To My Second Family

To My Second Family,

   Mrs Mitzi AKA Silly Mitzi, thank you for being my second mom. I know I'm sassy and obnoxious and I probably annoy you 93% of the time, but I also know way deep down you love me despite that or even because of that. I know I can always talk to you because duh you're like my second mom. Thanks for birthing Logan because I don't know where I'd be without her or your family. 

   Mr Mike AKA Mad Mike, (I don't know if you know about that nick name oops) thank you for being a second father to me. Thanks for letting me basically invade your house whenever I want to, and for letting me go on fam vacations (but I'm in the fam so that's normal), and thanks for being super protective of Logan and me. Even though you stalk us from the balcony at the beach and we don't really love that, I'll be thankful for it one day.

   Logan AKA Logie (@rayray), thank you for being my sister. Thank you for literally everything. You can handle my sass without taking it in the wrong way, we've been besties since sixth grade and I pray that nothing will ever change that. We'll always be bronze goddesses together, you'll always be my number one go to Newks date, and most importantly the fried pickles to my crab claws (you'll understand). I'm bossy and you take it, and for that I am thankful.

   Lillee AKA Sis2, thanks for being the little sister I never had. I can always count on you to run to when Logan is being over dramatic and sassy (every single night at the beach). I love the sweet bond we share, and the bond we share over hating paisley. We can make each other laugh til we cry (basically you cry and I laugh some more). You cute lil smiley long legged thing, I'm so thankful you. 

   To the whole fam, I love you all so much, I could never repay you for how much you have taught me in growing up. Thank you, I love you. 

   Love, Mary Catherine AKA your other daughter

Guatemala 2015

This summer I was blessed with another opportunity to go to Guatemala.:) Eek. Guatemala is an extremely beautiful country full of people with big loving hearts and I love it! 

So I'm just going to write a kinda quick summery of my journey this year. Like last year, I went with The Avenue Church in Waxahachie, Texas to work with Engadi Ministries in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Engadi Ministries Intl. exists to provide a safe and nurturing environment to boys who have been trapped within the cycles of poverty and violence that characterize Guatemala City’s slums, helping them to achieve their full potential in Christ Jesus. We believe all children deserve the chance to pursue a brighter future, and we strive to make that hope attainable through community-wide services that include education, home construction, and healthcare. Specifically, we strive to identify boys with a drive to succeed, and to support their growth as “mighty men” who will value family, love God and change their communities for the better. A comprehensive, sustained approach is critical. So we serve boys’ spiritual, physical, and intellectual needs over the long-term, encouraging them to pursue ambitious goals. (engadi ministries.org). 

So yeah. To start out our trip we helped host a family festival in Zone 18. It was basically to bring children and some of their parents out of their homes and just have a fun day playing around and having fun. We painted faces, made bracelets, played soccer, and a lot of different games with them.:)

That night our church group at supper at a fast food "chicken"(it's not really chicken) restaurant called Pollo Campero and then we headed back to the team house, where we stayed. 

 

The next two mornings we worked on the road (like we did last year) leading up to where the engadi property is (where the boys will stay). We were wheel barrowing large rocks up a hill, wheel barrowing mescala (concrete) down a slight hill, and placing the rocks/mescala in frames/boxes on the road. So yeah I'm pretty sure I got some new muscles on my trip! The scenery surrounding the road was sooo beautiful so we took a lot of artsy pics and super cute selfies 

The next day (day4) we painted an elementary school in zone 18 for half of the day, and we played with the children in that school the other half. 

On day 5, we worked on the road again and then walke up to the property.

We hiked a volcano in Guatemala on day 6!!! On our (I think) 3 mile hike, we stopped and roasted marshmallows on lava rocks (wow) on the way! So that was pretty crazy. Once we started to get to the top, it was steaper to walk and the air was super thin so it was extremely hard to breathe! We had an option of riding a horse instead of hiking butttt I didn't want to be a wimp and the horses were super skinny so I opted out of that.

After our morning hike, we were touristy and we went to Antigua to shop/drink coffee/chill.

(This is my Texas bestie gal Caroline and I love her and am super thankful for guat round 2 with her)

(This is a candid shot of me n my new Texas friend Jaycee)

(&&&& these are other Texas friends + Logan)

That night we ate supper in Antigua and carol made me take a selfie even tho I h8 them

And on day 7, we departed and headed back to America.:) 

It was an amazing opportunity and a life changing experience. I'm so grateful God blessed me with an amazing group of people to go with.

fromstarkvillewithlove, MCRAY

patience

patience. Speaking of patience i accidently deleted the whole post and had to re-do it, I was mad to say the least. Anyways, patience is key. I hear that phrase a lot but really don't take into account what it actually means. But literally in every situation, if you don't have patience, you're asking for trouble. I've been struggling a lot lately with patience, and that's why I decided to write about it.

I'm currently having a HUGE patience issue. I have a bestie girl I'm mentoring/giving advice,leading/idk and we've been doing this a lot since Februaryish. We've gotten super close and the closer we get, the higher the expectations I have for her get. So when she does things wrong, it makes me upset (I don't like word mad bc yeah. But my problem is that I've told her a chunk of my wisdom, and I may not have haven't given it time to fully sink into her brain. So I get super impatient and wonder why she doesn't tell me things/talk to me about this stuff/basically change her whole lifestyle. In this relationship God has been teaching me patience, and I'm slowly but surely realizing it. I've got to be patient and give her time, and she has to realize what I'm trying to do in her life. So we're both kinda angry right now, and that makes me upset but I'll just let it work it's self out. So that's my patience story.

An absolutely incredible patience story is found starting in Genesis 37. And it's about sweet Joseph and his crazy coat of many colors. So basically Joseph is his father's favorite son. That's why he received the special coat of many colors from his dad. Except all of Joseph's bros hate him bc they're jealous. Joseph had these dreams that like everyone and even the stars in the sky worshipped him. He told his dad and bros that, and the bros got mad. They were so mad they decided to just casually throw him into a giant pit and strip him of his robe, but then better decided to sell him and make some profit. Bc what else would you do if you were jealous of you sib, right? Jk. So the brothers brought back Joseph's coat, that they had smeared animal blood on, to the dad and so the dad thought Joseph died. Plot twist: he isn't dead. Joseph was brought to Egypt to work for a wealthy man, Joseph worked super hard because he knew God had a plan. (Aka he was being patient and waiting for Gods call) so Joseph had to help the pharaoh out bc the pharaoh couldn't figure out what his dreams meant. He told the pharaoh to talk to God about it, and he will help you. So that happened and basically saved Egypt from terrible famine. That made the pharaoh so happy, he freed Joseph from slavery. He helped the pharaoh and became second in command of Egypt. Joseph then became wealthy and powerful (bc of his patience with God ALL of this happened.whoa) however, during this time Joseph's father and bros had like no food or money. So they all went to Egypt and a whole while later they realized Joseohs power over Egypt. And instead of doing something terrible (like most ppl would) Joseph had the heart to forgive his brothers. He even let the bros live in the wealthy palace. And they all lived happily in Egypt together. So if that doesn't show you patience, idk what will. During the entire time that Joseph was abused, he remained patient and trusted that God was going to provide, and he sure did.  

Everyone struggles with patience, even if it's and small as waiting in line to get food. It could be as big and not being able to provide for your family, and none of the jobs you apply for accept you. However, if you wait and be patient with God, he will ALWAYS provide. There is no greater thing than his love.

Have a great rest of the week!!!

From Starkville With Love, MCRAY 

 

Life Lately

just because I'm so busy, and life is sups busy... I decided to do a little life lately to end the week. It's kinda long....

Track: so for some odd reason, I do all the running sports @ our school (XC,Track) and right now it's track season. I have to wake up every freaking Wednesday at 5 am and go to Jackson to basically sit there all day and run a few times and die for a minute or less. And I get sunburned. Fun? IK. But I get to see all of my out of town friends and I get to miss school, so I like that. My coach is crazy, he walks around all day (w/out sunscreen so he turns purple w/ a sunglasses tan) with a giant red backpack on that is full of oatmeal creme pies and various snacks to survive. It's hilarious. And along for the ride, there's a lady that just comes with us to make us pick up trash. So throughout the day we get screamed at about other teams trash. Ugh. Then there's a cute little old man coach that comes too. He just congratulates us on every single thing we do, even if we do it horribly. It's so sweet.so there's track, and here's a selfie 

Swim: well really I haven't been going to swim lately because I'm in a play and I have track and spring is just busy and hectic. So I'm pretty out of shape& my coach doesn't like that, but it's whatever.

Cheer: So this year I'm cheering again and I'm so excited about it. It's so good to be back. And I'm with all my bestie friends and it's a great time. We go to beach camp at the end of May, so I'm super pumped. Yeah. :)

Annie: I've never been in one of our school plays before, but it always sounds like it's so fun and fantastic so I am in it this year. We are doing "Annie" and I am the house maid, Mrs. Greer. So I'm old and wrinkled, but that's okay because it's really fun and everyone in it is hilarious. We've had 6 hour practices everyday this week. Whewww. 

Eating: Here in Stark, we don't have much to do or many places to go, so we all resort to eating. And I'm a super picky eater. It's bad. I basically only eat chicken. However, my absolute FAVORITE place is the entire world to eat, is NEWKS. Like if you want to be my friend just walk up to me and mention Newks, and my heart is all yours. The sad thing is, no one ever wants to go to newks with me, ever because they don't like newks. And my girl Milla, has the same problem. So we go on newks dates often, and chat abt life and things.i love it. (Grilled chicken sandwich, w/ corn&crab bisque=heaven) 

Other stuff: My bible study group finished our book Salvaging My Identity and it's great and I totally recommend it for teenage girls. I got a ton out of it. So there's that. Last of all, my friend, Logan, and I are going on a mission trip to Guatemala this summer. We are trying to raise money to go, so we are selling tshirts. So if you want one HMU!!!! (Ps they're $20)

Have a fab rest of the week!!

From Starkville With Love, MCRAY 

trials trials trials. pt. 3. ft. Malon

Trials Trials Trials. Last but certainly not least to talk about trials is the one and only Malon Stratton. Ma (pronounced may, but there's not a "Y" in her name so I spell it Ma) is my sister girl/bestie. She's the SWEETEST person anyone will ever meet and she has a huge heart for everyone. She's my best friend and constant encourager. And bonus: she came w/ me to NYC for my 16th and we had a fabo time. I love her to pieces!!

(Here's a pic) 

Have you ever faced trials?

Malon: Most definitely!!! 

Tell a story of a trial you've faced:

Malon: Being in high school is tough. Many of my friends participate in many parties that contain alcohol. They are choosing to do that and I do not want to participate in that. I think everyone has a choice of what to do with this situation. Neither choice is right or wrong, it is just based off of what you want to get yourself into. My great grandfather had a drinking problem. Therefore, my grandparents, and my parents do not intake alcohol because of that. My friends judge me because of the decision I made. They even sometimes tend to not acknowledge me around school because of this. My friends make me feel bad about my decision and it makes me question. God? Why are you letting this happen to me? My closest friends are making me feel bad about my decision, and I need help.

How did you overcome that trial?

Malon: Well, I am in the midst of this trial. I cannot exactly tell you how I overcame it, but I know how I am attempting to overcome this. Through this phase of my life, I have learned just to trust God and He will work everything out. Even those who judge you, are ugly to you, or even make fun of you, that does not mean you can’t kill them with kindness. When you fall, God is always there, lending his helping hand to those in need. I continue to pray to Him for help. When those are rude to you, kill them with kindness. That is the best thing to do. And that is exactly what God wants us to do.

How did God work in your life through that trial?

Malon: God is working everyday in my life. Every moment of every day, I learn something new from Him. He is the omnipotent God, and if anyone does not know Him, I challenge you to find someone to help you come to know Him. I guarantee if you ever need any help with getting to know God, I am in Jackson, MS.. So I might not be the best person, but I am always just a call away. But in Starkville, of course, Mary Catherine Ray is an outstanding follower of Christ. She is always willing to look out for others and she continues to lend her helping hand to those in need. She is leading her life of purpose in the best way she can. God has blessed me with more than I could ever imagine. I continue to thank Him everyday for that.

Encouraging tips for people facing trials:

Malon: First of all, I would say, even in the midst of our worst trials, we have to be hopeful and pray to our all-mighty God. He is the only one who can give us the strength to overcome trials. God places these trials in our lives not intending to make us upset, or to tear us down. God does this so we will grow closer to Him, and begin to trust Him more and more everyday. Pray to Him for strength. He is always listening and calling your name.

Bible verses:

Malon: Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Psalms 55:22 “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” 

1 Chronicles 16:29 “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering and come before Him; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.” 

Extra:

Malon: You will never be able to tell how a person is doing throughout their day. Most kids are not as fortunate as I am to attend a wonderful school, and to be blessed with as much as I am at this point in my life. That is why every day of my life, I try to make a positive difference every day. I try my best to make something great out of everyday, because we will never know when something so valuable can be taken from us. Just a simple smile, or a helping hand can change a person’s day dramatically. I challenge everyone who reads this to know that they are so valued. We each have a purpose on this earth. God is working through our lives each and everyday to fulfill that purpose. He challenges us everyday. Continue to live a life of significance. God loves you. Be the light in someone else's day!! Never forget that we are all handpicked by God. We were put on this earth to spread the word of God and mirror His image each and everyday.

 Gracias, Malon!! 

Have a fab rest of spring break!!

From Starkville With Love, MCRAY

trials trials trials. pt.2 ft. Milla D

trials. again, bc I think getting different stories and perspectives can help a sister out. aka different views can help you out when you're facing trials.

So my "guest blogger" (I always feel like I'm a super cool host of something really great, and I'm interviewing famous ppl when I say "guest blogger" weird? Yeah.) today is Milla Davis. She's hilarious. She's beautiful. She's a soon to be a professional women's basketball player, and she wants to adopt stray animals when she's old. haha. I love her and she's my best friend/sister. So without further ado. Here's what she had to say. (But first a pic of course. personality pic) 

Have you ever faced a trial?

Milla: yes!!

Tell a story of a trial you've faced:

Milla: Well, I'm actually in a current trial right now. It's called highschool!! Everyday I struggle with how to act ( I may have what some call a dirty mouth ) and unfortunately my music is not the best either. My attitude on the basketball court is not how I would like it to be. I want to be the "salt" in life and be a good example for others, but that means sacrificing huge things!!

How did you overcome that trial?

Milla: Well, since I'm in the midst of my trial right now, I can't answer this. But, I can tell you how I'm trying to overcome it. I'm getting involved in a bunch of bible studies with my friends:). I'm reading a book called Salvaging My Identity, and it is really helping me become the woman I want to be. Also, I'm increasing my prayer life and talking to God more about it each day!! (Talking with the Lord helps a ton)

How did God work in your life through that trial?

Milla: God placed a very special person in my life to pull me back on my feet and help me to be the best I can possibly be. That person's name is Mary Catherine :). She's helped me in ways I never thought possible and I can't explain here in words how much she means to me. I'd be the exact same person I was 3 weeks ago if it wasn't for MC lifting me up so much lately. All I can say is thank you God for a friend like her. I can only hope I have half as much of an impact on her life as she has on mine!

Encouraging tips for people facing trials:

Milla: If you're like me, you're struggling with the fear of the world not accepting you, non-stop worrying about other people's opinions!! I know it's easier said than done, but think about it. Would you rather please people whose opinions are continually changing about you, or the almighty God of the universe who gave his life for you? I think we know the obvious answer here, lol.

Bible verses to read when in trials like this one:

Milla: Galations 1:10 (my favorite)

Romans 12:2

John 15:19 (hits me hard) 

Extra:

Milla: as easily as it is to conform to the world (party, drink, listen to bad music, cuss on the daily), we were hand picked by the Lord to be a bright light for others. So, I encourage you to let the Lord use you and become part of his great plan!

S/O to both of these girls (SMP, Milla D) for stepping out of their comfort zone, and telling about their trials! How great are they?

HAVE A FABULOUS WEEK!!!

From Starkville With Love, MCRAY

trials trials trials. pt.1ft. SMP

Trials. Trials are so tough and one of the hardest things I struggle with in my relationship with God. But, trials are made to strengthen you along the way. To talk about trials, I interviewed a few people. So as my "guest blogger" today, I have one of my best friends Sarah Morgan Pellum. 

Have you ever faced trials? 

SMP: yes.

Tell a story of a trial you've faced.

SMP:

I know something recent I have been struggling with is trusting God when he tells me that I don't need to be hanging out with this person. for the longest time I didn't listen to God. I thought I knew what was best. I was looking for acceptance from her when God was constantly telling me that this friendship is pulling me and you farther and farther apart each day. and it took me weeks to realize that I wasn't truly happy. I didn't have the joy you get from being in the word everyday. 

How did you overcome that trial?

SMP:

during dnow I finally broke down and went running back to God because I realized I couldn't do this in my own. 

How did God work in your life through that trial? 

SMP:

God really showed me during that time that I need a good group of Godly friends to surround myself with. they can make the difference in your day. they know when I need encouragment and they know when I just need them there for me. God also showed me the importance of an accountability partner. because If I would have had one a couple of months ago I might have never been in that situation where I had stopped listening to God. I now have an accountability partner who I know will tell me when I'm slipping and I can tell her when she is slipping. 

Encouraging tips for people facing trials:

SMP:

in Genesis 6 God ask Noah to build an ark. Noah didn't even question him. but in the world we live in today we question God when he ask us to share the word with our family. in Genesis 6:15-16 God gave Noah exact instructions on how to build the ark. Noah did not know that when God first asked him to build the ark. that just shows that God is not going to ask us to do something and then leave us hanging. he will be right by our side no matter what it is he asked us to do. if its letting go of a friendship or sharing the word in a different country. he will be right next to us. 

Have a great week!!! 

From Starkville With Love, MCRAY