This picture is for hope. Hope for the future. Hope for love for some kids. Hope for help in reaching my goal. Hope for purpose, family, and tomorrow. What are you hoping for?
If you want to share some hope click here or on the hope photo at the bottom or side of my blog. Help me give orphans a home!
This post is dedicated to Sevenly. I love Sevenly. I love what they do. I love the causes they support. I love what they stand for. I love that they are changing the world. I love that they let me (and you if you want) change the world with them.
Sevenly is all about giving. AND I love that. So give. Not for praise, adoration, recognition, or acceptance. Give because it’s right. Give because that is something that binds us together. Everyone can give. I give time a lot because it is more readily available. I don’t have much money to give, but I still give it too. Give love. Give hope. Give grace. Give peace. Give laughter. Just GIVE!!! You might just change the world.
The last six months have been filled with Becker classes and grad school. I graduated in June though, so all that’s left is to finish up Becker. I’ve taken and passed FAR and AUD, taken REG, and all that’s left is BEC. Finally!!!! The wonderful end is in sight :D My next and last exam is August 8th and I can’t wait to get it over with. They (the people explaining CPA study effort) weren’t kidding when they said that it would consume my life. It definitely has. Friendships have ended. Family stress has increased. Dates have been avoided. BUT it’s all almost over!!!!! Hooray!!! All I can do is thank God for giving me passing grades on my exams and in my classes. I can do all things through Him and that had been reinforced over and over again in the last six months. Sigh of relief :)
Two of my favorite time wasting games on the computer are Minecraft and Terraria. Equally addictive, they both have a main premise of getting treasure. Minecraft was created first and is 3D, while Terraria is 2D. Both have zombies at night and encourage deep underground digging. I’m not sure what is so addictive about it, but I think it has something to do with the randomly generated sense of adventure.
They also encourage creativity. Minecraft is the most creative. Homes, sculptures, sky-high designs, redstone contraptions…. pretty much anything you can think of can be built in Minecraft. Both have multiplayer capabilities for those socially inclined people. And now I sound like a game promoter. I’m NOT though. Just really like playing around! And here’s a clip of some minecraft:
Soooooo I will now have to make a video to give you a better idea of minecraft…. or you could just search on your own for them since my posting skills are rather sporadic ;)
This past weekend I went on a family vacation to Savannah, GA. It was my brother’s 21st birthday and we wanted to do something fun to celebrate. On Friday we went to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, which is all about WWII memories and history.
Most of the museum was filled with planes and stories of the people who flew, worked on, or planned the flights of those planes. But one section was devoted to a family that helped people escape Germany. They hid Jews and stranded Allies. All of this was interesting, but I’m not easily moved by history even if they are moving stories.
In the corner of the replicated living room, there was an exhibit of embroidery, which immediately piqued my interest. Me? Embroidery? I wonder why… It turned out that this embroidery was the last non-confiscated embroidery of a concentration camp. AND I took pictures.
I had no idea that such things went on. The stories…. oh how many stories have been untold? How many women made it through the war because of their little embroideries? Their little pieces of the old life and sanity. Continue reading
A storm rolls in with booming pain
Slashes of hope drive me insane
The gales of feeling toss me around
Tug me up, then slam me down
The winds soon cease, but the rain pelts on
Seeming to say, “All your friends are gone.”
Just as I think it will never end
The sun pops out and good times begin
My so-called friends again appear
But fair weather is why they are here
The sun shines bright, the grass is green
I forget that life can ever be mean
But the leaves soon whisper, “The air grow cool,
A storm is brewing. It will be cruel.”
I think to myself, “Not again.”
“I cannot go through this without a friend.”
The wind is screeching, drops begin to fall
My fair-weather friends are gone after all
I stand in a field and scream at the sky
“I cannot go through this! I would rather die!”
Someone appears, umbrella in tow,
Comes over to me and answers: “I know.”
He raises it up, up over my head,
And asks with a smile, “Would you rather be dead?”
I say not now and ask for his name
He replies “It is Jesus and I will never change.”
He sticks right beside me through fair weather and storms
When I’m happy and joyous and when I mourn.
~2004
Every person has pieces of their life that just don’t seem to fit. I’ve been suddenly struck to share mine.
All of the things that make me me only fit when combined in me. It is a mind-blowing thought that no one else could ever be me and that no matter how replaceable I seem to the world, I am irreplaceable. This isn’t to sound selfish or morale boosting or anything else along those lines. It is simply a statement of truth. No matter how convinced I am that I don’t matter, it simply isn’t true. I am created as an irreplaceable person, a unique conglomeration of circumstances, beliefs, capabilities, talents, memories, and personality. And I am not alone. You are an irreplaceable person just like me. Everyone has this in common, but somehow this connection doesn’t make us any less unique. Those facts are a ridiculous display of creativity.
There is within each person a deep longing to belong, to have a place, to not be alone. Every day we are surrounded by people. Every day we have the opportunity to speak, listen and make a change. It is also true that on some days we feel desperately lonely. It is like we speak and aren’t heard, we listen and aren’t spoken to, we try to change and nothing works. Is any of this true? Probably not. But deep down, does the truth of the question matter? Deep down, what matters in that moment is that we feel alone. We don’t care about the truth when caught in such emotion. I certainly don’t.
And it isn’t really that I don’t know the truth. I know that I am one not alone. It comes down to the fact that my desperate wave of loneliness is a feeling. It is a place that moves me… usually to tears I must admit, but nevertheless it is motion. Motion moves us. I know, what a drastic declaration, revelation, and inspiration. Motion moves us. This changes the question from “Is any of this true?” to “Where are you moving?” Where are you moving? Is the fear of being lonely moving you in circles? Or is this place, this place that moves me, taking me back to the truth? I am I able to release all of the emotional backup (think clogged toilet) that has been blinding me to the truth? Am I able to live the truth again? Yes. I am one not alone. I have the opportunity to speak, listen and make a change. I can shape the future. And I am one not alone.
God is my guide and the Word is my map, let the adventure begin!
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Celtic Languages Teams
Everyone has a story to tell and this is part of mine.
Everyone has a story to tell and this is part of mine.
Everyone has a story to tell and this is part of mine.
Everyone has a story to tell and this is part of mine.
Everyone has a story to tell and this is part of mine.
Everyone has a story to tell and this is part of mine.
One Not Alone. 