I'd Like to Add . . .

The day before yesterday, I told my best friend that it just felt like my willpower was shot. For someone like me who tends to place a lot of self-worth on what they can do, that will leave you feeling pretty bad. But last night, I decided to sit down and read the Bible because I knew I needed to. It wasn't what I felt like doing.  But I knew I needed to (it didn't make much sense to feel bad about myself over past few days but then go watch Netflix instead of reading the Bible.) So I read Ephesians 2.  Then I went on into reading Ephesians 3.  Verse 7 caught my eye. "Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power ." And all the sudden, the part about the working of his power stole my attention, because I realized the depth of it. Because I knew I felt powerless and the fact that His power is at work in me changes everything . Romans 8:11 "And if the Spirit of him who rai

  Frugal: economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful  My mom is one of the most sanely frugal people I know (There are those insanely frugal people out there and she has her moments, but they're few and far between.  So naturally, growing up I went through the phases if misunderstanding, disliking, and finally accepting and embracing frugality. I owe it all to her so thanks mom. Even if I say so myself, I think I'm pretty talented at being frugal.  So, in honor of this skill/hobby of mine, passed down to me from mine mother, I have decided to compile a list of helpful tips for being (sanely) frugal.  Just don't get too crazy. 1. Keep your eyes open for things before you actually have to have them.  Things cost so much less when you're flexible timewise.  e.i. keeping your eye out for good jeans at cheap prices BEFORE your old ones become too ripped to wear out of the house anymore and you are forced to pay an arm and bot

It's friday.  Yes, I have again neglected to post this on Thursday.  My apologies.  So today, I want to thank you for your patience (regardless of whether or not you're actually being patient with me. I'm hoping for the best). I'm also thankful for the World Wide Web.  It's easy to piont out many woes concerning the internet, but I'm thankful for the good things about it.  Like good deals on Bibles from amazon (See 2nd picture), or mini quantum physics lessons from wikipedia to understand the meanings of strange shirts that you come across (See first picture). If you're up for a brain workout, google Schrodinger's Cat. It's not that fancy. I don't think it's even real leather. But its my Bible and I love it. I want to highlight it and read it and take it everywhere with me. I want to use it so well that it gets all beat up even though I'm careful. What a blessing that I have the words of God at my fingertips just li

  Monday, October 22, 2012:  The date that I originally put this picture in a draft and saved it with the title "It's for real." I thought I was going to a place called the International House of Prayer in Kansas City for an internship.  I thought it was for real. I could barely believe it myself because I was planning to do something very far outside of my comfort zone, but it was for real.    I was going to be moving away from my family, hometown, most of my friends, and the familiarity of what I've spent the last 7 years knowing life to be. I'm not writing this post to tell the story of what happened or why in March, I'm still here, living with my family in my hometown with most of my friends and that familiarity still surrounding me. While I could explain the mental process of my decision not to go, I cannot tell you why I'm here instead of there right now, because even I don't know. I know that in choosing to go or not to go to IHOP,

Just take a good 'ol gander at the lyrics of this song.  Simple and to the point.T hey do a stellar job of expressing some thoughts I've only wished to piece together so elegantly. But more importantly, they remind me that though I'm sometimes prone to hate (above all, the heart of man is evil Jeremiah 17:9), love is what I need to choose (John 13:34).  As cliche and new-agey as that maybe sounds, it's the truth; h ate will get you every time, always love.   Always love, don't wait till the finish line. Always love, hate will get you every time.   It helps to write it down even when you then cross it out.   I want to know what it'd be like to aim so high above that any card you've been dealt you always love. _____________________________________________________________ To make a mountain of your life Is just a choice But I never learned enough To listen to the voice that told me Always love Hate will get you every

The other day while I was doing the dishes, I had a realization about myself.  I don't know why this came while I was doing dishes; it just did.  It's not too deep, it's just this: I treasure and dwell on memories, a LOT. I don't know how many times a day I'll encounter a place or a smell or just a thought that will remind me of a memory from the past, and I usually like to stay and revel in it if only for a moment. But as much as living in the past can be my tendency, I'm learning to cherish the moment right now.  As YOLO-ish as that sounds, it's how we need to live.  If you don't, sometime you'll look back and find that you spent all your time looking back. Upon some introspection, I realize that the thought of living RIGHT NOW and making new memories scares me.  Really, it's more a fear of the unknown that scares me.  The unknown sounds like it could be an adventure and that's exciting sometimes.  But sometimes, adventures are frighten

I told people (and myself) I wasn't going to post all about doing the Master Cleanse on Facebook and Twitter.  It sort of seems like a blog isn't relatively far off from those but how else can I explain why I am SO THANKFUL FOR FOOD! Ya see, I did the Master Cleanse these last 5 days.  And I really like food. And it was TOUGH. Here's how it went. I only did one ease-in day (three are recommended but not required).  For my ease-in day, I stayed away from processed foods, meats and dairy.  That day was pretty challenging in itself I will admit, even from my perspective now.  But if I thought that day was hard, the next day was straight up miserable.  I started out the day with a 32 oz bottle of lemonade made with lemon juice, organic grade A maple syrup (which, for the record, tastes maybe half as good as regular maple syrup), and cayenne pepper.  The cayenne sounds like the worst part but as it calls for very little it isn't too bad, at least not at first.  I had t