home sweet home

Finals are over.

The tree is up.

My painting supplies.

Snow.

My family.

Old friends.

My puppy.

Lots of Love.

What more could i want?

Finally some rest and no worries of the next paper that due.

Peace and Quiet.

Thank you Lord :)

FINALS WEEK!

Alright so 2 finals down to today and two more to go this week. And 2 papers and this semester will be overrrrr! yaya christmas season all the way baby :) I feel really good about the finals i took today! so thats a good relief. we will see how the rest of the week goes!

i love you all

i send my hugs and kisses :)

DEAD WEEK IS almost OVER!

These are results of deliriousness and exhaustion...we couldn't get anything out of our brains...too much caffeine in us....and my body hurt actually, i dont know why, but it was aching! The second picture took place at about 1:30 AM. Our faces had lost color that blood gives us. Extreme caution when you see these pictures!!!! The first picture is us the morning after in class. So yeah...i thought i would document these crazy/funny/what the heck was i thinking...TIMES! 

The Lord will lead us through!

Dead Week

So im piled high with papers to write and feels like there is no end in sight! Its dead week here at school and next week is FINALS. Im trudging through.

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans 5:3

Odds and ends

These are just random pictures. The group of girls i am with in the second picture is my life group. We get together every week and those girls are amazing and are growing so much! 

This first picture represents how much coffee i drink...too much but not enough. 

The 3rd picture represents that i take soooo many pictures. 

I wanted to add liz and kirsten because they haven't been in my memories as much as i would like them to be.  

The picture above is of me and rachi and lizzy, nerd night at church. A visit home for me, that picture just makes me laaaauuuuuugh!!!

The last two pictures is of me and my bethany:) I am so blessed to have found her, she is an amazing friend, ive never had a friendship like hers:) Thank you Jesus!

Holy Spirit Rush through My Veins

OOOOOh MY goodness was tonight amazing? YES...can i get an amen?

OK so, here at PLBC we had a night of prayer/worship. I was asked to paint as a form of worship to the Lord while the band played and while people prayed. I have always wanted to do this. And i had my chance...lets just say i was SO nervous about it. Everyone was going to see me painting and my end result. So ultimately i was afraid of being judged. But i God totally set me free of that and I'm pretty sure that was the best worship i have ever given him! the painting ended up blessing so many people. A lot of people had different interpretations to what the meaning meant and i was totally fine with that! Because i didn't want this painting to be about me, It was for the Lord and His people, i was merely a tool. The Holy Spirit guided me through the whole thing. I feel like i dont even have good enough words to describe the feeling i got tonight. God answered my prayer when i asked to be stretched, to experience Him in a new way. I have never felt the Holy Spirit rush through my veins as He has done in my the last few months.

I want to encourage you to ask for the same thing. Step out of your comfort zone with the way you worship God. Maybe that new way can be: cleaning your moms house, dancing while you worship, smiling at the people passing you by all day, painting, fasting, lifting your hands as a symbol of surrendering while you sing praises....there are so many things the list goes on and on. The point is, God wants you to know Him, to touch Him, to hear Him. You cant know every aspect of God if you only sing praises, or if you only pray. Find new ways to worship Him and I  promise you will be filled :) Let Him fill you up!

OH and OOOOOH my goodness this morning was an amazing morning can i get an AMEN?!

Ok so my Spiritual Formation 1 class (my favorite class) went to malls today just to bless people. Me and my friend Emily teamed up and set out to make someone's day worth it. So we went down aisles "pretending" we were looking for something and just asked people how they were doing, about 60% of them were so shocked and excited, one lady said "Its so nice to see smiling face" My heart just warmed!!! Near the end i got to have a conversation with an older woman named Dora. She was the cutest thing i have ever scene. So we got talking and i asked her if she was excited for Christmas. My heart broke because she wasn't excited at all. She said that she doesn't have much of anyone to be with during the Holidays. She had 9 children! 9 children and not one of them has there mother for a meal on Christmas day? I felt as though someone put my heart in a blender. BUt then she continued to talk so highly of her children and all the fun memories they have had in there lifetime. It humbled me so much that she still had a kind heart towards them and wouldn't say one harmful word against them. I ran out of time and my teacher called me over i quickly told her my name and she told me hers and i told i would be thinking of her on Christmas, and God Bless. OH how i wish i had more time with that sweet Lady. She blessed my heart so much.

After all of this i thought to myself...WOW when we go shopping for food, clothes etc. we are only thinking about ourselves, and what we need and we assume everyone around us is just another person in this world. And felt like i have missed out on so much. We went into the mall fully for others and not ourselves and we left so much better than when we came in...if we would have thought about ourselves the whole time we wouldn't have changed a bit. So why not everyday smile at the people going by you, or saying a simple hello, or ask them how they are doing. Try it sometime,  promise you will be blessed!

Can you all please come to bible college to you can do this with me? PLEASE!!!

Here are some fun photos to share if you don't look at my face book! Oh! and my wedding cake...

The second photo is of me and bethany and Katie, those are my 2 bestest friends here:)

I Couldn't Stop Laughing and I Couldn't Start Breathing.

So its funny story time.

I can't say there hasn't been a night gone by where i haven't almost peed my pants. These girls are amazing and so hilarious that i live with. Yeah most the time there laughing AT me but i don't really have a problem with that. God has truly blessed me with Godly women :)

So one night me and Emily were making our way from the rec. room to our dorm rooms. This requires going up 3 flights of stairs. Me and emily we particularly in a silly mood, and it didn't take much for us to laugh our brains out. As we were leaving the rec. room to the outdoors i started to run up these cement stairs, i got up the 2 flights of them just fine, and i was about to leap over the single step full force ahead! I underestimated the height and  my toe caught the edge of it and my flopping body smacked right into the office doors about 15 feet away. I immediately heard emily whaling in laughter, and i just started screaming so loud as if i was in labor. BUT I COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING! It was one of those hurts that made me laugh. Looking down and seeing the blood i knew this was serious, while screaming and laughing i hobbled up the next flight of stairs. Oh yeah, at this point i am also hyperventilating. The image of my uncontrollable body going through the air, slamming into the office doors was replaying over and over in my mind. At this point i say to Emily, "I can't stop laughing and i can't start breathing!" So i was left with a broken toe and top of my toe gone. Lets just say i limped around the campus for about a week and a half.

So i decided that the theme of the girl's dorm this year is "I couldn't stop laughing and i couldn't start breathing!"

There are many for memories to tell but i probably shouldn't share half of them. LOL

Good good good times:)

What are you living for?

So for as long as i have been here God is truly teaching me the exciting things about how to be a true follower of Christ. Since I've been here i feel as though i have broken through the big problems in my walk and now I'm on to tackling that small things, and i am finding it's harder. Because the big things acted like a brick wall, blinding me from a light the would guide me down a completely different path. And i just took a really big hammer and knocked it down. Those big problems made the small problems seem like no problem at all. But really the small things in life define who you really are, ive found it doesnt matter if you've killed a man, woken up drunk, slapped your girlfriend, or slit your wrist, what matters is how you treat others, and how strong your personal relationship with God is, most people will love you for who you are not what you have done.

But then that leads to the comment. No leah people wont always love you for the good things you've done, most the time people hold onto the bad things.

And that leads to forgiveness. To be honest i have had people do some pretty crappy things to me in my life, people who i loved and put my whole heart into. And here comes the honest part...I never found it hard to forgive them. I never found it hard to forgive them because I have the love of God in me, and the Holy Spirit to guide me. I hope im not sounding self righteous but its the truth i have never found it hard to forgive anyone in my life, even after i had been cheated, backstabbed, deceived, and bruised. And i find that if people wont forgive you for what you've done, pray for them because Jesus has already forgotten. Go to a church where people love you and respect you, a place called home for a lot of people. There will always be people who will accept you for who you truly are, you may have to seek them out though and get out of that zone you have been sitting in all your life.

Now back to what God has been teaching me.

HUMBLENESS 

All my life people have scene me as innocent leah. The pastors kid who doesn't normally do anything wrong! HA! they obviously haven't done enough research. But thats not the point the point is selfishness, back at home i didn't realize how much i liked those stereotypical thoughts of me. But i was convicted, God revealed to me that i needed to work a little more on the inside, i may look good on the outside but he said "I want more of you" :) I always want more of Jesus. I learn more and more everyday that Jesus will rewarded you for the person He knows not the person everyone else knows. I find comfort in that and also struggle. So i dont have to take every chance for people to see what a Godly women i am. Sometimes speaking your NOBLE opinion in class or calling every person out on there sin is not the right thing to do. A lot of us do these things. It disgusts me sometimes to see people competing for the HOLIEST CHRISTIAN award.

The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom,

and humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 15:33

New

Hello everyone!

Im here in Canada and figured i should join the trend my brother and jenni started and start my own blogspot as rachel has done.

College has been amazing so far, to be honest its way more than i have ever expected, more homework and friends than ever expected :)

The day i got here i immediately felt comfortable everyone was open to everyone.

I felt horrible because my poor loving father was up in my dorm room helping me unpack he was the only man up there, he quickly felt awkward and i was avoiding that whole thought. So his departure came sooner than expected for the both of us. My father has been my bestfriend since day one, i have learned more from him than anyone in my life, he has always supported me in my decisions "Leah i know you will make the wise decision" best answer anyone could give you. He always made me think and helped me become who i am today. So saying goodbye to him honestly, it didnt feel real. I knew i would see him soon and i comforted him with that but he said "3 months too long" on my part i felt as though i was abandoning him :( horrible feeling. But we both knew i was about to encounter a huge part of my life so different i would be changed forever, for the better of course (i hope). We said our goodbyes and he was on his way  :(

I havent gotten to homesick yet. I do feel homesick when im surrounded by canadians only and im the only american and they start talking about how much they either hate or dislike America. i get frustrated...and  drop it because thats not what im here to do. haha sometimes its funny. When i came here i was expecting to think these people had the weird accent, but people claim i have an "Oregon" accent. so m the wierd one here. i try to tell them that Oregon doesnt have a specific accent....weird i know. The other americans think its weird also.  So when i start talking a lot they start making fun of my "accent" I get a crack out of it until they just wont drop it haha.

Oh and p.s. there iced tea is disgusting here!!!!!!!!!! what am i supposed to do!! Mom i need your iced tea send it by the gallon! and lemons!

Oh and i never know what the temprature is here.

" its going to be in the twenties all week"ill be grabbin my snow gear. and i say what do you mean? and i cant ever figure it out. so i change like 5 times a day trying to feel comfortable.

So on 9/11 my good friend andrew(canadian) stood up during lunch and said a prayer and had a moment of silence. i was very touched by it. until i sat down with my food, and the guy in front of me said "its been freakin 7 years why dont the americans freakin get over it" i think i gave him the meanest look i have ever given in my life. i quickly sewed my mouth shut and  let my friend Ryan K who is from washington take care of this convo. of course ryan really didnt do it justice in my mind. "i mean a lot of people died but who cares anymore" ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW? wow i never felt so disrespected in my life. i was holding back the tears thinking about the country as a whole, every person was effected by it especially the people who lost someone. Do these people deserve to be forgotten and not cared about? I think not. I think i would have unloaded on the guy if i opened my mouth, so i kept quiet.

My roomate and i are different but she is awesome. She has a lot of energy and always has a smile on her face even when she is in pain haha. She is growing in the Lord and having the time of her life. we both have about the same tendencies with out cleanliness. im a little worse. but i have more close...brought so much. i had send home 2 boxes with my dad.

God has been revealing Himself to me in ways i have never felt. I have had an intimate relationship with Christ for a long time but that sense has been intensified time a million. i am so romanced by the King :) 

the studying part will be a challenge for me but beneficial.

There honor roll starts at a 3.3 here so im super excited about that! i'll do you proud folks!

 

God has my whole heart now and i am laying my life down for him to play with :) I will go where he sends me. I want to leave my life open for Him.

LOSE YOUR LIFE SO YOU CAN GAIN IT.

I am on the ride of a lifetime :)

thanks for reading i hope you will continue