Hey Girl

I understand that spending a large quantity of time browsing through memes was cool 6 months ago, but I can't say that I really joined in on all of that fun right away. Today I rediscovered (I may have already read through this entire site 2 or 10 times before) Hey Christian Girl after Jon Acuff (the mastermind behind "Stuff Christians Like") mentioned it on Twitter this morning.

Allow me to share a few of my favorites:

Enjoy wasting a substantial amount of time laughing your way through the 14 pages of Hey Christian Girl Tumblr goodness!

Kayla

summertime catch-up

I admit, I am the worst blogger ever (if you could even call me that). If you have read any of my other posts, you know that I like to play catch-up; I'll write a post once every few months and share what I've been doing since the last time I blogged, usually in list form. Well, not much has changed and I still tend to keep my thoughts contained in lists, so here is a glimpse into my summer so far:

#senior
Exams came to a close at the beginning of May and I am now officially a college senior. What?! I still can't believe I only have one year left at UNC. The bucket list for senior year has become more concrete, and I cannot wait to tackle it with my best friends in a few short months.

#beach
I spent a week at home after exams before making the trip back to Chapel Hill for the summer. My days in Wilmington consisted of some much-needed family and beach time, and other than catching up with a dear friend, I did little other than hang out with my mom and sit on the beach with a book in my hand.

#books
Speaking of books, I finally got around to completing the Hunger Games series (I have also seen the movie twice now). I'm hooked and am probably a little too excited about the 2nd movie that is not going to be released soon enough. I have also read The Lucky One (yep, Nicholas Sparks), am finishing As Sure as the Dawn (Francine Rivers) and The Weight of Glory (C.S. Lewis), and have started a few other ones. Any suggestions to my summer reading list are welcomed!

#graduation
Soon after my arrival in Wilmington, I turned around and came back to Chapel Hill to watch the Class of 2012 graduate. It was a bittersweet day that just made me all the more happy that I have another year to spend at UNC. I am anxious and excited for all of the new alumni who are starting the next stages of their lives, and am actually kind of looking forward to the day when I can join them in the "real world" as a Carolina Alumnus.

#bub
I'm living in Chapel Hill this summer with some wonderful ladies at "The Bub". I'm absolutely loving it - being around friends 24/7 is so fun and I'm looking forward to another month as their roommates!

#Route56
I'm still hanging out with my sweet 5th and 6th graders every week! We are currently in a study called "Live it Out," where we're learning about how to practically live out our faith everyday. We've talked about things like Baptism and spending time with God, and as always, we're rolling in giggles by the time the service is over.

#babysitting
I'm spending my days hanging out with 3 sweet kids (and 2 other equally sweet kids in the mornings). I have learned that while playing "mom" is fun, it is also exhausting. I'm sure I'll be able to use what I learn from this experience in the future -- you know, when I start having kids in 20 years or so. :)

#Romans
I finished reading Romans the other day! I could go on and on about how great this book is - every time I read it the Gospel becomes more real to me, as Paul explains how as Christians we are free from the law and can experience full life because of Jesus Christ. My current Bible-reading endeavor is to read it chronologically. I'm still in the first few chapters of Genesis, and as much as I really would like to stick to this summer reading plan, I'll let you know how successful I actually am.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11


Happy summer!
Love, Kayla

God is:

A few weeks ago, my discipler shared with me the importance she has found in knowing the characteristics of God. While we as humans will never be able to fully comprehend the complexity and greatness of God, who is so much higher than us, knowing some of his characteristics as revealed in his word can help us better understand who God is and who we are because of him.

Since that conversation, I have been reading through the Psalms and writing down the characteristics of God. The list I have compiled below only covers 18 out of the 150 Psalms, and does NOT include the many, many repeats. Wow.

God is:

• knowledgeable of the way of the righteous
• wrathful
• a Father
• a refuge
• a shield
• one who answers our cry
• a sustainer
• saving
• one who gives relief
• one who hears
• a giver of joy
• safe
• King forever
• a hater of evil
• one who destroys liars
• loving
• protector
• one who blesses and shows favor to the righteous
• angry
• a righteous judge
• one who tests
• one who saves
• worthy of praise
• majestic
• glorious
• Creator
• one who does wonderful deeds
• just
• enthroned forever in Heaven
• a stronghold
• the provider of salvation
• one who has made Himself known
• one who sees
• a helper of the fatherless
• our strength
• a hater of the wicked
• one who keeps His promises
• full of steadfast love
• the one who deals bountifully
• restorer
• good
• the one who holds my lot
• the one who makes the path of life known
• full of pleasures
• the one who answers
• the giver of life
• our rock
• a fortress
• deliverer
• powerful
• rescuer
• my support 

What a great, great God we serve!

a little bit of everything

It has been quite some time since I've posted anything, so what better way to make a reappearance than to offer you the best ever study break? Here are some articles/videos/other finds I have accumulated over the last few weeks that have interested me...some are funny, others lean to the more serious side, but all are equally wonderful!


Carolina

Wonderful game. Wonderful night. Wonderful team.

http://northcarolina.scout.com/2/1163359.html
From There to Here - Tyler Zeller's Journey
http://www.tarheelblue.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/022912aab.html

For Fun
"10 ways to have a horrible first date if you're a Christian" - you've just gotta laugh.
http://www.jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike/2012/02/10-ways-to-have-a-horrible-first-date-if-youre-a-christian/#more-6850

Boom! Roasted. - If Danny Franks posted it you know it's a good one
http://vimeo.com/37218606

Prayer
72 Daily Prayer Points - 72 Days of Freedom for the 72 Million Slaves
http://72daysforfreedom.com/pdfs/72DailyPrayerPoints.pdf
http://72daysforfreedom.com/

[and now a little IJM plug since we're on the topic of freedom...Sign Your Name and Stand for Freedom! http://www.ijm.org/content/sign-your-name-stand-for-freedom?utm_source=rotator_1&utm_medium=rotator&utm_campaign=SOTU2012]

The Summit Church: 40 Days of Prayer
http://www.summitrdu.com/prayerguide

Random Finds
You Never Marry the Right Person - I just happened upon this one; Tim Keller is always great, though.
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/relationship/features/27749-you-never-marry-the-right-person

The Color Run - One of my friends in Texas just did this and loved it! and it's coming to Charlotte in October! Who's with me??
http://thecolorrun.com/locations/

Psychology
I get to write a research paper about this for my Child Development class. Really.
http://www.nickjr.com/dora-the-explorer/

Religious Studies
Remains of early Christian followers of Jesus have allegedly been found in a tomb near the Talpiyot Tombs in Jerusalem, a place that some years ago was said to be the place where Jesus' tomb was/is located. I haven't finished reading through all of these discussions and responses to the discovery (they're quite lengthy, but were all recommended by one of my TAs, so they should be good), but there is a lot of controversy surrounding it and essentially, many respected scholars and archaeologists are skeptical of the find.
A little bit about the find:
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/28/10521007-new-find-revives-jesus-tomb-flap
Doubts about the 'Jesus Discovery':
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/28/10534008-doubts-about-the-jesus-discovery
Response to the discovery by Professor Christopher A. Rollston:
http://asorblog.org/?p=1642
Eric M. Meyers of Duke University, Response:
http://asorblog.org/?p=1612
And finally, Jodi Magness' response:
http://asorblog.org/?p=1654

freedom.

Passion 2012 is exactly one week away!! I am beyond excited, especially because the "Do Something Now" is all about freeing people from all kinds of slavery. This is something that I have recently been learning a lot about and it has been close to my heart, so being able to fight this injustice alongside of thousands of other college students is going to be pretty awesome!


Check out this preview of a movie about fighting human trafficking that is going to premiere next week at Passion!


For His name and for His glory,
Kayla

4 days until Christmas + music + recipes

Need something to watch/listen to? Here are some of my recent finds:

Christmas is in 4 days, so check out this fun video by Tenth Avenue North! I kinda wish I could have been a part of this:

In the spirit of getting reading for Passion 2012, this song by Kristian Stanfill has been a favorite these last few days. Besides the words (of course,) I think the music itself is beautiful:

Need something to bake? Try these! S'more Cups & Double Chocolate Mint Brownies. Note: while these are not my own pictures, the final product does look just as pretty and delicious.

And for a laugh:

Thank you Emily for finding this..especially since you're the one who makes this hilarious :)

Merry Christmas!

love, Kayla

back in the day

So, Em and I decided it would be fun to look through pictures from when we were little. Here are a few (okay, a lot) of our favorites:

the days of big hair bows

dress up parties were my fave. and I used to be ridiculously tan.

picture with my tooth. normal?

caption on the back: Emily and Kayla "reading" in bed

"sleeping"

ONEZIES

dressed up like a ballerina, of course. and Emily in a UNC outfit??

playing dentist - - sorry Emily.

matching outfits and more hair bows

tea party with dad. nbd. and I didn't have hair when I was little 

where we spent 3/4 of our childhood...behind the dollhouse

Merry merry Christmas! I'm sure more childhood photos will be making an appearance soon. I kind of love them.

Love, Kayla