Lists

Random list:

• Calipari to Kentucky – nice… now Kentucky can have a coach that recruits thugs to represent the school
• Calipari currently lives in a PINK house (seriously, google it)
• I think my new favorite contestant on American Idol = Kris Allen! He comes across so much as a cute, pure-hearted, god-loving guy! He is a 23 years old and recently married his high school sweetheart. And to confirm my & Katherine’s suspicions… he is in fact Christian. He leads his churches’ praise & worship team and does ministry at his local state university. *We totally called it*
• Pet peeve = people sending out emails to an entire class (lecture class mind you) asking to get notes because they "overslept"... Seriously? Just ask a friend in class.
• Carolina is in the Final Four whoot whoot
• Tomorrow is Bible Verse Wednesday! I’ll be honest, I haven’t gotten this week’s totally memorized. Sad, I know.
• I have 1300+ views (wow!)
• Jonah's home!!!! Praise God!

Reasons YOU should start a blog:

• Share what God is doing in your life. This helps you a) recognize when God is working in your life and b) spread His glory for others to see.
• Be brutally honest for all to see – this may make you feel uncomfortable, but I’m willing to bet that we’re not that different from each other after all… AND in tough times, the Christian blog network can be a huge source of encouragement and support
• Share what God has put on your heart – it might just be on someone else’s too!
• Update folks on the happenings (however boring they may be) in you’re life – Got a new job? Bought a new house? Made an A on your exam?
• Make recommendations – Good movie? Good book? Good restaurant? Nice sale?
• Connect with other Christians – find encouragement and support, start prayer groups, (intercessory prayer works can go both ways you know)
• Share funny things that happened during your day – everyone needs a good laugh now & then
• Write run-on sentences, make endless lists, and have horrid grammar… well, maybe that’s just me.

So, when you do start your blog, let me know and I’ll add you to the blogs I follow on my sidebar – then my readers can check out your blog too! SWEET!

God bless!

Fireproof

This weekend I watched Fireproof with Parker & his parents. It is SO, SO, SO good! It was made by the same church that made Facing the Giants. If you're not familiar with these movies, they were made by an awesome church and they rocked the charts of Hollywood, you should check them out. Fireproof is about a fireman named Caleb Holt (played by Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains anyone?), the only professional, established actor in the whole movie) who fights to save his marriage after his dad gives him a book called The Love Dare. While it certainly has a Christian basis, I think it's a good movie for anyone to watch. I think everyone who has thought about getting married, is getting married, or has gotten married should watch this! It's so good! It just might make my Top 5 list! Maybe even my Top 3!

There is also some great websites for the movie and for "Fireproofing your Marriage." They have resources for married, remarried, dating, and engaged couples! Even if your relationship isn't on the rocks, they have really good resources for just strengthening your love. My favorite is The Love Dare - it's the book Caleb's dad gives him in the movie, and it is sold in stores. You can look at a sample here (at the bottom). Oh gosh guys - it's so good! Seriously, check it out.

The movie plays on the fireman analogy, saying things like "Never leave your partner behind" and "Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes, you will be able to withstand it." It also talks about marriage as a covenant instead of a contract. I think this movie is more relevant to society than Facing the Giants - 1 of 2 marriages end in divorce! Definitely, definitely watch it!

I thought I'd include a movie trailor to get you interested! Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of my blog! Enjoy!

I probably shouldn't say anything, but...

dook 54
Nova 77

What a whoopin!

And Carolina will probably lose tomorrow night since I just said that...

Nonetheless, notable comments on Devils Illustrated Basketball forum right now:
"What's the deal with Memphis? Mizzou is beating them soundly..." welll ::clears throat::

"We have blown big leads before, maybe its our turn for an epic comeback... PLEASE?" wishful thinking dookie.

"Comeback? I'll be happy if we don't lose by double digits" Haha

"If we can keep within 10 then it's a moral victory" Hahaha... no words...

"Face it, we have been overrated all year" Now you realize it.

"I'm more surprised at how emotional they're getting" Thats right, blame it on emotions... again.

And my favorite, in a thread called "Did you consider applying to UNC when applying to Duke?":
"Finances played a part in my decision to choose NC State as the school I would eventually flunk out of" Well, I'm certainly glad you new in advance not to pay for a diff. university... hahahaha

Have a good night!

Starting BVWs

Hey hey! I recently thought of a great idea for my blog - Bible Verse Wednesdays (BVWs)! Because I am awful at recalling exact verses and references, I have decided to start memorizing verses. I believe that arming yourself with God's word is crucial because:

1. It protects you from Satan (see Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11)

2. It helps keep you from sin and temptation (Psalm 119:11)

3. It helps you when witnessing & communicating with unbelievers

4. It provides comfort for you and others

So, if you'd like to join me in this, I plan to post the verse of the week at the top of my side bar. AND, if you want, you can do the same on your blog so others can join in! The more Christians that arm themselves with God's word, the better we can serve Him!

I chose this week's verse from Billy Graham's Hope for Each Day. I use it as a devotional to get started on my quiet time with God and I LOVE IT! I strongly recommend it! It's the best mini-devotional I've come across.

I'd like to share the passage that this verse came from:

"Today we have learned to harness the power of the atom, but very few of us have learned how to develop fully the power of prayer. We have not yet learned that a man can be more powerful on his knees than behind the most powerful weapons ever developed. We have not learned that a nation is more powerful when it unites in earnest prayer to God than when its resources are channeled into weapons. We have not discovered that the answer to our problems can be through contact with the living God. Weapons by themselves will not keep us safe or solve the world's problems. Our basic problems are spiritual in nature, and only spiritual solutions will solve them. That is why prayer is so vital, for only God can change the human heart. Who knows what might happen if millions of believers around the world availed themselves of the greatest privilege this side of Heaven - the privilege of intercessory prayer? Will you be one of them?" (p. 97)

(In case you haven't figured it out yet, I like to make lists and I like to define words... I guess that's the teacher in me....)

Intercessory prayer is prayer on someone else's behalf. The bible says we should pray for our leaders, our friends, the sick, our enemies, and those who forsake us... among lots of others.

I found this awesome list of things about intercessory prayer, but I have no idea when I wrote it or where I got it from... but here it goes:
1. Keep a list of who to pray for (...again, I'm a list person)
2. Tell people you're praying for them (this can encourage & inspire them)
3. Pray in a group (and this blog network totally counts as a group!)
4. Know that you're not praying alone, even if you are alone.
5. Recognize that your prayers might change
6. Recognize that He knows our heart even when we can't find the words to pray

So since my promise is to be as transparent as possible with this blog, so that others can see God's work in my life, I thought I'd reveal some of people I pray for:
1. My family, friends, and Parker
2. My Aunt Debbie
3. My grandparents
4. Jonah
5. Carrie & Beaty Bass' ministry
6. Georgina as she raises support for ministry in Sweden
7. Erin as she studies abroad in Africa
8. Recently added - Stellan (It's kinda funny praying for God's healing hands on "MckMuffin" and peace for "Mckmama" and "Prince Charming" and their family... if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm telling you... you should check out Mckmama's blog!
9. My friend Anna's mom
10. Jacob & Candice during their engagement (Parker's brother & future sister-in-law)
11. Katherine & Eric during their engagement (roomate & friend)
12. Martha Lynn's dad who is battling cancer (Parker's other brother's wife)

Well... that's a start! I hope you will join me in intercessory prayer and "scripture arming!" Please tell me how you pray or memorize scripture! I am not an expert, I just tell what's on my heart! :)

God Bless!!!

Stellan

Hey prayer warriors! Please pray for Stellan (aka MckMuffin), Mckmama's youngest son. He was taken to the hospital last night and has been experiencing SVT (Supra Ventricular Tachycardia = very high heart rate), the condition that he almost died from in the womb. I don't really know all the details, but you can check out Mckmama's blog for updates! Please pray for peace for their family, healing for Stellan, and wisdom for the doctors/caretakers!

If you don't know Mckmama, and by "know" I mean... read her blog (cause I don't know her either... but I feel like I know her), she is the one I got the "Not Me Monday" from! Just about everyone I know that has a blog, follows her blog - it has something like 4 million hits. But anyhoo... she is a sister in Christ & mother of 4 children ages 4 and under (Big Mac, MckNugget, Small Fry, and MckMuffin).

God's Grace

This morning, my pastor preached a wonderful message on God's grace. (I think he must've read my 2nd post, because it was quite similar... same scripture even! ha!) And since my blog is named "Grace Like Rain" for a reason... I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Apparently, there is a Family Circus cartoon of the family sitting in church singing "Amazing Grace" and the little girl looks up to the mom and says, "Mom, what did Grace do that's so amazing?" Haha! I looked for it online, but I can't find it anywhere... so if you can, let me know!!

As you can see in my new header... it says "The stories of a girlfriend, daughter, friend, and future teacher, in God's unmerited favor." Unmerited. I like that word - it means undeserved. Since, merit is accomplished through good work, or success, and it entitles you to receive a reward, not having merit would mean you were undeserving of a reward. As I said in my previous post, grace is receiving something good that you don't deserve (while mercy is not receiving something bad that you do deserve - grace & mercy go hand-in-hand.)

Back to getting something good that you don't deserve - boy is that looked down on in our society! American culture teaches us that you should work hard, be successful, and then you can earn good things. The problem is, we can't earn God's grace. Not only that, but we can't take credit for God's favor because we didn't do anything to get it, he just gave it to us. We can't boast about it, because it was a gift and we are undeserving.

Here are the lyrics to Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone by Chris Tomlin:

Amazing grace

How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

My chains are gone

I've been set free

My God, my Savior has ransomed me

And like a flood His mercy rains

Unending love, Amazing grace.

The Lord has promised good to me

His word my hope secures

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow

The sun forbear to shine

But God, Who called me here below

Will be forever mine

Will be forever mine, You are forever mine.

Sorry my thoughts are so jambled - it's 12:30 am, but I wanted to share! Have a good night!

A New Season - A New Look

I've spent my lazy Saturday "sprucing" up my blog as a way to procrastinate doing academic planning for my SENIOR (whoot whoot!) fall semester. OH WELL!

I hope you like it! Let me know what you think! I love getting comments!

PS. I'm at almost 850 views! I put the ticker up there about two and half weeks ago! Wow, who is reading my lame thoughts? Who are you invisible people? Reveal yourself :) I'm flattered!

I should've put the ticker up when Wes was in the hospital - I know I was getting a lot of hits then... OH WELL!

What A Week!

Recap of this week:

Sunday - Get back to school, forgot memory foam pillow, TV breaks, fix TV

Monday - Phone dies, is dead as a door knob, get new phone

Tuesday - Laptop malfunctions, Windows won't load, stay calm, don't freak out

Wednesday - Take laptop to ITS on campus, check laptop in to ITS shop for a few days, throat swells, crazy discomfort in mouth

Thursday - Miss classes to go to Campus Health, thinking I have an infection from wisdom teeth removal, doctor says an abscess, calls Dr. Means, he is concerned & wants to see me Friday at noon, prescribes heavy antibiotic and orders irrigation, run downstairs at Campus Health to pharmacy to get antibiotic, go to Acute Health Center for irrigation *stress out about being late for GRE* semi-uncomfortable irrigation procedure, quick lunch, off to NC Central for GRE, do not know where to park, park in lot near building, arrive at GRE near tears, administrator asks if I'm ok, I tell her my situation, advises me to get doctor's note and send in to GRE headquarters appealing a free-reschedule, administrator tells me that next time I park anywhere come upstairs and get parking pass and she'll tell me where to park, I thank her and leave, return to my car to find $80 parking ticket, chase after police walking away, police rudely tells me how to appeal, drive around looking for Campus Police building, Appeals lady tells me I need a self-addressed stamped envelope, since I cannot pull it magically out of my purse I make my way to Student Union to find post office, fill out appeal, told it'll be 2-3 months before hearing back, leave... go pick up my laptop from ITS, told I need a new hard drive and should contact Sony, drive home

Friday - miss classes, go to Dr. Mean's office, there is in fact, no abscess, just unseen food pressing on nerves, ups the amp on irrigation procedure *heavy discomfort* must irrigate myself for several months, come home contact Sony, nice guy named Marcus tells me what to do and VOILA laptop works just fine, hang out with Parker & family

Home Sweet Home! AND Pillow Sweet Pillow! :-)

::Sigh of relief::

Turkey, Rooster

Happenings in the classroom of a future teacher:
During my time at the middle school yesterday, we were doing map drills on the board as an assessment of the class's preparation for Tuesday's test. We point to the country, they say the name, we ask the capital, they say the capital city... mountain range, sea, ocean, straight, etc. Well I've told you funny things that my 7th graders have said before, and yesterday my favorite student made me laugh at something I shouldn't have. It went something like this:
Me - (point to Iraq)
Class - IRAQ!
Me - Capital?
Class - BAGHDAD!
Me - (point to Iran)
Class - IRAN!
Me - Capital?
Class - TEHRAN!
Me - (point to Turkey)
Class - TURKEY!
Me - Capital?
Peter - ROOSTER!

Haha! I thought it was funny.

---------------------------------------------

Did anyone watch American Idol last night?? I must confess that I've never actually watched AI until this year and I'm only watching it because ANOOP is on. (He's from UNC in case you haven't heard.) Well, he did SO good last night. Take a look, but make sure to pause my music at the bottom:

I mean that is an Indian dude that sings R&B up there singing Willie Nelson! I'm proud to say that he's from UNC!! On the other hand, no one is proud to know this guy:

YIKES! He just made Ozzy Osbourne sound like NSYNC. How can you take a classic Johnny Cash song and turn it into that? That's just ridiculous. I don't have words to describe it. Well, maybe one word - SCARY!

--------------------------------------------

Finally, I'd like to put out a prayer request for Georgina who is going to mission work in Sweden this summer! Check out her post to read the details. She is in need of support, so if you are interested in supporting a local girl doing God's work check out this. If you aren't able to help support her, you can help her by praying for her! She's asked for these specific prayer requests:

- That she would continue trusting the Lord to provide the necessary finances

- Her heart would continue to develop for the people of Uppsala, Sweden

- That she would best prepare herself - reading the right books, spending time in prayer, etc.

- That her family & friends would be supporting and understanding

You can also click on my sidebar icon (I'll get it up ASAP) to get the information you need to give her words of encouragement or help support her!

-------------------------------------------

One last thing, I'm currently blogging from the library as my laptop is in the shop because it freaked out. Ok, well that's probably not the technical term, but it's either an Operating System problem or a hardware problem. ITS can fix the OS problem in a couple of days... a hardware problem may cost money and I'll have to go through Sony & figure it out. So PRAY that it's an OS problem and they can fix it quickly! Otherwise... I'll be spending a lot of time in the library.

-------------------------------------------

Just kidding about the one last thing... I have one more thing to ask for prayer about! I take the GRE tomorrow (yikes!) for Grad school! Pray for me!

God bless!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama over at My Charming Kids. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not forget my amazing memory foam pillow at home... I'd never do that, because I can sleep without it!

Since I did not forget my pillow, I definitely did not lay in bed for several hours before falling asleep. Since I went right to sleep as soon as my head hit my amazing memory foam pillow, I certainly did not laugh out loud while laying in bed thinking about how silly I must have looked with ice wrapped around my head while riding around town with my mom to find a pharmacy with my pain medicine after getting my wisdom teeth removed.

I also did not stand in the standby line for the Carolina Duke game with these awesome girls.

And since I did not stand in line... neither did all these people. (all 600 and something!)

And we totally did not get THIS close to getting in... like 15 people?
And since we totally had tickets to the game and walked right in... we did not look sad at my apartment while watching the game.

And we did not have to watch the game on TV ...

I definitely did not have to go get a new cell today because my "old faithful" finally died. And if I did... it certainly would not look like this:

What did you not do this week?

Lil' bit of everything

Well, I just got back to Chapel Hill as Spring Break comes to a close. I'm trying to get stuff ready for the upcoming week and organize myself back into real life. I'm actually not too upset about it - it looks like I have a pretty easy-going week and I feel refreshed and uplifted - physically, emotionally, and spiritually! I do have to take the GRE on Thursday -- so please pray for that! Anyone have any advice for it?

------------------------------------------

On a different note... CRANIUM is my new favorite game. I went to the beach with Parker this weekend. We got to hang out with his parents, his brother Jacob, and Candice, and we had so much fun. I played Cranium for the first time and it is so much fun. I have some awesome pictures/videos but alas, the "future-dad-in-law" says I can't put any of him up... and he was the best part! We played girls vs. boys which is always competitive! We yelled, we screamed, we laughed... and we learned that if "You put the bull in the pen, he's gonna win!" Words of wisdom from Jack. Haha

------------------------------------------

Shoutout to my friend Lindsay who got her acceptance letter to the School of Nursing at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill!!! WHOOO!!! Yeah girl, get it! Congratulations Linds!

Isn't she beautiful? She's going to be the most awesome nurse in the world!

------------------------------------------

This one's for Candice... Super-Soaker vs. Squirt Gun. Hahaha... boys & their analogies.

VS.

--------------

Finally, some prayer requests:

1. My friend Erin who is Madagascar - the country raised their security level and UNC wants her out in less than a week. She also has amoebic dysentery. You can follow her blog here or see my side link on the right.

2. Cute baby Jonah - he seems to be eating better and in a little bit less pain, but keep praying for this sweet baby boy to keep eating, fight off infection, be pain free AND for his parents as his advocates! God is doing awesome things through Patrice!

3. My Aunt Debbie - she is in a lot of pain. I know I haven't said much about the situation, but it is always on my mind and heart, I just don't know what to say about it. She's not doing good.
--------------
I haven't forgot about the Duke-UNC game pics... I'll upload them tomorrow... maybe.

God bless!

Recovering!

Hey guys! Just thought I'd let you know that I'm still alive! I've been doped up while recovering from my wisdom teeth removal... and so far everything has gone pretty good. I'm pretty sore, which is expected.

Sad note - We DID not get into the dook vs. Carolina game Sunday (FROWN), but we had a good time hanging out in line all day. I'll post pictures and such later.

I'm heading to the beach with Parker's family tomorrow night for his mom's bday! Yay!

Please continue to pray for my aunt and family during this tough time.

AND please pray that Jonah will steadily eat and continue to stay infection free. Pray for Matt (who is sick) and Patrice to have peace and guidance through this journey.

I'll post more later... now for some more (ugh) chicken & rice.

Home Sweet Home!

My Spring Break officially started today at 11:50 am! I am so pumped! It's going to be full of hanging out, spending time with family, and being knocked out on the couch recovering from my wisdow teeth removal. I have my wisdom teeth out on Monday and I'm a little bit nervous... but I'm trying not to think about it! I also have AWESOME plans with the girls to stand in the "Stand by" line for the UNC vs. dook game on Sunday! I'm looking forward to some quality hanging out and having fun!

Here are some pics of Weston just to prove to you that he's back to his usual self:
Playing playstation with Parker as I blog...

Playing basketball last weekend...

Future point guard for UNC??? Maybe so...

---

Here's a silly one of my sweet cousin saying "CHEESE!" for about the 100th time... I think he was a bit annoyed with me taking pictures w/ my new camera! Haha!

And just to make you giggle...

So sweet! I love it! Have a wonderful Friday night y'all!

Love, Laura

A Friend's Love

So the Bible says that a friend loves at all times (Proverbs 17:17) and let me tell you what - my friends love me. They cry with me, they hold me, they lift me up. I had a rough night (again) last night. I'm emotionally, physically, and spiritually drained. That is an understatement. Yesterday I felt broken inside. BUT, my best friends are so good. Do you know they put their lives on pause last night just to help me?!? We sat in the living room and they listened to my heart, cried with me, and lifted me up. Then, they told me what to write helped me write a paper because I was in no shape to do it myself. I am SO blessed to have these girls in my life... I can't put into words how grateful I am for them and how wonderful they are. I'm having a MUCH better day today! Glory to God!

Here are the girls I couldn't live without...

Thank y'all for everything you do! I love you!

Also, I hope you blog folks are still praying for the Williams family! Jonah drink a lot of milk this morning by himself! Praise the Lord! He still had a feeding tube put in this morning, but hopefully that will just help until he gets the hang of the bottle. If you haven't you should check out Patrice's blog - he is so darn cute! You can also join his facebook prayer movement group! It amazes me how awesome the blogging community, especially the Christian blogging community, is when it comes to support, encouragement, and prayer!

You know how I feel about blogging - what better way to share the good news of Christ! You all should get a blog! Let me know when you do and I'll put you on my blog list! :)

God Bless! Thanks for the prayers!

I Will Yet Praise You My God!

"I will yet praise you my God... for my struggles are in your hands." (Carrie & Beaty Bass song lyrics that have totally been speaking to me today!)

Yesterday I hit the lowest point in my whole life - I couldn't even pray. I just didn't have the words. Amanda took such good care of me as I sobbed in her arms. She and Katherine cried with me. We made cookies and Meredith bought me a sweet "cheer me up"present and card. When I went to bed last night I could truly feel God's arms around me... it was so calming.

I didn't go to class this morning - partly because I have a horrible cold and didn't want to get out of bed and partly because I needed "me" time. It was totally what I needed. Class - my 3 exams and 2 papers due this week - school - none of it is important to me right now. What is important is taking care of myself and not letting myself get to the point I got yesterday afternoon - ever, ever again.

A funny thing (kinda) happened last night. I was laying on my bed thinking about school and life and family and stress and everything in my life that has happened in such a short time. I was thinking about how I was losing control. About how I had lost control. Of my life, of my emotions, of everything. Everything was out of control. And then God chuckled and said, "She thought she was in control."

Yesterday, I was standing in the snow (yes, it was snowing at 12 o'clock) and for the first time in my life I saw that the snowflakes actually look like snowflakes! Itty bitty, tiny, miniature snowflakes. (I wish I had a picture!) Some were clustered together and some were individual, but each of them were perfectly shaped and no two were alike. As I stood there looking at the snow falling on my coat and all around me I thought about how God created each and every snowflake - millions falling around me. He pays attention to the tiny, insignificant details. Surely he is in control of the big things if he can do that!

I had dinner tonight with a wonderful friend, Holli. As a sister in Christ, she was such a blessing and the Lord was so speaking to me tonight through her.

In this low time of my life, I can totally see God at work. He has masterfully put the right people in my life at the right moments and He knows my heart even when I don't have words to pray!

Praise the Lord for He is GOOD! "I will yet praise you my God...." !!!

God Bless! Thank you for the prayers for me and my family!

Prayer Requests

Hello there.

I have 2 major prayer requests. One for my family and one for my friend.

As you read on Friday, my Aunt Debbie is in the hospital. Things are not looking good. It is a sad situation for our family. In April of last year, my mom found out she was in remission for her cancer and our family was overjoyed. Then, my Granddad passed away unexpectedly. It was devastating for our family. We are a very close family - just my Grandma, my parents & Weston, my aunt, my uncle, 2 wonderful cousins that are both married - one with a son, the other expecting triplets. We've known for some time that something was wrong with my aunt's health and though we tried to reach out to her, she never told us what was wrong. We don't know if she knew what was going on or if she was in denial. Wednesday night she was taken to the hospital and on Friday, the doctors confirmed she has stage IV cancer in both breasts, her hips, and her spine. Her blood is septic. We are very sad and don't understand it at all. Please pray for us. My mom is trying to get over pneumonia and my other Grandma, now home, is on bed rest. Many of you have asked about Weston - he is doing very good and almost back to a full diet.
** Important: Weston doesn't know that my aunt has cancer. He knows that she is sick and in the hospital with an infection. With my mom's history, they prefer he not know about the cancer. Please honor my parents wishes and be careful what you say if you see him. Thank you. **

Also on Friday, I asked for prayers for my friend Patrice as she was delivering her second son. Her first son, Gabe, was still born last year. Jonah Alexander arrived into the world Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, he has been diagnosed with a genetic skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa. The doctors think that this is why Gabe died. As you can imagine, Patrice and Matt are devastated and Satan is taking advantage of their weaknesses during this terrible time. Jonah is in pain and the doctors are watching him closely. I put up a prayer tag on the right side of my blog. You can follow Patrice's blog for updates. Please pray for their family!

I am so sad tonight. It truly breaks my heart and I feel like I've prayed all I can. I know that even when we can't find the words to pray, God knows our hearts. He is not surprised by any of this. He didn't wake up Friday morning and realized that all of this had happened. No, he knew this before it happened. He knows my family's grief and the Williams' grief. He cries with us and He is holding us in His hands. Everything will be okay because God is in control. We are discouraged and broken, but God created the world - He is bigger than all of this.