IDENTITY

My home church, FUMC Coppell, is in the middle of a really awesome sermon series right now called Identity Theft. This past Sunday the sermon really spoke to me and I just have to share with everyone how important this message is!!

I think identity is something I have struggled with off and on throughout my whole life. It's hard growing up trying to figure out who you are exactly or who you want to be. Society creates an unrealistic cookie cutter image of who we should be. We feel pressured to look a certain way, go to a good college, find a successful career, find a husband/wife, and the list goes on and on. Trying to figure out who we are as a person can be extremely confusing and discouraging if you continue to think of identity in that way.

My pastor defined identity as this: you are a beloved child of God. That is your identity. You are not defined by your appearance, how much money you make, or where your degree is from. You are plainly and simply a child of God. It's so hard to remember this as we grow up and start to find our identity in significant others, our majors, our jobs, etc. Why do we do this to ourselves? All of these things are subject to change at any moment. We need to find our identity in something deeper. Something that will never change. Even as we grow up and evolve into different people, we need a solid foundation of our identity. God can provide that for us. God's love for us is never going to change. He is always there for us. Even if you have neglected Him by trying to define yourself in worldly things. He forgives us and loves us because we are His children.

I came up with this really silly metaphor that's actually so true and helps me grasp this concept so bear with me. You know that feeling you get when maybe you just worked out and feel really dirty or maybe you've been feeling sick and just feel gross and then you take a shower and feel so refreshed? That's what baptism is like. Before we were baptized, we were born gross human beings full of sin. When we give ourselves to God and get baptized, whether that's as a young child or as an adult, God washes all of that nasty stuff away. He showers us with love and forgiveness when we choose to follow him. Our pastor told us a story about Martin Luther and how he was struggling with finding his identity. What he did was reaffirm his baptism by dipping his hand in water and drawing a cross on his forehead to remind himself that he is a child of God. Now at my church we all typically get baptized as babies or young children and at that age it's hard to wrap your mind around this concept. Last Sunday we took a moment to reaffirm our baptisms by dipping our hands in water and drawing a cross on our foreheads. I just thought this was the coolest thing ever as I knelt down at the altar and thanked God for my baptism and all that He has done for me since then. It felt like I had just hopped out of the shower. Refreshed and feeling like a new person. If you were baptized when you were really young or even if you were baptized not that long ago, I encourage y'all to take a moment to remember your baptism and remember that your identity is a child of God. It doesn't matter if you are single, if you are making bad grades in school, if you don't have your future planned out... NONE OF THOSE THINGS MATTER. YOU ARE A PRECIOUS CHILD OF GOD, MY FRIEND!

GOODBYE 2015

JANUARY

Over Christmas break my friends and I all made a music video to Taylor Swift's New Romantics. It was so much fun, but of course the video got taken down because of copyrighting. This is one of my favorite memories from the whole year and I love watching the video over and over again and reliving those moments.

FEBRUARY
This picture is from the day that me and my college friends decided to live in the quad pod!! I was so excited cause I wanted to live there so bad and they didn't, but somehow I convinced them!! And now I love my roomies so much. Best decision ever. 

MARCH
There were a few really great memories this month! First my family and I got to go skiing in Park City, Utah for spring break. Then I got to go to the MisterWives concert for free and that's when I fell in love with that awesome band. And then this picture is from my birthday. My friends threw me a surprise party in my tiny room after I took my calculus test (I know on my birthday?!) but they made the day so much better!

APRIL
April was a really great month because I went to 2 concerts! Last minute Madi and I decided to join Clara and Taylor to see Drew Holcomb and we got to go for free! The opening band Humming House was sooooo good and Drew Holcomb sounded amazing. We also got to meet him after! Later that month I took a trip to College Station to see Steve Moakler with my friend Stacey. I will never forget that concert. It starting storming in the middle of the concert and the power blew out for a second. And also Steve remembered Stacey and I from the last time we met him which was so awesome.

MAY
May rocked because I finished my freshman year!!! Also I got to go see Bad Suns in concert with my cousin AND I SAW PARAMORE AGAIN!!! I went with my friend Shannon and they were just as amazing as I remember if not more. Also they opened with the song I thought they should open with. I wish I could relive this night over and over again. God bless Paramore.

JUNE
At the end of June, Maci and I went to Myrtle Beach with her family. Every other summer I usually go to Hilton Head Island with my family, but this year was the off year so it was really awesome to still get to go to South Carolina with one of my best friends! We had so much fun until it came time to fly back home. We ended up getting stuck in the Atlanta airport for 21 hours and had to sleep there over night because of delayed flights. It was a nightmare, but we survived and now we have a great story to tell haha.

JULY
July freakin rocked because I got to share my favorite place ever with my favorite person ever. My cousin/sister/best friend, Hannah, came to Camp Pike and was my camper. It was so awesome to be able to show her what I've been talking about all these years and to make her fall in love with the mountains as much as me. This is probably my favorite memory from this year and I will forever cherish that week we spent in that tiny cabin growing in our faith together. Another favorite memory from this month would have to be our family vacation to Cancun! I had never been to Mexico before and it was so much fun. We got to relax by the pool all day long and got to visit Isla Mujeres and drive around the island in a golf cart.

AUGUST
My favorite memory from August has got to be bid day. It was my first time on the other side of recruitment and it was so exciting to see who was joining our sisterhood. Our new pledge class seriously rocks! I was so excited to welcome in my rush crush Kelly. We bonded so quickly when we were matched on philanthropy day so of course I had to make her my bid day buddy. It was so cool watching her fall in love with the chapter that I love! KD rocks.

SEPTEMBER
Here I go again talking about Kelly haha September was great because that's when Kelly officially became my little! Big/Little reveal was so fun. It was hilarious because Kelly came and found her bear and just goes "I knew it was you!!" We were at a skating rink and I bought blades and skated circles all night. She's the greatest addition to our family she just fits right in perfectly with Rebekah, Alex, and I. Can't wait to see how our family grows!

OCTOBER
This month was actually crazy packed with fun stuff every weekend. Madi and I went to ACL and it was probably one of the best weekends of my life. I got to see so many of my favorite bands and the whole atmosphere was just so fun. I may or may not have cried like 3 times while seeing Twenty One Pilots... Next we had KD initiation which was lots of fun to welcome in the new pledge class! Also making crafts for my little was super fun even if I did wait until the last minute. Then there was the Texas/OU game and WE BEAT OU CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! My dad and I went and I was expecting us to get creamed, but we won and it was crazy!! Oh and the best part of October... so last year in like November me and a bunch of my friends bought tickets to see Taylor Swift and I never thought the day would come and let me tell ya that night was a night I'll never forget. I have never screamed so loud in my life. She was flawless and made me cry when she surprised the crowd with Fifteen. Oh man I could talk about that concert forever. But anyways the last big thing that happened in October was me cutting my little's hair! I've always been super into hair and just always paid attention during haircuts for some reason and I've cut my friend Maci's hair before so I was like hey why not! And then I convinced her to chop it all off to donate it so it was this big ordeal in the quad pod and many people came to watch haha.

NOVEMBER
This month I got to go to College Station with a ton of my friends just for fun! It's so cool getting to visit high school friends and meet all of their college friends. We went to cute little downtown Bryan one night which was so cool! Then my friend Ali and her roommate came to Austin to see Penny and Sparrow! That concert was amazing. It was in a small bar on 6th street so it was more intimate and took my breath away. Like we were singing Come Thou Fount in the middle of 6th street what? Their voices are absolutely flawless and I just love their music so much wow. That whole weekend was great because I got to show Ali around Austin and cram in a bunch of "Austiny" things in just a few hours. Then lastly, of course, Thanksgiving was pretty great. We went to my mom's side of the family which means hanging out with all 11 of my crazy cousins. It's always a good time when you cram all of us in one house.

DECEMBER
I can't believe this month is now over. December was a good one as well. I actually got to go to KD semi formal and I actually took a date (what???)! It was so much fun getting all dressed up and going downtown (although it was freakin cold). I've had to work super hard in school to earn the privilege to go to semi formal and it was so worth it! Also, because I worked so hard and did SO MUCH better in school this semester my parents let me get my cartilage pierced finally!! Woo!! And then of course my last favorite memories of the year would be Christmas and New Years. We spent Christmas in Oklahoma with my dad's side of the family and Santa spoiled us rotten. And then for New Years me and my friends threw a party for all of our old high school friends and it turned out to be a blast!

Overall this year has taught me a lot. God has really pushed me outside of my comfort zone in many different ways. I have learned to be patient and trust in God's plan in every aspect of my life. Being in college there is a lot of pressure on timing and planning your future, but I have learned that I can't plan out my future on my own. God has planned out my whole life with a reason for everything and his timing is far better than anything I could have planned, I just have to be patient. I cannot wait to see what He has planned for me in 2016! Happy New Year everyone!