chi alpha // ROOTED

This past weekend I got the cool opportunity to be a leader for a junior high/high school retreat at a church called The Heights in Plano. Let me just say, going in, I had absolutely no.idea. what I was doing. None. I've never done anything like D-Now before so I was just kind of rollin with it. Well, good thing I did because it was probably one of the best weekends I've ever had.

I spent all evening/night on Friday, all day/night Saturday and Sunday morning chillin with some pretty stellar eighth grade girls. I grew more in this weekend than I can even express and I'm so thankful that I even had this opportunity!

We stayed in a host home (all 9 of the girls, plus me) which was definitely one of the best parts. Imagine 10 teenage girls invading a home with all of our pillows, face masks, fruit snacks and  matching pink bandanas for a whole weekend. It was a sight to see. Even though the family that we stayed with has FOUR, count them, FOUR boys living in their house, they were still willing to open up their home for us to use for a weekend. Now if that doesn't scream "church community" and "being the hands and feet of God" then I don't know what does.

I was so inspired by the life story of the sweet woman whose home we got to invade for the weekend. I've been learning so much lately how the Lord LALALOVES to share his character, his creativity, his faithfulness and of course, his love through the lives of his children. Each of our lives breathes the attributes and passion of Christ and that's why I love getting to hear the testimonies and life stories of others.

We spent the weekend exploring different topics and questions, but of course, the heart of the matter was the gospel. We talked about the beginning, in Ephesians 2:1-3 where Paul tells us "as for you, you were DEAD in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world...gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following it's desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." 

But the good news comes in verses 4-10 "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us ALIVE with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by GRACE (not works) you have been saved."

One of the biggest ways that the Lord spoke to me this weekend was through Hebrews 5:11-14. Check it out when you have a chance! It's a cool reminder that we are called to be growing and learning in faith and righteousness so that we are able to turn around and use what the Lord has taught us to teach others. Let's not be idle! I'm not about this life of milk, I need some solid food! [read the passage; you'll understand that absurd reference]

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

"So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." 1 Peter 4:19

Love y'all so much and thanks for letting me spend the weekend with you, Emily, Esther, Amanda, Alivia, Madi, Saralyn, Allyson, Lauren, Kate and the Harris Family!!

adrienne and grace's life of pie

My friend Grace and I may or may not have a minor obsession with pie. I'll let you decide that for yourself. Over Christmas break we decided that whenever we are together, we will try and find a new place that bakes pie and try them out. A pie tour, if you will. Here is what we have discovered thus far:

The Pantry Restaurant // downtown McKinney, Texas
Grace: Chocolate cream
Rating: 7 out of 10
Adrienne: Chocolate Chip
Rating: 9 out of 10

Emporium Pies // Bishop Arts in Dallas, Texas
Grace: Smooth Operator (french silk chocolate with a pretzel crust)
Rating: 3 out of 10
Adrienne: Merry Berry (like a chess pie and a cranberry muffin had a baby)
Rating: 6 out of 10

and our latest...
Must Be Heaven // downtown Bryan, Texas
Grace: Chocolate Chip
Rating: 8 out of 10
Adrienne: Peach Praline
Rating: 5 out of 10

More adventures and ratings to come. Until then, I'll leave you with this startling statistic:

The first pie invented was the rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie.


....not too sure I would be up for trying that one, but ya never know!

passion 2013

This past week I attended Passion 2013. It's essentially a huge conference for 18-25 year olds to come together as the body of Christ and be encouraged, challenged and taught.

We learned about how God can do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine and about the importance of community because God IS community (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) . We also learned about having extravagant compassion and sacrificial courage, moral clarity and tenacious hope- all blessings that the Lord bestows upon us. We learned about how making disciples takes great courage, yet also brings great joy because that is what the Lord has designed and called us to do. We learned how our actions don't change God's character and that man's awe is to reflect the image of God. We learned that JESUS is the always the best definition of hope, grace, love, faithfulness and mercy. We learned that we need the spirit of God anointing us to go and fight and preach his name because our own enthusiasm will definitely get us places, but it won't change the world. We learned that above going to church and trying to be a great person, the biggest thing is that we were once dead, but now, now we are ALIVE.
Ezekiel 37.

Enough about us. We also spent time learning and reflecting on the astonishing truth that there are currently around 27 MILLION slaves in the world. More than any other time in history. I can't quite wrap my brain around this idea because that is a very large number and when it comes down to it, I'm just plain scared. The word "slavery" is also hard to put into perspective because my mind skips back to U.S. History class when we were taught about pre-Civil War days and how slaves were brought across the Atlantic to work mostly on plantations in the South. But slavery simply is the idea of people being forced to work without pay. Slavery today exists all over the world (United States included) in factories, brothels and businesses. Human trafficking and labor trafficking.

So what do we do?
1. Rest in the truths that the bible gives us.
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16)

There will be a day when "never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away ever tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:16-17)

2. Rise UP.       enditmovement.com

Upon entering the Georgia Dome with sixty THOUSAND fellow college students, I couldn't help but feel completely overwhelmed. A million questions ran through my mind....How do I make this personal, just me and Jesus if I'm here with sixty THOUSAND other people?.....What if I trip and fall from the nose bleed section and never live again? The flashing lights were extremely intimidating and all I could do was close my eyes and try to remain calm. Then, as I did that, a peace started to wash over me and I began thinking more rationally. As I did that, some images came to my head such as this might be a little of what heaven will look like (except maybe without all the lights). When I imagine what heaven will look like I see all of Christ's followers worshipping him radically, like there is literally nothing else more important. As the days went on, I just focused on how it seemed like we were just having one big party for Jesus. Celebrating his life. Celebrating the fact that he died on the cross for us. Celebrating our lives because we get to live them for one sole purpose: glorifying the King. And THAT was thrilling.

the natural state

I was so extremely happy to spend some family time at my favorite place in the world over New Years.    

Highlights were:

1. Baking my first cake!! Just call me Barefoot Contessa...

2. Freezing my ever livin', ever lovin' booty off in the deer blind with my dad

3. Spending time with my beautiful cousin-to-be

4. Reading Safehaven by Nicolas Sparks...who doesn't love a good ole fashioned sappy love story?

Thought I'd share via pictures.

my sweet auntie

bald eagle. God bless 'merica.

fence line

laser status

that one tree....

the gospel

Although I accepted Christ into my heart at a young age, this past year and a half is the first time I think I actually began to fully understand the truth and the power of the gospel. I think people are sometimes afraid of Christianity and not as willing to follow Christ because they believe that it is only for perfect people. You have to be perfect to be following Christ because he is perfect. Only perfect people who attend church on a regular basis and don't cuss or drink too much alcohol can follow Christ.
Actually, I have come to find out, it is the exact opposite. We are ALL imperfect, and none of us even have a chance of becoming perfect while here on earth. That is why we need a savior. We desperately are in need of a savior who can wash away our sins completely. Not only that, but why WOULDN'T we want to passionately and radically follow the man who lived a perfect life and then sacrificed it in the worst, most painful way possible- death on a cross for you and me?


I've been reading through Romans lately and dwelling on the truths, the sometimes hard truths, that Paul writes about. I'm finishing up Radical by David Platt and its absolutely stellar!! Platt writes about the 7 different truths that Paul describes throughout Romans which I think is a perfect picture of the gospel. It goes something like this...

Truth 1: All people have knowledge of God because he has made it plain to us
"Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
-Romans 1:19-20

Truth 2: All people reject God
"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened...they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the creator...they have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity."  -Romans 1:21, 25, 29
This is you, me, your mom, my mom, my brother's friend's mom's ex-husband, my neighbor down the street, etc.
But really, looking at my own life I can see clearly how I daily worship things created rather than the creator. The devil makes it so easy. I often find my self worshipping anything and everything except the one that really matters: friendships, school, organizations, technology, myself.

Truth 3: All people are guilty before God 
"There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."   -Romans 3:10-12

Truth 4: All people are condemned for rejecting God
"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."    -Romans 3:20

Truth 5: God has made a way of salvation for the lost
*sigh of relief...oh praise Jesus*
"But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known...this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."    -Romans 3:21-22

Truth 6: People cannot come to God apart from faith in Christ
"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."    -Romans 10:9-10

Truth 7: Christ commands the church (his followers) to make the gospel known to all peoples
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"      -Romans 10:13-15
LET'S GO!!!!!

"If people are dying and going to hell without ever even knowing there is a gospel, then we clearly have no time to waste our lives on an American dream."    -David Platt

hi

I decided to name my blog (which my friend Kate convinced me to start...love you!) "a joyful noise" because this is one of my favorite songs. I grew up attending a Christian summer camp named Kanakuk in Branson, Missouri and they played this song constantly!

Joyful Noise // Flame

When I first began searching for a name I had a friend who asked me what my mission for this blog was going to be. The first word that came to my mind was JOY. I want to write about the undeniable joy that the Lord brings me.

Where to begin! First of all, there are about 15 girls who I have grown up with for most of my life, survived the woes of 4th grade crushes and some bad straight-across-your-forehead bangs. I could not be more thankful for these ladies. It's been incredible to see each of them grow during our first and second years of college and I'm beyond thankful that we have been able to keep in touch since leaving high school! Props to those secret groups on Facebook where we have been able to share with each other a many a laughs through pictures and silly videos.

glory days

college daze

Mad love for my girls!