One thing leads to another...

Have you ever had a thought that leads to another thought that leads to another thought until eventually you wonder how you got to thinking about what you're thinking about?  Well that happened to me last Friday on my drive up to Greensboro, AL from Baton Rouge.

During those long drives I find myself flipping through XM stations to find a song I like.  After a couple of hours on the road I feel like I've heard everything twice and I end up getting pretty bored with the music.  Well last Friday I stopped at a gas station and when I got back in my car I had a picture message from Adair.  She had taken a picture of the song she was listening to called "More Beautiful You" by Jonny Diaz.  It's an awesome Christian song that I had introduced to Adair last time I was home and when it came on XM she thought of me and sent me a picture.

So as I got back on the road it got me to thinking...

I couldn't find anything I wanted to listen to on my favorite XM channels.  So I thought why don't I listen to the Christian music station?  I don't listen to it regularly because I like to know the words of the songs I listen to, but if I listened more I'd eventually learn all the songs.  I then turn XM channel 32 "The Message" and start listening to the music.

As I was listening to Christian music it got me to thinking...

I thought back to my daily devotional that I had read that morning.  Part of the devotional said, "Though I never leave you, you can essentially 'leave' Me by ignoring Me: thinking or acting as if I am not with you.  When you feel distance in our relationship, you know where the problem lies.  My Love for you is constant; I am the same yesterday, today, and forever.  It is you who change like shifting sand, letting circumstances toss you this way and that."  I know that when I actively read God's word and listen to Christian music I feel closer to God and more at peace.  I also can hear Him more when I open my heart.

While thinking about how to become closer to God spiritually it got me to thinking...

A lot of people question God.  I grew up in a Christian home and God was never a question.  I go to church, read my Bible, and pray daily.  I have never questioned if God exists but I was thinking about those that do.  They want some type of proof of his existence but Christians live on faith. There was a quote I once read in a book called The Shack that says, "Faith never knows where it is being led, but it knows and loves the One who is leading,"  That is so true.  I thought of situations where I might see God and that is in miracles and amazing stories that people tell.  As I continued to think about God, I thought about my prayers.  Normally when I pray I tend to thank God for everything more than I ask for anything.  Although I know if I ask I shall receive.  However, that is not in my nature.  Even in my daily life I rarely ask for anything and I try to give as much as possible.  Some of the things I have asked God for in prayer are things like "please allow me to do well on this test" or "please don't let me get pulled over by that cop."

Since I was driving while thinking about cops it got me to thinking...

A few years back I was in a conversation with our Pi Phi president who is a wonderful Christian girl and she was talking about how she hates sitting in traffic.  But when she got to thinking about it she said there is a reason God has her in that traffic and that is so she doesn't get somewhere sooner than she needs to be.  Timing is everything.  Ever since then I think there is a reason I get stopped at certain red lights and it could be to avoid some wreck or there is a reason I leave somewhere when I do.  Even if I get stopped by the police (which I unfortunately have once or twice) there is a reason and God wants me to slow down and be careful.  God has a plan and He knows exactly what He is doing.

So I have this random train of thought while driving up through Mississippi and listening to Christian music...

  Literally, right after I'm finishing this thought I turn a corner and see the first cop I've seen all day sitting on the side of the road waiting to pull someone over.  Although I am not driving much over the speed limit, I instinctively tap on my brakes to turn off my cruise control.  I also find myself praying to God asking Him to not let this cop catch me and pull me over.  My prayer was answered and I was not pulled over.  Then I thought well that was weird because I was just thinking about cops and then I started laughing.  I instantly reflected back to my thought on how some people question God's existence and how I see Him through life's situations.  Like I said I've never questioned Him but some people want proof on how Christians "know" or believe in God.  Well ladies and gentlemen, God led my weird train of thought all the way to cops knowing that right after I would see a cop and say a prayer.  It's as if He were saying "I'll show you proof that I exist by putting a cop in your path and lead you to pray and talk to me."  

I called Adair and thanked her for sending me that picture message.

God is amazing and He gives us signs of His existence daily.  I pray that I continue to actively think about and read His Word and listen to Christian music so that it will open my eyes to see His beauty even more than I do now.

This is the video of the song "More Beautiful You" that Adair had heard on the radio and it led to this whole scenario.  It's an amazing song and I even bought Jonny Diaz's study in "True Beauty" that correlates to this song.  When I finish it I will blog about what it has taught me.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Happy Wednesday!

Annie Adair Moody

Adair,

On this day 19 years ago I became a big sister.

I have loved you since the day you were born.

  A little red headed "princess."

Although you and I have the largest gap in age compared to all four of us, I feel we have a special bond.  We share a tie of having both a big and little sister and also have the privilege of being a big and little sister.  We are the middle children.

I've been told that when you were young I loved taking you out of your crib to show you our "new" porch.  Even if I was holding you by your neck,  I wanted to show you the world.  You are so unique in so many ways.  From your red hair and beautiful dimples to being left handed you've always been one of a kind.  Growing up we always loved teasing that you were "adopted" yet LOVED the fact that your name was Annie and you had red hair just like the movie. 

One of my favorite memories with you took place about a year and a half ago.  Mom and Dad told me that you were on the ballot for homecoming court.  Day after day I waited to see who made the next cut.  As soon as I heard you made top three for the seniors I knew I wanted...no I NEEDED...to be there for you.  Although you didn't know it at the time, I booked a flight home to surprise you.  The whole next week during your homecoming activities I kept telling you how excited I was for you and how sad I was that I couldn't be there.  I even told you I couldn't come because Pi Phi's Grub was that weekend (which was true) and I already had a date.  So the day finally came to fly home on that Thursday afternoon. When I got home that night you were already at the fire station helping decorate your class homecoming float.  As soon as I walked in the door everyone was ready to go see you.  Even Mary Jeanne came home a day early to surprise you.  So off we went to the fire station and once we got there I kind of stood back so that you would see Mom and the others first.  You were surprised and excited when you saw that Mary Jeanne came home a day early, but I will never forget the look on your face when our eyes met.  You rushed to me and squeezed me tight with your head in my shoulder and tears falling down.  I was overwhelmed and I felt so blessed.  Blessed that, though we are miles apart, our relationship is still so strong and grateful that I was able to come home to support you for this special event.  I was so thrilled to be there!  You looked so beautiful in your blue formal dress and in your purple dress for the football game.

That, my little princess, is one of many of my favorite memories with you.

As this day comes to an end I want you to know that I love you.  You are continuously in my thoughts and prayers.  Both your strength and wisdom are admirable and your love for God is unfailing.  You are such a beautiful 19 year old on the inside and out.  We have a lot of more memories to make together and I will cherish each and every one of them.

Every Mile A Memory

522.6 miles

That is the distance from my house in Scottsboro to my house in Baton Rouge.

I-59 and I-12

Those are the two interstates I've spent countless hours on from home to school and vice versa

I recently made this drive after a brief visit home for Mardi Gras break.  On my drive back down to BR I realized that this may be one of the last times I make this exact drive.  Sure, after college I'll come back to visit LSU but I won't necessarily be driving from my parent's house.  I will have a new home, a new destination.

This eight hour drive that I have been making over the past four years has definitely made an impact on my life.  I've come to appreciate the true meaning of the phrase "distance makes the heart grow fonder."  Meaning I love and appreciate my hometown but I also love the fact that I go to a school that is out of the ordinary for someone from Scottsboro.  My drive consists of eight hours of listening to music, talking on the phone, and thinking about experiences I just had or of what's to come.  I've spent hours listening to music ranging anywhere from Colbie Caillat's first album my freshman year of college to the new hits of Justin Bieber.  Taylor Swift's songs have consumed my ears over the passed four years, sometimes by choice but mostly due to the fact that xm radio over plays all her latest hit songs.  But if I'm going to be honest here I'm a country girl at heart so I listen to mostly country music on my long drives.

I love the fact that I have to go through Tuscaloosa on my drive.  It gives me the option of stopping to eat lunch with a friend on my way back to BR or staying the night to break up my long drive on my way to Scottsboro.  

I spend most of my drive reflecting and anticipating.

Depending on whether I'm headed north or south will determine what is on my mind.

This last drive though I thought mostly of my college memories.  I remember driving home for my first fall break freshman year and how excited I was to be reunited with my best friends.  Now I love coming back to BR to catch up on all the latest drama with my friends and planning our next adventures.

Needless to say...

I love all those 522.6 miles of memories. 

HAPPY MARDI GRAS

This is my first year since I've been in college to spend my Mardi Gras break at home.  Every other year I have enjoyed celebrating in New Orleans, but I decided this year I'd take a break and head up to North Alabama.  It's funny though because of course my family celebrates this holiday but today was just a regular Tuesday for everyone else here.  Before college I didn't even realize how big of a deal Mardi Gras was or even how it was celebrated.  All I knew was that it involved beads and king cake.  This year I even brought home a praline pecan and a cream cheese king cake as well as some other little goodies :)

Here are a few pictures from our own little Mardi Gras celebration here at the Moody house

Mom made some delicious gumbo!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mardi Gras!!  Now I just need to decide what I should give up for lent.  What are you going to give up??

Ruth: Loss, Love & Legacy

"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future." Proverbs 31:25

I got the privilege to attend the 2011 Chapel Women's Conference this past weekend called "Ruth: Loss, Love & Legacy."  The speaker was Kelly Minter who is an acclaimed author, speaker and songwriter from Nashville, TN.  Together we studied the whole book of Ruth and learned about Ruth's struggles with loss, love and legacy.

These three things were the focus of the conference:

Loss: Weeping forward in our times of trial

Love: Experiencing the surprising, never failing love of God

Legacy: Living beyond ourselves by leading lives that matter

The conference was held on Friday night and Saturday morning and consisted of three sessions focusing on each theme.  Each session they had door prizes for everyone and guess what, I won Friday night!  They told everyone to look under their chairs and if there was a piece of chocolate then you had to go up on stage to retrieve your prize.  There were ten winners and before you could pick your prize you had to tell everyone your name and one thing you love.  I said "I love my family and friends."

 My chocolate that was under my seat!

 Rachel took pictures of me on stage :)

 My prize!

I won a month membership to Foxy's with a personal trainer, t-shirt, and a book bag along with a vitamin water and other little goodies.  I was so excited and it made me so happy because I never win anything!!

Back to the message...

Women of the Bible are so inspiring and we can learn a lot from them today.  Ruth did not have an easy life but she trusted in the Lord and He blessed her so much.  I loved going to the conference and do you want to know another really awesome thing?  Tonight at Refuge (the church I attend on LSU's campus) our pastor Josh LaRavia said that for the next four weeks we will be studying the book of Ruth.  I think my jaw literally dropped.  I turned to Olivia and said that I had just studied this whole book.  I enjoyed hearing Josh's translation of it and learned things I didn't from Kelly and vice versa.  I can't wait to hear him speak about the remaining three chapters.  God definitely knew what he was doing when He put the desire in my heart to attend that women's conference and that it took place days before we started looking at it at Refuge.

Loss is inevitable but when you struggle with loss I hope you weep forward with all your heart, soul, strength and mind as Ruth did.

I hope you love all those who God has put in your path for Ruth 2:12 says, "May the Lord repay you for what you have done, May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."

Lastly, I pray you leave a legacy by leading a life that matters.

What Inspires you?

FRIDAY

Have you ever heard of the Christian movement called “I am Second’?  Well I heard about it about a year ago and watched several people who have been in the public eye testify and show their faith.  So when I heard Bradie James was going to speak for I am Second here at LSU I jumped at the opportunity to go see him speak.  The idea behind I am Second is claiming that you come second to God.  He deserves to be first in your life.  This is the description from their website:

Inspiring the Revolution of Second.

I am Second is a movement meant to inspire people of all kinds to live for God and for others. Actors. Athletes. Musicians. Business leaders. Drug addicts. Your next-door neighbor. People like you. The authentic stories on iamsecond.com provide insight into dealing with typical struggles of everyday living. These are stories that give hope to the lonely and the hurting, help from destructive lifestyles, and inspiration to the unfulfilled. You’ll discover people who’ve tried to go it alone and have failed. Find the hope, peace, and fulfillment they found. Be Second.

Check out what Bradie has to say about why he is second:

http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/bradie-james/

I had heard of Bradie James before because he played football at LSU and plays for the Dallas Cowboys. Each year LSU hosts a breast cancer awareness gymnastics meet and Bradie comes to this meet because his mom lost her battle to breast cancer.  He has shirts made and raises money for breast cancer awareness in honor of him mom, Etta James.  Another thing that I learned about Bradie was that his mom and dad both died in the same year and his mom didn't tell him that she had breast cancer until she was almost gone.  I can only imagine how hard that had to have been.  Although he made some not so "God-like" decisions in college he got back on the right path and is now happily married.  I enjoyed listening to him speak.

 Bradie is in the middle of the guys seated

SATURDAY

Saturday morning I participated in the Race for the Cure which is a 5K race held on LSU's campus to.  I have participated in this race every year of college.  Breast cancer awareness is very close to my heart because my Meme lost her battle to breast cancer and also my Aunt Christy had a scare a few years back but she is fine now.  The chances of me or one of my sisters getting breast cancer is pretty high so I support the research as much as possible.  It was so amazing to see all the people who came out Saturday morning for this race.  They announced that there was a record of over 12,000 participants and over $450,000 was raised.  WOW!  I was so excited to hear that!  

The group us that walked together: Macey, Olivia, Liz, Ashley, Me, And Allyson

Me :)

Macey and Olivia Sims

Liz and I

Allyson and Ashley Sterritt

Many groups of people had such creative shirts.  I loved this one!!

Beautiful pink trees were in bloom all down the lake.  I thought this was such a blessing :)

Both of the events that I went to last weekend were so inspiring.  I am inspired by God and by those who make a stand for what they believe in and also by all those battling cancer and cancer survivors.  It makes me want to do more with my life so I can help inspire others.  So my question is this, What inspires you?