Party in Heaven

Grandma left her earthy home and went onto her heavenly home on Thursday morning. I spent the night at the hospital with her on Wednesday night and she passed away early Thursday morning. I was sitting by her side as she took her last breath and Jesus called her home. We miss her so much, but surely no one misses her more then grandpa. He loved her deeply for 66 years and he really doesn't know life without her. If you remember, pray for him. His world has been turned upside down, and although that would be hard for any of us, I think it's a bit harder when you're 90 years old.

The Unknown...

Wrote this for the ladies of FPU... My writings rang so true for myself too...so SO true...

Welcome back from a week of what was hopefully filled with some rest and relaxation! Spring Break was always one of my favorite things when I was in college. Usually the weather was nice enough to go somewhere with friends and enjoy time away from school. Though it’s always nice to have time off, sometimes getting back into the routine of going to class can be tough. And pile on daylight savings time on top of that and it was harder then ever to get out of bed this morning!

Spring break is always like a little summer preview. We’re in the home stretch of the semester and summer is just waiting for you—though for many of you it’s not coming fast enough. But with the coming of summer means the closing of a school year. Now I don’t want to get all of you thinking about summer just quite yet—your professors probably wouldn’t like that too much… However I think it’s valuable to acknowledge that though summer can be really fun, there can also be a lot of uncertainly associated with it. The season of life you are in right now is such a unique time where you have A LOT of time off from school and so many opportunities before you. Maybe you have this summer figured out but are now uncertain what next semester will look like.

Life is and will always be full of “the unknown”. Just the other day I read this quote and couldn’t agree with it more…”There will come a time when you think every thing is finished. That will be the beginning.” It’s true. Just when you think you have everything figured out something new will arise and you will start back at the beginning. This idea of dealing with the “unknown” can be a bit scary. Not knowing what lies ahead reminds us that we’re not fully in control—but many of us oh so badly wish we could be.

Many of us are wired to want to always have things figured out and to always know what’s coming next. Sound like you? But I think if we could see into the future and know what was to come we wouldn’t be able to handle it. I believe there is great purpose in why God keeps the future a mystery and only reveals one day at a time to us. Think about it—if God showed you everything all at once do you really think you could handle it all? I know what you’re thinking though…you don’t want to know your whole future just the next couple of years… right? If only it were that easy…

This is why we’re called to pray. And there's a big difference between praying for God to show us what He wants and praying for God to bless what we want. Okay, now read that again. There's been so many times that I've gone to God thinking that I'm praying for His will, and that He's remaining silent. When what I'm really doing is telling Him what I want and asking Him to make it happen.

God is so much bigger then we are. Trust and remember…He knows exactly what you need exactly when you need it…

:)

2010 Here I come...

I read this and loved it. Hope you pull a few things from it too! Happy New Year!!!

HANDBOOK 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present
moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present
happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and
fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything..
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Life is busy..

and my blog is suffering because of it. Sorry for the lack of posts ladies and gentlemen. I'm still alive and lovin' life. So much good stuff going on. I am thankful for so much and looking forward to the upcoming holidays. The Lord continues to teach me a lot about myself, about the stirrings in my heart and about how to truly love people with the need to look beyond myself to genuinely do that. I'm feeling incredibly thankful as the holiday season approaches for great friends, a wonderful family and a boyfriend who is truly a gift. Although classes are keeping me busy, I'm thankful to be able to be in school too.

What are YOU thankful for?? Hope you take time this week to step back, look around and remember what's truly important in your life.

Pumpkins, Candy Corn and Good Friends....FALL is here!

Everything is Amazing and Nobody's Happy

This is so worth the 4 minutes of your time. So so funny. And so so true.

Learning: really good but not always easy....

Let me first start by saying, I think learning is always a good thing, but not always an easy thing.

:: It feels like grad school is kicking my butt...but I'm trying my darndest to kick back. In the end, I will win. I know this.

:: It feels like it's been a REALLY long year. I feel like so much has happened--and so many things I never expected would happen (both good and bad). I think I'll have to take a whole day towards the end of December to reflect on all that God has done and taught me this year.

:: I am looking forward to the holiday season and want to embrace what's left of this year for all it's worth.

:: There is a man by the name of Jerrod Bradley who has come into my life, and he was an unexpected blessing. This man understands what it means to love God and love people like few I have met before. He understands what it means to give and accept grace daily and he challenges me in ways I've never been challenged. And he's my boyfriend. And I like him. A lot.

:: I think August and October are by far the busiest months in my life. August came and went, now it's just a matter of getting through October. Busy with lots of good stuff, yet still busy.

:: Being busy is a drug and I may need to go to rehab...

:: I went to the fair this year and ate tacos, cinnamon roll and gelato. Umm Umm Good!

:: Dani and Mallorie stayed at my place for a few nights and it made me feel like I had roommates. They would be really fun roommates :)

:: Seasons come and seasons go and to that I say, PTL (Praise the Lord!) Some seasons I can't wait to be over and others I wish I could stay in forever. But just as their is great beauty in the weather seasons changing, there is also great beauty in the changing seasons of life.

:: My birthday is coming up and I'm going to be 25. 1/4 of a century. So 1/3 of my life is over, although I hope to live past 75.

:: I've ate more chocolate and candy in the past two weeks then I have in the past two months. And next week won't be good either... You only live once, right?? :)