Dance all night, there's no end in sight

Okay, here I go. God is SO good. It's been really easy for me to forget that I'm only where I'm at right now because God made all the little things fall into place. I just finished my first phase of training at work. I'll actually miss training a lot because our trainer was amazing and the three of us who were being trained had a blast together. Now I move to phase 2--answering live calls all day every day.

It's an incredible job. Every day I answer a 911 line that connects people to the help they need. Sometimes we save lives. It's MUCH more difficult than I thought it'd be, but it's also really exciting. So starting tomorrow I'm working full 10-hour days. woooo

I just e-mailed someone at church about finding a new community group....I'm SO excited about that.

I should be moving into an apartment in early October. !!!!!

I heard from the soldier I adopted and I'm blown away by how much he appreciates the little things that we do. It's such a rewarding thing. 

Just breathe in the air, and blink in the light

Today.

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." 

So much is happening. all the time, every day. Classes, work, driving, running errands, seeing friends, it's easy to get caught up in doing life. But how often are we really thankful for today? How often do we waste time--the precious time we're given. Funny story is that I'm thinking about this for 2 reasons. One, I've been wasting time watching Grey's Anatomy and watching fictional characters whose lives are altered unexpectedly all the time. And two, 3 Special Forces Marine soldiers were killed today. 

When I found out that 3 soldiers were killed, before I knew they were Marines, my heart almost stopped. You see, this afternoon I just went shopping for my adopted soldier's August care package. A few weeks ago I sent brownies to a soldier friend who has been going through some really rough times. And today I got my first e-pal soldier's contact info. Before I started working with Soldier's Angels, the war in Afghanistan was just something that I heard about on the news. Now, I'm invested in the lives of three courageous men who are fighting and sacrificing every day so that we have the freedom to sit on our bums and waste life.

That doesn't seem right to me.

I'm not saying we have to do something brilliant every single moment of every single day, but I know I can at least do something every day. Maybe it's speaking Jesus into someone's life at a coffee date. Maybe it's writing an encouraging Facebook post on someone's wall. Maybe it's sending that care package to a soldier. It could even be giving grace to someone I'm frustrated with. I just know I want to stop doing life and start living in a way that is worthy of the gifts I have been given.

What did you do today?

My Back to School care package :)

There's no reason you should ever have your head down

Ok, this is really cool. I can't believe I haven't posted about it yet. One of my favorite TV shows is Army Wives. I dunno why, I just like it. On one episode they mentioned penpals for deployed soldiers. I thought "that's kinda cool..." and googled it. That's how I found Soldier's Angels.

So, soldiers who are deployed and never get mail or care packages from people back home are entered into a database...either by commanding officers or the soldiers themselves. Then, people in the States can "adopt" one! We send 1 letter every week and 1 care package every month. It might seem like a big commitment, but really these guys and gals are putting their lives on hold for our freedom. and it's fun! 

I was assigned a guy in the Army who is in the Middle East. Soldier's Angels says going into it that you probably won't hear back from your soldier since they're so busy. I haven't heard from mine, but still I get really excited when I think that someone's day might be made a little brighter by such a simple act. 

If you want a ministry, just think about this one!