What is woman?

I facilitated my first 5 Aspects Bible study last night. The girls and conversations we had were so enjoyable. I asked some seemingly easy questions to the girls and it was interesting to hear the responses. These "easy" questions were not actually easy. So, here I'm asking you the same and hoping for a response...


What words come to mind when you hear feminine?

Masculine?

What do you think of women as a whole?

What do you think of men as a whole?


When you really think about these questions it's amazing what comes to mind. It's easy to see how sin has destroyed our view of how God intended these to be. It's frustrating to see how Satan uses them against God's children. I'm so looking forward to continuing through the study and am praying that God radically changes these girls' perceptions of themselves, men and other women as it did for me. Would you pray that with me?

Here were words that came to our minds last night about feminine and masculine: (some are positive, some negative, some true, some not)

Feminine:
dresses
pink
graceful
flowers
compassionate
emotional
beauty
high heels
wise
gentle
weak
meek
poised
kind
hospitable
strong
servant
soft
curvey
humble
proud
folly
manipulative
seductive


Masculine:
protective
warrior
strong
proud
attractive
muscular
brave
dominating
passive
stoic
insensitive
authority
stern
working
irresponsible
foolish
clueless
dense
stubborn
controlling
silent

My Last First Day of School

So, it's finally here, I had my last first day of school yesterday. Nothing really exciting happened. It was kind of fun. I actually came out of my classes not completely overwhelmed at the semester. Pretty amazing. It's hard to realize that I have only four more months of formal education. hm. Here comes the real world...

I was trying to think of my goals for the semester and it was hard to come up with some. I'd like to be able to finish well in nursing school but not let it overwhelm my life. I have had the past two years to figure out that balance and I don't think I've come up with anything profound. I'm wanting to look back at school and see that I spent my time well, investing in the lives of nonbelievers as well as in school. I have always thought it would be sweet to look back at school and have no regrets, like wishing I would have studied less and spent time with people more. We'll see. :)

My friends Lori and Dustin are getting married in less than a week!! This is one of the weddings that I have been most excited about. I've been friends with Lori, as well as mentored by her for the past four years which has been a complete joy and honor. And it's been since I first met her that I prayed God would give her a sweet, godly man to pursue her, one that she would be equally interested in. And the cool thing is Dustin is that man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so, so excited to witness them make this lifelong commitment to each other. woohoo! There are no other words to describe my happiness for them. Oh, and Heather and I get to sing together at their wedding which is another treat. I love singing with Heather and that's been kind of difficult with us living in different states these days. Yay for reunions with sweet friends.

oh wedding planning

so, i should be looking for flowers for the wedding right now, comparing prices with different companies but for some odd reason I'm not up for it. :)Instead I'm listening to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole on repeat and reminiscing my trip to Jamaica (In June). One night there was a wedding taking place at the resort next to us and some of the students and I watched it from the 3rd floor of ours. Yes, we uninvited guests to that wedding but it was so fun! The couple walked out after the ceremony to this song. So now for some reason every time I hear this song I think of that couple :).

In case you didn't know I want on a mission trip with my home church to Jamaica for a week with 20 high school students. We helped out with a church, visited orphanages, hung out together and got stuck an extra day in the country. Looking back, it was a really good trip but i wouldn't have said that being in the middle of it. It was a difficult, lonely week for me and yet I met with God like I had never before. And so I can say the week was good because my heart learned truth about God and grew in deeper intimacy with him. God's grace was a big theme of the week and I saw it lived out in the lives of the students and in my life. That was pretty incredible. I also learned how I'm so quick to take back grace that I've given. hmm. By the end of the week I connected with three really sweet girls, which was truly a blessing. Then I had to leave them 3 days later for Tucson. :(

Here, of course, are some pictures from that week!

View from our place

Another view :)

and another

A neighborhood across from the church

The ever popular Bob Marley...he was everywhere!

The orphanage

so, I'm officially engaged to this wonderful man most of you know as Ryan!!!
it's pretty much incredible. :) And then that makes it really,really hard to study for my test in two days! So, here are just some pictures and the details will follow. It's been amazing to see all my friends excitement and support since Saturday. I feel so loved. :)


I was looking for a picture of Ryan and I but I can't find where I put them. oh, dear, I'm losing my mind. Well, for now you can just enjoy this picture.

God in my living, there in my breathing, God in my waking, God in my sleeping, God in my resting, there in my working, God in my thinking, God in my speaking


Be my everything, be my everything, be my everything, be my everything.


God in my hoping, there in my dreaming, God in my watching, God in my waiting, God in my laughing, there in my weeping, God in hurting, God in my healing

Be my everything, be my everything, be my everything, be my everything

Christ in me, Christ in me, Christ in me the hope of glory, you are everything. Christ in me, Christ in me, Christ in me the hope of glory be my everything.

Be my everything, be my everything, be my everything, be my everything.

hmm, life.

I am so bad at updating my blog on a regular basis. it's pretty sad. Well this week I kind of have a break in my classes and I thought that would be a great time to do some updating and organizing. I've re-organized most of my 100 sqft room (no joke, it's that big) and it feels pretty good. I love organizing when I'm in the mood. :) I've also loved hanging out with my roommate, Sarah, listening to songs on repeat. I think we are the queens of repeating songs. We'll do it for hours on end. Ah, to have such a kindred spirited friendship with her! It's wonderful! (Right now we're repeating "I Need You to Love Me" by Barlow Girl and "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong).

I have been going over to Bryce and Susan's house Wednesdays and Saturdays to spend time with the kids and let Bryce and Susan have time to rest, connect with each other, run errands etc. It is a joy and highlight of my week. Sims and Lydie are the MOST ADORABLE children.







I feel so loved by them. Right now Lydia's main topic is pink. Anything and everything pink is her favorites. Sims is green but he's not as fixed as Lydia. :)


I think my favorite part is the hugs, nug-a-wugs, and fisks (kiss) that I get as I leave. They are precious. Lydia told Bryce the other day "Ariel is pretty inside and out"...oh how I hope that is true of my life...that I cultivate a character of beauty.
Would you pray with me for healing and restoration of Susan's body as she continues to face chronic fatigue? Every time I leave their house I am compelled to pray to the Lord for her healing. I don't have any recent pictures of Sims yet but when I get the chance I'll be posting them!


This spring break UofA Navigators went to Colorado Springs to spend a week at the Glen and in the homes of wise and godly men and women. These couples and families spent the week sharing life and the word of God with us. It was pretty amazing. It was a sweet, sweet time of fellowship with friends I had not been able to have much time with. God's hand was all over the week and it was just a blast. There was snow too, which for the Arizonians was a pretty big deal.
The guys decided to show their strength and endurance of the cold during one of our hikes.
The girls decided to do the same...

We had many godly speakers that week ranging from Jim Downing(talking on the word), to Helene Ashker (talking to the women on contentment), to Phyllis Stanley (talking to the women about St. Patrick's day and the Lord as our Shepherd) to Dave Nunke(talking about living a life of evangelism). And I probably just spelled all their names wrong. :/ And to top it off some of us saw Vic Black in Starbucks on Garden of the Gods road...That was a fun surprise!
This is Phyllis Stanley's sweet window seat. Sarah Cook and I loved it!

It was just a sweet time!

Guess who is engaged??!?! The one and only, the beautiful woman who daily shows me how to be a woman who walks with God, the LORI BOWMAN! WooHoo! This has been something I have been praying for her for the last 2.5-3 years. It is sweet to see God answer my prayer (along with all the others who have prayed) with such a godly man as Dustin Butler. It's so fun to be around them in this sweet season of their lives.





I'm realizing this is a super long blog post and so I'll leave you now. I just want you to know that God is so good, so full of blessing and good things to those who love him. I feel this is a season of me seeing and being reminded of God's goodness...

abiding...

so i've decided to change my blog title...why? well this concept of becoming a woman who walks with God/abiding has been on my heart for a while. Two of my favorite people (there are a lot ;)) have talked about: Lori has mentioned it since my freshman year of college and Meaghan loves John 15.

I've been going through a devotional by Cynthia Heald called, Becoming a Woman of Excellence and this last chapter had a section on abiding. Two of the quotes really spoke to me and cultivated a desire in me to really, wholeheartedly live my life abiding in Christ.

"Abiding has been defined as "the continual act of laying aside everything that I might derive from my own wisdom and merit, in order to draw all of this from Christ."

"It needs time to grow into Jesus the Vine; do not expect to abide in Him unless you will give Him that time.... Come, my brethren, and let us day by day set ourselves at his feet, and meditate on this word of His, with an eye fixed on Him alone. Let us set ourselves in quiet trust before Him, waiting to hear His holy voice -- the still small voice that is mightier than the storm that rends the rocks -- breathing its quickening spirit within us, as He speaks: 'Abide in Me.'" -- Andrew Murray

hmm. . . that is the cry of my heart.

the process of sanctification

I've been reading the psalms every morning for several months now and I love how every time I read them I seem to discover something new. They never cease to amaze me. I love to see the psalmists heart for God. Yesterday morning I read this . . .

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!
psalm 141

This was pretty convicting to me. It's been hard for me, especially in high school, to keep a reign on my tongue. It was cool to realize now that God has been in the process of sanctifying me through Jesus and one of the areas has been with the words that I speak. I got even more excited when I realized...He's not done with it either. I love that sanctification is a process and yet sometimes I wish I would just reach that point. The Lord just seems to remind me lately to enjoy the process, enjoy the journey...press on towards the goal but take in the sweetness of the journey to the goal.

This verse also came just after Psalm 139-Search me O God and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is an offensive way and lead me to the way everlasting... As a result my prayer lately has been that God would continue the sanctification process in me and that I'd continue to be transformed...