My heart cannot be kindled without you

I'm going to admit something to you all tonight.

I have no idea who I am.

There I said it.

Maybe I should rephrase.  I know exactly who I am...who I can and should be...but I don't know where that girl has gone.  As cheesy as it sounds, I found myself in Switzerland this summer.  Never before had i felt so close to God.  He was so real to me there.  So tangible.  He was in everything I saw, everything I touched and in everyone that I met.  The development in our relationship had endless possibilities.  Sometimes it feels like I said goodbye to him in the airport in Geneva.

Let me admit something else to you.

It's very hard for me to refer to God as my Father.

Someday I hope to sincerely call him Father and mean it.  I miss my earthly father so much that it almost seems like a betrayal to give his name to anyone else.  It would make my Dad sad to hear me say that.  But as of right now it's an unfortunate truth.  I feel like I should have all the answers by now! By the worlds standards I'm doing just about everything right.  I'm an intern at a church that I love, I'm majoring in something that I'm passionate about, I'm living on my own, I have a great group of friends and I'm involved at my school.  I've got everything together right? That is far from the truth.  God has blessed me with all of these things and daily I take them for granted.  Sometimes I even take credit for them!  Who am I to take credit for the gifts and opportunities given to me?

Every day has become a routine. Get up, get ready, go to class, go to chapel, go to lunch, take a nap, go to rehearsal, go to church, do homework (sometimes), go to bed, and then start all over.

I feel like i've lost my passion.  I'm starting to worry about the future.  Where will I live after graduation?  Who will I marry?  What exactly will I be doing?  What are my plans for this summer?  How am I handling my relationships now?  What if, what if, what if?!

I can't keep living like this.

I need to find myself again.

I need to find that giddy, little girl who is so in love with Jesus that I left wandering around on the other side of the world.  I want that Madison back, and I know my friends and family do to.

I believe in the power of prayer, so would you pray for me?  Pray that God scoops me up in his arms and rekindles my passion.

I'm so thankful for the people I have in my life.  I am richly blessed.  God will see me through.

Happy Thanksgiving:)

-mvc

Hyperbole Crew Bs

Oh my heavens.

I have been the busiest little bee lately!  I might have spread myself too thin this semester but that's the way I like it.  It's not that I can't say no, it's just that there's nothing I want to say no to:)

This week will HONESTLY be the busiest week of my life!  It's homecoming here at OC and I'm on one of the homecoming committees and in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WE GO UP THIS WEEK!

I'm just so excited.  It's going to be great and everyone should come!

Let me tell you all something else.
God has blessed me with the most wonderful and precious friends.  Hence the title of this blog.  Let me explain.

You might refer to us as dramatic...but I like to think we are living life to the fullest and perfecting the art of putting hyperbole to everyday use.

For example:  "I am literally going to explode into a million pieces."  or my most recent favorite...

"I WILL BARF UP A PLANET."  -Melanie Sullivan

Just makin life more interesting:)

On a more serious note, I ask that you please pray for my precious friend Elise's mom.  She has been in and out of the hospital this year and is in a pretty serious condition.

Here is the link to the blog Elise is keeping.

http://missgoosie.tumblr.com/

I ask that you pray for healing and that God's will be done.  Also that they can feel his arms around them during this time.

Well, I'm off to run a secret errand!

More blogging soon!

Madison

The Delights of a Busy Blogger

Well everyone...I officially suck at maintaining a blog. I think it was probably August the last time I updated. I will seriously try to do better, but life is so dang busy!

I have to give a shout out to Meagan Branch for being able to keep up her blog while planning a wedding, being an awesome president of Gamma Rho AND being overall director of Spring Sing. She is crazy but I LOVE her!Last time I posted, I think I talked about Earn Your Wings and how wonderful it was...and if I didn't then I will now:)

It was so great!

Here is my AWESOME hub!

My wonderful friend Natalie. What would I do without her?

My Hub Partner Blake and I!

We had the best time! I loved getting to meet so many of the freshmen.

Now on to more recent things!

On Friday...TORI AND LOGAN GOT ENGAGED!!!!

We had a little fake wedding in 116:)

 Now our apartment will be filled with wedding talk and bridal magazines:)

Also, I tried out for a musical!

Ever heard of Thoroughly Modern Millie?

Well, it's our homecoming musical this year at OC! I'm soooooo excited about it! I got called back for the part of Millie and I had a blast doing call backs for it! I ended up not getting the part, but I had the best audition i've ever had and that's all I can ask for. My characters name is Gloria and she is one of Millie's best friends. One of the best things about this musical, is that it is full of tap! I cannot wait to start learning choreography because I get to dance SO much!

God is just the greatest.

:)

The Joy of the Lord

The Joy of the Lord will be my strength.

What powerful words.

I have been filled with joy that can only come from God and I LOVE IT. God's joy is contagious, and I hope that it is spreading to others that I come in contact with b/c it's just too wonderful not to share!

On that note, let me tell you that Earn Your Wings 2010 was PHENOMENAL. seriously. this class of freshmen are crazy awesome and God is going to do great things with them. I do not have enough time in this blog to accurately describe how wonderful earn your wings was, so i'll save that for my next blog.

My first day of Junior year was today. cray-cray. I honestly can't believe it. but instead of harping on how short life is, I'm going to enjoy it. I'm going to soak up life, breathe in the sights and sounds that God has given me and serve God in everything that I do. At least I'm going to try. :)

Earlier I mentioned that lately I have had such contagious joy. Let me tell you why.

1. My new friends. God has revealed himself through some of the most wonderful people I got to meet last week. I already love all my new friends and they make me so happy.

2. My old friends. They are the most precious wonderful things in the world to me. I am so blessed to be surrounded by girls who stand by my side, make me laugh like crazy and give it to me straight when the situation calls for it. I am so blessed to be surrounded by guys who protect me, crack me up and treat me with respect that comes from living a Godly life. I have friends who are involved, who love to love people and who genuinely care about making this world a better place by letting God take control and run with it.

3. My mom. She is just the best. seriously. I get an encouraging email from her every day and she loves me unconditionally.

4. MY LORD. He is so good to me. I can't express my love for him enough. His love is truly everlasting. He has blessed me with the job of being an intern for the MRCC Campus Ministry and I can't wait to see what he does through our team.

I can't wait to see what God has in store for me. I know satan is already working on a plan to exploit my weakness and take away my peace. But I stand strong in the Lord and I lean on him to keep me safe.

You are all in my prayers. Let me know if I can make your lives easier!:)

In HIS love,

Madison

Ch-Ch-Ch Changes!

Oh my goodness guys...i'm a JUNIOR! IN. COLLEGE.

Isn't it funny how every time we move up a grade or we get a year older, we are all so shocked by it!? I mean, it's the natural progression of things, and yet it feels so foreign.

CHANGE. that is a foreign word. It's a loved and hated word. On my end it's mostly hated. I've gone through some pretty rough and unwelcome changes in my life, so when it comes knocking I'm not the first one to let it in. In fact I'm usually looking desperately for something to barricade the door. I've noticed in these past two years of school that a lot of times, this hurts me more than it helps. Our lives are changing from the time we take our very first breath. and we have absolutely no control over it! That would be reason number two that I would rather resist change than give it an open invitation. I like to be in control...I know you are all shocked. Now just because I have identified these reasons does not mean that I'm going to invite change over for a cup of tea, but it does make me more aware of who is in control. GOD. That's it. He is in control of my life, and let's be honest, is there any better Captain than our Lord?

God has shown me amazing things this summer. He took me halfway across the world to meet some wonderful people that will influence my life forever. And some of them live not 3 hours from me! I believe in a God who can do anything. I believe in a God who speaks to me through whatever means necessary to get my attention. Like, let's say...a fortune cookie.

Yes, my God speaks to me through chinese take-out dessert. Just a few weeks after I got home from Switzerland, my family ordered Pei-Wei and this is what my fortune cookie said:

"Sometimes traveling to a new place leads to great transformation."

WHOA.

and if that wasn't enough, my 2 lucky numbers were the first listed in the line of lucky numbers...they also happen to be my birthday. 3/13.

How's that for a sign?

My God is a god of wonder and awe and power and love and jealousy and humor and majesty and limitless possibilities. And I am so excited about what he will do in my life this year.

That being said, let me tell you about some things that he is already doing for my family and for me!:)

1. my brother got a raise.
2. my mommy got a job
3. my dogs got clean bills of health

Now those are great things!

As for me, God saw fit to allow me two AMAZING jobs for this school year! I will be a College Intern at Memorial Road Church of Christ AND I will be working for student life as a Freshman Link! I am so so SO excited for this opportunity. I am already praying for all of my girls in my hall of the freshman dorm and I can't wait to meet them! I am also actively praying for the campus ministry at Mem. Road. Jeff McMillion is a fabulous campus minister and I am so blessed to be working with him and with the other 4 interns!

I am so excited about this year, but I'm also a little sad about leaving my family. I know they will miss me, and I them, but we will all be reunited quicker then we think!

Please be praying for this school year and for all of the students going back to school! I have a great feeling about it!:)

Wonderfully Awesome:)

Ok so first off some wonderfully awesome things that I just have to share.

So i gave a hint about my most recent purchase in my last blog and her it is...the big unveiling!




TA DA! and watch...




It is truly magic. LOVE.

Also, i've been doing some fun crafts to put in our precious phase 4 apartment this year!

Exhibit A




Letters to go in our kitchen! (they also spell out the word "tea"!)

anddddd




A fun little button frame!

I'm also in the process of making some pillows! I love it and I can't wait to move in! one more week:)

I solemnly swear that i'm up to no good...

Oh my gosh. It has been far too long since my last update! first of all, let me share with you something that I discovered about myself this weekend.

I truly LOVE Harry Potter.

Now all of my close friends are going DUH.

but seriously...it just brings me so much joy. oh the little things in life:)

and that leads me to my next exciting thing...my latest purchase.

all i'm going to tell you is that it's a mug and there is a hint somewhere in this blog. The rest will have to be a surprise!

In case you don't know me very well, i'm a sucker for mugs. I LOVE them. When i have my own house I will have a cabinet devoted to my mug collection. This sort of thing must run in the family because my mother also loves mugs and tea cups. I guess it's a Callaway girl thing:)

My fam just got back from a great weekend in Tulsa with my grandparents! It was wonderful to see old family friends and some great friends from OC were there too!

We had an interesting encounter as we were leaving to come back to Texas. We stopped at a quick trip and a guy who was probably around 25 or 26 came up to the window and was asking my mom and I if we had some extra change so he could get some gas. He began to tell us about how he and his wife and his 7 month old baby had come to Oklahoma from Wyoming because he had a job lined up. It turns out that he worked for one day and they decided to let him go. They lost their apartment and almost everything that they had. All they have in the world could fit into their car and they were about to run out of gas.

Now usually when people ask for money I usually say no unless I really feel God leading me to do so. And this time I really felt God leading me to help. We gave him what money we had and gave him the address of Park Plaza Church of Christ so they could get some help. I love the way God works to influence peoples lives. We didn't have to pull into that gas station or into that pump and if someone else had, that family might not have gotten any help. If you ask me, they helped us as much as we helped them. I will never forget his wife's face as we were driving away... I turned to look back and tears were running down her face as she rocked her baby and she waved and mouthed the words "thank you". Now that is a powerful memory.

The Lord is SO good!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful last few weeks of summer and getting excited to get back to school! I know I am:)

Phase 4 apartment 116 is gonna be AMAZING:)