God Who Strengthens My Heart

Surely God is good to Israel,
       to those who are pure in heart.
 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
       I had nearly lost my foothold.
 For I envied the arrogant
       when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
 They have no struggles;
       their bodies are healthy and strong. 
 They are free from the burdens common to man;
       they are not plagued by human ills.
 Therefore pride is their necklace;
       they clothe themselves with violence.
 From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
       the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.
 They scoff, and speak with malice;
       in their arrogance they threaten oppression.
 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
       and their tongues take possession of the earth.
 Therefore their people turn to them
       and drink up waters in abundance. 
 They say, "How can God know?
       Does the Most High have knowledge?"
 This is what the wicked are like—
       always carefree, they increase in wealth.
 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
       in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
 All day long I have been plagued;
       I have been punished every morning.
 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
       I would have betrayed your children.

 When I tried to understand all this,
       it was oppressive to me
 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
       then I understood their final destiny.
 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
       you cast them down to ruin.
 How suddenly are they destroyed,
       completely swept away by terrors!
 As a dream when one awakes,
       so when you arise, O Lord,
      you will despise them as fantasies.

 When my heart was grieved
       and my spirit embittered,
 I was senseless and ignorant;
       I was a brute beast before you.
 Yet I am always with you;
       you hold me by my right hand.
 You guide me with your counsel,
       and afterward you will take me into glory.
 Whom have I in heaven but you?
       And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
 My flesh and my heart may fail,
       but God is the strength of my heart
       and my portion forever. 

 Those who are far from you will perish;
       you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
       I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
       I will tell of all your deeds.

-Psalm 73

     My Bible study today was all about the names of God.  The one that stuck out to me the most was "the strength of my heart."  In this season of life that is what God is to me.  God is strengthening my heart to stand up for Him in my life and in this world.  My heart will not fail to fear of rejection for God is my strength.

Who is God to you right now?

-Abby :]

Getting to Know Me, One Random Question at a Time

A friend wrote these questions, and now I'm answering them.  Just in case you were confused, I did not interview myself.  ;]  (Thanks, Jen!)

1.I have difficulty pronouncing the word 'ominous." I always say, "Omnimous." What word/s do you consistently mispronounce?
     I constantly mispronounce the name "Fabian."  I pronounce it the way you would in a Hispanic country (Fah-bian), but I subbed in a class where the little boy insisted you said it "Fay-bian."  It took me four days to get it right.

2. Favorite TV show & why? Least favorite TV show & why?
     I would have to say that my favorite TV show is 30 Rock.  The quirky, sarcastic humor is exactly the type stuff that makes me liz (100 cool points if you know what "lizzing" is).  I have several "least favorite" TV shows: judge shows.  My mom watches Judge Judy and Judge Alex every day and it drives me nuts.  I hate watching idiots. 

3. What is one song you'd love to be able to sing in front of millions of people?
     Umm, none?  I can't really sing.  If I could sing along with tons of people, though, I'd like to sing "Ridin' Solo."  That song is my new anthem.  Sing with me!  S-O-L-O, livin' my life- ain't got stress no mo'!

4. Most unfortunate outfit you wore thinking it looked really good? Mine were overalls & overall shorts.
     Probably anything with high socks, a big t-shirt, and flowered shorts.  I.E., 1995-1999.

Peace!

5. Most embarrassing moment?
     I get embarrassed all the time.  I can't handle failure, so any time I do something wrong I feel embarrassed.  Or if you do something, I'll feel embarrassed for you...especially if you are rude to someone.

6. Something you'd do for a $1,000,000?
     Streak.

7. Least favorite food?
     Whipped cream...the texture is so gross to me.  It's also kind of famous among my family that I don't like pork chops, but I'll eat them anyways.


     Thanks for the questions, Andrew!  Here's one question for you: do people still call you Nelms?  Did you ever even like being called that?  Because I feel weird calling you Andrew, haha.

Join me on the dark side...

Wanna see who I met on Sunday?  Of course you do.

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun...

Does anyone else have the Imperial March stuck in their head?  Just me?

My Beautiful Antique Ring :]

     This was my great-great grandmother's engagement ring.  She passed it down to my great-Grandma Quinn, who passed it down to my Aunt Ellen.  Just this summer Ellen gave it to me as a graduation gift (one of the most special gifts I've ever received, btw).  Today I finally took it to the jeweler's to get it fixed (there was a crack in the band) and resized (plus they cleaned it and it looks so shiny!).  I love it so much.  I'm incredibly honored to be the fourth owner of this ring.  :] 

-Abby :]  (can you tell I'm full of smiles today?)


     On an unrelated note, I just realized that the word "jewelery" reminds me of the word "celery."

The Perks of Being a Substitute

     Holla'!  It's my favorite day: DAY OFF!  Don't get me wrong, now- I'm super happy to have a job, and I really do love what I do.  BUT there is something great about having a day off in the middle of the week.  Before my "full-time job" friends get jealous, just remember that ya'll have benefits and make a ton more money than me, so don't be too jealous.  Although a little jealousy is cool.  ;]

     Orders of business for my day off:
1. take a nap because I got up at 5:15AM in case a school called
2. catch up on all my blogs
3. buy cookie mix at Publix for small group
4. return library books (yeah, now that I'm working I don't really have time for that whole "reading" thing)
5. find an AWESOME parking place at the mall (I love the mall at 11AM on a Tuesday)
6. eat Chick-fil-A and people watch
7. Skype with Amburrr all the way from Peru! :]

     I would venture to say that I've had a pretty productive day so far.  Numbers 6 and 7 were especially wonderful.  I'll go ahead and bid you all adieu because I need to bake cookies, do laundry, and clean my room before Water's Edge tonight.  Riddle me this: what do you like to do on your day off?  Are you a "sleep all day" type person or a "gotta get stuff done" person? 

YUM!

Psalm 13

How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and everyday have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
for he has been good to me.

                 -Psalm 13

Have a blessed Sunday.

-Abby :]

True Life: I Am a Hoarder

me: Hi, I'm Abby, and I'm a hoarder.

everyone: Hi, Abby.

     Yes, I have a confession: I am on the road to becoming one of those crazy people on TLC.

Not me...yet.

     I moved home from school in May, and since then all of my college stuff has been piled in the family room.  I would show you a "before" picture, but I'm pretty sure my mom would kill me if I showed you our mess.  A few weeks ago I did a major overhaul on my bedroom and moved more stuff into the family room.  Can you say "disaster"?

     Our goal for today was to get rid of stuff I don't need.  Easier said than done.  I hear myself saying the same thing the hoarders say on TV: But I might need it one day!  Uh-oh...Abby's going crazy about stuff!  Anyways, my mom has been a huge help in my quest to donate/throw away.  I'm constantly amazed at how many things I have accumulated over 22 years of life.  This isn't just a one weekend overhaul...I'm guessing it will take at least a three weekends.  But hopefully soon I will have a wonderful, organized picture of my room and the family room to show you.  Until then, I think I'm going to keep the door closed.  :]

P.S.- This is the blog that got me started thinking about all my stuff.  Check it out here on the blog Thrifty Decor Chick.

Picture from CBS News.

Super Sub

     Hello, friends!  I feel like it's been so long since I really wrote on here.  Yesterday I alluded to the fact that life has gotten busy very quickly.  Long story (kind-of) short:
1. I interviewed to be a substitute teacher on Friday, August 27th.  We were told that our fingerprints would take a week to process, but after that we would be ready to sub.  Meaning we have one more week of not working before we would start getting calls.  Or so I thought...
2.  Cue Tuesday morning (8-31) at 6:30AM.  Phone starts ringing.  Wakes me up from a pleasant night's sleep.  Surprise, it's a phone call to sub at a school that is 30 minutes (plus traffic) away.  I race to get ready and show up at 8AM.
3.  The school likes me!!!  Which is code for "I've worked every day except this past Tuesday and they almost have me booked solid."  Can we have a short "Praise the Lord"?  Because this is seriously awesome.  Yes, the school is about as far from my house as any school in our county, but I'm getting paid.  Also...
     I CAN AFFORD TO GET A NEW CELL PHONE WITH UNLIMITED TEXTING AND A DATA PLAN!!!  *cue cheers and applause*  Yes folks, I am finally going to join everyone else in the year 2010.  I'll make sure to let you know when this happens, although I'm sure you'll figure it out because I'll start spamming you with text messages.
     Another reason why I didn't post: I spent Labor Day weekend in Birmingham with some of my lovelies!  I wrote a super sappy post about it here, and I won't blame you if you don't read it, but you should because it is about some awesome people (run-on sentence, anyone?).  It was a wonderful weekend and I was sad to leave.  But I know that it won't be too long before the "charm" of Alabama draws me back again.  ;]

Alabama!

Hello, my name is Abby and I'm a worrier.

     Well folks, these days have been cuh-razy.  I have at least three posts on the chopping block at the moment, but I haven't had a chance to finish them.  Just to give you a glimpse of the insanity, I started working rather unexpectedly last week, and I haven't had much time to catch my breath.  But more about that later.
     Today I just wanted to share some verses with you.  I'm pretty sure these are going to become my new life verses.  Just for curiosity's sake, my old life verse was 2 Timothy 1:7.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and of self-discipline.

That verse was very fitting for the past several years of my life, but now I feel that I've mostly moved past my timidity and onto different issues (hooray! haha).  Ok, without further ado, my new, improved, and longer life verses:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
 -Matthew 6:25-34 (emphasis added)

AMEN TO THAT!  These verses are like a welcome kick in the rear-end for me.  Comment with your life verse, if you have one.  Did anyone's change like mine?