my computer chip thing on my shoe is on correctly....and wait.

I step across the start line. I am comforted by that fact that there are probably a few thousand people behind me and I am passing people like crazy.

Fewf.

At least I will not be last.

Through the stages of the race, there were many stages of emotions....excitement, joy, an overwhelming sense of amazement at the amount of people, frustration, anger, disappointment, sadness.

Pretty much in the order.

At mile 10....the rain came....the goal at the point, finish, just finish, get your medal and a banana and go home.

And that is what I did.

I finished, got my medal and banana, and went home and watched three movies.

I am already training for next year.

my goal: beat my time by 1 Hour....here's to looking up!

Community

2010-04-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

Community....I feel as though this has been quite the buz word in the Christian world.

I hear people praise community, and speak of the body as being a community of people mimicking the early church.

Over the last year or so I have been gradually exposed to true "community".

To hear it being spoken of is one thing, to see it played out in the lives of people is a whole other.

There are many beautiful things about this communal way of life, this idea of shared things, be them tangible or not.

The thing that stands out to me the most is that even during a time of chaos and distress there is still something so beautiful to be found in a group of people truly living as a unit. The situations surrounding those that are a part of the unit may be discouraging and seemingly hopeless but in the midst there is something so peaceful, something so encouraging when people gather together to "carry each others burdens".

When one of the members is at their lowest the others surround them to meet their needs and get their hands dirty in each others lives.

There is no room for fake, just real life on life human interaction.

What a beautiful way of living.....

Today I hope you can manage to find the good in the chaos. That the power of the Lord to work light into darkness would be evident in your lives, and live together, with the ones you love, as a working mechanism, ONE unit.

Thank you Lord for the people in my life.

The Buried Life

2010-03-09T12:42:00.000-08:00

Last night after our monday ritual of watching the Bachelor (last night was extra special because the showed Jason&Molly's wedding) I simply was not ready to hit the sack.

Against my body's every wish to give it some rest considering I only got 3 1/2 hrs of sleep the night before i surfed the t.v. for something to watch.

I stumbled upon MTV (which I am in NO WAY supporting or encouraging you watch) which normally has nothing worth watching on and there was an interesting show on called , 'The Buried Life'.

This show is the documentation of 4 boys on their quest to accomplish everything on their list of things to do before they die.

They made a promise that for everything they get crossed off of their list they will help someone they meet along the way to accomplish something on theirs.

What a great idea.

It made me think.

What do I want to do

Before

I

Die.......

1. Skydive-I am still upset with myself that I chose to buy an iPod instead of skydive with my look up buddies...

2.Meet Shaun White-possibly give him a hug, or kiss on the cheek, or marry him.

3.Go to England and watch Liverpool play a soccer game.

4.Meet Leonardo DiCaprio

5.Be a high school History teacher

6.Road trip across America

7.Sing at someone's wedding

8.Get married

9.Provide someone I am not related to with a home

10....undecided...

What do you want to do before you die?

New Car

2010-02-24T19:42:00.001-08:00

So...it has been exactly one month since i have last blogged....why? I do not know...i simply do not know.

Anywho....I got a new car today! As shown above.

It was rather unexpected. I knew I was going to be getting a new vehicle soon due to the fact that my truck (Old Faithful) proved to be not so faithful after all.

But a brand new, 2010 Honda Civic...now that was a surprise. We got quite the deal though. My dad would never have gone for it if he hadn't.

I had many many memories in my old truck. 3 summers of carrying somewhere around 20ish summer staffers from the cliffs to the main lodge for arrival days. Many times helping friends move here and there, including transporting a mattress in the pouring rain...sorry 'bout that Jason. And the car wrecks...o the wrecks....

yes, Old Faithful was good to me.

As I handed the keys over to my dad today, the new primary driver of the truck (he is beside himself he's so excited), it was kind of sad. I felt like that truck was in some way a part of me, a part of who I am.

But, much to my surprise, it was not hard to give him the key. O, the money that will be saved in gas mileage, the ease of trying to find a parking spot now that my car is normal size, the fact that I now have a trunk! A TRUNK!!! My brights are actually bright, both blinkers work, the cd player works, I have cup holders. yeh, love you Old Faithful, you will always hold a special place in my heart. But there's a new kid in town.

I need a name for this new dark grey car of mine.....i feel as though it will take some time though, I need to feel her/him out, get its personality....

Ah, a new car.

Halfy

2010-01-24T19:49:00.001-08:00

well......i have embarked on quite an intimidating mission.

Goal: Run a half marathon.

yes.

I am not really a runner. I Ran my first race in December and I loved it.

The feeling of crossing over the finish line knowing that you worked hard to get there, not quitting, pushing through the pain. And also the community that seems to be created amongst the other runners. It is just awesome...

Thanks to my good good friends Laura Roper and Mary Kathryn Hodges, I was inspired to run the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville Tennessee on April 24,2010. (along with Heather Lacy, Kathryne VanAntwerp, and Crystal Drake)

I completely ripped off the sched idea from Lu and MK and posted my training schedule on my wall with sticky notes, shown above. As each day passes and i complete the days task I pull off the sticky note that corresponds with that day. It is so rewarding to come home after my work out and pull that sucker off the wall.

Accompanying my sticky note schedule is my super sweet running calendar given to me by one Lindsey Gahan for Christmas. It gives tips for training and inspirational stories. Along with sweet pictures of runners.

Anywho.......my body aches, I feel like I am not progressing towards my goal, and I am extrememly intimidated/terrified for April 24th to arrive. Regardless I will not quit, and I truly will press on the finish the race in which I have started....

now everyone knows, so I simply can not quit.

I will keep you posted on my progression, or lack there of.

My Life is Now Complete

2010-01-24T19:41:00.000-08:00

All of my life as a blogger i have waited for this.

SNOW!

2010-01-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

I have seen so much snow this winter already!!! I am used to not seeing snow ever!

I has been a lot of fun.

The best of course being in NYC when we got over a FOOT of snow. Crazy Town.

Then in Highlands NC it snowed the first night, and it stayed.

Then it snowed here in Dahlonega the other night. Iced me into my apartment for 2 day.

Alone.

So I painted and joined Netflix haha..

What a beautiful winter wonder land!!!

yay for snow.

Song

2010-01-09T14:32:00.000-08:00

This song more beautifully communicates what is going on in my head than I ever could.

Listen.

Try it with your eyes closed.

Lord of Lords

Dust...

2010-01-07T21:03:00.001-08:00

I always find people to look up to.

I have been so blessed over the course of my short life to have people consistently in my life worthy of looking up to and aspiring to be like.

As time passes and I see these people I so looked up to fail, and make mistakes, instead of being disappointed or "let down" i just move on to another person.

The other day i was visiting with some of the most wonderful fellas in the entire world, some of which i had spent a week or so with and some returning from their adventure at the Passion Conference of 2010.

Brooke Fraser was among the attendees at said conference. I love her. I love how she sings, i want to sing like her, i want to act like her, i want to be like her. I expressed this to said boys and one Nathan Heffington responded "you should want to be like Jesus". Not in a condescending way, not even in a convicting way, just simply stating.

I dont know if he even knew I heard him.

I did.

And i can not get that sentence out of my head.

I have always looked to a person to provide the example of which i mimic. Now, normally when people come to this sort of revelation they say something to the effect of "...people will always let you down..." .

Though this is true, this is not how i feel towards this particular matter. No, not let down, I never felt let down, instead, as I said before, I just move onto another person. I find someone else, until they mess up, or show a character flaw of which I want no part of.

Due to this, I have learned a lot about how I do no wish to be, along with some characteristics that I aspire to obtain. But overall, there has been no solid absolute in which to strive to be.

Again, I have chosen to settle, to imitate fallen beings, other humans, who are all just as selfish and flawed as myself.

The common theme among all of the people I have observed and copied my whole life is Jesus. That is the initial draw that I have towards those people and for so long I ignored that and longed to be like the person and not the Savior.

Now I will chose to be like Jesus. To learn from other human Jesus followers, and mimic them as well, but centrally be like Jesus. Live like Jesus, talk like Jesus, LOVE like Jesus.

I truly want to begin the journey of being "covered by the dust of my Rabi" .

I do not think that I am the only one with this problem. It is just such an easy thing to do, to look to other people to set that perfect example.

They can not. I can not. I can not be that perfect example. Hopefully one day, someone will look at my life and say "I want what she has".

But not because of me.

Because of who I have chosen to daily devote myself to be like. To follow, to surrender to.

So thank you dear boys.

Thank you Nathan.

Thank you all in my life who strive to be like Jesus as well. May you be blessed along your journey and may you live everyday striving to be Jesus to the earth as we know it.

A New Decade is Upon Us

2010-01-06T19:41:00.000-08:00

WOW.....for a while i was on a roll with this thing, and then all of a sudden Christmas break happened. And i got lazy....well, lazier than normal. HA.

Much has happened. I went to NYC with the fam, Christmas Eve service at the Gwinnett Arena happened, led worship on New Years Eve, went to Highlands NC for a few days.....it was fun.

I went to New York City with my Dad, 2 sisters, and brother. I have no been on a family vacation in about four years, and they are much different than they used to be. It was a blast. It was beautiful. We laughed, cried a little, and did much bonding. While we were there a massive blizzard came through and gave us about a foot of snow. More snow than I have ever seen in my life. It was beautiful.

I learned many things about my family on this trip. My dad is always in a hurry, no matter what. It has nothing to do with the amount of time we have ready and available to use at our disposal, no he is just simply always in a hurry. My brother, no matter what front he puts on, is just simply the sweetest boy on the face of the planet. My sisters, well, they are girly and the three of us could not be more different from each other.

While we were there we did a plethora of things. Empire State building, Rockefeller Center, WE MET THE CAKE BOSS!, Statue of Liberty, Macy's, Tiffany's, Trump Tower, etc etc etc. New York City is truly just like the movies. I love it there and it was such a wonderful way to spend some time with my family.

On New Year's Eve I was able to be a part of leading worship with Montgomery Church in Gainesville GA. What a blessing. We entered the new year Praising Jesus for breaking our chains and setting us free. What a beautiful sight it was to look out into the pews and see people of all ages and races with hands lifted high diving into this new decade praising Jesus at the top of their lungs. I never want to take those experiences for granted, never forget the blessing and privilage it is that as a body of believers we can come together and worsihp freely.

As I sit here in my empty apartment writing some many things flood to my mind to write about! But i do not like it when people crowd their blog posts with loads of information making it somewhat of a chore to read. I have become what i dislike the most about bloggers. Yikes....

I will break up the rest for a later post.

2010 has arrived.

People Are Wonderful

2009-12-16T21:11:00.000-08:00

No, not the 90's hip hop group (RIP L.)

The TV channel....I just love it. Almost every show on that channel is great. My Particular favorite shows are the ones about unusual individuals.

I watched a 2 show little series not too long ago about a man that weighed 460 lbs and his journey on losing the weight and his life after. It was so interesting. He was dedicated to losing it the "old fashioned" way by exercising and eating right. And he did it!! with the help of his trainer/new best friend Chris. The show also showed his journey in the social world and learning how to develop social skills considering he did not have any previous to his massive weight loss.

Tonight I watched a show about a dwarf couple adopting a baby boy from Albania. Such interesting people.

I just love people so much, i love learning about all kinds of people and their lives. I really love people that are different than me, different struggles different talents different lives all together. TLC, as much as a TV channel can, gives us a glimpse at some of the extraordinary people and the feats they make in their lives.

It makes me feel small; so unexposed to this world and the human race. There are SO many people to learn so many things from.

Do our different life experience shape the way we learn about the Lord? There are so many attributes to the Lord, they are endless so it is always so interesting to here different believers journeys and to hear about how the Lord has shown His face throughout their lives.

What a beautiful thing that there are always new ways and new aspects of the Lord to fall in love with.

I hope and pray that the Lord will reveal Himself to you in new ways this winter season and on...

One Pure and Holy Passion...

2009-12-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

Give me one pure and holy passion
Give me one magnificent obsession
Give me one glorious ambition for my life
To know and follow hard after You

To know and follow hard after you
To grow as your disciple in your truth
This world is empty, pale, and poor
Compared to knowing you, my Lord
Lead me on and I will run after you
Lead me on and I will run after you

-One Pure and Holy Passion-Passion

These words have been on repeat in my head all day....they are becoming my song for this season. Usually the Lord gives me a word and He greatly expounds on that word ie. freedom, stop etc. But I think it is a whole song this time.

I was blessed yesterday morning at the college group at grace fellowship where Drew McClure spoke on a lot of topics. One that has particularly stuck out to me today as the day progresses is the verse Psalm 37.4 which says

Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Drew expounded on this saying that the truth is that if we delight ourselves in the Lord then HE becomes the desire of our heart.

So often we take this verse and manipulate into believing that if we Delight ourselves in the Lord then HE will give us what WE want. When truly, the TRUE longing and desire in our hearts is the Lord himself. What a gift.

As i was talking on the phone with a good friend, Ashley Tjader hashing this thought out and applying it to our lives she spoke out the truth of the freedom that this brings. The freedom of only having one true desire from which springs all good things.

We believe the lies that fleshly things are what we truly want and desire but what we are really created for is a relationship with the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The highest authority, the only authority.

Boy do we settle.

Why in the world do we settle? Why do we believe so strongly that we will be satisfied with created things, things of the world, whether good or bad?

So this is the new theme for my life. To truly become satisfied in the Lord. To quench the true longing and thirsting in my soul. This is a new season.

Christmas Favorites

2009-12-12T20:21:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Christmas. So So much. I love all of the cheesy commercials, and the decorations and the presents...all of it. You might say I have lost sight on what Christmas is truly about. I assure you I have not. I just love all of the commercialized aspects of Christmas as well.

These are a few of my Christmas favorites, that make the season truly bright.

Elf-I will watch elf in December, March, August, October....any of the 12 months. It is one of my favs.

Christmas Trees-This year I got to pick out all of the decorations for my Dad's Christmas tree and i was incredibly proud of the end product. I still look over at the tree and think "Dang, that is a good looking tree"

The Square-In my new hometown of Dahlonega GA there is a square, where all of the cute little shops meet. During Christmas time all of the shops compete for best decorations so it truly is a lighted winter wonder land with lights handing from all of the trees and every building corner.

Family-Now that I am away, and my sister is as well, coming home for Christmas is such a treat. We are all together, and all happy to see one another. What a blessing.

Every other Christmas movie-If you know me at all you know I love watching movies. And this season makes the moving watching process even more colorful with movies like Home Alone 1&2, White Christmas, A Christmas Story, Christmas With the Kranks....yes even the newer cheesy movies i love.

My New Friend Charlie Brown-He is a real person who lives in Dahlonega who puts out thousands of lights and sits by a bonfire ready with hot chocolate and marshmallow in hand ready for anyone who stops by to admire his lights. What a wonderful person he is, and his wife Barbara as well.

My New discovery of ElfYourself.com-just try it. you will love it. Thanks K :-)

We do not have many if any Christmas traditions any more in the Slade household. This year we are going to New York City strictly for tourism purposes and we are hoping that this will become a tradition. So i am looking forward to that.

What are your Christmas Favorites? maybe they will be a little bit more original than mine.

Good

2009-12-11T20:22:00.000-08:00

Ah today was good.

GOOD is one of my favorite words. When I hear the word good i think of rich, full of value or depth. Along with my favorite words i also have least favorite words, of which i will not disclose to the public for fear of this knowledge being abused by certain people.

That is all beside the point.

My day began with waking up around, mmmmm say 12 pmish. Then off to lunch with my dad to one of our two regular lunch spots, Shane's Rib Shack or Zaxby's (we LOVE their salads), we chose Shane's today. I always love going to lunch with my dad. Today, after he gave his usual shpeel on his opinions of the current government, we reminisced on mine and my sister's childhoods. He told many stories, all funny, of when i was a little girl and the things i would do. A lot of laughter was involved. It was good, very good.

After that i met up with a good friend, Sydney Brown, to do a little christmas shopping. Sisters are border line impossible to shop for. I did prevail and got 3 out of 5 gifts. I was able to accomplish two things, catch up with a friend that i love dearly, and buy things for people i love more than anyone. This was good, very good.

The evening could not have been better. We, as a family, and my sisters boyfriend went out for dinner. We laughed and joked around the whole time. No one fought, no one argued, no one made fun of anyone. This is rare, and it was good, very very good. I can honestly say there is no where else in the world i would have rather been. My family has come a long way over the past few years and it was truly such a beautiful thing to know that we were together, enjoying our time, as a family. The eveing was topped off with much more laughter as we watched the classic Home Alone as the Holiday Season quickly approaches.

What simple little things that make me incredibly thankful for this day. Nothing that drastically changed my life or anyone's around me, nothing "out of the ordinary", just a day, spent with my family.

Lord I am thankful for my family.

What are some things that made your day good? rich? full of value?

Ready Ready Ready Ready, Ready to Ruuuuuun.....

2009-12-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

I ran a race.

My first race ever.

I have never been much of a sports person, as far as participating in them goes. I have wanted to start running for numerous reasons. For one I want to be healthier. Two I want a way to release some stress, I have heard that running is good for that. The reasons go on...

The getting started process was the worst. Due to my new happening upon lots of free time I found that going to the brand new school gym was a great way to kill some of it. So I go, often, and do many different things depending on the day. My good friend Heather Lacy also wanted to embark on this new journey of running.

One day, Kathryn, Heather and myself were at Stone Mountain and I was tired of walking to try and keep up with Kathryn i began to trot a little...and the rest is history.

Now I am not an avid runner by any means...but that is the long term goal.

The race was fun. I enjoyed it so much. I felt so proud crossing that finish line knowing that I just ran a race. It sparked a fire inside of me and now I want to run races all of the time. I want T-shirts that say things like "Reindeer Run and Santa Stroll 5k" or "Alpine Twilight Run" knowing that I did not buy the shirt from Goodwill to merely deceive people and make them think i ran the race printed on the front. No, I am no longer a poser. I am legit. I run races. well, "race", soon to be races.

As Heather and I were running there were families around us running together. Mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and fathers, together for one common goal of which springs many life lessons. One of the mother son duos around us there was one pair that stuck out.

Son:"Mommy I am tired! I do not want to run anymore"
Mother: "Son you can do it. No complaining remember? complaining does not make the situation and better or any easier"

As I listened to this exchange I could not help but be encouraged myself. What a neat thing to do as a family and what a beautiful way to teach life lessons such as this one. How often do we forget these simple truths that can drastically affect our days and our attitudes towards the people we commonly come in contact with.

First Race= Success!!!
Life Lesson Learned=Complaining does not help you get to the end goal. It only makes the process more grueling.

I Am A Follower At Heart...

2009-12-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

yes. i have jumped on the bandwagon. not gone against the grain (gone with the grain?). gone with the flow. crumbled under peer pressure (no that is not true).

I have started a blog.

I enjoy blogs. very much. I enjoy reading about people's lives, their insights on seemingly meaningless and mundane daily events, and their life advice. I love to read how people take simple daily tasks and turn them into kingdom changing events. It often makes a shift in the way i view my day, my daily events, my mundane tasks. I love being able to keep up with long distance friends and the way that blogs have of making those friends seem just a little bit closer.

So here is mine :-) I do not know if it will provide any of the above for you, but i hope maybe at some point, even if just once, it will bring a giant sized smile to your face.

My name is Rachael Lauren Slade, and this is my life.