I'm Thankful For...

It's Thanksgiving eve and as I'm sitting here chillin in my office I started thinking about all the things I'm thankful for this year.

I am thankful for:

-Jesus Christ. He has given and blessed me with so much this year it's uncomprehendable.

-My family. Mom, Dad, Court, Justin and Kelsey. It's been a rough year and 1/2 and you guys have put up with me far more than I deserve.

-Jonathan Anthony Montoya. My best friend in the whole world. Again, you've been there for me day after day after day and I am so lucky to have you my best friend.

-Central Christian Church. Not only for giving me a job, but for being a truly God-honoring church. I have never been more proud to be a part of a church. The staff and members here are some of the best people I've ever met.

-My college small group girls. Amy, Ashley, Halley, Bethany, Brittany, Cassie, Michelle, Holly and Karin. Within the past couple of months you girls have shaped me into the person I am today, always encouraging me to be the captivating woman that God created me to be. You are some of the greatest friends I've ever had. You accepted me with open arms and brought me into your group of friends and introduced me to even more amazing people.

-Joe DiMercurio. You are one of those amazing people I was introduced to. I am so grateful to have you and to be able to call you my boyfriend. You bring a whole new level of happiness to my life every single day.

-All my friends. New and old. From my girls from high school to my "table" to Mike and Sarah. You all have impacted me more than you can imagine. Thank you for your friendship.

-My high school small group. Ashley, Christina, Hannah, Jenelle, Melanie, Sidney and Taylor. As much as I am supposed to be leading and teaching you, you girls have taught me just as much. Thank you for opening up to me and trusting me like you have.

-Freedom of religion and from persecution. Working in Global Outreach has opened my eyes to how lucky we truly are to live in America and to have our freedom. We can pray and sing and dance and be loud and public about our religion without the fear of torture or even death.

-My bed. I absolutely love my bed. I'm so grateful I don't have to sleep on the streets. I think thats something we all take for granted.

-My house, car, clothing, food, make up, straightener, water, TV, shoes. Everything that I am spoiled with that I think of as a right instead of a privilege.

There is so much more that could be added on to here. I hope and pray that you take time to remember the things you are thankful for or to let those people know how much you appreciate them. There is no greater time of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone :)

Neverland

I decided I'm officially not ready to grow up. Being an adult is way to hard sometimes. I think Peter Pan had the right idea with never growing up. Wouldn't life be so much easier if we could stay kids forever? Maybe, maybe not. There are definitely perks that come along with being a grown up but i would love it if my biggest worry was if my mom was going to let me go out and play.

I have absolutely no motivation towards school anymore. I value learning and education so much but I am so ready for this semester to be over. Going to class is about as fun and ripping out all my hair; which I feel my teachers are doing every time they talk. I am one semester away from getting my Associates and I'm seriously contemplating stopping there, or at least taking a break. I'm just over it right now.

I am in super need of a second job. I LOVE my job at Central but I am just not getting the hours. I can not quit GO so I need another part time job. I don't think I have ever been this worried about money in my whole life. It stresses me out way too much.

I'm just ready for the holiday break! I need a vaca and recharge session. Sometimes I wish we came with batteries so when we started to die down we could just put in new ones and be up and ready to go.

When I was little my daddy used to always tell me he wished I would stay 2 forever. I wouldn't mind being 2 years old right now.

My Thoughts Exactly.

There's a place I've been looking for
That took me in and out of buildings
Behind windows, walls and doors
And I thought I found it
Couple times, even settled down
And I'd hang around just long enough
To find my way back out
I know now the place that I was trying to
Reach
Was you, right here in front of me

And I wouldn't change a thing
I'd walk right back through the rain
Back to every broken heart
On the day that it was breakin'
And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here

It's amazing what I let my heart go through
To get me where it got me
In this moment here with you
And it passed me by
God knows how many times
I was so caught up in holding
What I never thought I'd find
I know now, there's a million roads
I had to take
To get me in your arms that way

In a love I never thought I'd get to get to
-here
And if that's the road
God made me take to be with you

And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for all the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here.
-Rascal Flatts

More Than A Feeling

Love is patient. Love is kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
-1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Years ago, someone that I respect greatly told me that if you could replace the word "love" with the name of another person and all the statements were still true than it was true God-honoring love. I just thought that was a cool way to define "love."

It's brutal.

I can't always put into words what I'm thinking. My words sometimes get jumbled and mixed and things don't come out the way I want them too. Maybe that means I need to just shut up sometimes and not say anything, I don't know. I open my mouth before really thinking of what I'm going to say. And sometimes I'm too honest. Most of the time after I've said something I replay conversations over and over again in my head beating myself up for what i did or did not say. Alot of the time I wish I could just redo it all. But I can't. And all I can do is accept whatever comes from what I said and learn from that experience.

Experience: the most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn. ~ C.S. Lewis

Risk

I believe in taking risks. i think some of the greatest things come out of situations where you could have failed but you surpassed all odds and succeeded. At the chance of failure and rejection you triumphed. And when you do fail, which everyone does at some point, you learn some of the greatest lessons. And if you take risks you never have to wonder "what if?" Decide if the risks are worth whatever outcome you receive and take advantage of it. Take a risk, you never know how absolutely perfect something could turn out to be.

"Take into account that great love and great accomplishments come with great risks." -Dalai Lama

"Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed." -Storm Jameson

"Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything that it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more." -Erica Jong

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

Are you ok with this?

I received an email from my mom today at work with the following information. She was referring this back to a conversation we had had about a Christian author Donald Miller's support for Barack Obama. Miller pointed out in his blog (http://donmilleris.com/2008/10/03/on-the-campaign-trail-in-mi-in-nc-va-and-oh-this-week/) that one of his main reasons for supporting Obama was his abortion stance. He said that Obama's plan was better than John McCain's "empty promise" on abortion. (He probably should have done a little more research before throwing that out that.) But if the following information is Obama's abortion stance, I think we all need to take a look at our morals and let it come down to right and wrong. You can decide for yourself.

Summary:


In 1999 a gruesome discovery was made that an Illinois hospital was shelving babies to die in a soiled utility room who had survived their abortions.

The Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act was introduced in 2001 to provide legal protection to all born babies, wanted or not, including the right to medical care.

Then-state Senator Barack Obama voted against Born Alive 4 times in 3 years and was the sole senator to speak against it on the Senate floor in 2001 and 2002.

In 2002, the Federal version of Born Alive passed unanimously in the US Senate and by overwhelming voice vote in the House. The pro-abortion group NARAL even went neutral on the bill.

But In 2003, Barack Obama voted against the identical version of Born Alive in Illinois. Then, for the next 4 years he repeatedly misrepresented his vote until it was recently discovered in the IL General Assembly archives.


For more information and to view the add running in battle ground states, click link below.

http://www.bornalivetruth.org/