Calling.

This week has slapped me in the face.

But some really good things have come out of it.

Like, for instance, God and I had a little heart-to-heart this afternoon. I got really bored, so I threw on my tennis shoes and went for a little walk. Side note: I walked for 2 1/2 miles, and by the time I got home, I was sweatin'. I keep a pretty good pace. Anyways, I was noticing the bright blue skies and the colors of the trees, and then I started thinking. *insert appropriate response*. I heard I quote the other day that said, "The need is not the call." Ouch. I spent hours last night trying to dissect it and decide if I agree with it or not. I think I do. Obviously we can always meet a persons basic needs. Love, food, clothing, etc. But the need for something is not God's call on our life to do that something. You are uniquely gifted by God. The key is finding out what you were creating uniquely to do, and that's what you pour out of yourself. If you're operating within your gifts, you will feel energized, not empty. There will always be the need to do something, but there will never be the call to do everything. I have really struggled with this area of my life for the past few months. What am I called to do? The Lord says I am to love others. Everyone loves in a different way. To me, a calling is the unique way that God calls you to love others. I'm still figuring out what that unique way is.

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance (endure with) to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:1-3

If you're struggling with God's calling on your life, start with the basics. If you follow these verses and are open to God using you, He will make His way shown.

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11.

Unload.

Tonight we started a new series at church entitled "Courage". This is a big one for me. I like to think that I'm a brave person. But the truth is, I'm only brave when I'm in my comfort zone. When I know my friends will still love me even if I screw up. When I know I'll still be accepted. But when I'm outside of my comfort zone, I'm such a coward. I don't like meeting new people, and I don't like those painfully awkward, forced conversations. My Cultural Anthropology class has been talking about loving people that are different from us. Christ call us to love others. But we can't truly love them unless we first build a relationship with them. That requires courage. And that scares me. What if they think I'm a wacko? What if they hate me? These are the questions that ran through my mind as I tried to be a little more courageous tonight. I tried to step up and step out. No one thought I was a wacko, and no one hated me, and I TRIED. God just wants us to try. He doesn't label us as failures if we are rejected. He just wants us to keep trying, because eventually we will make an impact. I'm going to try and go a little out of my way this week to be courageous. Will you?
My second thought for this evening is "time". I either have too much time, or not enough. And when I need time, I don't have it, and when I don't need it, I get even more of it. September was just stupid busy for me. There were four days that month that I wasn't doing anything other than school. I hate that I try and rush through one thing so I can mark it off my list and move on the the next thing. Last month just flew by, and I know I didn't savor it in the way that I should have. I'm turning 16 on November 1, and I'm so excited, but I'm also a little scared. When did I grow up? When did driving go from five years away to less than a month? I remember talking with my best friend about "when we get to high school". Now I'm already a sophomore. Next year I'll have to take the ACT and start looking at colleges. I'm excited about getting older and reaching new milestones, but it's a lot to swallow. I'll have to  get a job, I'll be going to school, I'll be involved in church, and will I have enough time for it all? I pray I will. I don't want to get sucked up in everything and start skipping out on church. It is such a necessary time for me to unload all my "junk" from the week and renew my spirit.

Lastly, let's talk school for a little bit, eh? The school fairy has disappeared this year, and the school demon showed up. Algebra 2 was giving me enough problems, and then my Personal Finance teacher decided I wasn't getting enough math in my life, so I should "reconcile with the bank". Good grief, people. I tried for hours on end to try and get this woman's checkbook to balance with her back statement. Eventually, I realized if I factored in the one number he told us to ignore, it all balanced out. Yay for teachers who lie. Then, my A&P teacher decided that we should read Module 2 this week, and have a quiz over it next week. I am not the kind of person who can just read something and remember it. I have to go in depth and understand it, and then I can remember it. But memorizing thirty pages in a week is killing me. I know this is probably "normal" for all you public school crazies, but I think this is ridiculous. How are we supposed to learn if stuff is just constantly being thrown at us and we are expected to remember it. Call me crazy, but doesn't this seem unproductive to you?

Well I suppose I've rambled on long enough. Enjoy the rest of your week fellow bloggers!

The good, the bad, and the great.

    Happy Tuesday to you! I hope you had a wonderful start to the week. I've been trying to be a little better about my blogging lately, so stick with me! Things at my house have been more than a little crazy lately, but I am so super excited about things that are coming up.

   This year brings a lot of things. Good things, bad things, and great things.

   Good things:

    - My 16th. Yes you will be hearing quite a bit about this until it actually happens.

    - The Holidays! I seriously love anything holiday related. Minus eggnog. Gross.

    - School. You did read that correctly. I'm excited to learn some new things. SOME, new things.

   Bad things:

   - Graduation. Not mine, but several of my close friends are graduating this year. I'm going to miss them like crazy, and I hope they'll still come visit us little people who are still in school.

   Great things:

   - Quality time with family and friends.


       What are some things you are or are not looking forward to this year?

It makes me happy....

    It's fall! This is my favorite time of year, especially here in the Ozarks. In honor of this change of seasons, I decided to make a list of things about fall that make me happy.

1. Cardigans. Especially this one from Forever 21. I mean, who doesn't love a little stripe action?


2.  Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Lattes. Hello, love.


3.  Our annual family camping trip. All the guys, and me, from my dads side of the family head down to Arkansas for a few days of 'roughing' it.


4. That's right folks, on November 1, I will be turning the big 1-6. Oh man.


5. Boo! I for sure love Halloween. Candy from random strangers is the best.


6. The colors! The colors that come with fall make me want to go jump in a pile of leaves.


7. Bonfires make me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside...and the outside.


8. New seasons of Tv shows.



   What are some of your fall favorites?

Cheese!

    No, not cheese like the food. I'm talking about when you take a picture and the photographer says, "Say cheese!".

    Sidenote: I don't know why they tell you to say cheese, because the smile that produces it totally fake and well, cheesy. Pun intended.

    Back to the point. The reason for this post is to state, that after two and a half years.........I GOT MY BRACES OFF. I wish I had a picture to post, but the blog/Facebook is not cooperating. I am so dang excited. I have been smiling at everyone for the past thirty-six hours. Some random strangers have looked at me like I'm a freak, but hey, I don't care.

    So, I guess that's the end of this short, random post, because I have a crapload of homework. Yay for getting older.

Slacking.

     Okay, I admit it....I've been a bit of a bad blogger the past few weeks  months. I'm hoping to change that now that school has started. Yes, you read that right. The Garrison Academy for Higher Learning has officially started school, as of two weeks ago. And, as much as I wish I were joking, school might kill me this year. I have so many classes, and I'm testing in the spring so I can go to NHS next year. AGH. <---Yep. Emilee is going back to public school. It's all at once super exciting, and mildly terrifying.

     We started co-op this past week. Oh man. I have got some classes for the books my friends. Cultural Anthropology, IEW Writing, Personal Finance, and Anatomy and  Physiology. Writing is totally going to be my blow-off class. It's always come easily to me, so paper-writing should be a breeze. A&P however, is quite a different story. After the first week, we had to read 25 pages for homework, and we have a quiz this week. I'm scared. I know it'll all work out, I'll just have to study like a mad woman and become an expert note taker.

    My dad is on vacation this week, so we decided to go camping for a few days. We went to Lebanon and camped on the banks of the Niangua. Literally, we were practically ON the river. On Thursday we went for our first family float trip. Oh goodness, where to begin? Well, for starters, the water was really low and quite cold. My mom and I were in one canoe, and my dad and brother in another. We weren't twenty minutes into the float before my mom and I started having issues. Since the river was low, there were spots where if you didn't paddle your you-know-what off, you would drag and then get stuck. Even though we paddled crazy hard, we still got sideways. So yes, we took a little swim in the river. As did our lunch. After five minutes of standing in the middle of the frigid river trying to right our canoe, we finally made it on our way. About fifteen minutes after that, we had more problems. We didn't tip over, but instead did some tree carving. Yes, we ran into a tree. A TREE. I'm sure we looked hilarious. In the meantime, my dad and brother have practically tipped their canoe over because they were laughing at us so hard. Losers. Continuing on down the river, we encountered some nice little rapids. By this time, we (sort of) knew what we were doing, and navigated them with no problem. After the rapids, there were some trees that had long branched that reached over the edge of the bank. You guessed it. We ran into a tree. Again. But this time, instead of just the front of the canoe hitting the tree, I went into the tree. There were branches in front of me, behind me, and on top of me. I was stuck. In a canoe. In a tree. So I started crying. I cried because I was cold and wet, and stuck in a tree. You would cry too. But we finally made it to the take-out point. And just to prove what amazing canoe-ers we are......we canoed 11 miles in 3 and 1/2 hours. Boom.

    All in all, it's been quite the month so far. I can't wait to see what else is going to happen in my crazy life!

P.S- It's only 44 days until my 16th birthday!

A-Z About Me

{a} age ::Sweet fifteen...for another 55 days!
{b} bed size :: Twin.
{c} chore you hate :: Laundry or dishes
{d} dogs :: Chip ( Labrador/Dalmatian, 6) and Ellie (Dacschund, 11)
{e} essential start to your day :: Shower.
{f} favorite color :: Blue. (Like a peacock blue).
{g} gold or silver :: Silver.
{h} height :: 5'6
{i} instruments you play :: None...
{j} job title :: Babysitter.
{k} kids :: Uh, not yet!
{l} live :: Missouri
{m} maiden name :: Garrison...which is also currently my last name.
{n} nicknames :: Em

{o} overnight hospital stays :: Nope.

{p} pet peeve :: The sound of people chewing, and when people don't use their turn signals.

{q} quote :: "People with their minds set on You, You keep whole, steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don't quit." -Isaiah 26:3
{r} righty or lefty :: Lefty.
{s} siblings :: Lance: 11

{t} time you wake up :: 7:30-9
{u} university attended :: Not there yet!
{v} vegetables you dislike :: Peas
{w} what makes you run late :: Hmmmm. Uncooperative hair.
{x} x-rays you’ve had :: Just my teeth.
{y} yummy food :: Grilled chicken, ice cream, chai tea, anything chocolate.
{z} zoo animal favorite :: The elephants!

*I tag Always Ashlyn, New Year New Beginning, and Like A Thread. Your turn!