Life Lately!

My does the time fly by. The last time I updated this blog was in March ....I seriously only thought it was a few weeks ago. Needless to say there has been so much going on that it will take me a while to catch up the world on the life of LALA! I will try to give the CLIFF NOTES version!

First of all I GRADUATED from THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA!!!

and these 2 people could not be happier! Their checkbook finally gets a break!

She read through the whole thing....but she is a BIG part of this Woman's life and who I am today!

I also started working the Monday after I graduated with Sealy Realty in Tuscaloosa! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job and I am so BLESSED to have it!

I took a trip with a few of my girls to Atlanta for the 4th of July! We just wanted to get out of Tuscaloosa for a few days. The original plan was to go to Chicago and then my car was flooded in a rain storm here is Tuscaloosa. Crazy huh? It's ok everything happens for a reason....or at least I am telling my self that everytime I try to make a turn in my dad's work truck. I have not mastered the "don't hit the curb" part!

Land of the Brave and Home of the Free...Thank you Military for all that you do for us!

Nothing like a little 3-D FIFA Movie..and we don't even really like soccer.

Yes she is my roommate, one of my best friends, but most importantly she is my sister in Christ and I am blessed to have her as a part of my life!

So I guess the most EXCITING things that have been going on in my life are with my Church! As many of you know I have been attending Church of The Highlands for some time now. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Church, Church Family, and everything about it! I think if you ever find a home in a Church that you are always challenged, can grow spiritually, and have a family that you can go to with anything then you have accomplished something that will forever change your life. With all that said I am PROUD to say that for the first time in my life I am a MEMBER of a Church Family. I became a member on Father's day June 20th. I am so EXCITED about this and the impact that it is going to have on my life!

http://www.churchofthehighlands.com/

Check it out..you can also watch sermons online!

Also this summer for the first time I went to a small group that I was not leading. I LOVE leading small groups because you have the chance to talk and pour into others like never before. Well this summer I decided to just attend and not lead. I am so happy with my decision. It is a group of 8 AMAZING women and we are reading the Beth Moore book "So Long Insecurity You Have Been A Bad Friend To Us." Let me tell you YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK! I am amazed more and more with EVERY page that I turn. Even more it is so amazing to me that 8 women who don't know each other can come together through Christ and open up about things you would not even tell your best friend. This small group is healing women and setting them free from baggage and insecurities that they have been holding onto for years.

With this said the Lord is opening up my eyes to things that I have known my entire life. However, he is showing me that more and more I settle for things that he did not even intend to be a part of my life. Yes, it hurts to let go of these things but if it is not of the Lord then I don't need it in my life anyway. Many of my insecurities are obviously involved with men but there are many other things that I am seeing through this book that I need to work on. Funny Paster Chris said to us today in Church that in order to start the process of getting close to God we must ask him to SHOW ME....Show us who we really are so that we can begin working on the things in our life that need to be removed. Not only do we have to work on the problems we have to LET GOD tell us what to do to work on...not just us try to fix the problems on our own. That is the problem to begin with. We try to fix all the things in our life instead of let the Lord work on them.

Throughout this message the thoughts going through my head were "TRUST ME, DON'T DOUBT ME...TRUST ME AND I WILL DO THINGS THROUGH YOU AND IN YOU THAT YOU NEVER IMAGINED" I am ready God... SHOW ME ....USE ME....and LET ME TRUST YOU WITH EVERY OUNCE OF MY BEING!

As you can probably tell I am so excited about the things taking place in my life. I have been going through a dry spell I guess you could say in my relationship with Christ. Not that I stopped loving him and wanting to have a relationship with HIM. Just it was hard for me to open my Bible, and hard for me to do the things I know help build my relationship. Well I think its over and I am so excited about it. Satan will always try to pull us down with BAGGAGE and INSECURITIES. MY GOD IS BIGGER than he is. THE ENEMY HAS BEEN DEFEATED and I am SECURE in my FATHER!

Until next time and I can PROMISE it will not be this long EVER again.....Try Trusting in the Lord....He has BIG BIG plans for each and every one of us!

Blesses Beyond What I Deserve,

Lara Ellen

Perfect Podcast

So It's Spring Break and I'm in Butler sick as a dog. However, as miserable as I am I would not have it any other way. I've been dealing with a lot of relationship issues as you can tell from the past couple of blogs. Nothing bad just dealing with what God would want for me and trying to make wise decisions for my life. Well my dear friend Abby.... who had no clue about this situation....not because I did not want her to know but because a long time ago Matt Pitt was preaching about relationships and he said sometimes we just need to keep things locked up in our heart and not tell everyone well that sermon spoke volumes to me...so that is what I was doing by not telling her. Trust me my four girls are the ones that know everything about me and I depend on them for all forms of advice. Anyway Abby read my blog and if any of you read my profile on her you will remember that I said she will tell you straight up no matter what ...well she sent me a text and all it said was " I read your blog and I think you should go listen to a series called "Bringing Sexy Back" by Steven Furtick...it has really helped me and how I view relationships and I think it would be great for you."

Well leave it to Abby to say the PERFECT thing at the PERFECT time. Sometimes I liten to Abby with all this information she can spout out and Im thinking when does she have time to find this sports article or this sermon...But I am so glad she does!! If you can't tell I have AMAZING friends.....Amy tells me to PRAY, Abby text and does not question me first she just tells me a website to go to. Paige of course just says I Hate Men with you hahahah! LOVE IT!

So back to this series called "Bringing Sexy Back" you need to listen to it! I'm only on part 2 but I'm addicted to it. Let me just give you one little snip it from the notes I took and it will ROCK

YOUR WORLD!!

He is using Eph 5: 22-33 which talks about how husbands and wives should be to each other. I've read these verses a million times and have never viewed it like this.

"Ladies find a man you can submit too like this verse is talking about and settle for nothing less, Men be a man who is so like Jesus that you are worth being submitted too, Ladies be a woman who is worth loving as Christ loved the Church, Men accept nothing less than a woman who you would be willing to die for because of her character not just how she looks in a bathing suit"

How AMAZING are those words. If you took only that part of the sermon alone and really studied it, it will make you long for something so much more than just an ordinary relationship. It will make you LONG for a man/woman of God and it will challenge you to be a better Christian man/woman of God.

I hope and Pray that I am a woman so in LOVE with Jesus that my future husband always sees Christ through me, and then I hope that he is so in Love with Jesus that he is worthy of being submitted to and loves me like Christ loved the Church. A relationship that solid could never be torn apart by the world that we live in. I want nothing more than to the woman that Christ created me to be. If I strive for that each and every day there is no where to go but up and the things that He will have in store for my life are beyond my imagination!!!!

I encourage you to go to www.elevationchurch.com go to the series tab and search "Bringing Sexy Back" it will challenge you in so many ways. It is also a podcast on Itunes if you would like to check it out there. I can't wait to continue watching more of the series that are offered.

Spring Break may be a time of sickness but it has defiantly been a time of healing as well! Can't wait for what God has in store!

The Answer Is Simple

I know I am WAY behind on my blog....Ya'll will have to hang in there with me as I am about to graduate in MAY and school is killing me. I will be putting a friend up ASAP but currently there is something I really need to write about to get it off my chest. I have found that blogging is the best way to say what I want to say with no interruptions from anything around me. I don't hold back and I love the way that feels.

First of all I want to say that I am incredibly BLESSED to have a loving roommate who not only puts up with my mess, is one of my VERY BEST FRIENDS, but is also more than just a friend she is my sister in Christ and can give me wonderful guidance in any situation. When she gives me guidance I know it is really from her heart and that she would not tell me anything that would lead me in the wrong direction. I hope she can say all the same about me ...ughhh minus that mess thing...she really is not messy at all so I don't have to put up with anything!

With that said I have been talking with her for about a month now about a situation and how I should handle it. Like the relationship pro that she is ...she says PRAY about it. That should be common sense for all of us but the answer I had for her was not what it should have been...I already did that....my answer was I'm scared to Pray about it because I don't really know if I'm ready for the answer. This may sound crazy to you up until now but I have been hung up on a really really not good for me guy for a while now. We are great friends and that is EXACTLY how it needs to be. Needless to say I have been looking forward to having a really nice, Christian man come into the picture ...well Ive been waiting on that since I was 12 so....I guess JC is trying to tell me to quit doing this thing on my own and let him do a little work....because so far NO GOOD!!

Well out of No Where ..well somewhere...comes a really great guy. He has many of the characteristics that I am looking for in a man, loves me for me(which by the way is very important to me), puts up with me always shooting him down(because I don't trust men), is caring, soft hearted, would give me the world right now if I would let him, but most of all He LOVES the Lord(this is WAY, WAY important)!! So I am sure all of you are saying why is there any question here about what you should do...well there are a lot of questions for me. I have been done wrong by many guys throughout the years and that will damage a person no matter what you guys out there think. Past relationships cause a lot of pain on the next guy in line which is not fair ..they did nothing wrong. However, the aftermath of the cheating, lying, and talking down the guy ahead of him did is what turned me into the woman I am now when it comes to men. This is where that praying and asking for God's guidance comes in. I need to Pray and ask the Lord to show me what way he would have me go, ask Him to show me if I need to let my guard down, and I need Him to show me all the areas of this mans life that I need to know about in more detail.

This leads to the next issue. There are things about all of us that need work and improvement. I have many faults and they need to be addressed. However, have you ever noticed it is much easier to point out someone else's issues than your own. Well I am doing that to this man....I have found many things that I question about his past, what could possible lead to his future, and so on. I think it is a good thing to want to know everything about someone but at the same time it makes you question so much more. Many friends have told me that I am just scared and looking for a way out of finally having someone good pop up....I really don't think this is the case. I have been praying for the man that God has out there for me since I was 12 years old. I know that he is out there and I can't wait to meet him ...I will say that it is going to be hard to open up and trust again but I'm looking forward to it. I don't want to push someone away by trying to find things wrong with him but I want to be certain that I am not setting myself up for failure again. ONCE AGAIN....here is where that Prayer thing comes into play....If I would just stop and Pray about it I'm pretty sure I would get some answers I need. God only wants the best for us...He would never want me worrying over this or my future.

Needless to say I am by no means thinking I have met the man of my dreams....if it turns out that way GREAT if not I have one pretty amazing friend. The whole point of me sharing to the world my personal life is that we need to PRAY about everything. Its the simple answer but so many times we are scared of what the outcome may be good or bad. If spending some one on one time with JESUS talking to Him about all of our problems would take away hours of worry and bring us closer to Him ...why do we avoid doing it?? This is a challenge to myself and to you readers take some time out of your day and talk to JESUS he is waiting with an open ear and He wants to help us out. I possibly could have had my answer a month ago instead of all this stress but I will never know because Ive been scared of the outcome of my time with HIM. No longer am I putting my Prayer life on hold. Thanks for the most SIMPLE answer you could have ever given me AMY.....its PERFECT.....PRAYER is the answer to everything!!

Hope this was not too much of a jumbled up mess and I hope someone can get something out of it. We were created to Worship our Lord and Saviour. To Worship Him is more than singing. It is to have a relationship with Him, to spend time with Him, pray and talk to Him, and sing Praises to Him. The list could go on and on......buts its just this simple.

Confirmation

It amazes me how God confirms things for us when we least expect it. I love even more how what he confirms may have been something that happened 3 or 4 years ago that we still personally need closure on. There was a very dark time in my life when I struggled with some bad decisions that I made for my life. I thought it would never be possible to have my relationship with Christ back because I had messed up so bad. Well not only did God give me my second chance but he has confirmed years later that my mistake was washed white as snow. How stinkin powerful is that!!

When you least expect it God will bring people/friends in your life just to say the right thing, at the right time, on the PERFECT day. If that is not encouragement to keep you on the path to loving HIM, serving HIM, and LIVING for HIM, I don’t know what you need.
I just want to take time to THANK you JESUS for reconfirming to me you love and your endless desire to work in my life and make me a better person. I don’t know how people make it in this world without You but I sure can’t!!!

This just proves to me more and more that the WORDS that come from our mouth can either LIFT someone up or TEAR them down. Decide what you want to do today….I sure want to be the vessel that the Lord uses to confirm something important to someone else…like he used someone today to confirm something to me. Chose your words wisely and let God use you!!

I Love you all…whoever you may be!

A Night To Remember...No This is Not A Cheesy Prom Title

What starts with SNOW must end with VOMIT!!!





So a night for the ages happened just yesterday!! Number one I can’t believe I am sharing this story however, it is too good to not give everyone a laugh. For the past few days I have been thinking I was coming down with the stomach virus. All the kids at Walker have been getting it so I knew it was my turn. Even though my stomach has been hurting I just keep on going with life. Amy and I decided to go to the gym meet last night against Florida…ROLL TIDE we WON!! Afterwards we were starving so we went looking for food at 10pm. We tried the new Moe’s BBQ but they were no longer serving food so we then tried Chucks only to end up at Depalma’s. Our food was wonderful and we had a grandmother moment when we enjoyed a cup of coffee after our meal. We are now on our drive home and I looked at Amy and told her I did not know if I could make it home that the stomach was feeling very uneasy. She said do we need to stop I said no I can make it to the house. Keep in mind I’m driving. We are about 2 miles from our house when I said Amy I hate to do this but I have got to …and I can’t believe I am telling this to all of America..toot. Yes I said it and Yes I did it. Well she has a sensitive stomach to smells so I warned her to get the window down. Before she could get the window down she had to gasp for air and this is where the night begins….VOMIT all down the side of my car. Well I then smell VOMIT so I VOMIT all over my car because I could not get my window down. She then sees me VOMIT and goes round 2. By this time I am less than half a mile from the house both of us covered in VOMIT. I have to pull over 3 times in that half a mile for us to Simultaneously VOMIT because I can’t stand the smell and she can’t see it. It was lovely to say the least.

My mother says to me I don’t know what you and Amy are going to do when the day comes that ya’ll have to separate. I said well Mom I don’t either. Mrs. Laura says I suggest you NEVER tell that story ever again. Well Mrs. Laura I told it no matter how embarrassing it is because these moments are definitely what Best Friends are for!

We cleaned the car this morning in another bonding moment……I love spending time with my Byrd but I hope to NEVER spend it again like this!!