Labor Day Weekend; A series. Soon to come to blogs near you!

UPDATE: For those of you that are wondering, The Chase is an amazing book. It is SO real and down to earth that it almost feels like you are having a conversation with a friend, rather than reading a book. It is definitely something that I would recommend!-In fact, I already have and am about to pass it on to some of the other young ladies in our church. They are excited to read it. I am excited for them. Seriously. Its good!

Labor Day was great fun.-Rather, Labor Day weekend was great fun! The Popsicle and I went camping in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It was hot, full of bugs and wildlife, exhausting, and a blast! I must admit that I was a little nervous going into this situation. Most, if not all of you, know that I've dealt with a lot of infirmity this year. (My parents are probably about ready to send me to a nursing home.) I wasn't sure if I was physically well enough to handle such a draining adventure. Add that to the fact that I haven't been camping in about 12 years...I wasn't quite sure what to expect because I wasn't quite sure how accurate my memory was, you know? Well, it was very similar to what I recalled so I was a little prepared. Thankfully.
Anyway, we had several memorable moments and I thought about doing a normal blog post about it...
But then I got inspired.

Why not make it more fun and tell it in story format?!

So I will write our adventure out, day by day, and share it with you. I may exaggerate a few things, simply for the sake of showing just how hilarious some of the so called 'memorable' moments were. But it will be true, and I'll not exaggerate too much.-if I do, I'll add a disclaimer or something. ;) At any rate, be prepared for these posts.-They will be covering three days of living terrified near a creek fearlessly in the wilderness.

**By reading these posts, you are agreeing that Lauren Nicole; the blog, Lauren Nicole; the person, and the staff working with and for Lauren Nicole, nor any other affiliated parties will be held responsible for any and all injuries that occur from laughing too hard. You understand that you will be reading at your own risk and the decision to read could result in difficulty breathing, sore, cracked, and/or broken ribs, various knee and back injuries, and any amount of cuts, scratches, and bruises that may or may not be a result of rolling around in the floor, along with others not mentioned in the above. Lauren Nicole; the blog, Lauren Nicole; the person, the staff working with and for Lauren Nicole, and any other affiliated parties will also not be held responsible for any and all damage to property or properties of the consented individual or otherwise. These stories are not tested on animals, grandparents, or regular household objects. Paid for by Lauren Nicole.

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(It's late ya'll. Don't be haters.😜)

The Chase

So I have more exciting news to share with you!
This:
I am so excited about it! But for those of you that have no clue what this is, let me start from the beginning.

Most of you have probably either read or heard of Karen Kingsbury. She is an awesome christian writer that you can't help but love. Seriously. Her books are real life, down-on-our-level scenarios with insight and Christianity woven intricately throughout. In short, she is a talented writer and I love reading her work. :)

If you've read her books, you may know that she has a daughter named Kelsey. You may not know that Kelsey has gotten married to Kyle Kupecky, a christian recording artist, and they are expecting their first child. (Yayy!) Kyle and Kelsey work together to encourage young people to wait for 'THE one' and not rush into things. They help the younger generation to trust God and let Him take care of them. They give advice on how to handle a godly relationship and help you realize that God has a work for you to do, even if you can't quite see it now. And if any of ya'll know me, you know how much I believe that!
Well, Kyle and Kelsey have written a book about trusting God with your future and it will be released on September 1st of this year!

You know what is even cooler? If you pre-order a book, you can get Kyle's brand new song for FREE! But they have an even better deal going on! Pre-order 10 copies (or the e-books!), and you'll receive an autographed copy of The Chase, autographed copies of Kyle's two albums, two "Possibilities" cards designed by Kelsey, and Kyle's brand new song, "And It's You." Email your receipt to thechasekk@gmail.com! Now I know you're thinking 'oh, that would be cool...but what can I do with 10 copies?!'. Let me tell you what you can do!
1) Team up with some of your friends and go in together. Then everyone can get the book, and you can divvy up the extra treats between you!
2) Buy the books and add a few to your church/school library! (Just be sure to get permission from whoever is over the library.)
3) Get them, read them, highlight parts that stand out to you or are important in yellow [for instance], then give them to a young girl or friend along with a pink highlighter. Then you can share what you learned or how you grew with each other.
4) Books make awesome gifts for young readers. Its true. Especially books like this where you can learn and be encouraged in such a great way. Then again, books make awesome gifts period.
TIP: Pre-order and get all the extra goodies, then give the extra books for birthday gifts, graduation presents, Christmas, even Easter. (Because who wants to wait until it is out in stores and try to hunt down a copy...and then not get the awesome bonuses?)

Aaaaaand:
Yours truly was chosen to promote the book and tell everyone the awesome news so that they can go read it! So I'll actually be getting my copy of it next week (eeeeek!!) and I'll read it and then write a review on here with my thoughts. I'm super excited about it and can hardly wait to share with you all! Stay tuned and don't forget to pre-order before September 1st!

The Wars of the Worlds

(Yes, this is different than Orsen Wells' "War of the Worlds". Promise.)

World War 2 was brutal and exhausting. It unofficially began on July 7th of 1937 and officially began on September 1st, 1939.-That is over 3 years of growing tension and controversy, but with no 'official' strikes or attacks. World War 2 raged long and furiously for years, the Allies and Axis Powers constantly in battle, in an effort to end the tyranny and dictatorship that suppressed the voices and lives of millions. Life was hard.
Then on December 7th, 1941, even more tragedy struck. Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, resulting in horrible collateral damage and the loss of many great lives. The U.S. declared war on Japan and began secretly building the atomic bomb. On August 6th, 1945, the U.S. successfully launched a surprise attack on Japan, dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima (killing 90,000-146,000 people) and Nagasaki (killing 39,000-80,000 people).
As much of a toll had taken place on both Japan and the U.S., neither would surrender. The Japanese culture instilled a loyalty in their people.-They would either win or they would die trying. Literally. They also treated Hirohito as a god, and were afraid that the U.S. would treat him badly if they surrendered. Between fear for their 'god' and their pride, they refused to give up, regardless of how many lives it would cost. The U.S. had simply had enough and insisted on victory.
Then on August 14th, 1945, Hirohito changed history in a mighty way. He, for the first time ever, came before his people with an announcement. 70 years ago, on this very day, Japanese Emperor Hirohito declared an unconditional surrender of Japan to the United States. This signaled the end of the war between Japan and the U.S., even though the two remained hostile toward one another for years.

What does this have to do with anything?

Well, on August 12th, 2015 Pastor Howard declared a war at the Lighthouse Church. Not a war on any country or group of people. No, rather it was a different kind of war.-a spiritual one. On Wednesday, we officially went to war against carnality.
Let's act like the church is the U.S. and carnality is Japan, shall we? (Not mean to imply anything about either of these countries.

Over the years, God has done great things for His people. We have had revival, signs and wonders, and great moves of God. Then, seemingly with no warning, we lose a few young people here, a young family over there. A minister strays here and a a church compromises there. Its our Pearl Harbor attack.-it comes unexpectedly and results in a great loss of life and collateral damage. The fight becomes unbearably hard and we begin to wonder if it will ever end.

Good news. It does.

You see, now that we have officially declared war, some atomic bombs are about to be dropped on the enemy. Sure, the carnal may not surrender.-maybe it is fear of how their 'god' will be treated once they do, or maybe it is just their pride. Whatever it is, we know that we aren't giving up. We aren't backing away. When this war ends, it won't be because we just got tired and decided to stop. It'll end because carnality just can't continue anymore. After all, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" and honestly, we know how the story ends. We win. If we are in God's will and we are in sincere, we win. No question.

So even when the battle gets rough and you can't see that it will ever end, hold onto the hope that we have in glory and know that you will be victorious.

Lauren Bundy