the countdown begins...

so, i just mailed off my scholarship acceptance letter to troy university which will be my school in less than 8 months...i am kinda getting ready for it :)

life moves incredibly fast these days, but it's exciting.

8 months until college
7 months until my 18th birthday
6 months until graduation
5 months until prom

hold on tight. i can do this with His help :)

no one.

"no one is as lucky as us
we're not at the end, but
oh we already won
oh no, no one is as lucky as us"
-paramore

so this song is definitely not written about the Lord, but when i hear it, that's just what i think. i mean, we've got this awesome love that we don't have to wait until the end to get. we can receive it now. and also, we have the victory sealed, set, done with, over. it's already won for us.

aching heart.

this is my brother, henry grady williford, but as i call him, buddy.
he is nineteen and will be turning twenty in four months, he's growing up too fast :)
he is for sure one of the coolest people you will ever, EVER meet in your life.
he is currently living 121 miles away from me, and i miss him greatly.
he has taught me so much by just letting me watch him live.
he is truly an example of the transforming power of Jesus.
he allowed Jesus to grab him and he now lives everyday affected.
infected.
alive in Christ.
dead to himself.
i mean, he radiates Jesus for crying out loud.
he inspires me.
and...deep down i'm pretty sure i've always wanted to be

just. like. him.

this is my exuberant, thoughtful, deep and insane BESTfriend, miss kasey taylor.
she is my partner in crime, if you consider worship and fun a crime :)
her life is a juxtaposition:
she is hyper yet calm
loud yet soft
rambunctious yet gentle
spontaneous yet careful
broken yet powerful
completly dead, but more alive than most of the world that passes me by
the least, but will one day, i have no doubt, be the first.
she carries the presence of God and inspires yo to love Him more.
she loves without restriction.
and she calls me her best friend.
i am sometimes worried that these next few years will bring us further away from each other, but i doubt that will ever happen. we're pretty much glued together.
but recently i have been missing her, though she only lives 5.5 miles away.
we're getting older and more busy, but i am confident that this friendship won't end.

cause we're a three stranded chord.

we can't be separated.

lit.

"one story. everywhere. always. wherever anyone puts pen to paper or hands to keyboard or fingers to lute string or quill to papyrus. They all take from and in return give to the same story...it's not about anything...

it's about everything."

-how to read literature like a professor by thomas c. foster

i find it interesting that truth pokes up everywhere. even in my summer reading. this struck me as so true. everything we do becomes apart of one story. the story of the Lord. everything we do matters. so true...

presents.

just as an fyi, i had a great birthday with great friends and many blessings including:

multiple calls and texts
an entire blog post from an inspiring young woman ;)
sweet cards
beautiful notebook
(yes, miss livie, i have gotten a new one:) )
scrumptious cake...
(that had a mishap on it's way to my house, but was still beautiful)
dinner with the fam and friends
movies: despicable me (greatness)
bracelet
goldfingers and tie-dye party

so pretty much...

i am: blessed.

brilliance

"hey girl let's go down
wash our hands in the carolina tide
let's go down and die
and come back like babies
::
hey girl let's go down
wash our sins in the muddy brown wave
wash the world away
and come back again
::
all these scarlet stains
like the blood red clay
on the knees of our jeans
you can come out righteous if you want babe
you can come out clean
::
hey girl drive all night
down to the water
and live like were alive
let our sleeping die
and roll out of these graves
::
hey girl the water don't know
the shore don't care
who you were before
we're not them anymore
you know we're not the same
::
-john mark mcmillan

brilliant: distinguished; illustrious; strong and clear in tone; vivid; bright; splendid or magnificent

this guy's lyrics are brilliant.

always

ahallelujah: i’m caving in
hallelujah: i’m in love again
hallelujah: i’m a wretched man
hallelujah: every breath is a second chance
...i am always Yours...

wesley's knowledge

"all creation groans,
all creation yearns,
can i do anything less?"

i was reading john wesley's commentary on romans 8 and it's pretty intense:

"19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

8:19 For the earnest expectation - The word denotes a lively hope of something drawing near, and a vehement longing after it. Of the creation - Of all visible creatures, believers excepted, who are spoken of apart; each kind, according as it is capable. All these have been sufferers through sin; and to all these (the finally impenitent excepted) shall refreshment redound from the glory of the children of God. Upright heathens are by no means to be excluded from this earnest expectation: nay, perhaps something of it may at some times be found even in the vainest of men; who (although in the hurry of life they mistake vanity for liberty, and partly stifle. partly dissemble, their groans, yet) in their sober, quiet, sleepless, afflicted hours, pour forth many sighs in the ear of God."

i love that, knowingly or not, all creation groans and cries out to God; even those who say they don't believe, every living thing longs for God.

engulf

"you slowly lifted your head from your hands
you said "i just don't think that you'll understand
you'll never look at me that way again
if you knew what i did"

and so your tears fell and melted the snow
you told me secrets nobody had known
but i never loved you more, even though
now i knew what you did

oh, my dear, ill wait for you
grace tonight will pull us through
until the tears have left your eyes
until the fear can sleep at night
until the demons that you're scared of
disappear inside
until the scale begins to crack
and the weight falls from your back...
oh, my dear, ill keep you in my arms tonight."
-tenth avenue north: oh, my dear

i'm in love with this song.

engulf: to submerge, to plunge or immerse, envelop, bury, inundate, deluge, swamp, to swallow up or overwhelm by or as if by overflowing and enclosing, consume

i love the fact that i'm covered. i am drenched in an embrace...i exist under a waterfall of love...i'm enveloped in this hold...all the time...and when i question...i'm covered in the One who knows all the answers and all the mysteries...whether He decides to let me in on them or not...i can trust He's the one who engulfs me...grace will pull me through.

summertimeee:)

i love flowers.
and i also love miss karly marie.
she is the essence of sweetness :)
yep.

so it begins...

^presenting: snalphonzeez and daisapple :)^

first days of summer:
botanical garden walk
superheroes
breaking-in
graduation
ambush
adventure.land
party
sleeping in :)

summer has officially started and it is going quite well. i've decided not to waste this summer, and i'm looking forward to what the Lord has in store...

a tribute

^onething '09^

^onething '09^

^onething '09^

^onething '08^

"oh my Lord, to suffer like You do;

it would be a lie to run away."
-jon foreman

this post=tribute to

my notebook

yes, i am officially on my last page.

it's kind of bitter-sweet. i have had this notebook since july 7, 2008, so that makes this thing almost two years old, and yet it contains so much of my life. i have grown so much in the Lord since that first entry. i love looking back over everything that's happened, prophetic words i've received, words from the Lord's heart, and messages that have impacted me. i love the tea tabs. i love the packed pocket in the back. i love the notes from friends. i love being able to say i have the same notebook as osa. i will probably continue to carry it around for now, but for now the search for a notebook that can take this one's place...which will be a hard thing to replace ;)

and so the hunt begins.

puting my mind on a page.

"that’s what we as musicians walk around every day looking for. the feeling. with me it usually starts in my fingertips and shoots straight to my heart. it takes over and for a second i don’t know what to do. it’s an explosion. sometimes i want to throw my guitar down and crush it to death. sometimes i cry my eyes out. sometimes i just look over at one of my friends and smile. because they feel it too. i know they do.

it doesn’t only happen with music either. you never know what’s going to make it happen or when it will happen, you just love it when it does. i think it’s the best when it happens in a song, of course. i love that it doesn’t happen all the time. it makes you work harder.

::

i feel really uncomfortable and unbelievably nervous standing on stage in front of any amount of people, but you put a guitar on me and i could care less if there are 100,000 people out there. i don’t care if i hit a bad note. i don’t care if my guitar is out of tune. i can’t really explain it, but when i’m playing guitar it’s like i feel so powerful. i feel like i’m (slightly) in control (but incredibly out of control) of something that is so much bigger than i could ever be. like i’ve tapped into this other world."

-james duke (john mark mcmillan's lead guitarist)

he just explained two of the hardest things to explain for me as a musician...

go james duke!

p.s. he is in a band called all the bright lights. i think you would like it. you should go listen :)

click here.

spring.

dogwoods at my grandparents :)

today has felt like the first official day of spring to me. it is beautiful and sunny, but not really hot. i love it. and not to mention it is my favorite time of day :)
it is beautiful.

"when I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

what is man

that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?"
-ps. 8

ahhhh.

so this is my favorite tea. i haven't had it in quite awhile. it is bavarian wild-berry. i believe it will be in heaven :) just thought i would share that.

on another note, poplar point was great! the Lord walked into the room every night. He taught me despite my unknowingly low expectations.
we are family :)

hallelujah for that.

winn-dixie.

dear jessa and her fruits :)

the road :)

^kasey's shoes^

for bobbi:

here you go bobbi!
thank you very much once again, it adds a lot to that wall :)

oh snap.

"the church that can't worship must be entertained.
and men who can't lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment."
a. w. tozer

simple.

"Then Moses said, 'Now show me your glory.' And the LORD said, 'I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence...'"

so moses asked the Lord to show him His glory and the Lord said, "okay, i'll show you My goodness and tell you who I am."

glory of God=His goodness.

ahhhh.

^valentines day cookies from terrific thursdays^

^partially chopped wood^

^reminds me of narnia^

^mailbox^

^superbowl party^

^in the preparation process for my message^

"peace be still...and it was"
it seems like the snow brings a blanket of peace :) i love it so much. it just brings that joy that's unexplainable.
so the Lord has been super good to me lately. He just keeps on pouring out His blessings :)
i lov this Man.