you know something... i could sit here and write about how great my day was and give you every single detail, but really... only a few things need to be said.
1. i have some of the worlds greatest friends. (don't try to argue this... you will not win.)
2. i have been seriously blessed by being a jersey girl. because not only do i live in the greatest state in the entire US, but i also live just 15 minutes away from philly where some of the best night life occurs 7 days a week.
3. God is so good, and so prevalent in my life. i can physically feel Him working in me and helping me to see the areas in my life that He wants to work on. i've realized how real His mercies are- how overwhelming His grace is- how addicting His love is- how pure His trust is- and how good my God is.
i wish i had words to describe where my life is right now. it's the most beautiful mess i've ever seen. it's like rolling around in the mud in a white dress. it doesn't make sense, but it sure is a lot of fun.
this has been--
meira... mostly.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
overwhelm.
yesterday was awesome. i went into philly with some of my favorite people and gave the paintings we made last night to our friend George to hang up in his apartment. :) he was sincerely pleased with our art work and was more than willing to hang them up. (ok... maybe it took a little convincing, but eventually we got him there.)
i'd have to say that the highlight of my day was youth group. gosh i love that place so much. last night, one of our fellow youth leaders spoke. jessie jordan, former radio personality from q102, now dj-ing at b101 gave the testimony of her life before she was a big name. she shared 2 weeks ago about who jessie jordan is and what she went through as that persona. but... last night, we really got to know the person behind the stage name, the beautiful and incredibly inspiring Emily Sofia. emily shared with 100 youth students between 9th and 12th grade ages, what it was like to be living in the club scene for so many years. she know what it's like to be famous, and what it feels like to be surrounded by celebrities. she also knows that it feels like, in the midst of those surroundings, to very actively be pursued by God himself. for years, he sent people into her lives, to carry unexpected messages at just the right time. a woman named Emilia Maria (emily's name is emily marie) found her number some how and started calling emily and asking her if she had found a church family yet. for years she was like... "ok this is crazy. the woman found my number out of the blue, her name is EMILIA MARIA, and she wants ME to go to church??" i mean, lets be honest here... who wouldn't be a little freaked out?! emily was living the life of jessie jordan. the party girl, the girl who drank away the pain, and the one who had to pay the cost of that. in her bravery, she got the help and council she needed to be able to give up that lifestyle. and last night in her bravery, she shared with our kids about the dangers of trying to live in the fast life. it isn't what it's cracked up to be. yeah, clubbing and partying are fun in the moment... but you still wake up the same person, with the same struggles that you tried to drink away the night before. the glamor that is supposed to be ticketed in that life wears itself away because sooner or later... you loose yourself and who you are. em eventually found the Lord through her circumstances, and has been persuing a different life for years now. it's awesome to watch her grow. i've known her husband joel since i was 13 years old, so naturally, his wife becomes my sister. and together, em and joel have a beautiful baby girl named Eliana Rain, (i named her Eliana!) all that to say this... through our circumstances, beauty is born in our diliverance. if we seek hard after God and let him help us out of the gutter, he reveals himself to us and he pours his blessing on people who feel like they don't deserve it. that is the wonder of Him after all... his mercy is so strong that it overwhelms our emptiness. his beauty is so full that it overpowers our ugliness. and his love is so pure that it washes clean our dirty knees when we fall down and worship Him.
em, thank you so much for being brave. you opened up your heart to these kids, and because of your willingness to be vulnerable, lives were changed. our youth kids now see the importance of seeking after the right thing. they see how empty a life filled with worldy glamor is. and how beautiful a person is who comes to know those truths themselves... a person like you. you are a wonderful blessing in my life, and i love you very much sister!
God is good, and He is actively pursuing us. let him overwhelm you.
this has been--
meira... mostly.
i'd have to say that the highlight of my day was youth group. gosh i love that place so much. last night, one of our fellow youth leaders spoke. jessie jordan, former radio personality from q102, now dj-ing at b101 gave the testimony of her life before she was a big name. she shared 2 weeks ago about who jessie jordan is and what she went through as that persona. but... last night, we really got to know the person behind the stage name, the beautiful and incredibly inspiring Emily Sofia. emily shared with 100 youth students between 9th and 12th grade ages, what it was like to be living in the club scene for so many years. she know what it's like to be famous, and what it feels like to be surrounded by celebrities. she also knows that it feels like, in the midst of those surroundings, to very actively be pursued by God himself. for years, he sent people into her lives, to carry unexpected messages at just the right time. a woman named Emilia Maria (emily's name is emily marie) found her number some how and started calling emily and asking her if she had found a church family yet. for years she was like... "ok this is crazy. the woman found my number out of the blue, her name is EMILIA MARIA, and she wants ME to go to church??" i mean, lets be honest here... who wouldn't be a little freaked out?! emily was living the life of jessie jordan. the party girl, the girl who drank away the pain, and the one who had to pay the cost of that. in her bravery, she got the help and council she needed to be able to give up that lifestyle. and last night in her bravery, she shared with our kids about the dangers of trying to live in the fast life. it isn't what it's cracked up to be. yeah, clubbing and partying are fun in the moment... but you still wake up the same person, with the same struggles that you tried to drink away the night before. the glamor that is supposed to be ticketed in that life wears itself away because sooner or later... you loose yourself and who you are. em eventually found the Lord through her circumstances, and has been persuing a different life for years now. it's awesome to watch her grow. i've known her husband joel since i was 13 years old, so naturally, his wife becomes my sister. and together, em and joel have a beautiful baby girl named Eliana Rain, (i named her Eliana!) all that to say this... through our circumstances, beauty is born in our diliverance. if we seek hard after God and let him help us out of the gutter, he reveals himself to us and he pours his blessing on people who feel like they don't deserve it. that is the wonder of Him after all... his mercy is so strong that it overwhelms our emptiness. his beauty is so full that it overpowers our ugliness. and his love is so pure that it washes clean our dirty knees when we fall down and worship Him.
em, thank you so much for being brave. you opened up your heart to these kids, and because of your willingness to be vulnerable, lives were changed. our youth kids now see the importance of seeking after the right thing. they see how empty a life filled with worldy glamor is. and how beautiful a person is who comes to know those truths themselves... a person like you. you are a wonderful blessing in my life, and i love you very much sister!
God is good, and He is actively pursuing us. let him overwhelm you.
this has been--
meira... mostly.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
moo city, hair dye, paintings of pigs, and my rob.
today was another eventful day in the life of...
moo city! aka, Cowtown was promptly visited this morning by myself, my mother, and my grandmom. "Cowtown" you ask? well... it is an outdoor flea market where vendors from all over can rent a space and table and sell what ever it is that their lovely little hearts desire. some sell clothes, others sell yard sale items, a few sell house hold goods, spices, produce, fake and stolen designer purses (i've made a few friends in that department)... ect. it's basically the happiest little place on earth :) i loved getting to spend the morning with two of my favorite women. we had a good time together. it's always a good laugh when the 3 of us try to be civilized enough to enter public facilities. yeahhh... about that...
i went over my boyfriends house this afternoon to spend some time with another one of my most favorite women in the world. momma shultz! we had fun just spending some time together. talking about girly things, getting to do her hair (again people... make an appointment with me!), and just having time to get to know each other better every time we hang out. she has been so wonderful to me. cooking dinner and inviting me into her home as if i were her very own family, talking to me when i'm upset about something, never judging me and just becoming a good friend has been such an incredible blessing. i have been truly blessed not only by the man that she created in my boyfriend bobby, but by her heart and willingness to treat me like her own. in case you ever read this... thank you so much! i love you momma shultz!
3 oclock- - insert the most delicious watermelon i have ever eaten here...
GIRL TIME! tonight i got to hang out with 2 of my favorite people! jessie henderson and natalie geurds! ahhh. we had a complete girly hangout session. we made crafts and painted canvas for hours tonight. it was basically an excuse to get together and completely debrief our entire year away from each other while we were at different schools. we talked about everything you can think about... which for us... consists of the preschool we work at and... males. many new ones have been added to our hate-dar. it's the radar system for creeps. sorry about the sidenote... anyways... we planned out a whole day in philly tomorrow and we can't wait to do all the trips, and photo shoots, and baking nights, and dance parties that we've planned for this summer. i wonder if it's at all possible to top last summer. well, things can only keep going up!
and my man came home from his internship tonight! woo hoo! he's gone 4 days out of the week in upstate NJ. i got to spend some time with him catching up on our past few days that we were apart working and keeping busy. it's so good to see him when he's gone for those few days. it really gives us the chance to have some good face time and talk about all the funny stories we somehow get ourselves in to. i had a lot of fun with him tonight just being goofy and making each other laugh. i love that man. he's so cool
well, that concludes my tuesday... here's the thought for the day:
it's funny how life works out. you wake up a little bit earlier than you thought. which allows you to have enough time to go to cowtown and shop. which allows you to walk around and find a vendor who is selling some of the cutest earrings you've ever seen. which then enables you to wear them around your friends. which later results in the confidence from compliments to keep rewearing them over the years. and before you know it... one decision to wake up early, lands you the compliment on the earrings you bought 10 years ago at a flea market, by the man who will years down the line become your husband.
life is a series of choices. are you gonna pick the purple earrings... or the green ones?
this has been--
meira... mostly.
moo city! aka, Cowtown was promptly visited this morning by myself, my mother, and my grandmom. "Cowtown" you ask? well... it is an outdoor flea market where vendors from all over can rent a space and table and sell what ever it is that their lovely little hearts desire. some sell clothes, others sell yard sale items, a few sell house hold goods, spices, produce, fake and stolen designer purses (i've made a few friends in that department)... ect. it's basically the happiest little place on earth :) i loved getting to spend the morning with two of my favorite women. we had a good time together. it's always a good laugh when the 3 of us try to be civilized enough to enter public facilities. yeahhh... about that...
i went over my boyfriends house this afternoon to spend some time with another one of my most favorite women in the world. momma shultz! we had fun just spending some time together. talking about girly things, getting to do her hair (again people... make an appointment with me!), and just having time to get to know each other better every time we hang out. she has been so wonderful to me. cooking dinner and inviting me into her home as if i were her very own family, talking to me when i'm upset about something, never judging me and just becoming a good friend has been such an incredible blessing. i have been truly blessed not only by the man that she created in my boyfriend bobby, but by her heart and willingness to treat me like her own. in case you ever read this... thank you so much! i love you momma shultz!
3 oclock- - insert the most delicious watermelon i have ever eaten here...
GIRL TIME! tonight i got to hang out with 2 of my favorite people! jessie henderson and natalie geurds! ahhh. we had a complete girly hangout session. we made crafts and painted canvas for hours tonight. it was basically an excuse to get together and completely debrief our entire year away from each other while we were at different schools. we talked about everything you can think about... which for us... consists of the preschool we work at and... males. many new ones have been added to our hate-dar. it's the radar system for creeps. sorry about the sidenote... anyways... we planned out a whole day in philly tomorrow and we can't wait to do all the trips, and photo shoots, and baking nights, and dance parties that we've planned for this summer. i wonder if it's at all possible to top last summer. well, things can only keep going up!
and my man came home from his internship tonight! woo hoo! he's gone 4 days out of the week in upstate NJ. i got to spend some time with him catching up on our past few days that we were apart working and keeping busy. it's so good to see him when he's gone for those few days. it really gives us the chance to have some good face time and talk about all the funny stories we somehow get ourselves in to. i had a lot of fun with him tonight just being goofy and making each other laugh. i love that man. he's so cool
well, that concludes my tuesday... here's the thought for the day:
it's funny how life works out. you wake up a little bit earlier than you thought. which allows you to have enough time to go to cowtown and shop. which allows you to walk around and find a vendor who is selling some of the cutest earrings you've ever seen. which then enables you to wear them around your friends. which later results in the confidence from compliments to keep rewearing them over the years. and before you know it... one decision to wake up early, lands you the compliment on the earrings you bought 10 years ago at a flea market, by the man who will years down the line become your husband.
life is a series of choices. are you gonna pick the purple earrings... or the green ones?
this has been--
meira... mostly.
Monday, May 24, 2010
youth ministry, jersey shore, and pancakes with janis... welcome to my monday.
today has been quite the day. i spent all morning sitting mindlessly on the couch, because i haven't had the chance to completely veg out for a day since i've been home from college. believe me... i took full advantage of that. i've been staying really busy lately doing hair on the side for friends and family (hint hint... MAKE AN APPOINTMENT with me!) and i've been looking for new jobs for the summer. i'll let you know in a few days how that goes...
so, i met up with matt pilla today to talk about youth ministry and where we want it to go this summer. he's the youth pastor for Gloucester County Community Church (hint hint... come out on sunday!) we had a long talk about what we wanted to do directionally for the next few months and i can't wait to see what God does with it. Jessica Klein and Karolena Szloack are my two new summer leader interns. they are both really awesome girls that i can already see God using in a big crucial way this summer. reason being... they both said they excelled in organization! thankkkkk you Jesus for that one. not saying anything... but matt pilla's desk could speak for itself in saying how much we need an organizer! can't wait to work along side of them and have some of the administrative pressure lifted from me and matt.
i also had a long talk with him about influence. it seems to me, that the more and more media and internet become a part of our youth kids lives... the more and more patching up we have to do. mending the mind of a teenager after years of desensitization to the explicit media that is constantly bombarding them has proven to be a hard task. over the past few years, media, radio, and the internet have become more overwhelmingly "rated R" if you will. it's a scary thing when a youth kid is able to sit through an hour of some of the trashy shows on TV and not even flinch through the content. i made a comment on my Facebook status the other night about how i wanna meet snooki from MTV's "The Jersey Shore". i have been known at school at the "jersey girl" being as i am the only jersey they have ever seen out in the mountains of virginia. making a comment that i thought to be harmless, not thinking of the reality of what i had said... i watched as some of my youth kids played into my joke saying they were in love with the show. i only said it to be comedic of the fact that i am "the jersey girl" at school, and low and behold... i've created my very own monster. i apologize, because what i said was not at all to condone the behavior i have seen on that show, and it was not to justify watching the show what so ever. infact, i don't do much watching of it myself because it's not only offensive to my state because it makes us look bad as a whole, but honestly i can't bare to look at the sexual content of it for more than a few seconds. it's over the top, and it's not what i want my youth kids to be putting into their minds. what you feed to your brain, there so your mouth and heart reproduce. i don't want those things coming out of me, and i pray that you do the same to avoid that kind of lifestyle. forgive me for allowing myself to become desensitized to the reality of my statement. besides... after people meet me... they say "snooki who?" i am the original jersey girl :)
i also spent a few hours tonight with one of my very best life long friends, janisssss perryyyyy! hey gurrrrl heyyyyy! i meet up with JP at one of our favorite diners to eat some late dinner. well, actually... i ate... she cheered me on as she bit off all of her fake nails at the table (mm, appetizing). our waitresses name was Stacy, and it wasn't but 30 seconds after she told me her name that we became best friends. she kept saying how cute i was... (yeah, i have that effect on people.) janis and i talked for a long while about some really incredible news. at 40 beautiful years young, and after over 20 years of successful youth ministry and devotion to kids everywhere, janis perry is looking to start a family of her own! thank God because that woman was born to be a mother! she has been going through the long and grueling process of fostering with intention to adopt a little girl. i'm sharing a part of janis's life with you, and praying that you will likewise be lifting her up through this process. she is born for this kind of stuff and i can't wait to see her with baby in tow. she shared some stories with me tonight about going to classes, and having to make sure her apartment was in perfect condition, and playing phone tag and the waiting game for months now. it is so much more of a process than many people believe to be true. and for that, she definitely deserves to be commended for her patience and diligence. it takes a very special person to adopt a child who is not their own into their home and raise them as a single mother... and janis is nothing short of everything a child could hope to raise them. she is such an example of what a mother should be. i should know... because my mother reminds me all the time, that i had two moms raising me. my own mother, and then there was janis. she helped my mom, and my mom will be the first to tell you, janis deserves a lot of the credit for who i am today. sometimes... i think that could be a good thing. other times... well... sorry janis :)
overall, today was a day filled with many thought turning processes. i've learned things that will make me wake up tomorrow a little different than i did today. but isn't that the whole point in living and learning? every day is a learning experience. take the knowledge you've been given and store it away. look onto the examples others set before us in love. and wake up tomorrow morning, excited to live a little differently, and walk with our heads just a little bit higher. because God is good... and we get the chance to learn for another day. the bible says, "counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power." proverbs 8:14 - - there is power in knowledge.
this has been--
meira... mostly.
so, i met up with matt pilla today to talk about youth ministry and where we want it to go this summer. he's the youth pastor for Gloucester County Community Church (hint hint... come out on sunday!) we had a long talk about what we wanted to do directionally for the next few months and i can't wait to see what God does with it. Jessica Klein and Karolena Szloack are my two new summer leader interns. they are both really awesome girls that i can already see God using in a big crucial way this summer. reason being... they both said they excelled in organization! thankkkkk you Jesus for that one. not saying anything... but matt pilla's desk could speak for itself in saying how much we need an organizer! can't wait to work along side of them and have some of the administrative pressure lifted from me and matt.
i also had a long talk with him about influence. it seems to me, that the more and more media and internet become a part of our youth kids lives... the more and more patching up we have to do. mending the mind of a teenager after years of desensitization to the explicit media that is constantly bombarding them has proven to be a hard task. over the past few years, media, radio, and the internet have become more overwhelmingly "rated R" if you will. it's a scary thing when a youth kid is able to sit through an hour of some of the trashy shows on TV and not even flinch through the content. i made a comment on my Facebook status the other night about how i wanna meet snooki from MTV's "The Jersey Shore". i have been known at school at the "jersey girl" being as i am the only jersey they have ever seen out in the mountains of virginia. making a comment that i thought to be harmless, not thinking of the reality of what i had said... i watched as some of my youth kids played into my joke saying they were in love with the show. i only said it to be comedic of the fact that i am "the jersey girl" at school, and low and behold... i've created my very own monster. i apologize, because what i said was not at all to condone the behavior i have seen on that show, and it was not to justify watching the show what so ever. infact, i don't do much watching of it myself because it's not only offensive to my state because it makes us look bad as a whole, but honestly i can't bare to look at the sexual content of it for more than a few seconds. it's over the top, and it's not what i want my youth kids to be putting into their minds. what you feed to your brain, there so your mouth and heart reproduce. i don't want those things coming out of me, and i pray that you do the same to avoid that kind of lifestyle. forgive me for allowing myself to become desensitized to the reality of my statement. besides... after people meet me... they say "snooki who?" i am the original jersey girl :)
i also spent a few hours tonight with one of my very best life long friends, janisssss perryyyyy! hey gurrrrl heyyyyy! i meet up with JP at one of our favorite diners to eat some late dinner. well, actually... i ate... she cheered me on as she bit off all of her fake nails at the table (mm, appetizing). our waitresses name was Stacy, and it wasn't but 30 seconds after she told me her name that we became best friends. she kept saying how cute i was... (yeah, i have that effect on people.) janis and i talked for a long while about some really incredible news. at 40 beautiful years young, and after over 20 years of successful youth ministry and devotion to kids everywhere, janis perry is looking to start a family of her own! thank God because that woman was born to be a mother! she has been going through the long and grueling process of fostering with intention to adopt a little girl. i'm sharing a part of janis's life with you, and praying that you will likewise be lifting her up through this process. she is born for this kind of stuff and i can't wait to see her with baby in tow. she shared some stories with me tonight about going to classes, and having to make sure her apartment was in perfect condition, and playing phone tag and the waiting game for months now. it is so much more of a process than many people believe to be true. and for that, she definitely deserves to be commended for her patience and diligence. it takes a very special person to adopt a child who is not their own into their home and raise them as a single mother... and janis is nothing short of everything a child could hope to raise them. she is such an example of what a mother should be. i should know... because my mother reminds me all the time, that i had two moms raising me. my own mother, and then there was janis. she helped my mom, and my mom will be the first to tell you, janis deserves a lot of the credit for who i am today. sometimes... i think that could be a good thing. other times... well... sorry janis :)
overall, today was a day filled with many thought turning processes. i've learned things that will make me wake up tomorrow a little different than i did today. but isn't that the whole point in living and learning? every day is a learning experience. take the knowledge you've been given and store it away. look onto the examples others set before us in love. and wake up tomorrow morning, excited to live a little differently, and walk with our heads just a little bit higher. because God is good... and we get the chance to learn for another day. the bible says, "counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power." proverbs 8:14 - - there is power in knowledge.
this has been--
meira... mostly.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
you've been invited- to my life!
well hey there! this is a new page and a new vision for me. i've decided that i really want to share my life with those who are willing to listen and take part. i love to write, and i thoroughly love life. so, what better idea than to therefore combine both. it's like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich... writing is to passion as peanut butter is to jelly. they are simply inseparable. this is going to be a montage of my lifes journeys- day to day living, family, friends, stories, God, events, youth ministry, cooking, devotions, tears, laughter, college, and love. it's my story, and i can't wait to share it with you. welcome to my life... hold on tight.
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