"I'm movin on....
at last I can see, life has been patiently waiting on me,
and I know, there's no guarantees but I'm not alone...
there comes a time in everyone's life,
where all you can see are the years passin by,
and I have made up my mind that those days are gone....."
-Rascal Flatts
i got this idea from my wonderful "gran gran"...... it's a brief (haha, wow, i already know that's gonna be a lie... i'm sorry!!) synopsis of my life thus far.... a time line, if you will, taking us through the 4 major stages.... childhood ----> highschool ----> college ----> now! so if you'll bear with me, i'll take you on a trip... a trip through my life....
The life of Anna Kathryn Buffington:
april 7, 1983 (basically the best day ever) ----> highschool
well.... childhood was a pretty fantastic time for me.... i miss it.... i really do....... wow, i wish i could go back... to the love home porch, westminster, wyldlife and southwind as a camper, summit street, all those walks to onyx, and all those times layin out on the trampoline pretending to be two ridiculous radio broadcasters who believed Elvis would live forever (I still believe that)... how fun! anyways.... i had these great parents who raised me to be like Jesus, and i knew so many other amazing people who taught me so much about a life with Christ.... these years were full of growth in my knowledge of the Lord's love for me, but wow! i had so much fun being weird, and thats almost all i wanted to do.... have fun and be weird... haha... but i now more than ever have learned the harsh reality that life isn't all fun and weirdness.... at some point you have to grow up, some kids a lot faster than others... A LOT faster than i did... i realize now just how much i took for granted when i was growing up.... there are so many kids who don't have any of what i had growing up, and i thank God everyday for giving me that, and find myself praying everyday for the kids in the world who are suffering because there is no love in their lives... only anger and hatred and evil... i wish there were enough places like this and enough knowledge of them to house every one of those kids.... i pray that one day there will be.... but for now, all i can do is aspire, and seek the Lord along the bumpy road.....
highschool ----> college
high school wasn't so fantastic for me..... i think, instead of fantastic, i would use the words difficult (not classes), or lonely..... until junior year! cause that's when i found erin and rachel and coach moore (english) and mr. emory (art... more than the previous years)... and that's when i left gainesville high school for gainesville college, and only went back for, you guessed it, art... but during this time i met even more people, at school and outside of school, at my church and at other churches, who really impacted my life and showed me even more the love of Christ, and modeled a Godly lifestyle for me..... i look back now, and am so thankful that my high school experience wasn't like many other kid's, and i can see now that God was looking out for me, and watching out for me all those days i sat in the office with my mom during lunch... however, during that time i wasn't so grateful..... i can now see the impact those people had on me, but at the time, i was so focused on how much i wanted out of gainesville high school and how miserable i was there that i could hardly make any sense out of the love of Christ... i knew that He loved me and I knew that I loved Him, but i also knew i only had like 4 four or so friends my age (meaning not my wyldlife kids or younglife leaders), my love life was like negative, and i didn't fit in with the crowds.... praise God that all of those things are true!!! and praise God that i learned how to trust Him and discovered that He's the only friend i need! and praise Him that those 4 or so friends He did give me are some of the most amazing people i know and have impacted my life in such a huge way! and praise God that one of them was Jessi Hawkins! anyways, i was so focused on other stuff in high school that my life with Christ remained pretty stagnant... little did i know, He was working even then to mold me into who He wants me to be....
college ----> august 16, 2004
wow!! college was amazing!!! i mean, for the most part... there was some drama, but when isn't there? really.... college was a time in my life when i decided to resort back to my old way of living.... my main focus was having fun and being weird... difficulties were foriegn to me when i was a child, and it turned out that they were in college too, pretty much for the whole first year... so when i finally started experiencing them, they semed to hit me really hard.... i got really caught up in a lot of drama that really didn't even involve me and trying to find a way out of it, all the while forgetting that God is the only way... but through it all i kept on trying to be happy and most importantly, weird..... hahaha i definitely made some of the best friends of my life at mercer..... and some really incredible God fearing people who taught me so much.... like my roomies, and their families.... professors... people from church and bsu..... some really great people, and i'll never forget any of them.... it's just too bad i didn't take full advantage of them at the time.... if i had i may have taken some huge leaps and bounds in a forward direction... but instead, near the end of my last year, i started to look back at how the years had passed by.... all i could see were patterns of untrustfullness, mistakes, loneliness, stagnancy and back stepping.... but even with that knowledge i remained pretty much in the same place in my walk with the Lord, and kept on the same way up to the very end..... it's a good thing i'm in love with such a forgiving God, who, for some reason, loves me back!
august 16, 2004 ----> now!!
at last i can see that life has been patiently waiting on me, and i know there's no guarantees but i'm not alone!!! Wow! I've finaly rediscovered the fact that I am not here for my own happiness, or to make my life pleasant, but for the Lord's happiness and to bring Him pleasure..... and if I honor Him and seek to please Him in every part of my life, then I will find happiness in Him! i don't recall any time of my life that i have felt the healing power of God more than i do now... i've had some hard times the past couple months, but it's through these difficulties that i've learned to rely completely on Jesus because He is my only constant... in my darkest hours, He sent snow... and even though it's like in the mid 60's now, God has given me so much, and taught me so much through hard times and happy times and for all of it i am thankful... i truly watched my life pass by for years, and made very little progress, but i'm watching myself grow closer and closer to Christ now, and that's what life is... there are no guarantees but Jesus Christ... there's nothing we need in life but Jesus Christ... that's something that some of these kids have a grasp on at 11 years old... kids who have experienced 3 times what i experienced these last couple months probably every month of their lives so far.... and here i am learning it now..... God is doing amazing things here... these kids are incredible and an inspiration to me every day... i got a schedule today and it told me i'll be teaching lensa biology and home ec (i laughed at that one, but it'll work out... haha) and i'm super excited about it! i'll also be working with laura a couple days a week and i'll be with the horses every third monday with the boys from christopher house... monday through thursday abby and i eat dinner seperately at the three houses and we both do rec everyday.... (i laughed at that too... haha i used to do it once a week! but that, too, will work out...) i'm so grateful that God is still having me work with two of my girls and also with the other kids more in depth! as for my emotional status, i miss arissa more and more everyday... i sit on her bed and pray a lot, just like we used to do together, and God is changing me and strengthening me still through this.... i miss and her, and that'll never go away, but my joy for her also increases daily, and that's how i get by.... we serve such an awesome God, y'all, don't forget it! ps... tomorrow's crazy hair day!!! good thing i brought my wigs back with me!!! haha it's gonna be so fun!
thank you all for your prayers... wow, you're all incredible, and seriously, your prayers are so appreciated and i'll never forget the support and love you've shown me! please pray for me now as i begin the job hunt for next august and on... or maybe i'll stay here or do something else... pray that God makes it clear to me what His plans are for my near future.... also, make a note at the top of your prayer list to pray for becky downs, arissa's grandmother, who recently found out she's losing her house and her car due to her late husband canceling their insurance... pray that she seeks the Lord in this and finds strength.... my heart ached for her over christmas, and now aches even more for her..... PLEASE remember her in your daily prayers...
His,
Anna Kathryn
"I thank my God everytime I remember you;
in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy."
-Philippians 1:3
here are some fantastic quotes... some of these are from a pretty long time ago, this email's been in the works for a while... like before thanksgiving... hahaha
me: "hey did you hear about the party this saturday night?"
luke: "what's the party for?"
me: "it's elvis's birthday! we're having a birthday celebration at laurel ridge!!"
luke: "anna, are you on drugs?"
me: "did you just call me anna? who is anna?"
An e-mail I got from Camile before thanksgiving: "Hey 'B'!"
from camile's devotional book i was looking through the other day:
question: is there someone in your life who always puts others before themself? if so, what impact has that person had on those around them?
camile's answer: "'B' ...she's a Godly example 24.7"
"I like when we prayer together." -Arissa
"Anna Kathryn, you crack me up!" -Mr. Mike
Dr. Pardue: "Are you likin' it over there at the ranch?"
Arissa: "Huh? Lichen? Are you talking about botany?" a proud moment for a botany teacher!!
Giving Arissa a spelling test:
Me: "Beaches... Every night she walks the beaches of Cheyanne." (Garth)
Arissa: "Of what?"
Me: "Against... Sometimes you've got to go against the grain." (Garth)
Me: "Brother... Oh, brother, where art thou?"
Arissa: "What does that mean?"
Abby, listening from afar: "Anna Kathryn...... great sentences!"
Me: "I mean.... sometimes you run out of your own material....."
