its happened ...

the wedding i have been speaking about for months happened yesterday

and it was even more beautiful than i was hoping

now i could sit hear and try to tell you about how beautiful Julia (the bride) looked and how everyone had such a grate time.

or who i almost cried on several occasions as people told me how amazing a bridesmaid i have been or how beautiful i looked

or honery mentions in speeches ... and so much more

but since a picture is worth a thousand words 

i am going to let them tell you

order of survice

the groom , kev the rev and tom , the best man and mat's brother

the happy couple shining the register

refreshments , yes people that's cake that looks like icecream

the bride and her bridesmaids

bridesmaids and groomsmen

the groomsmen

lady's a gentlemen ... me in a dress

this is my good friend vez looking very pretty.

 it was also her birthday yesterday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY 

me and my band of merry men 

so hear come the artsie black and wight shots 

me and Laura

my two favorite little minions Rosie and Ellie in matching dresses 

goodbye folks , see you at the reception  

me and Joel at the reception venue. warly park golf club , such beautiful grounds 

tabby decided she wanted in on the photo ... 

can you see who else made it into the background of the last 2 shots?

that's right the bride and groom

they look like something out of a wedding brochure..

we love you Matt and Julia ! 

 

inside the reception venue

the bride and groom listening to speeches

cutting the cake

first dance ... this is where i finally gave up and cried

thank you Jesus for waterproof mascara 

OK i am going to end with a bunch of party shots. i dance my butt of and so did lots of other people ...

 

please pray for Matt and Julia as they start there life together

lots of love

Lauren

xx

"God doesn't heal halfway"

A couple of days ago i read a blog from a friend of mine from the ts community.
she is mum to two beautiful girls, the youngest , Ellie , has turners. and an amazing God story.

in this blog post , Monica was talking about how she believes that even though Ellie still has ts and some of the manifestations that come with that. god has healed her fully

and guess what guys ... i believe so two

sounds illogical right

OK so take  a look at this ...


(Ellie hanging out with her big sister. in the coolest t-shirt of all time)

dose this look like a girl who is missing out on life to you ? ,me neither

and this is the point. shes a happy 2 1/2 year old.

i was struck by the line "god doesn't heal half way" . God would have never allowed Ellie and her family more than they can bare. and the manifestations Ellie has been left with have allowed her mum to educate so many people about turners syndrome, and , more importantly , Gods faithfulness.

god doesn't heal halfway , he just heals more fully than our comprehension.

this lead me to thinking about all the times i have been asked questions like

"if you think Jesus is the healer, why do you still have ts and the long list of side conditions that comes with it"

or my personal favorite

"if god loves you , why is your mum a junkie that lives in a different country to you "

my answer to you guys is ...

gods ways are higher than mine. and even when i feel like screaming at him
"dude what are you up to right now !!"
he has it all in hand , and if i run the good race and keep my heart set on him. its going to be ok

"no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD." -  Isaiah 54:17  

think of job. god trusted him enough to say "you know what devil , hes my guy, do your worst"

i wanna be  a job kinda girl

and i think,  Monica , Ellie and their family are a shining example of that

lots of love
Lauren
xxx  
ps . here is a link to the blog post that sparked this one if your interested
 http://perseveranceathome.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/this-morning-as-i-was-reading-in-my.html

errrrrm, hi summer. where in the heck did you come from

so hear is the deal

i am super exited

when i wrote my post about how mad my summer was going to be it felt like ages away well .its going way to fast now

as you know i already had an awesome time with my family i couple months ago

but summer is now kicking up a gear and the countdowns begin

3 weeks 2 days until i am bridesmaid

3 weeks 6 days until soul survivor

5 weeks 2 days until momentum

"Lauren saaaaaaay waaaa"

i know missy, told you it was going fast 

but hey who's counting ...

o yer this girl 

lots of love 

lauren

xx

10 things all girls should know

10 things all girls should know

.the only footsteps you have to follow are Christs

.the mirror is not the boss of you

.its ok to sing off key and out of tune

.beauty is a state of mind not a state body

.go ahead and eat an extra biscuit, food is amazing. enjoy it

.love extravagantly, arms open. heart abandoned. its worth it 

.laugh often. snort if you have to. don't hold back 

.price charming isn't a fairy tale , hes a myth

. Mr. Darcy and popcorn make for a perfect evening.

.love waits

lots of love 

lauren

xx

your awesome . own it, dont hide it

this post is for Paula Doucet Throop :)

she writes , 

Hi Lauren, I'd appreciate it if you could write about social anxiety, fitting in, being yourself and self esteem. Also, if you could write about the role parents can play if helping make the best life possible for their butterflies.

im gonna break that down into 3 sections 1) social anxiety 2) fitting in/ self esteem 3) parental involvement

1)

so , social anxiety is big thing in the ts community and affects a lot of girls and there ability to function in society. and it takes some getting over. when i was younger i experienced it a little but but not nearly to the extent to some of the girls do ..

so hear is a run down of how i got over the anxiety

stand up to the bullies in school - this was the hardest step to realizing that hiding the compleatly crazy, loud mouth, extrovert that is Lauren Malone was pointless. i started lathing with the bullies in school. it compleatly confused them and believe me when i say the stupidity stopped there it didn't follow me to collage because i didn't allow it to. much easier to say in hindsight though 

introduce yourself to one new person a week at least- very hard to do , makes for many moments of embarrassment. but you eventually get the hand of it , and you will find someone you have a lot in common with an make a new friend sooner or later  

don't over think it - just relax remind yourself that if your in a room with a bunch of new people the chances are so is everyone elce. and i can garentie the feel a little uneasy about it to

2)

ok so this is som thing that i think i have briefly touched apon in other posts but i will go in to more detail hear.
i am someone who is not lacking in the self esteem department i know who i am and what i stand for and i am in no means ashamed of it.people have to take me as i am. and people respect me for that , however it dose mean i have the same affect a marmite . you love me or hate me.

I do understand that not everybody has this same self assuredness and this is more prevalent in the ts community.and it makes me sad to think there are people out there that don't see there own value and there worth as a person. so i say to that person

hit it pingu ......


gues what you have the right to feel good about yourself , it's OK not to think your ugly or fat or whatever the hell kinda crap your telling yourself  !

anyway , rant over. that's all well and good me saying that. but how about actually building self esteem

so ... Lauren run down of self esteem tips

1) look in the mirror and say something nice about yourself once a day.
 let me start you off , you have a KILLER taste in blogs :D

2) do whatever it is your best at whenever you get the chance
for me its swimming and mentoring young people ... ive done both already today !

3) tell someone else how awesome they are (self esteem is contagious)
seriously just give it a try, seeing that you made someone smile will make you feel great

4) if somone cant see hoe awesome you are just remember this when you see them next 




5) don't try and be someone else 
your never gonna be as good at being them as you are they are. and in the words of dr seuss



this ties in nicely with the fitting in thing so ...

fitting in , its not the easiest. especially when you look even slightly different to thoughts around you. but there is always somewhere you will fit in so do not change who you are to try and get into the "popular crowd" if they don't like you for who you are they are clearly mr.lightyear is right and clearly they don't deserve your company. find the people who appreciate you and stick with them

3)
pearens are awesome . the great assets at any child's disposal , ever. and sadly it seams that good ones are becoming increasingly hard to come by....

ok my advice to parents.

1)listen when your kids need you.
there will be hard days and  there will be days where your kid feels outcast and down. just be there and listen to them.

2)set an example  
if your walking round beating on yourself and saying how bad you feel about yourself. your kid is going to do the same.

3) be your kids greatest fan 
show your kid haw much you aprisiate them. smiles hugs .. all the silly little things noone bothers to make time for anymore

4) show your kid that they deserve to have self woth and be loved because ......



ok so there you have my "realizing your awesome for dummies" blog post

all bar my biggest tip and that's because this is all encompassing

jesus thinks your awesome , so hang out with him as much as you can 

prayer , the bible worship ... whatever it all screams out how much god thinks your worth. and is the best antidote to poor self esteem i have ever found

lots of love
Lauren
xxx

ps...






  

  

i am adopted , get the heck over it ... i have

as some of you will know , i am adopted 

and that will be a bigger deal to a lot of you than it is even to me 

so lets straiten a few things out 

do i miss my biological parents ?

more than i care to admit at times , but . i still see my dad at times and i have seen photos of my mum. i love them for finally deciding to give me a better life. and trust me. it may look different to most parents. but its still love of some description 

was foster care hard to deal with ?

heck yer it was a load of ball, but was it worth it in the end . you betcha. and i got to meet some of the most amazing people on the process   

would you still live with you bio parents if you could ? 

not in a million years , i love my life to much 

is it hard being separated from your brother ?

yes and no . he lives so close and his family are so nice i hardly notice he is gone. but i do miss being able to look after him though.

you mean to say shes adopted and actually ok with it .....

shock horror 

feel free to comment with questions 

lots of love 

lauren

(and BOTH her mums (mom, if ya getting canadian about it)) 

xx

long time no post !

im so sorry i havent posted in what feels like forever 

so an update , I

 have started helping with the brownies , which i love. the funny thing is some of my kids from church also attend the brownies so they feel like they are being followed around by there youth pastor which is not fun for them as they feel they have to be on there best behavior all the time . they don't, i am a cool youth pastor. i would rater be encouraging them in the things they enjoy than making them feel that im suckint the fun out of it. which apparently i am doing (according to them) so yay i am doing my job.

yay Tawney owl (thats me)

i had an awsome day at the wec intonatonal confrence - go festival a couple of weeks ago. such beautiful grounds so i will let the pictures do the talking 

 

nothing much elce is going on , will try to post a bit more frequently from now on

lots of love Lauren

xxx