soooooo.....Africa

I leave to go to Africa in four days....that is really fast!! I'm getting a little nervous, which is weird, because I was not nervous last year. Maybe that is because I never let myself actually think about it very much, you know the whole 'no passport' thing. Anyways, I'm nervous about; being on a plane for 34 hours, about going to another country, about getting malaria, about some things going on at home, about giving a testimony on purity, about spending my birthday with total strangers, and about coming home, I know that sounds weird. On the other hand I am VERY VERY VERY VERY excited about going!!! I have dreamed about going to Africa for as long as I have been going to Western Hills. I am looking forward to; traveling to another country, meeting new people, seeing how mature I really am and how I handle being gone from home for 2 1/2 weeks, spending time with Megan, building my relationship with Jesus, the beach, and so much more.

Just some of my thoughts, and yes, there have been more......trust me. (I'm a girl, thinking about stuff is what I do, ALL the time lol)

For anyone who is interested here is a timeline for my trip;

July 30- Leave OKC (I'll be at the airport at 9 am, my flight leaves at noon)

July 31- Arrive Mombasa Kenya 10 pm

August 1_2- setup for conference

August 3_7- Pastor's conference (everyday the youth will go out to different church's and give testimony's)

August 8_10- Crusades with local pastor's

August 11- clean up & shop

August 12_13- Safari

August 14- Start flying back

August 15- Arrive home around 8 pm (I'll get back with you on the exact time)


Thats about it.....I should prolly start doing some packing now, and I still have a little bit of shopping to do.
I'm going to miss everyone SOOOO much, but I know that time will fly (it always does) and I'll be back too soon.

be free
~noel~

Do you ever feel like life is going by so fast, and things are happening all around you, and your mind is so full of things that you never stop thinking about, and you can hardly take a breath and try to figure out what to do next?????
That is the way I have felt for the last few months, I've been rushing around just doing the next things and not taking a moment just to sit back and think. Last night I went to a leadership meeting, and while I was there we started talking about some stuff and everything just kind of came into focus for a minute. Of course now my thoughts are all jumbled up again, but I think I'm on the right path. When I write things out they usually make more sense, so here are some of my thoughts;

• First we talked about Truth, as in The Truth, which is God.
• There are two sides; Truth, which is reality. And Lies, which is an illusion
• The Truth is not relative, negotiable, changeable, or debatable - Truth is Reality
• I either believe The Truth or I believe a lie, there is no middle ground
• The Spirit of Truth (Holy Spirit) guides me in Truth, that is the only way I can walk in Truth
• If I cannot 'hear', than I do not belong to God

Then we talked about some lies that we believed, because if it is not Truth than it is a lie. That was really mind blowing and I am still trying to wrap my mind around it........

But I also do not ever want to stop searching for Truth, to come to a place where I think I'm good enough I can stop trying now. I want to always keep striving to know more and dig deeper into God's Truth. Because God is Truth and Truth is God.

One of the lies that I believe is that I can do good by myself, I let my pride take over and I really believe that I am better than other people. When The Truth is that I am no different, that I am the lowest of the low, that if not for the grace of God I would be like him or like her. And that anything good that comes out of what I do is ALL God, period.

I read this verse a few weeks ago and really liked it, but I remembered it last night it just calmed my spirit and gave me peace;

Acts 17:26-28

"That they would seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live, and move, and have our being."

I'm not sure I feel any less jumbled, but now I'm not jumbled alone :P I hope that you are still searching for Truth and are not satisfied with what you already know. If you are, come to You Grow this August with an open heart and you won't be satisfied for very long.

be free

~noel~

Character Week :)

Character Week was amazing, I had so much fun.....even though I was sooooo tired and it was hard to keep my energy up. We had 98 kids, more then we've had for a few years. And about half of those kids were from the community.

At some point during the week while I was walking around making sure everyone was doing what they we're supposed to do; it hit me how old I am. And not really in years, but just how much older I was than a lot of the other volunteers. I also remembered that I was the same age or older than the people that 'ran' Character Week when I was younger, and how old I thought they were.

I was going to write this really long post and catch up, but its late and I'm tired, so goodnight :)

be free
~noel~

Summer is here :)

Hello peoples, sorry about not posting for.......a long time. Anyways, I've been trying to find a routine since coming back from the Arkansas trip, (which was amazing, and I'm still sorting through all the things that happened). Since it is summer and all of the things that I am usually busy doing are over, what do I do now???? So because I didn't have anything to do I decided to makeover my room. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but right now as I contemplate going to my bedroom it doesn't seem so brilliant. Today I started this project my switching dressers with my brother, but that dresser needed to be repainted, so I dumped ALL my clothes and other miscellaneous items on my bed. I put one coat of paint on the dresser, but you have to wait twelve hours to put another coat on. So here I am, looking at my gi-normous mess, feeling a little overwhelmed and wondering what I got myself into.........
I'll try to post before and after photos when I finish, IF I finish lol.

be free
~noel~

Hi Ya'll......

Hiya peeps, whats happening? I'm in Arkansas relaxing after a looooooong weekend at a children's conference here in Searcy. I am having so much fun, and God is teaching me so many things. I can't believe that this trip is halfway over, I miss home, but I don't want to go home. Those are a tired girls emotions for you lol. Love you all :)

be free
~noel~

And So It Begins.......

.....The Absolute Craziness and Mayhem.
and I mean that in the fondest way, I am really excited about all the conferences coming up, I am just a little overwhelmed. But I like being busy, the tired part..not so much. I am already tired and today was only the first setup day *sheesh*.

So this was all to say that I probably will not post for a while, not that I do all the time anyway.....but this time I will have an excuse lol. Pray for me, I really want to be used by God for great things.

be free
~noel~

letting mySELF go....

Have you ever felt like you have been stumbling around in the dark for a long time......
Then, all at once, everything comes into focus. You can see things so clearly, things you didn't really want to see. I feel like that, only the things I see I don't know how to change........

I can see how really screwed up I am....all of these things that I have been hearing about for years, things my parents, siblings, and friends have said...and now I can see them ALL......and its really bad.

Whats worse is I don't know how to change, I have been this way so long that I don't know if I CAN change. My heart keeps telling me that I don't have to do this alone, and that I CAN change through the blood of Christ, but my mind is having trouble believing this.

I will not give up though, I am determined to figure this out and surrender my stupid pride and self-righteousness.

be free
~noel~

P.S. This is a song I just started listening to, and it has really encouraged me. I just listen to it over and over, telling myself that this is TRUTH, that no matter what is happening in my life God IS my JOY!!!!

And He set me on fire, and I am burning alive.
With His breath in my lungs I am coming undone.
And he set me on fire and I am burning alive.
With his breath in my lungs I am coming undone.
And I cannot hold it in Remain composed.
Love's taken over me So I propose the letting myself go.
I am letting myself go.

You are my joy.
You are my joy.
You are my joy.
You are my joy.

And He set me on fire, and I am burning alive.
With His breath in my lungs I am coming undone.
And He set me on fire, and I am burning alive.
With His breath in my lungs I am coming undone.
And I cannot hold it in and remain composed.
Love's taken over me and so I propose the letting myself go.
I am letting myself go.

You are my joy.
You are my joy.
You are my joy.
You are my joy

I need to catch my breath, I need to.
I need to catch my breath, give me a moment now.

You are my joy.
You are my joy.
You are my joy.
You are my joy.

I'm laughing so hard
And I'm laughing so hard
And I'm laughing so hard

-You Are My Joy, by David Crowder