Something Beautiful

This is my countdown: 2 days of classes + 1 assignment + 1 portfolio + 2 tests + 1 paper + 1 presentation (after today) ---------------------------- Graduation I did not want to get out of bed this morning. I wanted to stay cuddled up in my quilt and enjoy the sunshine streaming through my blinds with half open eyelids. I have my mock presentation of my research today. I'm not nervous because that would mean that I actually care about how it goes, and I stopped caring quite a while ago. I'm going to graduate...that's the bottom line. I was kind of hoping that this weekend would be a lot more chill than last weekend, but it isn't shaping up to look that way. It's all good stuff, but I'm looking forward to a day that has nothing planned. I have to make something to take to a lunch tomorrow. I have no idea what I'm going to make. And I have a dinner on Sunday to make something for...gotta decide on that too...decisions are just so difficult sometimes. I had a d...

I saw a bumper sticker the other morning that said "Stop blaming your narrow minded prejudice on Jesus." I was so saddened by this. What experience could have been so awful and traumatic to this person to cause he or she to put that bumper sticker on the back of a car? There is so much hate and bigotry and misunderstanding and anger and hurt in the world...sometimes it just overwhelms me, and I can't help but cry for the pain that is in the world. I'm rather tired, but the end is in sight. Three days of class. Two presentations. Three assignments. A portfolio. A final paper. Then graduation. I'm so glad the end is in sight that I'm almost giddy with delight. (I did not mean to make that rhyme...oops) I just had an awesome victory, though. I got all of the letters that I was sending out on behalf of Potter's House addressed, sealed, stamped and put in the mailbox. I get to scratch that off my list. Now on to the phone calls...yeah, that's the part I dre...

You know when you've had a really bad week, and then all of a sudden something completely unexpected happens and makes everything so much better because it is just that perfect little blessing that you needed so much? Well, that happened to me today. Last week was crappy. Between research and no sleep and stress and did I mention no sleep, it was just a crappy week. I'm not saying there weren't good things. I had some good times, and I enjoyed spending time with friends and lots of other good things. I had some good God time, and I definitely felt God's presence with me through all of it. But at the same time it was just not a good week. Those happen. Life happens. Well, today I have done a whole lot of nothing. After last week and my crazy weekend, I just couldnt' handle anything more today, so I ignored life today (not really, but kind of). And then I had this wonderful, completely out of the blue, unexpected blessing. So way back in March I applied for a scholars...

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ~ James 5:16-17 Clouds I serve a God of impossibilities. He has proven Himself to me so many times--times that He didn't have to prove Himself and yet did anyway because He is good and merciful. Because He has proven Himself, that is what I have come to expect out of Him. I have seen the impossible, so I expect the impossible. Elijah was a man who experienced the impossible on a daily basis. The verses at the start of this post refer to 1 Kings 17 where Elijah prays that there will be no rain on the land as a punishment of a wicked king of Israel. During this time of drought, Elijah saw daily how God is a God of the impossible. For starters, he was fed by ravens for a long time. Then when he had to...

There is something so refreshing about the way a child views the world. Everything is fresh and exciting and fun. A yard stick can give as much enjoyment as a large box. Bubbles are the world's greatest invention. Splashing your toes around in the pool is the second greatest invention. Nothing is boring. Little toes and feet are so cute!!! I am blessed to get to watch my cousin, Kodi, a couple times a year. I almost wasn't able to make it today, but I'm so glad I did. It is good for my heart. It is good for my perspective of life and the world in general to see through a child's eyes again. Try it sometime...life will suddenly become so much more alluring and fascinating. There is so much we can learn from those who are learning for the first time. I think that's why God allows us to be parents. life's joys I realized today that I enjoy rediscovering things that I love doing. For instance taking pictures. For the longest time I didn't pick up my camera and n...

I was going to blog yesterday, but several factors stopped me--mostly though I just had no words. That is an unusual occurrence for me, but there it was. It is probably for the best because it would not have been an uplifting or encouraging or even just a mediocre blog post. It would have been an outright pity party. Instead, I spent a lot of time venting to others, being crabby, and then crying out to God. This is not going to be the blog post I was going to write yesterday. This is going to be a blog that talks about God's faithfulness because, my friends, God is faithful...in ALL circumstances. So yesterday in my horrible, no good, very bad day, God gave me a couple of little gifts. The first was some new insight into a story that I have read several times. I was praying at one point and asking God to move in my life and the lives of the people around me and all I heard was "for such a time as this." This is a verse from Esther. Esther 4:14 to be exact. This is what Es...

Life has been insane. That's part of the reason I haven't blogged in several days. The rest of the reason is that I just don't know what to say. I haven't been checking in with my heart because it is too messy and too complicated for me to deal with right now. I am compartmentalizing my life. One day at a time. One task at a time. One moment at a time. I can't think about what is to come or what is behind. All I can focus on is this moment. My brain is so stressed out that it literally is bouncing all over the place like a 4 year old who has had too much sugar. And like that same 4 year old I'm waiting for the crash. I'm just praying that the crash doesn't come before the end of the semester. This also makes it difficult for me to focus. My brain wants to go in so many directions and I can't seem to make it settle down. It is such a catch 22 because I want to be focused on all that I have to do, but I can't seem to stay on it for longer than 2 mi...

I'm sick of compromise in my life. Of settling for less when I could wait for more. Of mediocre when I could have extraordinary. Of compromise instead of intense focus on God. I'm letting go of me and holding onto God. May His Name ever be praised!! Letting Go - Francesca Battistelli Peace out yo!

So I was at home the other night before midnight (a strange occurrence in itself) and I decided to have a leftover piece of my birthday cake whilst sitting in my hammock on my deck. It was such a beautiful night. I lay down and was enjoying my cake, and I had a wonderful revelation. I was thinking about Pride and Prejudice (for some unknown reason), and I thought about how Elizabeth really got an amazing man in Darcy. I mean, really, he was the catch to catch. I never thought before, though, that if Elizabeth had settled for Mr. Collins, she never would have gotten Mr. Darcy. I think it's because we all know that Elizabeth and Darcy are supposed to end up together. You can tell from the beginning of the book that they are really perfect for each other and they are meant to be together. So we never think what would have happened if she would have listened to her mother and what society said over what she believed to be true of herself. She knew that she deserved better than Mr. Coll...

...But it's worth it and there are pictures, so hang in there...please. Here is the blog I promised about the amazing-ness that was my birthday this year...along with a few things I have learned in the process. I am the most blessed person in the world. I have such amazing family and friends...and you all touch my life in ways you can never even imagine. It all started with an early present from LE...who brought me this beautiful scarf back from Malaysia...what a wonderful and beautiful addition to my multi-national scarf collection. It has already been worn several times, and I can tell you that it will see much more use as time goes by. Thanks LE!! Then there was an amazing day where I received flowers with a beautiful message attached that both encouraged me and brought me to tears...these beautiful flowers were the amazing result of my beautiful sister hearing me and acting upon that. What a blessing to be known and understood and loved in such an amazing way!! I know these wer...