I Was Encouraged!

   I hope everyone had an awesome Memorial Day weekend! I had a great one but I am paying for it now, haha. I'm a very nice shade of rosy red. We spend most of the weekend out on the lake so I got plenty of sun! But it was worth it! We had a lot of fun and memories were made and that's whats most important.

   I'm mostly excited about a talk I had with someone this week. I know I shouldn't but sometimes I hesitate to talk about "religion" with people because there are so many different denominations and many different beliefs. The last thing I care to do it get in an argument with someone over God. Of course I will stand up for him no matter what but I don't think anyone is going to hear what I'm saying when it gets confrontational and that defensive wall goes up so I might as well not be say anything. Anyways, all that to say, I try not to make people mad. I believe in talking things out. But this weekend while hanging out with friends I got to talking to someone about God and rightly dividing the Bible. And let me just say that it's so encouraging to talk to someone. There's a lot of things that mean something to me but there is nothing I am more passionate about than God. If I have drifted from him, it throws my whole life into a spin. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I'm stressed, I'm not motivated, I feel just plain hollow inside. Over the course of my life I've been to quite a few churches, listened to different beliefs and opinions and some of them made some sense but there was still that stirring in me. I just didn't have peace. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself I did, I didn't. I started to get exhausted, constantly searching and feeling like I was getting no where. I was brought up in a very strong christian home. I can't say that I know the whole Bible backwards and forwards but I'm pretty familiar with a fair amount of it. So, listening to a lot of sermons, it was kind of rare to hear something I hadn't before. Most of the time it had been the same thing just a different angle on it. I wasn't learning anymore. It was like I couldn't grow anymore. I tried reading the Bible but I didn't understand it. It was like it went in one ear and right out the other. Things weren't sticking because they weren't making sense. It was already hard enough for me to have the motivation to read in the first place because I am someone who does not enjoy reading. I believe the Bible says exactly what it says for a reason. I believe God chose those words specifically because it best said what he meant for it to say! If I say something like "lying is wrong" I mean lying is wrong. I don't mean 'I think it's wrong for just me to lie or it's wrong for just you or someone else to lie, I mean plain and simple lying is wrong. So I don't believe God wrote the Bible so that it could be taken all of these different ways. No, he meant it one way. The way he meant to say it. If he meant something else he would specify. God is very clear, He is not the author of confusion - KJV 1 Corinthians 14:33. Yes, the Bible can be hard to read and sometimes confusing and will totally contradict itself but that is only if you do not rightly divide the Word - KJV 2 Timothy 2:15. I have been studying and actually understanding the Bible now. Rightly dividing and using the concordance so that I can understand the meaning of the words and apply them how God meant them. Another thing I've learned is that there are parts of the Bible that do not apply to us. Genesis through Acts are simply for our learning - KJV Romans 15:4. What applies to us today is Romans through Philemon. Hebrews through Revelation is meant for those who are here after God as removed the Church (being us - now, the Body of Christ) from the earth. This is just some of the stuff I have come to learn and see for myself. It's right there in the Bible in front of my face. I read the King James Version because there are verses missing in the NIV and like I said I feel like God chose every word specifically and the rest of the translations have been reworded so again I read the King James Version. But everything I've said, please don't take my word for it! This is something you need to discover for yourself. Don't take someones word on something as serious as this. Always check it for yourself! If you have any questions or anything please comment or message me and I will do everything I can to help. Hey, I'm not perfect! I mess up a lot and I am still learning! I've got a lot to learn! It's just always nice to talk to someone about God and have an encouraging conversation. I am very encouraged right now and excited to see where this goes because the person I spoke with wants to start studying with us and I'm very excited about that! It's always exciting when someone wants to study Gods Word! 

   Thanks for reading! I hope I maybe encouraged you, and if you don't agree with what I believe - I hope I've encourage to read your Bible if nothing else to prove me wrong, lol. Until next time love harder, be more understanding and seek God always with all of your heart!

True or False

   What kind of person are you? Are you the kind of person who is always there for people or do you say you will be and then when it comes down to actually doing it you've got more important things to do? If you are there when they need you, do you keep their issues to yourself or do you secretly tell others about them? Are you that person who pretends to care but you're just wanting the inside scoop? Are you the person who thinks of others above yourself. Are you selfish or giving? Do your actions match your words? This is something that's been on my mind lately. Everyone has friends, the people they choose to be around and trust with their personal information but we are also around people that aren't always who we'd choose. It may be at work or at school or church or maybe even family but at some point we might be around people who we don't particularly like. The person you are shouldn't just look good to your friends but also the people who you might not prefer to spend your time with. Everyone has to be around people they don't like but think about it, if you're not kind to those people just think about what they might say about you to others, maybe those people they're talk to are people that you do like and now they have an ugly impression of you. My point is we should always be paying attention to the impression we are making on others. Especially for those of us who claim to follow God.

   I have to admit this is one reason why I like being a substitute. I get to move around a lot and I didn't have to really spend a lot of time with the same people. Well, now that I stay at the same place a lot lately I've met a lot of people and a few that I might not be so fond of, lol. Although I might not be so fond of them I still have to work with them so it's important for me to be nice, lol, not only morally but for the sake of my job too, haha! I know some people might not like their jobs but I do! So, I would like to keep it! But I think it's really important to be an example. Now I am far from perfect! But I want to do my best to be that person who smiles in the face a negativity. I want to be genuine. I don't want to be fake or rude. Like I said, I'm not perfect and I have done the opposite of what I should have but this something that's been on my heart lately. I don't want to be that person that people feel like they need to whisper around because I can't be trusted, or make people feel like they need to walk on their toes around. I want to be that person who brings positive energy and is a joy to work/be around. I was to be real and true, not fake and ugly. It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside because what is inside shines through so brightly people will become blind to the outward appearance. Make sure your actions match your words! Be someone that others will look up to. Be someone who inspires! Please, learn to love yourself so that you may love others! Jesus laid down everything he had for people who hated him but he still loved them wholeheartedly. That's deep. I want to have that kind of love. What is this world without love?

   Thanks for reading! Until next time, love harder, be more understanding and seek God with all your heart!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!

   So before I start off with my good news there is something I want to ask your help on. You're going to think I'm silly for asking this but my cat has been having problems with her right back foot. She came in one evening for the night like she always does and laid down and went to sleep. Nothing out of the ordinary but the next morning when I got up to get ready for work I noticed a little bit of blood on the floor in the shape of her paw print. I checked her and she had a little scratch on her back right foot. It had scabbed over and she didn't mind me messing with it so I thought she seemed fine and left it alone. This was about two weeks ago. Well, Friday morning I let her out for a little while, I was kind of in a hurry trying to get ready for work so I wasn't really paying her too much attention, she wasn't acting any different but I didn't notice until I let her back in before I left that she was limping a little and it was that same leg. I went over and started to look at it and there were a few more places this time but them looked as if they had happened around about the same time the first one did because of the way they were "healing". When I touched her leg she didn't pull away but she was definitely curious of what I was doing. Well, by yesterday morning her foot was swollen 3 times the size of her other one. I had shown Dillon Friday and we had decided to give it the weekend and see how she did. She's at the vet right now. I'm at work so my mother-in-law had to take her in for me. I'm waiting to hear how she's doing and what the problem is. We think it's infection, we just don't know what from or how bad. Last night when we got home she had open up all for wounds and they were all draining a mixer of blood and pus. The swelling has gone down A LOT since she did that but it's still a bit swollen. When I opened the door of the cat carrier and put a towel down she went right in and laid down. If I didn't know any better I'd say she knew she was going to The Animal Hospital, lol. The first two days she acted normal but now she's seems really tired a lot. Poor thing when she tries to lay down she can't get seem to get comfortable with her leg. I just hope it's not like a snake bit or something. I hope it's something simple and that she'll be okay. So yes, I'm going to be that person who asks you to pray for her sick cat, lol. What can I say, I love the little trouble maker!

   Okay, so now for my exciting news! This summer Dillon started to teach me to ride the bike some. I had only done it once or twice up until this week. Honestly, I was shocked he decided to teach me on this bike. We have a Yamaha FZ1. I thought he would start teaching me on a smaller bike, like a 250 - not a 1000! But hey, I am not complaining! Sunday afternoon when we got back from camping we went out to eat on the bike and on our way home Dillon pulled off to the side of the road and asked me if I wanted to drive home. I was like "YEAH!!" He asked me if I thought I could do it and I was like "Yeah!" When I was really thinking "Oh crap. I hope I can do this." But I was determined to try! Well, he got off and told me to take it down the road a couple of times to get used to the clutch again because it had been a little while since I had drove it. So I did till I felt good about it and came back to get him. As soon as he got on and I felt his weight I thought "Please don't let this thing get off balance because I don't think I'll be able to catch it." But I pulled out onto the road and started on our way home. Let me tell you it is a whole other world when you have a passenger! Their balance is so important! And Dillon is not someone who rides passenger often. lol. But he did great and we made it home just fine. When we got home Dillon asked me if I wanted to drive it over to my parents and of course I jumped on that, lol. He followed me in the truck. Well than this past Friday he called me on his way home from work and asked me how I'd feel about driving the bike into town. I said that I would like to practice taking off on hills a little more so that I could get really familiar with the clutch so I wouldn't stall out at like a red light or something. Well, than he told me how he needed to take our friends bike to the shop and drop it off and he'd need a way home and he was thinking we could both ride the bikes into town and then ride ours back home. So, of course I jumped on that, lol. I was a little nervous but once we got going it was GREAT! It was so fun! Especially riding with someone else on another bike along with me. I have always wanted a motorcycle of my own and now I want one even more! I know that's a bit of a long shot because we already have one but I'm very excited to be able to ride the one we have! I'm so lucky to have a husband that trusts me and is patient enough to teach me how to ride! I'm so excited and so thankful! There, that's my big and exciting news, haha! I'm on cloud 9!

   Before you go, take a look at the baddest biker gang ever, haha! This was Sunday's ride.

   Thanks for reading! Until next time, love harder, be more understanding and seek God with everything you have! Byes!

I Love What I Do But That Doesn't Make It Easy

 

 I love kids. I have always loved kids. A lot of people say that the reason why is because I never grew up myself and I feel more comfortable with people of my maturity level, lol. I will admit I never want to grow up and you're only as old as you feel. Physically - as you know, I'm working on that - more energy and better health. But mentally sometimes I forget I'm 23 instead of 17, lol. I was reminded of my age the other when talking to my 16 year old cousin and his new girlfriend when he made a face to her that said something like "she's so weird" after I made an intentionally lame joke. When I saw that face it hit my like a ton of bricks that I was that weird older person we used to make fun of when I was that age, haha! Woops. I think I might have embarrassed him in front of his new girl, lol. But I have always had a heart for kids. It has a lot to do with being misunderstood, I think. As a kid I didn't have a lot of friends. Because of the group I was around, it wasn't really acceptable to be different and I've never really been one to follow the crowd. I was a tom-boy when I was to be a girly-girl. So none of the girls would hang out with me because I wanted to do what the boys where doing and the boys didn't want me around because I was a girl. Sometimes it got to me, I won't lie. I did want friends but not enough to pretend to be someone I wasn't. It became very important to me to accepted for who I was because I knew God made this way for a reason. We were always taught that God loves us for who we are so it didn't make sense to me to be anyone else but me. I just remember struggling a lot with this when I was young. I just wished someone could understand how I felt. Over the years it started to become important to me to try and understand kids and what they may be going through, try to be there for them and help them understand - if I can. Of course being yourself is important but it's not an excuse to do what you want. There are limitations as there are with everything. Morals are a huge part of this. Lets be honest, without God in your heart you will always be searching. Searching to find yourself, someone or something to fill that void that will ALWAYS be there without Him. Sadly this is something that I'm not completely free to talk with my students about. But I do my best to be some kind of example for them. I'm always open for questions. That's one thing that's cool about these kids, they take almost every opportunity to get to know you. They are constantly asking me questions, wanting to get to know me and I love getting to know them. My heart goes out to this generation. They are growing up in a really rough world and most of them don't have parents to guide and lead them. The other day I was walking down the hall with my little cousin and one of her friends when my little cousin told me that her friend has been on T.V. because she had been kidnapped last summer. Then her friend told me about how her mother was now in jail because she had kidnapped her and his siblings and ran away with them across the country to hide them from their father. She talked about it like it was no big deal, just everyday stuff. It broke my heart. It's rare to meet kids who's parents are both in the picture much less married. As much as people like to think it doesn't effect the kids it does. Dramatically. It was intended by God for children to be raised by both man and women. Obviously man and women are very different. We each teach something completely different. One can not do what the other does. A lot of kids today are growing up in a world of confusion because they don't the leaders God intended for them to have. I feel like it's really important to do everything I can to help. I can only do so much but I always say if I could be even the tiniest light for some of the kids here than I have done my job. That's all I want to do. Yes, I am a substitute teacher - my job is to teach but that doesn't mean that I can't be something positive in their day if I can. I love these kids, even though some days they make me want to pull my hair out, lol. But that's just kids. One thing I love about my job is because I'm a substitute I move around a lot. So I'm constantly meeting new people and kids which I love! I made some new friends this year as well. 

   Basically my goal in life is to be something positive in someones life or day or whatever. I am DEFINITELY not perfect! By any means. Trust me, if you spend 5 minutes with me, you'll see that right away. 'Progress not perfection' doesn't just apply in working out. There's always room for improvement! I have been trying very hard to improve on myself and my life. I am never going to be perfect. No one ever will. We aren't meant to be but we should always strive to be better. This is something I constantly am having to tell myself. I am realist. I can see things either way and usually for what they really are. I want to work to be more of an optimist. I don't want to be that person that's blind to things just because they refuse to see the negative but I don't want to be that person who isn't remembering how thankful I should be for everything in my life. Whether I like it or not, everything happens for a reason and it's to better me, to learn from. I don't want to be a pessimist. How am I supposed to be something positive in someones life if I'm always complaining about everything in it. And what fun is it to always be seeing the glass as half empty? It only makes you miserable anyways. Long story short, I've got a lot to work on and when it comes to having my own kids, I've got a lot to teach. Is it bad to say that it scares me to think about to raising kids in today's world? But if God chooses to bless me and my husband with little ones, than hey, it's obviously part of His plan and I'm good with whatever he has planned for me. I just need to try my hardest and do my best with whatever that is.

   Thanks for reading! Until next time, love harder, be more understanding and seek God with all your heart!