thankful

Thanksgiving. A time to celebrate. Give thanks. Visit with family. Reflect. Indulge. But, there is more to Thanksgiving than eating turkey with your family and saying "Happy Thanksgiving". This year more than ever I was actually thankful for the day of Thanksgiving. It seems silly that we have a day set aside just to give thanks but what a wonderful reminder. This Thanksgiving the Lord showed me what I should be most thankful for.. my salvation. For my precious Savior. Who in turn is responsible for all else in my life I have to be thankful for. Because of my sweet Jesus I am thankful for my family and friends and all he has blessed me with. 

But, I shouldn't just be thankful on Thanksgiving. Each day should be a day of thanksgiving. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Always. Continually. All circumstances. In everything I do. All the time. I am so thankful for my Savior and each day should be a celebration for the life he has blessed me. Each day should be used to glorify His name. Each day I should thank Him. A life full of thanksgiving.

I stand in awe

I am my Beloved's and He is mine.

I am in awe of Your faithfulness.

I am thankful for Your presence.

I am captivated by Your beauty.

I am in love with Your Word.

I am humbled by Your mercy.

I am amazed by Your creation.

I am motivated by Your love.

I am inspired by Your children.

I am blessed by Your joy.

Hello, My Name Is..

 As my friends have begun to make blogs too, I've realized.. I never even introduced myself. So where to begin? For starters, my name is Francie. Weird? Maybe. But there were three Francie's at my high school so maybe it just isn't a cool name where you are from. But apparently it's making it's way around Birmingham. I graduated high school last year and my first semester of college at THE University of Alabama is coming to an end. I'm at that point in my life where I've realized that time really does fly. All throughout high school my weeks wouldn't go by quick enough. It felt like a year until the next weekend. But in college they come too fast. Life needs to slow down. I need a breath to take it all in. 

I have the most wonderful family. My brother Austin is a pretty big deal. He's 21 (3 years older than me) and runs track and cross country at the University of Alabama. Yes, with all the Kenyans. He is FAST. He's so good and dedicated and I don't even think he realizes how great he is. He can also tell you anything you want to know about History. We are obviously opposites. If you've ever "worked out" with me. I hate running, and I'm terrible at it. And History? Baha. My absolute worst subject. I'll do your math homework but do not ask me any historical facts. We have a little sister too. Sarah Clemson. She's following in Austin's footsteps and running Cross Country and Track. Great, my awesome athletic siblings. Most of you don't know her because she is 5 years younger than me. That's right, 7th grade. Middle school, the awkward stage. Where do you fit in? Who are you? Who is your best friend? The stage in life where you are figuring out who you are. And my prayer is that she realizes she is a daughter of the Most High God and that'll be enough.

My poor mother. As if I wasn't trouble enough at that age.. I taught my sister how to act. Like a complete rebellious brat. So the wonderful Julie gets to experience her second dosage of me. Oops. Speaking of Julie, she is my amazing best friend. Also known as my mother. Her and my amazing daddy John married October 28, 1995. Praise the Lord. They are wonderful. Mama is my best friend. She's beautiful inside and out. She is the most selfless person. Always thinking about her children. And I hope when I'm a Mama too I can do half as good of a job as she does. 

Now daddy is the funniest and most caring man you'll ever meet. Seriously he can make anyone laugh and he'll do ANYTHING for absolutely anyone. I'm serious. We might be the most dysfunctional family ever but it's incredible. I bet your family doesn't have nicknames such as Gorillahead or Goatbreath. That's right. Daddy yells "Gorillahead" across the house. And I answer. I guess in all, we are just all best friends. We are a family. We fight. We are experts at fighting. But we are all just best friends making it through life together. 

But now, I'm in college. Separated from normal life. From the city I've grown up in the past 17 years. And it scared me. Coming to college I was an emotional wreck. I had the BEST group of friends in high school. Really. When we come back for mini-reunions we realize how good we had it. I was so blessed. I had the most amazing group of friends ever and went to the best school you could ever imagine. We were the rebels. We were family. It was the perfect city to grow up in.. even if we lived in a "bubble". Moving on is scary. It's daring. I went to preschool with five of my best friends. And made even more best friends from Kindergarden all the way to high school. Most of my best friends were going to Alabama but a couple were leaving us and heading to Auburn University. Even though we all are separated.. we come home and everything's the same. Distance won't break our friendships. No ma'am. My friends are too special to be forgotten. I am so blessed to have grown up with them. We were friends when we played with dolls, when ponchos were cool, and when we got our first car. It was an amazing 17 years and college is (forgive my corniness) the next chapter. 

The Lord couldn't have me at a better place. I came to The University of Alabama with no idea what was about to take place in my life. I ended up pledging Alpha Gamma Delta with the most amazing 82 squirrels you've ever met. My biggest prayer was that the Lord was going to bless my friendships. And hallelujah He has. I am beyond blessed by my new friendships. I'm growing so much as an individual and am so excited for what the Lord has in store for my life. The past 18 years the Lord has been so faithful. He's blessed me with my talents, my family, my friendships, my future. He is so good and my life has been the biggest miracle and blessing. 

No Matter What

No Matter What by Kerrie Roberts:

I'm running back to Your promises one more time,

Lord that's all I can hold on to.

I gotta say this has taken me by surprise

But nothing surprises you.

Before a heartache can ever touch my life

It has to go through Your hands

And even though I keep asking why, I keep asking why.

No matter what, I'm gonna love You

No matter what, I'm gonna need You

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain

But If not, I'll trust you no matter what. No matter what.

When I'm stuck in this nothing-ness by myself,

I'm just sitting in silence.

There's no way I can make it without Your help

I won't even try it.

I know You have Your reasons for everything

So I will keep believing whatever I might be feeling.

God You are my hope, and You'll be my strength

No matter what, I'm gonna love You

No matter what, I'm gonna need You

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain

But If not, I'll trust you no matter what. No matter what.

Anything I don't have You can give it to me

But it's ok if You don't.

I'm not here for those things,

The touch of Your love is enough on its own

No matter what I still love You and I'm gonna need You.

No matter what, I'm gonna love You

No matter what, I'm gonna need You

I know that You can find a way to keep me from the pain

But If not, I'll trust you no matter what. No matter what.

Lord no matter what happens I'll love You. I'll turn to You. Because You are the only thing that will satisfy me. You are the author of my life. I can't live this life without You. I'm sinful, I mess up all the time, I act out of my flesh, I get angry, I get upset, I fail. You are all I need. You are everything. "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How can anyone understand his own way?" Proverbs 20:24 

captivating

I absolutely love my life. My weeks are just absolutely perfect. From Monday night Alpha Gam bible study to Tuesday night Bama Crusade to Wednesday night at the Well to Thursday night at Unashamed. All with my very bests friends by my side. And this week is even more special because today is Candice's birthday!! It has been her "birthday week". Sunday night we all spent the night at my dorm and watched He's Just Not That Into You.. then Monday morning we woke her up with silly string and doughnuts. Tuesday we decorated her door with Happy Birthday signs and tonight we get to all go celebrate together at dinner!! Love her so much and so blessed that the Lord has put her in my life! 

Monday night at bible study was the best. It was awesome to see my pledge sisters speaking their hearts and watch us all grow together and in the Lord. I really believe relationships built around our relationships with God are the most genuine. We came to an incredible realization that the same God I talk to everyday walking to class and write to in my journal is the same God that spoke to Moses. Chills. How incredible? God is SO amazing.

We've all started discussing going to Passion Conference in Atlanta January 1-4 and I couldn't be more excited. I'm so thankful that the Lord has put me here, at Alabama, in Alpha Gam, with some awesome godly women to grow with in Him. I really can't express how faithful He has been to me, when I don't deserve it at all. I know right now that I am in the perfect place to grow in my walk with Him. And even though my future is hazy.. He's never let me down before. And He'll be faithful again to show me the way, open up doors, and guide each step I take. 

I'm in college, so there isn't much time to "read for fun" but I started reading Captivating a couple of weeks ago and I try to read as often as I can because I'm absolutely in love with this book. There are so many amazing sections of the book but I was amazed with one passage and I thought I'd share it. It's pretty lengthy but I think it's so amazing..

"Turn your attention again to the events that took place in the Garden of Eden. Notice--who does the Evil One go after? Who does Satan single out for his move against the human race? He could have chosen Adam... but he didn't. Satan went after Eve. He set his sights on her. Have you ever wondered why? It might have been that he, like any predator, chose what he believed to be the weaker of the two. There is some truth to that. He is utterly ruthless. But we believe there is more. Why does Satan make Eve the focus of his assault on humanity?

You may know that Satan was first named Lucifer, or Son of the Morning. It infers a glory, or brightness or radiance unique to him. In the days of his former glory he was appointed a guardian angel. Many believe he was the captain of the angel armies of God. The guardian of the glory of the Lord...

Perfect in beauty. That is the key. Lucifer was gorgeous. He was breathtaking. And it was his ruin. Pride entered Lucifer's heart. The angel came to believe he was being cheated somehow. He craved the worship that was being given to God for himself. He didn't merely want to play a noble role in the Story; he wanted the Story to be about him. He wanted to be the star. He wanted the attention, the adoration for himself...

Satan fell because of his beauty. Now his heart for revenge is to assault beauty. He destroys it in the natural world wherever he can. Strip mines, oil spills, fires, Chernobyl. He wrecks destruction on the glory of God in the earth like a psychopath committed to destroying great works of art.

But most especially, he hates Eve.

Because she is captivating, uniquely glorious, and he cannot be. She is the incarnation of the Beauty of God. More than anything else in all creation, she embodies the glory of God. She allures the world to God. He hates it with a jealousy we can only imagine.

And there is more. The Evil One also hates Eve because she gives life. Women give birth, not men. Women nourish life. And they also bring life into the world soulfully, relationally, spiritually--in everything they touch. Satan was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). He brings death. His is a kingdom of death. Ritual sacrifices, genocide, the Holocaust, abortion--those are his ideas. And thus Eve is his greatest human threat, for she brings life. She is a lifesaver and a life giver. Eve means "life" or "life producer." "Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living" (Gen. 3:20).

Put those two things together--that Eve incarnates the Beauty of God and she gives life to the world. Satan's bitter heart cannot bear it. He assaults her with a special hatred. History removes any doubt about this. Do you begin to see it?

Think of the great stories--in nearly all of them, the villain goes after the Hero's true love. He turns his sights on the Beauty... The Witch attacks Sleeping Beauty. The stepsisters assault Cinderella. Satan goes after Eve.

This explains an awful lot. It is not meant to scare you. Actually, it will shed so much light on your life's story, if you will let it. Most of you thought the things that have happened to you were somehow your fault--that you deserved it. If only you had been prettier or smarter or done more or pleased them, somehow it wouldn't have happened. You would have been loved. They wouldn't have hurt you.

And most of you are living with the guilt that somehow it's your fault you aren't more deeply pursued now. That you do not have an essential role in a great adventure. That you have no beauty to unveil. The message of our wounds nearly always is, "This is because of you. This is what you deserve." It changes things to realize that, no, it is because you are glorious that these things happened. It is because you are a major threat to the kingdom of darkness. Because you uniquely carry the glory of God to the world.

You are hated because of your beauty and power." 

I know that was pretty long.. but girls I hope that meant something to you. When I read it for the first time I was absolutely amazed. It opened my eyes again that there is a spiritual war going on. God and Satan are both fighting for our attention. Another amazing thing said at bible study Monday night was.. If you aren't living in God, you are living in Adam. And living in Adam is living in sinfulness. The Lord desires your heart. He wants to romance you. So are you allowing Him to deal with your heart and love you or are you believing the lies of the enemy? The one who wants to steal, kill, and destroy..