I have found myself astounded more than once at the way God works in my life, and who He works through! In my life I can think of several times where it has been those who've rejected Christ who have been the biggest blessing to me in those moments when things were more than I alone could handle. It makes me wonder why God uses the lost and not the church. Hmm? I'm not sure. Either way, I'm very grateful for the blessings God has given me, whether through His own or not.
Today was another case of God using someone who is lost to help me and bless me. I have a co-worker who is an atheist, and though he doesn't talk about it often, it is still evident in his life. We typically do not agree on anything that matters politically, spiritually, and personally. He is quite a bit older than I am, and has seen a lot more of the world than I have. Despite our frequent differences of opinion, I can honestly say I find him to be wise in the ways of the world.
He has a way of speaking that is considerate and kind and not demeaning. I can't even recount all the questions I've asked him, from religion to science, politics to relationships, and even to cooking. And he's always answered in a way that didn't make me feel like a fool for not knowing in the first place. I really appreciate that.
Anyway, today was a really nice conversation with him..probably one of our more serious. And it was truly such a blessing to talk out different things that have been running through my head. Though I still don't agree with everything he says, I've definitely learned a lot from him, and I'm very glad to have him as a co-worker. I'm so thankful that God is capable of using the lost to bring glory to Himself. It's pretty incredible.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
A Look Behind
Have you ever considered how difficult life was for those who came before us? How we take for granted the ease in which we are allowed to live? Well, I've been working on typing my great-grandfather's autobiography into my computer in order to have multiple copies of his life story. As I was typing it in, I came upon a passage where my great-grandfather spoke of his father, my great-great-grandfather!It is a bit long-winded, and I think he could have given Dickens a run for his money in the 'longest sentence' category. :P But, I thought I would share this section where he speaks about the life of a pioneer and what it took to survive...here ya go!
"Pa often told of his experiences during that period. Some of his employers treated him very badly – others were less harsh. However, since all were pioneers, it was a time of back-breaking manual labor, with few amenities.
It meant learning to use ax and cross-cut saw and wedges to cut down forests for lumber and fence posts, as well as firewood for cooking, and for heat during the long, hard winters.
It meant learning how to pull stumps, in order to clear land for crops; to use dynamite to remove the large ones, as well as to split boulders too heavy to move (for this land was all glacial moraine, replete with rocks, sandhills, clay deposits and the inevitable swamps, where glacial debris blocked the natural drainage of the region.)
It meant learning how to plan and build your own house and farm buildings, wagons, sleighs, furniture, utensils, tools, coffins and grave markers.
It meant learning how to dig wells, basements and drainage ditches; to mold and fire bricks; to mix cement for concrete foundations and barn floors; and plaster for walls, and brick or stone fireplaces and chimneys; as well as acquiring the fine techniques of applying those materials.
It meant learning how to ride and drive both horses and oxen; to tan animal hides for leather to make your own harness and saddles, your own shoes and clothing.
It meant learning how to plow, drag and harrow the fields; how and when to plant and sow the seed – by hand, of course, since there were no machines, nor money to buy them if they had been available; to know when and how to harvest the crops – again with hand tools like sickles and scythes.
How does one tie a bundle of grain or corn without twine? How does one build a shock of these bundles that will withstand heavy wind - and rains storms without collapsing, or becoming water-soaked?
It meant learning how to shoot firearms – to hunt and trap and fish, not for sport, but for food and clothing, and sometimes to save one's very life. It meant learning how to deal with unknown diseases and pests that destroyed the crops and animals which were your livelihood.
It mean learning how to butcher your domestic animals for food; how to remove and preserve the hides; how to render lard; how to make your own candles and oil lamps for illumination; how to preserve meat for several months by drying; or with wood smoke, salt and spices; how to make your own sausages, pickles, sauerkraut, butter and cheese; as well as jam, jelly and sauce from all the wild and domestic fruits and berries. Furthermore, it meant learning how to shear sheep, to build spinning wheels to spin the wool into yarn; and looms, to weave the yarn into cloth; to cut and sew the cloth – by hand – to make clothing; or to use the yarn for knitting sweaters, skirts, stockings, caps and mittens.
How does one build a bee-hive? Capture a swarm of bees, or remove honey from the hive without being stung to death?
Which of the maples in the forest is the sugar maple? And how and where does one collect the sap? Once collected, how does one convert the thin juice into syrup and sugar?
And still different techniques had to be found for the making of syrup and sugar from one's own plantings of sorghum and sugar beets.
Finally, somehow you had to survive – without doctors, dentists, pharmacies or hospitals – epidemics of contagious diseases, organic disorders, serious accidents, inset stings, snake bites and child-birth. What an admirable breed they were – those pioneers!"
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The Rose
This is part of the reason I'm a very happy girl right now..
Isn't it just gorgeous? *melt*
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Thankful Thursday
I am being reminded daily of my blessings, and they are too great to number. Truly, my life is so incredibly blessed, it's amazing. My God is sooo good. Today was definitely a God day...
Opening up shop this morning gave me the wonderful opportunity to chat with my Lord while working. I don't always have the best prayer life..though I think we could always say that. But it was so wonderful to feel so connected with my Heavenly Father, and I truly feel it made a difference in my day. I feel like I did a good job in making my customers happy and providing good service. God has been making some things clear to me, which is really great..but I think the greatest thing at work was the experience of God changing my perspective of someone that I've heard a lot about. It could only be miraculous, and I extremely thankful for it. My God day continued with small group tonight, and as always, spending time with my church friends was instructive and interesting! I really appreciate hearing the different opinions that come from my time spent with my church family. So truly, I have been blessed...Have you had a God day lately?
Opening up shop this morning gave me the wonderful opportunity to chat with my Lord while working. I don't always have the best prayer life..though I think we could always say that. But it was so wonderful to feel so connected with my Heavenly Father, and I truly feel it made a difference in my day. I feel like I did a good job in making my customers happy and providing good service. God has been making some things clear to me, which is really great..but I think the greatest thing at work was the experience of God changing my perspective of someone that I've heard a lot about. It could only be miraculous, and I extremely thankful for it. My God day continued with small group tonight, and as always, spending time with my church friends was instructive and interesting! I really appreciate hearing the different opinions that come from my time spent with my church family. So truly, I have been blessed...Have you had a God day lately?
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Another Thankful Thursday
Today has been good, bad, and weird. It was my second day in a row opening up at the bakery which means that I have to be at work at 6:45am. I'm sure it could be worse, but for a night owl like myself, that can get to be pretty early for me. Thankfully, I wasn't as tired as I was yesterday.
Thursday are generally pretty slow in the morning, so I was expecting to be bored as usual, but no! there was plenty to be done. I frosted a total of...over 5 dozen cookies and was having a really difficult time with it.
I've gotten pretty used to frosting the pumpkin and chocolate cookies, and generally, I do a pretty good job with them. Not today! The dryness in the air here causes the frosting to have attitude problems and not spread well. It was a bit disappointing to have those cookies turn out..not so hot.
I didn't truly begin getting frustrated until I had to frost the sugar heart cookies. For days I've seen the adorable heart cookies that my co-worker has frosted and continually been happy to not be frosting them myself because I knew that I couldn't get them so cute!
And it turns out I was right. I wasn't able to get them as cute, and in fact, some were downright ugly. The best news in all of this is that the frosting for those cookies set in such a way that it's possible to literally scrape it off and start over. So, perhaps I frosted the same cookie around 5 times...perhaps not.
The problem in all of this is what I kept telling myself. Though not using these exact words, in essence I kept telling myself "you're worthless", "you can't do this", "you always fail at this", "you will never be able to measure up" and other such deprecating thoughts.
This went on for quite a while, and my frustration built and built and spilled over to my other co-worker. She was very patient with me and tried to help me finish the frosting and showed me tips in how to not fail at frosting, and they were very helpful. I realize that so far this hasn't been a very thankful post, but it's coming..just keep reading.
After finally putting the cookies away with a resignation that that was as good as it was going to get; I put away all the frosting supplies. As I did that I began to think about my whole thought process throughout this experience and that's when I realized something. Every negative thought I had went back to Rejection. I was afraid of being rejected by my boss for my ugly cookies (silly as it sounds now). I was afraid that they wouldn't sell at all. I felt like my inability to frost pretty cookies was a mark against me. This all sounds very silly to me now, but in the moment, it was very difficult to deal with.
Realizing the effect this spirit of Rejection was having on me, I took control of the situation, or rather, gave the control over to someone much greater than I am. I called upon the power of Jesus' name to shield me from these waves of Rejection and...it worked.
Almost immediately I felt a weight leave my spirit and I was able to proceed with my day with joy. It was after this that I was able to truly look upon the experience as a learning one. I saw my cookies as the outcome of my honest effort and growing process. No, they aren't beautiful like my co-workers, but they still taste the same. The more I frost them, the more comfortable I will become.
This may seem petty/silly to you, but the more I thought about it, the more I understood that this episode was the opportunity to take one more step on the road to rejecting Rejection. And the thing that has caused me to be so thankful is my Lord, Jesus Christ whose name is above all names, who is Creator and Sustainer of all things. The One who carries me through each trial and dances with me for every victory. It is only by the name of Jesus that I am free at all.
There were a lot of wonderful things that happened today, but I think the only other thing I will mention is how thankful/grateful I've been for the recent comments on my picture blog posts. It is a nice feeling to have my photos appreciated and admired. So thank you to those who have taken notice of them!
Thursday are generally pretty slow in the morning, so I was expecting to be bored as usual, but no! there was plenty to be done. I frosted a total of...over 5 dozen cookies and was having a really difficult time with it.
I've gotten pretty used to frosting the pumpkin and chocolate cookies, and generally, I do a pretty good job with them. Not today! The dryness in the air here causes the frosting to have attitude problems and not spread well. It was a bit disappointing to have those cookies turn out..not so hot.
I didn't truly begin getting frustrated until I had to frost the sugar heart cookies. For days I've seen the adorable heart cookies that my co-worker has frosted and continually been happy to not be frosting them myself because I knew that I couldn't get them so cute!
And it turns out I was right. I wasn't able to get them as cute, and in fact, some were downright ugly. The best news in all of this is that the frosting for those cookies set in such a way that it's possible to literally scrape it off and start over. So, perhaps I frosted the same cookie around 5 times...perhaps not.
The problem in all of this is what I kept telling myself. Though not using these exact words, in essence I kept telling myself "you're worthless", "you can't do this", "you always fail at this", "you will never be able to measure up" and other such deprecating thoughts.
This went on for quite a while, and my frustration built and built and spilled over to my other co-worker. She was very patient with me and tried to help me finish the frosting and showed me tips in how to not fail at frosting, and they were very helpful. I realize that so far this hasn't been a very thankful post, but it's coming..just keep reading.
After finally putting the cookies away with a resignation that that was as good as it was going to get; I put away all the frosting supplies. As I did that I began to think about my whole thought process throughout this experience and that's when I realized something. Every negative thought I had went back to Rejection. I was afraid of being rejected by my boss for my ugly cookies (silly as it sounds now). I was afraid that they wouldn't sell at all. I felt like my inability to frost pretty cookies was a mark against me. This all sounds very silly to me now, but in the moment, it was very difficult to deal with.
Realizing the effect this spirit of Rejection was having on me, I took control of the situation, or rather, gave the control over to someone much greater than I am. I called upon the power of Jesus' name to shield me from these waves of Rejection and...it worked.
Almost immediately I felt a weight leave my spirit and I was able to proceed with my day with joy. It was after this that I was able to truly look upon the experience as a learning one. I saw my cookies as the outcome of my honest effort and growing process. No, they aren't beautiful like my co-workers, but they still taste the same. The more I frost them, the more comfortable I will become.
This may seem petty/silly to you, but the more I thought about it, the more I understood that this episode was the opportunity to take one more step on the road to rejecting Rejection. And the thing that has caused me to be so thankful is my Lord, Jesus Christ whose name is above all names, who is Creator and Sustainer of all things. The One who carries me through each trial and dances with me for every victory. It is only by the name of Jesus that I am free at all.
There were a lot of wonderful things that happened today, but I think the only other thing I will mention is how thankful/grateful I've been for the recent comments on my picture blog posts. It is a nice feeling to have my photos appreciated and admired. So thank you to those who have taken notice of them!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Photography - round two
Again, I'm enjoying reading Becky's posts about her photography class, and I've decided to share another one of my own pictures.
I love this picture! I was just walking along the beach in Cuxhaven, Germany when I noticed this lone boot next to a lone footprint. It was just brilliantly funny to me. There were no other footprints anywhere in the near vicinity. Isn't that funny? Anyway, I just love it. :D
I love this picture! I was just walking along the beach in Cuxhaven, Germany when I noticed this lone boot next to a lone footprint. It was just brilliantly funny to me. There were no other footprints anywhere in the near vicinity. Isn't that funny? Anyway, I just love it. :D
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Thankful Thursday
I decided to post a bit early today, since I have the time to do it, and otherwise I might forget! It doesn't seem like a week has gone by since my last TT post, but hey, GREAT! Another chance to be thankful!! :D
This past week has been incredible!
Friday was awesome because M and my friend's uncle were able to fix my car and really cheaply too. And then M and I were able to perform for our swing club in preparation for our competition on Saturday. Everyone really enjoyed it, and it went very well.
Saturday was an amazing day..a tad long though. We had the rehearsals to attend for the competition and were able to practice a little more. All the waiting gave us a great chance to just hang out and talk, which of course, was lovely. The competition itself went very well! It was so much fun to participate in, and I think it was one of our best dances for sure. We were able to do a great job. Now we're just waiting on the video so we can watch it! We ended up winning first place, which was very exciting.
Sunday was pretty sweet and relaxed. Church and lunch afterward were excellent as always, and then that evening, my sister and her boyfriend came over and watched the Australian Open Men's Final between Murray and Djokovic. It was so much fun to watch it with them!
Monday was swell. M's mom was in town for the night, so I was able to meet her. It was really cool! Sadly, we didn't get to talk much since we were at salsa, but we talked a lot on Tuesday...
...when we went shopping! So fun! I had a great time. We even met up with M's aunt for lunch. Seeing them together was a blast..I really like his family. Tuesday was just a great day all around.
Yesterday was pretty normal. Work was fine but not too exciting. The best thing that happened was being able to watch Nanny McPhee Returns in my apartment complex's movie theater! Yay!
Today has been a brilliant day! Work was the best it's been in a very long time, and I'm feeling much more confident about who I am, and how I fit into the Josie's Family. It was such a blessing. I really didn't feel the need to go home...I could have stayed longer and continued enjoying my time. Another nice thing today was going on a walk with a friend from church! It was great to chat with her.
And that's all that's happened up until now. It truly has been a blessed week, and I'm excited to see what else comes my way!
This past week has been incredible!
Friday was awesome because M and my friend's uncle were able to fix my car and really cheaply too. And then M and I were able to perform for our swing club in preparation for our competition on Saturday. Everyone really enjoyed it, and it went very well.
Saturday was an amazing day..a tad long though. We had the rehearsals to attend for the competition and were able to practice a little more. All the waiting gave us a great chance to just hang out and talk, which of course, was lovely. The competition itself went very well! It was so much fun to participate in, and I think it was one of our best dances for sure. We were able to do a great job. Now we're just waiting on the video so we can watch it! We ended up winning first place, which was very exciting.
Sunday was pretty sweet and relaxed. Church and lunch afterward were excellent as always, and then that evening, my sister and her boyfriend came over and watched the Australian Open Men's Final between Murray and Djokovic. It was so much fun to watch it with them!
Monday was swell. M's mom was in town for the night, so I was able to meet her. It was really cool! Sadly, we didn't get to talk much since we were at salsa, but we talked a lot on Tuesday...
...when we went shopping! So fun! I had a great time. We even met up with M's aunt for lunch. Seeing them together was a blast..I really like his family. Tuesday was just a great day all around.
Yesterday was pretty normal. Work was fine but not too exciting. The best thing that happened was being able to watch Nanny McPhee Returns in my apartment complex's movie theater! Yay!
Today has been a brilliant day! Work was the best it's been in a very long time, and I'm feeling much more confident about who I am, and how I fit into the Josie's Family. It was such a blessing. I really didn't feel the need to go home...I could have stayed longer and continued enjoying my time. Another nice thing today was going on a walk with a friend from church! It was great to chat with her.
And that's all that's happened up until now. It truly has been a blessed week, and I'm excited to see what else comes my way!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Photography
It's amazing to me how we can randomly get connected to different blogs and begin to follow other writer's lives. Well, I found this blog through a friend of a friend, and it made me really excited! She has been doing different posts about photography which is something that interests me greatly. Every week she has a new assignment, and so today I took her up on it and uploaded this picture:
This is one of my favorite scenery pictures from Germany. I took it one morning after dropping my charge off at the bus station, and it was just such a glorious morning. I ended up taking several pictures on my walk back home, but this was the best one. I'm really excited to see all the other photos that are uploaded!
P.S. to Becky: Sorry I didn't get this post up right away after uploading my picture! :D
P.S. to Becky: Sorry I didn't get this post up right away after uploading my picture! :D
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
An Anniversary and Being Real
Today was the two year anniversary of my grandpa's death. I wrote a blog about him a few weeks ago, and yet I found that it didn't even cross my mind until my sister called me late in the evening. I had forgotten..and that made me sad. How is it that I can miss him like crazy and yet not remember? Is that normal?
Hmm. I've found myself making lots of excuses lately. "Things have been really hectic lately" " I haven't been sleeping well" "My life is so exciting right now it's hard to keep track of it all" "It's not my top priority" All such lame excuses. I'm tired of making excuses...I just want to live out my life the way I was called to.
I think in many ways it comes back to pride. If I'm not doing the best at something, I'll make an excuse to cover it up because I don't want people to see me failing. In fact, my first thought in writing this blog was that I didn't want to tell you that I'd forgotten his anniversary.
Why is it that we're so afraid of being real with each other. The other thought I had was how my forgetfulness could paint me somewhat as a hypocrite. Like I said, I posted a blog not that long ago about how much I miss him, and in my own thoughts, if I missed him that much, how come I forgot. I might just be giving myself a hard time.
I want to be able to be real with others but that's scary. It's hard to be vulnerable, because it's just that much easier to be hurt...but if we aren't open enough to be hurt, how can we be open enough to be blessed? How can we change society or even our close circle of friends to be open and honest with each other about how they're really doing and what they might not be doing the best in right now. My goodness, there's so many things I could be doing better right now. It's hard to admit that we aren't perfect.
Along with my goals of seeing every event as an experience to benefit me in life later on, and finding gratefulness in every circumstance, I want to make it a goal to be open and honest with people in the right portion and setting. Will you help me do that?
Hmm. I've found myself making lots of excuses lately. "Things have been really hectic lately" " I haven't been sleeping well" "My life is so exciting right now it's hard to keep track of it all" "It's not my top priority" All such lame excuses. I'm tired of making excuses...I just want to live out my life the way I was called to.
I think in many ways it comes back to pride. If I'm not doing the best at something, I'll make an excuse to cover it up because I don't want people to see me failing. In fact, my first thought in writing this blog was that I didn't want to tell you that I'd forgotten his anniversary.
Why is it that we're so afraid of being real with each other. The other thought I had was how my forgetfulness could paint me somewhat as a hypocrite. Like I said, I posted a blog not that long ago about how much I miss him, and in my own thoughts, if I missed him that much, how come I forgot. I might just be giving myself a hard time.
I want to be able to be real with others but that's scary. It's hard to be vulnerable, because it's just that much easier to be hurt...but if we aren't open enough to be hurt, how can we be open enough to be blessed? How can we change society or even our close circle of friends to be open and honest with each other about how they're really doing and what they might not be doing the best in right now. My goodness, there's so many things I could be doing better right now. It's hard to admit that we aren't perfect.
Along with my goals of seeing every event as an experience to benefit me in life later on, and finding gratefulness in every circumstance, I want to make it a goal to be open and honest with people in the right portion and setting. Will you help me do that?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)