it's been too long...

Oh blogging world, how I have missed you!

I'd like to blame my recent blogging absence on a lack of time, but I don't know that that's necessarily the case... Maybe I've hit a writers block. Maybe I'm just bad at managing my time. Afterall, I am writing this on my "lunch break" at my desk as I eat banana pudding, but let's be real... I wasn't doing much before lunch outside of scrolling through blogs and answering the occasional email.

And the problem behind my lack of blogging isn't that the Lord hasn't been teaching me anything that I want to share... No, the problem actually is very much the opposite. Since moving here to Mississippi, (loving it, by the way!) God has set me on a path of learning more than I imagined, just as I expected that He would. In the past few weeks, I've had the incredible opportunity to serve at a few DNow's (and have seen a few sweet girls give their lives over to His kingdom!), have come to be incredibly blessed by a group of solid believer friends, have started "mentoring" a wonderful girl who teaches and challenges me, have seen the power of prayer in a new light, and have become more and more thirsty for His Word. It is so good and so filled with truths that come not just by reading it, but by studying it. That's what I've learned lately.

And through all of that, God has begun to teach me so much about what it means to be in Christ and to have the Spirit in us. John 14:20-- "...I am in my Father and you are in me, and I am in you." I'm so passionately excited about this concept, that I'm refusing to blog about it. Why?

Because I can't fit it in a blog. And because I've long dreamed of writing a book one day. And because if and when I begin said book, this is going to be the topic. For sure. So promise me, dear friends, that one day you'll pick up a copy of that-- if not to learn, then at least to support the wild dreams of a silly little girl. ;)


But, I'm going to try and pick back up with the writing on a more regular basis. For now, I'll leave you with these few random thoughts for the day:

1) I took pictures of my apartment to share with you, but I haven't uploaded them yet... Soon though. It's a fun place, but I'm also itching to do more with it. My sweet friend Lauren just got an internship at Milk and Honey Home and I'm so proud of her! I'm thinking that if she'll come over and if Anthropologie will sponsor me, I'll have a dream home in no time!

2) I've gotten insanely, unreasonably excited about it being almost Valentine's Day. I'm talking like I painted my nails pink, wore a red sweater today, and have been browsing Valentine's things on etsy all morning (told you I'd been productive today...). I know what you're thinking-- of course you're excited, Laura, you've got a wonderful boyfriend... Yes, yes I do. And that day also happens to mark 9 months that that's been the case. Such a huge blessing. But outside of that, it's always been one of my favorite holidays. There's something about it that makes me want to bake cupcakes and find little ways to make people smile all day. Everybody deserves that.

3) I'm officially on staff at a college. Weird. I hold the keys to the city. Or at least the campus... And I'm enjoying it. We're hosting a giant National Geographic Premier this week and have about a million things going on all at once. Today is the calm before the storm for me-- I'll be working all weekend. Merp.

4) I'm loving life in MS. Yes, I miss my roommates like crazy every single day. And yes, sometimes always when I get home I wish someone was there to greet me at the door. But I'm enjoying the huge blessing that is my church family and God has blessed me with an incredible group of friends. We keep up with each other throughout the day (thanks to a new obsession of an iphone app) and I know they're always there for prayer, encouragement, and evenings of eating chocolate chip cookies and watching the Gilmore Girls. I prayed for this for such a long time. God is so faithful to provide. I'm also enjoying the huge blessing of living about seven hours and fourty minutes closer to Daniel than I did for the first eight months of our relationship. But I confess that at the end of the day I miss him just as much when I don't get to see him. I guess it's supposed to work like that though, right?

5) After the craziness of this week ends, I'm looking forward to a road trip with my boy. It's been too long since we've been on one of those. We get to go and serve at the DNow in Brewton next weekend (eeeek!!!!) and then are heading to Birmingham for a few days to see his bro/sister-in-law and go to a little concert... just Ben Rector and NeedToBreathe together. No biggie. (eeeeeek again!!) I'm beyond excited to see the kids in the Brew, watch what the Lord has planned for the weekend, and just spend a little time away with no work and no distractions. Blessings abound.


Man, once I started writing I had a hard time stopping. More to come soon! But for now, I better get back to checking the emails and shivering in my office. I ask you, who sets a thermostat on 40? I have to go do something about this.

Until next time!