wow....it's been a long time since i've written on my blog to inform you on life, but it's been kind of crazy, so now i can take the time.
i was thinking back, which i happen to do a lot, to the major life lessons that i have learned or different ideas that i have thought of that pretty much just make me sound like i'm a wicked smart person (which is funny if you really know me...) and i was thinking back to a time at camp good news my first year there as a counselor (or at all!) in 2007....
i was a Kickapoo counselor which basically means daycare. so sometimes, i got off early and was avaliable to do the all camp ground game. the day i got off early happened to be wednesday, which as everyone at camp knows it, capture the flag day. my friend Kyle and i were partners in crime and were trying to scheme a way to get the flag. one time, we came back from a failed attempt and we were going to get some water. right as i turned the corner, i see a little boy camper near the fountain on the ground crying. me being a girl with some motherly instinct immediatly run over to him and pick him up and put him in my lap. i just held him until he stopped crying and i brought him to the nurse.
this may just seem like a nice story, but it means so much more to me.
i just picture me falling on the ground and hurting myself in life, and the split second i fall, God is there, holding me in his protective arms. whenever i have a hard time in life, i just remember that God loves me and cares for me and is there for me, and it makes everything more bearable.
this is just one of my many lessons that children have taught me for my life....thus one of the many reasons why i love children.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Attitude is Everything!!!!
our family went up to vermont for a two day vacation as our Christmas present (today is the first day) because we had to pick up two of my siblings who were racing at Trapp Family Lodge. it was crazy snowy and cold but it was rather fun.
then we went shopping. i hate shopping. and i become very uncharacteristic of myself when i go, and today we went. soon i became the grouchy grinch and being a poor sport about it, though this is our Christmas. and once i become a grouch, i become very stubborn. so asking for God's help is most of the time, out of the question. it's too humiliating to my pride. but by simply praying, "God, i'm being grumpy and annoying and i'm too stubborn to ask for help, but please help me out so i can enjoy my Christmas with my family...." and no joke, in a matter of 10 minutes, i am eating pizza and telling radom "funny" stories (people who really know me know that when i have a "funny" story, it is 98% of the time not funny...) and the evening was awesome once again.
so if we can ask God for help in our weaknesses, whether it be pride, anger,etc., he helps us get over our issues and really live our lives the way they are supposed to be lived.
then we went shopping. i hate shopping. and i become very uncharacteristic of myself when i go, and today we went. soon i became the grouchy grinch and being a poor sport about it, though this is our Christmas. and once i become a grouch, i become very stubborn. so asking for God's help is most of the time, out of the question. it's too humiliating to my pride. but by simply praying, "God, i'm being grumpy and annoying and i'm too stubborn to ask for help, but please help me out so i can enjoy my Christmas with my family...." and no joke, in a matter of 10 minutes, i am eating pizza and telling radom "funny" stories (people who really know me know that when i have a "funny" story, it is 98% of the time not funny...) and the evening was awesome once again.
so if we can ask God for help in our weaknesses, whether it be pride, anger,etc., he helps us get over our issues and really live our lives the way they are supposed to be lived.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Children are a Blessing!
children are truely a blessing.
that's probably why i get so frustrated when i hear endless amounts of people saying...."i hate kids...i have no patience with kids....they're so annoying....blah blah blah!" honestly, what i really want to tell these people is, "shut up! if you give them a chance, you can be blessed by them! you were once an annoying little kid too and aren't you thankful for the people who gave the extra bit of effort to be nice to you and care about you?"
honestly, people don't know what they are missing by not listening and learning from people younger than themselves. i personally think that they view them as inferrior and incapable of the "wisdom" they have. see, that is where kids have way more "wisdom" than the people older than them. they have a way about them, an innocence to them. they tell you the honest truth, which sometimes hurts, but they also aren't afraid to say the things they want to say. like, "i love you" and, "i think you're cool," which more often than not means that they look up to you and want to be like you. that happens to me a lot, which is kind of baffeling because they really shouldn't try to be like me...i am a silly person that messes up all the time.
i have always believed this, but it really struck me today when i was reading a Christmas card from a girl who was in my step-mother's class for the past 2 years (i vollenteered in her class) and was one of my campers at Camp Good News.
the front said,
"It's a Blessing to Know You"
then i open it, and in elementary school cursive handwriting, it says:
"December 25, 2008"
at the top, though Christmas hasn't even come by yet...and the card reads:
"Wishing you all the blessings and joy you're so deserving of,
Because you're a special reflection of God's most precious love.
Merry Christmas"
and the cursive handwriting comes back saying:
"Thank you for everything you have done for us. Have a holly jolly Christmas Day.
Sincerely, Mia and Marla + Phillip"
this card made me tear up. it is from the whole family, but Mia wrote it out and Mia is the one who still will come over. i can't explain what my relationship with her is like. i go down every tuesday to her class and pretty much just help her out with her work. though the other kids like me, she goes beyond it all. she totally respects me and looks up to me. we share a wavelength. i know that we think the same things that other people are oblivious to.
in this card, it never once said, "i love you," but it has it written all over it if you really take the time to examine it. i don't feel like a blessing, to be completely honest, though many people will beg to differ. but when a 6th grader has the guts to say "you've changed my life" it should hit back at home to the older "wiser" people, like myself, who are too scared to tell important people in their lives just how special they are to them. these "wise" people need to get off their high horses and see how much these kids look up to them. these old people are actually being quite childish and annoying. there is something wrong with being childish, but there is nothing wrong with being child-like in the heart.
kids do these things...they:
-whine
-interrupt
-yell
-argue
-overreact
-are sometimes spoiled
but they:
-trust wholeheartedly in people
-are honest
-love
-look up to people
-respect
-have innocence
-and teach the open minded heart lessons they need to learn.
there is something i have noticed. people who are older still whine, interrupt, yell, argue, overreact, and are spoiled, but they start to lose their full trust in people, honesty, love, admiration, respect, and innocence.
i hope that you will want to spend time with someone younger than yourself soon and learn how to live a life of meaning and importance that changes the lives around you.
that's probably why i get so frustrated when i hear endless amounts of people saying...."i hate kids...i have no patience with kids....they're so annoying....blah blah blah!" honestly, what i really want to tell these people is, "shut up! if you give them a chance, you can be blessed by them! you were once an annoying little kid too and aren't you thankful for the people who gave the extra bit of effort to be nice to you and care about you?"
honestly, people don't know what they are missing by not listening and learning from people younger than themselves. i personally think that they view them as inferrior and incapable of the "wisdom" they have. see, that is where kids have way more "wisdom" than the people older than them. they have a way about them, an innocence to them. they tell you the honest truth, which sometimes hurts, but they also aren't afraid to say the things they want to say. like, "i love you" and, "i think you're cool," which more often than not means that they look up to you and want to be like you. that happens to me a lot, which is kind of baffeling because they really shouldn't try to be like me...i am a silly person that messes up all the time.
i have always believed this, but it really struck me today when i was reading a Christmas card from a girl who was in my step-mother's class for the past 2 years (i vollenteered in her class) and was one of my campers at Camp Good News.
the front said,
"It's a Blessing to Know You"
then i open it, and in elementary school cursive handwriting, it says:
"December 25, 2008"
at the top, though Christmas hasn't even come by yet...and the card reads:
"Wishing you all the blessings and joy you're so deserving of,
Because you're a special reflection of God's most precious love.
Merry Christmas"
and the cursive handwriting comes back saying:
"Thank you for everything you have done for us. Have a holly jolly Christmas Day.
Sincerely, Mia and Marla + Phillip"
this card made me tear up. it is from the whole family, but Mia wrote it out and Mia is the one who still will come over. i can't explain what my relationship with her is like. i go down every tuesday to her class and pretty much just help her out with her work. though the other kids like me, she goes beyond it all. she totally respects me and looks up to me. we share a wavelength. i know that we think the same things that other people are oblivious to.
in this card, it never once said, "i love you," but it has it written all over it if you really take the time to examine it. i don't feel like a blessing, to be completely honest, though many people will beg to differ. but when a 6th grader has the guts to say "you've changed my life" it should hit back at home to the older "wiser" people, like myself, who are too scared to tell important people in their lives just how special they are to them. these "wise" people need to get off their high horses and see how much these kids look up to them. these old people are actually being quite childish and annoying. there is something wrong with being childish, but there is nothing wrong with being child-like in the heart.
kids do these things...they:
-whine
-interrupt
-yell
-argue
-overreact
-are sometimes spoiled
but they:
-trust wholeheartedly in people
-are honest
-love
-look up to people
-respect
-have innocence
-and teach the open minded heart lessons they need to learn.
there is something i have noticed. people who are older still whine, interrupt, yell, argue, overreact, and are spoiled, but they start to lose their full trust in people, honesty, love, admiration, respect, and innocence.
i hope that you will want to spend time with someone younger than yourself soon and learn how to live a life of meaning and importance that changes the lives around you.
Mohandas Gandhi? What?
i just found out that Monhandas Gandhi (the peace guy of India) who was a big Hindu, was extremely smart about many things containing a way of finding equal treament of everybody. he not only studied the Bible (which is seems very odd of an orthodox Hindu) but he put it into practice in a way that reminds me of the disciples and Jesus.
ok. so this sounds like a random topic, but really....it isn't! see, in world history (the class i loath entirely....) we have been studying India for a long time and we had to write an essay on him and are now currently watching a movie on him.
alright, back to my point. he didn't just want things to change and the oppression that he was feeling to go away. he didn't just sit around and do nothing when he knew something was completely inhumane. he did it. and he knew the consquences. and instead of backing out when times were hard, he kept pushing forward. he lived the verse, "if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matt. 5:39, NIV). but i like The Messgae's version better, i think, which says, "if someone strikes you, stand there and take it." its as simple as that. and i feel as though i myself and many other Christians believe that it is meant only emotionally. Yes, it does mean that, but it also means physically. isnt that what Jesus did at the cross? isn't that what Paul did everytime he was thrown in jail? isn't that what Stephen did in Acts 7 when they were about to stone him? Though Stephen wasn't Jesus, instead of trying to beat them, he looked up to Jesus in his time of massive harship and was filled with the Holy Spirit. i feel as though Christians, me especially, have a massive lack in faith. that when things are going good, we just forget God and go along with our own lives and not trying at all to live for Him. but when things get rough, we come crawling back begging for his help. that's not why God helps us. just like it says in 1 Peter that, "you call out to God for help and he helps---he's a good Father that way. But don't forget, he's also a responsible Father, and won't let you get by with sloppy living." (1 Peter 1:17 The Message). and we always think that we are going to have our health, and that people don't really get abused anymore. YEAH RIGHT?! i know many people who have lost their health and eventually their own lives, and there are many people who are hurt because of what they believe and who they are. but we as Christians are to never, never physically or emotionally hit back because we are to be the light of Jesus to everyone. and by pressing onwards to the ultimate goal of being as much as we can like Jesus, people will hate us. but keeping an unfaultering faith and taking all the abuse shows that though our flesh is weak, we have a God in our lives that cannot be broken or crushed.
Gandhi did that. though he was not a Christian, he had an unfaultering faith that Indians should be treated justly. when he was struck down by people, he kept trying to move forward, through the pain, and never ever hit back. i think that this should really be like a slap in the face to Christians because Gandhi, one who was of a different religion, shows more faith and guts than we do....and we have the Almighty God on our side! so if he could do the things he did without the comfort of God, just think of the things we should be able to accomplish!
(my disclaimer is that i'm not trying to say that Gandhi was bad in any way...on the contrary, i think he was a splendid person...its just that he shows more faith than many Christians i know, including me.)
ok. so this sounds like a random topic, but really....it isn't! see, in world history (the class i loath entirely....) we have been studying India for a long time and we had to write an essay on him and are now currently watching a movie on him.
alright, back to my point. he didn't just want things to change and the oppression that he was feeling to go away. he didn't just sit around and do nothing when he knew something was completely inhumane. he did it. and he knew the consquences. and instead of backing out when times were hard, he kept pushing forward. he lived the verse, "if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matt. 5:39, NIV). but i like The Messgae's version better, i think, which says, "if someone strikes you, stand there and take it." its as simple as that. and i feel as though i myself and many other Christians believe that it is meant only emotionally. Yes, it does mean that, but it also means physically. isnt that what Jesus did at the cross? isn't that what Paul did everytime he was thrown in jail? isn't that what Stephen did in Acts 7 when they were about to stone him? Though Stephen wasn't Jesus, instead of trying to beat them, he looked up to Jesus in his time of massive harship and was filled with the Holy Spirit. i feel as though Christians, me especially, have a massive lack in faith. that when things are going good, we just forget God and go along with our own lives and not trying at all to live for Him. but when things get rough, we come crawling back begging for his help. that's not why God helps us. just like it says in 1 Peter that, "you call out to God for help and he helps---he's a good Father that way. But don't forget, he's also a responsible Father, and won't let you get by with sloppy living." (1 Peter 1:17 The Message). and we always think that we are going to have our health, and that people don't really get abused anymore. YEAH RIGHT?! i know many people who have lost their health and eventually their own lives, and there are many people who are hurt because of what they believe and who they are. but we as Christians are to never, never physically or emotionally hit back because we are to be the light of Jesus to everyone. and by pressing onwards to the ultimate goal of being as much as we can like Jesus, people will hate us. but keeping an unfaultering faith and taking all the abuse shows that though our flesh is weak, we have a God in our lives that cannot be broken or crushed.
Gandhi did that. though he was not a Christian, he had an unfaultering faith that Indians should be treated justly. when he was struck down by people, he kept trying to move forward, through the pain, and never ever hit back. i think that this should really be like a slap in the face to Christians because Gandhi, one who was of a different religion, shows more faith and guts than we do....and we have the Almighty God on our side! so if he could do the things he did without the comfort of God, just think of the things we should be able to accomplish!
(my disclaimer is that i'm not trying to say that Gandhi was bad in any way...on the contrary, i think he was a splendid person...its just that he shows more faith than many Christians i know, including me.)
Monday, December 15, 2008
Christmas Cookies and Spirit (Dec. 14. 08)
yesterday was going to be a normal day, so i thought. i went to church and then my step-mom reminded me that my eldest sister was going to go get a cat from my mom's best friend and so i tagged along. well, a visit with jeanie is never going to be a short one, so i was excited to go hang out with her again like i did when my mom was around. she lives by herself and had to make cookies but didn't want to alone. so we made some pumpkin cookies with her and were just having a blast, like it always is with her. and throughout the whole time together, she keeps saying little comments here and there about how i am so much like my mom and how she loves me. she keeps making it seem like a blessing that she got to be with my sister and me, while it was the other way around.
see since my mom passed away, i've felt very different from my family and that they dont really understand me like my mom did. and i feel like i have to surpress myself at home and not be me. but hanging out with jeanie just reminds me of way back when and it is such a blessing to be with her and really be me. i also was lacking the Christmas spirit a little bit this year. i mean i've watched some movies, but i didn't even feel like decorating the tree. i'm very excited for our family gift which is to go skiing in Vermont for 2 days, but i just didn't have a Christmas spirit. but making cookies, listening to Christmas music, and just laughing for an afternoon really reminds you what Christmas spirit is about. it is about love, joy, helping each other out, and Jesus' birth. all of the above were hit topics yesterday.
i can also say that every time i'm with jeanie its like being with my mom again which is a blessing that goes beyond words. so i'm very thankful for the opportunity to go a chill with her yesterday.....(moral of the story, try to find something you can do to help people, because you get blessed in return.....it keeps your Christmas Spirit in shape!)
see since my mom passed away, i've felt very different from my family and that they dont really understand me like my mom did. and i feel like i have to surpress myself at home and not be me. but hanging out with jeanie just reminds me of way back when and it is such a blessing to be with her and really be me. i also was lacking the Christmas spirit a little bit this year. i mean i've watched some movies, but i didn't even feel like decorating the tree. i'm very excited for our family gift which is to go skiing in Vermont for 2 days, but i just didn't have a Christmas spirit. but making cookies, listening to Christmas music, and just laughing for an afternoon really reminds you what Christmas spirit is about. it is about love, joy, helping each other out, and Jesus' birth. all of the above were hit topics yesterday.
i can also say that every time i'm with jeanie its like being with my mom again which is a blessing that goes beyond words. so i'm very thankful for the opportunity to go a chill with her yesterday.....(moral of the story, try to find something you can do to help people, because you get blessed in return.....it keeps your Christmas Spirit in shape!)
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