Wednesday, November 30, 2011

You Know That Feeling...

You know that feeling when you can actually feel God on your heart? For me, it's like a heavy weight gushing with love. My chest feels like it's sinking under all the love He is pressing, or pushing on me.Everything around me seems to fade away into darkness for a split second and the onely light I see is the One with my heart. Well, this is how it was tonight at church. Let me explain this to ya'.

I am an emotional person...when it comes to certain things. A romance movie: give me a box of kleenex. An animal dies: kleenex. I see someone else cry: cue me as well. Titanic: that's a given (So is P.S. I Love You) Liss, I'm sure you are rolling your eyes right now :) Songs: not so much. I never get emotional when signing a song, but will occasionally cry if the song is super, super sad and I put my self in the 'character's' place. Well wouldn't you know tonight at church, I got super teary eyed singing a hymn. We've song this hymn so many times and I never really think about what it is truly saying:

Near The Cross
Jesus, keep me near the cross
There a precious fountain
Free to all- A healing stream
Flows from Calvary's mountain

In the cross, In the cross
Be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river

Near the cross, a trembling soul
Love and mercy found me
There the Bright and Morning Star
Sheds its beams around me

In the cross, In the cross
Be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river

Near the cross! O Lamb of God
Bring its scenes before me
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadows o'er me

In the cross, In the cross
Be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river

Lord- be my glory ever! In the cross, there's sweet comfort and love! Something just grabbed at my soul tonight while signing this. I realized that all my wants and desires do not even compare to the want my Savior needs from me. The Cross is my want, my everything. That's what I need to get through life. It's my fuel when I am tired, my strength when I am weary, the love when I am lonely, and the light in my darkness. When the second minister stood up to finish tonight, he made such a good point. "In life, we prize our most precious materials on how long they will last and how expensive they are. But our prize is eternal. It is the most expensive, too. Nothing can last longer than heaven. Nothing can cost more than the blood of Jesus on the Cross. And the best thing- we didn't even have to pay for our eternity in heaven. Christ paid it all! Not you, not me, but Christ!" Wow! How powerful of a message! Isn't that true? Don't we judge the worth of something by how long it will last or how much it cost us? I do. But have faith knowing that if you have found Christ and accepted Him and live your day, not just going through the motions, but actually live each day for Him, you have been given the most expensive and longest lasting gift. If you haven't accepted Christ as your Saviour, it's never too late. He wants to share all of this with you. You are worthy. He died for you. There is nothing better than waking up each morning and going to bed each night knowing that you are loved by a merciful God.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

So Many Reasons...

There are so many reasons to be thankful today.  A house, warmth, food, clothes, a car, etc. But I'm so thankful for many other things. You see, one year ago today, I was fighting hard with God. I was yelling at Him. I was hurt and blamed all that hurt on Him. I was lost and confused and did NOT want to see the reason behind it all. But yet, God loved me through it. He could have wiped His hands of me and let me sit in a pit of self pity. But He didn't. Nor would He have. He picked me up, wiped the tears out of my eyes, and told me He loved me over and over again. I was still kicking Him in pain, even as I heard His voice explaining to me the reason why my world was turned upside down.

Looking back, I can clearly see God was working these months in advance. I know I saw this coming, but decided to ignore it. I let myself get in control inside of God. The funny thing is, if you can call it funny, the whole reason behind all of this was a simple lesson. All God was telling me to do was TRUST HIM. Seriously? That's why You got my attention? Like this no less? I felt about this small  . I had to choke down a lot of pride and my poor family and friends had so see me suffer through this learning process.

I'm not upset or angry.  But I would not change anything that happened, either. I can firmly say that I know God put all this in motion. I wasn't going crazy when I thought God had put all that stuff on my heart and was leading me in that direction. And now, God has helped me become such a stronger Christian and woman after His heart.

All day today I was thinking about what happened one year ago today. There was no pain, no anger, just a very thankful heart for where God has led me. I am now so excited to see where He is leading me because it will be better than I could have ever imagined. I brought this whole thing up today to mom and she said she was thinking about it too, but did not want to say anything in front of me. I'm so thankful we had a few uninterrupted minutes where we could talk and I could tell her how thankful I am for how God worked during this last year.

So thank you Lord, for teaching me such a simple lesson in a big and very hard way. I don't think there would have been a better way to get my attention than like You did. You are my Prince of Peace, my Comforter, my Rock and High Tower. So Lord, today I am thankful for what You did in my  life one year ago today.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Letting Go and Letting God

Have you ever experienced a time where God was tugging and tugging on your heart and it totally caught you by surprise? And you faught it because you were scared? Well this is my current state of living. Recently, God has pushed something on my heart and I was totally scare about it. What if this is my doing Lord? What if I push faster than You want this to move? Lord I'm scared. Scared to really let you have this much control. Don't get me wrong, I WANT God to have total and complete control of my life. I would love to say that I always let God in control, but we would all know that's not true.

So I was really fighting God these last few weeks and this weekend and like typical me- thought I'd strike a deal with Him. Seems like in desperate times when I already know the answer, I debate with God. So this was one of those times.

"God, if You truly want this to happen, then tonight show me this and let this happen." So the evening went on and I was anxiously waiting for God to show what I asked for. I waited. And waited. And waited. Then Satan came and I started to doubt.

"Maybe this was all me. Maybe I was wanting to hear God talk to me so badly that I 'made-up' this voice inside." Does this sound familiar to anyone? Or am I the only one that doubts so easily? I was coming to grips with it and then BAM! Hello God! And the best, most awesome and peaceful part, as God showed me the 'signs' I was looking for, I heard a still, small voice saying, "Chelsea, did you really doubt Me? Don't you have faith in Me? Don't worry, I'm in control here. This is all Me."

Wow! Totally blown away by my great God once again. Not only did He show me these little signs I asked for, but He gave me more forms of confirmation. Boy, I love my God and I am so glad He doesn't give up on me as quickly as I doubt sometimes.

So now I'm waiting. Waiting to see where God leads this plan of His. Patiently waiting? Umm... well let's say that's a work in process. I'm learning. Learning to trust in Him and follow what He says. I definitely know I need to spend more time in His Word and prayer because that's where He is waiting with more of His glorious plan for me.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

A Little Bit of Everything...

So let's just admit something... I'm terrible at blogging. I tell myself all the time, "Chelsea- don't you remember you have a blog? Oh, you do? Then BLOG!" Well it never happens. Life is just too hectic. For some reason, I thought before I started the blog that I would have sooo much time for it. Ha! I should have know better :)

So life right now is getting really interesting. I'm currently doing my Administrative Externship for my Medical Assisting program at a local community health network. This place is awesome! I absolutely love it. They do visiting nurses, private duty care, home health, hospice, inpatient hospice, adult day care, and something that is my favorite... the Angel Foundation. The Angel Foundation grants wishes to terminally ill adults. So it's like Make-A-Wish for adults. I love it and have even witnesses a wish being granted. Check it out at: www.TheAngelFoundation.net . It's one of the few in the country and the only one in the state of Ohio.

So I have my externship, papers galore due for school, the realization that the semester is quickly coming to an end and a ton of weddings coming up! I believe there are 4 weddings in a matter of 5 weeks.

In other noteworthy news, I took some more senior pictures two weeks ago. We are splitting B's sessions up into the fall and spring. Here's a few to wet your whistle:

"B" is such a beautiful young lady!




I just love the VW library. I was so excited
when we decided to take some pictures there.

This spot was totally by chance. We planned on
taking pictures on the other side of the fence,
but found this slice of heaven instead...


Gorgeous!


I think this is a keeper :)


Umm.. delicious anyone? Definitely my
All-Time favorite


It also helps when your client has an
amazing yard with awesome lighting
streaming through the trees.



Thanks "B" for letting my take your senior pictures! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and I really am looking forward to the spring so we can take pictures again. Oh- did I mention this gal is a very talented artist? No? Well she is and we have a very creative plan in store for the spring session with some of her oil drawings. I'm excited! :)

So this lucky lady gets to spend THREE WEEKENDS in a row with her best friend! Can you tell that I'm excited? I just hope she doesn't get sick of me... not that I think that can really happen. I'm telling you, I'd be lost without Liss sometimes. I'm so thankful for such a good, Christian, caring, open friend!

Boy- I feel like I just ramble the most random things off here. Well, if you made it this far- I'll leave you with a little thought. In my daily devotional today, it penned the thought of in everything you do, think on God. It said, when life gets boring during the day, fill it with prayers and praise. Angry at someone? Don't dwell on them, but on Him. Let Him be the one that consumes your thoughts and feelings. Having a bad day? Reflect on all the good things He has done for you. Rejoice in His love and remember the Sacrifice on Calvary. Lay it all on the alter! It's so good to hear, but so hard to live. I definitely struggle with this. Lord- may my day be filled with praise for You. May my mind wander to Your glory and Love. Lord, help me to break the chains of bondage and fully give myself to You. You are my heart's desire. I so want that Heavenly reward! I ache to be Home with you and away from the worldly desires and temptations. Mold me. Shape me. Lead me.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Remembering...

So today marks the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania field. It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years already. Where were you on that September day?

I was in fifth grade. Our class was in Music and our teacher came in and pulled our Music teacher into the hallway. When our Music teacher came back, she told us we had to go back to our classroom. We could tell something was up. When we returned to our room, Mrs. Peck (our teacher) said she had something to tell us, but had to wait for Mr. Bok's class (the other 5th grade class) to join us. Mr. Bok took apart the accordion wall between our classrooms and his kids came and sat with us. They preceded to tell us that there had been a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in NYC. They weren't sure exactly what had happened, but felt we needed to be in touch with it. They turned on the TV and turned off the lights. There on the screen was Tower 1. Burning. The newsman was talking about a plane crashing into the tower. And then a classmate yell, " There's a second plane!" We saw the second plane hit the second tower. We just sat in awe. Soaking up everything that was happening. Then the towers fell. We saw people jumping for the towers, knowing there was no hope of them surviving. Then the pentagon was attacked, and Flight 93.

We were given the choice to go to recess after lunch or  watch the media coverage in our room. I chose the media coverage along with some other kids. This was huge! We knew our lives had changed.

When I got home that day, my mom just hugged me and cried. She said she hadn't heard until a customer came to the market and told her. That night we were in the barn working on Indian corn listening to the radio and hearing President Bush talk. It was a beautiful day and a more beautiful and  peaceful evening. I don't think I have ever heard the countryside so quiet before.

I had never been more proud to be an American that day and the days following. I was grateful that my family was safe and mourned for those who lost. 9/11 had such a huge impact on everyone's life. It influenced my dad's cousin Curt to enlist. I'm so proud of him, and grateful he's been home for several years now. I'm thankful that Grover Hill Elementary told their students that day. My brother was never informed in junior high and the other two elementaries never told their students. Our nation became One Nation Under God again.

During the afternoon service today at church, I decided to take a walk to the cemetary. You see, a classmate and my neighbor Nate died the day after we graduated two years ago. I sat by Nate on September 11, 2001. I thought it only necessary to go talk to him and tell him that I remember being with him 10 years ago today in Mrs. Peck's class and we watched our world change forever.

In the ten years since, there has been a lot of change. We've lost loved ones, but have seen new ones born. Changed our lifestyles and moved on to the next stage of life. Maybe even fell in love. But in my ten years, I just grateful that I have a God that has helped me, shaped me, molded me, and loved me.  We don't know what will happen in the next ten years, but I know one constant, God will be with me and I pray you can say the same.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

It's the little things...

Well after a frustrating customer today, I grabbed a mini Starburst that was sitting on the counter. You see, my momma is awesome. Whenever it gets close to Halloween, she always buys like 3 bags of mixed candy (at a time:) ) for the market. So I opened the rapper and there they were... the two WORST KINDS! Orange and yellow. Come On! Not Today!!! Where are the good flavors? The red and pink? I never get the red and pink. I don't like I've ever had a double pink! So upset I ate the orange and the yellow. The whole time thinking they were disgusting. I wearily walked back over to the bag and thought, "This hasn't been a good day. I deserved another one." I picked one out, opened it up... and there... shining like a shine from God...double pink Starbust! Instantly I thanked God and my mood brightened quickly. Ah, Thank You Lord!

Another bonus, mom and I made some zucchini bread for the freezer today and I am trying to master the art of freezer salsa. I hope it works out. I just have to remind myself it's in the freezer in February. If not, it might be a few years until we find it again :) I will have to say I make good salsa (Thanks Jason L.) and my momma can make a mean zucchini bread. It's even better with butter and strawberry jam!

Well since I know Liss is like to only one who reads this sad little blog, I'll mention her. She is my awesome friend who I would be lost without. It's sad that we live three hours apart, but that's not the worst part. When you are young(er) and people try to teach you about being an adult, they fail to mention that your life will be so busy, you have to plan a good month to two months in advance to see your best friend. Liss and I were trying to find a free weekend to see each other. This is how the conversation went:

Liss: Well I'm open this weekend
Me: No this weekend won't work
Liss: Ok I have a wedding the next weekend and something the weekend after that.
Me: Ok Well I can't do the first weekend in October
Liss: Me too. What about the following weekend?
Me: Possible. I know I can't do the last two weekends in October.
Liss: Ok that puts us at November!
Liss/Me: Let's plan on the second week of October then.

Perfect! It's sad we are so busy with school, life, work, school, work, life, school that we have to actually plan in advance. But hey, I get to see her and here wonderful family in a month! I'm sure we will have a Blennerhassett good time:)

Well I really should be doing my Diagnostic Coding homework, but instead I'm blogging. Maybe I'll just go relax in my comfy chair. Homework can wait until sometime convenient. Blessings!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

It's a beautiful day...

Well the sunset tonight was AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL! Thank you Lord for your awesome painting tonight. I don't know about you, but I sure feel a lot closer to Him when I look at the sky, see a beautiful sunrise/sunset, or gaze at the abundant stars. It's like His constant reminder to us all that He is here! He is BIG! HE LOVES US! How lost we can get sometimes. Excuse me, how easily we can get lost and forget to just stop, take it in, and say, "Thank you Lord. You are amazing, loving, all-powerful, and my Father!"

Here's a view of the sunset starting from our front porch



Since we have woods across from our home, I decided to take a drive a few miles away. Sure glad I did!


Thank You LORD!



When I got home, this is what I saw from the driveway.



I am one happy girl tonight :) What an awesome way to end a Sunday.




I read recently in Psalms and boy did I get a wake-up call! God sure told me that I, me, Chelsea, was taking the lead and trying to fulfill my own wants and needs. He pointed the question, "Chelsea, am I satisfying your life? Or are you doing that all on your own?" Wow. Am I? Yes, I guess I have been slacking. Did God just set me straight? Big time. So let me ask you this... are you truly, 100% letting God be in control of your life? Is He the satisfaction in your life? Or are you filling that need with something else, on your own? Then God opened up Psalm 25:4-5. " Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day." Again, wow. First, God was showing me that I wasn't letting Him be in charge, and then He was telling me that I need to stop what I'm doing and look and follow. Easier said then done. But so much better than living life my way! Yes Lord, I will follow you and learn from you. Teach me. Guide me. You are my hope for each day! I think I should really start praying these two verses everyday. Isn't that a great way to start off the day? Lord, today show what I did to do, learn and go. Teach me and I will listen. Take me and I will follow. 

I hope you have a blessed Labor Day! Love and Blessings- Chels

Monday, August 1, 2011

Hmm...

Well I didn't realize that when I started this blog I would hardly, well blog. I've gone almost two whole months and only made three blog posts! Yikes! I promise to do better... I hop :)

Well my last month and a half since I've blogged has been crazy busy. I taught Bible School this year in the 4 year old class. I loved it! Sure teaching 14- 4 year olds with only three total teachers is tough, but totally worth it. Once of the cutest things I heard all week was one girl telling another she had cooties. The little responded, " I don't have cooties, Satan has cooties. If you like Satan, then you're bad." The other little girl said, " You're right, Satan does have cooties and he IS bad!" Yes girls, Satan does have cooties and I pray that you stay far, far away from him.

One day we were outside for our much needed play time. (It's amazing how much I looked forwarded to getting the kids outside too.) Well, in typical Bible School fashion, there was a storming forming and it started to thunder. We decided to take the kids in early for snack because the kids where getting scared of the thunder. As we were walking back into church, one boy said, "thunder comes with tornados and I know what tornados are. I've seen a tornado before!" Thanks to God that THIS didn't frighten the rest of the kids!

Well the Friday night program, which the three teachers dreaded, went off without a hitch and the kids were great. We colored, read books, and ate lots of Goldfish and pretzels! These kids melted my heart each and every day. I just pray that the stories we told them, songs we sung, and our joy for our Lord and Savior stays with the kiddos for life and that some day they too lay down their life at the Cross.

Next, came 4th of July! We somehow convinced Dad to close the market at noon and LEAVE the house for the rest of the day. We took him Defiance for some go-karting, putt-putt, ice cream, and then we just drove around the surrounding counties have some fun family time. Most people probably think that we have a lot of family time since we work together- but we really don't. Working together and spending time together is two totally different things. We don't get to take a family vacation every year like most families and we can't just take a weekend getaway. So this was a big deal! I'm so thankful we had this time and it was so much fun... and much needed on everyone's part.

Well I guess since it's been so long, I've having trouble remembering what all happened...

Let's see......

Umm....

I took my friend's engagement pictures the end of June. They turned out awesome! Here's just a few..


I love these cute signs I made for this shoot



Ahh I love this one. Kayla you are beautiful!

My personal favorite





This was so much fun! Thanks Joel and Kayla for trusting me with taking your engagement pictures!

I think I will post the rest of my month on a different blog...really soon. I promise!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today is my Grandma Williamson's 70th birthday! To celebrate the whole family (minus two cousins) went to Bryan, Ohio and ate at Mohre's. We've never been there but the food was pretty good. There were some pretty memorable times to say the least. The best part was my cousin Blair ordering....Bacon and Cheese Waffle fries. There's something you need to know about my cousin Blair. Blair loves bacon. All kinds of bacon. She probably loves bacon more than anything else. (Well maybe that's not true, but you get the point). Blair went nuts. The plate was HUGE! It was probably a good 5 pounds of waffle fries. Well she ate all but 15 fries. And the fries were soo good, too.

On the way home all five of us girl cousins drove in our van (yep, we are test driving a van). Thanks mom for putting up with all our laughter :) It was a great time and the five of us haven't been together like that in a long, long time. We laughed the whole way home. I love those girls and I wished we were together more. Why can't we be little again? Now, Brenna lives in Toledo, Taylor just graduated  high school, Maddie turns 16 next week (YIKES!)  and Blair will be going into high school  this fall. Thanks girls for such a good night together and HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA JANET!

This afternoon I had the privilege of "watching" the cutest 2 year old ever during his uncle's wedding. The plan was for little L to stand up with the guys (he was the ring bearer) as long as possible, then go to grandma, and then go to me if needed. Well little L didn't like it at first, but I finally got him calmed down and he stole the show while Uncle H and Aunt C were lighting the Unity Candle. He just walked around with fruit snacks in his hands! Oh , I love this little dude. The cutest thing is that I am "L's Chelsea" :) He melts my heart and he knows it. Thanks Greg and Rach for letting me help out at your brother's wedding and letting me be a part of little L's life and congrats Harvey and Caci!



On a side note, I'm hoping two of my lovely cousins will help me plan out a photo shoot tomorrow evening for my friend's engagement pictures. I hope my ideas are as good in picture as they are in my mind...

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Already?

Today I got my application to graduate in Spring 2012. What?! I mean it's June 2, 2011! I'm so ready to graduate, but now that I have my application (and already filled it out and waiting to sign 'the date' so I don't look too antsy :) ) it's becoming real. I mean, I'll be done with school, done with summers off (not that my summers are off with work anyway), done with projects, done with dealing with classmates ;). I'll just be done...Correction, I'll be Chelsea R. Williamson, CMA thrown into the work force at the age of 21. Kinda scary right? Am I  really ready to be done with school and go out into the 'real world'? I'm definitely ready to be done with school, but it's the real world that's scaring me. I better throw on my smiling face and my courtesy and try to remember everything I've learned.


.....What am I talking about, I still have 11 months :)

Enough personal sob stories, how about a fill good pic-



I took this picture in California this past March while visiting my grandparents. I loved it so much I turned the picture into a note card on Shutterfly.com. If you haven't checked out Shutterfly.com before, do it!

May Peace be with you always :) 

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Hello World!

Well I finally broke down and started a blog. For what reason you may ask? None. No reason except to share my joys, sorrows, and tribulations with anyone who reads this sad blog. I don't really expect many to read this, but if you do... Enjoy!

I guess I should explain my blog's title. I was writing a little "Thinking of You" card to my cousin who just moved away from home for school. As I was flipping through my Bible trying to find some verses that would uplift her, I came across a highlighted verse. Luke 12:34. 'For where your treasure is, there will you heart be also.' I love this verse. It's just so matter-a-fact. What you (I) love most, treasure the most, can't seem to live without is where your (my) heart will be. It really makes me think about myself everytime I read this verse. I check myself. What is your treasure Chelsea? I would love to answer, "Well it's my Lord and Savior " everytime. However, things seem to get in the way. Things like school, projects, work, etc. So, maybe everytime I post something on here, or someone stumbles across this, what matters most will become the treasure in the heart.