That thing that I am not very good at....

I do a lot of things well.

 Do you what I do not do so well.

Rest. 

I like to be busy. 

Why?

Because I associate being busy with being needed.

I like to be needed. 

When I know that I am needed, there is a deep part of my soul that feels whole. 

I believe that we were made to be needed. 

 But what am I sacrificing to fill this need to be needed?

 

Last night I came home exhausted. 

Monday's are my Sabbath, so on Sunday's the whole week kind of catches up with me and I am just a tab bit overdone.

Monday's are my day to rest.

 

I was telling my roommate about what I had planned for my day of 'rest.'

 She became quiet for a minute.

Then she said, "Monday is the only day you have to rest right?

But you never actually take a day to rest."

 

Ouch.

But then it got really good. 

"The Lord is chasing you Hannah,

maybe you should slow down and let Him catch you."

Let me be clear on something, the Triune God, does not need me.

He is perfectly sufficient all on His own.

This is the wild part though:

He wants me.

He desires to talk to me and for me to talk back. 

I certainly do not make Him any more God when I engage with Him,

but I sure do make Him happy.

In order for Him to catch up with me though, 

I have to slow down.

I have to rest. 

So this morning, 

I woke up[at 6:45.on my day off. I know.]

and I turned off my iPhone. 

I put aside my laptop.

And I picked up my Bible.

 

I sat.

I talked.

I listened.

I read.

I wrote.

I laughed.

I cried. 

I rested in His presence. 

 

 I do not think anything monumental came out of those few hours. 

I did not solve any major problems.

I did not have any grand revelations.

But I feel refreshed.

I know that great Friend was delighted as well.

He is enthralled by me.

The feeling is quite mutual.

 

This week,

I am going to rest.

I am going to slow down.

I am going to learn to listen.

I am going to be filled not by the needs of others,

but by the love of Jesus.

 

"Be still and know that I am God."

Psalm 46:10

Instafriday

Are you and iPhone or Android user? 

Do you have Instagram?

When I got my iPhone last summer, this was the first app that I downloaded and it is still my favorite!

It takes just an ordinary picture and makes it quite extraordinary. 

I am linking up with Jeannett over at Life Rearranged for

I always see these really fabulous meals on Pinterest, but when I try and copy them at home this is what my kitchen looks like. Not so fabulous y'all.

My friend Sierra always brings some instrument with her to the classes we take as part of out internship. This particular day it was a drum. Which also doubles as a table.

It has been in the 90's all.week.long. Using my hairdryer is a rare form of torture on mornings when it is only 7am and its already 80 degrees! Oh, the cross I must bear for naturally curly hair.

Last week was a particularly grueling one. So Sunday evening I grabbed my housemate and we went on an adventure to find a Coldstone(I had a gift card). This stuff hit the spot.

When I moved to Missouri I was unprepared for the amount of bugs I would be dealing with. Y'all, it's bad. We had a large number of crickets(three to be exact) in our basement and this is how we chose to get rid of them. We do not play around when it comes to bugs, thank you very much.

Pretty pretty flowers at my favorite cafe.

 This. This is what I had for lunch yesterday. Black beans, mango, avocado, tomato, cucumber and balsamic vinaigrette dressing salad. It was just...remarkable. Food should be remarkable, amen?

This morning I took a much needed personal day and woke up to a lovely rain storm. 90 degrees temps. No rain for two weeks. This is a beautiful sight indeed!

There you have it, my week in pictures! What was the most exciting part of your week?

Hannah

The place of prayer, not pancakes....

Do ya'll remember that one time when I was moving to Kansas City right after Christmas? 

That was fun right? 

Except, it didn't happen.

Sometimes, I mess up. 

This doesn't make God any less God, it simply makes me, well human.

And humans, well, we're just dust when you think about it.

Thankfully, I serve a gracious and compassionate God who is generous enough to help me get my head on straight when I mess things up.

So, instead of moving right after Christmas, I moved right before Easter. 

I have a cute little apartment in a cute little town right outside of Kansas City.

To say that i love it would be, well, the understatement of the century. Grin. 

Whenever someone asks me how my time at IHOP is going the only response I have is this:

I am not sure who I thought Jesus was before I came here,

but I like the one I've met in the last eight weeks much more.

Because, here's the thing: He[Jesus] likes me a lot more than I thought He did.

He enjoys me.

He delights in me.

He loves me dearly.

You too. 

So what am I doing all day in this crazy place? 

Well, praying. Grin.

In all seriousness I do spend just about 25 hours each week in the IHOP prayer room.

A place that has been engaging in 24/7 prayer since 1999.

Amazing.

During these 25 hours, I have been changed. 

I have been molded.

I have been broken.

I have been put back together. 

God is good.

When I am not in the prayer room, I am usually in classes at IHOPU.

These cover a range of topics from Revelation to fasting to how to successfully live this lifestyle in the long term. 

I also participate in serve through out the IHOP mission base during the week. 

I help teach a class of kindergarteners on Sundays.

They are just as sweet as could be. 

During conference weekend[IHOP has a lot of conferences] I often help by serving in the children's classes or ushering.

You could say I have been just a little bit busy.... 

Aside from the personal work the Lord has been doing in me, 

I have also had the great pleasure of meeting some of the finest people I have ever met.

People who love the Lord and love His children. 

People who encourage me and have helped me pick up some of those broken pieces of myself. 

I will walk away from this internship with[at the very least] the knowledge of who God truly is.

I will go home, but will never be the same. 

We are called to so much more than a Sunday morning church service.

We are called to a life of radical relationship with the Creator of the universe. 

Because of Him,

Hannah

Loving the pain

The past few months I have been terrible at exercising.

Also, I have been terrible at blogging, but that's another story....

I needed to do something.

I was tired. And gaining weight. And never wanted to get out of bed in the morning.

So I signed up for a class.

A yoga class.

I became a yogi(yogite???).

A few days before my first class, I bought this.

I hated the though of showing up to class and looking like....someone who didn't know what they were doing.

Which I don't.

Moving on.

I completed the DVD....and was pretty sure I was going to die for about three days.

"There is not ego in yoga."

Amen

I started the actual class.

And felt like I would die for a few more days.

It was hard.

Really, really hard.

There were muscles that hurt, that I didn't know I had.

It. Was. Brutal.

But...

then  is got easier.

A lot easier.

And I kind of started to like it.

And then I kinda started to LOVE it.

I slept great.

I felt great.

I looked goooddd.

eh hem.

7 weeks later...

I look forward to the pain,

and the strain,

and the sweat.

Because I have learned that I am stronger than I thought.

And my body is capable of

powerful

wonderful

extraordinary

things.

A yogi I have become.

Namaste,

Hannah 

The Last Six Months.....

I feel I must apologize to those who have been faithful to readers of this blog....because there has been nothing to read!! I have been in a crazy phase of life and have simply not had the time...or the energy... to keep up with the blog. Please forgive me! To give a brief, but concise, update on the last six months of my life, here is part of a letter I recently sent out to my friends and family:

"By nature, I am a planner. I like schedules. I like spread sheets. I end each day by making a checklist for the next. So, you can only imagine my shock and surprise when the Lord placed a calling on my life that did not fit into my carefully orchestrated plans.

After graduating high school I began attending a local community college to get my general education classes and was scheduled to transfer to Liberty University in January of 2012. During the spring and early summer of 2011, as I was preparing for this transfer, something in my spirit began to feel…uneasy. I felt like I had only seen part of what the Lord plans for me were. There was something else for me, and I was missing it.

During the second week of July, I took a position as the Junior High Girl’s counselor at a local church camp.   Towards the end of the week this unease that had been plaguing me for the past few months had reached its peak. In a moment of spiritual desperation I prayed the prayer I had always been afraid of: “Lord, I will go where You want and do what You want. Just tell me what it is!”

A week later I was in a leader meeting for a local house of prayer and we were so blessed to have Lauren and Andy visiting from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. They gave an update about what the Lord was doing in their family and what their role at IHOP was. As they were sharing about their role with the IHOP interns I heard the Lord speak to me so clearly it was as if He was standing right next to me. Much to my surprise that voice within my spirit that I had been hearing for so long said, “Go.”

This was not part of the plan. I of course had nothing against IHOP, but never imagined that the Lord would ever call me there. After that initial calling, followed much prayer and counsel from wise mentors and the support of my family, I know that the Lord is calling me to complete a six month internship with the International House of Prayer. I will be completing the Intro to IHOP-KC internship which focuses on IHOPs values, ministries and structures, as well as gives training on how to succeed long term as an intercessory missionary.

 Because of Him,

Hannah"

I am going to IHOP!!! I could not be more thrilled, or more shocked, by where the Lord is leading me. Hopefully over the next few days[weeks], I will get a chance to describe for you in greater detail what this journey has been like. Check back for updates!

Hannah

This Summer in iPhone Pictures

Things I've been doing for the last two months rather than blog. In no particular order....



I got the opportunity to teach the high school students at my church one wednesday. Julz helped me prepare...

Afterwards Chelsey, Tay and I bonded over milkshakes and cheese fries.





Emma and I visited DQ and enjoyed some ice cream as well. Or in her case a "posicle". (Sorry for the crappy picture)





I decided to take advantage of my free time this summer. My grandparents pool seemed like a fantastic place to start.







Sometimes I even brought the little miss(who will be start preschool on Monday!) with me.



I went to camp this for the first time...as a counselor. Loved my JH Girls.



Of course we made sure to leave plenty of time for the important things....like matching pedicures.



This summer has been a blast. What have you made time for this summer?

Hannah 

On Adoption

I have known from the time that I was about six, that when I grew up, I was going to adopt. God pricked my heart for His children that need an Earthly parent to show them the love of their Heavenly Father. I pray for the mothers of those children. I pray that they know the Savior that I know. I pray that God blesses them. Honestly, sometimes I just don't know what to pray. Adoption is not always pretty. I know that the circumstances surrounding that precious one being given up for adoption will not be pretty. But I do know that my heart is simply broken for those babies and their biological mothers.

On father's day I heard an incredible sermon that touched quite a bit on adoption. God's heart breaks for those children who are not in forever homes. Our hearts need to be broken for the things that break His.

A blogger that I greatly admire shared some interesting articles that I wanted to pass on(along with a few others):

~Is the church ready for the abortion law to change?  Its time for the the church to stop talking and start doing.

~A very honest(and so true) take on adoption

~What I want you to know: Adoption and Assumptions This is plan A.

~The Howerton's Adoption Be prepared to cry. A lot.

~Jaydn's First Word Breathtakingly sweet.

~He Did It This made me ball my eyes out. He did it!

Hannah