In the arms of God

I recently heard about a family that lost their little four year old boy from drowning. A prayer request went up last night to pray for him. He was found in the pool and was rushed into the hospital. This morning there was then the prayer request to pray for the family, that the boy was now in the arms of God. 

We don't alway understand why God does things like this. We go through many different emotions, trying to figure out why He would do something to cause pain in our lives. I was praying for the family, asking God to send them as much peace and comfort as possible...and to know that even though we don't understand...everything happens for a reason. 

But that is so much easier said on my end than it is their's. At the time we are going through the loss of someone, whether it be through death, or someone just walks out of your life...it is so hard to see that God is doing it for a reason. You don't know where to go or who to turn to...you may try to pray to the Lord for strength but can't feel anything or even get the words out. 

I promise though...further down the road...when you find your strength in God again, when He brings you peace and joy again...you will look back at what has happened, and you will see the change in everything, and see that it was God all along doing something in your life. Maybe it was so you could help someone else who has lost a loved one.

Not loosing someone through death, but loosing a very dear friend in my life, which felt like a death, has changed me completely. And I can only pray that the Lord would be able to use me to help others who have lost someone too, if not through speaking words of encouragement...through prayer. 

I will be praying for this precious family who has lost their child...and hope that it will help bring them even the smallest amount of peace or comfort. 

Philippians 4:6-7 "6Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ."

Oh sweet bliss!

Alas my dear friends! The time has come! The beginning of a much needed, two week break from school AND....the end of my first year of school!!!! Woo hoo! I had my last final today and I am now a free spirit! This Saturday, my mom, sisters, and I will be going to Delaware to stay for the week with my dad while he works. 

I am planning on spending much of my time on the beach...

p.s. I'll get real pictures once I get there :)

I will also be (hopefully) horseback riding (crosses-fingers)...

pretty horsy :)

I will definitely be taking some real pictures whilst I am vacationing :)

And last but not least...we will be spending a day at an awesome aquarium! Which I don't know the name of yet...but Im super excited!!!

Yay for fishies!!!

But I would really like to take the time to thank the Lord for what He brought me through. Sometimes it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel....but He never fails me. There is absolutely no way on the face of this earth that I ever could have made it through this quarter without my Lord. I look back at all of the times in the past four quarters of school...that I don't even know how I got through some of the things I got through...but all along it was the Lord with His sweet hand upon me, taking care of me. So thank you Lord for what you have blessed me with :) 

Remember friends...always keep your face toward the son. He will bless you and prosper you in all things. 

Have a blessed day :)

Peace in the Storm

Finals week has come upon me. In four days I have five finals. During this time, which seems to sneak up on me very quickly, I'm constantly searching for something to bring me peace. That something is and always will be the Lord. Certain songs that we sing in church seem to being me comfort in the times I begin panicking about my tests. I thought I would share the one with you that has come to mind today.

 "Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus,

To reach out and touch Him, to say that we love Him,

Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen,

Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus."

Very simple. Short and sweet. But brings a large amount of peace in my storm. What is laying heavy on your shoulders this week? What are you searching for to bring you peace? The only peace I have ever known that was true and never leaves...is God's sweet peace. We just have to call on His name. He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

I pray you all have a blessed week. Keep me in you prayers and I will keep you in mine :)

God Bless.

:)

Mr. Owl...

"Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?" 

Well...I'm at the end of the quarter for school...and with one week left consisting of nothing but finals...my mind gets a little random and usually doesn't stay on one subject for long :) SO...I will make this as quick as possible so I do not switch subjects before I finish!

My new favorite little animal is the owl. They are the cutest things and look great on jewelry or as a decor theme in a home (the theme of my dream kitchen :). 

The first thing most people think about when owls are mentioned, is how wise they are (thanks to Owl from Winnie the Pooh)

Well I decided to do a little research on the history of owls...and most of what I found was that they are associated with death, pain, bad luck,(no thanks to the Romans) and Halloween...not quite what I was hoping for!

But then I found that in Northwestern England and Scotland, where the Romans had not taken over...the owl was seen as a sign of good luck! If one flew over before a battle, it meant victory! That's more like it!

I also found some fun facts about owls to share with you! So without further adieu...

p.s. ADORABLE!

Fun fact #1: An owl has three eyelids. One for blinking, one for sleeping, and one for keeping the eye clean and healthy!

I find him quite humorous!

Fun fact #2: The flattened facial disk of an owl funnels sound to the bird's ears and magnifies it as much as ten times to help the bird hear noises humans cannot hear.

I want to eat hiiim! (not literally)

Fun fact #3: Several owls have ear tufts (not really ears) used to indicate the birds mood, help camouflage them, or show aggression.

Pretty nifty huh?

Fun fact #4: The owl's eyes are held into place by bony sockets and they cannot turn their eyes..BUT...owls can rotate their heads up to 270 degrees! 

Peek-a-boo!

Fun fact #5: Owls have specialized feathers with fringes of varying softness to help muffle the sound when flying!

So there you have it folks! I hope you all enjoyed my little "fun facts" session with Mr. Owl :)

Have a blessed day and remember to smile!

:)

Kids Again...

This weekend I flew to Texas. My mom and sisters are there for two weeks, but school keeps me home, so my wonderful father got me a plane ticket to surprise my grandparents after not seeing them for two years! Even though it was a short trip, it was so wonderful to see them again.

p.s. this pic is from a few years ago.

I love being at my grandparent's house! It reminds me of when I was a kid and we would all pile in our van and brave the two day drive! I got in very late Thursday night, crawled in bed with my grandparents, and almost scared them half to death! It was so wonderful to see their shining faces when they realized it was me. They wrapped their arms around me and hugged me for ten minutes.

I got up early the next morning to explore the changes of the old house I remember so well. I could picture all of the things my grandma used to have on the walls and out in the yard. Memories flooded of running around with my cousins and brothers, jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath, and picking ripe plumbs off the tree that is no longer there.

Tears came to my eyes when I realized how much time had passed, and how fast life goes as we get older. Everyone and everything here is different...but the one thing that has not changed, are the memories I hold in my heart, and the love that my grandparents hold for me.

I don't know how long it will be before I get to see my family here again...but I will cherish this brief trip until I get to see them again. I have to thank the Lord for what he has given me. I am such a blessed girl. I had a moment of complete bliss on my last flight to Austin. I was minutes away from landing, had a nice hot cup of coffee, and was bubbling with excitement to see my family. It was then that it hit me...God has given me absolutely everything in the world that I need, and want for that matter. I cannot thank Him enough..even with all of the negatives back at home with stress from school...the positive blessings God has given me out-weighs them by a million. 

Thank you for reading friends :) Have a blessed week!

Crafty Corner

Looking for a quick little craft to do on a rainy day or a quiet night? For a while I was collecting cards and stationary...but I used it all up. SO...I had the idea to make my own!

First Step: Select paper. I use double sided scrap book paper. Both sides have a different print and it's very sturdy!

Second Step: Cut paper to desired size. You can do open faced or closed faced cards. I prefer the open faced!

Third step: Find some craft scissors to make cute borders!

Fourth Step: Glue a piece of solid paper onto the printed paper for a place to write.You can place the paper in different spots to get more of a variety :)

Step Five: Now you can start adding ribbon or something to spiff it up a bit!

  I also like to make little bows or put some buttons on

Step Seven: To finish off your crafty card, you could get a little stamp to put in the corner of each of your creations. I'm still looking for my "signature stamp" but for now I'll borrow this little guy :)

There are so many things you can do with these cards. With the limited resources I have right now, I can actually make a lot of varieties! Here are a few others I have made in the past:

I hope you enjoyed this little Crafty Corner session :) Be creative and have fun!!!

Sweet Sunday Service

Sometimes I think we need a reminder of who we are in Christ. When everyday pressures and stress of life set in, we can let our guard down. If we let our guard down, the enemy can set in and steal what is rightfully ours. Todays service was one that I needed more than I knew. 

Its coming to the end of another quarter, and about this time, my stress levels go waaaay up! So much so that I struggle with keeping my joy (mainly due to over-studying). I spend all of my time doing that and never stop to do something fun and relaxing! All of this leads up to me getting weak physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It becomes easy for me to let satan tell me lies...and I actually believe him! Fear sets in of failure for school, and life in general.

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." If we trust in Him, ask of Him what we need...He promises to give it to us. It's time we take back what is rightfully ours, and know that God is behind us all the way. He gives one little nod and satan has to give back what belongs to us!

Think about it today. What has satan stolen from you? Your joy? Your peace? Your faith and belief in God? Don't let Him. We cannot underestimate our almighty God. He created us! And He is with us every moment of every day...whether we feel Him or not. And believe me I know what it's like not to be able to feel Him with you. It's frustrating...but we have to try to remember He is there. Another one of His great promises :) 

Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee: He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

I hope, dear friends, that this little blog post has brought you some encouragement. I know todays service was so sweet to me and I had to share. If you would like to watch the service online you can go to literallife.org and find it in the archives and it should be up hopefully in a few days :) 

Stay strong in Christ, my friends, and don't let satan steal your joy. It is rightfully ours and we must fight to keep it. Stay encouraged and always look to the light of God for life. God bless and goodnight!

Girasole

Girasole. In Italian...means sunflower :) Im sure you have already noticed that I love sunflowers. My reason? I learned some time ago, that sunflowers always turn to face the sun, also known as sun tracking. The reason they do this is to gain maximum sunlight to power photosynthesis. I compare a christian's walk with God to that of the sunflower's relationship with the sun. We look to God (the sun) to gain maximum life (photosynthesis). 

With all of the brokenness of the world today...the wars, pain, poverty...no matter what comes our way, we have a promise that our Lord Jesus will bring us through. He will never give us a trial that we aren't able to handle. Only He knows how far our strength can go, and He will always pick us up in the end. 

Under Construction!

Hello dear friends. For those who happen to mosy on by, I wanted to let you know my blog is under construction as of now. Being a college student I don't have too much time to work on this, but it will be up and running soon enough! Thanks and God bless :)