Planning is an Obsession.

I'll sit for hours on Realtor.com. I'll watch HGTV from daybreak to dawn. I'll re-plan my schedule for upcoming semesters every week. I'll research places I hope to live over and over again. I'll go to multiple job websites looking for jobs that make me excited and hopeful for years to come. I'll stalk multiple photography blogs to get excited about upcoming photography shoots. I'll plan trips, flight, hotel, car and activities, that I don't plan on going on until years from now.

Why do I do these things? None of them being me any immediate results or help me accomplish the things I need done today.

I'm not looking for a house. I'm not redesigning someones room. I've already planned my schedule. I have no idea where I want to live. I am no where near needing a job. I don't own my own photography studio, yet. I'm not going on any big trips.

The reason I do these things is because for me, planning is an obsession. I can plan elaborate road trips, grand parties, the house I want to live in all the way down to the neighborhood, crime rate, closest schools, accessibility of parks, closest mountains and lakes, and if it has a laundry room.

The downfall of my planning obsession is that very rarely can I follow through. I make workout plans, they never make it past my notebook. I make detailed schedule of homework completion, I check one assignment off the list. I make mental promises to eat a salad every day and drink more water, I look at the salad line and go get pizza and a glass of sweet tea instead. Up until this year, this is the attitude that ruled my life. However, two-thousand and eleven is different. I do not give up. I am motivated. I am worth keeping promises to myself.

Have you ever realized how big our God is? Oh, he's big, and he's powerful, and he can do anything he wants. He wants me to use my obsession with planning to change lives, but first, my own.

Commit to yourself that you WON'T give up. God made you and you are not worth giving up on.

Determined, full, and dancing in His presence.

-Christy.

Simplehearted.

The guidelines are simple, so simple that they were summarized in to ONE word. There is a word that is meant to direct all our thinking, all our actions, and all of our relationships. The only thing we asked to do is Love.

"The LORD protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me." Psalm 116:6

All of the amenities and technology we use were created for us to make our lives more simple. Why then do they complicate things so much? Intellectuals are praised and simple thinkers are cast aside. After reading this passage in the Psalms, I started to wonder about the benefits and difficulties of practicing being "simple-hearted."

When there is only one goal for our lives, to love, I guess it should be easy to be "simple-hearted." I am going to consider trying this state of heart in my life and I invite you to join me.

Life is so simple when Love is our nature.

Contemplative, Encouraged, and Peaceful,

Christy.

Wisdom.

"But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
Mon does not comprehend its worth
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
The deep says 'It is not in me'
the seas says 'It is not with me.'
It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed in silver.


God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm.
then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.


And he said to man, 
'The fear of the Lord --
that is wisdom,
and the shun evil
is understanding.'"
Job 28:12-15, 23-28

Reflect and Embrace

     How often do I reflect on the things I learn? So many new ideas and feelings pass through my head daily, but how many of them make an impact? Does my new knowledge reform the way I think? Does it radically change how I act? Does it even effect how I feel? Sadly, 98.9% of the time, no. Oh, but what if it did?
     Books give us experiences through someone else's life or imagination. Recently I have learned how to ride a hoverboard, climb the tallest tree around and gaze of into the world, befriend an annoying neighbor, raise chickens, terribly miss a father who is at war, teach a mentally handicapped brother how to act in social situations, and even have a cup of tea with my closest fourth-grade friends. While all of these things were engaging and intriguing to my imagination, what have I learned?
     I have learned that books are not meant simply for entertainment. They are meant to teach you things that you never knew you would need to know. No, my father will never go off to war, but I will be without him one day and I will do all I can to remember him fondly. No, I will never be a fourth-grader who meets every Saturday with my closest friends to have tea, but I will one day have a fourth grader who is looking to connect and spend time with friends. No, I will never have a mentally handicapped brother, but through the experiences I have had in reading I know just a small bit more about interacting and treating each and every individual with love and patience, no matter their IQ or physical ability.
     What if we stop, reflect, and embrace? We will not only enjoy words on a page or stories from someones mouth, but we will learn about life and the people that occupy it.


Enlightened, joyful, and excited,
Christy.

New Habits.

   For those of you know know me, I mean really know me, you know I am not a reader. I am also not a writer. However, in the days leading up to 2011 reading and writing were at the forefront of my mind. At the beginning of December I committed to read the entirety of the Bible in 100 days starting on January 1st. I also decided that for the first time ever I was going to create two good habits for myself; daily reading of God's word and daily writing of my own. I prayed, oh how I prayed, that I would not give up and let myself down. All too often in life I make myself promises and I become unmotivated and I give up. My biggest "character flaw" is lack of motivation and determination. I cannot remember much of anything in my life that I have started and finished with the same vigor; 2011 was going to be different.

    It's a good thing I started praying when I did, because before I knew it not only did I have personal reading and writing to keep up with, but I now also have a class requiring me to read 10 novels this semester (more than I have ever read for pleasure in my life) and another class where I am learning to embrace writing instead of running from it. January 2011 is over and for the first time I am PROUD that I have not let myself down. God has placed the desire that I asked for in my heart to read and to write and to look forward to that time with Him. Like I said, this is all a new experience for me, and it has delivered an abundance of blessings already! Any encouragement is welcome and any criticism... you can keep it to yourself. 

Humbled, Thankful, Boasting in Christ,

Christy.