Blessings
Sometimes I forget how lucky I am. Over the last few days God has been gently and not so gently reminding me of how blessed I am. I decided I would end the year on another top ten list. However this one is in no particular order...
1. I am walking without a boot or crutches. Granted the foot still not quite right, however I can walk. How blessed are my feet...
2. I haven't been sick hardly at all this year. Excluding broken foot I think I had one cold. How blessed is my health
3. I got to fly this year. Every year since I was in college I have gotten to fly at least once. I love it! This year my trip to Chicago was a highlight. How blessed am I to get out of town and discover a new place.
4. I like my parents. Most people are amazed that I actually get along really well with my folks and can live with them as an adult. I love them. I enjoy getting to chill with my parents and I tell them everything. How blessed I am to be able to honor my mother and father.
5. I have such a non-stressful job. Granted there are a few people I work with that I truly need to deal with in small doses but my job is so easy. No weekends, off at four and plenty of time to read and enjoy the quiet. How blessed am I financially with a stable and easy job.
6. I have been able to develop and deepen some relationships this year. My sunday school class has been an amazing outlet and ministry opportunity. I have been able to teach them and they have done the same for me. How blessed am I with a church family...
7. I am so glad that I am a girl. This year I have had so many opportunites for God to remind me that we gals are a special breed of people. I have never wanted to be a boy, but this year I am especially glad I get to be a girl. How blessed am I with laughter, conversations and fun...
8. I am not usually a stuff person, but with the economy the way it is I am grateful for the stuff I have. I have a car, a house, nice clothes and the new wii:) How blessed am I have stuff but not too much:)
9. I am so blessed to be a child of God. I am glad that I enjoy hanging out with Jesus and I hope He likes hanging out with me. Hopefully he doesn't get too annoyed with my whining:) How blessed am I to be saved by grace...
10. Sorry I have to say it. I know I am no longer in high school. I will not sing Friends are Friends forever...but I am so blessed to have true friends. I am blessed that I have people in different states and countries that love me and care for me and are always there when I need them. I am excited that I get to be part of their lives and them part of mine. How blessed are my relationships.
Happy New Year!
Starving for What?
Warning...I am aware that I will be using some of the verses in today's post out of context. I know that I am doing; however I am taking a slight creative license because it's my blog and I can:)
Food is so good. I love eating. I don't remember a time that I haven't enjoyed a good meal especially when with wonderful friends. I eat way too much food hence the reason I will never be a size 2! Some of my favorites are pizza, chocolate, ice cream, chicken tenders, salads, chicken and dumplings (my mom's are the best:), soup, hamburgers, laffy taffy, fries, etc. Don't worry I feel the same about drinking stuff: coffee, tea, water, coffee, tea, water:) But food is the topic of the day... Maybe because New Year's is so close and EVERYONE begins talking about how they they are going to have to go on a diet, start cutting back, and etc, etc, etc.
We live in a food obessed society. It amazes me how often we tend to talk about food. When I lived in France it always amazed me it only took us expats about an hour together to start talking about food especially american food we missed. My nieces often times ask what is for lunch about 10 minutes after we eat breakfast. Saturday after lunch I asked my mom what she wanted for Lunch on Sunday. 24 hours early and I was already thinking about lunch. We always act like we are starving if we skip a meal or have to eat to late. You get used to eating lunch at 12 and by 2 you are ready to eat your arm off. Starving for food and sometimes drink....
1 Corinthians 8:8 But Food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat it, nor the better if we do eat.(NASB)
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (NASB)
I spend quite a bit of my day thinking about food. How often do i think of righteousness and peace and joy and for the matter the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? How often am I starving to hang out with Jesus? When I am hungry all I think about is food and when I will get some. When I am struggling do I think about Jesus? Do I hungry for his prescence? Do I ache to be filled up by his love and companion? I get lonely, sad, empty, and tired. How to I cure those pains?
This week I challenged my class to try and spend an hour in the quiet with God...No noise and no distraction. I need to do the same thing. I can't hunger from something I don't really spend any energy thinking about. I crave food because it is always right in my face. I need to figure out how to put Christ right in my face so that I crave him also. I want to be starving to spend more time in His presence.
Gotta love being a girl
There is something so unique and wonderful about girl time. This weekend was the weekend of long dinner, coffee, dessert and loads of laughter...Christmas time is always the lets get together time. Some how my girls night out parties were back to back. I had the girls I used to work with party and then the high school/college friends party. Both were amazing...it was great to sit and talk and laugh and exchange presents...I throughly enjoyed the long dinner and the conversation. Friday former co-workers and I ate until we could move and talked about work, family and how things have changed; then we exchanged presents...yeah for all my stuff that I love:)
Saturday night after dinner the girls and I (high school/college reunion) went to starbucks. Where after scaring off the poor guy in the corner, we sat in the comfy chairs and dominated the corner for about 3 hours. I am sure the people there wonder what on earth we could have talked about for that long and laughed that hard about...Kelly had brought a game of table topics. We spent over 2 hours asking and answering random questions, some thought provoking, some nostalgic, some sketchy and some beyond sketchy....we covered bad hairstyles, adventures we hope to take, favorite foods, what we wish our parents had taught us, the importance of God and even childbirth...us two single gals are now more educated and maybe a little more scared:) It was so fun to just laugh and literlly talk about every topic. It reminded me so much of how blessed I am to have friends that years later I still enjoy talking too...
It also reminded me of a slumber party I had in France in '03 where we stayed up all night long answering random questions we had created ourselves...too bad I can't have Christmas with those ladies also. (random- first kiss was a question both times and I didn't bring it up either time:)
So for the ladies who made my weekend blessed thank you. Amber, Ruth, Jennifer, Michelle, Kelly, Rebecca, Mandy and Leigh thank you for always making me laugh... to the ladies I won't get to see this Christmas-Mentanna, Tiffany, Laura, and Shannon- I really wish you had been with me at starbucks...
Ode to Christmas
I enjoy the holiday season; however I am not a dedicated fan. I hope I am by no means a Scrooge, but I just don't often take the time to just enjoy the season. I love seeing my friends and hanging out with the different groups. Why we always feel the need to get together one last time before Christmas I will never understand... but I love the fellowship. It makes me want to catch up with all the people that I love dearly. However I usually forget to enjoy the Christmas decoration part of things. I tend to focus on my to do list and how behind I am on everything.
My mom and I put the Christmas tree up on Saturday, and I'll be honest I complained for at least half the time...my mom uses what I think to be way too many lights. I have a 5 year old's attention span. After about 20 minutes of hanging decorations I want to move on or my feet hurt so can I sit down (that never ending foot problem has its perks:) This is actually the 2nd tree I helped decorate this year. My sunday school class got roped into to decorating the tree for our church this year. I'll be honest I hardly ever pay attention to what the tree looks like at my church and was a little surprised by the over use of naked baby jesus angelly ornaments (we never could decided what they were suppose to be:) However this year I am trying to pay more attention. The one in the church looks great especially nice after the music director fixed up it for us and the poinsettas were put in place. My mom and I did a pretty good job with ours also.
Last night for the first time in a long time I sat in a darkened room with only the Christmas tree on and just looked at it for at least 30 minutes. The only sounds was the soft snoring of the two little girls crashed out on the couch waiting for parents...I had babysitting duty last night. It was just well...lovely (sorry I know that sounds exceptional British but nothing else fits). It was nice to just sit, enjoy, and think about Christmas. I was too tired to focus on my to do list. I just marveled at how pretty it was and how blessed I am. Of course it probably helped that it was a tree I didn't have to decorate:) So thanks amber for letting me enjoy your tree...
always make me smile
I love those things that always seem to put me in a good mood. I am an easily amused person, but lately I have found myself lacking in good humor. Over the last few days iI have seen a return of my typically bubbly personality and have felt the need to take delight in the things I just plain enjoy. I thought I would share some of my joys with you. There is no order to my random fun...
a truly funny joke or story...watching a comedian who cracks themselves up is always my favorite. when i can make someone laugh it always puts me in a good mood!
a phone call from someone i never get to talk to...i have received a couple in the last week or so that have just put me on cloud nine and make me appreciate that i have fabulous friends all over the world.
walking in the rain...i hate umbrellas and have long since given up on them. i don't own one and only use one or buy one when extremely necessary (like walking in the pouring rain in chicago...thanks kellys:) i like to have the rain hit me in the face. Even cold rain is good for my mood. I rarely run in the rain. I won't melt and my hair is already curly so why rush!
snowflakes...we have had several unexpected snow showers lately. no accumalation but the way it looks when it falls is just beautiful.
wii family fun...my family bought a wii last weekend for christmas for the family. we have had more fun playing together as a family. maybe it will help us hang our more and not drive each other crazy!
a really good book...i love those books that i can't seem to put down. i am currently reading a new jane austen spin off series and am reading the last of the trilogy that i started on tuesday:) makes me want to stay up late at night to finish the story.
pictures...i love to take pictures and look at pictures. i like to see what other people see and how amazing things are. thanks to my many friends who put pictures on their blogs and facebook. i have had time to actually look at them.
friends who listen...i have been a whiny baby the last few okay several weeks now. I am so glad that none of my wonderful friends have hung up on me or told me to stop whining. I love all you ladies and know i will be there to return the favor anytime you need me:)
the bigger problem
I am not a patient person by nature. One of the hardest things for me to do is wait on anyone or anything...I am always early for a multitude of reasons, but the main one is so things will hurry up and start. I don't know why I think that will make it go faster. Christmas Eve I want to go to bed early so that Christmas gets here faster. When I buy a new CD, I unwrap it before I pull out of the parking lot. When I get a new book I can be caught trying to read it while sitting at a red light. I struggle to wait until I get home much to the dismay of the other drivers I am sure. I am impatient in the car, at the store, and with slow people of any kind. I always want a rapid fix. My foot issues are so frustrating because it seems to be a never ending problem (6 months feels like forever:)
One of the hardest things for me to wait on is Christ. In my mind He seems to take forever to do anything. I know He will do what is best for me, but why does it take so long? Sunday I ran across 5 or 6 scripture about waiting on the Lord. Waiting on Him will bring me rest, strength, and blessing. In my head I know this but why can't I live that way. And I think it is because I often feel ashamed to tell others about my life. I know that sounds awful, but it is true. People expect me to be married with kids and working at a job I love. I hate that dreaded "so what are you doing now?" question. I have none of those things and I hate explaining that to other people. Maybe I should wait on God....pride seems to be a bigger problem than my impatience. "O my God in You I trust. Don't let me be ashamed..." Ps. 25:2
