A "Delightful" Weekend

It is so hard to put into words how fantabulous this weekend was! But, I don’t want to wait too long to share it with you, because if I don’t try and do it justice now, it will never happen.

So with that said, I had an outstanding (nifty, corking, swell, peachy, nifty, not bad, wicked) weekend.

It all started Friday evening with, what better than, the LPL Simulcast. There were so many reasons I was giddy for it but the main reason being that back during my freshman year of college, the first verse I ever really intentionally memorized on my own without someone forcing me to was Psalm 37:4. It was a promise that I desperately needed to remember at the time and it quickly became a verse that I not only loved to pieces, but attached myself to. Of course since then I’ve attached myself to other verses throughout the years, but six years later it is still a promise I believe from our God, and most certainly still one of my favorites.

So, imagine my surprise when I read on the LPM blog that Beth was going to be teaching out of Psalm 37! I knew at that moment that there was no way I could miss the simulcast. However, I really didn’t want to go alone. I asked Jen earlier in the week if she’d planned on going, and she said she was not, so I figured I just wouldn’t go. Then, later in the week, sweet Kelli sent Jen and I a message wondering if either of us were attending. Kelli is a blog friend whom I had yet to meet in person, but I immediately replied, “I’ll go if you go!” You know, because I’m insecure like that.

Anyway, needless to say, Kelli and I met up at HFBC on Friday night, hugged each other for the first time, and then ate up every word Beth had for us. To say that the message came at impeccable timing in this season of my life would be the biggest understatement ever!

I know we all have countless desires that we’ve placed before the Lord, but need I even say the one desire in my heart that has yet to come to fruition? If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know by now that my singleness is the one thing I wrestle with incessantly.

Single. 24 years old. Never dated anybody, let alone even been on a date. No first kiss. No romantic embrace. Nothing. Nada.

Most times all I can ask is, “Why, Lord? What is your purpose in this? What are you up to?”

And sometimes when I’m being completely honest and vulnerable before Him, I tell Him how miserable it can be sometimes. Sounds pathetic, I know. But it’s the cold hard truth.

Of course, then there are the sweet times like Beth was talking about where all I can do is praise Him and thank Him for taking me on this journey. It’s a wild one, an un-common one, a confusing one sometimes and I love it.

Basically, this season of my life has left me in some sort of bi-polar state. It’s rare, I tell you! And by referring to this bi-polar state, I’m not poking fun at the seriousness of it, I’m just a girl who happens to be an emotional mess at times.

I can’t even begin to tell you how each and every point in her lesson was perfect, encouraging, affirming, and convicting for me, I am still pondering so much of it my heart. But what I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt is that SOMETHING IS UP! Waiting is most certainly one of the hardest things, but I am so thankful for a journey that I can’t explain. Only God would protect me for some reason or another from countless break-ups and heart aches with boys. Only God would mark out such a journey for this wee little 20-something. Something is at stake. Whatever happens in my journey, I can tell you one thing for sure, HE will receive EVERY bit of GLORY! And I meant that.

Next time Satan starts whispering lies about my singleness to me, or lies about what I have or haven’t done or am doing wrong, I’m going to turn right around, beat him on the head and tell him it’s not about me, or what I’m doing, it’s about God’s Glory and that is HUGE!

And quite honestly and most importantly, it’s not even about the desires of my heart, but the heart of my desires.

The other fun part of the weekend was that I got to meet a fellow blogger, Heather, who was there with Amanda, whom of course, is always a joy to see. (Amanda, I realized Saturday we've never taken a picture together! I have one with every other blog person I've met, so we need to fix that next time we see eachother!) I’ve never read Heather’s blog, but, I recognized her face from the little profile picture she has when she comments. It was so funny! She is seriously cute and has that thickest hair I’ve ever seen, or felt (yes, I felt a strangers hair!) in my life, and I am now a proud subscriber to her blog, because homegirl makes me laugh and after reading a few of her posts, I can tell we both love shopping, which is a huge plus. Also, we totally talked about Buc-ee's Beaver Nuggets on Saturday, so doesn't that make us BFF?

After the conference was over Kelli and I met up with Jen for lunch at Olive Garden. It was super tasty to say the least and I so enjoyed visiting with the girls even more! She is just about the sweetest thing ever and I’m not even going to tell you about the email she sent me Friday night after the conference. You can tell she is just sweet, gentle and has a huge heart for people in general. Basically, I love my new blog friend and am so glad we got to experience this weekend together, it made it all the more special!

Once I got home on Saturday I was completely exhausted, but, there was no time to nap. That night we took our friend Jessie, who we basically adopted when she moved here from New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, to Joe’s Crab Shack to celebrate her 63rd birthday! It was fun, but I was super tired. Jessie and her son Floyd are so dear to our hearts, and even lived with us for about 6 weeks after the hurricane. Would you mind praying for them if they come to mind? They have so much going on that I won’t even go into detail, but I know they would so appreciate your prayers.

Sunday was the typical busy Sunday! Why are they so crazy, I ask you? I went to church, lunch, had a leadership meeting, small group meeting with my Senior girls where we started Living Beyond Yourself (Woo Hoo!), and then had a couples wedding shower that my parents helped host for one of my life long friends, Jonathan. It was fun to see so many people that are so dear to our hearts and just catch up and laugh! A good time was had by all.

All in all, I had the best weekend. However, when I got home I practiced major self-control (we’re working on this one) by putting up my computer and getting in bed long before midnight. It felt great!

On that note, I'm off to Shred, eat and get some sleep!

Me and Sweet Kelli!

Jen and Kelli!

All three of us!

Me and Jen! (You know, because we don't have enough pictures together.)

Our table at Joe's Crab Shack for Jessie's 63rd birthday.

Me and my sweet neighbor, whom I've known since she was 4 months old and now she's in 4th grade!

My dad was super excited about his bucket o' mess! Check out the bib.

Sweet Jessie being sung too!