A new year and some progress

Well it is February and I am ready for spring. I do not care what that groundhog said because who can predict weather in Iowa? I am grateful for a new year because I have a really good feeling about it. There has been some progress, especially in the area of my finances, taking care of myself, playing guitar as much as I can, and continuing to further my education. There is some stress, but nothing I cannot handle on a daily basis.

For the last 3 years or so I have struggled managing my finances. I seem to blow my money in a couple of days and that leaves me in a tricky position for a couple of weeks while I navigate the waters of my impulsive nature. My parents have been amazing though it (even though I think they are nagging most of the time). It has prevented me from being independent in some ways, learning how to prepare for “emergencies” that need money, and just being responsible. I know that the battle is not over, but I have some good ideas on how to handle it. For one, I check my online banking every day and after spending money I put the amount into a spreadsheet that goes week-to-week. That has been really helpful to take my management skills to the next level. However, I know I could slip up every time and it’s my job to focus on being financially responsible for the present and into the future.

The reason I get a second chance a million times over is because God gave me all these chances because of His love for the world. God gave me a great set of parents that I love dearly. My dad’s patience and wisdom is amazing along with being my role model. My mom is extremely smart and great at talking about everything possibly with me. I hope we all can experience God’s love like that constantly or in some capacity. Jesus Christ loves every one of you and everyone in the world is important to Him every day.

On that note, I am encouraged by everyone and thank you for your love and compassion. I hope we find peace and simple joy in life. Yes, I do like Owl City. Sad I know, but Adam Young is catchy and has great lyrics.

The way of the world

It breaks my heart and makes me sick when people stereotype each other and judge. I just want to see people increase the peace, love each other unconditionally, and have humility. I need to have humility and be better at loving people instead of trying to change them.

The way of the world does not make sense to me. That is fine because I want to live every day with love to give for the whole world and to be humbled by God. That is my hope and I want everyone to love no matter what. With love, we can change the world and increase the peace. I love everyone because Jesus Christ loves everyone.

It’s 2010 and time to start blogging again

2010 is upon us and I am really excited for this year to continue! Last year I dealt with some difficult times from quitting a job I absolutely disliked and made me miserable, struggling in relationships, doing terrible financially, and battling a bit of depression. Well that year has come and gone, but I am ready for 2010. I think this year is going to be amazing and I hope that all of us will have a great year! The end of 2009 was promising as I finished with a 3.4 GPA in my first semester back to UNI. I have some goals for 2010 and I think they are reasonable. Here are the goals I have and I will talk about them in later blogs:

1. Finances/taking care of money

2. Old/new relationships

3. Continuing to do well in school @ UNI

4. Growing closer to God

5. Working out 5 times a week

I am just really excited to see what God is going to do in 2010 and I hope that we all can experience that this year! I pray that 2010 is a great year for all of us around the world because God loves us all no matter what!

Already in 2010 there has been tragedy. The country of Haiti experienced an extremely large earthquake and their losses have been devastating. There are plenty of ways you can get involved. Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10. The $10 goes on your phone bill for Red Cross to aid the earthquake in Haiti. Also, there are plenty of website and organizations that are willing to give money to Haiti. If you cannot give money, pray for the people and country of Haiti that they would recover from this devastating event.

Thank you everyone for reading and I hope all of us can look forward to 2010! Take care and be blessed everyone!

P.S. Everyone check out Matthew Paul Turner’s blog while he is in Uganda with World Vision. Click here for the updates and details from his trip.

This night

It’s Christmas eve for many of us and there are thoughts racing through our heads. We need to get Christmas dinner ready, wrap presents, and get ready for the onslaught of guests that will flood our houses. We want to make sure everything is 100% ready for Christmas tomorrow without a glitch or problem. Our lives are already “fast paced” and Christmas day is no exception. However, we forget to be silent and reflect on this night before Christmas.

The pastor I had the privilege of listening to tonight said Christmas is a “high effort” holiday. We have to buy gifts, take care of everyone, and just be in a rush for the holidays. We forget to slow down and be silent. We forget to spend time with our families because the turkey is “not ready”. Silence is sometimes the best time to be “close” to God. I am not claiming that I myself have everything all together and my relationship with God is amazing all the time. What I am talking about is being silent just to reflect and be with God. That is something I hope all of us would want to have silence tonight with our families, friends, and ourselves.

I just want to leave you with a couple of things tonight. One is a quote from Mother Theresa. Second is a song from August Burns Red. I hope all of us can reflect on tonight and slow down from the stress and “fast paced” environment of Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! May you find comfort, joy, and peace in silence tonight.

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” -Mother Theresa

August Burns Red \”O Come O Come Emmanuel\”

It’s a great time

Finals are done for my first semester back @ UNI. I am so grateful to be done and the push I made the final two weeks of classes and finals week. Now it is time to relax and enjoy this season of rebirth and change because of Advent. Now I know Advent has been going on for 4 weeks and I always look forward to it every year. I have been reflecting on it, listening to the perspectives others have, and just trying to enjoy it. I am going to tell why I enjoy it so much.

Advent is a time to reflect on the year for me and figure out what I can do better and what I am grateful for. I am extremely grateful for the people pushing to go back to college because it has been wonderful in Cedar Falls. I am grateful for my professors and peers pushing me to be a better student and future teacher on a daily basis. I am extremely thankful for my parents funding my college tuition again and supporting me through all this. I know I have forgotten some people, but I am thankful for each and everyone who has impacted my life in 2009.

Advent is also a time for rebirth. Jesus was born giving people a new way to be close to God. Jesus was a rebirth for the faith many of us hold dear. I am extremely grateful for that daily. He gives me the strength to go on daily even if I do not want to. This Christmas will be the first one without my grandpa since he passed away in July. However, grandma is coming in for Christmas to Iowa and I am grateful to spend time with her, my mom and dad, and brother. Those are a few things I feel a rebirth in my life. I have been slowly maturing and trying to figure out what is important to me in life. I am finding a grasp for that thanks to Him and everyone He has put around me.

Over the next week or so, I will be blogging about my goals, Christmas, and the things I have learned in the year 2009. Thank you to everyone for reading my blog and those who have found it for the first time. I hope we all can find simple joy and peace in life. Take care and hope you have a Merry Christmas and a great finish to 2009!

Break time

So this week was Thanksgiving Break from UNI. It was much needed in my opinion because I was able to relax a bit, get some painting done, play guitar, and be around my family. I do not go home very often because I really enjoy being back in Cedar Falls, but I needed to go home in my opinion. I just needed to see my family again and reconnect with them. I like being around my half-sister, brother-in-law, nephews, niece, and parents. They are truly a blessing in my life and I love them very much. What I needed the break from was to slow down from my busy life.

My life has been really hectic at school. Meeting deadlines, doing homework, studying, spending time in class, and teaching at schools to name some of the things I do on a weekly basis. I really enjoy the Teacher Education program @ UNI, but it is a lot of busy work sometimes. I know this is where I need to be, but sometimes I need a break from craziness. I need to slow down and just have a day of rest. I need to be in touch with God and find simple joy and rest in Him on a daily basis. I believe I was able to find that this week and be able to get some energy to be ready for the next couple of weeks.

We all need a break sometimes during our lives. We have hectic schedules, busy days, and want to squeeze anything in we can daily. However, shouldn’t we slow down sometimes and take time for our family? Take time for our friends? Take time for God? We have a lot of things going on, but we need to be at peace with our lives. That is why a break is needed every now and then.

Taking things for granted

The past couple of weeks have been pretty busy for me. The theme that keeps coming up in my life is “not taking things for granted”. It has really being a humbling experience. Taking phone calls from people in the middle of the night, tell your parents you love them for everything they do, sharing experiences with friends, and so many other things have been a part of my life the past couple of weeks. All I can say is that I am floored by what God has been teaching me lately.

I just do not want to take things for granted because life is short. I am thankful for my half-sister, brother-in-law, nephews and niece to share Thanksgiving with this year again. It is always great to joke around with them, play games, and have a wonderful family relationship. I am looking forward to my grandmother coming for Christmas. This July, my grandfather died and it will be great to see my grandmother again. I have reconnected with old friends since I got back to Cedar Falls in August. It has been a wonderful experience and I continue to enjoy my schooling @ UNI.

I hope in our lives we get to live every day like it is our last. I want us to go out into the world and live it up! Be disciple of Christ and let our light shine daily. May we all not take things for granted on a daily basis. God will help us and I hope we believe in Him to take us where we need to go. I think these past couple of weeks have reminded me how important life is and that it is not a waste. I hope every one of you feels that way.

The winds of change…

Yesterday was Daylight Savings Time (and I did appreciate the extra hour of sleep), which means the days will become shorter. Kind of like a metaphor for life in a way. Nothing is a “shoe in” and we do not know how much time we have left on this earth. Days seem too short sometimes and we waste a lot of time on being busy or “catching up” on shows, music, and other things we missed. Those are not necessarily a bad thing, but what if we lived every day like it was our last? We feel fragile quite often and having trouble grasping life quite often. I feel that way from time to time and have a tendency to worry. However, when should we let go?

I think all of us want to accomplish something “big”. Whether that is a huge project we are working on, new developments, or just to get notice by our boss and co-workers. The question becomes, what are we going to sacrifice or strive for? Family time? Relationships? Social life? Personal connections? God? Our lives seem overcrowded in many ways and we try to “jam” more stuff in. When will we realize that there are more important things to live than “getting noticed”? The winds of change are blowing in and where do you want to be?

Maybe I’m just rambling on and on. However, I do not want to see us “going through the motions”. I hope we can enjoy the time with have within our relationships, family, friends, and co-workers. Actions carry heavy burdens, but God can lift those off our shoulders by placing faith and trust in Him. Change is always coming like the leaves changing in the fall, but are you ready for it? People recognize who you are and the slightest bit of change, but I hope we all want to change for the good of ourselves and others around us.

Convenience vs. Interest

In life, we want the “quick fix” or a way out of most things. We ask ourselves, “Why is life so hard?” and, “is there more to life than how I live now?” Those are hard questions to answer and should be looked at on a personal basis. However, I’ve noticed even in my own life that convenience trumps interest. It is an interesting concept to me, so let me elaborate a bit.

When I talk about convenience vs. interest I am talking about the choices we make as humans daily. Do I want to make breakfast or go to McDonald’s and get an Egg McMuffin? Do I want to cook dinner or go out and get something? Should I buy something online or save my money? Should I “pick” someone up at the bar or wait patiently for the next relationship? Do I get angry with God because He has not answered my question the way I want it or trust Him daily? I hope we can ask ourselves this question because I do not ask those question on a daily basis. I am impulsive and want something right now. It’s the truth and still have a lot to learn. Every day is filled with questions, confusion, and mystery. However, do we want convenience or interest daily?

My point is realize that in America, the culture and we ourselves think that convenience is what we deserve. Having some convenience is not necessarily bad, but my concern is that it becomes a daily habit and we make ourselves miserable. I hope that we realize that there are people who are interested in us and we will have great friends and relationships from them. God is truly interested in us because He created us in His image and Jesus is interested in us to share his faith and compassion for others. That is why we should be interested and not just become people of convenience. We should want to be people of interest.

No one is invicible

We all have doubts, fears, insecurities, and questions about our lives. Every single day we question and try to figure out what might happen or what could happen. We try to play things out in our mind and invision the future or look back to the past. Trust is sometimes broken, friendships dissolve, and death does happen. No one is invincible and God recognizes this. He is our guidance and wants us to rest upon His goodness.

There is some crappy stuff that happens daily to many of us. We cannot explain it and we struggle to move on from it. This stuff grips us and tears us apart inside. No “quick fix” and easy road lie ahead. No one is invincible because that is not the way life works. However, I hope we can put our trust and faith that Jesus Christ continues to be apart of our lives. He will love us to no end and provide comfort and simple joy in times of need.

This is not a motivational speech, but a reminder of what may happen down the road or may be happening right now. Life is not always fair and makes us sick of the world around us. However, that does not mean we should give up. No one is invincible and people should not expect you to be. We are not super heroes in this life, but we are role models and leaders. I hope we can realize God gives us all we need and we can share it with others in many impactful ways.