Hannah's Happenings...

summer plans...

2006-05-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

So... I'm kinda freakin out a little bit. I leave tomorrow for a three month trip to California. And, I will be going on a road trip with Erin, Anna, and Katie. All we have is a map and money. No reservations anywhere. Stopping where we can. Ending up in Etna, California. There I will be for the next three months. Camping. Under the stars sleeping. Hiking. River riding. Biking. Ropes coursing... ah! now you know why I am freaking out? It's a crazy thought. And if you know me, you know that this is so not me. And I did it last year, had a blast, going back, and still freaking out. I know that this is where the Lord wants me. And I know that he is taking me on yet another "wild-n-crazy, so different from myself, getting out of my comfort zone" summer. I am excited to see the lengths He goes to take me to another place with Him. And there is nowhere else I would rather be than be WITH HIM. My God who created all of the amazing things that I will be experiencing this summer. These things were made to point my heart right to Him, for it is Him who deserves all of the glory. I cannot wait to tell you the journeys He takes me on this summer... I will miss you all more than you'll ever know!
To God be the glory!

You Are Mine

2006-04-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

"YOU ARE MINE!" Jesus has been pouring those words into my heart lately. Not once wanting me to forget that I am HIS. I am his tresure, I am his pride and joy, I am his love, I am his chosen daughter, I am his best friend, I am his unblemished bridegroom, I am his servant who is white as snow, I am his glory, I am his diamond, I am his girl, I am HIS!
I struggle with not being "somebody's" and the Lord knows my heart so well that He is trying every way for me to know that I am HIS. And I AM. Though my feelings try to provoke that truth somewhere out of my mind, I return to it over and over again because I know and believe that I am HIS. He will not tire until these truths have been engraved in my heart and soul. He will never give up on me. Though Satan tries to defeat these words, the truth is, Jesus has the victory over my life. And he will not get sick of telling me that I am his.
Jesus bought me with his blood and I am no longer a slave to this world, but a saint of heaven! I am going to be his in heaven and His name will be on my lips for all of eternity because I am His and He is mine!
To God be the glory!

my verse of the day

2006-04-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

"May the Lord DIRECT your heart into God's love and Christ's perseverance." 2 Thess 3:5

He is my only strength and as much as I try and try to point my focus to Him, I always seem to get myself distracted. And, the Lord reminded me this morning that He is the one that DIRECTS my eyes to him. And not only that, but to His love and the perseverance of Christ. How great is our God? He makes me smile... and you all know how much i love to smile :)
To God be the glory!
hannah

sistery love

2006-04-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to do a quick shout out to my sister. She is one of the sweetest and wisest people i know. I miss her so much since she's been gone from good 'ole Auburn. It's weird because since my junior year of highschool she's been at Auburn. And then, I was here with her for a year and a half and now she's back home. Sad! Gosh, i miss her. I just want everyone to know how great she is. She will speak truth to me when my feelings are telling me otherwise. She lets me have it when I am being stupid. But, she's the only one that does and probably the only one I will listen to. I could not imagine a better best friend that the Lord has given me. She knows me better than anyone else... she has known me since my birth and all. But, not only is she sweet and kind and drop dead gorgeous. Her heart for Jesus is contagious. I love hearing the new things that the Lord has revealed to her. I love hearing what He is smoothing over in her heart. She has had to go home and have her world completely turned around, but she NEVER complains. I rarely hear her upset or frustrated that all of her friends are in Birmingham, her boyfriend and her sister are in Auburn along with many other good friends. She is content with wherever she is because she knows she is in the Father's will.

Ha ha, i just love my sister!!!!

the Lord works in mysterious ways

2006-04-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

So, I have this English teacher who is very blatenly athiest. He makes comments all of the time that just really hurt my heart. One time he said something along the lines of "Why would I want to spend an eternity in heaven sitting in pews and reading Hymnals? I'd rather be spending my eternity in hell with the fun people sitting around bars and chatting". Wow, is he in for a shocking experience. If you're around me enough, you've hear me talk about this guy and it just makes me so sad. Because so many people think exactly like him. I know so many of my friends from highschool think like this.
Well, I've been thinking about sharing with my teacher how different my walk with the Lord is comapared to what he's thinking. But, I've never felt like the Lord wanted me to at any particular moment. The other week we had a poetry explication due. This is where we look through a bunch of poems and pretty much analyze it for three pages. I come across this one poem and it jumps out to me like it is a prayer to Jesus. It's a love poem. But everything inside of me is telling me to compare it to my relationship with MY love, Jesus, and share the gospel with this dude. SO, I obey and write for three pages about the grace of Jesus and the abundant love that is neverending. I prayed over it, asking the Lord to do with it as He desires, and turned it in two days later, expecting an F. I got it back yesterday and saw a big fat A on my paper. Never did I think that I would recieve this grade because I really didn't follow the directions to the paper, I just talked about my walk with Jesus. But, that's the grade I got. I am just glad that he has seen a different side of the Lord through this poetry explication.
Here's the poem that I used, and maybe you will see what I did:

"Your face is written in my soul, and when
I want to write about you, you alone
Become the writer, I but read the line;
I watch you where you still watch me, within.

This state I am and always will be in.
For though my sould imprints a half-design
Of what I see in you, the good unknown
Is taken on a trusting regimen.

What was I born for if not to adore you?
My ills have shaped you to the bent they give.
I love you by a daily act of soul.

All that I have I must confess I owe you.
For you I cane to life, for you I live,
For you I'd die, and do die, after all."

To God be the glory...

home sweet home

2006-03-29T19:06:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a few fun filled days at the beach of Clearwater Florida. It was freezing the first couple of days and we layed out on the beach anyways becasue we all refused to come to the beach and not lay out. So, chillbumps and all, we pushed through the pain of almost getting frostbite... ha ha! it was so much fun! psyochotic seagulls along with the diamond dolls as our neighbors and prostitution going on beneath us... ah, the craziness of trying hard to do a cheap spring break. Oh goodness, those few days are ones that I will never forget.
And now, I have returned home. I have returned to three of my forever best friends (Caroline, Courtney, and Kelly) who have informed me on the latest "Marietta Gossip" that I have OH SO missed since last I was here. Now, I am all caught up :) and I have returned to a daddy that is laying on the couch sick with a stomach bug, but not too sick to kiss me on the cheek and hold me for a little bit. Honestly, I wouldn't care in the least if I got sick in order to be around him right now. Oh, how i've missed my daddy. (as you can tell, I'm the biggest daddy's girl). And I have returned to a mom that will sing and dance with me around the kitchen. A mom that won't leave the room without complimenting me or giving me a hug and telling me how much she loves me. She knows me more than anyone. And I have returned to a sister who is the closest person to me in my life. I still haven't gotten used to her not being in Auburn and so when I do get to see her, it's so special. We realized today that we don't have enough pictures of both of us, so we went to our backyard and took funny pictures. I love her so much. We are so different, yet so alike. I have no idea what I would do without her. And I have returned to my Jesus. He seems to draw me in so much when I am home. I worship a Jesus who never stops persuing me. Who never gives up on me and longs for me to be with him. And so, now at home, that's what I want to do more than ever. Return to him. My protector. My Savior. My Redeemer. My Love. My Everything. I am not too good with words, so it's hard to describe the feeling I have for Him. But it's deep and full of hope and desire to be with Him. The lump in my throat is what is happening right now as I talk about him. So... as I am home, I most look forward to spending this time with my sweet Jesus. And i look forward to telling you about it later on... to God be the glory!

just a reminder...

2006-03-09T08:19:00.000-08:00

I'll have to give props to my roomate, K, for opening my eyes to this one: "...if I try to expect anything out of this life it would be...expecting Him to glorify himself through me" wow huh? We were discussing lowered expectations on my own circumstances and she mentioned that to me. God spoke to me so hugely this morning through her, and because of that, I know that I am blessed. So, today I hope that each of you don't expect anything out of today except for Him to glorify himself through you!!!

why am i in school?

2006-03-01T16:01:00.000-08:00

I am so tired of doing school work... I feel like that's all i've done this week... and I only have one question... why am i in school?

I am a target...

2006-02-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

At leadership the other night Matt Dean told us something that has become my thought process/lesson of the week. He said, "Your greatest strength and abilities wil be Satan's biggest target." Oh goodness, if anyone knows what he is talking about, it is me. I boast in the fact that through the Lord, I have been given a gift of joyfulness and encouragement. Again, I am only boasting in what the Lord has given me through and by the cross of Jesus. And lately, maybe in the past couple months or so, I have noticed myself becoming more quick to become angry and become annoyed. This is not normal for me. I hated it with so much inside of me. I started to get angry at myself thinking that this is something inside of me that I needed to get rid of. My journaling consisting of begging the Lord to take this ugliness out of me. And for a while it would go away and then, I would become quick tempered again. Ugh, it was awful. But it wasn't until this week that the Lord pointed out to me the evil warfare going on. I am a target of Satan. He is trying to destroy me of my gift of the Lords, trying to take me far from bringing Jesus glory. He's a theif and a liar! (that's an understatement) Anyways, I just wanted to share with you how I have found freedom this week, knowing that it isn't me that's disgusting, but Satan, a destroyer. Now, I am able to pinpoint it and take hold of it, and throw it away...

what a sweet man...

2006-02-08T16:49:00.000-08:00

haha, when i say "sweet man" i'm actually talking about a man that I don't even know very well. He's this guy that I have seen only five or six times and at least three times he's asked me how I was doing or what I was reading or studying. And if it wasn't me he was talking to, he was talking to somene else. I've seen him in Cambridge mostly. Anyone know who it is that I am talking about? Tonight I saw him at the library. He walked right past my table and asked about what I was working on... he is such a sweet man. Next time he talks to me I am going to find out more about him. just a quick thought... to God be the glory...

authenticity...

2006-02-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

I'm learning so much from the Lord lately. Recently, He keeps showing to me what it means to be authentic. Daily before him I find myself getting wrapped up in the same prayer over and over. And I seem to try and hide who I am to Him. And His question is, "Hannah, why in the world would you try to be someone different, when I am the one person who knows the most about who you are?" He loves me no matter what. He knew who I was before the foundations of the world. SO, lately, I've tried to be so authentic to him. Just me, all me in all my disgusting "glory". And I don't think i've ever felt any closer to him than I have in the last day or so. i've finally taken off my mask, my religious, churchy mask.

I looked up what authenticity means in the good 'ole Webster's dictionary... authenticity: not false or imitation; real, actual...

to God be the glory...

My first "official" post!!!

2006-02-02T23:10:00.000-08:00

Ok... so, I'm finally doing an "official" post. I didn't know what the heck I was doing the first time- so, hopefully this time I can trick ya'll and let you think I know what I'm doing now.
Tonight at Encounter, Matt talked about Jesus being your life, your entire life. Not just the bits and pieces that we decide to give him. He read these verses out of the Message (something I've been really into reading lately) from Ezekail 36... (Lord speaking) "For here's what I am going to do: I'm going to... bring you back to your own land. I'll pour water over you and scrub you clean. I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands."
I don't know if this is putting freedom in your spirit as much as it did mine, but isn't that so stinkin' cool? I think for the past couple of weeks Satan has really been getting to me about stupid stuff, and unfortunately, I've been believing those decieving words that are coming out of his mouth. And after that happens, I blame myself, talk to the Lord and really see what it is that I need to change and what I need to do different in my heart in order to never believe those liess again. (stick with me, this will make sense soon!) This whole time I've been trying to change this heart of mine that doesn't even exist anymore! That heart is gone and will never be, for "the old is gone, and the new has come!" The Lord completely and totally REPLACED my heart. I have a newie. He knew it would be impossible to change that other black, stoned heart of mine. So, he took that one out and placed a new one in me. One that will have the freedom to praise Him. I don't know about ya'll, but that is some freakin' good news. Ah! The Lord is so good to me... to GOD be the glory :)

Oh gosh, here it is...

2006-01-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

I have finally decided, after going back and forth over and over again, to start a blog. I really don't know what this is going to look like, but I've been wanting a place where I can share my thoughts and my funny stories with everyone. SO, I've hopped onto the band wagon and I'm really excited about it! Honestly, I don't know what the heck I am doing on this thing... but hopefully I can figure it out!