"... He heals up the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars and calls them all by name ...His understanding is infinite."
I'm thankful for people. Today I have had a complete pinterest obsession, finding awesome ideas for my future classroom. I'm blown away at the creativity many people have and their willingness to share their ideas. I also went to Google and searched teacher blogs which are cool because I get to see what teachers around the country are doing, what's working, and what issues come up. I just want to skip college and get into teaching! I'm also thankful for my cousins. We are really close. I have 15 on my dad's side and we're all really close. They are always making me laugh or letting me confide in them when girl time is needed. I couldn't decide which photo was my favorite, so I'll post them all.
The famous Cousin table!
Sweetest and newest little one. :)
Goofin off in the truck bed (not hillbillies, I promise!)
Now's the time when some people break out the Christmas music. Personally, I get so much of it between Thanksgiving and Christmas it's the only time I listen to it and it's the only time I'm ever in the mood for it. It's also the time when I start organizing what I would like for Christmas. Well, I'm a big boring adult now and anything I put on my list is usually pretty pricey. Usually I get pretty excited still about what I'll get, only to realize hours after all the presents are opened, that I still feel the same amount of emptiness I did before, no matter if I get what I wanted or not. (Without being brag-tastic here), I have tried hard to live a life of simplicity. Material things are not important to me anymore. I still tell myself that it would be pretty stinkin' awesome if I had one of these on my hand:
It would also be completely wonderful if I had a lot more money. But money dissapears faster than popping bubbles, and eventually that Nook is going to break and be of no use to me. So, this Christmas, my simple prayer is that I (and others) would be able to cherish what we have, erase greed from our minds, and have the joy of Christ's birth in our hearts and heads. :)
It's been a rough time in my life lately. The past 3 months have been filled with sadness, worry, tears and dissapointment. I've often asked God, "Where are you?", but I see him. I see Him in my friends -who are willing to pray for me and reach out to me, even in the simplest of ways. They see what I don't ask for. Things like, an umbrella, lotion, food, encouraging cards in my mailbox. I see the way He answers even my simplest prayers like finding out where I put those much needed hairbands. This all may sound trivial, but to me, it shows He cares about the little things in my life as well as the not so little. It teaches me that I need to take one day at a time and pray without ceasing.
In sociology we were watching clips about poverty. My professor was talking about the fact that we push the statement, "It's their fault for messing up and putting themselves in poverty". I'm very torn on this subject for several reasons. While I agree that I should be independent from government assistance to survive (ie food, housing, clothing) the government has allowed me over others to attend university. I have said that I am poor, but now I feel as if I really can't say it that way anymore. I have opportunities that a lot of people do not have. (i.e. health care, housing, education) I was under the assumption that anyone could make a life for themselves if they went to college and worked their way out of poverty. Here's another catcher though: People make mistakes. I could easily be that person on the street someday. Does that mean as Christians we tell them to work hard and forget about them? And what about the children who have no choice to be poor? Because the truth is that we can sit around and point fingers all we want to, but poverty will still be an issue in this country, and around the world. But what can we do?
How do we speak (Christian) truth without being pushy and arrogant? How do I tell people I love they are making bad decisions without being critical? If we don't agree with someone, why can't we just say that we don't agree instead of arguing about it? I was very inspired by chapel yesterday. I'm not even sure where they found the guy giving his testimony, but I was inspired because he essentially gave up his whole life- his Jewish family, his financial stability, to come learn and share Jesus. He said to be crazy for God! So, I couldn't find the music video for the song, so it's a video done by a church's children's ministry, but we sing it for our kid's program.
Since my last post, I have worn socks, sneakers, basically anything that did not show off that wonderful set of orange toes I posted on here. So when I was walking into church today in my denim skirt and open toed sandals, I looked down and went, "Orange? What was I thinking???" Life lesson: Sometimes a good idea or intention can be good, for awhile. (Although I really hard a hard time thinking about that in the past few hours)
Happy birthday to my friend Jeremy who turns the *old* age of 26 today. :P This guy should have a great birthday-he has been a really great listener and Christian friend to me in the past few months. (And wink wink ladies-he's single...)
Tonight I got to catch up with my uncle, aunt and cousin on another taco bell family outing. They are having another little baby (yay!) My uncle teased me about school and whether I had a boyfriend. He started listing off names such as Bobby, Jack, James, etc and my eight year old cousin shouts, "JANET!!!" and everyone cracks up. I have missed her cuteness.
I'm reading this book about the couple who delivered the baby that wasn't theirs due to a medical mistake. It's an interesting read.
I've also been trying to beat my wii tennis score since my mom found the disc again. I'm afraid I'm stuck at level 530...for now. :P
I'm praying about college finances (it's expensive you know) and that I can keep up on my Bible reading.
Painting my nails. Yes, these are my feet and yes, organge is the random color of choice. Random!
Reading (the left is highly amazing!!!)
My favorite passage.
And oh yes. I found this on Stumbleupon I guess it's from South Korea.(?) I'm blown away!-inspiration for the future? At least for the kids section. So cool!!!
