Heaven gained another angel tonight

Jaime and her best friend Danelle

Tonight heaven gained another angel. My friend Jaime went home to be with the Lord. Jaime was a beautiful person on the inside and the outside. I remember all of the pranks she pulled in college - saran wrapping the cars of a friend while they were in class, shaving creaming the car, if I remember correctly she even moved someone's car one time. Jaime or as we called her "Haime" (thanks to a professor who pronounced her name with an H sound instead of a J - and it stuck) always and I mean ALWAYS had a smile on her face. She could be stressed out and freaking out on the inside but she always showed the world how happy she was to be here. She was a loving friend, coach, youth leader, sister, aunt, daughter, etc and will be greatly missed by all those who knew her. The students' lives she impacted through her teaching, through her coaching, and through her working with the youth at her church show what an amazing person she is.

Jaime we love you and will miss you always, but we know that you are up in Heaven dancing with the Lord and smiling!!

Psalm 16

A David Song

^1-2 Keep me safe, O God, I've run for dear life to you. I say to God, "Be my Lord!" Without you, nothing makes sense.

³ And these God-chosen lives all around— what splendid friends they make!

⁴ Don't just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I'll never treat god-names like brand-names.

^5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I'm your choice! You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir!

^7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I'll stick with God; I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.

^9-10 I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell— that's not my destination!

¹¹ Now you've got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way.

Charleston, SC

WOOHOO!!! I recently hit one of the locations on my Travel Bucket List. Along with 2 of my

friends I went to Charleston, SC. What a beautiful city. The buildings, the history, the beach - just a few of my favorite things all in one location.

We arrived and began walking the city. After 4 hours of walking and a delicious lunch at Blossom, we went and checked into our hotel in the heart of the Historic District on Meeting St. We relaxed a little, went to the pool, and then got ready for dinner. We decided to go somewhere near and ended up at Hyman's Seafood - very good food and TONS of it - I recommend sharing a plate - so MUCH food.

The next day we decided to hit the Isle of Palms, Sullivan's Island, Boone Hall Plantation, Cooper River Bridge, Charles Pickney Historical Site, and saw the USS Yorktown and the

submarine. It was a super busy day!! We ended up at Shem Creek for dinner.

The next day was our last day. We decided to tour another plantation - after some discussion we decided to do visit Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. BEAUTIFUL!! I recommend it - the grounds were gorgeous well worth the price. The history behind the plantations are just amazing to hear. After touring the grounds we headed out of Charleston.

I loved hearing the history behind all of the places that we visited, seeing the architecture, and just enjoying the vacation!! Charleston is a place that I will go back to!! I may have found my retirement city....beach and history all combined in one. Yes, I do believe I can do this.

Life

Life is short and that is never more evident then when you find out one of your friends has stage 4 cancer - at the age of 33!! However, this wonderful, smiling, always happy friend of mine has something going for her - she knows the Lord. Please lift a prayer up for Jaime over the next weeks, months etc as the doctors do all they can to help her fight this battle with all of their knowledge. She and God are going to fight this battle and win. I posted part of Josh Turner's song Me and God on her wall today:

He's my Father, He's my friend, The beginning, And the end, He rules the world, With a staff and rod
We're a team. Me and God
I am weak and he is strong, Me and God, He forgives me when I'm wrong, Me and God, He's the one I lean on, When life gets hard, Me and God

Through Jaime's struggles, I came to realize that there are several people that I need to forgive in my family. I will never agree with everything they do, and I admit I will probably never understand why they do half of what they do, but they are family and because of that I need to FORGIVE them. I need to show them that with me and God working together there is nothing he can't do!!

1 Thessalonians 5:11 states: So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing

It is time that I encourage instead of discourage. Feelings have been hurt, but it is now time to move on.

Ephesians 4:32 states: Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you

It is time to be kind!! It is time to forgive!!

Romans 12:17 states: Never pay back evil with evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable

Now is my time to be honorable, to show that me and God can overcome some of the petty family matters that have occurred.

I'm not saying this is going to be easy. In fact, I know that this is going to be one of the hardest things that I will ever do BUT I know that I have God on my side and that with him and thru him I can do anything!!!

It is time for me to do as 1 Peter 5:6 - 7 states: So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.

Bliss

So what does 72 hours on the beach equal? It equals one happy, relaxed, slightly pink me!! I just spent 72 hours with my toes in the sand and water - what a feeling!!! It is amazing to sit there and listen to the waves pound the sand. It is amazing what God does at the beach... the sunrise over the ocean, the waves pounding the sand throughout the day, and then the sunset over the ocean in the evening. Every day at the beach is a miracle. Just a few of the things that were seen: dolphins, jellyfish, seaweed (lots of it), a shark (small but still a shark), a crab, a turtle nest, and lots of sun and sand.

“Where there is FAITH, there is LOVE; Where there is LOVE; there is PEACE; Where there is PEACE; there is GOD; Where there is GOD; there is BLISS.” ~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The Lord is my ROCK

When the waters rise My hope is sure

When my world falls apart I stand secure
When my way is dark Your light breaks through When I don't feel you near Your word is true

Jesus your love surrounds me, You're holding my life, Holding my life

The Lord is my rock And I won't be afraid I wont be afraid You're with me

The Lord is my rock And I won't be afraid I wont be afraid You're with me

The above lyrics is one of my favorite songs from the BEST ever church band and it got me thru some tough times last year. January 2010 saw my Grandpa Coplin pass away after battling dimensia. It is not a disease that leaves you with wonderful memories. I will never forget the call from my mom stating that they had taken him to the hospital (he was already in a nursing home at this point), and then the call from my sister who was crying so bad because he had already passed away. At this point I packed so quickly that I can't even tell you what I packed and what I took home. On the 6 hour drive home, I secured substitutes for the week because of course 1 person couldn't take the whole week, called my assistant and set up tentative lesson plans - once I had taken care of my responsibilities at school I began to cry. That song gave me strength during that trip - I put that Elevation CD in the CD player and hit repeat when that song came on. Two weekends later, I was at church at Elevation for the 1st time since my grandpa had passed and was felling pretty down - guess what song they played - yep that's right: The Lord Is My Rock!! I knew at that time that God was going to help me get thru this!!

All during this time my Papa Boo was still dealing with issues from surgery the last August. August 2010 was not kind to me either. I had been going to school to prepare for the upcoming school year. Open house was on Sunday and I was going to relax on Saturday as I had my room ready to go. Saturday morning all of my plans changed. I received a call earlier that week from my mom saying that Papa who had been in the hospital since the beginning of August (he went into have surgery to reverse his colonoscopy bag and then had complications) was not doing good and to be ready - at this point I had decided no matter what I was going to go home the following weekend and see him. Well on Saturday my plans changed drastically. My mom called and said that he was really bad and that they were waiting to talk to the doctors. I immediately packed a bag, and called my sister. I knew that my mom was trying to shelter me from the whole truth as not to upset me. My sister confirmed my worst fears. At this time I decided to go to school, get out some things just in case and then leave from there for the 6 hour drive to WV. I load up my car with myself, my bag, the dog, her things, and school stuff. I head to school to tell the administration and get some things out (mind you my dog is in the car). Needless to say God had other plans in store for me that day - I got to my room to find the door locked and my keys in my car, so I decided to just go and call my assistant and have her take care of things. I was upset when Grandpa Coplin had passed and upset that I didn't get to say goodbye, I was DETERMINED to get home to say my goodbyes to Papa Boo. Once again Elevation's The Lord is My Rock became my anthem to WV. That trip was a blur, I know that I made record time, and that I cried and talked to God and my friends most of the way. I just wanted to make it home. The hard part was knowing that they were taking him off of life support and that I may not make it. Once I got to my parents house, my brother in law picked me up and we made the little over an hour trip to the hospital where Papa was. The whole way there I prayed that I could have this closure and those words The lord is my rock just kept repeating in my head!! I got to have my closure and I thank God everyday for that simple thing.

The Lord is my rock because Jesus your love surrounds me, You're holding my life, Holding my life

The Lord is my rock And I won't be afraid I wont be afraid You're with me. Every time I hear that song I feel the love of God, family, and friends surround me. I know that no matter what I am loved and that God has my back. The link below will take you to the song - please enjoy!!

The Lord is My Rock by Elevation Worship

Freedom

Freedom what does it mean to you? To me it means 2 things. One is very basic - because of what God did for us I have the freedom to live and show the world me. John 3:16 - 18 states: This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

This allows me to worship God, to listen to country music, to listen to boy bands :), to read books that I want, to watch the shows that I want, and to have the friends that I want. I get to show the world my love for my God, my family, and my friends.

The second freedom comes from all of those wonderful soldiers out there defending it for ME. They are putting their life on the line daily for my freedom and for yours. Dwight D. Eisenhower states: Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.

Thank you first and ultimately for Jesus and his sacrifice and secondly to the soldiers out there who sacrifice their safety on a daily basis for us!!

Changes

I've been thinking a lot about changes. Might have something to do with the fact that 3, yes I said 3, of my friends are moving away this summer. Marylisa, Heather, and Renee are moving forward with their lives. Marylisa is doing an awesome thing for her kids and moving to HOUSTON, TX (can you say road trip). Heather is moving to Indiana with her husband for his job. Renee is moving to Florida (can you say road trip to the beach) to be closer to family. All 3 of these women have embraced the upcoming change with all of their heart. They know that no matter what they are doing the right thing and that it is God's will.

I asked my friends for some of their favorite quotes on change and found a few of my own. Please enjoy these quotes.

Change keeps life interesting – Crystal Wilson

You cannot have improvement unless you have change – Dana Hamiliton

Change isn’t always a bad thing – Cristy Russell

I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it. Maya Angelou

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. Benjamin Franklin

For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else. Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Mary Engelbreit

Change is all about trusting and who should you completely trust in??? God!!

Proverbs 3: 5- 6 (the message) states: Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.