NOAH'S HERE!!!!!!!!

Noah Thomas Hawkins was born on the morning of March 3, 2007!!! We got the call the night before and Uncle J, Aunt Jess, & I drove all night to get there one hour before he was born! We got to see him shortly after! It was the most incredible thing to be there on the day our nephew was born! He is PERFECT. I am so proud of my sister and it was a joy to get to be with her and talk with her during her first days as a mother! We got to spend the whole first week of Noah's life in FL! It was such a priveledge and blessing to get to be there for that! Noah is a very blessed little boy, he has the most wonderful parents, they are going to do a GREAT job!

Feb. '07

I turned 25 this year!!! AHHHH!!! SO weird! It was hard being away from college friends and family this year, but I had so many people do such sweet things for me here! I celebrated my birthday 3 times!!! Such wonderful people here! AND my dorm did our first 5k (ok, so we messed up and it was like 3k) run this year called "the Hustle". It was a ton of fun, and I'm excited to do it again each year! We raised money for an organization that builds wells for clean drinking water in Africa!

Jan '07

The New Year

So, I really don't want to make resolutions this year. . . what's the point? People make resolutions EVERY year that probably about 99.9% are broken before the first month is over! Now, I'm not being cynical, just realistic :) Why wait till the New Year anyway to make life changes? Why not, when we see an area in our life that needs changes, do something about it then? Hmmm. . .it's a novel idea.

This year, on the first day of the year, I wrote a little something in a journal that I'm going to share with you!

"It's a new year! 2007 WHAT does God have in store for me this year? It seems like each year, He blesses me more than the year before AND at the same time, allows me to go through harder times.

The blessings: living in Nampa with my close friends, College CHurch, Upward Basketball (I coached 1st and 2nd graders!), Abby (a young girl I got to mentor), the Sr. High Youth Group at College Church, SL Start (my job as a behavior therapist) AND all my clients and their families, a great roommate (Alyssa Sanders/Chapman), a great place to live in Nampa, a great paying (yeah) AND enjoyable and challenging job (behavior therapist), a mission trip to Taiwan, a family reunion, AND a new job at Trevecca! God provided for me financially to move, GREAT new RD friends, wonderful bosses, wonderful ladies in my dorm, WISDOM and the words I've needed in my job, new friendships, TCC (Trevecca Community Church), Jamie & Trevor Lubiens (friends from CO and NNU that live here in Nashville now), more confidence in myself, more passion for praying, news of a new baby nephew, better times with my family!

And then some of the harder times are not all things I can share, but I've had my share of hard times more so my friends and family have had a lot of hard times, and I have tried to be there for them. I am the kind of person that I carry other people's burdens very easy. I hate it when someone I love it hurting.

Through all of these hard and good times though, the Lord has taught me how to rely more on Him, and I have become a stronger person because of them. I just pray that the Lord will continue to give me exactly what I need, when I need it. Lord, please move in undeniable ways in my family, friends, and residents lives. Accomplish your will THROUGH ME!!! I want your love to be extremely evident in my life in EVERYTHING I do. I love you SO much!"

So that's my take on the new year. I expect the Lord to bless me and expect there to be hard times, but if for no other reason, the Lord has a great track record. He has NEVER let me down, and I never expect Him too.

I am excited to see how He will answer prayer and move in and through me this year! I count it the highest privelege to have Him use me!

Christmas '07

Got to go home to Colorado for Christmas! It SNOWED a TON! TWO huge blizzards while I was home! Spent lots of time sleeping and hanging out w/ my parents and brother, tons of fun! Got to see my good friend Michelle and her precious little kids in Loveland right before we almost got snowed in!

The Word of the Lord

I can not get over how incredibly amazing God is to give us exactly what we need exactly when we need it. I have time and time again this year been in tough situations that on a normal day if you asked me how I'd handle them, I'd have no clue. But the Lord has been SO incredibly faithful to give me the words when I've needed words and given me wisdom when I've needed wisdom and shut my mouth when I've needed to just listen.

I come out of so many conversations hardly remembering what I've said or done because it has been the Lord speaking through me. I thank God for His faithfulness and for the blessing and privelege it is to be here at Trevecca as a Resident Director.

I love my girls. They are such blessings in my life!

My prayer is that the Lord will be glorified in everything that I do. I don't want people to look at me and say how great I am, but to look at me and say how great God is! He is absolutely worthy of our praise and dedication!