Purple for a Purpose...

     These past two weeks have been the two hardest weeks of my life. With just one instant, one phone call, and a few words spoken, my world was flipped upside down.
      As many of you know, Katlyn Graham was in a very serious ATV accident, along with Annalyn Bradshaw on Wednesday, May 30th. Annalyn was very fortunate and was not physically hurt other than some obvious soreness and scratches. Praise God!! But, Katlyn, however, was not so fortunate. The Gator that they were riding had flipped over on Katlyn, cutting off her oxygen. To make a very long story shorter, she ended up being airlifted to Jackson and is currently in UMC'S children's ICU. Katlyn is in a severe coma in critical condition.. Recently, though, after MANY prayers, Katlyn has made great progress, along with a few setbacks. She is being kept sedated until her lungs can heal, but the other night she actually opened her eyes! How exciting! Now we are just playing the waiting game.. waiting to see what comes next.
       I can't even begin to describe the insane roller coaster that we have all been on these past two weeks. Ups, and downs, downs and ups.. I can't even begin to imagine how Mrs. Tasha and Mr. Trae feel and what they have been through these past two weeks. I just can't wait until I can see Katlyn, awake, and I can tell her all about what this situation has done in my life and how God has used her as such an awesome witness for Him.
      My relationship with God has been stronger these past two weeks than it ever has been. I have learned more how to rely on God for EVERYTHING. I have learned more how to put every single drop of my faith and trust in Christ. It is so easy to trust God when things are going great, but when he trows in a curve ball once in a while, trust me, your faith is tested. It is important to always remember that God has the power to do anything  His will WILL be done.
       It's also important to remember that when things get better, when Katlyn is awake, doing good and at home, that this close walk that we have all had with God these past few weeks does not need to fade! The prayer life that we have all built up does not need to fade. God lets things happen sometimes to bring us closer to him or to give us all a wake up call- and this definitely was one of those times. If you live in Ellisville, you know that the entire town is purple. Purple everywhere! It's amazing how our town has been touched by this and I feel like it has brought us all together. There aren't many times when I think "I love living in such a small town", but when I drive through Ellisville and see all of the purple...my heart skips a beat.
      I truly believe that God is trying to get our attention. These are just a few things he has showed me through all of this-

1. Life is so very short. As teenagers, sometimes we think we are invincible and untouchable.. But the truth is, we aren't. We are fragile, and we are only making it by the grace of God! It's time to wake up and stop living for ourselves, and live for God.
2. God has POWER. He can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
3. God knows what he is doing. He has his hands on Katlyn and the doctors.
4. When you put ALL of your trust, worries, and faith in God's hands, you feel SO much better. I have such a peace about all of this now. I know that anything could happen, but I trust that God knows what he is doing and in the end, everything will be okay.

There are so many things I wish I could tell Katlyn right now. I wish i could see her smiling face right now and just be able to hug her. I miss her more than I ever thought imaginable. Our youth group isn't the same without her. It's too... quiet! Haha, Katlyn is always the sunshine of our youth group- the bright, loud one!


Katlyn,
     You have no idea the impact you have made on my life and many others. You are SUCH  testimony, and you don't even know it yet! I haven't passed one purple ribbon without praying for you, and we pray for you constantly. I miss you so much. I can't wait to see you able to be goofy again. I need some sunshine in my life! Guess what? We had a prayer vigil for you at church Thursday night after your accident. There were so many students there and I know you would be proud! (finally the "cool church"...Hahah). Through all of this, my faith and trust in God has grown more than I ever thought was possible. I love you so much and I can't wait for you to get better!

 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD." John 16:33

Our youth went and visited Katlyn's family at the hospital last Sunday

This was from a day during Spring Break when the youth was working concessions at Jones. Crazy Katlyn!

Purple everywhere!

I've been a bad blogger...

Yeah, yeah, I know it has been about 7 months. I don't even know where to start!
September: Well, after my birthday, I got my license and I took over mom's Buick, which is now my car :) My birthday present was a room makeover!

Before...

After!

 October: Besides the fair, crowning in the pageant, and Halloween, October wasn't very busy. Here are just a few pics:

Kylon was in the Womanless Beauty Pageant at school...This disturbs me, but he won prettiest face!

November marked mine and Kylon's 3 year anniversary. I know that God has placed each of us in each other's lives for a specific purpose, and I have no complaints! He treats me like a girl should be treated, and that is hard to find these days! I love him, and I couldn't be happier.

December: Ahh, Christmas time! December is by far my favorite month, but also my busiest! With all of the regular Christmas activities, I also had Dinner Theater (which is a huge fundraiser that show choir does every December) and our youth went to Winter Extreme in TN!

I love these girls! I am blessed with so many amazing friends!
Dinner Theater 2011-2012

One of the night sessions at Winter Xtreme 2011/2012.
Nothing like hands raised worshipping Jesus!

My beautiful mother and me at Dinner Theater!

Yeah, yeah. My boyfriend spoils me just a little bit..

Youth group looking at Christmas lights in Purvis. Love these girls!

All bundled up in downtown Gatlinburg on New Years Eve!

February: For Valentine's Day, Kylon planned a special date for us! :) He wouldn't tell me ANYTHING about what we were doing, and it was driving me crazy! My friends said I would love it, and I sure did! When I woke up and got dressed (which is hard to do appropriately when you have no clue where you're going or what you're doing) I got in my car with no idea where to go. He told me to check my mailbox, where I found a rose with a note tied to it. I soon discovered that I was on an intense scavenger hunt around Ellisville. It was so much fun! He sent me with "clues" to places that were special to us or places that we liked to go together, and at each place I would find a new rose with a new clue. After I found the last rose, I was instructed to meet him in Hattiesburg at my favorite resturant, which is obviously Tabella. We ate lunch and spent the day together! I couldn't have asked for anything more thoughtful or special! Honestly, I was impressed that he did it all on his own! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures!
February 21 was Kaylie's birthday, so a few of us went out to Mi Casita to celebrate :)

Love these girls :)

March:  Well, March was very busy, but the main event was my trip to FAME ORLANDO with South Jones Company! The trip was a lot of fun; I always enjoy time with my friends and my show choir family. We went to Universal Studios, where we not only had a BLAST at the theme parks, but we also competed at the Hard Rock Live in the Fame Competition series for regionals. We placed First Runner Up, with VERY close scores! We were all very excited, because... this meant that we were advancing to the Nationals competition in CHICAGO! We are so very blessed with an awesome director and great parents that helped get us where we are and mold us to who we are now.
We leave for Chicago next Wednesday and compete Saturday (April 21).

Sophomores with the trophy!

At Harry Potter World! (it had been raining)

Cassidy won Most Beautiful in her school pageant! I was one proud BFF :)

Recently/April: As you can tell, the last few months have been so very hectic. I can't believe the school year is almost over!
 Easter was last week, and as always, I was reminded of the amazing sacrifice that my Savior made for me on the cross over 2,000 years ago. You know, as I sit here and recall all of the things that have been going on lately that have kept me so busy, I realize that I don't stop what I am doing often enough to thank the One who gave me life- the one who makes all that I do possible. I am blessed beyond words, and God deserves every bit of me. Easter shouldn't be the only time that we remind ourselves of the amazing, unthinkable things that Jesus went through and suffered for us all. I am challenging myself in all of this busy/craziness to take the time that God rightfully deserves to thank him and use more time to do his works. After all, that is our sole purpose as Christians for being on this Earth. I hope everyone had a great Easter and continue to have a great Spring! Here are a few more pictures:

Had to share Colby's fish he caught. He was so proud :)

I was the Easter Bunny at the kid's egg hunt the Saturday before Easter

Not the greatest picture of me because of the sun, but this was us on Easter. I love these two :)

This one is a little better. Me and Cassidy on Easter!

Pinterest project SUCCESS! I'm so addicted to Pinterest..

Well, that is all for this one big blog! Thanks for reading, if you made it this far! (Haha)