Really McKenzie?

Do you ever have those moments when you get so worked up over something and then you step back and just think really (insert name here)? Well this week Meagan and I have been on spring break so we have been in Dallas spending time with our grandparents. We left Monday after Meagan's dentist appointment and my prom dress that I have been waiting on for like a month finally got here... Since we had already left town I had Lindsey bring it to me when she met up with us yesterday. I ordered this dress offline from a place I had never heard of before. Needless to say the dress was not the right size so it didn't fit. I cried and freaked out, then cried and freaked out some more. I might not be able to return the dress because the company isn't in the states so I have been very stressed out! But last night I was thinking to myself while I was trying to fall asleep... "Really McKenzie? There are people that are sick, that live in a third world country and are being abducted right now, and some that can't even afford to go to something as stupid as the prom and I am here feeling so sorry for myself. I mean yes the dress did cost money that we could really use back, and yes I did make a huge mistake, and maybe my parents are going to be upset, but my "problem" is SO SO much smaller than what A LOT of people in the world are going through right now!" I went to H&M today and found a dress that isn't really "promish" but while I was in line I was thinking "WHY DOES IT EVEN MATTER!! I can make it work and IT'S MY SENIOR YEAR... I DO WHAT I WANT!" So you know what... I'm going to own it and make it work and I am so excited! Now if I can just get rid of this other dress! So thank you H&M for having my back as usual, and thank you Father for this life lesson of not ordering dresses from places you don't know about!

My Life The Past Few Days...

This week in English class we were given our assignment for the rest of the school year... Our senior scrapbook! I am a secret scrapper at heart so I am TOTALLY stoked for this! We have to write 10 short essays and turn one in every friday until the last week of school (which means there are only TEN WEEKS UNTIL I GRADUATE)!! My first essay is due tomorrow and it was about family... If you know me you also know that I have a pretty big family! So I just wrote about my mom and dad, sisters, and grandparents (sorry cousins, aunts, and uncles... I am sure you will make an appearance soon enough!) anyways so I wrote a 750 word essay about my family! I talked about how they have helped shape me to be the person I am today and stuff like that... But in the part about my sisters I wrote how we really I mean REALLY enjoy going to concerts... I quoted Lindsey in the paper because a few weeks ago when we went to see The Civil Wars she said "some people go bowling, some to the movies, we go to concerts." That is SO true! We are almost as addicted to going to concerts as I am to buying TOMS! Anyways we had the privilege of going to see Ben Rector last week and as usual it was AMAZING! He opened for some band called needtobreathe... To be honest none of us (Lindsey, Meagan, Tanner, and I) had ever heard of them, anyways Ben sang some songs from his most current album and then for his last song he always does a cover song... As many of you know, the AMAZING Whitney Houston passed away last week, and when he got ready to do his last song he said "This is a Whitney Houston cover song... is it too soon?" Of course we all said NO!! So he sang it! I must admit that really the only Whitney songs I knew were from the Preacher's wife soundtrack, but he sand "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and I only know the chorus to that song... but let me tell you IT WAS AMAZING!! We were all dancing and singing our lungs out! If you get the chance go look it up on youtube because if you need a song to blast and dance to, that is totally the one! I am really proud of him! I wrote about several other things in this paper, but that was probably my most favorite part! Here are a few pictures of the Ben concert! I hope you enjoy!

School And Rainy Days...

Well today there are 187 kids on a field trip, and it's raining so what does this mean for those of us at school? It means that we do nothing but sit in class and play on our iPhones, iPads ect... Today in BIM class (yes I am in a freshman computer class... Let's just say I prefer procrastination), I was listening to music and talking to my teacher and the girl that sits at my table with me! She is a freshman and I just LOVE her! My sophomore yeari hated freshman, I mean most of us are always like "freshman are weird and annoying!" but for some reason that I am thankful for this year (my senior year) I finally realized something. Even though it took the whole first semester and some of the second, today I realize that freshman are just helpless, confused, and scared about being in high school kind of kids. This girl ran cross country with me, and let me tell you she is crazy sometimes, but there is NEVER a dull moment with her and I love it! We have started becoming pretty good friends and I was thinking today that maybe The Father was trying to show me that he put this girl in my life to be an example, someone for her to look up to ya know? If I was a freshman all over again I would totally look for someone that I could look up to because even though I have some of the best sisters in the whole wide world, it would have been nice to have someone at school to look up too for sure! So that's just what I learned this morning! I hope everyone out there has a warm, fun, and safe rainy Wednesday!

And The Next Chapter Begins... Well Almost!

Hello friends! I just wanted to take some time and share some of the exciting news I received the other day! I GOT ACCEPTED TO OKLAHOMA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY!!! As many of you know I will be graduating in SEVENTEEN WEEKS!!! I am extremely excited about that, and also about the doors that The Father has opened up! I applied for The University of Oklahoma first with the intent of going there! I was determined and NO ONE could change my mind! Then one day I was talking to one of my BEST friends Benjamin and he was telling me that he applied, and got accepted to OBU... He asked me if I had considered applying and I told him well not really, but then being the great best friend that he is, he talked me into it! I filled out the application and then the wait started! You might also know that you have to take the ACT or SAT to get into most colleges. Well I had already taken the ACT(which I did HORRIBLE on) and the SAT both once... I waited and waited before I finally had my SAT scores sent to OBU. They got them the week we got out for Christmas break. I knew that I wouldn't hear back until after break and I was okay with that. But then I got restless I mean it's COLLEGE PEOPLE! It's like waiting to hear if you passed the TAKS test, but ten times worse! So finally I started talking to one of the BEST cousins in the world who also goes to OBU and he told me to call them and ask when school started back! Right after I was done talking to him I got an email from my wonderful admissions councilor saying that he was loading my scores into my account and when that was done I would be accepted! I couldn't believe it! I went to my english teacher(who is also our college councilor) and I made her read the email to make sure I was reading it right! Sure enough I was! Then later that day I received a phone call from my admissions councilor telling me that I had officially been accepted! I should get the actual letter sometime this week... Pictures to follow! So now I will begin the long and tedious process of housing applications, class schedule, ect. I couldn't be more happy about this next step in my life! I feel like a weight has truly been lifted! Now if the next seventeen weeks will just hurry up then things will become more real!

Now for another quick story! I was looking at the OBU website the other night trying to find on-campus jobs for next year... I didn't actually find where they are, but I did find an application to work for Falls Creek camp in Davis Oklahoma... I have attended this camp several times and I LOVE it! We also have some great family friends that work there every summer! I figured for a job like that you would probably of had to at least completed a year of college, but you just have to be eighteen which I will be exactly a week before graduation! So I applied! I had the chance to talk to one of our friends about it the other night and he gave me some great insight on what the process is and what it's like to work there! I will go for an interview on the 21st of January, and then should hear back pretty quick after that! I am SO stoked to see if this is something I will have the pleasure of getting the chance to do! I would totally appreciate the prayers as I figure out the whole situation!

Well I do believe that's all for now! I hope everyone has a great new year! Thanks for reading:)

-MLB

Oh Senior Year...

So I have heard people say "Don't wish your life away!" and "Oh your senior will fly by!" and at first I was like oh they are just saying that... But I just realized they know what they are talking about! The first six weeks of my senior year are already over which means with only have eleven weeks until the first semester is OVER! I can't believe it!! I have realized a lot of things these past few weeks as I have been trying to just take it all in. I realized that I don't know a lot of the people that I have passed in the halls these last few weeks. Today I realized that when my foreign exchange friend leaves I will probably never see her again and I started to cry! And then tonight I was looking for pictures to put in the year book and it took me back to the days when i was really little! But the weird thing is all of these days seem like they were just yesterday! I also realized tonight that it is hard talking to kids... I had to share about my trip to Honduras with the Awana kids and it was SO hard! I had to explain SO MUCH to them because I forget they don't know what words like "testimony" mean! Tonight I also learned that Father has blessed me with some amazing friends that mean the world to me and that I will really miss when we graduate. My friend Jeremy went with me to brookshires because we both had to get gas and he put the gas in for me! We have had some great conversations these past few years and sometimes I forget how blessed I am to have friends like him! I guess my whole point in sharing this is that we need to take more time to stop and enjoy the present instead of waiting around for the future! So that's about all haha

New Friends, New Faces...

Well this week I started my senior year of high school!! I thought this day would NEVER come!! I started the day Monday walking into the door with an attitude of " I don't like school and I just can't wait for this year to be over with!" But as the week went on I began to make new friends, and meet knew people! My classes are pretty easy as well which helps! One of the girls I have become pretty good friends with is Anna Eliasson. Anna is a foreign exchange student from Sweden! I have spent much time talking with her and learning about her country! I told her the first day of school that she was living my dream and she laughed! Last night Anna, Minta, Lori, and I along with Minta's family went to eat at Texas Roadhouse for Minta's 18th birthday... Then we took Anna to Orange Leaf and to see The Help. I think at first Anna was a bit overwhelmed, but I think she had a good time overall! I knew that sometimes exchange students come to our school, but it really isn't a common thing. The fact that Anna is here just makes my heart SO happy. The new friendship and chances to show someone how wonderful The States are is so exciting to me. On Wednesday my Economics teacher was in the office and I was making copies (I am the office aid)... She came up to me and said " Thank you so much for befriending Anna. I was worried the first day that maybe she wouldn't make many good friends, but I am happy and I trust that you will show her the best of America!" I have always heard people say "Even when you think no one is watching, someone will always be looking." And now I find this statement true. I had no idea that anyone had even seen us together but I guess I was wrong. I can't wait to go on many more adventures this year with Anna! I am eager to continue learning about her country as well! I also ask that The Father would make great conversation between the two of us! I will keep ya'll posted!

Who Knew...

Since I have been in Honduras with the Hopkins family I have seen and learned many things that I have never experienced in my life... One thing is being around a nine and six year old that have pretty much become like my little brother and sister. I must say that even though I have grown to love Emma and Tyler, I am very thankful that God blessed me with being the youngest because I'm not so sure I would have been able to handle being the oldest (props to Sissy and Meagy... Thank you for putting up with me for all of these years and I'm sorry for every time I've been annoying and thrown a fit!! I love ya'll!!) And also something I learned tonight is that moving around a lot (although I thought it would never come in handy) definitely does! We got in the car tonight to go to church and Tyler was crying... I asked him what was wrong and he said that he didn't like moving because he was scared. I told him that I have moved A LOT and although it is hard at first, once you make friends it is fun! I also told him that even though I have moved a lot and have friends all over I will never be able to say that I lived in Honduras and have great friends here which is a pretty cool thing to be able to tell people! We talked for a little bit longer and then he gave me a hug and said thanks for being such a big help! Coming from a nine year old boy that means a lot! So Momma and Daddy even though I have cried and been upset and not understood why we have moved so much, tonight God showed me that maybe it was so I could help a little nine year old boy realize how important it is to listen to him and go where he calls you to go! So thank you!

Love Always,
McKenzie Lane Brown