Happy Graduation!

So the time has finally come! Graduated from Dallas Baptist University on Friday & the feeling of freedom is like a huge bolder being lifted from my shoulders!  

After graduation I had a great dinner party! So many friends & lots of family came to send me off into the big bad world! Laughter, tears, dancing & delicious food was had by all! I'm so thankful for such loving friends & family!

I'm so excited about my move to SE Asia, but the reality of leaving the ones I love has come so quickly to my attention. I truly am so blessed with such loving, amazing friends & family. Knowing that they're home praying & supporting me while I go puts me at ease. 

September, October, November

Where has the time gone! It's pretty obvious I'm not very good at being a consistent blogger, kudos to all you religious bloggers! 

Since it is impossible to tell each detail of the past 3 months, I will do my best to touch all the highlights! 

That time I dressed up as Recycle Ralph the dog to teach the 3 R's: reduce, reuse, recycle. The kids LOVED Recycle Ralph!

That time one of my oldest friends tied the knot! Congrats Kelsey & Seaver!

That time my nephew turned THREE & turned into batman. What a stud, "it's go time.", he said to himself as he looking into the mirror. 

That time at the Dallas Museum of Art I got stalked by THIS guy! Great day at the museum with one of my bff's from college! 

 love this little Liz! 

That time UMHB had Homecoming! Got to spend time with some of my best friends! What can I say about Kassidy, he is seriously one of my best friends. He has a heart willing to serve & love anyone he meets. The Lord has done some amazing things in & through him & I'm so excited to see how The Lord continues to use & grow kass! 

The original group (minus one, JC, who is serving overseas with people who don't know Jesus.) I can't begin to explain the amount of love I have for this group of people. Love & miss them more each day! 

That time YoungLife Capernaum had an arts/talent show to raise money to help send my friends to camp! What an incredible night! So thankful for people who love & support the things I'm passionate about! 

That time YoungLife Capernaum had a Halloween costume party!! 

 That time I showed up at a costume party & was wearing the same dress as a man. His costume was "a bearded woman"...of course of all the dresses he could've purchased, he was wearing the same dress as I was. #typical #hillarious 

 That very happy night I was able to FaceTime with one of my best friends/roommate from college! She too is serving those who don't know Jesus! She was in Nepal at the time, soon to be on African soil! 

 That time my brother turned 28! Whoa, WHERE has the time gone, seriously! I love this man, he's the biggest goober on the planet. 

 My beautiful momma & nephew at Dustin's birthday dinner!

 Like father, like son. 

 That time my best friends ARE PREGNANT!! Welcome to the world, precious baby Olivia! Can't believe Mary & Travis are going to be parents! What incredible parents they will be! CONGRATS!

 That time I reached my goal & lost 20 lbs! YAY! Can anyone say Advocare? My beautiful, supportive friend Whitney has given me the courage & encouragement every step of the way! Eat right, exercise & enjoy life & losing weigh isn't so horrible! 

That time MercyStreet 9th grade girls had a Thanksgiving dinner & was able to join! How I miss these girls & this community! So thankful for summer 2013 to get to know & love these beautiful girls! God is so faithful & doing so much more in my life than I ever hoped or dreamed for!! 

That time one of my best friend a got engaged to the love her life! Seriously can't explain how much Whitney means to me & how excited I am for her & Adam to start a life together! #mommy so happy for you two! 

THAT TIME IM MOVING TO SOUTH ASIA!! So yeah, I'm moving to South Asia & one way I am raising funds is through selling jars of hommade hot sauce! 

And finally, IM GRADUATING! Praise The Lord, it's about time! My wonderful friend Monica took some senior photos & did such an incredible job! Follow this link to learn more about her work, she's amazing: http://www.fresholdphotoblog.com/2013/11/26/delaine-senior/

Like I said before, God is so good, loving & gives His children the desires of their hearts. He has done so much in my life in just the past 3 months that I could've never planned or dreamed up! I love you, Jesus, & I'm so thankful to call you my Father! 

I look forward to the many blessings & challenges you send my way. I know times can be hard, but you've set your ways before me & I will hold fast to the truth that you're guiding me & loving me along the way! May I be continually reminded of His grace & love & His praise be ever on my lips.

Obedient flowers

Day two of color week went exceedingly well! Today was BLUE! So naturally I wore a blue floral dress with a royal blue cardigan. The kids LOVE that I get into the colors & I can honestly say I love it too! Something I've really come to learn lately is if you're not having fun, you're probably not doing something you love! I'm loving all the fun I'm having in kindergarten! Yes of course each day is so exhausting, but each day is a blessing to have an opportunity to love on some kids who may not always feel liked!

Not only was today BLUE, but Mrs. McGregor & I were greeted with the sweetest flowers on our desk! These flowers were given by a students mom & they're called "obedient flowers"! The way these flowers got their name is even if the stems are dying & falling over, the purple flower buds will always point upward!  Her note read, "Mrs. McGregor & Miss Jordan, I hope you have an obedient class & a wonderful day today!" How clever and what an awesome way to integrate science (plants) into social studies (authority, rules and personal choices)! So that's just what we did! We used the flowers as a teaching tool. We loved it, the kids loved it, and we had a great day filled with very obedient students...except that one who kept throwing wood chips on the playground... 

Labor Day 2013

Labor Day weekend was this past weekend & it was definitely a weekend I've needed for quite sometime. The girls took a trip out to Galveston beach to relax, get away, have some fun & soak in the sun! 

It was the best weather, & fun was had by all. My mom & her friend Mistie, my friend Whitney & I headed to the beach on Friday & came home on Monday! We went to the beach, Kemah Boardwalk, the outlet mall, tasted many new treats & had LONG nights with tears of laughter. Gayle & Mistie were too much to handle, & all Whitney & I could do was laugh, there was no point in getting embarrassed because it was so hilarious.  Here's just one of the best photos captured on the trip. Gayle said something highly inappropriate & all three of us LOST it. So naturally, we all covered our faces in our tear filled hands & laughed silently for a good 20 minutes! 

This weekend was filled with lots of laughter, new wardrobes, relaxing sun tanning sessions & great friends! I'm so glad I could get away for a short bit & spend it with my beautiful mother & one of my best friends! 

Stuffed bell peppers, YUMM!!

Just made the best stuffed peppers EVER!! 

Ingredients: Quinoa, diced tomatoes, green chillies (Rotel), black beans & lean beef all tucked into freshly steamed bell peppers! I'm starting the Avocare 24 day challenge & this is my first successful dinner! It was fresh, delicious & full of flavor, & the best part is IT'S ALL HEALTHY!! 

Instructions: First boil the quinoa, cook the beef, & steam the bell peppers. Once the quinoa & meat is done, slowly add all ingredients together: Beef, quinoa, can of Rotel, can of black beans, season with Cavender's Greek seasoning & granulated garlic. Next stuff the steamed bell peppers with the mixture & put all of it in the oven for 20 mins at 350 degrees. (Sprinkling mozzarella cheese on top is optional, but not the "healthy" route.)

Seriously the easiest & tastiest healthy dinner! 

Kindermonsters

Here I am, 2 weeks into student teaching & already loving it! I have an absolutely amazing cooperative teacher, in an awesome school district & every single one of my students are just the cutest & sweetest monsters! There is so much I have to catch up on, but it'll have to be in a very condensed version! This is my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. McGregor--she's an amazing teacher! I love being apart of her class & learning under her!! 

Last week was the first week of school. It was incredible, I loved every last bit of it except that my feet pounded all day every day. I made this massive frame for my kindergarten section to use to take pictures on the first day, & it was absolutely adorable! All the kids loved it, & all their parents will love it, I'm sure! 

This week we are learning colors, so naturally I dressed according to the color of the day! Today I wore a red flowy shirt, red shoes & the students favorite, bright red lipstick! The little kinders are so sweet, I don't know what I'm going to do when I move to 5th grade!! 

Not only are the students & teachers great, but all the fun activities & decorations we do are THE BEST! I made this hall decoration to greet the students on "meet the teacher" night & all of them loved it! I put their names on the gumballs & they spotted their names & felt apart of the class! 

I'm in love with kindergarten, something I NEVER thought I'd say. But you know what they say...never say never. I'm so thankful for this semester. The Lord has already been so graceful & providing. I'm thankful for a great school district, awesome, godly teachers, & mostly my wonderful, loving family! 

Mercy Street at Pine Cove

Week 11 at Outback is a fun & exciting week for both Pine Cove & Mercy Street! This week Mercy Street loaded up 3 charter buses full of kids & headed to Columbus, Texas to Pine Cove Outback! I'm so excited to be back at Pine Cove & being able to be on the other side of things PLUS taking kids from West Dallas to camp is always the best! 

The weather has been awesome so far! Bright & early rising for MS staff work out (which kicked my butt! We did camp gladiator & whoa baby. We'll see if I can do it again in the morning!) then a devo with the HS kids! Emily talked about selfishness & how our internal processor is in need of a cleansing & only Christ can do that. Now we're out at activities & the girls in my cabin are loving the lagoon zip line! 

I'm so excited to be here & see how The Lord teaches us!! 

Summer. School. & Summer School.

I'm sitting here, 48 hours before my last class EVER, as if I have nothing to do...This past week/weekend has seemed like a blur & I think I'm in denial of everything I need to get done. Mercy Street is winding down. Tomorrow is our last event & we're going out with a bang! We're hosting our Jr. Intern banquet & then taking everyone to Pine Cove! I'm super pumped about all these festivities, but I'm overwhelmed with how FAST this summer has gone! Last time I checked, I was still living on campus as an RA. Where does the time go? In two weeks I'll be moving to another city, and STUDENT-TEACHING! The more I think about it, the more I realize how unprepared & ready I am for the real world. BUT I am pretty excited to be in the classroom with 23 little kindergarten monsters. I think it will be just what I need to follow my amazing summer!

Just as a friendly reminder & encouragement, Colossians 3:12-17
"12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

My prayer is that the peace of Christ would rule in my heart as this huge transition takes place, that I will always trust and depend on HIM.

delaine

Last day of camp

Today was the last full day of ATX Younglife Capernaum camp! But before I start on the festivities of today, I must include the amazing cabin time last night with my girls! After our club talk, which was based upon the truth of God wanting to be in a relationship with us, so he gave Jesus to be our mediator & perfect sacrifice, we headed back to our rooms & I tried to pry some good conversations with my buddies. At first they were not having it. They wanted to turn on Seaame Street & go to bed, but I looked at them & told them I really wanted to leave the weekend knowing more about them. Since we were friends, I told them I wanted to hang out & talk like friends. To my surprise, they were both willing & wanting to talk & get to know me! 

Laura started jumping up & down (typical of LB to do when she gets really excited) and asked questions about me & I asked questions about her & Julie. I asked them what makes them special & why Jesus would want to get to know them! We talked about how I wanted to get to know them, & how even more Jesus wants to get to know them! As we continued to talk, Laura & Julie walked me through the Gospel & explained who Jesus was, why He did what He did, and what our life should look like if we believed Him. Simply put, they get it. They understand & know that they were made with a purpose & that is to love God, love people, & tell others about His love. It was such a sweet night talking with my buddies & seeing their hearts. It goes to show that everyone, including those who seem incapable of understanding something like Jesus, can absolutely understand & believe Jesus came to save even them! THAT is what Younglife exists for, to build relationships & trust with students, love them while pointing them to Christ, & ultimately to see their passion for Jesus grow! 

After cabbin time, it was as if crazy dust was sprinkled in the air unit & inhaled into the girls lungs, because they went NUTS! Maybe it was just a mix of reassurance/energy of knowing that Jesus is who He says He is & the 3rd night of camp, but the girls were attacked by the giggles!! They were so silly & were making me laugh SO hard!! Julie thought this water bottle was so funny & giggled about it until she fell asleep & LB sang & watched Sesame Street until she could no more (or more accurately when the melatonin kicked in). 

Today before we headed back to Dallas, we took our friends to Main Event! We played games, ate pizza, bowled, played lazer tag & put-put golf! Fun was had by all, & pretty much everyone was pooped & ready to be back home! 

This may be my absolute favorite picture of all weekend. Scott seriously LOVES Andrew so much & gets so excited every time he sees him! He was just so excited, he basically tackled Andrew in his chair....so great. 

& of course Andrew took it like a pro & laughed it off. 

On our way home I sat with Harish, our newest friend. He is the sweetest & happiest kid I've ever met. His family is Indian & pretty positive Hindu, which is why I think it's so incredible that his family allows him to come with us to camps & all our club meetings! I feel like this is a HUGE open door God is using to lead Harish & his entire family to Him. Younglife not only affects the students, but their families too. What a GREAT opportunity we have to share Gods love with Harish AND his family! I'm convinced that this is why Harish ever started coming to our club meetings! God is so loving & wants to be in a relationship with  ALL His people! 

Harish is so full of life, quirkiness & love! He made quite the entertaining bus buddy! 

This weekend was absolutely incredible. Although I didn't get any sleep & it was a lot of work, being able to hang out with my friends was all worth it! ATX Capernaum Camp 2013 was a great success!