The Beauty of Grace is That It Makes Life Not Fair

Happy Easter, interweb world. Jesus paid for your sins and I just want you to know that you don't deserve it. You haven't done a darn thing in your life that will ever be worthy of His big big love. And the beautiful news that the gospel brings us that He is going to love us anyways. 

There is nothing in this world that you can do to make God, the King of the World, love you less. And that is the best thing I have ever heard. 

I've been in a really super excessively happy mood today and the past few days. But I would just like to say that we should all be this happy about Jesus taking away the sins of the world all day err day. It's a big deal. And by big, I mean bigger than a monster truck and bigger than a rollercoaster and bigger than the Loch Ness Monster and bigger than the love I have inside of my heart when there are Chacos on my feet. Bigger than anything physical or anything you can think of. 

Also, I would like to briefly talk about and think about how much and how richly God has blessed us all. Last week I didn't get much sleep at all because of all of the studying and working I had to do. So Friday morning I woke up at 7:30 to get to work at 8 (and by 8 I mean 8:05 because, let's be serious, being on time for anything at 8:00 in the morning is pretty much the same as patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. There might be people out in the world who can do it, but I am absolutely not one of those people) and when I woke up I just felt like I couldn't do it. I had barely been awake for 30 seconds and already I felt defeated and conquered by the day. So I sat up and before I got out of bed, I prayed that God would bring me through the day because I knew I would fall apart emotionally and probably physically if I tried to do it alone. And He did! When I got to work, one of the girls I work with had brought cupcakes with cookie dough in the middle and she gave me one. It was truly scrumptious and I said thank you to Jesus for that little chocolatey blessing. 

God has given me so so much to be thankful for. There is no reason for me to ever complain. Even when I have to walk across campus in the freaking freezing cold rain, even when I'm so tired that I'm feeling achy, even when Harcombe has absolutely no edible food and I'm so hungry I'm going to cry, even when my feelings are hurt, even when I spill food on my clothing again, none of that matters. Jesus has called me by name, and I am His! 

This morning at church, during choir/orchestra rehearsal, our conductor, the beautiful and wonderful Laurie Parsons, was getting ready to start conducting one of the choral songs, but before the choir started singing, she showed them a picture of Michelangelo's Pietà (I have included it below for your viewing convenience and pleasure) and pointed out how the proportions are a bit funny, and it's because Mary is holding Jesus as an infant but she sees Him as He will be when He dies on the cross for her and for us. She is holding up her hand as if to say, "Let it be." How beautiful is that? 

He cannot love more and will not love less.

Jesus the Lord my Savior is my shepherd and my God. My life, my strength, my joy, my bliss, and I His grace record. Whate'er I need in Jesus dwells, and there it dwells in me. Mercy and truth and righteousness and peace most richly meet in Jesus Christ, the King of grace, in whom I stand complete. 

And this is grace: an invitation to be beautiful. 

Love, 
Lauralicious

Just Try to Never Grow Up

Tonight I watched Wreck-It Ralph and I didn't think it was going to be that great and then it was amazing. It had so many themes like using the things that make you unique to help others and being content with yourself and forgiveness and compassion and also it was hilarious. I definitely recommend if you haven't seen it.

And then I started thinking about other awesome children's movies. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, How to Train Your Dragon, The Lorax, anything Veggietales...the list goes on for a while. And then I realized that I love children's movies better than I love grown-up movies. Kid movies are chock-full of life lessons, humor that seriously never gets old and is funny for everyone, and even educational tidbits! What could be better?

I'm going to be honest: most grown-up movies are dumb. I mean, they're hilarious and fun and scary and whatever you want them to be really, but the messages they convey aren't nearly as wonderful as those of kid movies. In kid movies, you're encouraged and empowered in the end. (Think about the feelings spinning around in your heart at the end of Finding Nemo. So much happiness and hope. Just thinking about it right now makes me feel like I can conquer anything.) Although I like chick-flicks, at the end of them I'm either rolling my eyes because they were so heavily cheesy or I'm feeling discouraged because my life isn't one. Action movies just make me want to go break stuff (clarification: I break stuff all the time on accident. Action movies make me want to break stuff on purpose like a ninja and simultaneously save the country). There are definitely exceptions (Les Mis, duh), but kid movies are just awesome. End of story.

And then I realized that the reason I'm picking on grown-up stuff so much is just because I wish I was still a kid. I've legally been an adult for a little less than a year now, and some scary stuff has happened. Lots of scary heavy stuff.

When I was little, my parents were having a party and they put me in my room with some games and toys and a brownie and told me that if I came out, I would get a spanking. So I played and did whatever for a while, and then I came out and said, "I'm ready for my spanking now." I thought that if I got a spanking, I would get to hang out and play with all the grown-ups, which wasn't true. I got a spanking and I got sent back to my room. It wasn't my best night.

But the point is: I'm ready to be a little kid again, with whatever consequences it may bring.

When you're little, playing is your job. Seriously. You need to play to successfully develop physically and mentally and socially and whatever other areas there are, and so that's what you do all day. And it's fun. Getting dirty is fun and you don't have to take a shower every day and getting to drink Coke is a big special treat.

I mean I'm not saying there are no problems, because there are. There are splinters, and let me tell you that splinters are the worst. There are also thunder storms, and those can get really scary. I'm not joking. They are really frightening, especially when you have a large imagination. And then there are problems like chores that prevent you from playing.

But when you're little you can wear pigtails and your fashion choices aren't questioned or judged (I can speak as an adult who wears pigtails regularly that not a lot of other adults think it's cute or fun when you wear pigtails). And imagining comes more easily when you're a kid. When I used to have to do un-fun things like Saturday chores, I would do pretend games so it wasn't boring. And as I've gotten older, it's a lot harder to pretend fun stuff is happening or make up stories while I'm sitting at work for six hours straight with nothing to do.

Growing up is a very discouraging thing. Not that I don't have the most wonderful fun beautiful family in the world or the most awesome caring sweet friends ever, because I do. But when you're a kid, your natural state is happy. And when you're a grown-up, your natural state is tired, which means grumpy most of the time. And grumpy is not an encouraging thing.

One time my dear friend Bekah told me that when you grow up, your emotions become deeper. Like sad is a lot more sad, but also happy is a lot more deeply happy. And I think that's true.

And also, I am not embarrassed to say that this Taylor Swift song has made me cry. Multiple times. Not wanting to grow up is one thing that Taylor and I agree on.

Good things do come with growing up. Like driving. I love driving. Also college, which is pretty cool. And getting to be in charge, which doesn't happen so much when you're little.

But also responsibility and jobs and intense lack of sleep. Just saying.

I guess I'm cool with staying a grown-up. And getting older and learning more (I do love learning) and becoming wiser. But that doesn't mean that I won't go without a fight. And by a fight, I mean continuing to wear my hair in pigtails and swinging and playing hide-and-seek and just embracing child paraphernalia (movies, books, stickers, coloring books/crayons, etc.). Also embracing the child mentality that there is no rush on things, we can make anything fun, and you can be anything you want to when you grow up.

Love,
Lauralicious

Potentially Somewhat Yucky but Still True Analogy

Moving all of my stuff from my dorm back to my house for spring break reminded me how much I shed. All over the place. There's hair on my pillow, on my desk, on all of my clothes and blankets, and alllll over the floor in both my dorm room and my room at home. I try to clean up after myself, but it's kind of like I'm Hansel or Gretel (I guess Gretel because she's the girl?) because I just leave a lovely and consistent little trail of hair everywhere I go. 

I really do honestly try to not shed hair so much. I generally try to vacuum pretty often, specifically in the places I usually stand when I brush my hair, but no matter what I do, anywhere I have been has a nice long brownish hair or two there. I know it's gross, but it's true.

So I was thinking this weekend, and I think that the way I live and reflect Jesus should be like the way I shed hair. Because it's not like when I shed hair, there is any less hair on my head. My head is continuously growing new hair so that's not a problem at all. And I brush my hair knowing that my hair is going into the hair brush and a little bit onto the floor around where I'm standing and that's a good thing. But there are also times when a strand or two of hair falls off of my head and onto a jacket or a table or somewhere and I don't even notice.

Whether I do it on purpose or not, I want to leave traces of Jesus everywhere I go. I want people to notice something peculiar after I'm gone and examine it and find His perfect love! However, His perfect love is beautiful and not yucky, and hair is. That's the only part of this analogy that doesn't line up so well. 

If this grosses you out, you probably should not have read this entire thing. And if it did, I'm very sorry. You don't have to agree with me. But hey, we all have hair. Unless you're bald. 

Love, 
Lauralicious

I Could've Danced All Night

This is how I feel every time I go dancing. I love dancing so much. Also, if you don't know this song, you should watch My Fair Lady because it is a wonderful wonderful movie.

In my mind, going dancing is quite similar to eating ice cream. I don't think about it constantly, but once the idea of it is in my mind, I want it so badly and I have a hard time focusing on other things. While I'm doing it I do my best to relish the experience because it's so dear to my heart. It fills me right up to the brim with joy. After I'm done, I just want to go back and do it again.

Thinking about it makes me realize that there are a lot of things that make me happy. Things like (in no particular order) my fam, painting my fingernails bright happy colors, 90s sitcoms, fun friends, sunshine, Camp, sleeping, Girl Scout cookies, Emma the baby who is actually more like a toddler now, and dancing. Dancing just makes my heart so warm and happy.

I love losing myself in the middle of a bunch of people and letting go of what people care about me to wiggle and waggle all over the dance floor. I love when a guy comes up and grabs my hand and pulls me onto the dance floor without warning. I love trying to have conversations over the noise of the music while also moving our feet to the beat (which rhymes...hehe!).  And, I.Love.Spinning. I love spinning and twirling and gallivanting all over. I don't mind the fact that I'm out of breath all night or that boys are gross and sweaty and have cooties (I'm willing to overlook cooties when I go dancing) or that sometimes we run into people and that sometimes people step on my feet. It's all completely worth it.

Let's be honest. I am not a fan of physical activity. I'm too clumsy for it and I'm bad at it and I'm not competitive enough. Whenever I play sports, I'm doing it for fun, and then everybody on my team gets all mad at me for not winning and for not giving up my life for one goal or whatever, and I just don't love it. But then I started dancing. I remember the night I learned to shag, and when I got home, I kept doing the basic partnerless in my room because I just didn't want to stop. I had finally found a type of physical activity that I enjoyed!

There are really two types of dancing. There's my kind of dancing, and then there's the other kind. The other kind is the kind where you're just chilling on the dance floor trying to come up with moves that are cool enough to make you not look like a lame-o in front of everybody you're with. Some people are good at this. I am awful. I am in misery when put into a situation where I have to do this kind of dancing. I try to avoid it at all costs. Unlike real dancing (I call it real dancing but some people are really not a fan of that because they like the other kind way too much), where I am willing to forgo studying and sleeping for it. So now you are educated on the types of dancing and my love for the better kind.

I got to go dancing (FOR FREE) with RUF and other campus ministries last weekend and it was wonderful. Not that I was expecting anything less (because I wasn't), but it was just better than I was expecting and I enjoyed it and I didn't want to stop...but my friends made me unfortunately. I forgive them though.

If you've never gone dancing, you absolutely should. I'm serious. It will change your life. Forever.

Love,
Lauralicious

PS I had coffee today so I'm super jittery and that is why this post is so energetic. Just so you know.

A Few of My Favorite Food Places

I'm currently sitting at my favorite table at my favorite Mennonite-run coffee shop (All In). I don't have enough money to buy something every time I'm here so I'm not sipping peppermint tea or eating a blueberry muffin (if you have not had the blueberry muffins here, you absolutely have to because they are the most magically delicious things you will ever put into your mouth. I'm not joking.), but I'm just as happy as I would be if I were. I love this place. I love the snippets of conversations that I hear while I'm sitting here doing a lab report or something boring. I love running into people I know and giving them happy hugs and I love bringing friends here to experience the joys it brings.

You know those fondue fountains? They just flow with chocolate and they have waterfalls and they are just super cool. I've included a picture so you know exactly what I'm talking about.

This is how my heart feels about All In. It's ever flowing with love and happiness and joy for this beautiful happy place where I can come sit and enjoy life. There is no end to my passion for this place. You might think I can't go on and on and on talking about how truly scrumptious the blueberry muffin is, but you would be wrong. I can. It's honestly like I can't even help talking about it sometimes. I cannot contain my joy inside. 

It's kind of like I'm free advertisement for All In. But I can't even help myself. 

Anyways. 

I want to talk about both of my favorite happy food places. 

I love Chick-Fil-A. Back when I had a car I used to go there at least five times a week and the workers all knew my name (also one of my friends from church thought I worked there...but I didn't). And then I went to college and they hired a bunch of new people and now only a few people know my name. But it's still super wonderful.

Story: I was a nerd in high school and I was totally okay with that. I thoroughly enjoyed nerd-dom. Even though I was a nerd, I was somehow voted "Most Likely to Brighten Your Day" out of my class (just to prove my nerd-ness, I feel it necessary to say that when they announced the winners of the senior superlatives, I was in physics doing an experiment, barely listening to the intercom until I heard my name) and I was really honored and I felt super special and all that good stuff. But right after I found out, it was time for me to go home and I was too excited to go home and be alone and do homework all day, so I just went to Chick-Fil-A so I wouldn't be so lonely and hopefully I would see somebody I knew. And I did! I saw a bunch of people and it was super exciting and they were excited when I told them my fun news and then everybody was just excited together and it was awesome. 

Pretty much ever since the Clemson Chick-Fil-A opened, I've seen someone I knew every time I went there and that makes me so happy. A bunch of my friends work there and their food is just freaking good and also the only stuffed animal I brought to college with me is my Chick-Fil-A stuffed cow. My heart just goes pitter-patter every time I pull in to their parking lot. One time I rode to Chick-Fil-A in the trunk of my friend's car and I couldn't see where we were, but my heart still pitter-pattered when we pulled in to the parking lot.

Chick-Fil-A and All In are kind of the same type of environment. They're both Christian-ish (All In is Mennonite and I don't know much about their theology but I'm pretty sure it kind of counts as Christian) companies, but very diverse groups of people visit them. They both have scrum-diddly-umptious food and the best service you've ever had (one time Chick-Fil-A got an order wrong for my mom so they drove out to where she was to bring her the right food) and I don't know about you, but I want to be friends with all of the workers at both of these places. The small pieces of conversations I overhear at both of these places are pretty much always just super encouraging. I always leave feeling happy and refreshed.

The reason I wrote about these places today is because they are good. Good good good. If you haven't been to them, you most absolutely should. These are the places that make my heart warm even when I forget a jacket and the places I know I can go if I have news, either happy or sad. I'm serious about the intensity of my love for these places. If I love them enough to devote a whole blog post to them, it means I love them a lot. And you should too. 

Love, 

Lauralicious