joy.

i really need to get better at this whole blogging thing...

these past couple of weeks have been absolutely insane. im in my last month of junior year and the most busiest person in the world. i have so much school work, wyldlife, summer plans to be made, projects, and the list is never ending. not meaning to complain, but im exhausted! and very much ready for april to be over with (excluding that 19th. hello birthday!). but enough complaining. life is flowing.

the weather this past week has been BEAUTIFUL! i never thought i was one of those people that got so much joy from the weather, but i am a completely different person when the sun is shining! i have had the chance to go hiking, rollerblading, taking pictures and just playing outside. but oh the pictures! im new at this whole photography thing, and i dont try to take artsy pictures, but i simply love to capture the joy of my friends for them! some people say "why are you never in pictures?" but in all honesty i am so happy to be taking them that i dont care one bit that im not in them. here is one from when 2 of my best friends from high school came to boone to play with me and anna (kindergarten buddy!) love them way too much.

and this past weekend was easter. oh what joy it was to have a few days off. i picked my sister up in charlotte and road tripped on down to st simons island to be with

the rest of the fam. i think i lost my voice after screaming random songs for 7 hours straight. krista wanted to kill me, as i wanted to break her finger after she tried to drive from the passenger seat for too many hours. shes the worst passenger! but she will be the first to admit it. dad is the ONLY person in the world she will not tell how to drive. she is a mini mike.

but easter. i have no idea why, but for the first time easter really sunk in this year. friday i found myself truly thinking of what that day was supposed to me. good friday is such a bitter sweet thing. most people just say, oh its friday, but as i drove in the car by myself for 2 hours on my way to get krista, i seriously could not get a grip of my emotions. i was listening to my jesus tunes playlist because i really wanted to understand this whole thing. i like to listen to christian music when im thinking a lot. just because.

anywho, the song "in christ alone" came on the playlist and wholly moly. i seriously started sobbing. out of no where. i was driving with the windows down, sun shining, and crying. people thought i was a fool. but i was so thankful. it was a joyful cry, out of thanksgiving, knowing that i did not deserve anything, but was given everything. and on sunday, i was in church and that was one of the songs we sang, and welp there i was, tears again. jesus is incredible, and i know its different, but its appropriate at the same time. if you think about the cross and the resurrection, to be overwhelmed with emotions of joy and sorrow. the cross would have been nothing had he not risen, had he not defeated death, and had he not done this all for us, out of love. this may not make sense, but i felt the need to share that. easter is incredible not because of the easter bunny or easter egg hunts, but for what it truly symbolizes. so i guess ill end with the lyrics of the song. enjoy!

in Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
this Cornerstone, this solid ground
firm through the fiercest drought and storm
what heights of love, what depths of peace
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease
my Comforter, my All in All
here in the love of Christ i stand

in Christ alone, who took on flesh
fullness of God in helpless babe
this gift of love and righteousness
scorned by the ones He came to save
‘til on that cross as Jesus died
the wrath of God was satisfied
for every sin on Him was laid
here in the death of Christ i live

there in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
then bursting forth in glorious Day
up from the grave He rose again
and as He stands in victory
sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
for i am His and He is mine
bought with the precious blood of Christ

no guilt in life, no fear in death
this is the power of Christ in me
from life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
no power of hell, no scheme of man
can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
here in the power of Christ i’ll stand

love.