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Thursday, May 21, 2015

Wink by Kindara

So basically there's this awesome new thermometer coming out that automatically syncs with an app on your phone to track your cycle and fertility! It's called Wink, and not only is it super convenient, but it's super cute. Also, it vibrates rather than beeping so as not to wake your partner up.

It hasn't even officially come out yet, but you can pre-order at a reduced cost, and, if you use this referral link you get an extra $10 off (and I get $10 off too!): https://kindara.com/r/XslNvoTSI

I'm really impressed with Kindara, because not only do they promote the Fertility Awareness Method for achieving or avoiding pregnancy, they are also totally pro-woman and are donating a menstrual care pack to women in need in Africa for every Wink pre-ordered. It doesn't get much better than that! :)

Sunday, April 21, 2013

White Rocks Trail

Yesterday two of my best friends, my boyfriend, and I went hiking as the sun sank low in the sky.

The temperature was perfect and so was the view! It was such a fun hike and we even had a picnic dinner on the rocks (yeah, they were white!) at the peak of the mountain. The trail was only about twenty minutes from where I go to school and I had no idea it existed until yesterday!

The lighting was so beautiful for pictures, which always makes me happy!

I will definitely treasure this adventure for years to come! :)




















Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Creation Sings Praise: Why I Want to Protect the Earth

Sunset at Glover's Atoll, Belize


During my time studying abroad in Belize with Creation Study Program, I realized that creation is not just there for us or even God to enjoy the beauty of. Creation worships God. I don't know why I was surprised by this, because numerous times in the Bible the authors talk about creation praising God, even calling creation to praise God.

Praise him, sun and moon;
    praise him, all you shining stars. 
 Praise him, you highest heavens
    and you waters above the skies.

 Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, 
 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
    stormy winds that do his bidding, 
 you mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars, 
 wild animals and all cattle,
    small creatures and flying birds, 
 kings of the earth and all nations,
    you princes and all rulers on earth, 
 young men and women,
    old men and children.

Psalm 148:3-4, 7-12



Our songs of praise are minute when compared to the songs of the rest of creation. This video, especially the last five minutes, is absolutely incredible and overwhelming, and I can literally feel my soul reaching out to participate in the song. Let us join together with creation in worshiping our Creator.

At the same time, if this is what creation is singing to my God, why would I not want to protect and conserve it with all of my efforts? God has given us the amazing gift to worship along with His creation, and all we've done is mindlessly destroyed His choir.

I want to build up His praise team.

Because He oh-so-deserves the most magnificent worship band out there.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Appalachia Service Trip



I’m so excited to share with you that next week, March 9-16th, I will be co-leading a spring break service trip through my college, Messiah College, to the Appalachian region of Virginia. There, my team, along with students from other colleges, will be participating in the Appalachian Community Health Survey Project run by an organization called Restoring Eden. I will be going door to door in the impoverished coal mining communities of southwestern Virginia asking residents to complete family health surveys in order to further verify the research compiled in the previous two years of this project showing the negative health impacts of coal mining, specifically mountain top removal coal mining, with the ultimate goal of informed policies being passed. During my semester abroad this past fall, God really placed the impoverished in Appalachia on my heart and in my mind, and, as I was praying for a tangible way to do something about it, He placed this opportunity in my lap. I am so excited for what God is going to do on this trip, both through me and my team and the other students, and I would so love to have your prayers. Also, pray for me as a leader, that God would use me in the lives of my team members.

In Christ,
Stacie

A little more explanation…

-- Mountain top removal coal mining & the project

The mountainous Appalachian region is one of the most impoverished in the country and has been negatively affected by coal mining, especially mountain top removal coal mining, in which the summits of mountains are removed in order to access valuable coal deposits. The earth, as well as all of the waste from this process, much of it toxic, is dumped into nearby valleys, burying and contaminating drinking water sources. However, little research has been done to prove the detrimental health effects of coal mining. 

For the past two years, Restoring Eden has partnered with researchers at West Virginia University to provide them with data to show the correlation between mountain top removal coal mining and health problems. In fact, the research gathered so far has shown that cancer rates were twice as high in mountaintop removal coal mining communities compared to non-coal mining communities. Next week I will be joining in the third and final year of surveying to gather further research so that policy makers can make informed decisions on this issue.

Read more about mountain top removal: http://restoringeden.org/resources/mountaintop-removal

-- Why I want to spend my spring break doing this

This past semester, Fall 2012, I studied abroad in the Central American country of Belize with Creation Care Study Program. Through the program my eyes were opened to so many environmental and social justice issues that I had never even thought to think about before. Living in an underdeveloped nation I also experienced poverty in a very real way, in a way that I had never experienced before through any of my short term mission trips. However, one of the things that most shocked and saddened me was the realization that there is real poverty in my own country. I knew that Appalachia was poor, but somehow my eyes and heart were opened and I truly understood the reality of it, and it has been weighing on my mind ever since then. One of the students in the program had participated in this same exact health survey project and she shared about her experience with us, and about how coal mining is greatly exacerbating the region's poverty. Then I received an email from the nursing department at my school saying volunteers were needed for a spring break trip, and as soon as I opened the attachment and read the flier and realized it was the same trip that my fellow student had participated in, God started speaking to my heart and calling me to use my spring break trip to personally experience the poverty in Appalachia and to do something about the situation that has been weighing heavily on my mind and heart. Poverty breaks my heart, environmental degradation breaks my heart, but, as a nursing major, knowing that these impoverished people are also suffering health-wise really breaks my heart and moves me to action.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

New York City

On Tuesday I went to New York City with my family.

The weather was perfect - sunny, not too cold, and yet just cold enough to make me want to bundle up in fuzzy socks, scarf, and gloves.

I love New York. Although I've only been there at Christmas time so maybe I'm a little biased, especially since I love love love Christmas and everything about Christmas.

I got to see the Rockettes for the first time! And of course we saw the big Christmas tree and Time Square :) Enjoy these pictures of our trip!