DIY for the college girl & back to school

we loaded up the car sunday & moved savannah in to her sorority house at school.

yes, school cranks up mighty soon down here 

with my other girls beginning monday!

as much as savannah loved life in the co-ed dorms at UGA

she is thrilled to be in the sorority house.

earlier this summer i posted an instagram about some crafts she created for her room.

she really enjoyed what turned out to be easy peasy creations

that are each very thoughtful in nature.

her rommate made the "he will cover you" on an 11x14 piece of wood. 

stained first & then painted.

savannah printed off an enlarged silhouette of the state of georgia

& laid it on her canvas, painted over with gold metallic acrylic

& then removed the silhouette. she then painted a heart over atlanta/athens area.

the smaller 4x6 canvas with the lyre, the symbol for her sorority.

again using gold metallic craft paint.

then she made these beauties after being inspired by a similar craft on

pinterest.

she took 2 11x14 stretched canvas & painted over them with a gold/bronze metallic craft paint.

she then laid removable sticky letters down

to form the words from this famous hymm.

she then using a dry foam brush technique

painted over the gold/bronze & the letters with a creamy acrylic paint.

then removed the letters super easy without taking any paint off.

 

her friends went nuts.

wouldn't these be awesome in 24x36 format too?

so crafted more.

she made bailey & her roommate at ole' miss

each a canvas with their favorite scripture

done in the same technique, just different colors.

savannah made herself the psalm 103 to add to her menagerie of

other goldy metallic crafts for her room.

you might recall my own DIY jewelry board from this post

which was done on a large 24x36 cork board.

savannah's room isn't large enough for that size 

so she crafted one, with the help of dan, a tad smaller.

we used the door knob thingies from hobby lobby

& upholstery tacks around the perimeter

& then just push pins for the smaller pieces.

with the board being covered in burlap, earrings will easily hang freely from the fabric.

ta-da!

psalm 103. 1-5

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
  Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
 who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
 who redeems your life from the pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
 who satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

the greatest of these is love

 

my girl came home yesterday

 after wrapping up a superb freshman year at UGA.

{that's her very cool little instagram shot above.}

cliche as it may be, i honestly can't believe how fast the last year went by.

that day when we loaded up the car 

& left her in her new world about did me in.

seriously.

in 20 years i've been pregnant 6 times.

celebrated 19 mother's days as a mom

nursed four babies

changed endless diapers, taught four little ones to walk 

took 4 girls to their first day of kindergarten

loved on. prayed for. fed.

showed them jesus

& hopefully filled the love tanks of four daughters.

so 

to turn the page signifying the end of that phase with my first born

for the first time

was honestly

just too much.

friends that have gone before me told me

"once they go. they're gone. it'll never be the same"

to begin to set the table for 5 not 6

to have days where i didn't hear her voice

for her to be all dressed up & not photograph her as she heads out ( ya'll know that's a biggy)

was just plain hard.

but there was so much goodness this year!

she chose fantastic friends to surround her

& encourage her in her walk with the lord.

she plugged in & loved on so many new girls.

she rocked her honors classes & made dean's list.

she volunteered at her church.

she had a ridiculous amount of fun

&

our relationship is awesome.

i love being the mom of a young adult

& watching her make her own choices

& dream her own dreams

and basically just watching her chase the things that matter most to her.

she'll be here this summer working as an intern at our church

probably with the middle school-yay for caroline!

 

ya'll may have seen this video circulating through 

facebook & twitter recently....

you must find 8 minutes 

& fall in love with these two young people

& see jesus ....

the greatest of these really is love ya'll

sorority formals & surprise parties

 

for years i worked primarily weekends & holidays.

since leaving my position at the hospital

i have loved being available & free for whatever comes up.

even if i have a photo session i still have the majority of the weekend

wide open!

being one of "those moms" who has an insatiable need to capture

all her children's moments on film

missing much of savannah's days at UGA has been toughie.

surely you can relate.

she had asked, weeks ago, if i'd come up & photograph her and trevor 

before her AXO formal.

wouldn't miss that for the world!

while no parents were on the lawn of the sorority house

& she was so kind to make sure that my feelings weren't hurt

if i just dropped them off there

i do treasure the shots i captured of them before joining up with the rest of the crew!

it was originally forecast to rain

but thankfully they had a spectacular spring day instead!

& i loved snapping a few in front of the honors college too.

bowties?

can i get an amen!

 

 

 

caroline rode to athens with me

& we had such a sweet time together.

 

the glorious sky on the ride up...

 

earlier in the week i received a call from the mama of one of caroline's

best friends.

two her girlfriends had planned a surprise party for her,

complete with all the details.

starla & kristin took care of everything!

can you imagine...5th graders planning a day for their friend.

honestly it was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done 

for one of my girls.

& amazingly...it stayed a surprise!

everything was pink

starla's mama baked a delicious cake from a family recipe

topped with buttercream frosting!

 

 what a blessing these girls are 

in caroline's life. 

they are sweet girls, smart girls,

& are obviously great friends to each other.

so glad i was able to be at both events for my bookends!

ya'll come back & visit this week 

as i have two super giveaways for you!!

~~~

"Here on this Holy ground
You made a way for peace
Laying your body down
You took our rightful place
This freedom song is marching on"

chris tomlin

we need to go out & "do", mom

i'm going to apologize in advance
as this post is a long one with loads of pictures
& hopefully two videos to share.

however what occured last week here in atlanta
could probably fill every blog post i might write for quite some time.
i wish each of you knew someone that attended
or was able to watch the live stream
or
will purchase the digital access pass to the entire event.....

savannah headed back to school last night.

as she pulled out of the driveway i began to have that weird struggle in my mind.

knowing she's where she needs to be & is doing SO well, 

yet feeling like it will never be easy to letting one of them go. 

i realized as i walked into her now empty room again,

she won't be home for a long visit again until school is out. in may.
sigh

it was nothing less than fantastic having her home & catching up. watching movies. coffee dates with friends. eating out. shopping. visiting. going to church together.

i guess it's a weird battle 

our minds play

while we're in this phase of mothering.

don't you think?

this age, this 18yearold age, college freshman age

it might just be my favorite yet.

i loved the cute preschool age, 

& the age where they loose their front teeth

& still hold your hand and call you mommy,

but i really really love this age she's in right now.

(see, there's hope for you with middle schoolers.wink)

cheering them on as they leave the nest 

full of promise & so much potential

and yet

feeling like there's a vital part of the family unit

my family unit

that we're functioning without when she's elsewhere.

i know they must go.

we talked last week on the last morning of passion.

she told me multiple times, "i'm just sad mom. i'm sad that it's over".

we talked about mountain top experiences

& how after any big event 

there is a time of necessary down time as you readjust.

but then she said, "but mom, it needs to be over. we need to go out & do

all that we've been equipped to do. we need to go ".

i sat there in the carpool lane

ready to drop little bit off

with that lump in my throat that i've come accustomed to

anytime she wow's me with some profoundly simple revelation such as that.

passion 2012

equipped just shy of 45,000 college kids to do just that.

go out, go back to their campuses, go forward towards their future

with a passion for the lord

to bring justice to the injustice in this world.

to begin to free the over 27 million people 

enslaved. right now. 27 million people.

i'm sorry friends, but that alone blows my mind.
27 million. more than any other time in our history.
can you even wrap you mind around that?

these kids have an amazingly generous spirit

full of dreams

with the knowledge they need to make change.

i posted on facebook that they raised a specific amount of money

only to quickly realize my error.

i quickly went back & fixed it...

they GAVE over 3 MILLION dollars
not raised, they GAVE

3 million dollars towards various ministries/organizations to free slavery.

gave out of their empty college co-ed idon'thaveacareeryet pockets.

3 million.

the structure pictured below was a statue, huge temporary statue, built to represent the hand of worship & the hand reaching out to help others. it was covered with clothing & articles representing children involved in child labor. women involved in sex traffic and others bound into a life of slavery.

all 45,000 of the kids went out on the last night, silently, and light candles as a symbol of solidarity in their fight against injustice.

my words & descriptions are terribly inadequate

& while it's more powerful to have been there

it was super powerful to watch it

you can purchase a digital pass to have each

session downloaded to your computer

along with all the music right here

& i promise you , it will be one of the best spent $25 in your life.

i find myself just stumbling through my thoughts & words regarding this amazing event.

through my excitement as i watch this generation as they rise up

through my love for these kids that spent four days together.

they'll change our world, they'll change our world

the friend of mine that sponsored savannah & 4 of her friends

gave over $3,000 in support  by the time the week was over.

( that i know of. knowing her, probably much more).

the last day she asked if she could treat them to a wonderful meal.

she wanted somewhere wonderful for them

yet savannah wanted it to be somewhere non-intimidating & fun too.

after getting loads of tips ( thank you facebook friends)

she chose Fogo de Chao.

wow.

it deserves a post of its own.

we had an incredible meal!

dan & i were blessed to hear each of their passion highlights

& how the Lord really changed their lives.

an evening dan & i will treasure forever.

 

 the sweetest part of the evening was when we were able to connect with my friend

unfortunately couldn't get facetime to work

but all the kids gathered around my phone as she spoke to them

& encouraged them.

they thanked her over & over again...so sweet.

so yes, my heart is a little tender today as i'm missing having my girl

right here with me.

as sad as i am about that...i'm immeasurably more joyful as i get a front row

seat to her life & all the lord has in store for her

for her friends ( about 20 of them)

that all shared a powerful powerful week together.

Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, 

words may be given me so that I will 

fearlessly

make known the mystery of the gospel

ephesians 6.19