Stinky

I've been stinky at posting what's going on. I've been a lot busier than I thought I was going to be...some day there will be a synopsis of everything!

How things are going to work

So It's been a while...but now that school is in session there will be more to talk about. I want to keep everything in order, so I'm going to do separate posts for each day...I may skip some days or such things as this depending on how busy I am.

Seven Pounds

So I realize I haven't blogged in a very long time. Surprisingly there is not a whole lot to talk about during summer. ...at least during my summer. I work. I baby sit. I watch movies. I hang out with friends. I'm getting ready for college. That is my life.

I mentioned that I watch movies. Well, generally speaking I watch about one a day...sometimes two...and occasionally none at all. Tonight I watched Seven Pounds. It's been out a while, but this was the first time I've seen it. For those of you who haven't seen it and want to...without me spoiling it STOP HERE!

It's about this guy who cause a car accident that killed seven people. He was the only survivor. So for the rest of his life he wanted to give back to people. ...to give the gift of life. He did this by giving away his house, donating a lung, part of his liver, bone marrow, and then his heart, and eyes. He gave because he felt he had to because of what he took. This made me think about what we take from people on a daily basis.

The best example I could think of is when we take peace from others. This can happen when we get unreasonably upset without cause. Or just by being grumpy. Or not being there when someone is in need. Or any number of things. But do we go to the next step? Do we try to give back? I realize he went to the extreme (and this story is complete fiction) but I still think there might be something to be learned here. What if we tried 1/10 as hard to repay the what we've taken. I think that alone could change the world.

Feel free to leave comments!

Things that make you go hmmmmm...

So...It's late and I should be trying to sleep, but I had to email myself something for work and I saw something that made me go hmm and I thought I'd share. On the yahoo page they have 4 stories that alternate which one is featured, but you can see all of them. Well the one that was featured had the headline: "Extra Pounds May Add Years." Now I found this particularly intriguing because about a week ago I saw a show...maybe Dateline...that talked about how if you starve yourself it turns on a survival hormone that extends your life. This hormone is found in red wine, they super-concentrated it and now have a miracle pill that you can take so you can eat whatever you want and supposedly get the benefits of not eating at all. By not at all I mean one meal a day that consists of wheat germ, and sea weed, flour-less bread, and stuff like that. Personally, I don't consider that food. Anyways, I found it EXTREMELY ironic that right below the "Extra Pounds May Add Years" there was an article with the headline: "Food That Keeps Your Belly Flat." A bit contradictory no?

Spiritual Warfare

I've told this story already probably to everyone that actually reads this, but I wanted to share it anyways.

So I not too long ago I was not in the place I wanted to be spiritually. I had been better in the past and wanted to get back, if not better than how I was. So one night I just made up my mind. I started journaling, reading my Bible and praying. On the third day of doing this I felt really depressed and confused and indecisive. I talked to Allison who said, "Well didn't you just start going after God again? Don't you think it's the devil attacking you?" This made a lot of sense to me, so that night I prayed over and over again, "I'm Yours God! I'm Yours! You won!" I could literally feel the depression lifted from my heart, the grip that the devil had on it fall away. It was the most amazing feeling!! What was really neat was that the feeling that replaced the depression, the indescribable happiness, didn't go away. I think it's here to stay! (Tee hee I rhymed)

I love God and just wanted to sing His praises.

Friends

I have the best friends in the world!! Allie spent the night Tuesday night (notice how I didn't say slept over). We went to sleep at 6:3o am and got up at noon. We watched a bunch of movies, decorated a phone for our dorm, and listened to a bunch of music. We laughed a lot. I love laughing!! It is one of my favorite pass times. It is also a fantastic way to burn calories. :) Wednesday was church day, and I love my whole small group!! They are such a great group of girls, I'm going to miss them when I go to college. Jennifer is amazing (she's the leader)!! Lately her sister has been coming and I adore her as well. I'm going to miss them like crazy!! Celia came over today. I'm so glad that we have started talking more! I just love all of them and wanted everyone to know it! :D

Shall We Gather at the River?

Water has played a vital role this weekend.

Yesterday I went to my aunt's pool for several hours. I got Sam to swim in the deep end and Sydney started to learn how to dive. It felt SO good to get back in the water. I only wrenched my shoulder once. :) However, I also managed to get burned. It's not a bad burn, but it is very uneven and is going to be very hard to even out.

Today, after church we went to the river for a baptism. It was my ex-step-great uncle that got baptized (I think). It was very neat. I'd never been to a baptism at a river before. There were two parts that were unpleasant. One, it was crazy humid. Two, the mosquitoes ate me alive. Like, I'm not sure I'm not going to need a blood transfusion after them eating so much!!

This is a short one. Hope all is well with everyone!