happy 4th...on the 13th!

so yes, this post is a little late...9 days actually. But...oh.well. My 4th was great! We have started a tradition and that tradition is called the Peachtree Road race. Jordan Newberry and I ran this year..our very first 10k. And let me tell you-it can be done. 6.2 miles with 60,000 people. WOW. Here is a glance of that:



We decided that every year we are going to do this race..even when we are ol..possibly with strollers if our future holds a family and kids of our own. It was so much fun. And since it was the 4th of July we HAD to make cool outfits and celebrate the birth of America.

The race went very well. I came in 11,594th place (that makes me laugh soo much!)
It was tiring for sure. My goal was to make it in an hour and I made it in 59:32. Wow. Cutting.It.Close.


Me and JNew- one of the only friends I have that would come up with tis idea and agree with me that it is an absolutely awesome idea!!


I finished celebrating the 4th with my wonderful family, ribs, and card games. What an awesome day: Great friends, GREAT OUTFITS, Great run, Great Family, Great fellowship, and a Great 4th of July.

sacrifices

with all relationships come sacrifices. I have been experiencing a few lately. It's actually my biggest crisis. See I have this friend...best friend actually, her name is Amy Jessee and she is getting married! So fun! But this requires a MAJOR sacrifice for me....wearing HEELS!

With our beautiful bridesmaid dresses she would also like black open toe heels...my first thought: BEAUTIFUL! my second thought: PANIC!

So you may not know me but knoww this...I NEVER wear heels..I wear flipflops and tennis shoes, yup thats about it. And yes I was a sorority girl. With being a sorority girl there is this thing called Pin Attire day. Every Tuesday we were required to wear really cute clothes aka skirts/dresses + you guessed it...heels. So what did I do... I wore heels...kinda: I would take my heels, put them on my feet, walk two feet out the door and then take them off to walk to class and just hold them in my hand. Yes, I was that girl. The one who walked to class with heels in hand. The one who wore flip flops to every sorority formal and semiformal.

But now the day has come, to walk gracefully down the aisle of my best friends wedding, wearing fabulous heels. So how will that be graceful? Well Im thinking practice makes for semiperfection, so I bought my heels yesterday and I plan on trying to wear them whenever I am in my house, to make my breakfast, clean my room, go out to the car, etc and maybe...just maybe Ill get the hang of these things!

Like I said, with relationships/friendships come sacrifice..and this is definitely one I am willing to make!! Haha, I think of it as more of an adventure!

a new tika

Now, I am sure some of you are wondering...what is a tika? and what is a new tika? Well Tika is a woman that worked at Steamers (one of my favorite restaurants in Clinton, SC). We became friends because my sophomore year, Bethany Griffith and I ate at Steamers once a week every week so that she could study the word with me. And I fell in love with steamers and Tika who is like the most awesome waitress EVER. But anyway I started praying for her and sharing my life with her, about Jesus and what I did with my summers, etc. It was awesome for sure and I hope and pray that I planted seeds there that later God will grow!

So now, in Rome, GA..no longer Clinton, SC I have found a new great place. Its called Harvest Moon Bakery. I go there 2 or 3 times a week in the mornings for breakfast and normally order two sausage balls. Sometimes I actually run from my job and back with a friend to the bakery and back which is about 4.5 miles, a great run for the morning. The same girl works there every time I go there. She looks like she is about my age which might mean still in college or just graduated. Normally when I go to breakfast there I am by myself, so I always sit and have a quiet time, which some people could never do (go to a restaurant by themselves,eat and read). I know this bc people tell me its weird and they couldnt lol. But I have a lot of free time. I really do feel like all parts of your life can be ministry and there should be an overflow, and I really see this as mine. So i am praying that this girl and I become friends!! And that I eventually get to share with her!

Today, when I was leaving, I told her thank you and she actually gave me another sausage ball for free and told me not to tell anyone!! Haha it was awesome! I can see our friendship forming already!

Challenge: Think about the areas and times of your everyday life that you could use for ministry. Its easy when you have a specific area such as college, or your job. But what about your neighbor? Or the waitress you see every time you go into your favorite restaurant? I love being a "regular" at a certain place...God can use all things in your life to bring glory to Himself! Get creative and have a good time doing what you do!

what JFJ means to me...

JFJ. Three letters=three words. Funny thing is...only six girls know what JFJ stands for (7 including Kate's mom.) So what is JFJ? JFJ is a group of six girls. A group of six girls that I hold dear to my heart. Six girls who shared their lives together and followed each other while we all struggled to follow Jesus. This is what JFJ means to me:

Abbye-I have learned sooooo much from Abbye, her humility and her love for others. She fights for others to know Jesus and has a HUGE heart. From Abbye, I've learned that as a leader of others we must be the "lead-repenter", showing our imperfections but also showing that we bring them before the Lord as he sees us as flawless. She is amazing at reading people, knowing them and meeting their needs. She truly is a servant at heart!

Amy- my roommate, my friend, the person I love to sing in the car with! Amy loves it when I have one small piece of hair hanging in front of my face, she notices the small things and I love her for it. She is so gentle and so kind and so genuine. She is also one of the most encouraging people I know! She challenges me with thought-provoking questions and I really just enjoy spending time doing nothing with her!

Ashton- Ashton is tough love! We've both agreed. Philippians 4:2,3-that's the relationship Ash and I had. We had to agree with one another in the Lord, because we just don't always agree with each other and we used to never get along. But now I can say that she is one of my very best friends. Through her tough love she pushes me to know Christ in all things. She helps me remember my freedom in Christ when my mind seems to be so legalistic sometimes. It makes for alot of fun and alot of laughs!

Bekah- I have always looked up to Bekah, she is so beautiful and so wise! We always had a surfacy friendship until JFJ and now I love her more than anything! She is really great at grounded me and seeing through my emotions, allowing me to think rationally. She always wants to hear how I am doing and about my life which shows me how much she truly cares about me. She always asks great questions about theology and more. I feel like we relate in how we see the gospel..and how we don't see and understand it all the time but yearn to all the more.

Kate- the one who always reminds me that being emotional is ok. If it weren't for Kate I wouldn't have made it! I am an emotional person and Kate and I are very similar in that way. We definitely need others to help us think through our emotions and not let them rule us but I am so thankful that Kate was always real with us and was never afraid to tell us how she was feeling. She always has so much insight and such a loving heart.

So what does JFJ mean to me? Knowing more of Christ through living life together with these 5 girls. What it stands for...readers you may never know. But if you have a chance, share your life with the people around you, don't be afraid to go deep, don't be afraid to mess up. Cling to Jesus and follow Him. I love these girls and miss them so much! They will never know how much I learned from them!

4 fun memories of the 4th

Happy fourth of July! Every 4th of July I have been in VERY different places and experienced funny things for some reason each place: we'll start four years ago:

July 4th, 2007--I was in the back of Andrew Hawkins' pickup truck with Becca Hayter, Mitchell King, and others from the Leadership Project in Myrtle Beach. We were headed to the beach to watch fireworks when all of the sudden we were REAR-ENDED!! Keep in mind we are in a pickup truck so we look at the driver and he just looks at us and shrugs holding his hands up as if to say- "I have no idea what just happened"--we just laughed and continued to the beach for the fun.

July 4th,2008--In South Africa with Campus Outreach. What a cool place to celebrate the 4th of July! I skyped my mom to tell her to have a great day and this was how the conversation went:
Me: Happy 4th of July Mom!!
Mom: Happy 4th to you too Brittni! Do they do anything special in South Africa to celebrate the 4th??
Me: Mom...the 4th of July isn't celebrated here...it's independence day for America...
All of my friends(I remember specifically Ashton and Brinck): Wow...now we see where Brittni gets everythingggg... haha!

July 4th, 2009--Again in Myrtle Beach, Lauren Snyder and I wanted to share who Jesus is with someone on the beach. I've talked to alot of people about jesus but I have never EVER had an experience like this before. There is a woman sitting by herself and we decide to talk to her. This is how it goes:
Us: Hey how are you!?
Woman: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
US: Oh, Sorry no, we are actually with a Christian group and we were just hoping to share with you something we have been learning.
Woman: Oh, ok, I guess..
So anyway, the conversation went on and on and on. But it got weird. We asked her what she thought about sin and she said: "Oh, I KNOWWW what sin is! You don't even wanna know how I sin...Oh boy, you would be in for a treat!" And we were like...oh boy..no no we dont have to hear specifics. But then her husband walked up and it was like a light switch as if they were putting on a show: She went from being what seemed like the roughest hooligan who sinned constantly to an angel!!
Woman: Oh yes, the Lord is so good, and its so great what you girls are doing. You guys need to keep going all over the world talking about this, because we definitely do!
---I can't give justice to this conversation but it was by far a strange experience, I just don't have enough time to tell you all about it.

July 4th, 2010--In a new place, with new people, and new experiences. Went to a new church to try it out, went to lunch with a couple of girls I've just met, and now am at the pool with my family. Later, I will probably head to see some fireworks with some friends (friends that I am just now getting to know). I'm praying that God will continue to grow these friendships, and continue to provide in the ways he knows I need.

jaja boniques

Last night, I went to hang out with one of my best friends Jordan Newberry. Our freshman year though we gave each other nicknames. Hers= Jaja Boniques. Mine= Megan Malpoopoo. Don't ask, but this definitely defines our friendship. God has brought our friendship SO FAR too!! We lived together freshman year and hated each other, but at the end of freshman year, we bonded HUGELY--Jordan hadn't taken her medicine and I was writing a paper on Beauty and the Beast, and we just connected through stories!! So Awesome--we've been great friends ever since!

So last night we decided that we wanted to rent Toy Story 2 and watch it, so we went to Blockbuster. We got Toy Story 2, three boxes of candy and I got popcorn and a drink bc I don't love candy! So we check out and the man says: You should get another popcorn and drink and it will be cheaper. WE LOVE FOOD so of course we went and got more but I started thinking..this guy didnt tell us the price before...he could just be getting us to get more for more money!! But we did it anyway, and ended up getting 8 items for 11$! WOW! The movie was $5 so really we got 7 things for $6! (butterfinger, two popcorns, two drinks, three more things of candy!). Just think:

Cost for 2 Movie theater tickets: 15.50
Cost for 2 drinks+2 popcorns at a theater: 15.50
Cost for 3 things of candy: 10.00
Total: 41.00

COST FOR TOY STORY 2 + OUR GOODIES: 11.00 (We definitely got the better end of the deal!)

We ended our night with another classic Harriet the Spy! A movie that absolutely changed my life as a kid. I went from an ordinary kid to a kid with a mission, I was the best spy ever. I read ever Nancy Drew book, got spy gear every Christmas and probably drove my parents nuts!!!

Pictures of me and Jaja Boniques from freshman year: We were Awesome. No doubt.

a small purple book

God has been teaching me so much lately and it has been so encouraging! Today I was really tired because we are on a lax trip and had ridden in a bus all night. I had the option of taking a nap or getting in the word and everything in me was wanting to take a nap. I'm in a room with Kirsti and Sweeney. So all of the sudden Kirsti goes and sits in the desk in the hotel room.

I asked her what she was doing and she just help up a small purple book. I had no idea what that meant so I was like...what? And she said..Its the Bible! I was SOOOO encouraged and it was so easy for me to grab my Bible and start studying also!

The coolest part about this is that it helps me trust the Lord SO much with the lacrosse team! Kirsti just became a Christian this year and it has been so cool to see her and Laura (another teammates) desire change in so many ways, and now they are studying the Bible on lax trips!!!

I know the Lord doesn't need me to grow these girls, and sometimes I still make things about me. I need to trust phil 1:6--"being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." I want to be CONFIDENT that God will continue to carry out the good work in these girl's lives. God's glory is so much greater than us! And NOT dependent upon me! This is a huge relief!

empty rooms

Today my parents came up for my last Senior Lacrosse Game--wow, it's hard to believe that it has been four years...

four years of:
--living in a dorm
--playing lacrosse
--waking up for morning weights every tues and thurs at 5:30
--Growing and struggling and growing and strengthening my walk with the Lord
--Getting to know my best friends for life
--GDH food!

My parents helped me pack up some things from my room and memories just flew through my brain! Pictures of me and my first roommates(Jordan Newberry,Allison Green, and Riviere!!). Pictures of me and my ZETA family! Pictures of me and Ashton and our four years together. God has blessed me with the best four years of college. I definitely made mistakes but I'm getting there.

Another memory and cool update: My favorite waitress is Teka at Steamers and I have been really praying these four years to be able to share the gospel with her. Yesterday I got to share my testimony with her! I didn't really get to tell her much bc we always speak in passing but I got to tell her about how the reason I come to steamers so much and why they know me was becuase my freshman year Bethany Griffith who was involved with CO took me once a week to steamers to do a bible study. This changed my life becuase that year I became a Christian, so steamers is an awesome environment!! And I got to tell Teka all about it!!

So after four years, my room is empty. Empty of physical and material things but it will always be FULL of the memories I have here at Pc.