Just in case you wanted to know...

What I've been up to...read along!
1. I've been busy planning the PINK! Young Women's Leadership Conference! I know you haven't heard much about this, and perhaps I should devote an entire post to it...but for now, here's a tidbit. It's a conference hosted by my school, put on by my non-profit targeted towards girls in grades 6-12.

What I envisioned as an audience of 50-100...maybe 200, has quickly grown to 500!!! Humbling to say the least! It's in April by the way, and I'm hoping to catch you up to speed before then!

2. Doing projects for my principal as an intern.

3. Schoolwork...yuck!

4. Cheer practice...when will it end?!

5. Traveling

6. Preparing to present at the AP Conference in Philly next month. About that: I seriously DO NOT belong in a league with the other presenters. So unqualified...pray for me!

7. Answering phone calls from my cousin using the Tango app...she's obssessed, and apparently she thinks I'm cool because she calls almost daily...but it's so cute!

8. Pre-planning for Malitta's bridal shower and bachelorette part in NOLA!

9. Eating tuna and taco soup...LOL!

10. Cutting back on sweet tea.

11. Working on holding my tongue...this is SO hard!

12. Getting excited about the warmer temps! Cut sandals and wedges, skirts and dresses, and a really great tan!

13. Balancing my life a little more. I'm still working hard on this one because I am really SO busy. I know I say that a lot, and I actually thrive off of the busyness, but a little lull would be nice!

So...now you know what I know!!!

The Real Thing

It is no secret my love for iced tea! I could drink it all day, everyday if my kidneys could keep up. The problem is...it's not good for my weight loss plan..but I digress!

Earlier this week, I was out to dinner with my friend Kim, and I decided to treat myself by ordering a glass of iced tea. I was SO excited because I have cut WAAAAY back on my iced tea consumption. I'd like to take a moment to explain to you what iced tea does for me...

It's like my coffee, my soothing drink, my stress reliever. If I am having an especially rough day...iced tea will most likely calm my nerves...it's my happy place! (OK, now that I sound like a COMPLETE psycho...I'll get to the point!)

So, back to Monday night. Our waitress Candace, don't ask me why I remember her name, brought me my drink, and I immediately took a sip. I couldn't wait. However, it wasn't sweet enough. (Disclaimer: I don't like SUPER sweet tea, but I do like for it to be sweet)

Needless to say, I was so disappointed. I quickly told Kim, kind of under my breath that it wasn't sweet enough, but I wasn't going to send it back....I had decided to just deal with it. Well, Candance overheard and offered to bring me another glass. I thought nothing of it.

Now, I've had this happen before, so I didn't think that this new glass would be any sweeter...so you know what I did? I'm still working on my patience, so I took two packets of Splenda, and tried to 'make it work!' It didn't.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. It had that artificially sweetened taste, and it wasn't what I knew it could be.

However, Candace was true to her word, and brought me another glass, and you know what my exact words to Kim were after taking that sip??? "This was SO worth the wait!" Yep! That's what I said...OK, here comes my point!

In that moment that I spoke those 6 little words to Kim, I heard clear as day God say to me that my season of singleness will be worth the wait...IF I don't settle for an artificial sweetener! WOW right?!

Talk about a punch to the gut. I've never shared this on the 'ole blog, but I went through a season where I settled for a Splenda kind of guy. He wasn't bad (really he was, but I didn't know it at the time), but he wasn't good. He wasn't the real thing...not at all!

Do you know what the definition of artificial is?: made by human skill; produced by humans (opposed to natural)

Do you see that? Can you see what happens when we make our own way? When we try to produce what God so desperately wants to give us for ourselves? I don't know about you, but I'd take natural, God made, and HIS design for my life ANY day than ANYTHING that I can conjure up on my own!

So, I hope this little nugget inspires you to seek the right...and walk in truth!! Don't settle for the artificial when you can have the real thing. It really opened my eyes about how subconsciously I may have been settling and not waiting for everything I am entitled to!

'How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!' Psalm 119:103

**I promise all of my posts won't cover this topic...but I promised Kim I would blog about it!