8 Things:

Better late than never, right? :) I've been tagged, so I'll play:

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. Gray's Anatomy
2. What Not to Wear
3. House Hunters
4. Hannah Montana (stop laughing!)
5. Friends reruns
6. Frasier reruns
7. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
8. Divine Design

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. went to Pilates (ouch! today)
2. grabbed some Peet's coffee and a bear claw pastry at Bridgeport
3. bought ingredients for cozy, wintery soup
4. bought Elf and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to inspire holiday feelings
5. bought Casting Crowns, Bebo Norman, and Relient K's Christmas CD's to evoke further feelings of holiday joy
6. baked an apple pie with apples from our tree out back
7. played guitar / sang worship songs and read from Romans
8. ate soup and apple pie, and watched National Lampoon's

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Panera (mmm, bread and soup)
2. Kylo's in Lincoln City
3. Cheesecake Factory (does anyone NOT like this place??)
4. McCormick & Schmick's
5. Bellagio's
6. Pix (cause it's all about dessert!)
7. Portland City Grill (can't beat the view)
8. Starbucks - sorry, gotta throw that in cause I eat there at least three times a week :)

8 Favorite Movies:

1. My Girl (it's a sentimental thing)
2. Ratatouille
3. American Beauty (messed up, but brilliant)
4. Top Gun (oh Tom, what happened to you??)
5. The Italian Job
6. Pride and Prejudice
7. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
8. The Money Pit (makes me laugh no matter what)

8 Favorite Bands/Singers

1. Kutless
2. Phil Wickham
3. Shawn McDonald
4. Thousand Foot Krutch
5. Colbie Callait
6. Falling Up
7. Jeremy Camp
8. Barlow Girl

8 Things on My Wish List:

1. short term mission trips
2. travel the world
3. be a virtuous wife and mother
4. play my guitar daily
5. trust the Lord with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul, and all my strength
6. have the faith of a mustard seed
7. see my family accept Jesus
8. write a novel

Who I tag next: anyone who happens to read this and hasn't yet done it! :)

Patience

I'm trying something new today. Sitting at a Starbucks using a laptop. Novel, right? I know, but I'm really technologically challenged so for me it's a new and exciting experience. Actually, what really prompted this adventure was me, sitting there typing a really long e-mail to a friend, only to have my computer completely crash. I've never had that happen, and now I'm beginning to understand the frustration. So I stole Mom's laptop and plopped down at my old Starbucks store and am spending the afternoon researching homes and cars. The first I'm excited about, and the second, not so much. I love my little Miata, and really don't want something new. Sure, at times it'd be really nice to have something larger and newer, maybe with seat warmers. And yeah, it'd bring a sense of comfort to know that if I need to jet out into traffic I could depend on my car to accelerate from a dead stop. All this aside, I love my car and am not looking forward to having to part with it.

I have been relatively comfortable lately, which means it's probably time for another big change. I'm loving being able to commit to things outside of work, and also having time for reading and reflecting. My life is so much more fulfilling now that my job is not my entire life. I just had lunch with a good friend who's struggling with the balance between work and life, and it made me so thankful to have that stress all but totally removed from my life. Sure, there are stressful things at work that I deal with, and on occassion those things follow me home. But truly, at the end of the day I am so thankful to be able to go to the gym, hang out with the high schoolers at The Shed, go to Bible study, or just whatever. And I don't know if I'll ever get used to having my entire weekend free! I've considered getting a second part time job to help save for my house, but right now I don't know if that's what the Lord is calling me to do. It would definitely help with finances, but at what expense to my life in general? I'm thinking about helping some of my mom's co-workers out with childcare a few days a month, but am just waiting on the Lord's direction right now.

God has really been showing me how faithful He is, and reminding me to trust Him in all areas of my life. He is faithful to His promises, and He has amazing plans for me. Philippians chapter 4 has been a huge comfort and reminder to me recently. God totally has things under control, and it would be silly to spend my days worrying about tomorrow.

Long Time no Write

I know, it's been quite a while hasn't it? I guess you could say life has been crazy. But, it's all in the hands of the Lord so I really won't complain.

Okay, back-tracking to Mexico... it was an amazing trip! I feel like I got a chance to connect with some of the girls one-on-one, which is more my thing. I was nervous going with such a large group and not even knowing their names, let alone anything about them. The first night at the High School group gave me a chance to see that these kids really have a heart for God, and that's all I needed to confirm His will that I go on the trip. So, even though it was a little slow going at first, there were several points along the way where I was able to have some awesome conversations with the "kiddos" as Eric Dodson calls them. I still refuse to believe that I am 10 years older than these guys. Where did the time go?? Anyway, Micah put together a sweet little blog with a link to TONS of pictures. If you've been down to the Mission before, you'll really enjoy seeing what it looks like today and how all the kids have grown. http://www.accfhighschool.blogspot.com/

Here are a couple of my own:

Ginger the donkey

At the cross...

Lupe and Karina

The new amphitheater at the Mission

The prayer of all the leaders on the way home was that everyone would keep this experience with them as we all fell back into our daily routines in Oregon. That was the prayer of and for my own heart, as I remember that after my last trip down to the Mission I was severely attacked by the enemy upon my return. I can already feel that happening this time around, but this time I'm prepared for it and can recognize it for what it is. Oh, the enemy is tricky, but my God is at least ten steps ahead.

I realized the other day that everything I think I know can change in an instant. I want to say I'm okay with that, but my nature goes against the notion. At the same time, though, I love the idea that you never really know what God has in store for you. But, if you let Him remain in control you'll never be disappointed. So, I can't wait to see where I go from here!

Answered Prayer

God is so awesome! I don't want to jump ahead of myself, but I have a really strong feeling that He has been preparing me for this new adventure for quite a while now... I'm helping out with the Athey Creek high school group!! This is terrifying and exciting all at once, and I can't wait to see where it leads. I have a few short weeks to get to know people, and then we're off to The Mission in Mexico! When the offer was thrown my way to help out with the trip, I thought the answer would probably be yes, but wasn't sure. I prayed about it and have gotten confirmation after confirmation from God. The final answer came tonight at The Shed. I was thinking back to the college group trip we took to The Mission in 2004 and the day we were packing up to go home. I was giving one of the full time staff a hug and saying we'd miss everyone, and her words were, "You'll be back." In my mind I didn't see much chance of that happening, but here I am, counting down the days until my return! I'm so excited, and can't wait to get to know the high schoolers and let the Lord use me in whatever capacity He will. This is an answer to prayer, and a huge blessing for me. Yay!!

Another Birthday

Well, another year of my life has begun. This birthday wasn't nearly as introspective for me as the last, and I'm hoping that's a sign of maturity in my relationship with the Lord. I've learned a lot over the past year, and many changes have taken place. God has blessed me with a great new job, and I've spent more time developing friendships (though I do need to work on this one more). I can't wait to see what He has in store for me this year!

Elissa planned an awesome evening a couple weeks ago to celebrate. We got pedicures, had a gourmet dinner prepared by Adam and Elissa, and then went out to Pix for dessert.

Mom and I took a four day trip down to Southern California to goof off, visit my aunt, and do the tourist thing. The highlights were definitely getting to spend some time with my aunt (dad's sister) who I rarely see, and also taking a tour of the Warner Bros studio. Here are some pictures (yes, I did remember my camera!):

Mom and me having lunch at Laguna Beach

My aunt and me at the Montage Resort in Laguna

Mom on Venice Beach (crazy hippie place!!)


The first crosswalk signal in Stars Hollow in front of Luke's (Gilmore Girls fans, anyone?)

Recognize this place? Central Perk, on the set of Friends!!

Rodeo Drive. Do people really pay $10,000 for a pair of shoes??!

It was a really fun trip, and I wish we had more time to venture down to San Diego and maybe check out the California Adventure at Disneyland. Maybe next time...

What's Wrong With This Picture?

(Besides the toolbar accidentally left in the shot on the bottom...) My dad e-mailed this picture to me at work yesterday. It's pretty much been doing this all week long. Apparently the weather didn't get the memo about it now being Spring?! It's actually snowing as I write this, and the temperature is dropping steadily down to the low-mid 30's. Happy Spring Break, kids! :)

New Picture

Yay! Thanks to Jared and his amazing photo skills, I finally have a current profile picture!! So, for anyone who was thinking I was still a 17 year old cheerleader... sorry. Haha!

I don't have much time to write tonight. In between checking e-mail, baking Nannie's famous bran muffins, and getting ready to start a movie with mom. Life is good, though. Still enjoying my job and the freedom in my schedule it gives me. Along those lines, if you might pray that the Lord would give me direction and discernment regarding what He might have me do with the extra time He's blessed me with. I started helping out with Young Life a few months ago, but I'm sort of feeling a calling in a slightly different direction. It will be a hard decision, whatever it is I'm called to do.

Hope everyone out there in Blogland is safe, happy, and healthy. Oh, and don't forget to update your blogs! (That means you, Adam and Beka!) :)

Blessings,
Brice

Outflow

I thought for sure I had written something in January... guess not! Isn't it funny how sometimes with the dawning of a new year you can be absolutely expectant of change? It doesn't really matter if you have big plans or if there is a big event in the coming year, there's just something about the month of January that's invigorating and motivating. I don't know. Is it just me?

I wouldn't really say anything massive has happened thus far in 2008 in my life, but I still can't seem to put out of my mind the idea that something big is right around the corner. I don't have the slightest clue what it might be, though. I know a few things I'd like it to be... :) In reality, it's cool that God knows and I don't, cause that way I can't get my hopes up for anything in particular. I don't generally like surprises, but when it's the Lord who's surprising me at least I can be sure of one thing: it will be something good, even if not at first appearance.

Moving on... want to know what the Lord has been speaking to my heart? It seems to be the same thing over and over, everywhere I look, and that is this: Just as important as being fed and built up in the Word is having an outflow - a way for Him to use me in this world as a vessel for His love. Fascinating, eh? I mean, I keep asking, "God, are you sure you want to use me? Cause I'm pretty small and insignificant, and oh so covered in the dirt of this earth. Can I really be of any good where You're concerned?" It's really funny, because His answer is something I wouldn't expect. I'd think He would find some way to build me up in confidence or show me how great I can be if I trust Him. But no, that's not what He does. He allows me to mumble and stumble and trip over myself (sometimes literally) and be totally embarrassed and humbled in one way or another. Then, when I'm chiding myself mentally for being an idiot, He fills my heart with unexplainable peace and wraps those huge, strong arms of His around me and reminds me that when I am weak, He is strong. And that's all that matters, period. So He'll use me however He wants, and it's not up to me to be great. Whew, that's a relief! All I have to do is be willing, and to take steps (yes, baby steps usually, even though they feel like ginormous leaps) of faith where He leads me.

I leave you with a verse my friend Heidi and I discussed recently, and that is 1 Samuel 16:7 "The Lord doesn't make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person's thoughts and intentions."