'Merica (Jr. Miss Performance)

I wrote this for Junior Miss (now Distinguished Young Women) three years ago.

Yes, I was one of those girls and NO, it is not a beauty pageant.

Enjoy.

America, land of opportunity

Equal Rights, life, liberty, happiness

Public schooling, Social Security

Freedom of speech, equal vote, all of us

Citizens search for new technology

advances in science and medicine

want money, power in democracy

search for answers in our urbanized din

Key to equal education found in

personal laptops! Mass produced shots for

single strand virus, rapid, mutating

Oh No! Hurry – found new virus – need cure!

Back to the grindstone, work, need more money

Study; perform tests. Who needs knowledge? Me!

Green Earth! Recycle plastic, paper, glass!

leave the chemical stuff in the landfill.

Need money? Change currency, it’s now trash!

Solved debt! Space trips got more money to kill!

Big business spends money to get their vote,

Promote candidate to get them, oops Us,

more money. Non- profits get grants, help buy coats.

Business buys vote, poor get money, not just dust.

Foreign policies work, countries eager

to ship goods through, on to Canada too!

we’re such friends, plus our coffers are meager

we’d rent State police, shut roads for them too!

America, land of opportunity!

Make a difference! Be all that you can be!

S.W.A.G.

Saved
With
Amazing
Grace





Think back...
Think back to when you were separated from Him, in darkness and living in sin.
Now think about where you are now, living in light, free in His Amazing Grace.

Change is abounding when you give yourself wholly up to Christ, asking for the greatest gift known to man, a second chance. When one becomes filled with the Holy Spirit it is no longer up to you alone to change yourself to align with God's will for your life. The Holy Spirit's refining fire will expel the sin from your heart, giving you an undivided heart, aimed towards God's way and filled with a passion for glorifying the Creator.

Just today I had a conversation about how modern day Christians forget that humility is important while teaching Christ's story. So often as believers we focus on the failings of others to make ourselves feel worthy and forget about our own past failings. We forget about treating others with Christ's love and instead pass judgement. It is important to remember that even Christians have sinned. All have fallen short of the Glory of God. If the Christian community could learn to conscientiously practice living as loving and humble servants of the Creator that deserve death and use our past experiences with sin to better understand nonbelievers and connect with them in efforts to exemplify God's Grace, imagine what kind of loving and thoughtful community we could grow. All because we live in the knowledge of His GRACE.

Know Him

God is only interested in giving you His best for you. Grow closer to Him and know his voice so that you can live in God's plans for your life rather than struggling against them.

Giving it All Up to Him

Last night at Village a wonderful woman that I am growing to treasure the company of more and more everyday decided to pray the prayer and give her life, give "it all up" to Him, our Lord. I was so blessed to be able to be there with her as she said those words, "God I give it all up to you." Her prayer was beauty itself and I found myself despite my best efforts in tears, mascara running down my cheeks, just filled to bursting with joy! I was so incredibly blessed to be able to not only witness the miracle and ecstatic joy involved when someone commits themselves to Christ but to be able to pray after her afterwards, to be a witness to her exclamation of joy for the Creator, that was the biggest blessing. I wanted to run up and down the streets screaming to the world, shouting, "She belongs to the King! She is Saved!" I am so incredibly proud and happy for her.

 Giving up control, leaning on faith is never easy, but she chose to believe in what she can't see, believe in truth and in her own words, "I felt him with me for the first time."

She is searching no more, she has found "the One"!

Tardiness and Thanksgiving

I realize I haven't been posting lately and as such may be liable to be labeled a slacker blogger. In an attempt to save myself from such awful humiliation I present to you my blog post on well...me&life I guess.

Recently my life has been quite busy, some may even venture to say overwhelming. As a freshman in college I now am learning to balance my incredibly large school work load (comes free when taking 15 credits), my job as an Information Desk Attendent for University Housing, my church commitments (including my new affiliation with the Resonate Volunteer Connections Team and my pursuit of Ownership in the church I've begun to call home), and the ever increasing amount of time I spend on my passion for dancing and the ensuing involvment in the University Ballroom Dance Team.

Also I've recently experianced some radical and exciting additions to my life: a used car( in desperate need of liscence plate, oil change, new timing belt, and air filter) as well as multiple new friends, including but not limited to; a tall dark male that just gushes steamy intrigue, deep thoughts, and butterfly inducing looks, two female friends perfect for long term friendship and willing to share in life with me as well as the continual pursuit of Christ and growth that we've all come to adopt as our life's pursuit, a roommate that although dearly liked causes more annoyance than I'm sure she is aware of (poor girl), a church small group (Village) that I have comed to LOVE (hipster peeps and all), an extraordinary lack of sleep, the bad habit of smoking the occassional cigarette with the guys, a realization that real life bills are more difficult to manage than those on paper, and an appreciation for those who give up their valuable time to love me, help shape and mold my heart into the more giving and accepting heart of Christ, desire only good for me, pray for me, surrender moments of guided reflection and advice, and most of all encourage me.

Today has been a day filled only with Joy and Thanfulness. Complete awe at HIS work and care. Peace, patience, gentleness, apprecaition, self-control, kindness, goodness, beauty, quiet and music. I woke longing to stay beneath my warm springtime green covers, slightly annoyed by the continous sound of my roommate's alarm - realizing that I'd had a dream about an epidemic resembling ebola oddly enough. I pulled myself out of bed, readied for my day and then proceeded on my bi-weekly jaunt to English 102. Being let out early I took the time to sit quietly in my next class and read/pray over the list of God's Armor, requesting that I be given it's protection throughout my day. I arouse from my trance full of peace which then slowly morphed into joy throughout my morning. After class I went to meet a wonderful young women I have been meeting with for the last few months and we proceeded through our weekly discussion of one of the Biblical truths (this time about the Holy Spirit), I luckily had been able to enjoy my first meal of the day at the beginning of said meeting ( a turkey bagel sandwich) and then proceeded to share my treat with said beautiful women , consisting of a pumpkin muffin, I also enjoyed a latte. Afterwards I went and met with another beautiful women I've come to appreciate and praise God for putting in my life, but firstly I signed up for a group project in my seminar class. I enjoyed a varied discussion of current going-ons over a delicious cup of acai berry tea and this wonderous women's apartment then afterwards retured to my dorm where I proceeded to "study" before my last class of the day. After attending said class, I ate dinner and eventually found myself here, updating all who care to know about the present condition of my heart, mind, and life. What a wonderous day the Lord has made, is it not?

Spoken Word amazingness at Church
Here is an amazing preformance of Spoken Word that an amazing young women graced us with at church this Sunday.

 

This is a little bit of what has been taking up my life recently:

 

This is sort of what I feel like God has been doing with my life recently, for which I am so thankful. Just in the last few months since school started I've noticed a difference in myself and a maturity that has made me so much more peaceful.

 

 

Runaway Symphony: Top of the World

 - A song that brings me joy (band made up completely of beloved friends)

 

Interesting and Inspiring Story

- via the Worship Pastor at my new home church

 

 

I hope you've enjoyed my epically long blog post and that it's made up for my abscence.

Love, Kelsey