So, my dear friend, Madi, turns 22 today. She keeps saying that it's not a significant birthday, cause, you know, 22. It's not 18 or 21 or 25 or any of those other landmark birthdays. Just 22. Well challenge accepted, Madi! I'm going to MAKE it significant! Have you ever gotten a blog post for your birthday card, publicly declaring someones love and appreciation for you? Nope. That makes this significant. Let's start with this though, for those who are not Madi: a birthday post for someone else sounds kinda boring, right? Well you haven't met Madi, then. She is by far one of the people that makes me have to pee the most. We're stupid entertaining when we're together - that or just annoying. It really just depends on who you are. Either way, we be cray. This girl is a huge blessing, and I don't think she realizes how much of one she is to those around her. And with that, I'm going to tell you 22 reasons why I love this girl so much. Enjoy this little taste of the shenanigans that is us . . .
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So, we have food issues, right? Ever wondered how we found out about them? Sure, there were symptoms that made it clear that we shouldn't eat certain things anymore, but how did we find out for sure that we're sensitive/intolerant to them? Let me tell you: There is this wonderful company called Entero Labs. They know their stuffs. They make it very easy and convenient for you - you don't have to go to any appointments, you don't have to do any blood work, you don't have to get all up close and personal with some stranger. They send you the equipment you'll need and instructions on what to do, and then on your own time, you do so. Really simple, easy steps, and then once they get the information they need, they do all sorts of tests for specific intolerances, allergies, and sensitivities, and then email you the results. They really are wonderful people. And, they make it fun! I got to poop in a bucket, freeze it, and then send it to a stranger ^.^ On three different occasions. What fun! You poop in a little bucket/tub thing, seal it, put it in a bag and seal that, stick it in the freezer overnight (or for 24 hours? I can't remember exactly . . .), and then the next day mail it off to a stranger. How fun is that?! The last time I froze my poop and sent it to a stranger, I sent a thank you note along with it. Cause really, how often do you think these people get acknowledged for what they do? Anyways, that's basically it. I have fond memories of this that don't really make sense. Partly I think cause my sister was grossed out by it, and I just thought it was funny haha. There's a chance I may have had more fun with that than I should have. Happy Thursday!
So, God has been up to some crazy awesome things the last few months.
Part of what I'm about to say may sound like bragging, but I can assure you, it's not. This is all God at work, people. On January 1st of this year I came into work (a little Christian book/gift store) to see a big "STORE CLOSING" and "EVERY SINGLE ITEM ON SALE!" sign. I knew there had been talk of my manager potentially thinking of buying the store, but I didn't know that if he didn't, the store would close. Now, it's difficult for anyone to find a job in this economy (especially in a college town), but the odds are kinda stacked against me. I'm unable to work outside, do any sort of heavy lifting, or anything involving food. It's kinda ridiculous. The job that I have now was a HUGE blessing and total answer to prayer. And really, it's just kinda perfect for me. And all of a sudden, without warning, it wasn't going to be there anymore. My source of income was going to be gone. And though I still live at home, I don't want to forever (neither do my parents haha); I'm saving up to move out, I'm paying off my car, and I'm paying for my car insurance, as well as clothes, gas, gifts, etc. Income is needed. But despite the fact that it came out of nowhere, the possibility of finding another job that I can do looking impossible, and my need for income, I can complete and total peace. Like, indescribable peace. I feel like this is the kind of thing that should cause oodles of stress. Nope. I felt a very strong sense of assurance that God was in control and would provide. Cause He is, and He does. Even as time went on, people would ask me, "Have you started looking for a job?" or "Do you know what you're going to do next?" "Nope." My trust was rooted in Him. Again, not bragging. Clearly this was all God at work in me, caaaauuuse . . . well, it's just obvious haha. How cool is that though?! I'm still really excited about it. To have that kind of peace in such a stressful situation? Ah, love it! I love seeing God at work, and seeing the proof of the growth that He provides. 'Tis one of my favoritest things ^.^ Go God! It was interesting though. There was a short little span of time in there when I felt like I was supposed to worry and be stressed about it. I faced the lie that that was supposed to be my response to this sort of situation, and that I was being irresponsible, lazy, and a failure if I didn't respond that way. What? Since when did responding to something in worry and stress become what we're supposed to do? It's crazy to realize that. I feel like a lot of the time it's because of the people around us; worrying about how they'll view us. For me, it came because of my parents. Not because of anything they did intentionally. Actually, they were just being good parents - nudging me to look for a job, stressing about the importance of income . . . basically trying to show how the real world works. Which is good! It's good to be proactive in such situations, trusting God to provide while job searching. But sometimes God wants us to just be still and do nothing, trusting Him to provide without acting on our own. Which, P.S., is so not an excuse for laziness. I had to check myself of that several times to make sure I wasn't just being lazy or apathetic. And I wasn't. I even checked Craigslist once, knowing that God was going to provide without "my help". But I felt like if I wasn't doing anything about it I was coming across as lazy or apathetic about it. Which again, wasn't the case. Reminder heard : Go by God's lead, not by peoples (no matter how wise they may be). He kinda knows what He's doing. Just kinda. Anyways, I've rambled enough. Long story short: completely by the hand of God, my manager is buying the store! Which means, starting April 1st, I will no longer be just a sales associate. I'll also most likely be the prime merchandiser, meeting with me, soon to be, owner, and going over which items would sell best, which ones to purchase, the layout of certain areas, and, of course, displays. What fun! Somewhat daunting though. It means I have to be a big kid now. Well, "big" kid. Ain't no one got time for that! Praise God though! He is so faithful! He provided the impossible for our little store, through prayer, through donors, through community, etc. I'm amazed at what He is doing. And now I get to practice His peace in this new adventure with new responsibilities and sacrifices coming up. It's going to be a crazy ride, but by golly, I'm up for it! PTL! God is good! So I'm reading through the Old Testament right now, cause I finally have a study bible, which means that things actually make sense haha. Woot! I'm currently in Leviticus, and as I was reading Leviticus 19 today, something stood out to me. Leviticus 19:9-10 talks about how the Israelites aren't supposed to harvest the grain along the edges of their land or pick up any of the crops that fall to the ground, so that the poor and foreigners could have a means of survival. In the study notes it mentioned that part of the reason for this was a reminder that God owned the land; the people were just the caretakers. Honestly, first thought was, "Dang . . . how often do I hold on to things, pretending that they're mine?" I can be pretty selfish, guys. True story. I so often forget that everything I have isn't actually mine - it's Gods. I'm just the steward. We're all just stewards. Stewards of the earth, stewards of our gifts & abilities, stewards of our bodies, stewards of our money, stewards of our time . . . One of my favorite verses that denotes this is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. Psalm 24:1 is also a good indicator of this: 1 The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it. Right from the get-go, we were called to be stewards: Genesis 2:15 My mind immediately went to Lord Denethor - AKA the Steward of Gondor. I think we can all agree: he was an awful steward. He became greedy and tried to take that which didn't belong to him. He didn't want to let go of what he was given to watch over. Seriously, how often do we do that? I know I do it a lot. God gives me time, and I want to spend it doing things that I want to do. God gives me money, and I don't want to spend it on things that I don't seem fit. God gives me abilities, and I don't want to use them for things that aren't appealing to me. Now, granted, these aren't always my reactions - God has done a lot of growth in me through the years. But still, it happens far more often than it should. It shouldn't be like that. God gives us time, we should spend it glorifying Him. God gives us money, we should be willing to give it freely wherever He wants it. God gives us abilities, we should use them to glorify Him and further the kingdom as best we can. Colossians 3:23 God owns everything, we are His stewards. Lets not be like the steward of Gondor, trying to take what was not rightfully his. We all know how that turned out . . . . Matthew 25:14-29 July 4th, 2013.
A dear friend and I were hanging out that night, and we had decided to go watch the big fireworks display that was going to happen after the baseball game. Said baseball game was held on our colleges campus, so we adventured over there and proceeded to find a parking spot and walk to the stadium. Now, you need to know something about this particular friend and I. We make each other laugh. A lot. We're very entertaining. And what happens when you laugh a lot? You have to pee. That kind of sudden, I wasn't expecting that kind of have to pee. Sooo . . . there we were, walking on campus after the buildings had closed down for the night, and needing to pee. My friend started it, just so you know. I think I may just be a sympathetic pee-er. But either way, we had to go. And as I stated in the previous sentence, the buildings on campus were closed. So I told her to pee in a bush. She didn't like that idea. In my defense, it was dark, and we were the only two around, so it really wouldn't have been a big deal. But, I can understand her sentiments towards the situation. So what would any well-mannered pair of friends who desperately need to pee do in this situation? We snuck into a building to pee. We snuck through those hallways pro-ninja status, avoiding any personal that were cleaning the building, and we successfully found our way to an open bathroom. Huzzah! Let me tell you, bathrooms are SO much more echoey when you're trying to be sneaky. Ridiculous. Anyways, we successfully made it out of the building unseen as well, and went on our merry way to watch the big fireworks - after dancing in the street, belting out Katy Perry's Firework, and really just looking overall deranged. It was a good night to sneak into a building to pee. I still don't know what building it was though . . . Aight, there really isn't a way to convey in full expression how wonderful yesterday was, so I shall keep it short & sweet.Y'all remember my opportunity I had for you last week to go on a date with our ULTIMATE romance, Jesus ( http://lifewithlew.weebly.com/1/post/2014/02/challenge-accepted.html )? And you remember how I was super giddy excited for my date with Him? Let me share with you some parts of my day so you can understand why: I got to start my day by waking up before my alarm - which was a lovely little blessing, cause who wants to wake up to an annoying alarm, right? I then proceeded to get ready to spend my day with Him. I decided to curl my hair and dress up a bit - cause that's what girls do for dates, right? I wore my nice jeans. I won't bore you with long drawn out explanations of everything we did today, but let me tell you, it was wonderful. Pictures can't capture it. The dancing, the time, the conversations . . . it was lovely. Cell phone on silent, uninterrupted time with my man, Jesus. In bullet points: * No texting, facebook, or social media; no distractions * Tacos * Quiet time reflecting on my life verse (Psalm 18:16-19) * Snuggled in a cardboard box * Captain Phillips * Lamb ribs, fried delicata, and yam fries * Danced * Took a drive * Car danced * Thrift shopping * Good conversations regarding the heart * Jurassic Park * More lamb ribs, fried delicata, and yam fries * Chocolate ice cream * Man of Steel I then got to end the day by watching Sherlock with some friends, and staying out til 5:40am merry-go-rounding and talking with some of said friends, and continued on spending some quality time with Jesus when I got home by eating more lamb ribs, roasted veggies, yam fries, and chocolate ice cream, all while watching old Scooby Doo cartoons in my cardboard box. Staying up 'til 7:00am never felt so good ^.^
It was my sisters . . . 9th? Maybe 11th birthday. Our family decided to make a trip up to Portland so that we could spend the day at OMSI in celebration of Abi's birth. So that's what we did. And it ended up not being as fun for us as we thought it would be. Luckily, the zoo happened to be right next door, so we decided to spontaneously adventure to the zoo instead. Now, my sisters birthday is at the end of November, so as you can imagine, it was quite rainy that day. So rainy, in fact, that there was only 1-2 other family's at the zoo that day. That's significant. Anyways, we adventured through the zoo in the rain as a family and had a smashing good time together. It was nice having the zoo nearly all to ourselves. As our time there ended we found ourselves in the Aviary, which is where a bunch of birds were. Basically what it is is a replica of an African rainforest, where you get to walk through this lush surrounding with bunches of different birds nesting and just doing their thing. It was lovely. The birds were unusually quiet & lacking in energy, so it was nice and peaceful. Until I got ahold of the situation. I thought I saw a kookaburra (which doesn't make sense, cause they're native to Australia and New Guinea). I had a thing for kookaburras, you see. I found them super awesome. Have you ever heard a kookaburra sound? Basically, they're just awesome.
Anyways, I thought I saw one, so I was like, "I'mma speak your language!" So I did. I made a kookaburra call (which I had practiced a bunch at home, so I was kind of excited for the chance to actually use it. How often do you get the opportunity to use a kookaburra call?!) I kid you not, as soon as I started making that kookaburra call, every bird in that aviary went CRAY. Chirping, tweeting, cackling, cooing, flying, flapping, swooping, dive bombing, they went cray. One got like an inch away from "gifting" me from above. That silent peaceful room turned into a mad house within a matter of seconds. It was AWESOME! Soundtracks. Music specifically tailored to illustrate a moment, enhance a feeling, and better tell a story. I personally love them - especially if Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, or John Williams have anything to do with them. You can tell a lot about a person by the music that impacts them. We all have those songs that speak the perfect words for us, describe us accurately, or just have a powerful influence in our lives. This is something that's been on my mind for quite a while now, actually. I've just been too lazy or busy to do anything about it haha. Thank you, snow day, for providing the perfect opportunity. Though what I'm going to share with you will probably be entertaining at times, it's also quite personal. While I'm not really a musical person, music has had a big impact in my life - which I'm pretty sure goes for most people. There are many songs that I hold very dear to my heart for a variety of reasons, some of which pertaining to spiritual warfare, some to matters of the heart, some to experiences, some to the crazy in me, and some to just life as a whole. A lot of these are probably going to be just parts of songs rather than the whole entire song. Some of these songs I feel I can connect with deeply, but have the fear that if others knew that, they wouldn't understand and would ridicule me for it. But you know what? That's silly. Honestly, I don't think most people are going to be able to understand why some of these songs I hold so dearly, and that's okay. I feel like I'm getting a little nudge to post these as the next step in becoming truly transparent and vulnerable with people. And who knows, maybe you'll find a song you like or can relate to in the process. Win! Since I have far too many songs for one post, I'm going to break them up, hopefully into categories if I can. And since this is the first of many, and I have all that explanation going on up there, I'm just going to share one song with you. One of the ones I hold closest to my heart. Even If by KutlessThis song is so important to me because it speaks what's on my heart in regards to my physical/health conditions PERFECTLY. "Even if the healing doesn't come, life falls apart, and dreams are still undone, you are God, you are good; forever faithful One. Even if the healing, even if the healing doesn't come". Several people have told me that I should pray for healing of my physical pain and food sensitivities. To which, outwardly, I reply with a smile. In my head, however, I'm like, "My health, comfort, convenience, and biggest passion got taken away from me - do you REALLY think I haven't prayed for healing?!" But there really isn't any reason to respond to anybody like that. The point is: I have prayed. Ohhhh I have prayed . . . I want to be able to drink Mountain Dew and eat German chocolate cake again. I want to be able to go on spontaneous adventures without having to be held back by food. I want to be able to run again. I want to be able to dance as I used to again - I want that so, SO badly. I have prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and when I was finally ready to hear it, I got my response. "This is where I have you right now." God has every capability of healing me - there's no doubt in my mind that He can heal me. But that's not what He has for me. At least not now. "Lord, we know your ways are not our ways, so we set our faith in who You are" God has done so much growth and healing in me through my food sensitivities and physical conditions, and He has brought me to a place where I am genuinely grateful for them; for what they have produced. He had/has a plan in all that I've been through in regards to health and pain, even if I don't understand what it is - I still trust Him. This song is an outpour of that for me. It brings me to tears nearly every time I sing it; tears of loss and of faith. I trust Him no matter what. And sometimes, it hurts. "9 Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 You wanna know what goes through my mind when I hear the chorus? "Even if there's no release from this, and I can't do what I've always been able to do, and I'll never be able to dance again as I once did, you are still God, you are still good, you are faithful and I trust you, even if you don't take this away from me" Sometimes all we have to hold on to Is what we know is true of who You are So when the heartache hits like a hurricane That could never change who You are And we trust in who You are Even if the healing doesn’t come And life falls apart And dreams are still undone You are God You are good Forever faithful One Even if the healing Even if the healing doesn’t come Lord we know Your ways are not our ways So we set our faith in who You are Even though You reign high above us You tenderly love us We know Your heart And we rest in who You are Even if the healing doesn’t come And life falls apart And dreams are still undone You are God You are good Forever faithful One Even if the healing Even if the healing doesn’t come You’re still the Great and Mighty One We trust You always You’re working all things for our good We’ll sing your praise Even if the healing doesn’t come And life falls apart And dreams are still undone You are God You are good Forever faithful One Even if the healing Even if the healing doesn’t come You are God and we will bless You As the Good and Faithful One You are God and we will bless You Even if the healing doesn’t come Even if the healing doesn’t come God is good, people.
I have a challenge for you. Except, challenge isn't the best word for it. Opportunity. I have an opportunity for you. So one week from today is Valentines Day. That's nice. In full honesty, Valentines Day has never really been appealing to me. Not because I'm not content being single, but just the commercialism of it all. While I greatly enjoyed giving people Batman Valentines with Batman candies last year, it often conjures images of hearts, flowers, teddy bears, and chocolate. Which, really, I just don't understand. I mean, I get the chocolate part - who wouldn't want free chocolate, right? But everything else . . . it's just not my thing. I used to wear all black on V-Day to contrast the commercialism. Such a rebel. 'Tis not just a day that conjures images of romance, though. It's also a day referred to as Singles Awareness Day (which, P.S. it's not - that's on the 15th), which for many brings feelings of loneliness, conjuring images of beer and cats. But why? Why does Valentines Day have to be so sad to those who are single? Yeah, it'd be nice if a certain person were to make some gesture that indicated that I was significant to them on that day. It is, after all, the perfect opportunity. But why does it have to be sad or disappointing if that doesn't happen? The effects of it may point out loneliness, but we aren't alone. True, some of us might not be in a relationship with another person, BUT that doesn't mean we're not in a relationship - and I'm not talking cats here, people. Here's where my opportunity for you comes in. Though it's directed primarily to my fellow singles, it's an opportunity for everyone - single, dating, engaged, married, widowed, lonely, content, confused, whatever. Valentines Day is a day set aside for love and/or romance, right? Well then let's do that. Let's set aside some time that day and go on a date - with Jesus. Go for a walk with Him; eat lunch with Him; go see a movie with Him; take a drive with Him; spend time on a merry-go-round with Him; dance with Him; go on a hike with Him. Whatever it is you would do on a date with someone else, do that with Him. I think we forget sometimes that our relationship with Christ is a divine romance. He desperately wants time with us. He wants to talk with us, laugh with us, and go through life with us. How great is that?! So let's rejoice in that. Let's spend some extra special time on the day that's set aside for romance with our ULTIMATE romance. Cause let's be real, He's the greatest love that we're ever gonna have <3 I'm really excited about this, guys. Like, really, really, really, giddy excited. I've gone on dates with God many times before, but this time I'm gonna make it extra special. Who's with me?! 1 John 4:9-10 So, it's a snow day here. Again. What? To pay tribute to this lovely frozen goodness falling from the sky, I shall share with you a moment that happened to me about 2 years ago, on a snowy day just like today. Well, a snowy evening, technically. I believe it was January of 2012. I had the job of feeding a friends catwhile they were away for a few days. Now, I very well could have walked. It's about 127 Lew steps if you go the back way. But I was being a pansy, and I didn't want to be in the cold, nor outside by myself alone at nice. So I decided to drive. And what a treat I received! As I got into my car and headed off (very, VERY slowly) towards my destination, I realized just how lovely it was driving in the snow at night. Not only was there snow on the ground, but it was actually snowing at the time. As I turned a corner and drove into the wind, the snow flakes then blew directly towards me. Surrounded by darkness and lit up only by my headlights, I felt like I was driving through space. It was a lovely sight to behold. So I then blasted the Star Wars theme song, pretending to be Han Solo flying the Millenium Falcon through space, jumping into light speed. I did this a good 2-3 times. Needless to say, it was a magical night ^.^ |
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