Hope is an anchor for my soul

To be honest I don't really like to think about about unhappiness so I'm going to skip that photo and move right into the post about my favorite word. Drum roll please... Hope is most definitely my favorite word. Without hope life is meaningless and my life has hope because of Jesus Christ and he is an anchor for my soul. Peace to you all.

My Greatest Need and Want

Today's blog challenge makes me think about the word "need" versus the word "want". This is something I have been conscious of for a while. Often I sit in my apartment at night and look around at all of the stuff that I as one human being own. How did I get to this point where I own so much? Has it always been that way? Humans seem to be kind of like fish in that we grow to fill the container in which we are placed. I sit in my apartment and wonder, "do I really need any of this stuff?" Our upcoming yard sale has me thinking about my stuff, but every time I look at something, I come up with a reason as to why I can't part with it. (Don't worry. I'll find some things to contribute to the sale.)

What is the line between need and want? I can easily say that we as humans need food, water, shelter, clothing, and love, but to what amount of excess do we need these? There are also those items that we don't need to survive but that we need to make our life better or easier, such as computers, phones, silverware, and books. That brings up the question of what quality of these items that fall in the middle ground between need and want should we purchase. If we could find a way to live without the item, do we purchase the most expensive/newest or choose a lower quality/older model that will serve the purpose? I don't have an answer to this, but it makes me think when I go shopping.

I'll end this debate that I can't complete, and just post a picture of the greatest need in my life. Jesus is my greatest need. I need him to guide me and give me strength each day. I need him because without him I wouldn't be able to have a relationship with God and I would be heading towards Hell. I also want him to be in my life because life is much sweeter with him in it.

Here's the full song where the picture came from. Sung by Matt Maher.

Cheers!

So long, farewell 2015

Wow this photo challenge is ending and I'm thinking where in the world did this year go? There are so many moments that have made this year and I am so thankful for each of them in there own ways. Before I get ahead of myself I should catch up on a couple days that I missed. A scarf and me! I decided to combine the two so here you go. Also for this particular picture I am adding a wonderful song that kept running through my head as I prepared myself to take this selfie. Do you want to take a selfie?!

And now for the final day, reflecting. I may or may not have gotten this idea from Granny Eyre but I have made a collage of different photo highlights of this past year. At the beginning of this year there was snowman made, a couple of snow days (which had never happened at college before), a trip to sonic in March, a beautiful remembrance of Jesus Christ risen from death on the cross. In May probably the biggest accomplishment of my life thus far, graduating with Bachelors degree. An exciting camping trip and fourth of July celebration. Just a "few" card games with friends happening all throughout. Rallying around a dear sweet lady and visiting Alabama come next. To end the year there was a white elephant gift exchange with fellow bcm'ers and a very important time of  reflecting the birth of the Savior of the World. I hope there are many more moments of joy, friendship, laughter, hope, and love in this new year.

Day 24: Family

I'm skipping around just a bit but I'll share a photo of the blessed family tonight since it is Christmas Eve and all. I just got home from "Midnight Mass", actually 10 o' clock mass at my church. I snapped this photo quickly while driving out so it isn't the best but I thought it was appropriate for today.

How sweet to think of the little baby Jesus coming from heaven to Earth, and being born in a lowly manger, for all of us.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Christmas Past and Christmas Present

Amist all the Holiday festivities, I am going to take time out to write this blog post. It is really strange for me this Holiday season. I am torn between the old and new. So let's take a walk down memory lane for a while.
Christmas Past:
Around the beginning of December my sisters and I would head up to the attic where all the stuff my mother and father wanted to keep hidden from guest would be. Climbing into the attic was always a momentous occasion in the house it only happened four times a three times a year, but I will save that bit for another post. Back inside the attic it was always chilly and dark but we knew our way around to the Christmas section, which basically was half the attic space anyway. It would take at least an hour to haul everything down into the now cramped living room but it was worth it. My favorite part about decorating was separating the Christmas tree sprigs into the different color coded sections and spreading the branches out. First we would decorate the ten foot slender tree full of gold Christmas themed decorations. Then we would move to the dinning room where we would decorate the silver tree which was my favorite. I should mention now that Christmas was my mothers favorite holiday. She loved all the decorating, cooking, gathering it entailed. I remember the first time my dad let me climb on the roof and help him hang Christmas lights. It was exhilarating. I am a bit afraid of heights but once I stopped focusing on the ground and instead on the task at hand of untangling lights it was fun! The best part about Christmas past for me was the food though. We would spend weeks planning menus and looking over my mothers old cook books planning the perfect food items. Shopping was always rough though because a big family means lots and lots of food. One of the foods my sister Faith and I would make every year was Watergate salad and heavenly hash. I hated the heavenly hash because of the cherries but I loved making it every year. Rice krispie treats were exciting to watching the marshmallows bubble up and listening to the crack snap and pop sounds. Meatballs and smokie links were a must and bacon wrapped chicken livers were the worst but my father loved them. Lots and lots of cheese cubes and pickles to munch on along with ham/cheese wraps and veggies for the taking. If you went hungry at Christmas it was your own fault. The best part wasn't the decorating, or the food but rather the company. I loved spending time with my folks, sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews playing games, laughing, talking, and just sitting around. It was nice. I would not trade those Christmas day breakfast's for anything either.

Christmas Present:
Tomorrow marks the second Christmas that I have spent away and the first Christmas season that I did not spend with my family of "origin". I am a little down trodden by this because of all the good memories I have associated with this season. I will not let it keep me from making new traditions and memories however. I have spent the past two Christmas with my best friend and her family. It has been a blast. Card games, board games and camaraderie galore. I have learned through the past few years that you can have a family of origin and also a family of choice. I have chosen this wonderful group of fun, loving individuals as part of my family and I do believe they consider me part of their family as well. Today we did something I am not use to we opened Christmas presents. Going around in a circle one at a time each of us would open a gift. It was peaceful watching everyone and seeing the look of happiness as each gift was unwrapped. I should mention my best friends uncle is a funny individual. She and I got the exact same things from him in our bags and her two brothers both got the same thing as each other as well. That is my kind of shopping there :) It was all really nice and I got a beautiful card from the grandmother. The food might not be as exciting as I have had in the past but it is an adventure everyday seeing what is going to be for lunch and supper.

I do want to make mention of the real reason behind Christmas, which is Jesus and His birth. Without that there would be none of this Holidayness. So I ask myself and you who read this to take a minute or two out of your busy holidays and reflect on why we celebrate and who we are really celebrating. If you get a chance also you should check out Luke 2:1-? and Matthew 1:18-?. I hope you all have a merry christmas and joyous new year :)

Lesson From God: Tomato Plants

"Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." Matthew 9:37
It is very interesting, at least to me, the way God works and speaks. This past Sunday during the morning service the preacher was preaching on visions Christ followers and even non believers should keep their eyes on. The verse quoted above was not the main focal verse of the sermon, that was somewhere in proverbs but I don't remember where exactly. The preacher as far as I can remember just randomly brought this verse up out of the blue to talk about a random point he was trying to get the people gathered to understand. This verse stuck with me though, and I have been pondering on it ever since.  
As some of you know I planted about ten cherry tomato plants this summer; you may even recall Granny Eyer's blog post where she posted a picture or two of my plants. Immediately after Brother Kenny said, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." my brain started thinking about my poor tomato plants. I have not been the best worker toward them, the grass around the plants is as tall as the plants themselves and the only water they've gotten is from the sporadic rain we have got in this part of the state. Needless to say you can definitely see the fruits of my labor and unfortunately it's not much at all. 
My brain then began to think about what Jesus said. In my mind apart from referring to a harvest of food or drink of any sorts, Jesus could have also been referring to the non God believing people of the world as the "harvest", and the God following people as the workers. My tomato plants are like the non believers and I am one worker. As a follower of Jesus, I should be going out and tending to non believers sharing with them the good news of Jesus and how He died to save everyone. If I neglect the non believers like I did my tomato plants this summer, I am not doing what is right. I cannot walk around in life expecting some else to tend for people God has placed in my life or even trick myself into thinking they will be okay all on their own, just like my tomato plants and then realizing too late that they shriveled up and died without much of a chance. I have to be one of the few. I will go out into the world and tell people about a wonderful savior named Jesus who loves them more than anyone else ever could. 
I decided to steal a picture from Granny Eyre as a tribute to my tomato plants. Mind you this picture was taken in early July, my plant and the grass around them have gotten much bigger.

Well it is now almost 1 in the a m so I should probably go to bed. Goodnight and peace until next time.
Captain Something Fun