Update on Stubborn Stanley

Dear friends and family,

I know this matter of great concern has been keeping you up at night, tossing and turning.
My Invisalign journey was supposed to end on September 20^th.
 
Instead, there was a delay due to Stubborn Stanley’s lack of cooperation.  The question on everyone’s mind:

“Will Helena’s tooth move up enough for her to get Invisalign off in time for training camp??”

Yes, my tooth is moving forward.

I’m relieved to announce that Stubborn Stanley, my troublesome upper right lateral incisor IS indeed getting pushed into the desired position.  His yield began shortly after Dr. Davis modified the last retainer to contain two “buttons,” which are now manhandling Stanley with unprecedented vehemence.

October 10 is the new projected “last day” of Invisalign!

Thank you all for your kind words and encouraging gestures through this unexpected setback.


Love,
Helena

Phone Prayer

Found this in my phone :) this was about 2 weeks before God pointed me to the mission trip.
See how He works? He answered my confusing prayer. God is faithful.


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someday im going to be so into God that nothing and no one will ever be able to let me down. I'll be so vested in God that I simply will not be aware of failure. my hopes will be secured and focused. Lord right now would be a great time to bring me closer. God please dont let me be wasting my time and feelings?? Would You speak to my heart?? Let me know if I'm doing things right? I love You more than anything.

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NOSTALGIA

Hello nostalgia!

Oh Mean Green!! I miss you at times like these. Getting on Facebook and seeing all my alumni friends wearing green and going to the first football game at the brand new stadium. Oh how I miss screaming in the crowd "NOOOORTH.... TEXAAAAAS!"

My brother and I at WHS homecoming in 2004

It's the same feeling I get when I read my high school band director's tweets about the band marching 3/4 of the show. The lights. The music. Homecoming.

Colorguard 2005 - UNT

Vibrant memories. All of it was a rush. Band in high school, band in college, the bus rides, the uniforms, standing at attention in the heat. Marching the fight song. :)




All those doors slammed shut and locked behind me.
No going back. That's done. Graduated. 


I don't get nearly enough free shirts anymore!
When that tiny seed of nostalgia starts to sprout into discontentment, the Lord says to my heart:

Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions. - Ecclesiastes 7:10

Despite the rush of memories, He reminds me to be thankful and joyful right where I am. 

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. - Psalm 118:24

Not just this, but I am fully confident that the plans the Lord has for me will be replete of joy. He's not done with me yet. He's sending me on a mission trip. He is going to bless me and use me to bless others.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 2:10

And even more, I have a promise of eternity in Christ! A promise of heaven :)

I know my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.
   How my heart yearns within me! 
- Job 19:25-27

I am thankful for Whitesboro High School, thankful for North Texas, but nothing compares to the eternal life I live today in the abundance of Christ's love.


Goodbye nostalgia!

My Shy Tooth

Today I had the pleasure/displeasure of popping the very last Invisalign retainer of the journey onto my sensitive teeth.
Oh my soul, my eyes are watering and my mouth is pulsing in pain.
You see, the culprit is my shy tooth.


Located between my right front tooth (don't make me go technical) and my canine tooth, this little buddy just likes to hang back, have a good time. He is a follower.
He does not want to stand beside his neighbors, socially anxious and whatnot. I get it, I get it, I do talk a lot and it's scary to be so close to the outside world... but shy little tooth, you're getting evicted from your current location. You gotta move on up here, it's a promotion. Everybody else already gave in.

It's your turn, you ungrateful, pain-inducing introvert! Move it!




Two more weeks of torturing my shy tooth, until it falls in line.

Praise the Lord for Advil.

Encouraged by me?!

At least once a week, I am approached by people of all ages (whether in person or online) thanking me for sharing my experiences with them.

I want to take a brief moment to prayerfully thank these people who go out of their way to say my posts/words/blogs/stories are encouraging to them. 

THANK YOU.

Lord only knows how much that really means to me. I write, share, vent, and try to live life with you people. We're all busy and going through our own trials, but you take the time to tell me that MY life is encouraging YOURS?! That my experiences are worth reading to you?! That.... is awesome. My hope is that everything I do brings glory to God. If in any way, my writing points you to the one and only true God and encourages your personal relationship with Jesus, I will keep on. :) 

Thank you for living life with me. 

I truly love you all and appreciate you so much.
May God bless you abundantly with the joy of His presence as you seek after Him.

Let's Talk Abbreves

Lately, many thanks to Talia and Becca, I've sounded more and more like a British tween or a Justin Bieber/Selena Gomez fan... mostly because I've been talkin in hipster abbreves...


Totes... totally
Perf... perfect
Presh... precious
Offish... official
Unoffish... unofficial
Spesh... special
Apprope... appropriate
Inapprope... inappropriate
Adorbs... adorable
Uggo... ugly




I wish I could think of more right now, but I'm totes exhaust.
Here's a totes catchy Brit song, which goes perf with this post, in my pers opin. 
Guh-noight mates!

Certain Victory

I'm watched the movie Secretariat tonight... the funny thing is... it's the most predictable movie EVER! I mean, you know the horse is gonna win all 3 races in the end, otherwise there wouldn't have been a movie made, right?! But even through the movie, with the problems that arise in the plot, you start to question and worry for the horse! Your heart beats faster, you get all clammy about it, heck... you forget, in the middle of it, that it's a certain victory!!!


I was right there, in the middle of my waiting for acceptance for my race :) I got all clammy, fidgeting all crazy, making pirate sounds, and feeling discouraged that perhaps I wasn't really worthy of this calling. I forgot the One who put the idea in my head in the first place! The One who is in charge of everything! The One who always always makes me wait juuuust a little longer, til I'm at breaking point and at my wit's end. I went from praying childish prayers to the prayer equivalent of kicking and screaming. I threw a mental tantrum, clenching my tiny little fists, crying out incoherent words, and thrashing... picture a kid at the grocery store checkout line... that was the tone of my prayer this afternoon. Not sure exactly if that's how God meant for me to be like a child, but I definitely was so helpless and miserable, completely out of mental composure (no kicking or screaming at work... all everyone saw was smiling Helena... maybe a furrowed brow here and there). I was officially out of patience.


I finally came to a point where I knew He knew when I would get my answer.
I was tired, and as I sat there, eating my lunch, my phone lights up. And it's a wonderful area code. My answer! At last! And I was accepted :)


I look back and think "wow I could have been more graceful about it... ahem. sorry, Lord" but at the same time, I am so happy that my reaction when I was completely helpless was a helpless prayer. It was a plea for patience and mercy. It was a clear declaration that only only my God could help me, and I begged. I begged and screamed and begged some more for my Father in heaven to answer me, and maybe be annoyed enough that He'd want to silence my prayer shrieking. I think it backfired though, because my prayer shrieking only got LOUDER when I got accepted :) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOUUUUU, FATHER!! You are wonderful, and kind, and You believe in me, and You give me purpose and You see me not as someone who's made a bunch of mistakes, but as someone redeemed, with a purpose. Someone with a future. Someone who You want to send to talk about You and serve in Your name. Someone who will spend forever praising You until I run out of breath, and then into eternity.


I got my answered prayer today. Yet another confirmation that God has me on a path to missions. That the reason my heart gets so full and my eyes overflow when I think about it is because He has planned it. The beauty of God's plans is that they always stand. They never fail. He never fails. He always wins. As long as I'm fighting for Him, and I'm in the path seeking Him, He directs me to certain victory. My definition of certain victory isn't getting what I want, when I want it... it's doing what He wants, when He wants it.


I submit my life. Not just for 11 months (January through November 2012) and not just to go to 11 countries (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Nepal, and India). 

I submit every day I have
to follow Jesus
wherever He leads :)