Sometimes when I'm sitting and just observing life and the people that reside within it I notice random little things.
I was sitting in class today listening to the typical college lecture class that just consists of the professor reading notes from a powerpoint-I think it is safe to assume that everyone has had this kind of teacher or professor at one point in their school career.
Anyway, as I sat there, bored, I am wondering if that professor is happy. Is this what she saw herself doing 25 years ago when she was graduating from college? Is this the kind of professor she wanted to amount to? Where does she find joy in life? She comes to class, reads the slides of the powerpoints, we all take notes (or we are supposed to), and then we leave. Never is there interaction, never is there a hightened tone of voice that would display even the slightest bit of passion for the subject she expects us to learn.
The point of this is not to rail on some teacher that perhaps lost the passion she once had, the point is, I constantly want to know these things about people. I desire to know why people are the way they are. Why passion has been lost. Why they seem so happy or gloomy. Why they feel the need to come off so overly confident but inside they just want to be known and understood. People are so intriguing, we are all designed so differently, and we have all been through so many various situations in life that shape who we are and who we can potentially become.
I choose to see the potential in everyone. I think ANYONE has potential to grow, to do great things, they just need someone to take the time to assist them along the way. I like to be that person. I'm not necessarily more qualified than the next individual, but it's a passion God has deeply instilled in my heart and with Him and His wisdom hopefully I can help some people along the way.
9.30.2009
9.29.2009
The Little Uncertainties
The question marks in life, the little uncertainties of the future...those things drive me crazy. Some would say I'm a control freak, I say freak is a little harsh, I just like to have a plan if a plan is possible. Of course there are going to be those moments in life that catch me off guard and I have to react quickly but wisely-however, for those that can be planned, I choose to do so.
If I've learned nothing else in the past year and a half I have come to realize that I know who I am and I'm beginning to recognize the strengths God has gifted me with. I know who I want to be, and through Christ I can do all things.
I'm a 21 year old child of God that has a purpose and is daily seeking to reach it. If God uses me to help one person a day, a purpose for my existence that day has been fulfilled. I've learned so much in this past year of being away from my family about God, appreciation for things that I daily take for granted, about myself and who I want to become.
God is so good-I pray that I am always thankful, regardless of location, finances, and all the other frivolous things that I have a tendency to needlessly worry about.
<3
If I've learned nothing else in the past year and a half I have come to realize that I know who I am and I'm beginning to recognize the strengths God has gifted me with. I know who I want to be, and through Christ I can do all things.
I'm a 21 year old child of God that has a purpose and is daily seeking to reach it. If God uses me to help one person a day, a purpose for my existence that day has been fulfilled. I've learned so much in this past year of being away from my family about God, appreciation for things that I daily take for granted, about myself and who I want to become.
God is so good-I pray that I am always thankful, regardless of location, finances, and all the other frivolous things that I have a tendency to needlessly worry about.
<3
.L.I.F.E.
...I'm learning...
.I am only defeated by the limitations of my mind.
.::My time with God must increase for my influence to increase::.
.Selfishness and being 'off' is almost always the result of a lack of time with God.
.::I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. No really, ALL things!::.
.The work less play more mentality frustrates me to no end.
.::People deeply desire to be known, heard, and understood::.
.People relate to eachother through hardships and inconveniences in life-facebook status' that receive the most comments, fml, fail blog, etc are all proofs.
.::Everyone has a story. Everyone has a reason for being the way they are. Listen to it. Love::.
9.24.2009
Innovative Way of Thinking
Interesthing thoughts to consider..
-People crave meaning, people want to be apart of something.
.Seth Godin.
-Who are you upsetting? Who are you connecting? Who are you leading?
.Seth Godin.
-You don't need permission to lead. Leaders challenge the status quo, they connect people, they commit.
.Seth Godin.
9.16.2009
This is going to be long.
I haven't done this in a while, minus my most recent blog, for various reasons. The main being that I'm not a huge fan of putting my 'stuff' out there for others to read, consider, analyze, and more than likely judge. There's something very scary about that to me. It is so much easier to live within these safe confines (walls) of who I am without ever letting others in.
My whole life I have been raised to be self-sufficient, independent, unemotional, to always put my best foot forward, and always have it all together. Whether these were cultural expectations (growing up in the South), expectations from my parents, or just purely expectations I placed on myself, regardless of the origin, these are all lies/expectations that I have learned to tip toe within for 20ish or so years.
To talk through all those various characteristics listed above would take quite some time. Short version, I'm beginning to realize how those characteristics are negative when they are at such an extreme and the affect they have on me and everyone else I come in contact with.
Truth be told, I don't know how to need others. Sounds basic, right? Well...not for me, it's an endless battle that defeats me more often than not.
Unemotional-I'm a girl, I am SUPPOSED to be emotional, it's HEALTHY to be emotional. I know all of this as head knowledge, but my heart hasn't grasped it. I don't know what it means to truly let tears run down my face...I always hold mine back. Once again, for various reasons that would take too long to explain and to be perfectly honest, I would rather not publicize that story.
Putting my best foot forward-even if you don't have your crap together, act like it. That whole 'fake it till you make it' thought process, you trekking with me? Good. Lets start with surface, actually that's all this concept is, is surface level...anyway I will continue...from hair, to make up, to clothing-it's all so pretty. So pretty, just like a perfectly wrapped gift with a beautiful little ribbon to tie it all together (unintentional pun, still funny though). Point is, I learned how to put on a face and appear to have it all together, but inside my soul yearned to be discovered. I wanted to be known, truly known and understood by people, not just by my Father.
I still am very good at putting up this front of all these things. I see them as strengths most days, but if abused by taken to their extreme they can most definitely be weaknesses. They end up being these barriers that are impossible to overcome unless I chooose to let you. I do this to this day, the difference, I am aware of it. The other difference, I don't want to be the negative extreme anymore and by the grace and strength of God I will perservere. He will break down all of these walls and the enemy will no longer have me in bondage. I'm battling, but God's on my side and when I take rest in that-the light at the end of the tunnel is almost within grasp.
I will overcome-but through Him.
2 Cor. 12:9-10
<3
My whole life I have been raised to be self-sufficient, independent, unemotional, to always put my best foot forward, and always have it all together. Whether these were cultural expectations (growing up in the South), expectations from my parents, or just purely expectations I placed on myself, regardless of the origin, these are all lies/expectations that I have learned to tip toe within for 20ish or so years.
To talk through all those various characteristics listed above would take quite some time. Short version, I'm beginning to realize how those characteristics are negative when they are at such an extreme and the affect they have on me and everyone else I come in contact with.
Truth be told, I don't know how to need others. Sounds basic, right? Well...not for me, it's an endless battle that defeats me more often than not.
Unemotional-I'm a girl, I am SUPPOSED to be emotional, it's HEALTHY to be emotional. I know all of this as head knowledge, but my heart hasn't grasped it. I don't know what it means to truly let tears run down my face...I always hold mine back. Once again, for various reasons that would take too long to explain and to be perfectly honest, I would rather not publicize that story.
Putting my best foot forward-even if you don't have your crap together, act like it. That whole 'fake it till you make it' thought process, you trekking with me? Good. Lets start with surface, actually that's all this concept is, is surface level...anyway I will continue...from hair, to make up, to clothing-it's all so pretty. So pretty, just like a perfectly wrapped gift with a beautiful little ribbon to tie it all together (unintentional pun, still funny though). Point is, I learned how to put on a face and appear to have it all together, but inside my soul yearned to be discovered. I wanted to be known, truly known and understood by people, not just by my Father.
I still am very good at putting up this front of all these things. I see them as strengths most days, but if abused by taken to their extreme they can most definitely be weaknesses. They end up being these barriers that are impossible to overcome unless I chooose to let you. I do this to this day, the difference, I am aware of it. The other difference, I don't want to be the negative extreme anymore and by the grace and strength of God I will perservere. He will break down all of these walls and the enemy will no longer have me in bondage. I'm battling, but God's on my side and when I take rest in that-the light at the end of the tunnel is almost within grasp.
I will overcome-but through Him.
2 Cor. 12:9-10
<3
It begins with a hug..
Two people embracing for a split second in the grand spectrum of time, but that one touch can potentially make or break someone's day. A hug is a physical reassurance that someone else actually cares about you. Perhaps you aren't actually dealing with anything in particular, well that's a false statement, we are ALWAYS dealing with things...some days we are just better at supressing it than others. Some days our crap surfaces, and when it does, those are the days when a hug is much more than a friendly greeting with a close friend. Those are the days that a hug can be a phsyical representation of support, a shoulder to lean on...Jesus taking on human form.
I am called as a Christian to be daily living my life like Christ and for His ultimate glory. If giving someone something so small as a hug is one form that God can use me to bless someone's life, that's awesome. It is so easy, so effortless, yet it goes so under-appreciated on most accounts.
This brings me to think of all of the other small ways God uses me to bless lives but on most occasions it goes unnoticed. I forget to thank God for using me, even in the smallest ways. I forget to notice that I was willing to allow God to use me-that I was obedient.
I am called as a Christian to be daily living my life like Christ and for His ultimate glory. If giving someone something so small as a hug is one form that God can use me to bless someone's life, that's awesome. It is so easy, so effortless, yet it goes so under-appreciated on most accounts.
This brings me to think of all of the other small ways God uses me to bless lives but on most occasions it goes unnoticed. I forget to thank God for using me, even in the smallest ways. I forget to notice that I was willing to allow God to use me-that I was obedient.
