Surprise!

Ok the last month has been crazy, crazy, crazy. I am almost done with all of my finals and projects and have decided to take a break to blog. Woo-hoo! I have missed it tremendously.

So the biggest surprise came about a month ago. My friend Jessie came to visit me and told me on the way down that she had a surprise, "kinda a big surprise", to share with me. I thought through the possibilities and figured it must be that my friend Colleen or my friend Heather had decided to join her. I got really excited about this possibility but tried not to get my hopes up too high in case I was wrong.

When Jessie pulled up it was apparent that either Heather/Colleen had taken advantage of Harry Potter's invisibility cloak (highly unlikely) or they weren't there. Jessie jumped out of the car and opened her trunk exclaiming "here it is!" as she pulls out a giant poster board. It almost looks like a giant, Ed McMann- style check. It has my name on it in bright colors and looks really cute. Although I wasn't really sure what it was I thought it was a nice thought and politely thanked her. Then she handed me a card. Again, I didn't really think much of it since Jessie could put any church card ministry to shame with her regular cards of encouragement. I just thought I had another one to add to the collection. Then I opened the card and a real check fell out. I am not sure if my jaw or the check hit the floor first. All of my friends got together to support me, financially and prayerfully, in my calling to share my testimony. They gave me $1,000 to pay to go to the writer's conference. I cannot tell you how humbled I was by this act. To see so many (about 50 in all) people who believe in me, believe in my testimony and believe in God's purpose for this experience was amazing.

Of course, you all are the ones who supported me so you already know the story :) I have to be honest my first thought was "Crap! I really have to do this now!" It is a HUGE step out of my comfort zone but that just further solidifies that this is Gods plan and not my own. I am so thankful for the support I just can't even express it. Thank you a million times over. I am officially registered for the she speaks conference and will be receiving instruction on speaking, writing and turning a blog into a book. I am so, so, so excited and can't wait! Thank you!

Sorry it's backwards. Apparently my mac works off of a mirror system :) but the smile is still HUGE!!!

Rom 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.