the insta top 9...

According to instagram, my life consists of coffee, nail polish, and clothes. I promise you there is more depth and substance to me than that. As the year wraps up, I decided to review my posts and select 9 highlights from insta that (somewhat) accurately depict my year. 

1. My Biola Loves. The beginning of the year was marked by their big bad birthday bash complete with silly string and a t.swift dance party and it was undoubtedly a highlight of the year - full of laughter - but also some really tender conversation and special moments as we watched the sunset over the crashing waves. These girls captured my heart in huge ways in 2015 and truly have forever changed me. I am grateful.

2. Emy came to California. In February I got to spend one glorious weekend with my #bestforlife Emy. We exchanged Christmas gifts, went to Balboa Island for ice-cream and the questionable bike for three, got foot massages and ate mexican food. We shared our hearts in a hotel bed and it was abundantly clear that the Lord gave me a good and perfect gift in my World Changers teammate all those years ago - I could not have prayed for better. 

3. #happy30life. On March 12 I turned 30. I will be totally honest and say it was hard saying goodbye to my 20’s and burying dreams I thought I would have realized. Nevertheless, the 30’s dawned with new hope and possibilities and I was ready to claim the decade and live well in the midst of it. Amanda threw me a surprise party and Carrie and Jenny whisked me off for a wine tasting weekend extravaganza. It was just what my heart needed - a little reassurance that regardless of season or stage of life, I was loved and we would keep walking forward together. 

4. All the headaches. 2015 was a hard year - the hardest year truthfully. It hurt in huge ways and my life changed. I grew and the Lord definitely used a season in the desert to mold and shape me - but would I have PICKED all the pain? No. 2015 was a year of stripped away, of coming to the end of me, of learning to let people in, sharing the hard stuff, accepting help, letting some people walk away and picking up the pieces of my broken heart as I watched them go, of seeing the people who would stay and living in the tremendous gratitude of those friendships and the Lord’s amazing provision, of choosing where to spend my time and energy because there just wasn’t as much of it to go around, of letting Him be enough and claiming that He is a good Father and I am loved regardless of circumstances and letting that faith be the outpouring of my life. It was a hard  year, but a year that will forever mark my life and my course with the Lord. 

5. Sara came to California. In early June, my World Changers best friend Sara was awarded a gastric sleeve in recognition for her humanitarian efforts and because the Lord is soo good, she got to have the surgery in Orange County, which just happens to be RIGHT where I live. I got to be by her side through the entire thing and it was an amazing and abundant blessing! We got to have dinner and catch up the night before surgery and then I got to hold her hand and pray with her just before they took her in and see her up and about the following day. It was truly amazing! We have never lived in the same state, so sharing something like this was a gift from above and one I will forever thank Him for.

6. CHOSEN. The foster teens I work with will forever be written on my heart. I don’t know why the Lord saw fit to empower me to lead them - I am not at all sure I am capable - but I am humbled and honored and rejoice in the privilege it is to be the hands of Jesus in their lives. 

7. The Swopes of Hawaii came home. My brother and his family moved to Hawaii almost 3 years ago now and to say I miss them would be a gross understatement. Madeline and Charlotte and Jason are 3 of my very favorite humans on this planet. They can make the darkest and hardest of days bright and hilarious and overflowing with joy. This summer we got to spend a bit of time together playing at grandma’s, going out to breakfast, shopping, eating donuts and going to chickfila, chomping on some mexican food, hanging in the pool, napping, and just being together. It was a dream. I wish we could do it all the time - but I savor every single minute and though the goodbye always comes too fast, I hold on tight to those memories and pray the next round of fun is seemingly right around the corner. 

8. Mands. This is the first FULL year of walking side by side with Amanda Jennifer Young. Friendship has always been extremely important to me, but this year is profoundly marked by my friendship with Mands. She and I have shared much and the Lord has used her in tremendous ways in my heart and life. I am grateful and words will never fully encapsulate the gift He gave me in her, but as she moves into a new chapter as Mrs. Amanda Jennifer Roth in 2016, I cannot help but stop and thank the Lord for a beautiful and wonderful 2015 building a solid foundation with my Mands - a friendship that will undoubtedly continue for years to come (though there may be countries between us and we may never share a season again). We had something beautiful in 29 and single - we have learned how to walk together and pray together and sit in the mess together and I will forever cherish this first year with her. 

9. FRIENDYFRIENDS. I think it goes without saying that I couldn’t have made it through this year without my friends. My top used hashtag is #friendsaremypeople and it is 100% true. Friends are life-giving to me and so often they are the ones that provide the hope, the courage, the confidence to take that next step forward. They see a version of me I will never see in myself - celebrating me at every turn - loving me - and reminding me I am worth loving. Life would be a sad and empty reality without the joy and laughter and significance PEOPLE bring to our existence. We need our friends, and I do not take them for granted - I adore them and treasure them - they are my people and I choose them every time!