I don't think I've ever had such an eventful week...

A little over a week ago, I suffered from a slightly bulged disc in my lower back. I woke up and had not been in so much pain since I initially hurt it in high school, 4 years ago. I wish I could put into words the pain I was feeling, but I can't. Needless to say, IT HURT! I called my mom and asked her to ask my chiropractor back at home for a recommendation of another doctor in my area. His college roommate in chiropractic school ends up having a practice 20 minutes down the road! Is God not awesome?! My roommates rushed home after clinicals and drove me to the chiropractor. As I was meeting with him, he looked at my x-rays and explained that I had a slight bulge in one of the discs in my lower back. He said that I would need treatments three times a week for the next month and I was banned from any physical activity (which is kinda inconvenient, considering I'm a fitness major and all...). After explaining all of this mess to my professors (who gladly cooperated with the doctor), I went into treatments believing that the Lord was going to give me a miracle. After 2 visits, the doctor was surprised with how quickly I was recovering. He said that he had never seen anyone bounce back so quickly. I found that extremely encouraging!
I had a meeting I needed to attend for my campus ministry on the power of the Holy Spirit 4 days after my injury. After the meeting was over, my friend Kalyne prayed over me and was believing in complete healing of my back. I went back for another set of week long treatments. Friday rolled around (which was a week and 2 days after my injury) and my doctor completely cleared me from all treatments and I was completely cleared to work out. The doctor told me that it was going to take a month to get back into the swing of things, but God had something much better in mind! I am going back to the gym tomorrow and am looking forward to being with my friends and being active again! I'm also looking forward to being able to participate in labs during class again! God is good! I encourage you to have faith and believe God really can do anything, even if other people think you are crazy!


I think it is safe to say that this weekend was filled with enough excitement to last me through the rest of my college career. First off, it was family weekend! This means my wonderful parents were able to come down and spend the weekend with me! Which means... they feed me, payed to park at football games AND took me grocery shopping... needless to say, I enjoyed being spoiled (maybe a little too much)! :) My roommate, Brittany, joined us at the football game and we had a lot of fun! It was The Pirates first conference game and our first win of the season! We started the season against two tough teams and played well during the first half, then fell a part during the second half. Needless to say, we really needed a win. We kicked off our conference play against UAB and played sloppy, but pulled off a win! Here are some pictures from this weekend:

These two girls are my best friends! 

My parents are my best friends and role models. I would not be the person I am today without them! 

My friend, Tyler, who is wearing the black jacket has been my study partner since sophomore year of college. I remember almost 3 years ago when he started volunteering with Pirate strength and conditioning and finally, after many hours of hard work, he made it onto the field with the strength staff! I'm so happy for him!

A view of half of The Boneyard at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. One of the craziest environments to be in!

Brittany and I braving the rain at the game!

It's crazy thinking that this weekend was my last family weekend as a college student. This time next year I will be living in a new place, working a real job and building a new life. I am excited to see where the Lord will lead me. I know that He has the perfect job in the perfect place picked out for me already! As I continue to pray for guidance on where I should go, I try to remember to thank Him for the job He already has for me. 

One of the things I am trying to stay focused on is the importance of this last year in school. I believe there is a lot that God wants me to accomplish and there are many girls that He wants me to reach out too and share His love with. My heart is that ladies would come to truly know their value and find their entire identity in Christ! 

I've typed a lot, but I've saved the most interesting and eventful story for last. Take a breather and keep reading.... alright, here we go! 

This morning at about 3:30 AM, my roommates dog woke up and started barking. Brittany woke up and heard something beating against our door. She looked through the peep hole and saw a guy coming at our door, trying to kick it in. She came into my room and woke me up and said, "uhh, I think someone is trying to kick our door in." I turned over and got out of bed to go see what was going on. Then I heard a "BANG," up against the door. Surprisingly, my roommate and I were extremely calm. I looked out the peep hole and saw this guy, who was obviously intoxicated, kicking our door and then turning around and doing the same thing to our neighbor's. Then he starts banging on our neighbor's door with his fist screaming, "It's not the same guy, it's someone different...you can open the door now!" Then I begin to start laughing because I have never experienced anything like this before and was having trouble believing it was actually happening. My roommate turns to be and asks if she should open the door and tell him to stop, I looked at her and said "no! He's insane!" He walks back upstairs and so what do I do? I do the exact thing I tell my roommate not to do and open the door. The guy comes running back down the stairs and looks at me, I told him, "dude, please stop." He said "I'm sorry." So I shut the door and he continues to kick our door. 

I attempt to go back to bed because I was fed up with all of this stupidity, but then I hear my neighbors come out of their apartment.

I couldn't believe what happened next...

A guy comes down the stairs with blood running down his face. He got punched in the eye by the out of control dude at a party going on upstairs. Ends up, the guy who was punched was the cousin of one of my neighbors. Two of our neighbors were sitting on the stairs, taking a smoke break and the guy runs down the stairs and proceeds to sucker-punch them both in the face. One guy broke his nose and had blood gushing down his face and the other one suffered a few scratches and bruises on his cheek. Minutes later, 4 police cars and 6 officers show up to handle the situation. I step outside, tell them who to look for and they bust the party upstairs, check on our neighbors and finally get things calmed down. I open our door back up to check on our neighbors, they were shaken up, but seemed okay. One of them had not been drinking and took their cousin (the guy who was punched in the eye) to the hospital. (I just saw him in the breezeway this afternoon, he seems to be alright). We stand their talking to them, getting the facts straight and making sure they are okay.

One of the police officers came down and talked to us... I'm pretty sure it is safe to say that she did not suspect anything out of me and my roommates because we had no make-up on, our hair was a mess and we were in our pajamas :) 

I talked to one of our neighbors this afternoon and he seems to be much better. Nothing like this has ever happened here before, according to my neighbors who have lived here for three years. I really do live in a safe area!

Some people don't party folks... and I can assure you, after witnessing this event, I don't plan on starting to party.

So, yes, this was quite an eventful week! I'm grateful for God healing my back, letting me spend time with my family AND for protecting me and my home! 

Cleansing is good.

Since I own a nutritional cleansing company, every six weeks or so I go through a two day deep nutritional cleanse. Last night I finished up day two. Those two days can sometimes be very challenging. It's funny (okay, not really) how irritable I can get because I am uncomfortable (usually due do to fighting my own will power), out of routine, and experiencing change. After those two days are finished, ultimately my body is a lot healthier! It has gotten rid of many harmful toxins and now my body can function the way it is supposed too.

It is interesting how familiar that scenario I just talked about can relate to my daily walk with Christ.  

Sometimes the Lord has to take us through a "spiritual cleanse," making us a little (sometimes a lot) uncomfortable, but it is only for our benefit. He says He makes ALL things work together for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28). So next time you are going through something that is uncomfortable and you do not quite understand what God is doing- know that He is only developing you into a stronger, healthier person.

We Will Never Forget

One Tuesday morning...

10 years ago today, life in America was changed forever. I still do not understand how someone could have so much hate in their heart to kill thousands of innocent people, simply because of their country. Growing up in a firm foundational Christian family, it hurts my heart knowing that these terrorists do not know the Lord. My heart breaks for all of the husbands who lost their wives, and wives their husbands; for all of the parents who lost children and the children who lost parents. They had no idea that that one Tuesday morning would change the course of history.

Thankfully, I know the One who makes ALL things good, even if they were intended for evil. I know the One who gives strength to the weak. His heart breaks for this great nation. His heart yearns for this nation to turn back to Him, our first love.

Father, forgive the wickedness of this nation. Have mercy on us, Lord. Please, show this nation Your great love. You are the King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, the Beginning and the End. Thank you for Your ultimate sacrifice, so that we (followers of Christ) can live with the ultimate freedom: to be in relationship and spend eternity with You. I know I don't deserve any of it, but You gave it anyway.

Thank You for this country. You could've placed me anywhere in the world, but You put me here. I'm proud to be an American, and am so grateful for all of the men and women that fight so hard to protect this Great Nation.

Comfort each family who was impacted on that tragic Tuesday morning. Let them know that their loved ones died as heroes and will never be forgotten.

Amen.

Becoming Set-Apart

One of these days I'll get this whole "updating in a timely manner deal," but that day is not today... and tomorrow isn't looking good either. :D 

Senior year has begun, which mean I am busier than I have ever been! Thank goodness, I have mastered the art of "staying balanced." I've always dreaded having early morning classes. I had one last year and had a lot of trouble getting enough rest. This year I have been getting to bed early, going to class and then working out. It's been great!

One major thing I've done is vow not to eat out for the entire month of September. My roommate and her fiance came up with idea and I decided to join in. It's been a little difficult, because it is one of my favorite things to do. My mommy says I'm high maintenance when it comes to food and I completely agree. It has been so much fun cooking different meals, and I have completely control over what it going into my food... makes it nice and healthy! :)

On a serious note, I started reading a book (I know, shocking). This time it's not a crazy awesome Jesus fictional love story, instead it's a challenging book. 

Leslie Ludy is a christian author who writes books geared towards challenging girls and women to become the Godly women God has set them out to be. I started reading, "Set Apart Femininity" about 3-4 weeks ago. Sadly, I'm only in the middle of chapter 3. There is so much to chew on and think about. I don't think I've been challenged this much spiritually. After going to Harvest Institute, I realize that the calling on my life is high. The Lord has put a desire in my heart to show women what is means to be a true woman. There is so much more to being set-apart than I thought. The book started out talking about the Proverbs 31 woman... a woman that so many women today feel like is unachievable. I'll have to type the whole commentary on it soon, but today I don't have the time. Something that I had never really thought about before (it actually came up during Harvest Institute, but I didn't think about it until I started reading) is that the Proverbs 31 woman did not become that way overnight or when she got married. A Proverbs 31 woman develops throughout a lifetime. It's always a work in progress. I feel like so many girls today (I felt this way once) feel like that are inadequate or unimportant until they become married. Now that I think about it, that's so silly. God has so many things that He wants to do in your life as a single lady. Instead of praying for the right person, become the right person! Let God do what He wants to do in You. I promise, the life He has set out for you is better than anything you have planned or can imagine. Trust Him! He loves you and works everything out for good! 

On a different note... Football season has begun!!!!! 

Not just football... Pirate football! :)

We took on South Carolina last weekend in Bank of America Stadium (home of my favorite NFL team, The Carolina Panthers). It was an exciting game and I thought that we had them during the first half of the game. Unfortunately, we did not come out with a win, but it was a great game! My friend, Daniel Drake, got his first career start as a pirate. It was a very exciting day! He's a linebacker and his hits are almost as big as his love for Jesus (which is waaaayyy big). After a lot of prayer and hard work, it was great seeing him take the field... and because God is amazing, He threw in the honor of receiving scout.com's player of the game! Yay!

It was great to kick off football season with the people I love most! I have the best family, but I hate that my little sister couldn't join us! She's a little young for football games, but one day I will take her to a Pirate football game! 

A first career start deserves a bright neon yellow poster amongst all of the Gamecock fans. Good times!

I love my Pirates! :)

I'd have to say it's been a great start to what I know will be a wonderful school year! God has huge things in store and I am so excited to see all that He wants to teach me!

Just thinking...

"Godly sorrow is not defined by tears or outward displays of contrition. Rather, it's a change of heart resulting in complete agreement with God over the matter." -Beth Moore

I'm not exactly sure why this quote struck a chord in me, but it did. I believe sometimes it can be easy to cry over an issue, convince yourself that you are over it and finally sweep it under the rug as if it never happened.
Sometimes a change of heart can take longer than a night of crying,  a week of sorrow or a month of fighting to become stronger.

My prayer is that you will be able to trust the Lord when you are having a hard time letting go of something. I pray that you will take time to deal with the issue instead of having an emotional block by convincing yourself that the problem is gone. It's important that not only the issue be resolved, but that the root of the issue is identified and dealt with between you (and the other party, if needed) and Jesus.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!" -Psalm 139:23

Harvest Institute

Last week I was able to attend a week long student leadership school. It was meant to equip student leaders to go out on the college campus and spread the Gospel, and to make a plan on how to make your campus ministry thrive. I was happy to be there with 10 fellow student leaders from ECU. I, personally, was not ready to go when I first arrived. Like I've said in previous posts, I've really been struggling with hearing from the Lord. I figured that going to this may help... and it did. I went almost all week, pressing into what God may have to say, and I started to get discouraged because I was getting nothing. Then Thursday came along and it hit me like a ton of bricks. The Lord spoke to me clearly for the first time in what seems like weeks. "I have not forgotten about you, I've been here the whole time, I'm simply preparing something new and better for you." Okay, cool. Sounds good to me! That's all I heard that day, but I will take it! The next day I was prayed over by 4 different people and they all spoke powerful prophetic words over me. I almost had them stop because I couldn't stop crying due to being overwhelmed from all that they were saying. It was a powerful day and I have heard the Lord speaking to me everyday since. Sometimes we do not understand why we go through the things we go through until we've walked through them completely. I look back on these last few years, especially my college years, and now I completely and fully understand why I walked through every single thing that I did. Some things were intended for evil, but God made them for good. Isn't great how He does that?

I also had the honor of going out and doing prayer evangelism on Duke University's campus. I had never been there before. The campus is beautiful! They have a lot of international students there, so it's really neat to talk to them and listen to their different experiences and perspectives. One thing I did notice about Duke is that many people there are lost. Prayer evangelism simply involves you going up and asking someone if you can pray for them. It eventually leads to hopefully being able to share the Gospel with them. Our group went on two different days. My friend Lauren and I partnered up and set out to pray for people. We got the opportunity to pray and talk to many different kinds of people, but I was believing for someone to not only hear the Gospel, but to accept it. Finally, on the last day of outreach, we ran into a lady named Sashlee. At first she didn't want us to pray for her, but then Reggie (Duke's campus minister) stopped her and she eventually started talking to us. I would say that we stood there talking to her for about 10-15 minutes. She was pregnant and is going to have a little girl on October 4. We presented the Gospel to her and she prayed to accept Jesus as her Savior! Talk about a glorious day of Duke's campus! It was amazing to watch a girl I had never met before to accept Jesus. All it took was stepping out on faith and caring enough about a stranger to share the Gospel with her. I'm so grateful that Reggie stopped her and encouraged us to talk with her. I'm also extremely happy that he was there to help us walk her through it!

A verse, well a chapter really, that was prayed over me last week was Romans 12. It talks about many different things, but it starts off by talking about presenting yourself as a living sacrifice, Holy and pleasing to the Lord. I've been dwelling on this chapter all week. I can't even guess how many times I have read this chapter throughout my life, but it has new meaning to me. I feel as though my purpose has been renewed. It's funny how I can go back, read verses that I've known my entire life and get something completely new out of them! I encourage you to do that, don't push a verse or a book of the Bible aside just because you've "simply read it." Go read it again and see if there's any new meaning to you.
A lot of the time, the Lord likes to teach us through the things that we know best. :)

Another great thing that happened was I grew much closer to a dear friend of mine. I now consider her a sister. Merrin and I went to the same high school, but she was a year younger. We weren't friends then, but she ended up coming to the same college as me and we started hanging out. She embarked on the Harvest Institute journey with me and I honestly feel like God sent her to ECU for a reason. He does all things for a reason. She loves the Lord and has radically encountered God over this last year. I am so proud to call her my sister in Christ and one of my best friends! I love how God can bring things from our past that we did not think were significant (like Merrin being my acquaintance in high school) and turns it around for His glory. This is a God centered, heart to heart friendship. Many people go a lifetime without them. I am so grateful for Him putting a wonderful friend like her in my life! This year is going to be great!

This week was powerful! No, I didn't get any exercise and I didn't eat very good, but you know what... I had an encounter with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Nothing is greater than that!

So much has happened!

Okay, I haven't updated in what seems like forever.
Gosh, if I had a quarter for every time I said that...

ANYWAY...
This summer has been jammed packed! I will never complain about my work load during the fall and spring semesters again...EVER! God was gracious to me, though, giving me the strength to get all of the work done on time! The last week of the last summer session was extremely intense. I had 1 exam, 1 exercise prescription project, 1 practicum final and 2 final exams. If it were not for the Lord giving me a supernatural way to focus, I honestly do not think that I could have made it through. The good thing is, I did make it and am satisfied with all of my grades this summer! I officially began summer break this past Saturday! I've been going non-stop this week, but that's okay because I am home with my family!

Tomorrow I head off to Harvest Institute, which is an ministry intensive training school. It's a week long and I am looking forward to all that God has in store for me and all of the other students going! I am believing for God to move powerfully and mightily in my life! I am in much need of it! "Ask and it will be given to you..." I am asking for God to radically rock my world this week, filling my heart with a burning passion for Him and to spread His love in the way I was made to spread it.

Speaking of being made to spread His love...
     I am pretty much convinced that God is beginning to open doors for what He has for me. At least in the near future. You know, things change, and I'm cool with that! Here's why:
1. I passed the AFAA National Personal Trainer's Practicum and Exam!! WAHOO!!! I am officially a nationally certified personal trainer and am grateful for this opportunity to help people change their lives!
2. I have discovered that I am very good at explaining exercise terms, techniques and prescriptions to people. This is a blessing, because it is WAY harder than you would think! I have had a blast learning different ways to help people and test people's fitness levels based on their needs!
3. I have always thought about getting another degree in business, or at least minoring in it. I just have not felt like it is something that I have needed or wanted to do. A few weeks ago, I was presented with an opportunity to try a newly released nutritional cleanse program. To my surprise (seriously, I was surprised! I am so skeptical about these things), I got amazing results and so have other people that I know! So I can say that I am proudly building my own nutritional cleansing business along with this major company. If you want details, email me! meltons09@gmail.com
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This summer, amongst all of my busy-ness, I have once again caught up on some much needed reading! Karen Kingsbury is my all-time favorite author! The first book I ever read by her was "Take 1" from the Above the Line Series. I immediately fell in love with her writing! Since then, I have read that entire series, Unlocked, The Redemption Series, am currently working on The First Born Series and am waiting on the next book in the Bailey Flanigan Series. I wish I had more time to read! Hopefully I'll have time to finish at least two more before heading back to school for the fall!!
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Now for an extremely important topic! It could possibly be the most exciting part of this post...

Okay, it is the most exciting part of this post.

That's right! The wedding of the century!! 

My cousin, Emily, who is one of the most precious people I know, said "I do," to her sweet man, Tim! 

(There were a lot of commas in that sentence, most of them were probably not placed correctly... act like you don't notice)! 

I was honored to be chosen as a bridesmaid for this unforgettable event! It was by far the most precious wedding I have ever been too (no offense to you, if I attended your wedding and you're reading this blog, I just love weddings)!

Here are some photos from their big day:

Emily and Tim chose to do a first look. The wedding party accidentally showed up a bit too early, so we watched from the car. There was a bunch of "awww, that's so sweet," from the Bridesmaid's vehicle!

speakin' of Bridesmaids...

What a good lookin' group! Seriously, Emily picked the perfect bridesmaids. Each lady has her own individual personality that made Emily and Tim's big day so much fun!

Pranee takes great photos! Check her out on facebook! Beauty for Ashes Photography

There's no party without the infamous "great aunts!" 

One thing I especially loved about this wedding was during communion, the parents of the bride and groom came up and prayed over them. I had never seen it done in a wedding before, but it was special!

What's a wedding with the THE kiss?!

The beautiful bride and handsome groom! What an elegant picture :)

Then it was time to dance! Btw, Tim had some amazing moves to his specially requested song, "Party Like a Rock Star!"

Tim is obsessed with "The Simpsons," so this was the perfect grooms cake!

They left the reception through a line of sparklers! It was quite smokey... but the good news is, it turned out great AND no one caught on fire! :)

This is definitely one of my favorites!!

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Bullock :)