Aware by Salvador

Even in the little things
That never seem too big to me
And the things that I thought
Didn’t matter much at all

As simple as my daily bread
To the strength I need to get out of bed
When I fly, when I’m about to Fall

It’s you in me
That I fail to see

Make me aware, make me see
Everything I am is not all about me
Take my world, turn it around
So that the obvious can finally be found

Make me aware, make me aware

When my life is hanging from a thread
And I think about the things you said
In this moment seems so far away

Help me see the guarantees
That first brought me to believe
So I can make it through another day

Oh, it’s you in me
That helps me to breathe

Make me aware, make me see

Everything I am is not all about me
Take my world, turn it around
So that the obvious can finally be found

Make me aware
I have been missing so much
Not recognizing your touch
All acknowledging you’re the reason I’m even here

I have been missing so much
Not recognizing your touch

Make me aware, make me aware

Help me see, Everything I am is not all about me
Take my world, turn it around
So that the obvious can finally be found
Make me aware, make me aware

When the Road Gets Rough...

Lately I have been irritated with Interstate 440. It is one of the main roads here in Nashville that I take on a regular basis. Every morning on the commute into downtown, I have to travel on I-440. This road is not paved smoothly and it really aggravates me; some days more than others. Since my car is MINI, it feels as though it is swaying when I am on this part of the road. At first it scared me a little, but now that I’ve gotten it checked, I know that the road and my car are safe. I-440 just has a bumpy part in the road that I must face.

On the way to church this morning, I was thinking about how our lives are a lot like I-440. Sometimes there are rough spots on our journey as there are on I-440. They may cause us to be aggravated, annoyed, and irritated at times, but there is nothing we can do to remove these bumps and trials we face. Of course, how we react and handle the trials of life is something that we can change, but there are always going to be tests.

When I drive on Interstate 65, I am aware and thankful for the smooth road to drive on. I am realizing that it is important for us to be grateful for times when our life is going smoothly, but also to be aware that rough times are ahead. We never know what the roads of life are going to bring, but it is important for us to know who to turn to in these situations.

Who do we call when the road gets rough? In my situation, I was tempted to call TDOT(Tennessee Department of Transportation) to find out what was going on. In every situation that life throws our way, know that we can always call out to God. He is always there for us, and knows what is going on even before we tell Him. We have a big God, who is in control of every situation.

Whenever I drive on I-440 and come to the rough part in the road, I am just going to remember that the rough spots in the road of life are going to teach me and mold me into a better person. I know that my God is bigger and stronger, and that He is in control of my life. When you or someone you love is facing rough roads, be reminded of what Psalm 3:3 promises. “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.”

Father's Day and Week of Concerts in Nashville...

Happy Father's Day! I'm so blessed to have such a great dad.

My dad and I have been on many fun adventures together. I really like these pictures, mainly because of the stories behind them. My dad and brother visited me while I was in Alaska, and I went with them to work a sports camp with my church. The picture on the left was taken in Alaska on an 8 hr. raft trip. We were stuck on the river and didn't think we would ever get off of it, but thankfully we made it! The other picture on the right was taken in Hawaii :) We went on a 38 mile downhill bike ride with Maui Downhill. It was definitely the most adventurous thing I have EVER done in my life! I have so many wonderful memories of fun times with my dad, and I am so thankful for the leader he has been in my life. He has supported me in all my endeavors and most importantly, he has set an example for me. I admire how he honors and serves the Lord in all aspects of his life. Know that you are very loved and appreciated, dad!

The Grand Ole Opry

  

On Tuesday night I went to the Grand Ole Opry, and saw the following individuals and groups perform:
-Riders in the Sky
-Terri Clark

-George Hamilton IV

-Del McCoury Band

-Justin Moore

-Jimmy Dickens(who is 89 yrs. old)

-Lady Antebellum

Justin Moore and Lady A were by far my favorites. I went with two of the girls that are interning at LifeWay this summer. I am pictured with Tiffany and Lauren on the right. It was such a great concert, and neat to hear some of the old traditional bluegrass/country music, as well as some of the new and upcoming country artists. Lady Antebellum performed a new version of their song, "Need You Now" that was awesome!
Justin Moore is also pictured(on the right). The Grand Ole Opry is being held at the Ryman due to all of the flooding that affected the Opry. On Tuesday night they must have had a prior engagement scheduled at the Ryman, so the Opry was held at the Allen Arena at Lipscomb University.

Then, on Thursday night I went to a FREE concert at The Rutledge. Alyssa, who I'm living with for the summer, found out about this concert. She works at LifeWay with a devotional magazine called Bible Express, and gets to interview so many awesome Christian music artists. She recently interviewed Audrey Assad, who happened to be performing in Nashville this week, along with Chris August, Mistletoe Project, House of Heroes, Poema, Brandon Heath, and the Newboys. So of course we went! I'm so glad we did too, it was a great concert. I really like Brandon Heath's song "Wait and See." He didn't end up playing it, but he did sing "Give Me Your Eyes." Brandon is pictured to the left. I also really enjoyed Audrey Assad. I heard her for the first time at Mississippi College in the fall when she came and played. She is such a talented pianist and she has a great voice.

This summer is flying by, it's so hard to believe that I've been here for over a month. I still love it, and really hope to be able to make a permanent move here soon. One last picture to include from Thursday's concert. I'm living with Alyssa this summer. She interned at LifeWay last summer at the same time I did in Childhood Ministry Publishing. It has been such a wonderful summer. She has a cute house that is convenient to work and a neat little cat named Miles. One neat fact about Alyssa is that she is a triplet! Yes, the first and only triplet I've ever met! To read more about Alyssa and to see the great blog that she updates regularly, see http://www.alyssainnashville.com/ That's all for now, this blogging stuff takes me way too long!

Summer is in Full Swing!

I know that many of you have probably already seen this, but if you have not, I would love for you to check it out! http://www.mc.edu/career/students/testimonials/ I was honored to be asked to be used on the Mississippi College Career Services website. The ladies in Career Services played a significant role in helping me prepare for my future career as they reviewed my resume, taught about social networking, and conducted practice interviews.

Flashback: Last Friday I went for ice cream at a new place by Publix called Sweet CeCe's. It was delicious and I said goodbye to my friend Stefanie (pictured to the right). We went to high school together and were able to hang out a lot last summer! I will miss having her around, but I know she has an exciting summer ahead in New York.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I visited my friend Ann in Cleveland, Tennessee. I had such a great time hanging out with her and her family! It was a very active weekend too, which was a wonderful change after sitting in the office all week. Ann has six brothers and one sister! On Saturday we played tennis and went to see Date Night at the movie theater. After church, it rained most of the day on Sunday, so we played a lot of games. Scattegories is one of my favorite games ever and we went through all 12 cards that day. Her family also taught me a new game called Nine Hole. After a day of indoor games we were ready to get out, so we went for an 8 mile bike ride on Saturday night. Cleveland is located at the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, and we had such a beautiful view on our bike ride. On Monday we played another game of tennis and then ate! Her parents made kabobs that were delicious, along with some amazing homemade ice cream.

Nothing much new happened this week at work. There are twelve new interns though! Alyssa and I talked briefly with them during their orientation on Tuesday. It is hard to believe that was me a year ago. Three of the girls are working in Childhood Ministry Publishing and I'm looking forward to getting to know them.

I went to one of my favorite restaurants, Calypso Cafe, for lunch on Tuesday with some co-workers, which was great! Today Alyssa asked me to go to hear Runaway City play with her. They played three of their songs that will be on their new album. Check out her blog at http://www.alyssainnashville.com/2010/06/runaway-city.html for all the details on Runaway City. I got a free CD out of it of going, and enjoyed it! I also went to Kairos on Tuesday, but was disappointed that they had to cancel Movies in the Park this week because of the rain. Thankfully, we'll still get to see Where the Wild Things Are, it will just be moved to the first week of July.

Another new thing I'm excited about is Netflix!! Sarah sent me a one month free trial of Netflix. Such a good deal! I can have one movie out at a time for the next month. So far I have the following movies on my Queue:

1. Slumdog Millionaire

2. Sherlock Holmes
3. Simon Birch
4. A Knight's Tale
5. Nights in Rodanthe

6. Into the Wild

7. Hitch

I'm supposed to get my first movie in the mail tomorrow :) I'm very impressed with the timeliness of the postal service in Nashville. My mom can mail something from Tampa and it is normally here in two days. A big change from how long it took the mail to get to Clinton, Mississippi! Also, my friend Ann that I visited last weekend, is coming to stay with me this weekend. I don't know what we will do yet, but I'm sure we'll find something!

Have a great weekend!

Week One

My first week back at LifeWay went by fast. I’m beginning to get used to waking up early. That also means that I have to go to bed early. It is worth it though because getting off work at 3:00 p.m. every day is so nice! I have a great view of south Nashville from my office on seventh floor. The Frist center for the visual arts and Union Station are right outside my window. The building pictured on the right is Union Station. Did you know that over 1 million U.S. soldiers passed through the station? It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and officially opened as a hotel in December 1986. It has been a rainy week in Nashville, but today the sun is out.

Bluebird Cafe

Let’s see, I’ll give you a recap of my week. On Tuesday I went to the Bluebird Café, which is a famous place in Green Hills where many well-known songwriters perform. We saw Diana Kelley, Stan Webb, Pam Belford and Jeffrey East on Tuesday night. It seems like every time I go to the Bluebird, someone famous shows up! Last year I saw Jimmy Wayne, who sings “Do You Believe Me Now” and other country hits. Well, on Tuesday, Allan Hall of Selah was there! Jeffrey East, who was performing, co-wrote a song with him. I went with my friend Stefanie who might be singing and playing piano there this upcoming Monday at their Open Mic Night, so if she does I’ll be back soon!

MINI of Nashville

I took my car by the MINI Cooper dealership on Wednesday for them to check out my tires. They were very helpful and told me that my tires were WAY overinflated! I’m not sure who overinflated them unless it was part of the service at the car wash I took it to in Clinton. They were at a pressure of 50 when they are only supposed to be inflated to 25. All minor maintenance and service is free to me as a MINI owner. It was so nice there! They have such a sweet owner’s lounge to wait and they offer water and Starbucks coffee. Sometimes I wish I drank coffee, but I can’t stand the stuff.

Kairos and YMCA
Since I didn’t make it to Kairos on Tuesday, I went to Kairos Roots at Brentwood Baptist Church on Thursday night. It was a great set-up at round table and they had small group discussion at the end. I went to Kairos consistently last summer, but never got to know anyone through it because of the size. Typically there are about 1500 people in attendance, but on Thursday it is a smaller group that is able to dig a little bit deeper into the Word and discuss. I will definitely go back! I also went to the Downtown YMCA on Thursday after work and swam laps for about an hour. I'm going to try and swim at least once a week after work this summer!

Excitement of the day
Today I started out my day with my high school friend, Stefanie, who recently graduated from Vanderbilt. She invited me to join her at the Artisan Fair in Edgehill Village and they had some cute jewelry and neat art! We went into the Edgehill Studios and Cafe and then to Dulce Desserts for chocolate chip cookies. The shops were neat too! Whats-In-Store was my favorite and they were giving 100% of the sales price to flood relief efforts. After hanging out with Stefanie and her friends for awhile, it was time for me to meet up with Megan Fraiser and BethAnne Clark. I love these girls! They both graduated a year before me at MC(Mississippi College). I got to know Megan through the BSU(Baptist Student Union), and I taught children’s Sunday School with BethAnne at Pinelake all this year. They are awesome, and it was so great to be able to see familiar faces and to get to hang out with them. We ate at Panera at the Green Hills mall. BethAnne wanted to go into Tiffany’s, so we walked through there and felt way out of place! They were in town for a wedding, and had more time to wait so I took them to Las Paletas. I went a ton last summer since it was on my way home from work and all week I had been craving a popsicle. They both got the Strawberry fruit popsicle and loved it! After that I got a few things from ALDI and a pair of shorts from T.J. Maxx. I think I’ll shop at ALDI more often. They have great prices on eggs and milk. That’s all for now!

p.s. I love getting mail. Thanks to Charlotte and Callie for the letters! It was great hearing from you both my first week back in Music City.

Back in Nashville!

Wow, a lot has happened since I last posted. Don't worry though, my goal is to update every week, so I won't make my avid readers wait this long again.

Graduation

Last Saturday I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Communication. The Friday before graduation my family came in. It was great seeing Brent, Mary Turner, and Uncle Cliff as well! All of my friends from MC and all of our families had a cook-out/picnic at Brighton Park on Friday night. Everyone had a great time, and the strawberry shortcake was delicious! I went to all three of MC's graduations. The first being the nursing graduation on Friday. Many of my friends graduated from the school of nursing and I wanted to be there to support them. Their speaker quoted lyrics from "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. I was so thankful that our speaker was well versed and that he refrained from mentioning lyrics to a pop song!

Abby

On Mother's Day we made the road trip back home to Florida. It was great to finally be home since I was in Colorado for spring break and in Memphis for Easter! I stayed busy since I only had five full days at home, but I was able to get everything I needed to done. On Monday my parents took our chocolate labrador, Abby, to the vet. For the past month she had not been eating her dry food and my mom wanted to see what was wrong. She had blockage to her liver/spleen, and we had to put her down on Tuesday morning. This was a shock to all of us, and we already miss her greatly. Abby had such a great life on the farm. During middle school, I showed Abby at the Florida State Fair and at the Strawberry Festival with 4-H. She loved going to dog training at the park every Tuesday night and she always placed in obedience. Abby enjoyed going on golf cart rides. She was a huge part of our family. We will miss her, but I believe that one day we will see our pets in heaven too!

Parasailing
On Wednesday, my best friend and I went to Clearwater Beach. Parasailing was awesome!! It was a day full of adventure :) We left my house around 10:45 a.m. and headed to Bahama Breeze for lunch. I had a Cuban sandwich and black beans and yellow rice (this is a very popular dish in Tampa). Parasail City called us while we were on the way to make sure we were going to make it. Although we got a little turned around on the way, we made it just in time! When we parked, we had to pay the meter and realized that the limit was one hour, uh oh. Sure enough we were gone for over an hour, but I was so thankful that they did not ticket us. If you are ever at the beach and have the opportunity to parasail, GO! It was so much fun and very relaxing as well :)

My grandparents came over to our house on Friday for a fish fry. My grandmother made hushpuppies that were most definitely the best I have ever had, and my mom made homemade ice cream! We played corn toss as a family, and then they helped me pack my car.

Roadtrips

So much driving in the past week...about 1500 miles to be exact. My little Mini Cooper was a graduation gift from my parents that I got in November. I love it and hope that it will last me a long time. Right now Mini is getting about 31 mpg., which I'm pretty happy about! Last night I unpacked and Alyssa showed me where the Kroger and Wal-Mart are. I'm glad to be settled back in Nashville and so thankful for awesome living arrangements. Alyssa has such a cute house and Miles is adorable :) I'll start contract work at LifeWay in the morning!

A New Chapter Begins

I first blogged during the summer of 2008 while I was serving as a summer missionary and Journalism intern in Alaska. Check out http://alaskamissions2008.blogspot.com/ to read about my adventures in Alaska! Lately I've been reading a lot of my friends blogs and have decided that I should start blogging again. There are so many things coming to a close in my life, as well as some new things happening. It is sad in some ways, but also exciting! I guess you could say that it is a bittersweet time in my life.

Things are beginning to wrap up as I finish up my time in Clinton, Miss. I've thoroughly enjoyed my past four years here. I have been blessed with a great workplace and church, as well as amazing friends and professors. A few weeks ago the Communication department had a nice lunch for all of the graduating seniors. The following picture is from the lunch, as follows: Rebekah Langley, myself, Mrs. Kucia, Hannah Loden, Dr. Fortenberry, Vicki Williams, and Ms. Seawright. Last night I worked my final shift at the Baptist Healthplex. Virtual tour: http://www.mbhs.org/med_serv/wellness/healthplex_clinton_video.htm It is such a nice fitness facility and I will miss the staff and members. I am glad to be hanging up my six year career as a lifeguard though! I hope to continue to teach private swim lessons on the side.

I am also going to miss my friends and church. Pinelake has been such a place of growth and encouragement for me. We had our last small group Bible study get together on Monday night. We had some delicious hamburgers and a nice time of fellowship. I've enjoyed going through Crazy Love this year, and also want to read Francis Chan's book--Forgotten God. Tonight will be my last night at Pinelake. I will really miss working with the kids each and every Sunday morning. I hope that I'll be able to find a church in Nashville that I can call 'home'. Here is a fun video that they played on Sunday at Pinelake, what kids have to say about heaven: http://vimeo.com/11436275

College is coming to a close. I'll graduate from Mississippi College with my Bachelor of Science in Journalism this Saturday at 10 a.m. My family is coming in on Friday to celebrate with me! Then on Sunday we will drive back to Tampa. This is about a 10-11 hour drive, and we will have three vehicles since my brother will also be driving home from college. Michael will finish up his first full year at MTSU today! I'm so proud of him, and know that he will be a great pilot one day. It's hard to believe that he has already flown solo multiple times!

I'm looking forward to being home and getting to see some of my friends and family that I haven't seen since New Year's/Christmas! I was in Colorado for spring break and then in Memphis for Easter, so I haven't been home in quite awhile. The two things I'm anxiously awaiting next week are: going to see my grandparents and hanging out with Sarah. On Wednesday of next week, Sarah and I are going parasailing!! I have a lot to do in the 6-7 days that I'll be home.

For those of you who are not familiar with LifeWay Christian Resources, I will be working at their corporate office, not at one of the bookstores. I'll most likely head to Nashville in 10 days and then on May 17 I'll start full-time work at LifeWay! I interned there last summer in the Childhood Ministry Publishing department. The vision for LifeWay is"As God works through us...We will help people and churches know Jesus Christ and seek His Kingdom by providing biblical solutions that spiritually transform individuals and cultures."

I will be doing contract work for 6-12 weeks while Lynn Cowan is on maternity leave. Again this summer I'll have an office with a window. I don't know how I managed that again, but I'm so thankful. I will be living with Alyssa Reeves this summer. We interned together last summer and now she works full-time as a Production Editor at LifeWay! She is a triplet and a 22 year-old from Kansas.

I will be editing a lot this summer, but I am also writing for Bible Express and Adventure. These are two of LifeWay's devotional magazines. I participated in the Adventure Writer's Conference online, which was a neat experience! I was able to hear everything live on my laptop, and although I did not have a mic hooked up, I was able to ask questions and respond live through chat.I'm really looking forward to being back in Nashville! Be in prayer for those still dealing with the flooding.