Moving' on Up...or something like that

I'm now blogging here.

A Prayer

Someone sent this to me this morning:

Franciscan Prayer

May God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears
to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in the world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done
to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen.

Ringing true

Doesn't this quote seem to ring true?

"The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: ‘From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.'”
-Alexander Tyler

WRITE IN!!!

Okay, I know I'm not the only one who is looking at our current choices for President -- at least the ones the Republicans and Democrats nominated -- and are asking the question, "How about neither?"

Well, did you know you can WRITE IN a candidate?

Check out this Wikipedia Article and get yourself edumacated! haha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Write-in_vote#President

and how about that Mike Huckabee?

http://www.onlyhuckabee.com/

Check it.

Not the same path

I'm different than I was 10 years ago. I guess most people can say that. I wonder how it is that some couples get married when they're in their early 20's and stay together. My parents did it. Well, my mom was 21 and my dad was 26, but still.
When I think back to how I handled myself in certain situations, I cringe. My self now hurts for my self then. I was so willing to make other people happy at my expense. This played out in certain relationships that went on way too long. I guess most would say that I totally dodge a bullet and the Lord certainly protected me.

A situation came up recently where I could have easily gone back down that path I was familiar with, but I'm stronger now. I feel like I actually have learned something in 10 years. I won't allow myself to compromise my happiness, emotional well being for someone else's.

To most of you this is probably a bit cryptic. And that's okay. There are those of you who know exactly what I'm writing about and hopefully you will be encouraged and proud of me! It's progress, y'all.

The Lord has healed some hurts from the past and I know there's good stuff in store.

Retreating

This past weekend, a group of my friends and me escaped to Boone, NC for some time together. The point of the weekend was to share our stories. Our stories all have a common theme: God has been working in our lives. I knew this weekend would be an important one for our group. I knew that we'd grow closer by know where others came from, what struggles they've faced, disappointments they've had, broken relationships they've come out of, etc. But it was really wonderful to hear how the Lord has been working in each of their lives from childhood (in most cases). A lot of us had knowledge of God or had been exposed to God, the church, etc, but it hasn't been until our adult lives that we have gained a real understanding of Him. And even though we've shared parts of our stories with each other before, I think there's been a shift, a trust that's been gained. I hope to see the fruit of this down the road.

In addition to sharing some pretty deep stuff, we also laughed a lot and just enjoyed the beautiful surroundings. Here's a few shots from Boone!

The Election

This is kind of how I'm feeling about it right now

not my image