Hey World

Hey, well, it's been an exciting new year for me and my family, and also one where God is going to do great things for us, through us, and to us. We found out recently that we are going on a different journey than any of us thought that we'd be on this point in our lives. But, we are going to leave it all up to God, trust hard in him, pray, and lean on his holy word to get us through it all! As for me, things are going great! I am staying strong in prayer and daily passionate reading of God's word, the Bible, and look forward to it everyday! I am in my final semester of GAIT at LCC, and am melancholy about that. I am really excited to be getting a job soon after, but at the same time am not ready to graduate.

Tori and I joined Sandy Bottom Baptist Church this past Sunday after much prayer, and guidance from God leading us from our last church, Neuse Baptist Church, there. We are very happy at SBBC and look forward to what our future holds there. Tori turned 16 this past Sunday and is very excited about that, and having her own cell phone now too! She will get her license in April and is looking forward to that.

My oldest brother and his wife are coming down the first week of March, and we are all excitingly awaiting their arrival. They are doing great in Wheaton and are very happy, and continue to work hard and take it day by day in their marriage and life!

This summer already shows big plans for me and my family. Tori is heading to Caswell with her youth group in July, I am going to NY with some friends from church in June, Will and Meghan are coming back this way this summer as they drive down this way to visit friends in Lynchburg, VA. My 22nd birthday is in August, and I hope to have a great summer seeing family and such before settling down with a job come fall.

Well, great update for you all, pictures to come soon of all adventures and new work of mine to see soon, so check back soon friends, and God bless!

Bible verse of the week!

Well, I haven't been up here in awhile, and not this year either, so Happy New Year to you all!!! I am reading this awesome book series written by author Robin Jones Gunn that my sister is letting me read. It is the Christy Miller series, the Sierra Jensen series, Christy and Todd, the college Years, and the Katie Weldon series. Awesome books for girls like me, my sister, and her closest friends in Christ. Anyways, my verse of the week comes from those books and I love it now too.

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine. Exodus 19:5. KJV.

God bless you all!!!

Courtship

Courtship
'what it means to me and why I feel it is important!'

In the last few weeks I have been really into watching my new favorite TV show called 18 Kids and Counting. It is a show about a Christian family who have 18 kids, and the mom is pregnant with their 19th child. Their oldest Josh got married last year to the love of his life, Anna, and they recently had their first child. These are a few main thoughts I have about courtship, and there are much more, maybe I will write another post about more thoughts from different sources. Check out Joshua Harris' book's, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," and "Boy Meets Girl," too.

I have watched the episodes around the time when Josh proposes to Anna, and seeing how their courtship went, and thought wow, that's exactly how I want mine to be when I meet my future husband someday. I have also been watching their wedding episode often, that one is special to me also. I have a special journal that singer and songwriter Rebeca St. James put out, and I absolutely love it! It helps me to prepare thoughts of purity for my husband and for him to one day see what I went through in this time of my life while waiting for him.

Seeing the kind of courtship that Josh and Anna Duggar had is awesome for me to see in today's society because so many people look at that as being to vain. All they did was hug when he proposed, very appropriate, then they held hands while they were engaged and courting, that's it, awesome again. When you limit it to just holding hands in the courtship, then there is less of a chance you will keep yourself, your whole self pure before the wedding night. So in seeing them and viewing the way they went through courtship, I really want to hold true to those same principles when I meet my future husband. Also hold them when we become friends, get engaged and court, then get married. I want us to stay pure to each other, for each other, and God, until our wedding night.

Since I am in the stage of my life where I am looking at guys and wondering when I may meet my future spouse, I can't help but to wonder where and when that might be. I constantly pray for him daily, and ask God to guide him in every decision that he makes, and that he may be praying for his future bride as well. I love him already, not because of "who" he is, but "who's" he is. He is a child and follower of Jesus Christ, like myself, and that's why I am going to love him so much when I meet and marry him someday.

Courtship to me is something that I feel God created to keep purity in a relationship between a man and a women as they enter into a important stage of life. The world sees it as "dating," then "engagement", courting is the same thing, just purer, that leads to marriage. For Christians, courtship is a way of keeping themselves pure before each other and God before they get to their wedding night. I think that having a good courtship shows that the couple will have a strong and lasting marriage in the Lord's care and guidance.

Thanks for reading about my views and thoughts on courtship. I thank God after already having "dated" myself in life, that he has brought me to a place of total surrender and am looking forward to my courtship with my future husband someday!

"You see, what happend was...."

Lol, I LOVE hearing Orlando from our church say that line, and so I said it too this past Friday night as we were coming back from Judgement House in Goldsboro, NC. Btw, if anyone in this area wants to go, GO! It is SO awesome and I highly encourage you to go. It was so good this year as per usual in my personal opinion. Well friends, so sorry I haven't kept you up to date on here, but if you wanna see whats happening with me these days, the best way to see is check out my photography website/blog. www.hhphotography21.wordpress.com, or catch me on FB. Other things to say, Christmas is coming and I can't wait, the semester will be over with, and I will finally get to see, WILL AND MEGHAN!!!! I haven't seen them in a year, and it is going to be great. Things are going well otherwise, check back soon, I shall post more soon!

Great things are happening.

A lot has been happening in the last few months. I haven't been on this blog as much since I have been getting my photography site up and running. By the way, if you are a friend of mine, please let your friends know that I am looking for jobs, so if they want pictures done at a cheap price, to please give me a call, or shoot me an e-mail. Info to come at end of this post. Things are going good though, reading my Bible a lot and getting closer to God these days. Things are going good with my family, dad is still busy with work and the Gideon's. Mom and Tori and still homeschooling and keeping busy. I currently am finishing my GAIT degree at LCC and loving the photography classes I am doing. Josh is still working and keeping busy. Will and Meghan are doing well, and I can't wait to see them at Christmas. Anyways, that's all for now folks, hope you all are doing well.

Hillary
252-286-8554
photographer2012@suddenlink.net

Hello World!

Hey to all,
hope everyone is doing well. I am sorry that I haven't been around in a while, been busy, busy, busy with school, and other stuff. I now have my photography website up, so go take a look and leave me comments on there too please! www.hhphotography21.wordpress.com!!! It's been a really busy month but all is well, have finally gotten my external hardrive, and I also just got a ipod touch too! It will be here within another week or so, and I am really excited about that! Well, things are going well with me and mine, things are going on that need prayer about, more to come in the upcoming months in that goes through! Thanks, and love you all, God Bless!

G'day Mates!!

Last week I had the pleasure of helping my mom, aunt, and sister babysit 3 of my cute second cousins in the Greensboro area. It was a lot of fun, but then my sister and I had to drive back to Kinston for an awesome session of VBS at our church this past weekend. The theme this year was "The Boomerang Express." ON the Boomerang Express you have to remember that it all comes back to Jesus Christ and having a relationship with him. We have 2 lives that were saved which was awesome. They are members of a great family that I have gotten to know that has recently joined the church, so it was touching for me to see 2 more members of their family saved into the kingdom.

So, now I am back home for one week before classes start back and let me tell ya, it's going to go back WAY to fast! Well, that's all for now blokes, and I will have some pics up soon to show of last week, VBS, and my summer too!

Bible Verse for the week!

I have been feeling that like last weeks verse, this weeks verse holds the same, or similar purpose to my life right now and my life as the last one did. I have always loved it, and like Phil. 4:13, this one is one of my all time favorites.

Romans 8:28 " And we know, that all things work together for good, to those that love God, to those that are called according to his purpose."

WOW! What a great promise brought to us by our God and king!

Bible Verse for the week!

Well, I haven't done this in awhile with all that has been going on, and my not being on blogger, so wanted to get back to my Bible verse for the week, and this one, seems like it is an oldie, but is one of THE best!

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me Strength." Philippians 4:13.


This verse has meant more to me now than ever with all I am going through, and it is a blessing to see this verse coming true right before my eyes as it has many times before. It is an amazing verse with such a great promise to it to all who truly apply it to themselves in Christ.

A Lasting "Hope."

My sister and I went to the last night of her VBS at her best friends church a few weeks back, and one of the things the teachers did was give us a rock. On that tiny rock we were to write one word that whenever we carried the rock in our pockets would remind us that Jesus is always there for us. I wrote the word "hope" on mine, and ever since then I have felt that so strongly in my life. I have gone through what I would call a hard time, and so many people have been there for me, but it was my cousin who put it to me the best out of my struggles and her words comforted me tremendously.

She reminded me that when going through a hard time such as the one I am experiencing that is is these times when we hold onto God and draw closer to him in our relationship with him as well. That and our whole conversation was great help to me in what I was searching for. I had a great weekend at my aunts house seeing my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and it was exactly what I need in my time of hardship.

I also am really reflecting on God's Holy word, the Bible, and what it says. I am finding comfort, encouragement, and great strength from it. All in all, I am thankful. I am thankful I have a wonderful family who is always there for me when I need them, especially during the hard times, and I have a relationship with a risen Savior who is ALWAYS there for me no matter what. What a MIGHTY God we serve, and how blessed we are to be HIS!!!!!

God bless you all! Much Love.