Why?

I must share this song with you. It is absolutely beautiful. It's a song called "Why" by Nichole Nordeman.

WHY

We rode into town the other day
Just me and my Daddy
He said I'd finally reached that age
And I could ride next to him on a horse
That of course was not quite as wide

We heard a crowd of people shouting
And so we stopped to find out why
And there was that man
That my dad said he loved
But today there was fear in his eyes

So I said "Daddy, why are they screaming?
Why are the faces of some of them beaming?
Why is He dressed in that bright purple robe?
I'll bet that crown hurts Him more than He shows
Daddy, please can't you do something?
He looks as though He's gonna cry
you said he was stronger than all of those guys
addy, please tell me why
Why does everyone want him to die?"

Later that day the sky grew cloudy
And Daddy said I should go inside
Somehow he knew things would get stormy
Boy was he right
But I could not keep from wondering
If there was something he had to hide

So after he left I had to find out
I was not afraid of getting lost
So I followed the crowds
To a hill where I knew men had been killed
And I heard a voice come from the cross

And it said, "Father, why are they screaming?
Why are the faces of some of them beaming?
Why are they casting their lots for My robe?
This crown of thorns hurts Me more than it shows
Father, please can't You do something?
I know that You must hear My cry
I thought I could handle the cross of this size
Father, remind Me why
Why does everyone want Me to die?
When will I understand why?"

"My precious Son, I hear them screaming
I'm watching the face of the enemy beaming
But soon I will clothe You in robes of My own
Jesus, this hurts Me much more than You know
But this dark hour I must do nothing
Though I've heard Your unbearable cry
The power in Your blood destroys all of the lies
Soon You'll see past their unmerciful eyes
Look there below, see the child
Trembling by her father's side
Now I can tell You why
She is why You must die"

Fort Worth

Today I went with some of my friends to ride on this mini train that runs through Trinity Park in Fort Worth, TX. While doing this, I realized how many fun things there are to do in Fort Worth alone, and even this area that we never do. So many little adventures to be had! I'm determined to do these things more often.

Here's a link to the website that describes a little bit about it: http://www.fpmt.us/

Why, hello there!

So you see, I have this problem. That problem is that I can sometimes be forgetful, and in this case I have forgotten to continue writing on my blog for almost a year. I think if I knew that people were reading it, I would wright more often. However, like I'm sure that I have said before, I am determined to keep this going. For the moment, I am a little overwhelmed because I have not written in so long and I'm not quite sure where to begin. I suppose for now I could do what most of my posts have been: a long list of things that have happened. So prepare yourself. Strap yourself down, get play some exciting music, just do what you've gotta do to read a long blog.(But you will get to see a lot of pictures. But who would expect anything less?) Don't say I didn't warn you.

I last left you telling about how I was soon going to graduate. Well, you will be glad to know that Idid graduate! Graduation was June 6, 2009 at the Fort Worth Convention Center. Of course, here's a picture to show you!

The Family:

The first thing to always kick off my summer for the past 6 years has been youth camp: one of my favorite parts of the summer. It's at Riverbend Retreat Center in Glenrose, TX. For a week, several churches from around the Tarrent County area come for a week of crazy fun! There is so much I can tell you right now, but I don't want this post to be longer than it has to. So pictures it is!

Friends :)

One of the most popular parts of camp: the Dodgeball tournament. I was a part of the team "The Foxy Ladies" (haha) and we played in the girls division(so as not to die). Well, we thought we would do fairly well and would get to win the Ken trophy(on right), but we did not anticipate playing against a team of manly girls. They were beasts. Oh well... and as you can tell from the picture, Jennifer is not thrilled at all with our loss.

This was my second year to be a family group leader and I LOVED it!! Go Ice Mountain!
"Ice Ice Mountain!"

I would explain this picture...but then I would have to kill you.

One of the best parts of youth camp is gaining new brothers and sisters in Christ. This year God moved in an AMAZING way and over 30 people in my youth group alone gave their lives to Christ and were baptized the next Sunday. This year there were over 700 people at camp, 97 salvations, 115 re-dedications, and 25 surrendered to full time ministry. Glory to God!

For our youth group's YCAM (youth creative arts ministry) trip summer 2009, we went to San Diego, California. It was an amazing trip filled with great things, but also many moments where we were tested. Overall, however, the trip was amazing and God was glorified.

This is what a bus trip all the way to California will do to you:

On one of the beaches with my Dad and sister Amanda.

FIRE!

So, definitely one of the low points of the trip was spraining my ankle. I was in a group that did a recreational camp with kids in a neighborhood of a church we worked with. Especially since we only had a few kids the whole week, we all had to play(not that we wouldn't have to begin with). One of the games we played was called "Octopus tag". While I was being chased by the "octopus", I stepped in a dip in the ground that was covered with grass and got a high ankle sprain. The funny thing about it was that the first thing I thought the second I hit the ground was "kayaking!" because later that day we were going to go kayaking in the ocean and I did not want to miss it!

Well, I did end up not kayaking, and I was really really bummed about that, but I still had a great week.

Ice bucket = death. I had to do this every night for what seemed to be forever.

On the day we left, we stopped at Mount Soledad to have lunch and just take lots of pictures. It was beautiful that day.

All of the SENIORS on the trip! :)

Since it was taking me so long to hobble back to the bus, my youth minister carried me. haha. One thing that came from having a sprained ankle is that I am now a pro at hopping up into a charter bus on one foot.

Dust storm we ended up driving through! Crazy!

Home Concert: Seniors at the front for the last song.

Last Senior Sunday School :(

Mud Night! Sad I couldn't play! Stupid ankle! I guess I should say: stupid octopus!

Best Friend Day

Moving in to the dorm!

Roomies!!

Dodgeball Night during first flight week.

We learned how to swing dance! I did actually dance with guys...just no pictures to prove it.

Cowboys stadium for high school playoff games. BEAUTIFUL!!

BSM Christmas Party

Picture day with Michele Davis.

Downtown Fort Worth

New Year's Eve

BSM Leadership retreat in Midlothian, TX. They had a bounce house for us. :)

Definitely one of the highlights of my year was the Matt Wertz/Dave Barnes concert! We also went to Sprinkles cupcakes before the concert. Both were AMAZING.

There they are: Dave and Matt.

Family picture for the church directory.

Snow day!!! We had about 12 inches of snow!!! So much fun!

Day 2: Retalliation

With some friends at Yogurt Story!

Well, now that I have overwhelmed your brain with a lot of information and a lot of pictures, I think it's time to wrap this thing up. Expect more soon!