FIVE DAYS!!!!!

It's five days until I can have pop again. I can't wait! Can you believe that we're already at the end of the year? I say that all the time, but it still amazes me by how fast time flies! I've had such a fabulous year. I'm so thankful for everything that's happened. I got a job at Subway and started teaching piano lessons, got my driver's license (what I won't mention is that I got the car stuck THREE times after that:), going to Acquire the Fire, visiting my amazing friend Emily, NCFCA, working at a pumpkin patch, having my friend Grace visit, getting new youth pastors, but I think my favorite part of the year was my mission trip to Nepal. It was so challenging and stretching, but I've never felt closer to God or happier. You feel the most alive when you're serving God. I will never forget my experience there. What are some highlights from your year? What was your highlights?

Merry Christmas! :)

Honestly, I kind of forgot this blog was in existence until I checked it yesterday. My dear friend, Emily, however, inspired me to blog more. :) I hope you all are having a fantastic start to Christmas. I am excited about the Christmas Eve Service tonight, hanging out with family tomorrow (yay, Liz!), and opening gifts. Is it a white Christmas where you live? I want to close with a little something a friend of mine, Jade, (from my mission trip to Nepal) posted on Facebook. It really nails what Christmas is all about. She posted, "I'm left speechless, even breathless, that Jesus looked at this world and knew all the craziness that it would be, knew what He'd have to endure, knew that He'd have to die, but he was so destined to meet me, to know me, to pursue me, that He came anyway. I was worth the risk. It baffles my mind. Jesus is the most ardent man I know. Gotta love Him." Christmastime isn't just about celebrating the birth of Jesus, but this purpose for coming down-so He could have a friendship with You. Merry Christmas!

Life in Kansas...

Kristen :)

Bethany, Rebekah, and me with our youth pastor, who was the pastor at the wedding.

Me and my friend, Laura, my youth pastor's wife. This past Saturday my big sis Kristen got married. All of the sisters were bridesmaids so I was in my first wedding! I was a mixture of excited and nervous, mostly because I was playing a harp solo during the unity candle in front of 300 people. It went great though, even though right before it my hands got all sweaty and I couldn't remember my music. Unlike you'd normally think of weddings, Kristen and Dave's wedding wasn't stressful. They did a great job of thinking thru all the seemingly unimportant details and planning everything ahead of time. It was a beautiful wedding and the reception was a blast. As I looked out at the crowd, it was a reminder to influence people and pour into their lives. It made me question, "Whose going to be at my wedding?" On Sunday, our family forgot to wake my sister and I up so we literally got up 10 minutes before we walked out the door. Right after church, our parents took our brother to the airport. Our Dad's cousin, Brent (whose pretty much awesome. We go to his house a lot of the 4th of July.), was visiting and took me and my sisters out to a fancy Mexican restaurant. We had delicious chimichanga, doctor pepper, re-fried beans, warm cheese sauce and chips. We had a blast talking and joking around. After lunch, we went across the road to Sonic, possibly the most amazing place ever. And it is the best invention since...right, Joanna? After ordering cherry and strawberry limades, we sat down on the tables outside and stayed there for an hour and half, just enjoying the shade and breeze. For the first time in forever, I didn't have places to go or people to see. Monday was a great day for cleaning and catching up on a lot of things I'd let slack. Today has also been a really good day. We got to take our youth pasor, Justin, to Pratt for his birthday. It was actually a couple weeks early but he is moving and, hence, won't be here for his birthday. He absolutely adores McDonalds so we surprised him and took him there. After grabbing his lunch, we headed over to Taco Bell to get food for Bethany. Then we went to Sonic where I got lunch and ate outside in the sunshine. Two Sonic trips in one week?! It's a good time to be alive. The trip was good and sad. Good because we had fun taking lots of random side roads (you know roads that you always think, "I want to go down there sometime. I wonder where that leads) and joked around. It was bsad because it'll be one of our last times to hang out with Justin before they move. I'm so sad the Mourns are moving, but I wouldn't trade the last two years with them for anything. We've gone on a mission trip together, done a small group, and grown in our faith together. We've created dozen of inside jokes, taken fun trips, and done service projects side-by-side. Well, enough of my ramblings. Right now I am looking up recipes for Nepalese food (since I am going there this summer). And tomorrowe we're leaving for a forensics compeition in Minnesota. I'll update how it goes!

SOMEONE (no names, Carrie:) was reminding me that I really need to update my blog. My last post was Christmas pictures! Because I can't get to sleep, I decided that now would be a good time to do it. Hmmm....where to begin? This year certainly hasn't gone as I planned (but does anything ever?). I'm discovering more and more that high school is like a roller coaster. 2011 has had great pluses, such as great start to forensics, getting a job at Subway (eat fresh!) my sister getting married, and having the chance to go to Nepal on a mission trip. It's defiantly had it's struggles, such as family disagreements and changes, difficulty at church, and today we discovered that my youth pastor and his family-some of my favorite people ever-are moving away. The news hasn't sunk in yet. It's one of those things you think, "That happens to so-and-so, but it won't happen to me." In the midst of these changes, I am thankful that God cannot change. I'm thankful he knows the future and therefore, I can trust Him. I am thankful He is working for my good, even though right now I don't see much good. When people pass away or move, it encourages me to truly love and enjoy people. If you love someone, tell them. If you admire someone, let them know. If you appreciate what someone did or said, don't keep it a secret. Compliments, love, and encouragement isn't mean to be kept to yourself.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Bell Family 2010...
In the country to search for a Christmas tree

Riding our horse, Cinnamon

At Mary's basketball game.

Me and big sis Rebekah

Merry Christmas! Hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas. :D

Often when I reach out and love people, I look for results. I want to know that I'm making a difference, that I'm effecting people. I mean, that's not bad, but sometimes I get so caught up in looking for results that I forget to love people. As I was talking to Bethany, most of the time I view people as "outreach projects" but not friends. A lot of the time, even if I don't realize it, I say to God, "God, I work so hard on loving people but I never see any results. Please show me that I'm making a difference because I don't want to keep loving people if I don't see that I'm making a difference." It's a lie from Satan, I believe, that I'm not making a impact on people. It's also a lie that if I don't see effects on others, I'm not making a difference. Camp was a great time in the sense God gave me results. I can imagine God saying, "Alright, I'll give you results!" A couple nights into camp, one of the girls in our group wanted to talk to me. She told me how she felt like she kept on sinning and everyone had given up on her. Her Dad's in prison and her Mom is trying to get a divorce. She said I was the only one she would tell this to. I thought it was so cool that she trusted me enough to tell me that. As the week progressed, a couple other people told us things I'd label "results". Did I love those results? Absolutely! But you know what happened? I started to look down on others and became proud of what "I'd" accomplished, while it was really God. One of the songs we sang with Rush of Fools went, "Not to us, but to your name be the glory." Once I was walking around talking to my youth pastor who asked me why I wanted results so bad. He went on to explain that now he prays that God wouldn't show him results. I can understand what he meant. It's so easy to get distracted or glorify youself when you get results. I don't hate results, but I don't want to get caught up in them. It's so freeing to know that I can just be obedient to God and leave results up to God. My favorite all time quote reads, "God doesn't call us to be successful, but obedient."-Billy Graham.

Rush Of Fools - Undo (Digital Video Version)

This is a song from Rush of Fools, the band at Super Summer. It is a touching song about our failures and God's grace. Kevin, our friend, is the guitarist and back-up vocals. They also have a song called Escape.

Super Summer 2010!

Here's some of Reality Check that went to camp. There was 25 of us.

Me and Paige with our friend, Kevin, from the band Rush of Fools. We had lunch with him and something he said was this: "Jesus plus something equal nothing."

My friend, Nick, killed a bug. He was one of the 7th graders that came along in place of my brother, Andrew.

Me and my friend, Desiree.

The drummer, Jamie, who was absolutely amazing! He was one of the two guys we got to have the devotion with.

The zip-line-fun, but scary. When you got to the top, it was so shaky.

Me and my cousin, Will, by the big bell.

Our speaker, Jamie. One of my favorite things he said was, "If Jesus doesn't fulfill, it's not because he's not satisfying, but because we have an improper appetite."

The theme of Super Summer 2010!

Yesterday I got back from going to camp (Super Summer) with my youth group. I had a great week! We had team water games, an amazing band (Rush of Fools), deep conversations, great messages, and scary obstacle courses and high ropes! The theme of the week was Journey: How to get from here to there. In our chapel twice a day, we learned about the Israelites journey to the promised land and Peter's journey of following Jesus. The team games required team effort and speed and, though we lost, we had a great time being the Orange Beasts! My youth group also had the chance to have a devotion with a couple guys from the band, Kevin and Jamie, two talented and amazing followers of Christ. On top of that, I also got to have lunch with Kevin. On Thrusday night, the last night at the camp, we had an reflective service where we wrote down what God had been teaching us or what we wanted to lay down at the foot of the cross. When we were finished, we went to put it on the cross. I also really enjoyed the group that went. Friday morning we had KP (Kitchen Patrol) duty where we worked in the kitchen, serving good, refilling people's drinks, and cleaning up. I handed out danishes and muffins and told people it would change their life (yeah, I had fun!). One guy was like, "Ya, I'll take it if it'll change my life!!!" Events like this are always great to get to know and connect with people better. It was a great and encouraging time!