Real World

So I was Facebook stalking the other day and came across a conversation that some other people were having about their new jobs and being in the "real world." It got me thinking about my "real world" and if I enjoyed it more than being in school. And I have to answer yes I do love it way better than school. I never really hated being in school, but I always wanted to be able to do other stuff and couldn't because of homework, readings, classes, studying for tests, etc. Now I can come home (not to a tiny dorm room) and cook dinner (not have BDH food!) and relax. I can read books (I have read over 10 since being out of school just for fun!) or watch my favorite TV show or just hang out with my boyfriend or roommate. What is not to love about that situation? No homework, no studying, no tests! This is all just the none school part of the "real world" that I love. I also love my job. I get to love on some great and amazingly fun babies all day (16 month old twins- boy and girl). We play all day (I can sing you most of the preschool TV shows theme songs, and any other preschool song/chant/poem you can think of) and I get to let them know that they are special (in a great way). I also get paid for this (not the main focus but it pays the bills). How cool is that?? How many people out there get to work from a house and just play all day??? Yes my job can be stressful when I have two babies crying to be picked up and not enough arm strength to do that or when they both want to play with me and I need to do the dishes, but still it is fun (even the food stains that I have worked my hardest to get out and still can't seem to get them out). I also love that I get to go to church in Raleigh. I love Journey but the best part is that it isn't about Journey, but about God and His glory alone. I get to worship with my Journey family every week. How awesome is that??? I also get to teach some wonderful 4 and 5 year olds about God. I love it when the kids come back for the 2nd week in the month and already know the verse. These aren't just any words they are memorizing, they are memorizing God's Word! How cool is that (I know I have used this a lot, but I keep saying it over and over again out loud)??? I love that I have a life group that is my family here. I love that I can call on them when I need help and get to help others when I don't need it. We are a true family. In the "real world," I get to have an apartment which I get to clean (sounds strange, but I love to clean). I also have a wonderful roommate who has "family" dinners with me which is fun (even all the random people that appear at our family dinners)! I also have a wonderful boyfriend, who is just...well...amazing! I get to hang out with him and cook for him (I love to cook) whenever I want in the "real world". I don't know if I have said this before, but I love the "real world." I know one day I will most likely be going back to school, but until then I am going to enjoy the "real world" and all of those in my world because right now I am having a blast.

The Motions by Matthew West

Going through the motions doesn’t please you,
A flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
When my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
Don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.
Psalm 51:16-17 The Message

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings,
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
Psalm 51:16-17 NIV


Being broken is what God wants. Even in the Old Testament time, David understands that God does not want our offerings. He wants us. He wants us to follow him no matter what. He wants us to not just be religious, but to be in relationship with him. He wants us. It is nice to know that a flawless performance is nothing to God, but it also stings because we strive for perfection. We strive to be perfect in all ways. The problem is when it is a performance. When it is us surrendering to Christ to allow him to be in us and bring glory to God than that is what he wants. He wants us. “Don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.” It is like my ballet teacher used to say, if I am correcting you and pushing you harder than you think you can go than I still believe in you, but the moment I stop giving corrections is the moment where I stop believing in you. I want God to continue to believe in my future. I want God to continue to believe that I can do something for Him. I want Him. If God stops believing in my future than I have no more purpose and have no need to do anything. God is going to continue to correct me and mold me as I grow closer to Him. The closer I get the harder and sharper the molding because it will be fine tuning which is always harder. The story that comes from Matthew West’s song The Motions is powerful. Watch the video if you have never seen it because it explains his testimony. I think back on this video and how he was not even able to talk to his family during this ordeal. He was only communicating through a white board. A white board. That is hard to believe. I cannot even imagine not being able to speak because as we all know I love to talk. I need to constantly be reminded of this. I am going to leave you with the words of the chorus of the song.

‘Cause I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
“What if I had given everything,
Instead of going through the motions?”

So ask yourself everyday if you are going through the motions or really surrendering to Christ and being broken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_rmCeAzqKc

Long Time No See

So I have not posted in a long time and figured I should get back to this blog. I am going to try and post at least once a week for the next few months and see how that goes. I am currently trying to find a job for after camp. I mean a REAL job for after camp. I am really looking and trying to find something, but it is hard. I want right now to have something. I keep having to tell myself that something will happen and it will all work out in the end. I know that God will bring the best job for me right now to me but it will take His time and not mine. So for now I am submitting applications, resumes and cover letters and waiting. I have decided to wait a few weeks and then start sending more out again. I feel like there is a never ending wave of things that need to be finished and if I take a break from this process maybe I can get other things done. Well that is all for now since I need to get back to work but I will be updating the world on the status of my applications as I get news. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Camp

Hey all-
I have been super busy with camp that I haven't been able to blog lately. I have had a blast though. I have an amazing roommate. We have way too much fun together in the cabin. The first week of camp, I did not have any campers but stayed super busy with other things. I then had to go to Raleigh cause I realized that I had left tons of stuff in the storage unit that I needed. I went to dinner with Allison van den Berg and then went to church and was on my way to sit with Amanda, Whitney and Aaron while they ate dinner and got in an accident. I was hit by another car on Capital Blvd. He turned into me and only damaged his front drivers side of his hood and my passenger side of my car is totally ruined. The damage is all down the side of the car. It has been an adventure to say the least dealing with the insurance agents and such. After the accident I drove back to Asheboro the next morning so I could meet the rest of the staff at church. My next week of camp was awesome. We had GAs. Our cabin was so great. That weekend I went to Asheville with Hannah to see Meredith. It was the best weekend that I have had in a while. We saw The Proposal that weekend and let me just say that it was so good!!! We also got to just relax and hang out before Meredith left for Italy. The next week we had a mini week of Mother/Daughter Camp and then a mini week of GAs. That was fun, but it felt like two full weeks of camp with only an hour nap in between. I then was getting kinda sick so I went to Raleigh to see the doctor and shocker I had a sinus infection. I love allergies in the summer. I then drove back to Asheboro and hung out with the staff for the rest of the weekend. On sunday we got our next set of campers. They were awesome. I will tell you more about that later in person cause it has been the best week of camp so far. I am now in Charlotte visting Kathleen (I danced with her in Texas) for the 4th. We got off on Wednesday afternoon and I have been hanging out with her today and yesterday. It has been so much fun. I have been catching up on sleep cause I haven't had much being at camp. I have posted some pics below of our cabin. We picked the theme of Inside an Airport because our whole unit is inside of something. It looks so great and was so much fun to do. I hope you are doing great and I hope to hear from ya...ps I love getting mail my address is:
Alyssa Smith
3140 Camp Mundo Vista Trail
Sophia, NC 27350

This is my staff photo:
These pics are from our cabin:

Hey all out there...
I am now home and discovered last night that my camera is offically dead. The screen was black and white like someone had stepped on it so I bought a new camera today. It is a Nikon S230 and it is awesome. It has a touchscreen on the back where I can find all the different settings and such. It takes great pictures as well. I will be posting more, but for now here are the first pictures from my camera and of course they are of the dogs. The new puppy, Boomer, and Snowy. Talk to y'all later!
-Alyssa

April's Bulletin Board Fun

Hey All-
I think that some of y'all might enjoy this...it is my bulletin board for April, which happens to be organ donation awareness month...hope you enjoy! Have a great Monday!

Hello Blogging World

Hey all out there-
I just wanted to let everyone that I am now offically blogging. I wanted to set this up so that this summer I could blog about my adventures in North Carolina. I will be spending most of my summer here and thought that those at home (and those in NC) would like to see what is up here. I probably won't be blogging again until this summer...or until at least life calms down relating to school, but I wanted to figure out how to set this up for now. I will leave you with some recent pictures from my birthday (stolen from Meredith Busey) and pictures from our RD's birthday (stolen from Molly Link) that we celebrated yesterday. Please let me know what is up with you and hope to write again soon!!