It's Been a While...

Hey guys! So, I know that it has been quite some time since any of us have last posted... but I'm going to fill you in on what I've been doing the last few months. 

   

    I got another job as a housekeeper in a local motel.. it's not nearly as glamorous as it sounds ;), but it pays the bills. 

   I've made some lovely new friends: 

And reconnected with some old ones. <3

  

    I graduated high school as valedictorian, (in case you forgot, I was homeschooled ;)

   Fellow alpha females: Mindie, Michelle, and Alysse also graduated. I spent most of that week balling my eyes out.. 

   To add to all of the emotions, my sister got married, and I was her maid of honor. <3 

  

     I have enjoyed some lovely summer activities such as Bon fires and outdoor movies 

    Going on some awesome nighttime adventures 

And taking in some GORGEOUS views 

   All in all, these last couple months have been pretty spectacular. 

   I'm sorry that all of us have been so caught up in life, but I like to believe we've been living in the moment, and gaining life experience.

    So, be patient with us, dudes. It'll be worth the wait, (hopefully). 

      Meranda Stanley

Missing Posts & Easter

Hey everyone!  

These past few weeks I know everyone has been a little lacking on posts and content, but life has been pretty crazy for all of us.  Sickness, graduation plans, work, and just life in general has been taking over! 

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter weekend celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus.  

Hopefully over the next few weeks we'll get back in the swing of blogging again, but thanks for sticking with us through this time in our lives!  <3

My Favorite Book!

Okay yeah also we are writing about our favorite books this week and mine is called the Mysterious Benedict Society. This has been my favorite (trilogy actually) since I was little and I still read them quite often.

Here is a brief overview of the plot:

The series deals with the adventures of four young children who are incredibly gifted in different areas, all bound by one common factor at the start of the series: they are either orphans or unwanted by their parents. The children become involved with the strange Mr. Nicholas Benedict and his guild of assistants who are trying to stop Mr. Benedict's twin, Ledroptha Curtain, from taking over the world. Each book involves the four children using their own wits to outsmart the enemies and solve their own problems without needing to rely on outside means. The four children are Kate, a very active girl who can go anywhere she likes as long as she has her trusty bucket, Reynie, who always thinks logically and whom the rest of the team regard as the team leader, Sticky (whose real name is George but his friends call him Sticky), who has the capability to remember anything he sees so this makes him exceedingly smart, and Constance, who has the capability to read people's minds and send mind letters to people. These four children team up against the evil villain Mr. Curtain and his evil comrades. They use their talents to defeat him and stop him from taking over the world using brain signals from watching the TV and listening to the radío.

Heart Homes

Hey guys it's your favorite and most forgetful Alpha Female ;)

So last week I missed a post so I'm going to make up for it with something I wrote last week. It's about my friend that passed away that I mentioned the previous week. I know I've posted quite a bit about this, but he really meant a lot to me and I cannot apologize for that ❤️ this piece is only a rough draft at this point, but here is "Heart Homes"

Your heart used to be my home.

And it got so empty when you moved to that city with the streets of gold

And now I know what you meant when you said this room can grow so terribly cold

And I wrestled with the idea of taking your place,

But I know that if anyone deserves a break from this world of pain,

It's you, it's not me.

But I'm still terrified of the future.

Not exactly the future itself

But

For the memories it holds

One year since you've been gone.

I'm terrified because each new day is a step forward in the direction of these little pockets of fire

Little puddles that turn into floods

And I know

That there is hydration in the water

And there is a warmth to the fire

That there is happiness found in my fond memories of you

But I also know that to indulge means to drown

To burn completely

Because love knows no limitations.

Although I hold you sweetly in my mind, there is a universe of regret and sadness in every memory crease.

Although your face makes me smile upon recollection, it is the saddest smile I've ever known.

Although I am so happy to have known you, I wish I didn't have to talk about you in the past tense.

For there is no limitation to the tornado of love. And it will wreck your heart

Sometimes for the better

But either way after tornadoes, something has to be rebuilt. 

People will find new homes

New places to hide

And most of all people will find wisdom.

Wisdom to always build the cellar in the bottom of their heart homes just in case happiness needs a safe place to stay when the rains come.

And someday

It will be alright

All the ash and dust will be settled on the floor of our houses.

We will learn to never clean the house too deeply lest the dust rise up and cause us to sneeze in relapse. 

We will invite people into our heart homes for dinner. 

Some, for the night.

By then they will have learned to ignore the filthy sadness that cakes the floor.

And they will take their shoes off to remind us that we are still human. And they believe in us a little more for surviving the nights on our own.

And we will survive

In our little heart homes.

To my best friend and biggest hero Cameron Byrd. I will always love you.

Alpha Females Book Week

Hey guys! Happy Monday! 

This week all of the Alpha's blog posts are going to be about our favorite books.  

My favorite book consistently since I've read it is Unwind by Neal Shusterman. 

It's set in the not-so-distant future and is about the aftermath of a war on abortion.  The Pro-Life and Pro-Choice sides came to an agreement that while life cannot be terminated in the womb, it may be terminated by a decision by the guardians of the child between 13-18 years of life in a process called Unwinding.  Through this process, almost 100% of the original person is usable in transplants to other people and they are completely alive during the surgery.  Because of them being alive and wholly usable, some people believe that life does not technically end in this way, causing the sides of the war to come to a compromise.  The book focuses on a group of teenagers who are running away from being Unwound; Connor, Resa, and Levi.

I know, I know...some of you just read that description and are like whoa Michelle, that sounds like a pretty insanely depressing favorite book!  And I would agree with you!  It does sound depressing, but it's still my favorite book. 

One of the biggest things about this book to me is that I can't really put a finger on why it's my favorite.  Every time I read it, I notice new things about the story and the characters, and for me, it's like a brand new book every time.  I've read books that are written better, and have more exciting storylines for sure, but this one is always the one I automatically go back to again and again as my favorite. It always makes me think about what I would do in a similar situation to these characters and it brings up moral issues about the meaning of life and death that maybe I don't think about all the time.  

Overall, this is an amazing read and I highly recommend reading it!  It might even give you a book hangover. ;) 

My Favorite Quotes and Verses

I couldn't think of an idea other than this one, so here is a compilation of all my favorite quotes and verses, including pictures I took to go along with them.  

"Faith is not knowing what the future holds, but who holds the future."

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life." Psalm 143:8

"The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is filled with his unfailing love." Psalm 33:5

 "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for is compassion so never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

 "I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." ~ Jimmy Dean

These are three of my favorite quotes. 

1. "Believe gods promises. Come boldly, wait humbly, believe simply, receive freely, Rest in his faithfulness, wait expectantly, believing that has done it."

2. "God may delay his promises but he will never deny them." 

3. "God can make the very worst that happen in your life to work for the very best."

Blooming in the Rocks

Something I've been learning lately//

Being anxious to leave and reach your "full potential" in another place is not always what God wants from us. While it's good to be ambitious and have dreams and work towards them, God is asking us to surrender to His dreams for us. I know a lot of you have probably heard the phrase "Grow where you're planted" at least once in your life and lately that's al I've been hearing from people. And I have never taken that easily, as I'm 17, financially not equipped (and thank God for parents because I don't want to pay my own bills yet), I've never been content with the place I'm in.

When I was younger, our children's pastors would always talk about missionaries and some of the girls (yes most of the alpha females) knew as young girls which countries God wanted them to go to and minister in. Little Alysse wanted that too but God didn't call me to any specific place. So I decided to take it upon myself to determine where I would go..

And basically I was "called" to Africa with Chloe first.. And then I was "called" to Europe with Mindie.. And then I was "called" to India with Michelle.

I couldn't ever settle for one place.

Now as I'm almost an adult, I understand why I couldn't ever make up my mind or hear from God. It's because he wanted me to learn something first:

1) I am called to be a missionary every place my feet touch.

           - Not just the cliche "Your campus is your mission field." But beyond that, I am called to minister to the people around me every place I am.

To "grow where I've been planted" is not a phrase I reject anymore because I understand it. By rejecting it before, I was limiting the power of God working through me. I begged for spiritual gifts (speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy, etc.) but yet denied God the access to use those gifts where HE wanted. I stunted my spiritual growth because I did not want to stay in Ellendale. I did not want to "waste my time" in a place I didn't even like.

Now, I know God has called me to the nations now, I've heard that very clearly in recent days, but I also know that God has given me tools and gifts to use in this small town and until he says it's time to leave, I cannot deny these people the power and love of God because of selfish desires.

So If you're ever bitter with God for feeling stuck in a rut or bored with life, turn around, smack yourself in the brain, and surrender your plans to God.

If you are bored with where you are, it's because you aren't giving the Holy Spirit enough access in your life.

God is not a boring God, and we were not meant for routines and complacency.

We were not made for mediocrity.

We were not made for apathy.

Get out of your spiritual through surrendering.