broadway and 2nd.

Best Sweetheart formal I've ever been to, without a doubt. Everything was perfect and we had such an incredible time. I'm not sure that I stopped smiling the whole trip, and would have given anything to have stayed a few more days. The weather was perfect and the company was perfect, too. 


Roadtripping with Mallory, Martin, Randall and Jenni Lynn. Dinner at Big River. A little fun at the Big Bang with the rest of Mississippi State. Mimosas. A great dinner at Eastland Cafe. Coyote Ugly? B.B. King for formal. A new friend from Meridian. An awesome band and some fantastic motown music. Fine cuisine from Sbarro pizza with Davis and Kathleen. A huge mound of chocolate chip pancakes from the Pancake Pantry. 


I really couldn't have asked for more. 


I also realized how wonderful our friends are. They really really are the best I could ever ask for. Love you all very much. 

Thank you for such a great weekend. 

I love all three of you. 

Dinner at Eastland Cafe. 

Sweet Anne Eastland, the new Sweetheart of Sigma Chi. 

I couldn't be more excited for you. 

Love you precious girl :)

Sissy looked perty. 

You're the best. 

I hope you all had a great weekend too. Neurology notes are on the end of my bed calling my name, so I'll be locked away in the library for the rest of the day. Happy Monday everyone!

love always, 

kels

peace to my heart these mountains have brought

Ahhhh.... what a weekend of pure, utter perfection. I really can't think of any other way to describe it. Reuniting with friends and experiencing Camp DeSoto in a way that very few people get the opportunity to do was a weekend that I am truly grateful for. I needed a "retreat" from the world, and God placed me there for a reason.

The search is what anyone would undertake if they weren't sunk into the EVERYDAYNESS of their EVERY DAY LIFE.  -The Moviegoer

How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives. 

-Annie Dillard

It is as hard to live everyday for the Lord, as it is to die for the Lord. 

In Heaven, it is always almost sunrise. It is the most real thing I've ever seen.   -C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

Photos courtesy of The Hannah McKerley. I left my camera, so the above pictures are from my phone. I like hers better. Thanks Han.  

Even in corruption and sin, we see glimpses of God's glory. By not recognizing them, we are robbing God of the glory that he deserves and we are robbing ourselves of knowing God. 

love, 

kels. 

AHHHHHH

OH.MY.GOODNESS.

so i got this letter in the mail a few days ago [actually it was today--but i'm waiting to post this until i actually accept the job]. it was from camp desoto and the fabulous phil hurt and i assumed it was just a "happy holidays" note or something of the sort.

i open it and i am reading through it not expecting too much more than "i hope you're having a great semester." i'm just thrilled to be reading a letter from phil. well then i get to the line that says "we would like you to come back and join our leadership team this summer."

i choke a little, then look around to make sure no one is watching me.

excuse me? what? let me read that again. ohhh wait. that's what it really says.

okay. so cue the tears (suprising? no). i catch my breath and start over. "we would like you to come back this summer and be the head of horseback."

no lie, i flip the envelope over and make sure it is addressed to me. then i start over.. again.

yep. it still says the same thing. i didn't read it wrong. are they serious? yep. they must be serious.

lots of tears are flowing at this point. lots. the kind that make it hard to breath.

do they really think that i can do this?

i'm going to be really disappointed if they meant to send this to someone else.

how long should i wait before i call them and tell them i'm coming?

i regain my composure. read it again [OUT LOUD] to make sure that i am not: 1. crazy dreaming or 2. reading the wrong thing. of course, i yell for mom. she reads it. cries.

i'm going back to the mountain this summer. oh how funny God is.

i am so unbelievably excited.

yesssssssss.

love,
a very excited and blessed and thankful kels

sermon from the mountain

I had the glorious opportunity this summer to speak one Sunday morning at camp church. It was a crazy, last minute thing and God definitely laid this message on my heart within a matter of hours. And for some reason I have been thinking about it a lot lately and thought I might share a little. Hope you enjoy and hopefully it is what someone needs to hear today.

Matthew 21:18-19 tells a story of Jesus and the disciples walking down a road, hungry and tired. They see a fig tree in the distance; a huge, leafy, beautiful fig tree. Obviously, they assume that the fig tree is going to bear fruit that will meet their physical needs. When they reach the fig tree, they realize that it is completely bear of fruit. Jesus immediately withered the fig tree, saying that if it didn't bear fruit that it was of no use to his kingdom.

Even though this tree was something of great beauty, there was nothing there of worth. The tree was not serving its purpose, but appeared to be because of his flourishing appearance. The duty of this tree was to provide nourishment, and since it was not fullfilling its potential Jesus caused it to wither. So what does this mean for us? Jesus was trying to tell us that if we only appear to have faith without putting it to work, we are like the fig tree that doesn't produce fruit. Genuine faith means bearing fruit for God's kingdom.

We are each given gifts from God that he plans for us to use as Christians to further his kingdom. He has a specifically designed role for each of us to play, and his plan is for us to take those gifts and use them to the best of our abilities. Some people may be great leaders, some may be great listeners, some might be servants, some might be encouragers,  some might have the gift of forgiving. Some people may have the gift of being able to show love to others unconditionally.

It is important for us to realize that there is no BEST gift. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compares our spiritual gifts to the human body. My gift might be "the arm" and your gift might be "the foot" and your neighbors gift might be "the leg." If you think about it that way, we are all an individual and important part but each part is vital for the success of the whole.

As a Christian community, we have to make sure that we don't:
1. become to proud of our abilties.
2. think that we don't have anything to give.

Both of these are things that could cause our gifts to be misused. God gives us so many types of gifts and we should all be proud of the things that he blesses us with. We shouldn't waste time wishing we had another gift or be jealous of others' talents.

It is also important that we don't think better of ourselves because of our gifts. It is not hard for me to stand up here and talk to you today, but that does not make make a better Christian than the person that moved all of these benches so that you would have somewhere to sit for church this morning. I don't have a clue whose job it was to set up this gym, but they did physical, hard service so that we can all come together and worship and they knew that they probably wouldn't get any recognition for it.

The most important thing for us to do is to use our gifts. In Matthew 28, Jesus tells us to "Go and make disciples of all nations." We are given our gifts so that we can use them to spread his word. Think about all of the ways that you have ever heard or seen God's word. You can teach others through music, art, writing, serving, listening, or simply loving others. Sometimes it may be hard or make us nervous--but if we put our faith in God, he will use us and our gifts to spread his love to others. God has blessed us with these gifts, and the least we can do is use them fully to glorify Him.

1 Peter 4:10 says that "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." I want to challenge you to embrace the gifts that God has given you, and if you haven't quite figured out what those gifts may be yet---pray about it.

love,
kels.