Food for thought... life stinks sometimes

That's what I have to say, life stinks sometimes...

Or if you prefer, life's rough get a helmet, that works too.

I'm rather frustrated with life right now... things don't make sense, a lot of things are aggravating, and hello I'm taking 18 credit hours and doing a whole lot more than I should be doing so I'm kind of permanently stressed... but I have hope

As I was doing my Bible study tonight I ran across some things that stuck out to me. I started studying Proverbs this week. I'm not very far yet because the few chapters I had already read, I went back over tonight... here's what I found...

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline"
-Proverbs 1:7

"Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
-Proverbs 1:33

"He holds victory in store for the upright"
-Proverbs 2:7

"for He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones."
-Proverbs 2:8

"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
-Proverbs 3:6

Just kind of some food for thought when life gets rough and things don't go the way we want them to. Or when it seems like we're carrying too much and just don't want to any longer. God is always there and He is faithful and awesome!

But wait, there's more. I read The Shack a few months ago (if you haven't read it, I encourage you to - great book!). There was a lot that stuck out to me while I was reading.

"... consider this: when all you can see is your pain, perhaps then you lose sight of me?"
-pg 98

"... pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly... and if it's left unresolved for very long, you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place."
-pg 99

"Remember t his, humans are defined not by their limitations, but by the intentions I have for them; not by what they seem to be, but by everything it means to be created in my image."
-pg 102

For my fellow control-freaks out there, this one's for us!
It was true. He spent a lot of time fretting and worrying about the future, and in his imagination it was usually pretty gloomy and depressing, if not outright horrible... "It is your desperate attempt to get some control over something you can't. It's impossible for you to take power over the future because it isn't even real, nor will it ever be real. You try to play God, imagining the evil that you fear becoming reality, and then you try to make plans and contingencies to avoid what you fear... The person who lives by his fears will not find freedom in my love. I am not talking about rational fears regarding legitimate dangers, but imagined fears, and especially the projection of those into the future. To the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe I am good nor know deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it, you talk about it, but you don't know it."
-pg 144

At the time I read this book, my relationship with God was not as strong as it is now so this passage hit home, hard!
There are always going to be things in life that we want, things that make us extremely happy and we can't imagine anything better. We try and try to give it to God, to trust Him with it, but we still want control. I think once we get to the point where we can say, "Okay God, it's yours... if it turns out the way I want it to, AWESOME! But if it doesn't, I will realize that it only means You have something greater in store for me."

Just some food for thought.

Teeth, Sensodyne, and... Denchers? Oh my!

So last night as I was getting ready for bed, I was brushing my teeth, like most people do before they go to bed. I turned to Kasee and held up my tube of toothpaste and said, "Look at this... this is ridiculous... I have to buy Sensodyne!!!" *insert sad face* She replied with, "You'll have to buy denchers before you know it."

The sad thing is... I've had to use Sensodyne for YEARS!

I would like to thank my dad's side of the family for these wonderfully sensitive teeth of mine.

The puppies did not bite :)

Tutoring = success

I think it is definitely going to be a challenge, working with kids who do not want to be at school at all... but I am really looking forward to being an encouraging person to them and being someone who is willing to help them and care about them.

I definitely think it's going to be a good experience!

It was a dark and dreary night...

It's raining!!

Finally!! Something besides snow!! :) How exciting!

I start tutoring middle school students tomorrow (since they didn't stay last week... grrr)...
I'm very excited but also very nervous... I think it's going to be a very good experience.

As Kasee says, they're just little puppies!

Puppies are cute... but they also like to bite a lot... hopefully I won't have to smack any little puppies on the nose tomorrow to get them to behave...

Oh - Kasee and I went to a museum today... this is my bear impression... I'm quite proud

First Blog

As I sit in my campus apartment watching The Time Traveler's Wife with my three roommates, I have started a blog. I actually followed after my roommate (and best friend) Kasee, who started a blog several weeks ago and finally persuaded me to start one. I must admit I have no idea what I am going to write about in my blog... probably just random stuff about my rather boring life. I am too busy with school to do much more than work, study, go to class, and Bible studies, and for some reason I seem to thrive on being so crazy busy. I feel like I should do something like Sandra Bullock does in The Proposal when her character, Margaret, and movie-mate Andrew are getting ready to go to bed and she starts throwing out random facts about herself so he can get to know her better... so here goes (for those of you who have not seen this movie, just go with me on this one)....
I love watching shows on TLC - more specifically 19 Kids and Counting, The Little Couple, and Cake Boss - daisies are my favorite flowers (as Meg Ryan says in You've Got Mail they're the friendliest flowers), I love being able to read for an entire day or several hours at a time, I could live on cereal, I love the look of snow but after all we've gotten these past few weeks I don't mind if we don't get anymore for quite a long time, I use "lol" in text messages too much and I know it, I love waffles, I love running even though I can't run very long distances, I can't wait to be a teacher one day soon, pink is my favorite color, I color when I am stressed, I am obsessed with school supplies, golf is my favorite sport and I wish I could play every day, I almost always have music turned on, I love talking to God like He is my best friend (because He is!), I think I should've grown up in the '50s but I didn't so that's okay, I am stubborn... very stubborn at times, my dog Snowball has made my life so much happier, I love being outside, I love reading my Bible and sharing my faith with others and I cannot wait to see what fabulous things God has in store for my life :)