debode.

Overflow is my life motto, my mantra if you will. It is the one thing that always brings me back and keeps me centered.


As stated in the description of this blog, debode is Haitian Creole for overflow. Overflow was the theme song and overall theme of the retreat which brought me back to Christ. Thus, overflow/debode is one of the most important things to me. Whether the English or Haitian Creole, it is so powerful to me!


When I really sat down and thought about what overflow meant to me (this was only a year ago tops), I realized that it meant, overflow in love, overflow in hope, overflow in peace, overflow in joy, overflow in grace, overflow in gratitude, overflow in faith, etc. I pray that the Lord may allow Him to overflow in me so that I may in turn show others His Wonder and Love.

You never stop.

The Good Lord never stops amazing me. He can make good come from bad. While I've known this for a while now, I just finished writing a letter to a friend of mine--actually one of the high schoolers I volunteer with. She and I had a nice conversation this past Saturday night after adoration, and it was apparent to me that God is so incredible. She was struggling with guy issues, and I shortly realized that she was going through a very similar thing that I went through with Jon! I am so blessed that while I hate for her to go through that (heck, I still hate that I went and am going through stuff with Jon still!), I'm glad that we have each other since we understand each other and can relate. Our conversation was very fruitful, but I felt the need to write to her. So I wrote a letter to her (one page front and back) which I hope will help. The thing that I thought was SO NEAT was that she didn't even know about Jon, and she also mentioned that she didn't know why, but she felt called to speak to me specifically about what she was going through. God is so good. :)

This song is a beautiful one which perfectly describes my thoughts at the moment. Click here to listen to Your Love Never Fails by the Newsboys.

I'm quitting.

I don't remember exactly when I first thought about quitting my job. I'm sure it was probably within a few months of starting. But here I am, a little over a year later, and I am positive I am going to quit my job within two months maximum. The ideal date for me to submit my two weeks' notice would be February 17, because two weeks would be the last day of February and I think it'd be nice to start a new job and all that at the beginning of a month. But time will tell.


Why am I quitting? I've known for months that the legal career is not for me. Also, I'm twenty! I want to travel and be spontaneous while I still can--I've never wanted to be the person who stares at a computer from 8-5 five days a week. And my pay isn't even that good! Yes, I've gotten two raises, but approximately $550 every other week just isn't cutting it. And the work is insanely indescribably overwhelming! There isn't enough time in the day to get it all done! Plus, I'm too crazy busy with working full time and taking classes full time. My "free time" consists of homework, volunteering at youth group, Bible study, and my women's group, and Netflixing while I try to fall asleep. That's not the life I want to live. I LOVE volunteering and Netflix, but I can't have the rest of my life be work. And did I mention that I spend SIGNIFICANTLY more time at work (mostly doing frivolous things like medchronning) than I spend doing school stuff? That's messed up.


Unfortunately, as much as I would love to walk into my boss' office and tell him I'm out, the real world gets in the way. I have bills to pay--school, phone, car, car insurance, etc. I literally cannot survive without a paycheck for longer than a week. I have to have a job lined up so I can start it as soon as my two weeks are up.


So here's my plan. Get a part-time job lined up (preferably at a gym--I want to be a personal trainer, so I think it'd be good to get my foot in the door, even if I'm only answering phones), quit work, focus on school full time, work part time, and maybe (if time allows) work on a personal training certificate.


Here goes nothing! :)


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UPDATE: I did it! I quit! I gave my boss my two weeks notice this past Friday, January 31. While quitting that early wasn't the plan, the time was right. He had asked me three out of five days that week if I was quitting, so I was done with that. And I've known for quite some time that this wasn't where I wanted to be or what I wanted to be doing. So I did it. It went better than I expected--he was pleased that I was following my heart and that I was professional and mature about it (I brought a resignation letter, too!). So yeah. It went well. :)

U P D A T E S

So so so sorry for letting you hang for like four-ish months! I figured I'd update you on a few things that have been going on in my life since the last time we caught up. :)


1) I went to Haiti!!!! (see: awanderlustingheart.blogspot.com)
2) Today I met with the head youth minister (have I mentioned that I'm a volunteer high school youth minister?) about vocations and life. He presented me with three different opportunities, all of which I said yes to! Here are my new responsibilities:
         a. founding member of a young adults council (plans for and manages the young adult activities for ages 18-35). I would be representing the younger end of that spectrum, primarily college-aged young adults.
         b. team leader of a welcoming and hospitality team for ANTIOCH (the high school youth group). I would be greeting the high schoolers and being a welcoming face and someone they can always talk to. I would also be monitoring numbers and ensuring everyone is assigned to a small group and everyone has a name tag. I start this Thursday!
         c. small group leader for Destination Jesus, the retreat which changed my life! (note to self: explain HOW DJ changed my life!)
3) I have (once again) come to terms with the fact that I have no clue what I'm doing in life haha so in a few weeks, I will be resigning from my current job as a paralegal (oh, I forgot to mention that today is my one year anniversary of being at S&S!) and will be taking classes full time and working on a personal training certificate. I will also be working part time on Sundays as a sales associate (which I already do anyways) and I may or may not get another part time job at a gym (depending on how much free time I have). I will also be doing what I outlined in #1 :)
4) New Year's Resolutions for 2014:
          a. Train for and run a 5k and a 10k...and possibly a mini
          b. Finish levels 1 and 2 of French Rosetta Stone
          c. Only buy necessary things--no clothing, etc!




What's been going on with you?! Any New Year's Resolutions? I'd love to hear from you :)

excuses, excuses

Mah peeps! Sorry for not posting in (yikes) 5 months! In my defense, however, I've been working on a new project: awanderlustingheart.blogspot.com

While I have NOT jumped ship (aka debodeoverflow.blogspot.com) I've created A Wanderlusting Heart as a second blog, this one being entirely devoted to Haiti. More specifically, my travels to Haiti.

If you want a snapshot of what A Wanderlusting Heart is all about, here is the link to the first post: Alo!

Feel free to check out both A Wanderlusting Heart and remain a loyal follower of DO (that is, if there is anyone out there who reads this anyways! ha!). Thank you!

I got a little bit of a laugh when I looked at the last post I'd put up here. But it was really more of an "Awwww seriously? Why didn't I accomplish like anything!?" type of laugh.

You see, in the most recent post, I'd put up 10 things that I hoped to do this past summer. Looking back, only one of these got done. ONE. And that was #1, only because I have a summer job. Please note that #2 was not accomplished. Sad day. :(

Here's what all happened:

1) CHECK. I work. Woo?
2) FAIL. Big surprise there, huh? I like to shop  :)
3) FAIL. I skateboarded in my garage and on my driveway like five times maybe? But I would NEVER say I learned how to skateboard!
4) FAIL. I think I MAYBE rode my bike once? And I love riding my bike! I miss you, dear Bikey.
5) FAIL. I think I ran outside twice. Even though my hope was pretty vague (it didn't say how many times), I still consider it to be a failure.
6) FAIL. Emmie wasn't 18 when auditions came around. But next summer this IS happening!
7) FAIL. Work sucks. I'm inside all day, every day. :(
8) FAIL. Hells to the no. A six pack did not happen by any means. If anything, I put on the weight!
9) FAIL. Didn't play once. I miss it...maybe if I played I could accomplish 9, 8, and  7!
10) FAIL. I went a maybe 5 or 6 times. Decent, but definitely not every week. :(

Oh well, there's always next year!

BTW: it's SEPTEMBER. New Year's Resolutions, anyone? I failed--I said I'd lose weight. PHA!

summer 2013! woot woooooooot!

this summer, as usual, I have a list of things I want to accomplish:

1) make monayyyy
2) save monayyyy
3) learn to skateboard (now THAT will be interesting!)
4) ride my bike every day
5) run outside (this is easier said than done--I DEFINITELY like running inside on a treadmill more for some reason!)
6) try out for American Idol with Emmie
7) get a tan
8) get a six pack
9) play some more tennis
10) hit the batting cages once a week AT LEAST (get it? get it? HIT the batting cages? ha so punny)


ummmmmm so yeah. I think that's it! for now at least  :)