ThanksGiving, :)

:) Ahh it is that time of year. WITH MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF DELICIOUS FOODDDDS. Tomorrow, we are all getting together at lunch for the even.. I am pretty excited. :) IT IS our first thanksgiving with stevie in the family.( alas.. i suppose wade and i shall have to be couple..)

I love this time of year and obviously it makes me think of how many things i am thankful for. and even the things im not really thankful for... like.. half my baby tooth falling out.. and school being gay.. dont really matter on the whole :) i am soo thankful for what god has done and what he is doing. So many things seem to go wrong all the time, and then God comes in and fixes everything! I love where he has me. in this family with these people; i am so blessed.

Just thinking (uber late)
love always

Hol

Two is better than one. (Unless the 2nd is a boozer. )

My sister Ellen has become a "we." Oh my.. "We dont like that." We cant come." GAH! ;) but i love 'em.
Today I went to school! Tuesdays and Thursdays are my short days. I only have history and choir. But I did have a voice lesson and that was really nice. NOT. It was really hard actually. So many things to remember... GR. AND THEN I LEFT MY RECORDER IN THERE!!! Because i am a dork. Thankfully Andres went and rescued it for me before someone stole it.. that would have been extremely lame. Finals are coming up.. I am swamped. I should be reading a book right now.. am i am supposed to be writing a paper...
BUT OH MY THANKSGIVING IS NEXT WEEK!!! The family is all going over to ivys, and our menu!!! Is totally amazing.. I am really looking forward to all that pie. even though i dont really like most pie.. But when it comes to Coconut cream IIIII am all over that. !! Ivy makes the most amazingly delicious coconut cream pie. :) And of course Buttermilk pie is a family fave. DELECTIBLE! This lunch is going to me so huge.. I either need to starve myself, or eat a ton beforehand. Im not sure which...

This year has gone by so fast. There have been so many hard and good things this year. And so many rewarding things. But even the hard things will work out eventually. And they will all just make you stronger and better. Gods will will always happen. Mrs Fuqua told me, "Holly god will always give you just the right amount of tools you need to acomplish his will." she is a smart woman.

I have been thinking a lot about resting in Christ lately. Most likely because in church my pastor was going over the sabbath, and how it should be. But let me just pick your over worked under rested brains a bit. "Come to me all who are weary laden and i will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for i am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." In Genesis when God was creating the world and then he rested on the 7th day it never says, "and it was evening and morning a 7th day." this symbolizes that the "rest" with Christ is eternal; it goes on forever if you are a christian. God did not work again until man sinned. The picture is that God got back up, rolled up his sleeves, and began to work again. Because after we sinned there we things to do; we needed God. And he worked for us and is continuing to work for us everyday. The whole idea of the "Sabbath" was FOR man. Because after the fall man needed rest. And the thing is, we are supposed to be resting in christ. "Casting all our burdens on him." And in our rest we are supposed to meditate and contemplate about God and all he has done for us. It is such and intriguing thought.

"Come all you weary with your heavy loads
Lay down your burdens find rest for your souls
Cause my yoke is easy and my burden is kind
I’ll take yours upon me and you can take mine

Come all you weary move through the earth
You've been spurned at fine restaurants and kicked out of church
Got a couple of loaves sit down at my feet
Lend me your ears and we'll break bread and eat

Come all you weary
Come gather round near me
Find rest for your souls

Come all you weary, you cripples you lame
I’ll help you along you can lay down your canes
We’ve got a long way to go but we’ll travel as friends
The lights growing bright further on further in

Come all you weary
Come gather round near me
Find rest for your souls."

Just thinking
Love always

Holly

p.s... I love how totally random my titles are.

Being faithful to the things GOD has entrusted to us. ( I dont want to live in a shadow)

Do you ever feel like you are not being faithful to carry out what God has handed you? Maybe perhaps you are slacking off a bit? I have been feeling that way lately. Mostly about school; but also about my one on one relationship with Christ. God had ordained my circumstances to be 7 classes deep; while my sanity is somewhat failing. there have been so many things at school which have been hard for me to deal with. But all that aside.. I have not been faithful. It's true so many things have gotten in the way and those things have made it even harder to focus. but this is no excuse. I know i can do so well; if i would only try harder.
And now the end of the semester is here and i just want to give up. but i cant! i never give up, it isnt what i am. I just have to buckle down, and DO IT.

I have not been using my time to the glory of my Lord. ("Do all things in the name of the Lord.")I have not been trying as much as i should to seek him first and know Him. And because of that my faith is failing. It is so hard being a christian.. I sometimes ask myself how much of this i really believe. And then of course i kick myself, because i know i would be nowhere without Jesus. I think satan is using these thoughts to pull me away from god.

How people act at school has really been getting to me lately though. There is so much pervertedness and foulness.. it makes me sick. Then i think.. " Am i really trying to fit in with these people? Shouldnt i be trying all the more harder to fight against the mold and fight against this crowd and the normality of the world?" the last thing i want is to seem normal. What happened to being diferent? I was thinking about a conversation i had with one of my friends last summer. We were talking about summer camp. And i thought just how easy is was to be a christian at summer camp. We were "allowed" to be on fire for the lord. where as when you left those blessed amazing cabins and got back into REAl life.. nothing was the same. I guess wanting to fit in is something that i have always struggled with. I think it is mostly because I have always wanted to be frinds with everyone, and i really hate beng hated. But then i find myself with barely any TRUE friends. Sure there are a ton of people i "hang with." But true friends? Those are pretty scarce these days. Friendship apparently doesnt mean as much to somepeople as it means to me. "A man of too many friends come to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Ultimatly, Christ is all i need. But i am so thanful that christ sent my sisters to me.

But sometimes i feel like i am living in their shadow. With so much to live up to. Lemme tell you... that is a huge shadow. How can i measure up to what they are? the easy answer is that i cant. But i suppose i have to live for the Lord and not even think about how amazing my dearest sisters are. I need to please God rather then men. Mrs Fuqua told me something last summer that has helped me so much.. " Holly, The kimberlys, Emilys, Ivys, and ellens all have done well. But I think the people that fail and fall can do such great things for the Lord. Maybe even more then the people that never failed in the first place. Because those that fail, get back up and you can see just how powerful our God is. He brings glory to himself when his children sin and then when he brings them back to himself." Not to say that its good to fail to bring glory to God; it isnt obviously. I wish i never had. But i know God has something great in store for me. And i know he can still use me even though i have failed extensivly. I just need to get out of my own way and out of his way! So that he CANN use me. Despite the shadow.. I am so thankful for my sisters and could not ask for better role models. :) i couldnt be more thankful for what christ has done in my life.

Anywho.. Im sorry that this was so long.

Just thinking
Love always

Maggie

The Big day is over. ( I CANT TAKE MY MIND OFF YOU)

Well, my dearest belle.. has gotten herself hitched. She is now enjoying marital bliss on her honeymoon in Cozumel Mexico. It was such a beautiful wedding. There were however some very tense moments. Like when we were all getting ready and Mrs Nelson ( my pastors wife) was ironing my Bridesmaid dress; She turned to me with this shocked look on her face... " I just burned a whole through the dess!!!!!!! " This statement of course threw Me, Ellen and Emma into a flurry of excitement. " DONT TELL YOUR MOTHER!!!!!" We knew mom would freak out if she found out. Luckily Mrs nelson is a sewing connoisseur, she wiped out a needle and thread and made the burned setion into another pick up. ;) ( No one ever noticed) All the while Ellen was singing REALLY lowd, " In christ alone my hope is found!!!" Just to try and keep the situation from being heard in the other room where momy was.. But not only that. My mom decided she was going to iron my sash.. I told her, " Mom, you know maybe you should iron over a towell.." she burned it also.. and told emma not to tell me. ;) Little did she know, there was a much larger burn in the back of the dress.
The rest of the wedding went smoothly, besides Abby deciding to lie down on the stage during the vows.. But she just looked too beyond adorible to fuss at. ;)
We had such great after parties also, Everything just went fabulous. And besides... THE COWBOYS WON!! Made my weekend. ;)

I am however uber sad.. I didnt think I would miss belle so much. I was frankly looking so forward to her going because im tired of dealing with her "henious" bedroom.. it was time for her to get married. But i say.. It is so hard being the youngest and watching all your sisters go off and leave you. i have been feeling pretty alone. But mama always tells me, "Holly when you feel lonely you just have to reach out to other people." So i have been trying.

Love Always