As Times Go By

JerBear and Millie have known me since I was about 4 years old and have adopted me as their own grand-daughter - for which I am extremely thankful. I want to share with you my final visit with Millie, but first a little back story. For my sixteenth birthday, I had a blessings shower where many women who had been investing in my life were to bring a symbols of God’s goodness and share the story for which that symbol represents.  Millie’s symbol were two dozen pink roses.  I remember her handing them to me, looking me in the eyes and thanking me for praying for her grandchildren when I was a young girl in their Life group.  I was sixteen years old. And I respected Millie so much, yet she was thanking me for something I did when I was a child.  I still have her pink roses dried in a glass jar on my dresser. A few weeks ago I went to visit JerBear, Millie and Sandy.  And now it was my turn to thank Millie. JerBear let me sit, talk and pray with her and I had brought her a do

One thing I've never been lacking in is emotion. Lord knows I have enough to bestow onto an entire country and their next generations, and it ranges as far north as from south.   So any situation that arises, by brain explodes and quickly comes back together to create some of the most ridiculous scenarios it will ever hear. I was about to make a list of just today's crazy rationals, but as I began to I realized that they all have something in common. 1. They are all about me.  2. They are all about my relationship status. Is that what I've become? Someone whose entire world is defined by who they're with? I so badly want to say no. That's all my mind has been focused on.  I can hardly figure out who I am or what I like because my mind is so engulfed in being alone.  Which only recently started scaring me. So let's figure this one out.  Why am I so eager to be in a relationship? Because I don't want to be the crazy cat lady that die

At what point in time do you suddenly begin to fear? Fear for your future, and your present; and even from some choices in your past.  When did that happen!?  Did I just wake up one morning and decide I was no longer a child without a care in the world? Don't get me wrong, I still get out my coloring box on occasion and whip up a mean picture of The Cookie Monster, but when did fear/anxiety become a part of my life? I'm not one to live in fear, but for some reason, I've been so anxious with the uncertainty of my future. This past month my parents were home from Thailand and it was so great to be able to spend some face -to-face time with them instead of the usual Skype sessions.  We laughed a lot and ate even more.  But it wasn't until the last three days of my mother being here that I really began to appreciate the lack of distance that we had been able to enjoy. Do you ever have that feeling when you're sick, or upset where you think "I just want a hug

Today was.. sad, beautiful, eye-opening, gut-wrenching, breath-taking and full of awe. Today was sad. We as a church found out that a dear wife, mother, friend, sister in Christ had passed away early this morning after months of treatment in the hospital for a type of cancer that is escaping my mind right now.  The husband and one of the sons were sitting in the service as this was announced and everybody's hearts sank and mourned with theirs.  By the end of the service 15 or so of us went and prayed with them at the altar. And after, swarms of people gathered to embrace and cry and share in their pain and pour love onto them.  It was beautiful. Today was eye-opening.  I got to talk to the husband afterwards and listened to him go on and on about how Great and Awesome God has been in his marriage and how wonderful it is that she is now dancing and praising God face to face today.  I thanked him for his physical display of commitment to his wife.  They way that he was faithful t

I really like Brother Lawrence.  He's been my favorite "go-to-for-encouragement" guy for a few years now as I've been learning how to devote my days to prayer and glorify God in even the most mundane tasks.  However, it has been a few months since I picked up his book of letters, "The Practice of the Presence of God."  But after today, in all of it's business and boxes of coffee and upset customers and awkward set-ups and trash runs and spills and sweat and unpreparedness etc etc., I was longing for His Presence. Today I spent two hours with a new believer and two other friends from my church and we listened to these awesome questions and discussions that came from this new believer.  It's amazing to see how much curiosity God has given us and it was such an encouraging time to dissect what the Bible tells us and to still have questions that take us deeper.  I'm very thankful for her.  Surprisingly those two hours were pure goodness to my soul

Welcome to my blog! This is my first blogging experience so bare with me. I've been told before that I should start a blog, but never did because I didn't really think I had anything that significant to say.  So what changed?  Nothing really.  No radical, life altering experience that gave me copious amounts of knowledge.  But, for a year now I've lived in the real world as a semi-real adult and I think I've learned a thing or two. Along with me on this journey has been my very faithful and comical cat,  Ingrid. (image to the right. The day I got her, and only a few weeks old).  She was a gift from my parents when I graduated college in May of 2012 and she is a riot.  Now I'm not one of those crazy cat people, though I do like joking that I am, but I just really love my cat. So the premise of this blog will be pictures of Ingrid and the things that she does along with my thoughts of life events So let's begin. I'm a college graduate from Shippensb