For more of my photos check out my facebook!
Mackensey
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Snapshots
The result of my newly found hobby, photography:
For more of my photos check out my facebook!
Mackensey
For more of my photos check out my facebook!
Mackensey
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Hallelujah
What a fitting word for this blog post!
God is good.
Chicago is the city that I now call home, but home has become a strange word for me. I have lived in four cities within the last two years, after spending the first eighteen years of my life in one lone house. Oh how I miss that house and the familiarity of Mission Viejo, but moving and changing has been good for both me and my parents. God has blessed us and we hope to use the blessing He has given us to further praise and glorify Him!
God is good.
You may now officially call me a junior in college. What a crazy thought! I know this phrase is so cliche, but it feels like just yesterday that I was a freshman moving into my cramped dorm room, worried about EVERYTHING. I have finished my sophomore year not without gaining some scars and lessons learned. When people have asked me how it feels to be done for the summer all I think in my head is 'sigh.' I have no words for it, because in some respects it marks a milestone of being halfway through my college career, which is scary, but really I am so happy to never see sophomore year again. It was a tough one, tougher than freshman year in many ways.
But God remains good.
Softball is over as well and I am sad to say that the end of this season brings me more happiness than sadness because, by the end, I was ready for a break. Don't get me wrong there were many tears, especially saying goodbye to a couple of our seniors who are so special and important to me, but overall this season needed to meet its end. I can say that I am excited for next year all that I want, but honestly I need a break right now. After the summer I am going to be ready to play ball once again, especially since next year will include a reunion between myself and my best friend, Jenna. One bright spot on the season, that I can only attribute to the grace and power of God, is I was named to the 2nd Team All-Big East, improving my stats both in pitching and batting. I know it was only God's strength that got me through this tough season and through Him I can celebrate the small victories and see the bigger picture.
Therefore, God is good.
I have struggled, been knocked down, beaten, and to be honest I am still healing physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, but throughout it all I have realized that God remains the same. No matter how many times I wandered away from Him or decided that my plan was better, whenever I returned He was always there waiting for me. Yet every time, I was surprised by His consistency and could hear Him saying "I have been waiting here for you and now that you are back, I will give you peace and rest." I am still wrestling with all this, but throughout it all:
God has been good.
Mackensey
God is good.
Chicago is the city that I now call home, but home has become a strange word for me. I have lived in four cities within the last two years, after spending the first eighteen years of my life in one lone house. Oh how I miss that house and the familiarity of Mission Viejo, but moving and changing has been good for both me and my parents. God has blessed us and we hope to use the blessing He has given us to further praise and glorify Him!
God is good.
You may now officially call me a junior in college. What a crazy thought! I know this phrase is so cliche, but it feels like just yesterday that I was a freshman moving into my cramped dorm room, worried about EVERYTHING. I have finished my sophomore year not without gaining some scars and lessons learned. When people have asked me how it feels to be done for the summer all I think in my head is 'sigh.' I have no words for it, because in some respects it marks a milestone of being halfway through my college career, which is scary, but really I am so happy to never see sophomore year again. It was a tough one, tougher than freshman year in many ways.
But God remains good.
Softball is over as well and I am sad to say that the end of this season brings me more happiness than sadness because, by the end, I was ready for a break. Don't get me wrong there were many tears, especially saying goodbye to a couple of our seniors who are so special and important to me, but overall this season needed to meet its end. I can say that I am excited for next year all that I want, but honestly I need a break right now. After the summer I am going to be ready to play ball once again, especially since next year will include a reunion between myself and my best friend, Jenna. One bright spot on the season, that I can only attribute to the grace and power of God, is I was named to the 2nd Team All-Big East, improving my stats both in pitching and batting. I know it was only God's strength that got me through this tough season and through Him I can celebrate the small victories and see the bigger picture.
Therefore, God is good.
I have struggled, been knocked down, beaten, and to be honest I am still healing physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, but throughout it all I have realized that God remains the same. No matter how many times I wandered away from Him or decided that my plan was better, whenever I returned He was always there waiting for me. Yet every time, I was surprised by His consistency and could hear Him saying "I have been waiting here for you and now that you are back, I will give you peace and rest." I am still wrestling with all this, but throughout it all:
God has been good.
Mackensey
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Opening Weekends!
Hey Folks!
So if you follow my parent's blog as well you may know that the past two weekends have been jam packed with softball. Two weeks ago the Hoyas drove the five hour trip down to Elon, North Carolina. We played four games, two games against both Elon and Rider. It was such a relief and excitement to get back on dirt (which we hadn't touched since before Christmas), putting on brand-spankin'-new cleats, and competing with my team once again. Sometimes I forget the excitement that I should feel when I play the game of softball, because it has almost become my job and I am always doing it. But this first weekend it was like I was ten again and I actually GOT to play softball. It was definitely exciting. We had a good start going 2-2 losing both games to Elon, but we definitely could have gone 4-0 for the weekend. Unfortunately, in one of my at bats, I fouled a ball off my ankle bone so that has been an injury that I have been seeing the trainer about every day, twice a day these past two weeks.
After returning back to school and barely getting time to unpack and settle into our normal routine again, we were on the road but this time we were headed to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was definitely an effort to actually get there, because the travel included: an hour bus ride to BWI airport where we caught a plane to Atlanta, Georgia, where we picked up our two rental vans and one SUV and drove the two hours to Chattanooga. We made it safely and were tucked in for a good six hour sleep before we were rudely awakened by our alarms. I haven't seen 7:15 in I don't know how long and that was my wake up time every day last weekend. We played five games and we came out of the weekend 2-3. That final record was somewhat disappointing, but we haven't hit our stride yet and are lacking some consistency with performance. We will get there though! Unfortunately, I was not able to pitch as much as I would have liked, because of the injury that I received last weekend. The swelling from my ankle actually moved down to the outside of my foot making it very painful to walk or run.
So coach had me take it easy last weekend, but I am ready to go this weekend! We leave tomorrow for the start of our spring break extravaganza which includes a trip back down to NC State and then a cross country flight to Fresno, Ca. So excited to get to see the California Carters and I feel so lucky that my parents have been able to come to every game so far! My dad has been able to take some awesome pictures of the Hoyas in action and I posted the link below so you all can check them out!
Elon Tournament
Chattanooga Tournament
Lent has been going well so far and I hope that continues! I have felt distracted the past couple weeks with the beginning of season and midterms, so if you could be praying that God uses this time over spring break to just refocus me and pray that I would draw close to Him so He will draw close to me. Also just pray for me because I have been experiencing some frustration with softball and just that I wouldn't let that affect my performance, my attitude, or my experience this season. Thank you so much for following me on this journey and I just hope that you will let me know if there is anything I can be praying about for you as well!
Peace. Mackensey
So if you follow my parent's blog as well you may know that the past two weekends have been jam packed with softball. Two weeks ago the Hoyas drove the five hour trip down to Elon, North Carolina. We played four games, two games against both Elon and Rider. It was such a relief and excitement to get back on dirt (which we hadn't touched since before Christmas), putting on brand-spankin'-new cleats, and competing with my team once again. Sometimes I forget the excitement that I should feel when I play the game of softball, because it has almost become my job and I am always doing it. But this first weekend it was like I was ten again and I actually GOT to play softball. It was definitely exciting. We had a good start going 2-2 losing both games to Elon, but we definitely could have gone 4-0 for the weekend. Unfortunately, in one of my at bats, I fouled a ball off my ankle bone so that has been an injury that I have been seeing the trainer about every day, twice a day these past two weeks.
After returning back to school and barely getting time to unpack and settle into our normal routine again, we were on the road but this time we were headed to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was definitely an effort to actually get there, because the travel included: an hour bus ride to BWI airport where we caught a plane to Atlanta, Georgia, where we picked up our two rental vans and one SUV and drove the two hours to Chattanooga. We made it safely and were tucked in for a good six hour sleep before we were rudely awakened by our alarms. I haven't seen 7:15 in I don't know how long and that was my wake up time every day last weekend. We played five games and we came out of the weekend 2-3. That final record was somewhat disappointing, but we haven't hit our stride yet and are lacking some consistency with performance. We will get there though! Unfortunately, I was not able to pitch as much as I would have liked, because of the injury that I received last weekend. The swelling from my ankle actually moved down to the outside of my foot making it very painful to walk or run.
So coach had me take it easy last weekend, but I am ready to go this weekend! We leave tomorrow for the start of our spring break extravaganza which includes a trip back down to NC State and then a cross country flight to Fresno, Ca. So excited to get to see the California Carters and I feel so lucky that my parents have been able to come to every game so far! My dad has been able to take some awesome pictures of the Hoyas in action and I posted the link below so you all can check them out!
Elon Tournament
Chattanooga Tournament
Lent has been going well so far and I hope that continues! I have felt distracted the past couple weeks with the beginning of season and midterms, so if you could be praying that God uses this time over spring break to just refocus me and pray that I would draw close to Him so He will draw close to me. Also just pray for me because I have been experiencing some frustration with softball and just that I wouldn't let that affect my performance, my attitude, or my experience this season. Thank you so much for following me on this journey and I just hope that you will let me know if there is anything I can be praying about for you as well!
Peace. Mackensey
Monday, February 15, 2010
Another Year, Another Lent
Good morning! (or good whatever time you happen to read this specific post)
Valentines Day is over, President's Day basically didn't exist because since we had four snow days last week the Provost decided to re-institute school today, and now the season of Lent is starting on Wednesday. Most of you know that I am not Catholic, but going to a Jesuit institution has shown me that there are so many amazing practices and understandings of faith that are practiced in Catholicism. Lent is one of those practices that, even before I came to Georgetown, I decided to adopt into my spiritual life.
For me, Lent is a time to choose something that has become more important to me than God and takes time away from growing in my relationship with Him. I take Lent as a time to recenter and refocus my life on the Lord by removing all the noise around me. Although this is not everyone's interpretation of the time of Lent, that is how I practice it. Also it is easy during Lent to get stuck in attitudes of self-appraisal or being prideful in this practice, so this year especially I am going to focus on the passage in Matthew 6 where Jesus speaks of what not to do when praying and fasting:
Please be praying that I don't take time to delight in the sacrifices that I am making but in the sacrifices God has made for me! So I won't see you on Facebook anymore, but hopefully I will keep up with my blogging throughout the next few months!
Peace, Mackensey
Valentines Day is over, President's Day basically didn't exist because since we had four snow days last week the Provost decided to re-institute school today, and now the season of Lent is starting on Wednesday. Most of you know that I am not Catholic, but going to a Jesuit institution has shown me that there are so many amazing practices and understandings of faith that are practiced in Catholicism. Lent is one of those practices that, even before I came to Georgetown, I decided to adopt into my spiritual life.
For me, Lent is a time to choose something that has become more important to me than God and takes time away from growing in my relationship with Him. I take Lent as a time to recenter and refocus my life on the Lord by removing all the noise around me. Although this is not everyone's interpretation of the time of Lent, that is how I practice it. Also it is easy during Lent to get stuck in attitudes of self-appraisal or being prideful in this practice, so this year especially I am going to focus on the passage in Matthew 6 where Jesus speaks of what not to do when praying and fasting:
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you...When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Please be praying that I don't take time to delight in the sacrifices that I am making but in the sacrifices God has made for me! So I won't see you on Facebook anymore, but hopefully I will keep up with my blogging throughout the next few months!
Peace, Mackensey
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Snowpocalypse 2.0... Get Out While You still can.
I don't know if you watch the weather channel or not (mom and dad I know you do, you can't deny it, but if you haven't DC has been hit with an inordinate amount of snow. I am talkin' crap loads! This past Friday a blizzard hit DC and left us with just over two feet of snow to try and climb through. It has been an interesting week since the past three days of classes have been canceled. DC has a problem with clearing snow from the roads; they seem to not like to do it. Well anyways we are suppose to be hit with another 10-12 inches tonight and tomorrow so we are all bracing for maybe a whole snow week... To be honest the snow is getting quite annoying even though it has brought it's benefits. Check out the pictures I took:
Snow Album
In other news next weekend is our opening weekend of softball season! The Hoyas are traveling down to North Carolina, where hopefully there is not snow on the ground, to play in a tournament at Elon. Hopefully the games go well even though we will not play on dirt until the first game of that tournament, so that shall be interesting. Wish us good luck! I will definitely keep you afoot on the happenings with the Georgetown softball team since that will be my life for the next few months.
Also, unfortunately I won't be going to Uganda this summer because of logistical things. But keep the group that will be going in your prayers and hopefully God will open a door for me for another time!
I think that is all for now.... thanks for reading!
Mackensey
Snow Album
In other news next weekend is our opening weekend of softball season! The Hoyas are traveling down to North Carolina, where hopefully there is not snow on the ground, to play in a tournament at Elon. Hopefully the games go well even though we will not play on dirt until the first game of that tournament, so that shall be interesting. Wish us good luck! I will definitely keep you afoot on the happenings with the Georgetown softball team since that will be my life for the next few months.
Also, unfortunately I won't be going to Uganda this summer because of logistical things. But keep the group that will be going in your prayers and hopefully God will open a door for me for another time!
I think that is all for now.... thanks for reading!
Mackensey
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wow how time flies!
Whew! Soo I think my last post was about Christmas break well fast forward a few weeks past good times relaxing with my parents, taking pictures, working out, etc. Now I am back at school and let me tell you we are in full swing both athletically and academically!
First things first though, I am contemplating/already signed up for a trip to Uganda this summer with NCC, the church that I go to here in DC. The trip would be to northern Uganda, the area affected by the 23 year long war, and we would be building a Village of Hope, which is basically care taking facilities and orphanages for the children of Gulu, Uganda. I have felt God calling me to this devastated country for a few months now and there is no better time than this summer!
Anyways back to school! So last week we started classes again which I was both excited about and dreading at the same time if that is humanly possible. This semester I am interested in ALL my classes which is a very good motivation to do the work because it is enjoyable. I am taking Education and Society, Theories of Personality, Ethics: Moral Psychology, Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, and Intro to Christian Ethics. They will be a lot of work and a lot of reading, but I guess that is what I signed up for with this whole college thing.
Speaking of things I signed up for, Tuesday marked the beginning of softball for this semester as well. Unfortunately that means a repeat of the run test that I trained for all Christmas break. I PASSED! Yes, this was only the second time that I have passed on the first try, but I did and Coach Pat was generous enough to not have anyone else run it again even if they didn't pass. So Wednesday we started practice and it feels so good! I love the feeling, minus the incredible soreness, of being back in softball gear, practicing, and being with my team. I feel like it is going to be an amazing and unforgettable season! (It better be since this is the last time I will be playing with Demetria... but we don't talk about that!)
Chi Alpha has also kicked off full speed ahead with events and meetings! I feel so grateful to have a group of people that I can share with and be challenged by! Chi Alpha is such an important part of my college life at Georgetown so I am so thankful for it! My favorite event so far was the 24-hours of prayer. Starting at 10 pm on Tuesday night there was one person from Chi Alpha praying every hour for 24 hours in St. Williams Chapel on campus, for Georgetown, Haiti, and just letting God speak to them. My hour was on Wednesday night from 5-6. I rarely set aside huge chunks of time to solely spend time with God, but that was a powerful experience and it opened my eyes to what I have been missing! It's hard to explain the feeling of connectedness and closeness I felt to God when I just surrendered a portion of my time to Him to lead me where He wanted me to be! Praise God that we were able to do that!
I think that is all for now because I am exhausted and I have practice again tomorrow! Jenna comes next week which will be fantabulous! :)
peace. Mackensey
P.S. here are some photos I took in Massachusetts
First things first though, I am contemplating/already signed up for a trip to Uganda this summer with NCC, the church that I go to here in DC. The trip would be to northern Uganda, the area affected by the 23 year long war, and we would be building a Village of Hope, which is basically care taking facilities and orphanages for the children of Gulu, Uganda. I have felt God calling me to this devastated country for a few months now and there is no better time than this summer!
Anyways back to school! So last week we started classes again which I was both excited about and dreading at the same time if that is humanly possible. This semester I am interested in ALL my classes which is a very good motivation to do the work because it is enjoyable. I am taking Education and Society, Theories of Personality, Ethics: Moral Psychology, Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, and Intro to Christian Ethics. They will be a lot of work and a lot of reading, but I guess that is what I signed up for with this whole college thing.
Speaking of things I signed up for, Tuesday marked the beginning of softball for this semester as well. Unfortunately that means a repeat of the run test that I trained for all Christmas break. I PASSED! Yes, this was only the second time that I have passed on the first try, but I did and Coach Pat was generous enough to not have anyone else run it again even if they didn't pass. So Wednesday we started practice and it feels so good! I love the feeling, minus the incredible soreness, of being back in softball gear, practicing, and being with my team. I feel like it is going to be an amazing and unforgettable season! (It better be since this is the last time I will be playing with Demetria... but we don't talk about that!)
Chi Alpha has also kicked off full speed ahead with events and meetings! I feel so grateful to have a group of people that I can share with and be challenged by! Chi Alpha is such an important part of my college life at Georgetown so I am so thankful for it! My favorite event so far was the 24-hours of prayer. Starting at 10 pm on Tuesday night there was one person from Chi Alpha praying every hour for 24 hours in St. Williams Chapel on campus, for Georgetown, Haiti, and just letting God speak to them. My hour was on Wednesday night from 5-6. I rarely set aside huge chunks of time to solely spend time with God, but that was a powerful experience and it opened my eyes to what I have been missing! It's hard to explain the feeling of connectedness and closeness I felt to God when I just surrendered a portion of my time to Him to lead me where He wanted me to be! Praise God that we were able to do that!
I think that is all for now because I am exhausted and I have practice again tomorrow! Jenna comes next week which will be fantabulous! :)
peace. Mackensey
P.S. here are some photos I took in Massachusetts
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Home sweet home!
Hello blog readers!
Well I finally made it out of Georgetown last Friday. Luckily I made it out a day before a massive snow storm hit that canceled many of my friends flights. I love being home and being able to relax without worrying about school. The Sunday that I came home a huge blizzard hit and coated our driveway with eight inches of snow that my mom and I had to shovel. This was definitely a new experience for me but we had fun with it.
This Tuesday, Heath, Thais, and their little Wheaten terrier Violet came to our house! We have been visiting and eating, of course, the past few days including a standing rib roast dinner with creamed onions, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding as sides. Last night we went to Caroling on the Commons in downtown Shrewsbury, but the freezing cold weather drove us out of the festivities to Starbucks before the end of the singing. Tonight we are going to the Christmas Eve service and tomorrow Ash, Courtney, Maddie, and Eva come making it a full house! I can't wait for my family to be reunited.
I am having trouble uploading the pictures so you can check out my pictures on facebook or on the link to my mom's blog!
M.C.
Well I finally made it out of Georgetown last Friday. Luckily I made it out a day before a massive snow storm hit that canceled many of my friends flights. I love being home and being able to relax without worrying about school. The Sunday that I came home a huge blizzard hit and coated our driveway with eight inches of snow that my mom and I had to shovel. This was definitely a new experience for me but we had fun with it.
This Tuesday, Heath, Thais, and their little Wheaten terrier Violet came to our house! We have been visiting and eating, of course, the past few days including a standing rib roast dinner with creamed onions, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding as sides. Last night we went to Caroling on the Commons in downtown Shrewsbury, but the freezing cold weather drove us out of the festivities to Starbucks before the end of the singing. Tonight we are going to the Christmas Eve service and tomorrow Ash, Courtney, Maddie, and Eva come making it a full house! I can't wait for my family to be reunited.
I am having trouble uploading the pictures so you can check out my pictures on facebook or on the link to my mom's blog!
M.C.
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