annie firebaugh.

So I was sitting in the Cowpens Middle School locker room.... the school was probably built in the early 1900's and used to be Cowpens High School and not much remodeling had been done yet. With all this said there was no air conditioning in the locker room.... only one of those big fans up in the window.

So it was Hot. And we were in Sex Ed Class. And we were a bunch of 6th grade girls.

So it was hot, and awkward.

I kept fidgeting in my seat... just a bench like thing... squeezed between every other 6th grade girl in our CMS Physical Education Shirts, Umbro shorts, and probably adidas shoes... It really didn't make sense that we had to dress out to sit and learn sex ed but whatever....

All of a sudden I got really hot and could feel it coming on, that oh so familiar feeling right before i pass out.... everyone feels like they are talking to me in a tunnel, i feel like the floor is moving, and as if all the blood is leaving my head, no fun.

I look at my best friend Heather Chapman sitting right beside me and say, "Heather I think i'm gonna pass out...."

and I hit the floor. From what I was told after that everyone kinda freaked out. My teacher had no idea that I passed out so she really didn't know what to do. Everyone crowded around me waiting to see what happened and my teacher sent Heather to get the nurse.

When I woke up my mom was already on her way to the school. I felt perfectly fine when I came to but my teacher wouldn't let me move. She put me in a wheelchair and told someone to get my things from my locker and wheeled me to the nurse's office. When I got there my mom was there and she wasn't really freakin out like everyone else cause she was used to me passing out like a weirdo. So she got all my stuff together and realized that something was missing from my belongings, probably the coolest part of my wardrobe, my Timberlands. So that's when mom started to freak out, she said she was not leaving until we found the boots.

So everyone that had on timberlands in my class had to line up and show my mom their shoes.
How did we know they were mine you ask?
Because they were off brand, they were 579's.
And there they were, right on Annie FIrebaugh's smelly feet.
Great, now my shoes had been on Annie Firebaugh's smelly feet and the whole school knew that my Timberlands were fake.


And oh yeah.... the next day everyone at school rumored that I had seen a penis for the first time in the sex ed book and that's why i passed out. Awesome.

Isn't it crazy how everything meant SOOOOOOO much to us in middle school. It was so important what everyone thought of us. We had to be POPULAR. Wear the right clothes, listen to the cool music, hang out with the coolest kids, and "fit in".

I still have lil tingling of feelings every now and then worrying about fitting in and being noticed. But nothing like then. I have a God who loves me no matter what. Friends that love me no matter what. And a Family with never ending support. And it's kinda ironic too that in college the "cool" kids aren't always the ones who "fit in" but most of the time are the ones who stick out. The ones that go against the flow, make their own path, make a difference. But I don't want to be different for the sake of being different, which I have a tendency to do. I go against things for the sake of not going with them, when I should be praying about decisions and seeking guidance from God. I want to be me, me being whoever God wants me to be, I have to put my wants and desires aside and constantly seek him. I find myself coming back to this point often, seeking his direction, and slowly but surely it's becoming more clear. God is awesome and I can feel great things coming that he has in store for me.

"Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father,
And give attention that you may gain understanding..." Proverbs 4:1

story time

so while i was reminiscing tonight about fun stories i decided that I don't want to forget these stories so, i'm going to blog them... for the next a lil bit.... my stories are very random and probably better heard in person but just read it and think of my voice, in all it's great hickness, telling the stories...... the first one takes me back to freshman year of college.....

So I had a crush, I'll admit it, I was a new lil freshman, he was a tremendously tall freshman with the nickname "Timber". We had a mutual friend and we hung out some. It never was anything serious but one night after a lil trip to walmart that we shared he came up to my room and we hung out (innocent fun) he wasn't there long, just checked out my dorm for like 20 minutes and had to leave to do some homework..... nothing big, it was a good night.

Later on that night after he was back in his room we were talking online... he asked me if i was sitting at my desk and i said yes, why do you ask? he said take a look to your immediate right, i slowly and timidly turned my head only to see my dry erase board with big black letters that said "Lauren loves Timber!"

I immediately recognized the hand writing and turned red and screamed, "JESSICA HEAD!!!!" she came in thinking there was a fire or something and then realized what I was looking at and died laughing... I was so mad, so embarassed. I frantically typed to timber telling him that I was not a freak and that my roommate had done it thinking it was funny and never thinking he would actually see it and I babbled on and on apologizing and so distraught over the incident.... he was fine, thought it was hillarious, it wasn't until a few weeks later that i found it funny...

but now looking back on it, that moment in B3 dorm, freshman year, seems so innocent and fun. Oh to be a freshman again, oh to be so scared of college and having a fun innocent crush with no drama. I feel like life has become so much more complicated now. Go to bed early instead of late night walmart trips for no reason, looking for jobs instead of planning fun summer trips. college should be 5 years, and if it was 5 years I would probably wish it was 6, so I guess you can't stop the next stage of life, it's gonna come wether you like it or not, so i'm gonna embrace it, hopefully i'll have to open my arms real wide for this one, hopefully it will be just as great or even better than college.

maybe.

sunday school

so on sunday mornings when I am in Spartanburg (home) our family attends First Baptist Spartanburg.... we go to the worship service first and then to sunday school. Background: Our family went to Cowpens First Baptist my whole life until I went to college so I have only been attending First Baptist for a few years and only while i'm home from school. With that being said, I do not know many people. For weeks my sunday school teacher asked me my name every week and every week I had to tell him my name and who my parents were and he made the miraculous connection, again, every week. And pretty much college sunday school is not the "cool" thing to do. There are multiple amounts of different classes they have to divide up for high school because of the large amount of youth in the church but for some reason that I can't figure out, the college sunday school class averages about 7 or 8 and it's usually a different 7 or 8 every time. There are only two regulars that I notice are there without fail. So I always kinda dread sunday school, and I really only go because our whole family rides together so I can't really leave after the worship service while they are in sunday school.

But something was different this sunday.....

I walked in and the teacher says, "Hey Lauren!" (He knows my name?) he continues, "I am so excited you are here this morning, I really feel like you are just really going to enjoy this lesson and it is just perfect for the stage of life you are at right now cause I know you are graduating in May and planning to moving to Columbia. I really hope you enjoy it." at this point i'm thinking, what? He remembered my name, and everything i told him like 2 months ago?, and not only did he remember it but this lesson made him think of me and what I had told him.

God humbled me that sunday morning.

He used that so "un cool" sunday school class to teach me things and show me answers to questions I had been praying about and stressing over for a while.

He used the people in that class to amaze me and challenge me to get into his word every day and surround myself with him.

These are some important things I took away from that class....

1. God is intentional.

2. Don't depend on your ability to hear God as much as you depend on his ability to get through to you.

3. If we do not spend intentional daily time with God we are going to miss out on the awesome regular familiar time with God.

4. God always equips those who he calls.

God help me not to underestimate you or question your calling in my life. You will provide my needs and you will show me the way. My faith is weak but your abundance of grace is all I need. teach me to rely on you and surround myself in your word so that I can walk in your will daily.

lg.

2007.

So I was sitting here at Panera early this morning waiting on some film to develop down the street thinking of memories of the past year and I realized how many of them happened while living with 5 other amazing girls... At the beginning of the year in 307 as well as the second half at 321..... college memories are priceless and it's very bittersweet that I only have one semester left..... It's going to be so weird not to come home to a living room full of girls on their laptops playing jetman.... and getting a real job and going to bed at a decent time just doesn't sound as fun as working on a project all night and chasing a mouse around the house... Who am I going to scare in the shower? Who are we going to spy on making out on the front porch? Graduating scares the _______ out of me and at the same time makes me very very excited about moving on to the next step of my life. I hope this last semester of college was just as awesome as all the rest. With that said (and stopping before i get emotional) i leave you with a video that's just a glimpse into the awesome times we have at our house.... i can't wait to be back there in a week!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=K4FzQdFYzxw

and now i'm going to pick up my first roll of film from my new camera! yay!

christmas morning surprise.

So I wake up christmas morning and head downstairs to look at what "Santa" had brought me and my siblings just like every year. Except this year my pile looked very plain and boring... there were some things I knew i was getting and then there were two brown cardboard boxes. I looked around at the other stuff first and then looked closer at the boxes to see the label on the side said nativity..... My immediate thought was, "Nativity, I didn't ask for a nativity? What am I going to do with a nativity?" Then I sat down with the boxes, (No one else was up yet) and opened each lil wooden character up, slowly I of course got emotional because one, conviction of my immediate reaction being so ungrateful and two, because of how beautiful and special it was that I now have my own very nice nativity that I can keep forever in my own home and share with my family someday. These figurines are so special and symbolic of the true meaning of Christmas. The nativity quickly became my favorite gift by far. It's still sitting out on display and I love looking at it. It's something I would have never thought to ask for but something I will treasure forever....



and oh yeah I also got this BALLIN vest....



I should be easy to spot in that one :0)

something i need to work on.

you are.

So recently I recieved a belated birthday card from my 21st birthday which was well over two months ago.... but i'm kinda glad it came late... because if I would have gotten it at the same time as my other presents and cards I probably wouldn't have paid attention to it like I did.... the card as pictured above states 21 qualities that the person who gave me the card thinks I posess.... or they just thought it was a cute card...... but i'm gonna go with the first option, but I'm not going to agree completely... there are lots of qualities that think I need to work on. the 21 qualities are as follows....
1. Fun
2. Smart
3. Talented
4. Confident
5. Passionate
6. Capable
7. Generous
8. Admirable
9. Likable
10. Nice
11. Personable
12. Genuine
13. Successful
14. Kind
15. Inspiring
16. Considerate
17. Understanding
18. Enthusiastic
19. Friendly
20. Dependable
21. Wonderful

hopefully this blog will tell stories of me being some of these things... i strive to be more PERSONABLE with people and care about their lives in a GENUINE way..... I want to be more DEPENDABLE seeing as I graduate in may and enter the real world.... i wanted to use my TALENTS in way that glorify god and not me somehow incoprorating my photography, still havent figured that out yet.... I want to be WONDERFUL in the sense that I am full of the wonder of the awesome God I serve.... I also want to have a never ending PASSION to live for christ, not just when it's convienient for me, which happens a lot..... I want the words that come out of my mouth to be KIND and NICE about others and not bring them down, even if i'm not saying it directly to them, actually especially if i'm not saying it directly to them... I want to be SMART about descions I make and learn from DUMB mistakes, that one probably only makes sense to me but that's ok.... I know that I will never be all 21 of these things but listing them out at least reminds me of goals and what I strive for.... but I know that if I live my life like my lord and savior that doing that will encompass all these things and more... because this measly list of 21 things i want to be is nothing compared to what my father has to offer :0) ......

mytunes.... Sara Bareilles, Bloc Party, Celine Dion and Little Big Town.

"My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Ps 73:26

-lg.