The count down begins...

So, I have had a total month from camp until school.
Now there is one week left.
You always know that when you reach school you will wish you
were back at home. relaxing.
So...I've been trying to think of more things to do throughout the week.
A bucket list of sorts.
So far I've got...
Ride my bike more
Cook something (like cookies or banana bread, really anything)
Go swimming/canoeing/kayaking (all the above??)
finish another book that I actually want to read
Any more ideas would be welcomed!
I haven't done anything drastic lately so I bought blue nail polish.
Enough said.

diktat

1. A harsh settlement unilaterally imposed on a defeated party.

2. An authoritative decree or order.

love

"Love the Lord your God, and love one another.
Love one another as he loves.
Love with strength and purpose and passion
and no matter what comes against you, don't weaken.
Stand against the darkness, and love.
That's the way back into Eden.
That's the way back to life."

-Redeeming Love (book you should read...spiritually filling
and such a good story line!)

life is harder on a bumpy road

So, after lots of searching through craig's list and looking at random garage sales in
hopes for a bike...I finally got one. At Walmart. For like 80 bucks.
I was so pumped!!
Now Mrs. Rachel who had her bike stolen could
finally roam free on her OWN bike!
So my mom and I went on the bike trail and after a little bit
IT HURT
The seat was incredibly uncomfortable and
the way the handlebars are positioned it just was bad news bears.
The bike could get you from point A to point B
but is it really worth it when you are groaning in pain the whole 3 miles??
I guess cheaper isn't always better.
On the flip side...I did find a TV stand for $1.50 at the DMACC garage sale. whoop!
Guess it looks like more bike searching while I find a ice pack for my behind....

Don't have enough change??

Consumed. I am consumed in my own life. Its all about me.
I stubbed my toe, my stomach hurts, I can't believe this computer is so slow,
how come I had to step in cow poop...blah blah blah.
We spend our lives too wrapped up in our own problems
that we can't even begin to recognize the problems of others.
They are there...right in front of you waiting to get your attention
like a parking meter that blinks expired
but instead of the word expired its blinking get over yourself.

There is more to life then just me and my silly problems.
I realize that this is a easy concept but also very difficult to remember.

For example, I was hung up over the fact that I didn't have the same job
next year and that I wasn't feeling good and that I couldn't get my
room clean.
Then I realized...that is no biggie.
My grandma has been sick for a year,
my friend's dad is out of a job
and trying to get back on his feet,
my other friend's mom is ill,
there are people who go days/weeks without a meal

And I'm worried about a stomach ache? really?

I saw a sign that said:
"Be the change you want to see in others"
That's good, but not good enough.
Notice other people are changing and having their own problems
and your life will change. Dramatically.
It won't be all about you. It will be about them.
Help them through the changes/challenges
and your life will never be the same

blogod

This is a blog. A blog about God. Therefore, it is called blogod.

I've been reading this really good book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller.
After working at a bible camp for the first time this summer
it's really got me thinking about faith.
Therefore, I am reading this book. Which is amazing.
He has many good points, out of many here is one...

"The whole idea of everybody wanting to be somebody new was an important
insight in terms of liking God.
God was selling something I wanted.
Still, God was in the same boat as the guy selling the knives
and Juliet promising to make Romeo new.
Everybody exaggerates when they are selling something."

What is God selling and why is it different from all the other things
in this world that frantically are asking for our attention?
Simple. Knives, shoe brands, and stain remover
don't promise you something that God does.
He promises to make you new. To enlighten your life,
pick you up once you have fallen down,
and dust off the sin and brokenness of this world.

He is there even though you have hit rock bottom and even if you haven't.

Sometimes we lack faith and direction. I do all the time.
But there is no crisis in my life...
so I make up my own.

There is a lady that recently got done with chemo treatment
and battling cancer while taking care of her three kids and her husband.
She still says this:

"the will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you."

If God hasn't got your attention yet. He is now.
There is something more to life then just living it...
live it for Christ and let your heart overflow with love for Him.

down right lazy

Based on my little efforts of knowing much about blogging
or even how a person becomes an official "blogger"
here is my sad efforts at starting something that
I hopefully will have the nerve to keep for a couple months.
Mostly likely will not happen but here is an attempt...

Hopefully this isn't the feeling of purchasing a puppy..you love it at first then you realize it pees
and you actually have to train it, feed it, and walk it every day.

Why are we so determined in the beginning then finding ourselves coming up short in the end? Human nature? Probably. Just like the dust that settles on your dashboard because you don't want to clean it. The remote that just so happens to settle underneath the couch cushions for a couple days, months, maybe even a year...

Are lack of motivation may be slowly declining.
At least that is what I feel like in the summer time.
There is nothing else to do so why not get lost at getting things lost?!
Forget about it for awhile...let it just sit and take care of itself.
That is why my room is jumbled with heaps of clothes and a closet full of junk.
Are we trying to hide something in our lives or is it just a lack of responsibility?