Day 1: A Favorite Song

This is kinda difficult to do because I love music and have many favorite songs, so I am going to post several favorites. (I couldn't get Youtube to work right so I just posted the links).

Hymns:

Day by Day

Abide with Me

Gospel:

Peace When I Leave it in Your Hands

But God

Shepherd Boy

Were it not for Grace

Stay Close to Me

Secular Music:

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

My Heart will Go On

Classical Music:

Shatakovich Symphony No. 5

Chopin Fantase Impromtu

Christmas:

Where are You Christmas?

O Holy Night

Contemporary:

His Strength is Perfect

While I'm Waiting

Indescribable

Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)

As you can see

Thirty Day Challenge

I saw this Challenge on a blog and thought it would be fun to do! Feel free to do it you want!

Day 1: A favorite song.

Day 2: A favorite movie.

Day 3: A favorite book.

Day 4: A favorite television program.

Day 5: A favorite quote.

Day 6: A moment you wish you could relive.

Day 7: Five things you couldn't possibly live without.

Day 8: A thank you letter to someone who has changed your life.

Day 9: A photo you took.

Day 10: A photo of you taken over ten years ago.

Day 11: A photo of you taken recently.

Day 12: A song that you want played at your wedding(or was played).

Day 13: A guilty pleasure.

Day 14: A vacation you would like to take.

Day 15: A person you admire.

Day 16: A song that makes you cry.

Day 17: An art piece.

Day 18: A time when you felt passionate and alive.

Day 19: A talent of yours.

Day 20: A hobby of yours.

Day 21: Something you know you do differently than most people.

Day 22: A website.

Day 23: A way in which you want to be remembered.

Day 24: A movie no one would expect you to love.

Day 25: A recipe.

Day 26: A childhood memory.

Day 27: A physical feature you love.

Day 28: A scar you have and it's story.

Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans you have for the next 365 days.

Day 30: A motto or philosophy.

It should be fun!

New Years Resolution: Grow

I recently saw the title of this post as a friend's status on facebook. The girl that wrote this is a crazy teenager who happens to be short, and wrote this as a joke and it did make me laugh. Then I began to think about it, I mean, really think about it, and I realized growing is an excellent New Years resolution. Reflecting upon my life I find that in every area I have a need to grow, whether it be in my walk with God, in my relationships with others, mentally, emotionally, and in many other aspects. Growing in these areas is not something anyone should ever stop doing, because when we cease to grow and attain knew knowledge, we cease to have a purpose in life. Eric Butterworth once said, "Don't go through life, grow through life."

I think that the key to growing is to take the unexpected and accept it; the unpleasant, make it pleasant; sadness turn to joy; the exhausting make refreshing; the tears, turn them into laughter; the confusing change into understanding; and the unknown make it known. None of these things are easy, and it sometimes you fail, but failing is another key to growing. When you fail (and you will, we all do) you have to pick yourself up from the dust, brush yourself off, and go on with life. Accept the fact that you are not perfect and realize that the only way you can do better is with God's help alone. Growing includes stretching, bending, hurting -- all things that are not always enjoyable, but when it is over you can look back and see how the pain created something that is more beautiful than you had ever dreamed.

So this year I plan to be open to the growth that God has planned for me. I do not want to buck and fight against Him. I desire to let Him have His way, no matter how hard it is. What is your resolution?

"But GROW in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen."

~II Peter 3:18~

Loving You More Each Day

On every mountain it's easy to see

How You have guided and directed me.

There's not a valley that I've gone through

That I just grow stronger

In my walk with You.

So with all of my hear, Lord I say,

"I'm loving You more each day."

When the end's not in sight

and I'm travelling by faith

I lean on the valleys of my yesterdays

For I have a hope that this too shall pass.

And when I'm on top I'll know

I've made it at last,

And Lord You will hear me say,

"I'm loving You more each day."

~Unknown~

The Plans He Has

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

~Jeremiah 29:11~

My life has taken a very dramatic twist in the past several days. Mom's surgery on Thursday did not go as well as had originally been hoped, and she has been having a lot of complications - in fact she is still in the hospital and will be for at least two or three more days, maybe longer! She has not been able to keep food down and as a result of the vomiting she has been doing, her incision is coming open - not good at all. They had to put a tube down her nose today in order to pump her stomach.

In light of all of these problems on Monday I offered to my parents to come home for good. Mom is going to need a lot of help once she gets out of the hospital and dad has to go back to work. My parents were very hesitant to agree with me because they did not want me to give up my schooling. However, with the turn of events today, they finally realized that this was probably for the better. I was originally planning on working the rest of this week and next week before moving back home. When I told my general manager about that she offered to try to find people to cover the rest of my shifts for the week and then take me off the schedule next week. She was able to do that so now I am in the process of packing my belongings and planning on leaving tomorrow morning for home.

Wow...crazy twist, and not exactly an easy one to deal with. I had to say good-bye to a lot of dear friends and co-workers today, but it is worth it, family is so important. I am planning on trying to get my job back at Wendy's, or even better, finding a job waitressing, working nights so that I will be home with mom while dad is at work. Lord willing I will be returning to Shawnee for the Fall semester.

While I do not know why this had to happen, I am not angry, or bitter, or even hesitant about it. I know that this is the next step that God wants me to take. A friend once told me, "Life isn't what we dream, but we're not the ones in charge." God has this all under control, and I am resting completely in Him. Please continue to pray for my mom as she struggles to recover from her surgery.

Wandering

At long last my college "career" is winding down. Only two more semesters of classes and one semester of student teaching and I am finished, done, out of there, over...you get the point! Yay, right? No, more like aaahhhh!

Earlier today I was talking to someone at church. We were having a nice chat catching up on our lives when she asked me the dreaded questions, "So what are you going to do when you graduate?" Ugh. I really had no answer. You see, for the past two in-a-half years my life has bee pretty ritualistic. Go to school. Christmas break. School again. Summer break. Go to school, well, you get the point. I have not had to worry about what I am going to do, where I am going to live, the whole nine yards. Even more importantly, I have not wondered what I am going to do with my life.

For a college student who is getting close to graduation life is confusing, there are so many choices to make, and many different roads that can be taken. Well meaning people have said well meaning things to students, encouraging us to pursue our dreams, telling us that we have the ability to do anything we want, we can make it to the top - that's the problem, what if we do not know what we want, or what exactly our dreams are? And where exactly is this "top"? So what if the world is open to us? We do not know what to do with this new wide expanse of life. I think many times we are misunderstood because everyone thinks that now that we are through with our schooling we should be ready to settle down and begin our careers, living happily the American dream. Uh sure. I am so glad people think that, but man do they think wrong because quite the opposite is true.

From my point of view, I know that God has called me to work with teens, therefore I am pursuing a degree in education. My life should be pretty simple, I should finish my student teaching and either go right into my own classroom or get a masters degree. Ummm....but what if I do not know that I am ready yet to be in front of a classroom? And for goodness sake, I AM TIRED OF SCHOOL, so going right to grad school is kind of out of the option.

My cousin, Greg, is a doctor. I remember when he was in between undergrad and med school he took a year off to just bum around, have fun, and do nothing. At the time I was in grade school and did not understand why he would do such a thing. Now that I am approaching that same time I totally understand. A break sounds amazing. In fact, I may just do that. Who knows, the world is open out there to explore, why not explore it? There is time enough to get serious, but precious little time to relax and enjoy life to its fullest.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover."

~Mark Twain~

Not Exactly the Merriest

As I write this I am sitting in the hospital with mom, she was supposed to come home today, but that did not happen. I am not going to lie, it has been a pretty bleak Christmas - after all, who in their right mind wants to be at the hospital on Christmas? We are supposed to be home, opening presents, eating food, laughing, and spending time with family.

It is really easy to have a pity party and moan and complain - in fact I keep catching myself doing that. However, I try to remind myself that really, things could be a lot worse, so I made a list of things I am thankful for throughout this time.

• We are together as a family.
• We are warm and dry.
• Mom will eventually be fine.
• There are a lot of good nurses who are taking good care of mom.
• Mom's doctor, Dr. Simon, is really good, and a Christian.
• We have lots of friends who keep checking up on us.
• God has a reason for this - even though we do not see it at the moment.
• We have a white Christmas.
• I made it home safely, even though I drove through the wee hours of the night.
• No matter what happens, God is still on the Throne.

That was not a long or exhaustive list, but it is a start. Life happens and you have the choice of either becoming depressed and bitter about it or choosing to find the positive somewhere. Honestly, it is somewhat difficult at times to look on the bright side, but when I choose to see the good life looks brighter. I hope and pray that all of you had a very merry and blessed Christmas with friends and loved ones gathered around.