I Search For You On The Horizon

18 Things!

So, I turn 18 on Thursday, October 22. Last year, someone I know decided to write 30 things about the past year of his life because he was turning 30. I decided that was a good idea, so I wrote about 17 things when I turned 17. Now that I'm turning 18, it's time for an "18 Things" edition. (WOW! Looking at last year's was insane! These are definitely cool to keep around and it's so funny to see how things change! Great idea, Wes!)

(This is in no particular order)

1) God - Like last year, this can't NOT be first, mo matter how random the order is! I have spent the year growing closer to Him and finding new and wonderful things about Him. I am constantly blown away at His forgiveness, love, compassion, grace, mercy, and everything else! How He accepts, cares, and provides is a constant source of amazement. Looking back at my life even beyond the past year and marveling at how everything has managed to work out in a better way than I could EVER see is completely shocking and way overwhelming at times! I am so thankful for His constant presence in my life! (Thinking I should stop here while I get the chance...)

2) Family - Again, they are 2 on the list. This year has been shockingly difficult for me and my family. We have had ups and downs and it seems like there have been more downs than ups. I'm not saying that everything sucks, and I DO still love them, it's just that this year has been stressful, difficult, emotionally charged, and a little out of control at times. I'm not giving up anytime soon, though, so here's to another year!

3) Audrey - Wow...never knew friends could be this close...or have so much in common! This year (especially the second half) has been with Audrey right by my side, sharing in joy, sadness, chaos, peace, hellishness, heavenness, and almost everything else you could imagine. Next year, however, I don't get the priveledge of having her here all the time, and so far, I have been surviving. Audrey, it really has been an extreme priveledge to have you here!

3) Friends - Friends, friends, friends....they're amazing, crazy, funny, difficult, good, bad, great, loving, and most of all, worth it all! I have the greatest set of friends the world could ask for and I look forward to continuing the relationships that have been continued or started last year!

4) Joy - Things like nature, smiles, love, contentment, a sleeping baby, peace that passes understanding, friends, family, a good worship service, and many, many other things bring so much joy! I think my favorite emotion has become joy because it's accompanied with singing, smiles, and sometimes even a random jig :) But seriously, life would be nothing without joy.

5) Love - This year, I have dug deep into myself and allowed others to see things about me I have wanted to blot from my own mind. And the most remarkable thing was that they responded in love and support. I could not have gotten through this year without it!

6) Pathway Fellowship - This place makes the list again this year, not only because of the enormous amount of time I have spent there, but also because of the people there. I truly believe the church is made up of the people, not the building (which we may be losing soon). I sincerely hope and pray that Pathway Fellowship is still Pathway Fellowship no matter what happens!

7) Senior Year - One of my New Year's Resolutions was to enjoy Senior year, which I think I thoroughly did. I got great grades, went to Senior Ball (Mason was my date), and had an overall amazing time! This will not be a year easily forgotten!

8) College - The new, scary adventure of college began this year! I'm just starting, but things don't seem to be impossible...yet. I have the money I need, the time to do homework (most of the time), and an ability to make good grades. My goal is to finish this year with at least a 3.7 GPA. That's an important number because in order to have the money to go to William Jessup University next year like I want, I need those grades.

9) Youth Ministry - I have been given the amazing opportunity to intern at Pathway in youth ministry. Wes has been extremely gracious and patient in showing me kind of the basics behind ministry here and where I could fit into the average ministry with my talents, skills, and passions. So far, it's difficult, fun, stressful, exciting, adventurous, impossible, over my head, way too easy, and many other things all at once! The biggest shocker of it is that it's more than a job you go do once or twice a week, it's a lifestyle in many ways. Everything I do or say could possibly reach the ears or eyes of someone in youth group, so EVERYTHING I do has to be thought out. But the youth are amazing and I enjoy SO much getting to go and hang with them twice a week! I am totally falling in love with this job.

10) My Nephews - They are a constant light in my life, even when things are clouded in darkness, and I am SO thankful for them! Their smiles, lives, and joys are shared by me and I can't wait to see where their lives take them!

11) Leanne Carroll - Why in the world haven't you made the list yet??? She is SUPER amazing! I don't know what I would have done without her this year, and I am thankful and grateful for the fact that she's in my life! She is someone I trust immensely and I have worked with on several occasions! She is totally one of my favorite adults and way cooler than her "mom who works part time as a secretary at a church" job description makes her seem!

12) Erika Goodyear - Spending a year in SALT with her has been amazing! Frequent trips to eat, hang out, and chat, and working together with her and Wes in youth group has been a joy and a blessing! She's totally one of those peole I can call and complain to and she'll just listen and sympathize until I've had enough of the complaing. She's also one of my life lines if I ever need it and is such an inspiration to being non-conforming but not a bad person! Thanks for breaking out of the mold in the coolest way!

13) VBS - This past summer, I had the priveledge of being very involved in the VBS program at my church. I had origionally decided to not be involved at all unless specifically asked....eventually, I was asked, and I ended up getting more involved than I knew was possible! I spent EVERY DAY at the church for the 2 weeks leading up to VBS and seeing everything work out during the week of VBS was more than any reward ever! I had the opportunity to be an assistant in a 5/6 grade class and I enjoyed working with Shelly Tuck so much! The kids who were in my class are amazing and special people and I hope they all know that!

14) Wes Ehrhart - Youth leader, go-to guy when my world falls apart, mentor, boss (kinda? I don't think he would call himself that...), advisor, caring, godly man, leader, someone to look up to, and so much more! Definitely one of the people I am super glad I instinctively trusted two years ago!

15) Facebook - When I got involved in this, I had NO idea where it would end up! I had this crazy little idea to creat a youth group page about a year and a half ago. Since then, we have gained 67 members, and have another page for the whole church that is at above 100 members! Wow! I had no idea this was going to be the result of some crazy idea of mine! Now, I am being asked what I know about social networking because my church wants to know more about it and how to best use it in their ministries. It's crazy that I am going to be the idea person for that!

16) Faith - Wow! How did this not get on the list until now, since this was the reason I remembered to do this for this year?! In about December, I came to realization that, although I believe in God, WHAT I believe about His goodness, mercy, love, caring, etc... have often been flimsy truths to me. I realized that the second something went wrong, I got it into my head to think that God was either punishing me or was somehow indifferent to what was going on...and that needed to change. This year has been a roller coaster of emotions, problems, stresses, and many other things that have served to strengthen my trust in faith in God. Recently, there was another thing that stressed me out and I realized that I am a lot stronger now than I was a year ago. And all those things I have gone through this year suddenly made a lot more sense.

17) Problems - It seemed like there was one after another after another, non stop. And when they id stop, it was because something was missing. This year has been tough for those reasons, but also very good for me and something I needed to go through.

18) Mason - Where did this guy come from? One day, he's just someone I kinda talk to every once in a while, then suddenly he's one of my closest friends. Wow! He's super sweet and WAY too doting for my own good, lol! He makes me laugh, brightens my day, and fixes my problems. I am so thankful he's around! Can't ait to get to know him more over this next year!

So, that's my 2009 edition of "18 Things"! It's been crazy and wild, but worth it, and as I begin another year, I hope I can get as much out of it as I did this year!