some days i think in tweets/statuses...

...and this is one of those days. There's been far too many moments that I could write as a status in the 4 hours I've been awake...too many to actually post on Facebook but too many to not blog about, so here they are:


1. To the thousand plus mall cops doing marching drills to the live drum line in the mall parking lot at 7am: I can't decide if I should be more afraid or feel more secure while shopping but either way your dedication and commitment definitely earns you the right to a segway...no worries, I'll take it up with SM :)


2.  To the 60+ woman who loves to get down during the dancing aerobics classes: I've been trying to decide for the past few weeks if you were entertaining or disturbing...I figured it out today, you're entertaining because you're disturbing...kind of like a train wreck of sorts...but I admire your enthusiasm.


3.  To my iPod shuffle setting, Hillsong, and Casey Vernon: "This is How We Overcome" with dance moves and a treadmill do NOT go together...just FYI...


4.  I will be going blonde again tonight...and if I thought it would draw any more attention than random dance parties and a perfected cat walk down the sidewalk at Mega already do, then I may reconsider, but at this point...what the heck????


5.  To the anti-smoking organizations: If your commitment to stop smoking was only half as effective as American Tobacco Companies' commitment to spread smoking in the developing world, maybe I wouldn't have to involuntarily smoke 5 packs each time I walk to the mall...


6.  To my beloved Tar Heels: While I should be sad that we lost, I'm not...because had we advanced to the Final Four (and Championship) and I NOT been near Franklin Street, I would've been sooooo much more upset!!! 


...I'm sure I'll continue this as the day progresses :)

dew, really???

crazy dreams=intense conversations with my sister=receiving deep, thoughtful, wise advice...or sometimes things like this:

dew!

dew! you are freakin dew!

gone by lunchtime

you only lay on the grass and reflect the sun's glorious rays

that's all you were called to do...

haha! i love my sister's advice/analogies :)

Getting to Philly...

I follow several blogs but there are 2 that I follow on a regular basis, Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC and Pastor Perry Noble of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC.  These are excerpts from their blogs, both posted on March 17^th.

“There are very few non-stop flights to God’s will...I’ve concluded that you can’t script out what God wants to do through your life. You just have to follow it step-by-step…God knows how to get you to where He wants you. Even if it doesn’t seem like the most direct route that you’d prefer…Don’t be afraid to go to Atlanta to go to Philly.
 God’s going to get you to Philly. And He’s got something for you in Atlanta in the meantime.” Steven Furtick, Elevation Church www.stevenfurtick.com

“I cannot possibly expect to have a complete and detailed plan from God that tells me exactly what His plans are for the next 20 years.  (“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105) – He doesn’t promise to let us see years in advance, but He does promise to show us our next step!” Perry Noble, NewSpring Church www.perrynoble.com

Now, I don’t know about you but I think God may be trying to tell me something…hmmmm…

Dreaming of and only settling for Philly but enjoying an adventurous layover in Atlanta…wonder what my next Atlanta is? Or is Philly the next stop? I love this crazy, exciting, and adventurous thrill ride we call life!!!!

My Treadmill-Inspired God Moment

While on the treadmill at the gym this morning, I was thinking…”How can I work so hard for so long and when I get off this thing, I’ll be in the exact same place as when I started?” I know what you’re thinking, “Well duh, that’s the point.” But really, I literally spend hours on one of those things every week and I pour tons of energy into it…I even get up at 5:30 every morning just to get on a treadmill and….GO NOWHERE?!?! Nonsense, isn’t it?

Now you probably think you know where I’m going with this, it’s probably where I went first with it in my mind…you know, the pretty literal idea of working towards something but not getting anywhere and the need to make sure we’re moving forward and not getting stuck…but today I went in a different direction with this analogy.

Because even though I physically didn’t go anywhere, changes were happening internally that people couldn’t see on the outside.  I did burn a lot of calories, I did increase my energy level, and I did train my muscles and heart to endure longer distances and more intense situations.  And because of that, if I ever do have to race then I’ll be more prepared for it. Whether where I ended up LOOKED any different to me or not, changes did take place.   

Isn’t that like our spiritual lives sometimes? We’re in situations where we feel like we’re constantly beating our heads up against the wall, saying the same things over and over, trying to help people who just don’t seem like they want to be helped, reading the same chapter in the Bible over and over trying to make sense of it, praying just to feel like our words aren’t going any further than the ceiling, trying to get people to understand our passions and after the millionth time of explaining we realize they still aren’t getting it…working so hard trying to get somewhere but realize that hours later, we’re still in the same place as when we started.


But it’s through our endurance that God works in us and changes ARE happening in us from our endurance and faithfulness even if we don’t see the results with our physical eyes.  Those internal changes are gradually strengthening and training our spiritual relationship and are shaping us to become better followers of Christ.  God puts us in those places and situations sometimes to train and prepare us for a big race in the future that we can’t see yet.  And if it weren’t for the times and seasons of training that He allows us to experience, when it comes time for the big races, we would have to quit before we were finished running it. 

That perspective makes me more thankful for and less frustrated over the times that I've had to tell my friends the same things over and over or the times I've chased after the same girl begging her to realize their value or the times I've sat and cried because someone just didn't get it. I'm learning to appreciate the training process. I don’t want to have to quit the race because I wasn’t prepared to endure it…I want to finish it, and to finish it well.  So for the times of training that I’ve had, am having, and will have…thank you, because I know that through them you are strengthening me to be able to endure when the next big race comes around and to finish it well. 

So I hope you appreciate the training and see enduring through your situations as a blessing…because the preparation and training will be worth it in the big race…and the payoff for finishing well, will be worth it! :) 

so tell me what ya want, what ya really really want...

Just so you know, I haven’t forgotten about my blog…I’ve been thinking for awhile now of what to write but I haven’t been able to come up with anything.  While talking to my sister today via Skype, having a normal conversation, catching each other up on what’s going on in our lives and figuring things out and making plans…after she figures a few things of her own out, she says…”Wow! Look how much we’ve accomplished! What else do we need to solve?” My response (as it normally is), “My future.” Her very wise response?

“’What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while.’ James 4:14 Solved. Next.”

Now, maybe that was solution enough for some people…but I wasn’t buying it, not today.  I need a little more to hold on to, a little more concrete…a little less spiritual.  But she was determined to make me get it, so the conversation continued and it went a little something like this:

What should I do in this one second that will impact my next 5 billion years and others too? Are you going to regret it if your parents die and u were off in some other land instead of spending time here with them? So I missed them, for a second, but I get to be with them for 5 billion years, big deal!...God has our future and he said he has a plan for us.  Now, I believe he has great plans for us here on earth, but even if he doesn't, this is eternity we are talking about. Here’s where it gets tricky, this also means that God created us to do something in one second and are we going after what God created us for? What were we created for? We were made to llllooooovvvveeeeee!!!! And no matter if we decide to be a missionary in china where we could die, or a doctor in new york, or a huladancer in Hawaii, our calling is still to LOVE!

 Would God have made it so hard for us to do something and live somewhere so specific that we can't even figure it out and we end up worrying everyday if we are doing enough, when accepting Jesus and grace and mercy are so freaking easy??? I think we make it way more complicated than God ever intended. Why cant we just be and do what we love...so that by doing that we can love even more? Maybe just maybe, if we all really worked really hard to truly love God, read His love letters to use, do what we love and love everybody then we'd end up exactly where we needed to be, doing exactly what we were created to do and fulfilling God's purpose for our lives without all the stress of figuring out our futures.

So anyway, in an effort to convince ourselves of this, we decided to write down everything we wanted…and I mean EVERYTHING…and we were specific: from seemingly ridiculous wants like swimming with dolphins, getting my Droid back, hunting in Canada with my daddy, playing the violin, and going to Ireland to the more “serious” wants like seeing millions of girls realize their worth and beauty before they graduate high school, changing the world, to forgive people from middle school who impacted the way I feel about myself to this day, to be brave, to see miracles, to be heard, to see God move mightily on my behalf, and on and on and on the list continues…

I ended up with 6 pages of “wants” and I’m still adding to it.  I wrote them down, every single one, and as God answers them…I’ll check them off.  Because you see, every last “want” is important to our heavenly father. He gave us those desires for a reason…and who knows maybe I’ll have the opportunity to meet an amazing person while I’m in the Verizon store getting my Droid or maybe I’ll meet my future husband while skydiving or maybe I’ll have the opportunity to change someone’s life by smiling at them in the airport on my way to Ireland.  I don’t know God’s plans but I do know that we are constantly surrounded by the sacred and in every second, in every way, whether what we are doing “seems” to be divinely planned or not, it is and if we are looking for Him in every situation, then we’ll find Him and by finding Him, we find our purpose. So if you’re like me, floundering around ONCE AGAIN searching for the next step, I challenge you to write down your wants…every last one.

And then, we ended our conversation with this prayer. It’s my prayer for your wants as well…

Dear God, I am a firm believer that the desires of our heart were placed there by You therefore making them your will and, while feeding the hungry may be more important than going floundering or skydiving, that as Your children, You will move heaven and earth to make us happy. So here we are, joined together, believing in You for the impossible, telling You all of our hopes and dreams. We don't need a detailed map; we just need to know our Father has planned it out. We just need the next step.  We know You've already told us a million times but here we are again this time...learning to be quiet and to say that what You want for me is even better than all the wants I've said...we’re trusting in You for nothing but the very best!