Thursday, August 2, 2012
The Hospital Waiting Room
I was sitting in the Dell Children's Hospital waiting room today, and Sponge Bob was playing on the TV. I'm sitting in a chair, which is next to a small couch, facing the door as well as the TV. After a few minutes, the door to the waiting room swings open and in runs a little boy of maybe 6-years-old with his mother trailing behind him. Immediately this boy runs to look at the TV as his mom walks to the sign in desk. After seeing what is playing, he promptly walks back to his mother and says, "Mom, they're playing a TV show that you would not approve of." Then, he proceeds to run over and jump on the couch and sits right next to me, leans over and whispers, "My mom would NOT approve of this movie."
I held in a laugh, but couldn't help but smile.
"He's a sponge." he says.
I smiled again and said, "Yes, he's a sea sponge."
And his last reply in a very "well duh this is so obvious" manner was, "The's why he's called Sponge Bob."
Of course, that makes all the sense in the world... right?
His mother came to sit down while she filled out some paper work and we talked a little bit. She commented that he was going in for a twelfth MRI that day. I didn't find out what for, but I know that this little boy is a trooper. A ray of sunshine in the midst of whatever it is that is going on in his and his family's life, and he made my day. :)
Friday, July 20, 2012
So what's next for you?
That's a good question!
If you didn't know or happen to be wondering, this last semester, the Spring semester of this year, was my final semester in high school... ever! That's right, I was a senior. And as you know, if you've ever been a senior, the question that you hear NON-STOP from January until August is, "So what are you doing next?" And really, I started hearing this question when I started my Junior year in fall 2010 (that sounds SO long ago!)
What am I doing next?
As of Spring or Fall 2011, I would have responded with whatever I had most recently been dreaming about or excited about. I would have told you that I wanted to be an actress in musical theater and then go on to be a high school theater director. Or I would have told you that I wanted to go over seas on missions.
When my senior year started, the pressure really started to weigh down. People keep asking. What am I REALLY going to do? What am I supposed to do? I need to act quick. I have to start applications and interviews and I need to save money. I need a car. On and on and on.
But around January... possible February, I realized something. Maybe college, or immediately leaving my family and my home is not what God has in store for me this year. I don't have to jump out of high school and run into college head on just because everyone else is doing it.
So here's the point, I know a couple of things that I would love to do, things I am open to and ready to be called to, but maybe it's just "not yet".
So what's next for me is this:
Diligent prayer asking God to show me what His plan is for me. To ask Him to lead me and open doors and to give me an open heart, to give me boldness and courage and faith to trust Him in whatever His plan is for me.
Also, I will be staying home to help my mother teach my youngest siblings. Jordan is turning 12 and going into 6th grade, and Sophia is turning 8 and going into 3rd grade. I am really excited for this opportunity as God has recently been revealing to my that my first "mission field" is my home. He has been showing me that I need to give my family more attention, to show them His grace and His love everyday!
He has also been teaching me recently, through my own situations and through my family and friends, that His timing is absolutely perfect. Any plan that I have for myself, that I think will bring me happiness or joy, that I will be content with - How much MORE fulfilling will His perfect plan be in His perfect timing. Though we don't always understand when we are in a moment of trial or in something that we don't like or are uncomfortable with - He has a plan and we need to rest in that plan and trust Him because He. is. perfect.
So I am trusting and waiting and praying and in that time, through all of that, I hope to be able to be more involved with my family, with ministry at church. I want to serve and love and live in such a way that I am displaying a Christ-like lifestyle to all that I come in contact with. But the only way that that is possible - is through the love of Christ Himself. Without His love we could not love. Without His grace, we would not extend grace to others.
So that, is what's next.
Grace and Peace to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ!
If you didn't know or happen to be wondering, this last semester, the Spring semester of this year, was my final semester in high school... ever! That's right, I was a senior. And as you know, if you've ever been a senior, the question that you hear NON-STOP from January until August is, "So what are you doing next?" And really, I started hearing this question when I started my Junior year in fall 2010 (that sounds SO long ago!)
What am I doing next?
As of Spring or Fall 2011, I would have responded with whatever I had most recently been dreaming about or excited about. I would have told you that I wanted to be an actress in musical theater and then go on to be a high school theater director. Or I would have told you that I wanted to go over seas on missions.
When my senior year started, the pressure really started to weigh down. People keep asking. What am I REALLY going to do? What am I supposed to do? I need to act quick. I have to start applications and interviews and I need to save money. I need a car. On and on and on.
But around January... possible February, I realized something. Maybe college, or immediately leaving my family and my home is not what God has in store for me this year. I don't have to jump out of high school and run into college head on just because everyone else is doing it.
So here's the point, I know a couple of things that I would love to do, things I am open to and ready to be called to, but maybe it's just "not yet".
So what's next for me is this:
Diligent prayer asking God to show me what His plan is for me. To ask Him to lead me and open doors and to give me an open heart, to give me boldness and courage and faith to trust Him in whatever His plan is for me.
Also, I will be staying home to help my mother teach my youngest siblings. Jordan is turning 12 and going into 6th grade, and Sophia is turning 8 and going into 3rd grade. I am really excited for this opportunity as God has recently been revealing to my that my first "mission field" is my home. He has been showing me that I need to give my family more attention, to show them His grace and His love everyday!
He has also been teaching me recently, through my own situations and through my family and friends, that His timing is absolutely perfect. Any plan that I have for myself, that I think will bring me happiness or joy, that I will be content with - How much MORE fulfilling will His perfect plan be in His perfect timing. Though we don't always understand when we are in a moment of trial or in something that we don't like or are uncomfortable with - He has a plan and we need to rest in that plan and trust Him because He. is. perfect.
So I am trusting and waiting and praying and in that time, through all of that, I hope to be able to be more involved with my family, with ministry at church. I want to serve and love and live in such a way that I am displaying a Christ-like lifestyle to all that I come in contact with. But the only way that that is possible - is through the love of Christ Himself. Without His love we could not love. Without His grace, we would not extend grace to others.
So that, is what's next.
Grace and Peace to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ!
Christmas Eve 2011
*Written on Christmas Eve of 2011*
My heart is so full tonight. Full of an overwhelming gratitude because of God's grace and love. So often, as of late, the Gospel has just really, really gripped me and messed me up (in a beautiful way). Especially now, so close to Christmas, it has been constantly on my mind... the birth of Jesus, which was the beginning of God's promise to us. Without His birth, the Son of God, born to a virgin through the Holy Spirit to become a son of man, we could not be called Children of God. And I don't think that that had ever really sunk in until just recently.We are children of God because of Jesus and only Jesus, who lived the life we couldn't live and died the death that we deserved.
Tonight at the Christmas Eve services, one of the songs we sang was "O' Come All Ye Faithful" and something really stuck out to me from one of the chorus' "O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."
We are blessed; privileged not only to adore Him, but to be free to do so and to sing about it.
For several months I've been considering what is to come after graduation (June). Many things have crossed my mind. Three of the top things on my "list" in the past 6-8 months have been:
1: Performing Arts - to become a Highschool theater teacher
2: Joining the 100 People Network - to be a missionary
3: Speech Pathology - to work with children who have speech disabilities.
Speech Patho was the first I was interested in, but I didn't pursue it very intently.
Then came the 100 People, and while I loved the idea, I wasn't sure where I would go, or if I was called to go, or if it just seemed exciting at the time.
Performing arts has been the latest of my pursuits, but I have always loved drama! I started acting when I was seven-years-old. A woman from our church (when we lived in California) had gotten a degree in performing arts, and yearly wrote, organized, cast, directed, and occasionally performed in our plays. I've always known that I loved acting, but when I thought about doing it as a career (musical theater) and teaching others to enjoy it, that was really exciting. So, I mostly began pursuing Performing Arts and have been up to this day, however, I have still been considering 100 People and praying about both.
Thinking about 100 People again, while I'm still not sure where I would go, tonight I felt called to go. I have been blessed and privileged to adore my King, the King of Kings, and so many people don't know Him or what He's done.
I know it isn't a walk in the park to leave your family and everyone else you know and love, to a country that is possibly dangerous, a completely different culture where they speak a different language and have different beliefs... and reaching out to those people isn't easy. But it is a calling from Christ that we should reach out to those who do not know Him and strive to further the Kingdom of Heaven. And although it isn't easy, with Christ it is possible and my hope is to be used by God in ways that I could never imagine, for His glory and to bring others the joy that I have so graciously been given.
Lastly, for the past two weeks, I have really been praying that this Christmas would be different from other years. That it would hold more meaning for me personally. And lately I've kept saying and thinking, "I can't believe Christmas is a couple days away. It doesn't even feel like Christmas." And tonight, it doesn't, because it doesn't feel like what I've only known in the past. I can't not wait to see what lies beneath the delicately wrapped, sparkly paper in a box. But I can't wait to celebrate that I have already been given the greatest gift that I will ever receive. And in hopefulness, eagerly anticipate His second coming with joy and thanksgiving, living through Him and for Him.
Y'all, have a Merry, MERRY Christmas! Celebrate Christ and His coming, in His perfection and with purpose. For YOU. He is the most wonderful and amazing gift.
My heart is so full tonight. Full of an overwhelming gratitude because of God's grace and love. So often, as of late, the Gospel has just really, really gripped me and messed me up (in a beautiful way). Especially now, so close to Christmas, it has been constantly on my mind... the birth of Jesus, which was the beginning of God's promise to us. Without His birth, the Son of God, born to a virgin through the Holy Spirit to become a son of man, we could not be called Children of God. And I don't think that that had ever really sunk in until just recently.We are children of God because of Jesus and only Jesus, who lived the life we couldn't live and died the death that we deserved.
Tonight at the Christmas Eve services, one of the songs we sang was "O' Come All Ye Faithful" and something really stuck out to me from one of the chorus' "O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."
We are blessed; privileged not only to adore Him, but to be free to do so and to sing about it.
For several months I've been considering what is to come after graduation (June). Many things have crossed my mind. Three of the top things on my "list" in the past 6-8 months have been:
1: Performing Arts - to become a Highschool theater teacher
2: Joining the 100 People Network - to be a missionary
3: Speech Pathology - to work with children who have speech disabilities.
Speech Patho was the first I was interested in, but I didn't pursue it very intently.
Then came the 100 People, and while I loved the idea, I wasn't sure where I would go, or if I was called to go, or if it just seemed exciting at the time.
Performing arts has been the latest of my pursuits, but I have always loved drama! I started acting when I was seven-years-old. A woman from our church (when we lived in California) had gotten a degree in performing arts, and yearly wrote, organized, cast, directed, and occasionally performed in our plays. I've always known that I loved acting, but when I thought about doing it as a career (musical theater) and teaching others to enjoy it, that was really exciting. So, I mostly began pursuing Performing Arts and have been up to this day, however, I have still been considering 100 People and praying about both.
Thinking about 100 People again, while I'm still not sure where I would go, tonight I felt called to go. I have been blessed and privileged to adore my King, the King of Kings, and so many people don't know Him or what He's done.
I know it isn't a walk in the park to leave your family and everyone else you know and love, to a country that is possibly dangerous, a completely different culture where they speak a different language and have different beliefs... and reaching out to those people isn't easy. But it is a calling from Christ that we should reach out to those who do not know Him and strive to further the Kingdom of Heaven. And although it isn't easy, with Christ it is possible and my hope is to be used by God in ways that I could never imagine, for His glory and to bring others the joy that I have so graciously been given.
Lastly, for the past two weeks, I have really been praying that this Christmas would be different from other years. That it would hold more meaning for me personally. And lately I've kept saying and thinking, "I can't believe Christmas is a couple days away. It doesn't even feel like Christmas." And tonight, it doesn't, because it doesn't feel like what I've only known in the past. I can't not wait to see what lies beneath the delicately wrapped, sparkly paper in a box. But I can't wait to celebrate that I have already been given the greatest gift that I will ever receive. And in hopefulness, eagerly anticipate His second coming with joy and thanksgiving, living through Him and for Him.
Y'all, have a Merry, MERRY Christmas! Celebrate Christ and His coming, in His perfection and with purpose. For YOU. He is the most wonderful and amazing gift.
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