I am officially a Christmas season adult. I don't know when this happened. Just last year, age 20 going on 21, I still got giddy over Christmas approaching and found myself impatiently awaiting its arrival. I wondered what would be under the tree Christmas morning, and I enjoyed the beautiful season up until that day. While I'm still enjoying my holiday break from school and enjoying fellowship with good friends, I'm finding myself wishing for a few more days before Christmas this year. Instead of myself, my focus as been more on gifts for other people. While constantly wondering what to get who and deciding which ones need to be wrapped and given before others, Christmas has been chasing me down l and I really need some more time to get things done before it catches me! I've had to throw a couple of work days in with the mix of the holiday craziness too, and boy has it ridden me exhausted! I guess procrastination has made a small contribution to all my Christmas rush, but the fact that I've been focused more on other people this Christmas to a point where Christmas has snuck up on me and I don't even feel READY... shows me that I'm growing up. (longest sentence ever) It's a good kind of growing up. I'll admit, with only 15 days until my 22nd birthday, I'm kinda wanting this whole aging process to take a break for a little while. However, every now and then I find the kind of growing up that's not so bad, and it's quite a humbling experience. :) I often forget just to simply be thankful that Santa even comes to my house on Christmas. I couldn't be more fortunate and THANKFUL for where I am and what I have in my life. So here's to growing up, and keeping in mind the real meaning of Christmas:the Lord and his many blessings, fellowship, family&friends, and giving.

(while still stuffing my face with way more chocolate peppermint confections as I ought to be)

Merry Christmas!!!

I don't know how many people can relate to this, but I somehow find myself realizing that every time I hear a Sunday morning sermon, it has SOMETHING to do with what I've been struggling with. God always finds some way to answer my prayers, my cries, through Sunday morning worship. It's not a coincidence to me when my heart goes through so much and finds itself broken in DARKNESS , then come Sunday morning I am faced with these words...just listen to them...

" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5

Such a powerful truth. I drown myself in darkness so many times when I should be igniting the light of Christ in all my struggles. My heart praises Him for showing this to me through my pastor.

A wise and wonderful friend said something to me the other day that I try to keep in mind, especially when I'm tempted to succumb to the darkness that wants to bring me down...

Today is a day we have never lived before, and we will never live again, and tomorrow is a new day.

Amen.

Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday ever. There's a chance that PART of my huge thanks might be for the delicious food. (You should see what goes on in the kitchen during Thanksgiving Day prep) However, a majority of thanks goes to the Lord for providing me with a wonderful family to be thankful for. My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is seeing my huge family. With my mom 1 of 7, 10 cousins, and plenty more family on my Dad's side, I am never short of family to spend time with. I am truly thankful I have a decent and consistent job, but with my being super family-oriented, I've been a little cranky lately over the fact that a lot of times my immediate family will join the big family without me because I always have to work. Given that, I am beyond thankful for being able to spend such a wonderful day baking and cooking in preparation for dinner, stopping and seeing my Dad's brother and his family, enjoying time with my family, and playing Apples to Apples for the umpteenth time (That game should get old with me, but it doesn't.) . I am also thankful for being able to spend yet another four days this past weekend getting to know Marcus' family in Virginia. I enjoy time with them just as much, and they are becoming family to me as well. I am truly blessed, and I am praising the Lord graciously for all He has given me.


That being most importantly said.... Can we get back to the food for a sec?
Thanksgiving is constantly a game of "Let's see how many Bray family members we can fit into the kitchen". I think at one time we may have had 5 dishes cooking in the oven. Maybe only 4. I'm pretty sure we are all also thankful that 350 degrees is quite the common cooking temperature. I wish I had pictures to share, but I have been without a camera for a while. The kitchen was a hungry stomach's heaven on earth. You become glad all that chaos went on when you see the kitchen countertops adorned with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green bean cassarole, squash cassarole, dressing, collard greens, jello salad, lima beans, sweet potatoes topped with brown sugar and pecans, rolls and cornbread. Of course, once that fills you up, then you have to make room for pies galore, turtle cheesecake, pumpkin cake, pumpkin crunch parfait, chocolate cake, sugar cookies, and more. I guess you could say our family did not go hungry.

But, as I said, family is the best part of it, and I am most thankful for spending time with them.
I hope everyone is as thankful and happy as I am for their Thanksgiving Day.

A little boy is here in the Athens Airport marveling over all the planes he sees here in the lobby. He notices pictures, points his little finger and shouts "Wow!" and as he notices model airplanes in display cases he excitedly gives them sound effects saying "SHHOOOM!". He can't be anymore than 1, maybe 2.

About 20 minutes ago, two pilots dressed in fancy, pressed, black pants/ white shirt pilot uniforms were saying farewell to their passengers, and are currently pausing for a quick lunch break. They will soon resume their duties as pilots and head to their next destination.

I hope that in 20-30 years, the little boy so in love with the aircrafts and the concept of flight, will be saying farewell to his passengers, grabbing lunch, and heading back to where he is station to meet another set of passengers. He may very well become an accountant, a high school English teacher, or the guy winning the hearts of college students on a street corner with some innovative homemade snack...but I've just got this hunch that he'll be in that pilot's uniform some day.

It's the little things like that that make me thank the Lord for life. For the little boy who is already finding his passions, and for the pilot's that provide the quickest and safest transportation allowing us to experience other parts of the country and the world in just hours.

Froyo Heaven

I haven't posted in forever, because I always feel I lack blogging talent and potential, however, I feel I need to discuss my love for frozen yogurt shops. Yes, frozen yogurt. I guess an example I am talking about would be Pinkberry. Pinkberry was the first shop like this that I had ever heard of, and I never really knew much of it. Then, after wishing I could try Pinkberry for so long, I came across a little individually owned yogurt shop in downtown Athens (where I live). After tasting and experiencing my first cup of froyo heaven, I was hooked, and quickly (oh, SO quickly...) filled a punch card to earn a free cup of said froyo heaven. This addiction to yogurt quickly flourished. We are now expecting a second yogurt shop (this one being of a chain called Yoforia) in Athens, and I'm really thinking that, unless I control myself, I am going to be consuming cups and cups and cups of this delicious phenomenon. Now, a few years past hearing about the typical froyo shop and environment, I'm seeing them everywhere. My most recent discovery was last night while taking my sister back to college in Columbus, GA. My Mom and Sister were at Wal Mart, and my Dad and I had intentions to have some good ol Ben and Jerrys, but they were closed. I noticed in a shopping center a cute little store called Chill. I figured it was clothes or accessories or something, but as my Dad drove me closer, I realized it was a yogurt shop. Not just any yogurt shop. We're talking 30 self serve yogurt flavors with a whole toppings bar of like 100 toppings that you can pile on to your hearts content as long as you plan on paying 45 cents per ounce. So deliciously amazing. Especially with being less calories than ice cream, I will easily choose these wonderful heavenly brightly colored yogurt shops over Ben and Jerrys or Brusters any day. If you don't believe me, take a look for yourself!





And if you ever happen to notice, wherever your travels take you, a Pinkberry, Yoforia, Chill, Yoguri, etc. I highly suggest you make a stop and try it out. :)

Traveler's Line

My traveler's line is drawn from New Orleans, Louisiana to Searcy, Arkansas, to Washington, D.C. , down to Orlando, Florida, and back to Louisiana and I have never crossed it. I've always wanted to travel further. I've always looked at and admired friends' pictures of their travels: Gorgeous European cities along with their collection of art, museums, monuments, and most importantly, their food. High contrast, perfect blue oceans off the coast of California. The awesome, amazing, brightly lit Times Square in New York. I have dreamt of seeing these places in person. In exactly 55 hours and 18 minutes (given my flight leaves on time) I will board a plane and head to Vienna, Austria. Most importantly, I will be headed there to do what I feel will be the happiest and most rewarding reason to travel so far--to teach and spread the love of Jesus. Just to be in the city and be teaching these people who have been through so much, and even just being in the same room with them and hearing their stories and watching them grow in His love is going fill my heart with so much joy. I am so blessed to have this opportunity, especially when in the seat next to me on the plane will be my best friend Heidi who is like a sister to me, who very generously invited me on this trip. I couldn't thank her more. Actually, I couldn't thank Heidi's aunt more for the work she does in that city. She and what she does is the entire reason we have this opportunity to go.

So, in 55 hours, and 8 minutes, I will be redrawing my traveler's line (which I always draw in pencil). In 2 or 3 weeks I will have my own pictures. Pictures of the beautiful city of Vienna, of beautiful people learning the Name of Jesus and what that Name means to our lives and to our hearts, pictures of the work we'll do to help Heidi's aunt run her youth center as efficiently as possible, and of course, but not most importantly, pictures of gelato and schnitzel-eating, best friend posing, and grins from ear to ear. Obviously, because we're in Vienna doing mission-work in a beautiful city. Far, far from where I have ever traveled. It is a true blessing! See y'all in June!

I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of my sister!

Her Version of "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson

Reasons to love and ways to enjoy Spring...

Noticing that the once barren and lifeless trees and flowers and plants are now back and beaming with bold, bright, beautiful color.
The smell of your house after leaving the windows open
That wonderful not-too-hot, not-too-cold feeling outside.
Slapping on your favorite pair of sunglasses and rocking your first pair of flip flops for the year (whichever pair you chose for the day, because you of course own a pair in every color and shade), and getting used to the way they feel again.
Picnics in the park, and some frisbee and a walk to burn the calories.
The way that sitting in the grass on a blanket outside and enjoying the sunshine makes school work a -little- bit better.
Driving in the gorgeous weather, sunroof open/top down, with your favorite Spring weather cd playing.
Playing outside with the dog.
A new Spring wardrobe??
Not even going to lie, SPRING CLEANING. Please tell me you don't feel happy putting on your favorite music and opening the windows and getting things clean and organized? I think that's one of my life's natural highs.
The perfect weather for Ice cream/frozen yogurt trips (a MUST!!)
Not only for ice cream trips but also road trips! (need I remind you: sunroof open/top down, favorite music, favorite pair of sunglasses!!)

Most of all, how the world is in a naturally wonderful and happy mood on the perfect spring day! The Lord's creation is gorgeous. :)


Today is one of those days. Enjoy it!!!!


And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced
Teaching us to breathe
What was frozen through is newly purposed
Turning all things green
So it is with You
And how You make me new
With every season’s change
And so it will be
As You are re-creating me
Summer, autumn, winter, spring
-Nichole Nordeman

Blog savvy, not so blog savvy?

CONFESSION: I am SO self conscious about my blogging! I always feel like my blog posts are uninteresting and/or don't flow very well. Then I feel self conscious about being self conscious because I know no one enjoys hearing someones complaints about how uninteresting they are. It's a never ending cycle. I am, however, open to the possibility that i am not alone in this dilemma. I just hope if anyone is actually keeping up with this, that they are enjoying the random tidbits of life that I share every now and then. :)

I leave you on this half sunny and beautiful half cloudy and rainy Saturday with a little sample of mine and Marcus' text message conversation that makes me blush. Be warned, cuteness will ensue.


Me: "And I am boooored and want to enjoy sunshine
Me: with you might I add
Marcus: It's cloudy over here. Probably bc you're at work :aint no sunshine when ur gone, ain't no sunshine when ur away, aint no sunshine when ur gone & ur always away too long anytime u go away:

I am quite privileged to have a sweet best friend and love that breaks into song. :)

Short, but sweet. :)

This is going to be a quick update, but an update none the less! :) It has been an excellent day. I always feel like I have no food at my apartment. It always seems to just be snack food. However, this morning I realized that I had an unused avacado, an unused red onion, some eggs, and a fruit cup. I somehow managed to turn that into an incredible and healthy breakfast! I cracked the 4 eggs that I had left in my carton of 6. After that I decided, why not, I'll just get rid of the yolks and make it an egg white omelet. So I sauteed some diced red onion and added the eggwhites and thanks to my roommate Amanda's perfect sized pan I successfully (for the first time, it always breaks or doesn't flip all the way and folds under itself) made a perfectly cooked omelet. I sliced up some avacado and put it on top. Then, I took the Del Monte Fruit Naturals cup that I found in the fridge, drained it, and poured the fruit in a bowl. It was probably one of the yummiest and healthiest breakfasts I've had in a long time. Delicious! I followed that with some quiet time with the Lord and reading the book of Psalm which I love. Then, I took a shower and spent some time straightening up my room which has been pretty messy, and then I was off to work! It was a gorgeous day here at the airport and EVERYONE I have spoken with has had a smile today. I guess it's just one of those days where happiness is just floating around and infecting everyone! I know this post is very food-oriented, but I must share that I get to finish it off with a trip to my favorite Athens frozen yogurt shop once I get off work. Only 30 calories a serving! and I get to share it with a man that is super precious to me. :) I'm definitely thanking God for this beautiful day!

Oh, and check out my new toy!!

You said "I Am"

It has been a LONG time since I have posted!

I had to share an experience from yesterday. Despite the wind being a bit strong and a bit chilly, it was gorgeous outside. I came home to Snellville Tuesday night to see my sister's pre-LGPE band concert, and as I was heading back to Athens in the morning, I had Nichole Nordeman's "Greatest Hits" album playing. I've known a couple of her songs for a while, and thought she was beautiful, so I bought the album off itunes and burned a CD to listen to during my trip. As I listened to her gorgeous music, there were two songs that came on that just pulled at my heart, and my stomach. One of them, talking about each season as it comes and goes and how God is in those seasons. After noticing the song and what it was saying, I started it back over. I pushed aside everything I was thinking about that was about me. Worries about school, and my stress over the fact that, yes, I was heading to a meeting with an advisor over the fact that I'm on academic probation this semester (Yes, I will raise my hand high and tell you I've been slipping in school and am meeting with someone to get myself back on track, cause that's what I need), all the wonder of if I'm singing this well enough and could I maybe perform it someday, somewhere, just all the thoughts about me and myself, I just pushed them aside. I listened to every word of this song and let each one flow through my entire being. Of course, I couldn't close my eyes because I was driving, and that is dangerous. :P Of course, it was a good thing I couldn't because as I heard these words while looking ahead of me down the road (it is a simple straight shot through the middle of nowhere from Athens to Snellville) I started seeing that even though the grass was dead and the trees aren't bearing leaves, this world is a beautiful creation that God has made us to dwell in for the time being. He planted those trees, and laid down the grass, and spread the sky above us and gave us this world, despite the fact that evil shows itself here as well, to live in and enjoy and serve His name in. I couldn't get over how gorgeous everything was, and suddenly all those thoughts that I had to shove aside started to calm and fizzle out and I was just in awe and also knew that God was there in that passenger seat with me. It was a wonderful drive with Him!

Another song I came across a little later is titled "I AM" and it is precious, and sweet, and beautiful, and I'll admit I cried the first time I heard it. God is SO good and so faithful, and if you don't know Him, you really should!! I will share the lyrics at the bottom of this post to both songs. Music is such a powerful thing.

I know this is pretty deep and confessional, but I just really wanted to share! I hope that each and every one of you are blessed this week! <3


I encourage you to search on YouTube and listen to these!

Nichole Nordeman, "Every Season"

Every evening sky, an invitation
To trace the patterned stars
And early in July, a celebration
For freedom that is ours
And I notice You
In children's games
In those who watch them from the shade
Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder
You are summer

And even when the trees have just surrendered
To the harvest time
Forfeiting their leaves in late September
And sending us inside
Still I notice You when change begins
And I am braced for colder winds
I will offer thanks for what has been and what's to come
You are autumn

And everything in time and under heaven
Finally falls asleep
Wrapped in blankets white, all creation
Shivers underneath
And still I notice you
When branches crack
And in my breath on frosted glass
Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter
You are winter

And everything that's new has bravely surfaced
Teaching us to breathe
What was frozen through is newly purposed
Turning all things green
So it is with You
And how You make me new
With every season's change
And so it will be
As You are re-creating me
Summer, autumn, winter, spring

"I AM"

Pencil marks on a wall
I wasn't always this tall,
You scattered some monsters from beneath my bed,
You watched my team win,
You watched my team lose,
You watched when my bicycle went down again,

And When I was weak unable to speak,
still I could call You by name,
and I said “Elbow healer, Superhero,
come if You can,” and You said “I am”

Only 16, life is so mean, what kind of curfew is at ten PM
You saw my mistakes, You watched my heart break
Heard when I swore I’d never love again

When I was weak, unable to speak,
still I could call You by name,
and I said “Heart-ache Healer, Secret-keeper,
be my Best Friend” and You said “I am”

You saw me wear white, by pale candlelight,
I said forever to what lies ahead
two kids and a dream, with kids that can scream
too much it might seem when it’s two AM

when I am weak, unable to speak,
still I will call You by name.
“Oh Shepherd, Savior, Pasture-maker,
hold on to my hand,” and You say “I am.”

The winds of change,
And circumstance blow in and all around
us so we find a foothold that’s familiar,
And bless the moments that we feel You nearer
Life had begun, I was woven and spun,
You let the angels dance around the throne, who can say when,
But they’ll dance again, when I am free and finally headed home


I will be weak, unable to speak,
still I will call You by name
“Creator, Maker, Life-sustainer,
Comforter, Healer, My Redeemer,
Lord and King, Beginning and
the End, I am, yes, I am.”