Lovely Blessings

Have you ever wished you could see just a glimpse of the future?  If you’re like me, you may have desired just a small peak to see where you will be a year from now, five years, 10 years, etc. Will I be married? How many kids will I have? Will I land my dream job? These are all questions we find ourselves asking from time to time. None of us can see the end of the road we're on or the hills and valleys  along the way. God, though, has a plan for every step we take. Thinking about the future can be exciting, but it can also be incredibly scary because of one major fear that takes hold of many of us:  the fear of the unknown. We try to plan what we’ll do next in life: whether that’s what we’ll eat for dinner, what our weekend plans will be, or what our major in school will be. I often find myself worrying about things like these, no matter how big or small they might be, and I let the fear of the unknown creep in and take over. How can we kick this fear to the curb?

Something has been weighing heavily on my heart this week. As we all know, the Iron Bowl happened last weekend. Now, before you stop reading this because you're tired of hearing people talk about that game or the two teams in general, bear with me. I'm not sure why, but I have been so burdened this week by what this game has brought on. It's not because the team I root for lost; that is not it by any means. It's not because I'm mad at the other team for winning; that's not it either. I am burdened by what I have seen this game bring out in people (from both fan bases): the cursing, the negativity, the name-calling, bashing those who cheer for the opposite team, etc. I understand that a game between one of the biggest rivalries around in college football will bring out a little competition between fans, but honestly, how far is too far? Now, I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't upset Alabama lost. Of course I was.. But, did my life end that day?

Caution: sappy post ahead... ;)  It's hard to believe that today marks 6 years that I have been dating my best friend in the whole wide world. I can remember November 16, 2007 just like it was yesterday, and I am so glad that cute 15-year-old boy asked me to be his girlfriend. Little did I know what a huge blessing that sweet boy would be to my life! Chad is my encourager, my prayer warrior, my accountability partner, and my voice of reason. I honestly could not picture my life without him because every decision, every thought, and every action is never just about me; it's always intended for  me plus him . :) Chad stands apart from every other person I have met. I knew something was different about him from the very beginning, but with each passing year, I see more and more of just how amazing he is. He compliments me perfectly, and I know it's super cheesy... but he makes my life complete. Outside of my relationship with Jesus Christ, my relationship with Chad

Happy hump day, friends! Hope you're all having a blessed week so far. :) Here's what I'm LOVING on this last Wednesday in October... I'm LOVING that there's only 2 days until the weekend. YAY! Can I get an amen? :) I'm LOVING that we are beginning to experience some cool Fall weather. I'm ready for it to continuously stay cool (not too cold though). Fall is one of my favorite times of year: leaves falling, crisp air, hot chocolate, cozy fires, boots, scarves, and so much more. Speaking of boots, I'm LOVING the cute new boots I got this weekend. They're pretty adorbs if I do say so myself. :) I'm LOVING that I also found a super cute scarf for a whopping $2 this weekend. I was so pumped! I'm LOVING that I get to hang out with Chad later this week/weekend. With the craziness of school, I treasure the time I get to spend with him during the week. :) I'm LOVING that my awesome dad took my jee

I saw this cool "5,4,3,2,1" post floating around the blog world, so I thought it would be fun to participate in! :) _________________________________________________________________ 5 Things I'm Looking Forward To: 1. Walking in the Alzheimer's walk in honor of my sweet Grandma this Saturday in Pensacola with my awesome family.  2. The new movie "God's Not Dead." It doesn't come out until Spring 2014, but I can't wait!! (Check out the trailer below.) 3. The Christmas Jubilee. My mom and I go every year, and I love browsing all the wonderful Christmas stuff with her. 4. The gender reveal of my future niece or nephew. Eeeekkkk, I still can't believe I'm going to be an AUNT! Yay!! :) 5. Celebrating my and Chad's 6 year dating anniversary in a few weeks! Been with that sweet boy since November 16, 2007. :)) 4 Things You Might Not Know About Me: 1. I HATE conflict. I'm totally non-confrontational and avoi

I know I've been slacking with writing posts lately. I feel like I have abandoned my poor wittle blog in the past two and a half months. :( In all honesty, school has been crazy busy so far this semester, and I unfortunately have not had a lot of extra time for fun stuff, like my blog! But anyway, on to the real post... :) Speaking of not having a lot of free time, I have been thinking a lot about priorities lately. A couple weeks ago, I taught a lesson to my awesome middle school Sunday School class about priorities and perspective, and it really got me thinking about the priorities I have in my own life.  The main question that came to my mind was this: "Claire, is your relationship with Jesus Christ the number one priority in your life every single day?" And you know what, if I was truly honest with myself, the answer would be no. It breaks my heart to say that, and I know it breaks my Savior's heart even more. Yes, Jesus is my number one priority s

I hope you all had a fabulous week and weekend, my friends! I've been slacking on posting my 5 lovely blessings each week. :( I let myself get too bogged down with school and life that I haven't been devoting enough time to expressing my thankfulness for all the awesome blessings in my life. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks, I can slow down enough to post them.  Here are my 5 lovely blessings of the week: :) _____________________ I'm thankful for... 1. Lafitte Baptist Church. I absolutely love my home church! I love gathering together with family and friends to worship the one true God. God is doing some awesome, awesome things at Lafitte. People are accepting Jesus almost every week, and this year alone, more people have accepted Christ and been baptized than any other year at Lafitte. Such a blessing! Our youth group is continuing to grow, and a few weeks ago, we had 165 students from around our area for a night of worship and fun at a lock-in. I am so e

We had a powerful  worship service at PUR tonight, you guys. Chains were broken, hearts were mended, and lives were changed. The Spirit of the Lord was moving in so many lives; my heart was so overwhelmed with the mercy and goodness of our Savior that I could not hold back the tears. I'm telling y'all, it was a powerful, powerful night in the House of the Lord. Tonight, Cole (our awesome college pastor) started a new sermon series entitled "Gravity." It was about how our God is a gravity-defying God. What exactly does that mean? (I'm so happy you asked, hehe.) Let me start from the beginning... (P.S. If you are an 18 to 20-something-year-old and are looking to be encouraged, please join us at PUR on Tuesday nights at Forest Hill at 7:00. The "Gravity" series will last 4 more weeks, and it is going to be awesome, I just know it.) But anyway... In this world, we will have pressure. (I know what you're thinking... DUH, Claire, that's obvious.

I had the honor and privilege of writing a blog post for our college Bible study, PUR. I was so excited when they asked me to write a post for September, and I'm so thankful they allowed me to write. I wanted to have it here on my blog as well, so here is the post. (I added a few pictures as well.) Hope you enjoy, my friends. :) _________________________________________ What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word  trust ? Is it faith? Hope? Dependence? Reliability? For me,  trust means placing my full confidence in something or someone else.  For example, I  trust  that my car will start when I turn the key. I  trust  my best friend when I tell her something personal.  I  trust  my parents when they give me advice. If we are able to so easily place our trust in these earthly things, why do we so often struggle with placing our trust in God? He is the One who created us, right? I think we struggle with giving ourselves (along with our worries, pro

Last weekend, I went on a wonderful trip to Atlanta with three of my favorite guys: Chad, Cason, and Cole (two of my awesome cousins)! We had tickets to the Alabama/Virginia Tech football game in the Georgia Dome, so Friday afternoon, we all met at my house and began our trip to Atlanta. Join me on our journey. :)   We stopped at Chili's in Montgomery to eat dinner. I tried one of their salads... so yummy with mandarin oranges, cranberries, and pineapple! Always good laughs with these guys! We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn which was like .2 miles from the Georgia Dome, so it was awesome! I bunked on an air mattress at our hotel (which wasn't bad at all because my mattress was actually more comfy than the boys' beds, haha). I'm not naming any names (cough.boys.cough), but I may or may not  have suffered through some snoring during the night... LOL.  We had to be checked out of the hotel by 12:00 Saturday, so after packing and loading