childhood stuff

My hilarious, beautiful, fun niece Victoria (who you should never call Vicki) is one of my biggest fans. i’m not sure why she loves me so much but it blesses me and makes me smile. I am super proud to be her aunt & to call her friend. This blogs for her!

Sometimes I feel guilty that I’m not a “super spiritual” person. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Jesus, but I’m not one of those people you just wanna go run to for comforting. Oh well, I guess that’s why God made us all different.

I do love the Lord. I can’t help myself really.

I grew up in a Christian home. My dad is a retired pastor and my mom has a precious relationship with God. I am definitely blessed. Growing up we were ALWAYS at church. I loved it. It was kinda like my 2^nd home. Its where all my friends were, I felt safe & happy running around those halls.

I’m glad I grew up like that. I gave my life to Jesus when I was 8 years old. I was in Mrs. Rosie Threats’ Sunday school class. My heart has been His ever since.

Knowing that God loved me wasn’t a hard concept to grasp. NOT b/c I’m super loveable but b/c I KNEW without a doubt, no matter what, my parents loved me. I figured if they loved me like that God did too. That grace, peace & assurance is a precious gift that I don’t take for granted.

I have a million memories from St. Mark growing up.

Sweet Norman used to forget me after church sometimes. So I’d have to call or hitch a ride home. I’m sure some of that was my fault for never being around when he was ready to go.

I remember my best friends Julie Longstreet & Barkley Bear running ALL over that place with me. FUN. The Longstreet’s are so much fun. They taught me all about Ramen noodles. I’d never heard of them til them! I have a ton of memories with that sweet family.

I remember being on the puppet team (OH. MY. GOSH. That’s a book I could write…Tricia will have to help me with that one day!), I remember Hillary Wilson moving to town when we were in 3^rd grade. I thought she was soooo cool & pretty. (still do!)

I think I was in 10 children’s plays AT LEAST. Pretty sure I can still sing most of the songs. We all had a crush on Jeff Jones when he was cast as the Arch Angel. I feel like months of my life were spent practicing for church musicals. Sweet Carol Holloway snapping at us so we’d shut up & sing. Kerry Jo Benton and I couldn’t even get near each other.

We had Mr. Archie. He always stood in the same spot on Sunday mornings and gave kids a piece of big red gum.

In middle school my friends and I would beg Harold Woods to take us down to the B&C between youth and Sunday night church.

Sunday nights in August ROCKED. It was camp meeting month. So after church every Sunday night we’d have some type of food fellowship thing. My favorite was always the week we had homemade ice cream. AHHHHHH. I’d run around filling up my Styrofoam cup until I was about to hurl.

We had our own summer camp. Ohhh the memories!! Erin, Katie, Hillary, Kerry jo and I somehow always got in trouble. We were such good girls. I’m not sure how we managed to cause such a fuss. KJB and I had a girl throw up in our cabin one night…we flipped her mattress and put her back in bed. Lord forgive us.

(girls, remember trying to bend over in the shower to shave? Forget it! You’d just rock back & forth as your head & rear hit the shower walls.)

Kay Dowis was the white-haired lady. I KNEW it was her…sometimes I even helped her get dressed. But she STILL scared me when I saw her in the woods!!! Mike Terry – don’t lie, she scared you too. I remember you throwing an entire bowl of candy in the air when she came in one night.

(ps – if told all the things we did at camp we’d probably STILL get in trouble.) but rest assured the kitchen was raided at night. Remember all the candy we had up there?? YUM.

Another family I spent YEARS of my life with was the Kelleys. That will be a blog all its own sometime. But for now I’ll list some Kelley memories: Disneyworld w/ the youth when I was a kid, having an ear infection at epcot, spending several nights in a row at their house in the summer, hanging out downstairs with bigdaddy, their PERFECT house in Windsor park, Sunday nights at buffalos eating wings, waver runners, Wednesdays at tutoring w popcorn, kids falling downstairs (ahhhh hahaha), and the sweet spirit of Jesus that filled their house & family.

My youth group was the BEST. We were so close. We had the best time on trips, retreats, myf’s, afterglows and sharing life together. I wouldn’t trade those years of my life for ANYTHING.

Here’s why. It shaped who I am today. My relationship with Christ was being shaped, formed & transformed by the crazy songs we sang at camp, the hours of fellowship we had at youth each week, the nights we spent swimming, eating at mazzios, visiting nursing homes, going to visit friend we hadn’t seen at church, riding in 15-passenger buses for HOURS to do puppet shows & musicals. It was all FUN but it all had a purpose.

My faith grew. My love for Christ deepened. I learned songs/truth about Him from the Dowis’ & Mrs. Ginny that I still sing when I read the Word.

I thought I was just having fun. But I was building a foundation that still holds firm today.

THANK YOU to all the people who helped shape my faith.

I’ve mentioned before that I was kindof a “chunk” (to put it nicely) growing up. I wasn’t ever the prettiest, most popular, or fit girl in school or church. I had BIG glasses, wore baggy not-so-attractive clothes (remember anoraks? I think I wore one every day of middle school.) I wasn’t a cheerleader or dancer. I had friends that were all those things. i think they were the reason I ever got invited to parties or kidnapped into sororities (yes, I was in dsd.)

i’m not saying those things to make anyone feel sorry for me. by Gods grace being a chunk, etc. didn’t get me down. I LOVED life and enjoyed my family & friends.

I joke around that I was smart to be the ugly duckling until my freshman year in college. It was then that I got contacts, lost some weight and seemed to get “noticed” more by everyone (I don’t mean that like I turned into some beauty queen…I just wasn’t as homely hahaha so people noticed.)

Looking back I can see that all of that was Gods design. I KNOW He kept me from years of bad choices by keeping me from trying to be cool or popular. I didn’t get pulled into negative peer pressure. I wasn’t deceived by the trap of trying to be the “best or most” of anything in high school. Does that make sense?

I’m not trying to act like I’ve always had a “perfect Christian life.” I’ve talked openly about how my weight/self-image, etc. stole years from my life. But I am thankful the foundation I began as a child is still sustaining my faith today.

I don’t know how people live without Christ. He is beyond faithful. His Word is life. I would be a complete MESS without His mercy, unconditional love & amazing grace.

(I’m sure I left a ton of people out of my childhood memories. Don’t you worry. You’ll have your time so watch out!)

pss-I should really proofread these things before I post them. But I don’t. so forgive me.