Thanksgiving and other Random thoughts

Hiya all, so in case you are wondering yep I am still alive and this blog is still active (sorta). I know its been 3 months since I have written but I have been super busy school ends in less then a month (wow thats frightening) so I shall have a little bit more time for a little while until next term.

Anyway Today is Thanksgiving, which for me is one of my favorite holidays. I think its an important holiday sadly it doesn't get the attention it deserves people tend to go straight from Halloween to Christmas and it seems Thanksgiving is just now another day of shopping or a day to prepare for black friday.

Is it me or does anyone else think that Black Friday is getting way out of hand? really I mean people are already waiting outside for what? more material items. When it was just Friday it was bad enough but now many stores are open for Thanksgiving or open Thanksgiving evening to start black friday early. I mean really using the one day of the year set aside to be thankful for all the wonderful blessings we have to buy more material things what is wrong with that picture comeon seriously.
Not only does it mean countless people will be shopping instead of spending time with their families, reflecting on all they have to be thankful for, but all the employees have to spend Thanksgiving away from their families thaks to their money hungry stores and companies who want to beat out the other stores and get to people early.

To me there is something wrong with society when people are being shot at and killed over a parking spot on black friday and others are being trampled to death so others can get the "hottest item" which will just be replaced with the new "hottest item" in a few weeks. Whats worse is this takes place the day after we celebrate all we have to be thankful for. but nope we need more more more. Its sad to me. Can't we just Celebrate Thanksgiving for what its suppose to be sharing a feast with your loved ones around you. Giving thanks for all the wonderful blessings we have in life. and sharing time with those who mean the most to you.

Like I mentioned I LOVE Thanksgiving and I refuse for this post dedicated to Thanksgiving to be all negative and complainy like :D soo. from here on out I am focusing on what the holiday is all about and how I celebrate this wonderful day.

Its funny though I have several tradtions there isn't one single way we celebrate Thanksgiving. It depends on who is here celebating with us. and what our schedules are the past few years I always worked Thanksgiving which was hard but at least I got off in time for the feast. Last year me and my sister made most of thanksgiving dinner. Other years my mom and aunt did it all. This year my aunt isn't coming so it looks like it will be me, my mom and my sister cooking. We usually always eat breakfast out. (since we don't like dirtying the kitchen before cooking) then we have appetizers and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. Then of course we have our Feast and dessert and clean up and just spend time together. My favorite dish is Corn casserole and green bean casserole. :D

The best thing about Thanksgiving and remembering all we have to be thankful for. I am so blessed and have so much to be thankful for, though in the daily grind of life with everything going on and all the little things that get me down or stress me out its easy to forget. Its nice having a time to stop and really reflect how wonderful life is. I am so thankful for so many things and people I don't think I could possibly name everything but here are the major things.
  I am so thankful for my family my mom, who I love so much who has my back no matter what I do or where life takes me. I know no matter how old I get I can always count on her to be there for me with unconditional love and support. I couldn't ask for a better mother.
For my dad, who would do anything for us, he cares so much about all of us and is always there though I don't say it enough I love him so much and am so proud and happy that he is my dad.
For my sister, my best friend in the whole world. I cannot imagine life without her. We do everything together she has always been my secret keeper, my allie, my study partner, my best friend. I love her so much and am soo thankful for the bond we have.
For my brother and his wonderful family, I love them all so much. I still talk about the pranks my brother played on me and how he made me laugh and was always there for me. I am so thankful that I have such a wonderful sister in law and three beautiful nephews and having them come down after Christmas this year will definitly be one of my favorite Christmas gifts.
For my grandparents, though many of them are no longer here on Earth but with God in heaven their spirit endures they were the most kind hearted people I knew and I loved them all very much. and For my grandpa, who is one the most extrordinary men I know, He has so many of us grandkids yet has a way of making every single one of us feel loved and special. No one can make me laugh like he can. He is such a kind hearted, sweet, loving, strong family man and I love him soo much.
For all my aunts, Uncles, and Cousins, I am so blessed to be part of such a huge family I love being able to see them all during our annual christmas party, though we live all over we all have such a committment to family and I love them all.
For all My lakehouse sisters. though I haven't met many of you in person you are all truly my sisters these girls never fail to make me smile and I love hanging out with each and every one of them every chance I get.
For my church, and my church family, my church is truly my second home, the people there are so welcoming and kind and they really are my second family.
For my health
For my job, I may have off days and sure it has its challenges but I love working at the happiest place on Earth.Disney is truly a Magical place and I love being a part of such a wonderful company
For School, I finally feel like my life has direction and I have an idea of where its headed and I have a future thanks to the oppurtunity to get an education.
For my wonderful pets, my dogs zeus and sophie and my cockitil Buckeye these animals have become part of the family and bring me so much joy.
For my relationship with God, its so comforting to know that God is always by my side and is always there for me. knowing I don't have to go through this alone is a beautiful thing.

well there is my long list I am so thankful that I have food to eat and a roof over my head and clean clothes to wear, and clean sheets on a warm bed. and a car to drive. and the freedoms of being an American being able to speak my mind and practice my faith. All of these things that I so often take for granted are true blessings.

Also a huge thank you to all the brave men and women who are fighting or have fought for our country. Keeping us safe. May God bless you and your families Thank you for your service you truly are America's finest.

So there you have it my thanksgiving post. What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions and dishes? and what are you truly most Thankful for.

oh yeah forgot one thing I am truly thankful for all my followers and all the wonderful comments you leave you make it all worth it Thanks for reading may you all have a wonderful and blessed Thankgiving.

remember to love one another as God has loved you

Thanks for reading love ya all God bless

Closure.. and other random thoughts

So picture a perfect world where everyone is kind and sweet to each other, there are no fights, everyone thinks before speaking and rarely are people's feeling ever hurt and when they are hurt the involved parties always apologize and work it out.......
.......

Okay back to reality now we all know this is a dream world and in the real world many people don't think before they speak, and usually have no idea the impact of what they said and how much it hurt someone else. People get their feelings hurt all the time and not very often is an apology ever offered or is anything else ever said. I know harsh right but come on think about it I am sure you have been in a position where someone you hardly know or a complete stranger comes by says something rude or mean and walks on by now chances are that you will never see that person again and they probably don't realize and don't care that they hurt you. But a lot of times their hostility and harsh words do stick with us and how much they stick with us can be surprising I mean why should the thoughts of a complete stranger bug us so much. I don't think its the words as much as it is the lack of closure or even their lack of acknowledging anything is wrong.

I face this at work all the time people yell or curse at me at things i have little or no control over and of course it hurts, and at the moment all I want to do is either cry or chase that person down and remind them I am a person with real feelings and at least be acknowledged by them but what would any of these options solve, crying may relieve the emotion but only temporarily and chasing them down will not only get me in trouble but quite possibly laughed at. And I know it hurts and quite frankly it sucks they get to go on with their life and I am still feeling hurt NOT FAIR. but then when is life ever fair. However I do have a choice I can push it aside telling myself THEY ARE NOT worth it and letting the happier moments take place sure its still there but I can choose not to let it rule me.

We have to face in life that not all conflicts are going to be resolved whether it is between complete strangers or worse between friends or family. But at some point we have to move on and find another way of closure without the other person. In a case of a stranger your never going to see them again so eventually you have to let it go for your sake. With the case of friends and family its even more crucial to let it go otherwise you risk shattering your relationship with that person.

The best way to find closure and find peace is to remember that like us no one is perfect. People will make mistakes and let emotion or stress or frustration get the best of them. Often it has little with you or anything you did there is more going on. Facing the fact that chances are the person didn't mean to hurt us and we are not to blame can help us find closure on the subject or conflict.

Moving on to happier or anyway other news a few weeks ago I rediscovered my favorite Christian radio station my mom happened to have it on in her car when i was riding with her :D and so i turned it on in me and my sister's car and have been listening to it ever since. and wow i can't believe the difference it just is so relaxing and automatically puts me in a better mood especially when I am on my way to work it just makes me look at things a lot more positively. Its mriaculous the way God uses the smallest of changes to make such big impacts in our life. I thought I would share some of my favoirte songs here for you all to enjoy so well.. enjoy

song title : I refuse

Artist: Josh Wilson

This song is incredible its so motivating and is a great reminder

                                                         song title: strong enough
                                                          artist: Matthew West
                                           definitly one of my favorite songs very reassuring and comforting

I will probably share more later but thats all for now Hope you all enjoy remember to love one another as God has loved you God bless

A sweet lesson on patience

 

I found this story on facebook and it brought tears to my eyes and really made me think before i go more into my thoughts of it and the lesson I was reminded of by it let me first share it with you.

 

 

A sweet lesson on patience.

A NYC Taxi driver wrote:

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across... the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard
box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.'

'Oh, you're such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive
through downtown?'

'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly..

'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice..'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired.Let's go now'.
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.
They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' She asked, reaching into her purse.

'Nothing,' I said

'You have to make a living,' she answered.

'There are other passengers,' I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.She held onto me tightly.

'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut.It was the sound of the closing of a life..

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk.What if that woman had gotten an angry driver,or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

 

So what did you think? Pretty awsome huh? Its pretty incredible to think that just taking a few hours of your life or even a few minutes can have such an impact on someone else. It would have been easy for this taxi driver to want to rush home and have dinner with his family or simply relax after a hard days work. But he put this women's needs and wants ahead of his own and wow what a payoff.

 

How often do we go through life, ignoring all the people who need us simply because we just don't have time or don't wanna be bothered. We do it so often we don't even realize we do it. Maybe we see someone struggling to carry groceries but we have some where else to be so we pass it off saying they will manage. Or we know that the old lady across the street is lonely but we have our own lives to attend to, she will be okay since its convient for us if we just reassure ourselves she will be okay. Or we think surly i am not the only one who sees them and know they need help maybe someone else will help them. right? Sure we try to help but we are not perfect and lets all admit we let these moments that can really change someone's life or even just bring a smile to someone's face slip by us all the time.

 

 

 

As Christians we go to church and say how God saves and is great and loves us all and wants us to love which please don't get me wrong is very true and very important but how often do we supplement our preaching and witnessing with action. With actually living and doing what we are called to do.

 

We often use the excuse that if the moment came we would do good. The truth is that there are never ending moments sometimes we just have to look past our own wants and comforts and seek out those moments to become true sevants of the lord and to our fellow brothers and sisters.

 

Sorry if this post seemed kinda a bit all over the place. Just take time for one another and you will get just as much out of it as them. Do as God has called us to do. Thank you for reading hope you enjoyed

Love one another as God has loved you. God bless

 

On God's Watch

Heya I am back. Okay here is another thing that has been bothering me for sometime and something that I am working on accepting and that is patience. Which I have learned is not easy in a society that has made a time frame for every aspect of our lives. For example speak before age one, drive by age 15 or 16, live on your own or move out by 18, married with kids by your mid 20's. Its easy to feel the pressure. Honestly it can be quite stressful. But why should we care so much what society thinks. Honestly I am 22 years old. I still live at home and am going to school I have yet to earn a college degree. I work part time at Disney, I still turn to my parents for support and I do not nor ever had a boyfriend. For the longest time this stressed me out. I kept thinking what is wrong with me? It seemed everyone else had it all figured out and here I am. I used to be so embarrased when anyone asked where i lived or hows my romantic life going especially with the slight (all in good fun) teasing that many family members took part in. I knew they meant nothing by it and still don't but it did (and honestly still does) hurt.

But then I started thinking about it and wondered Why?
Why should I feel ashamed just because I haven't kept society's time clock?
Why should I feel like a failure just because I haven't had a boyfriend or moved out yet?
The fact remains that this is MY LIFE. I don't have to live it to please others, I will do things when God and I thinks its the right time and not before then.
I have goals and plans and I am working towards them. I know what I wanna do in life and I am working on it. Most importantly I am putting it in God's hands. I know that God has plans for me. He will help make things work out when the time is right. So I am done living on society's watch instead I am living on God's watch.

Now that doesn't mean I am going to sit around doing nothing waiting for God to do everything. Obviously that doesn't make any sense. I firmly beleive that God helps those who help themselves. But I am not going to worry about completing things when society thinks I should I am on God's time not society's.

I am not going to worry that I don't have a boyfriend. I know that God has a plan for me and when he thinks the time is right he will bring the right guy into my life. and if I am single for a while who cares. I am done living my life to please others. I am happy and thats what is important

Why do we want to rush through life. Life is a precious gift in a world that is saying Go Go Go, its sometimes hard to stop and listen to hear God saying "wait my child"

Waiting I know can be hard. We have it set in our minds that things must be accomplished otherwise we will be put behind everyone else. But trusting God is trusting that he will bring you where you need to be when you need to be there. Have faith in him and you won't be too early or to late you will be right on time reguardless of what anyone else thinks.

So if your approaching an age or time when society thinks you should accomplish or complete something and your not ready then just wait. It will not be the end of the world I promise you. It makes you no less of a person. and it certainly doesn't make you a failure. It just shows that you are on God's watch and trusting him. If I have to follow any watch i definitly choose God's.

Don't rush through life, embrace it. Live it to its fullest and most importantly remember God has a plan for you trust him and you will not be disappointed.

Thanks for reading. Remember to love others as God has loved you God bless

In my humble opinion...

Okay, So after much thought and consideration, carefully weighing the pros and cons, thinking about topics to discuss, planning it out in my mind. I decided to do a segment called "in my humble opinion". I do not yet know how often i will do this segment probably monthly or biweekly. Anyway in this segment i will give my humble opinion and view on a variety of topics some very controversial others not so much. All of the topics will be ones that i care about and view as important. Please know that it is not my intention to insult anyone in doing this so if you are someone who is easily upset or feel that the discussion will cause you any harm or stress at all please don't read there will be plenty of uplifting and inspiring posts as well. For the rest of you I hope you enjoy this segment, please comment and discuss thanks.

The first topic i am going to tackle is Gay/lesibian rights and marriage. I know its kinda heavy but its one that really bothers me, its also one that parts of it i have been going back and forth on. Anyway here is my opinion on the matter. First of all let me just say quite bluntly everyone on this planet. White, black, hispanic, gay, lesbian, big, small,etc is God's child and DESERVES respect. They deserve to be treated kindly just as you would treat anyone else. The way some people treat those who are different is disgusting. There is absolutly no reason to treat anyone like they are below you. All people are God's children and are precious in his sight.

Another thing i completly disagree with is these so called relgious people (and i am not talking about all religious people i am very religious myself i am addressing a certain type of person) that think they are so righteous that they can tell gays and lesbians and futhermore supporters of gays and lesbians that they will rot in hell. Excuse me? since when is it anyones job to tell me what God thinks about me or others. What gives these people the right to speak out against the great big sin of being gay yet they seem fine with people killing others or cheating, etc. Guess what? judging and hating others is a sin too so instead of worrying about Gays and lesbians and bis going to hell and whats going to happen on their judgement day how about you start worrying about your own imperfect self. Stop looking at the faults and choices of others and judging them and worry about how to make yourself a better person. What happens to them when they die and face their final judgment as with anyone is between that person and God. so leave them alone. Do as God has told you and love one another as he has loved you i don't recall it saying in the bible love one another unless they are gay or lesbian. unless i am mistaken.

(I love love love this picture)

Another big issue when it comes to gays and lesbians is should they be allowed to get married and honestly i have been weighing back and forth on this. so i broke it up a bit should they be allowed to get married and have seen through the eyes of the church i guess not but they definitly should be allowed to be legally married. they should be allowed to make final choices for one another when it comes to the end of thier life or visit with one another in icu during their time of need. They should be allowed to be legally married in a legal sense. Honestly if we are okay with celebrites who make a mockery out of marriage by being married for hardly two weeks why do we see it so unacceptable for people who truly love each other, have gone through so much with each other and have yet to give up and will most likely remain with each other for life to have the same right that these celebrites abuse over and over again.

So there you have it my first part of the segment in my humble opinion. If you agree please comment if you disagree feel free to comment i am in no way offended that others don't share my point of view i just wanted to let you all know my point of view on different topics. Hope you enjoyed and hope no one was offended. Thanks for reading God bless and remember to love one another as God has loved you

i am still here

Hey y'all sorry i haven't posted or been on in like forever i have just been super busy. However now that sww is over i have more time in my schedule and i will be posting new posts shortly. Just stopping bye to say this blog isn't dead i will be back soon thanks for the patience God bless

"Be still and Know that I am God"

So Today I was planning my class for religious education tomorrow and for part of the lesson our director showed us this very beautiful wonderful activity, that I am so excited to do with my class (though i must admit since they are kindergartners i am really curious to see how its going to go )

The activity focuses on being quite. Its about quieting our minds and hearts (and surroundings) to really allow Jesus to enter our hearts.

Stop and think about it for a minute. How much of our day is spent in noise

Now think of how much of that noise is unnecessary. Why are we so afraid of silence?  Why do we feel the need to fill the silence with noise, a lot of times meaningless noise.

Silence can be a wondeful thing. It gives us time to think and reflect on the events of our lives and give God a chance to talk to us and for us to really hear him.

A wise person knows when to speak and when to be silent. Beleive it or not its okay not to fill every silence with meaningless words. In fact Silence should be embraced not feared. We should all seek out silence in our daily lives. Seek out the time to reflect and renew without distractions. Rediscover the littlle things that often get pushed aside since our world is so noisy.  A bird silenty chirping, the wind blowing, cricketes in the moonlight, a flowing stream.

Soo next time you have a quite moment in your life don't pick up your phone or power up your computer. Embrace the moment, Spend it in reflection and talking and LISTENING to the Lord.

So I challenge you and myself to find time each day (or every chance you can) to :

-find a quite place in your house

-turn off all electronics

-remove all distractions (books, photos, toys,games,etc)

-sit down

-close your eyes

-and just reflect and talk to the lord

-remember to also listen too

Remember that silence is a chance for renewal and reflection.
Its a time (sometimes a rare time) to really get to talk and spend time with God. So don;t fill it with needless distracting noise Embrace it for the gift it is.

Thanks for reading my friends
Remember to love one another as God loves you

God bless

Stop bullying yourself

Okay Happy sunday readers

Ever realize we are our own worst enemy. Really think about it, how many times a day do you think to yourself something along these lines
    "Why the heck did you say that now everyone is going to think your stupid"
     "Why can't you be more like.... or be more normal"
     "whats wrong with me.. I am soo... "

I know I do, but why?
Why do we compare ourselves to others?
Why do we look past the faults of others, but are soo hard on ourselves?
Why do we care soo much what others think of us?

News Flash like everyone else on this Planet we are human, we are differnt from everyone else, There is absolutly NOBODY in the world exactly like us. Soooo STOP comparing yourself to someone else guess what no matter how good thier life looks on the outside. They still have problems, or things they too want to change about themselves. Be true to yourself you are who you are and you are wonderfully different. God made you that way, don't fret it or hide from it, EMBRACE it.

We are going to make mistakes, it happens its how we grow and learn. If others can't let that go its their problem not yours. Take the mistake, see what you can learn from it and move on, working to do better next time.

Why do we care so much what others think about us. Really? I mean they are just another human, full of thier own faults. Why do we constantly have to seek their approval and until we get it we have this feeling we can't be happy with ourselves. Guess what if you are proud of yourself, then be proud you deserve to be, and you don't need anyone else to give you permission to be happy or proud of yourself.

you don't need anyone else's approval do what makes you happy and what feels right. The only approval you should seek is The Lord's and guess what he doesn't care if
                                     -you wear the coolest clothes
                                      - follow the latest trends
                                       -hang out with the "in" group

Live your life for him. Let him guide your heart, and you have nothing to be sorry for.

Remember that God loves you and you are precious and wonderful in his sight. So be precious and wonderful in your own sight.

you are talented in your own way, you are blessed in more ways then you sometimes care to see. You bring joy and light to others thats what matters

and stop beating yourself up, there enough people doing that in the world already so love yourself, be proud of yourself, accept yourself for who you are

            remember you are brilliant and loved by God, what reason do you have to hate yourself. You are absolutly amazing in your own special way. You bring something to others lives and are important to others. Love yourself.

Thanks for reading, my readers, Love you all May God bless you and yours.

Remember love one another as God has loved you

God bless

Christian Pet Peeves

Okay yeah I know the title is kind of weird but let me explain there are certain things people do that bug me as a christian and that's what this post is about. warning this is a ranty post. anyhow moving on


One of my main "christian pet peeves" is when people wear huge crosses or Jesus pieces, especially rappers or others who use it as their "bling bling" The cross is about Jesus not jewelry. I did a bit of research on the issue (well honestly I was just looking for pics as examples) anyway i came across an article that explains it, weather wearing this kind of jewelery is respectful or disrespectful and it appears it has come from a Disrespectful trend, though I am not saying everyone who does it feels the same way that the rappers who made then trend famous does but should be aware of its orgins here is the article Jesus Piece: Respectful or Disrespectful. In addition to the orgins of this trend, which as a Christian make me sick to be honest. I still don't like big crosses and big pieces of Jewelery because in my opinion they are way to flashy, its too in your face, which in my opinion isn't very "Chirstian like" Now please don't think I am against crosses as Jewlery I am not, in fact  I have several, you know the small ones that are normal sized and are worn to show that you love Jesus and are not afraid to let it be known let me show it pictures.

These pieces are not only flashy but are worn with disrespect as a piece of jewelery, especially the above one that takes something sacred like Jesus dying on the cross and completly twists it around.

These on the other hand are simple and can be worn to show your love of Jesus and proclaim that fact that Jesus is in your heart.

Truthfully its all how its worn, please remember the cross is truly about Jesus and should be treated with respect.

My next Pet Peeve though I am guilty of it, as many are is using the Lord's name in vain

Its one of the commandments yet we disobey it so often.

common examples: using the phrase OMG- yes i know we all do it but its not the way to take our savior's name, its using his name as a means of expressing excitement or anger and frustration.

another example is using his name as a cuss word, this really bothers me. He gave up his life for us and we disgrace his name as a cuss word.

Okay now i know that we slip up we are not perfect and in the heat of the moment we don't think about it and it sort of slips out, despite our best intentions. However there are several other words that can express our anger or frustaration or excitement other than using our Father, Lord and savior's name, Just something to work on and be a little bit more aware of. 

The next trend isn't really a pet peeve its just something that bothers me in a way. Its when people tend to only pray when they need something, yes of course I don't think its wrong to place your needs before God, its what we are called to do, but exclusively only praying to complain or beg when things go wrong bugs me. God has blessed you in soo many ways, weather you see it or not. He loves to hear from you even when things are going great.

In the daily grind of life its easy to forget how truly blessed we are, often we only pray when we need something or to complain that things are not going our way.

prayer in my opinion should be a daily thing that we do often and everywhere, even if its just to let God know how we are doing or let him know how loved and appreciated he really is

Okay one more and then i promise i will stop ranting. It drives me to insanity when people who don't pray, or go to church and live however they want claim Jesus is their "homeboy" it doesn't work like that If you truly know Jesus live the life he wants you to live Jesus should always be first in your life, its in my opinion to be taken seriously not as some joke.

If you truly Love God show it through your actions and words don't be a hypocrite and only be a "christian" when it suits you. Okay i will stop ranting now

Just remeber God loves us and blesses us each and everyday have some respect.

thanks for reading my very ranty post. I promise there are more inspirational ones to come in the near future. again thanks for reading

Remember to love others as God has loved you

before I leave here are some more pics that i came across and loved so decided to share enjoy!

Love this so true

This quote really struck something in me I love it and its soo true.

I honestly can't explain it but this photo gives me chills its soo precious whats not to love about it

anyway thanks for reading God bless Love you all

Forgiving yourself

Soo I am back yay, well my last post was about forgiving and forgetting. Honestly I did the post because it was something I thought I was struggling with truth is I wasn't mad or upset at others and have found out that i have long forgiven them and forgot about it.

But there is one person that me and many others often forgive last or have a trouble forgiving them at all and that is ourselves. Often we can see past the faults of others (even if it takes a little while) but we tend to be extreamly hard on ourselves.

It is very true that we are our own worst critic. No matter how trivial something is it is hard for us to let go that we hurt someone or made a mistake and why? I mean we know that no one is perfect and we never claim to be so why do we take it soo hard when we mess up? I mean think about it even Jesus's 12 diciples who lived his teachings made mistakes, God knows we are not perfect, he knows we are going to make mistakes, and its okay its how we learn and its what makes us human

I mean we take all the steps we apologize, we occasionly go to confession, we try to make things right, yet we still hold it against us. We still are soo hard on ourselves constantly beating ourselves up. maybe its because we feel we don't get to make that choice we feel that unless we know for sure others are okay or forgave what we did we don't get to. Thats not true

you do have the right to forgive yourself, you made a mistake like we all do, do what you can admit to it and move on. Take it as a learning experience.

and in some cases we don't have the whole story we may think something we did souly lead to something else but we may not have been the soul cause we may have been a contributing factor but not the only reason yet we put all the blame on ourselves. Lets face it we are very unfair to ourselves.

In a way feeling guilt is great, we realize that we did wrong but we also must realize we are not perfect and mistakes happen so we can feel guitly about something we did but don't let it over take you. Use it productively and realize sometimes you can't change things and thats okay too.

Remember God knows we are not perfect and loves us anyway. Nothing we do will ever make God stop loving us

(love this picture)

Soo we should love and forgive ourselves too. We only live once and living in regret is no way to live.

Thanks for reading. Remember to love one another as God has loved you

God bless

(note:images found on bing i don't own them)

Forgive and Forget

okay so today I wanted to talk about something that is important but not easy. and that is to Forgive and Forget.

Forgiveness, depending on the circumstances, is extreamly hard. But like the above image says its neccessary so we can start healing and move on. In my opinion forgiving is eventually easy (for minor things anyway), we usually understand that in order to move on with our lives we got to forgive, not for the person who did it to us but for ourselves. When we forgive someone we make the stand that this is not going to affect us anymore and we can get past it, continuing to live our lives.

Forgetting is the hard part, and in some ways I don't think we always have a choice. Sure we can stop ourselves from dwelling on it, but I think it takes a lot longer. Things that we thought were long forgiven and forgotten take us by surprise when the hurt shows up in the middle of the night when we are trying to sleep, or we are in a moment of quite and we suddenly remember the pain and the moment that hurt us. Even for minor things an email or a comment from a friend often take us by surprise by showing after we were sure things like that were in the past. eventually though it leaves and new memories (hopefully happier ones) take thier place.

In a way though its funny how our mind works we study and study and study trying to memorize everything covered on a test

Yet the minute we get the test it seems at least half of the information vanishes

or we have a hard time remembering dates like a friends birthday or anniversery.etc

But when its something we really wish we could forget our mind doesnt let us for a long while anyways.

And the hard part is what do we do everyone else has moved on so we don't dare bring it up or talk about it to them.

some things we can do though is pray, the good lord is always there to listen

talk to another friend

journal about it

the important thing is to not let it control us or affect us ignore it and it shall pass.

well sorry this post was kind of all over the place, thanks for reading

remember to love one another as God has loved you

God bless

The power of words

Hi again I know i haven't posted in a long time but i am back yay anywho moving on to the post.

Have you ever thought about words. I know that sounds weird but for a minute think about it we all say or type hundreads sometimes thousands of words a day. And if you take a moment you may realize how much of an impact they have on us. Words can change our lives, inspire us, make us wonder, make us laugh, encourage us to keep moving foward, comfort us, make us feel loved, teach us something new. However it can also break our hearts, make us doubt, break us down, make us question who we are, hurt us, make us feel alone.

Whether we realize it or not the words we speak or type have a huge amount of impact on others its all in the delievery and the words we choose. Its easy to type or say something and move on but do we ever stop to think what our words meant to someone. How much something so simple can hurt someone so much even days or months after we spoke/typed them. Its a problem both ways but even more so online since its easier to speak our minds without doing it face to face.

so instead of criticizing or getting involved in debates or fights (especially when you don't have the full story) or speaking out in the heat of the moment and letting your emotions get the best of you. Think what you are going to say over, think how it will be taken and how hurt someone may be because of it then think is it worth it. Now i am not saying to back down and let people walk all over you or not letting your opinions be heard but plan it out, make sure that you left out personal attacks or didn't say or type anything that may hurt someone. I mean we are all guilty of it and if you do hurt someone own up to it apologize and make it right between you because chances are if you are talking to someone you care for them and love them and don't let some silly argument let that break you apart and if you don't like someone well don't waste your emotion or your breath on them.

and instead of being negative be postive you will feel better about yourself and will make others feel better. comment a encouraging comment on someone's fanfic or blog or picture, send an uplifting pm or email to someone who is going through hard times, say hello or have a nice day to a stranger, send an email letting someone know you care or are thinking of them, encourage others to live their dreams, everyone needs someone to believe in them and have faith in them someone they can turn to and have faith in when all else fails be that person. Bring other spirtis up and your spirit will be lifted up too.

words do have an impact make sure your words are leaving a postive uplifting impact.

Love you all thanks for reading God bless

remember to love others as God has love you.

thanks for reading God bless

At The Edge of Control

Ever have those days or times, when you start to feel that you are not in control or at the very edge of losing it. Yep that is where I am right now. So much is going on right now and I am at the point where I feel I am going to lose it all. So a fair warning this post is going to be kind of angry and complainy like but I will try to stay a bit positve.

Okay let me explain first what is going on to make me feel like this, and there are several factors (some seem trivial but considering what else is going on my brain or heart really can't handle it right now). First and probably the biggest thing is tommrow my mom is going in for back surgery and i have to go to work the same time she is going to be in surgery, and honestly I am freaking out a bit, I am a bit worried about her and how the surgery is going to go. I know that it is in God's hands and that helps a bit but not entirely I can't help but worry and the fact that I won't be there or even in contact with her or family to see how she is doing til late afternoon doesn't help at all.

Next there is trouble with the beloved Lakehouse. I fear that I have hurt at least one of my fellow sisters and will probably invertably hurt more before it all clears up. part of me wants to back down and pretend nothing is wrong but when does that ever work? and it will most likely come out in a way i don't want it to. (kind of like it did last night). Thank goodness I have support from one or two of my fellow sisters, I am not alone through this. And i hope and pray to God, nothing i say will be taken personal and will make things better for everyone involved. (I know this explanation is vague but those involved either know or will know soon enough).

Plus school has me stressed out. I think I am doing ok in classes but I got a few bad grades so far and I want and need to do well. I can't take anymore setbacks and I'm starting to think taking 5 courses was a mistake, hopefully i will make it through and pass all of them.

Bur there is good news. I know I have God on my side. and though this is the first time i'm really speaking about this I know God has given me an incredibly supportive family and friends both "real life" and especially my online friends (i just hope nothing happens to make them hate me). *sigh* and i know well enough that this too shall pass. All we can do when times like this show up is pray and do the best we can knowing God put us here for a reason and hope we learn something or improve ourselves during this time.

like one of my favorite songs says "God gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb"

and of course we can always find those songs that make us feel better here are some of my faves

Love the band ABBA, this song is so comforting i love this song last week i listened to it over and over again.

This is one of my favorite Chruch hymms

Well thats all i have for now thanks for reading. And to all my friends onlineline and real and my family you are all amazing and i have no idea where i would be without any of you. I love you all

Remember to love one another as God has loved you and God bless

Love

Michelle/Jedigirl1990

Life is not perfect, but God makes it possible

Okay time for some blunt honesty life is messy, crazy, unpredictable, beautiful, scary, its a rollercoaster. I know big new's flash right? and at times without mincing words life can suck. I have been there, I sometimes go there daily. I'm in that mood right now actually.

Feeling overwhelmed,stressed, paranoid, worried, yep that describes me right now. Having 5 college classes and going to class 4 days a week, working 2 days, with 1 day to rest and catch up has proven to be stressful. My mom is going in for major back surgery in a week and i'm worried sick not to mention worried about approaching tests, and work and friends everything ( I am a bit of a worry wart )

But I know that this is temporary. Life has many beautiful surprises and all this hard work will pay off in the end. I trust God has a plan for me, as he does all of you.

See no matter where life takes you, you can take comfort in the fact that God is right there beside you. He will never give you more than you can handle, and he does give us trials and hard times to show us how strong we actually are, letting us know that we can handle things and to make us stronger.

God makes the hard times bearable and life in general beautiful and exciting.

I shall leave you with that :) thanks for reading
Remember to love one another as God has loved you  God bless

words to live by

Okay if you think about it we hear hundreads of "words" a day and a lot of phrases too. but i'm sure most of know a few phrases,quotes, verses, etc that really stick with us I do, these are words that i not only remembered but that also help me through the day. They are words i love to look back on when i'm scared or confused or uncertain And they have gotten me through some tough times.. here is a list of some of my favorite "phrases"


The first one is "I am to blessed to be stressed"
      - How true is that, think about it God gave us his only son to save us from our sins, His love for us is unconditional and he is always by our side. Knowing this makes any situation easier or at least bareable. This is a good reminder to count not our problems but our blessings, if we stop and look there is so much we have going for us


Next is "If God brings you to it, he will get you through it"
     -I love this saying (and i found it on facebook hehe) how comforting is it to know that God has a plan for us and is always there for us. No matter where we are in life, God is right beside us and will never give us more than we can handle. Even if it doesn't make sense at the moment God knows what he is doing and has a plan for us, we just need to trust him.

The next one is a bible verse (and the title of a pretty awsome blog) To thine own self be true
      - What's more important then staying true to yourself, you can't fool yourself forever and if you can't be honest with your self who can you be honest with. Before others can accept you for who you are you must first except your ownself

Another bible verse i love is "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"
   - Anytime I start thinking low of others I always think of this verse, I am no where near perfect so how can i complain about others for not being perfect. This is a good reminder to look at my own faults, at least I can work on changing my faults, I can't change others.

Next phrase "where there's a will there's a way"
    - I am a very determined person, If i set out to do something I want to be able to do it. and i hate anyone telling me i can't. So i love this phrase anytime i get frustrated with something that seems hard I remind myself this and keep trying.

Well there are tons more but i can't think of them for now so thats all for now thanks for reading remember to Love one another as God has loved you.

Until next time God bless

Labels

Okay so this is something that drives me up the wall. Yet, pretty much every single one of us are guilty of it, in one form or another. We love "labeling" people. That girl is fat or skinny or rich or poor, or sluty, or annoying, rude, shy, gay, lesbian, stupid, bitchy, and the list goes on and on.

Labeling most always, whether we realize it or not, leads to or is a form of Judging someone else. What makes us think we have the right to do that. Yet, we are peeved when it happens to us. NO ONE, I don't care who you are has the right to put someone below them. WE ARE ALL EQUAL IN GOD'S EYES. We don't have the right to say someone else's opinions are wrong and we are right or someone elses beliefs are wrong and we are right. We don't get to decide if someone else is making the worst decision of their lives becasue we would never do that. Or think low of someone simply because they are different or practice something or live a way we don't agree with.

That power is only God's power. The ONLY judgement you have to worry about is the final judgement you recieve from the father. No one else's judgement matters. Remember you were not placed on this Earth to please other people or to judge other people. and one day we will all be judged

"let he who is without sin cast the first stone"
    -John 8:7

Often when we judge others, we are ignoring the faults of our own lives. No one is perfect so why do we think we can put others down for being imperfect while ignoring our own faults. Juding others is doing no one any good so instead of spending your time speaking out agaisnt your brothers and sisters why not work to improve your own faults.

None of us fully know what is going on completly in someone elses life. So how can we judge them if we don't understand.

lets LOVE NOT JUDGE.

Thanks for reading
Love one another as God has loved you
God bless

A little "Thank You" goes along way

Now I'm pretty sure everyone has heard that at one time or another. But have you ever truly stopped to think about how true it really is??? Be honest now. Honestly I haven't until I started working at Disney.

When I started working, and noticing how very few people ever say thank you, I realized how nice it was to recieve a thank you. I mean its just a simple word, but the fact is by saying it you are recongnizing the effort the other person took, no matter how little of an effort it was.

Humans, by nature, like to be recongnized, we like that bit of approval that we did good. Yet we are so quick to forget that others like to be recongized too.

We take a lot for granted, the waiter at the restraunt, the clerk at the store, the garbage man, the newspaper guy, the mail man, teachers, and even friends and family members. We expect them to be there for us and provide the services that they provide, yet we never comment on it, hardly ever say thank you and the only time we do comment on it is to complain.

A thank you is the simplist way to let someone else know that we do care and that they are appreciated. It takes really no effort at all and can, and I speak from experince, turn someone's entire day around. The truth is those who work with people often only hear the "bad" stuff, the things they did wrong. So just a simple "Thank you" really does go along way.

The other day there was a newspaper article about a lady who a few years back started writing thank you letters, her goal was one a day for a year, to anyone and everyone, the guy at starbucks, an old teacher,etc. She has now written over a thousand letters and says the joy she gets from doing it is well worth it. So I challenge myself and you maybe not to go to the extent of all the letters, but just to keep in mind to appreciate what others do for us. Maybe write a letter to your family and friends letting them know how special they are or even saying thank you next time your in public. Little things really do make a big difference.

Thank you all for reading and until next time
Remember to love others as God has loved you and
God bless