All the single ladies....

Pastor Mark made a super interesting comment the other day. Instead of just making a list of things you want in a spouse, make a list of things you want to be for your future spouse.

A best friend. I want to be the first person he thinks of texting when he hears a funny story or wants to complain about the overtime at work. Who he pictures going with him to the Seahawks game. 

An encourager. I want to help him pursue his dreams. On those days that just suck, I want to speak words of life to him. To find ways to let him know I care and am behind him 100%. 

A helper. And it kills me because every feministic bone in my body is screaming at me for typing that. But it's true. I want to make a beautiful and relaxing home. I want to make breakfast for 2 in the morning, and spaghetti for dayssss. I want to help him fix the car and mow the lawn. I want to work hard in my career field to help make money not so much of an issue.

A mom. I want to have a big family with so much love and patience and jokes and silliness and loud laughter. I want to teach my kids what the difference is between chloroform and chlorophyll. I want to let them watch "Up" while we're all snuggled up on the couch. I want them to "read" their Bible with me before bed, and to get to tell them the Jesus stories over and over. I want to have foster kids who rebel and make us want to cry.

A sister in Christ. I want to go to church together. To sing about Jesus together. To pray together every day. To ask him tough questions and discuss our thoughts. To hold him accountable in the areas he's struggling with. To lead a community group with him.

That's just the beginning. I want to be someone he's proud of. When I walk in the bar while he's talking with his friends, I want him to be so excited to tell his friends "that's my wife!!" 

You take brokenness aside and make it beautiful

I believe that the world is a beautiful place. I have to. 

At the risk of sounding conceited, I'm going to say it anyway--I have a really hard job. This week I spent 20 hours listening to people's problems. As 911 operators we are taught to let it roll off you. Someone starts yelling at you because the police didn't respond the first time they whined about the noise next door? Let it go. Someone starts ranting about how terrible you are at your job? Let it go. Someone starts getting impatient because you ask them to repeat things? Let it go. Your officer asks you for the third time to repeat that plate? Let it go. Your officer gets frustrated because you aren't fast enough? Let it go. Your officer isn't paying attention to his radio? Let it go.

This week I hit a point with a couple calls where I couldn't let it go. I can still hear her voice ringing in my ears. The sound of her desperately trying to keep it together for her small child while the horror of what just happened starts creeping in. The panic turning to tears. "I'm going to burn these clothes." 

I have to believe the world is a beautiful place, because I know it's full of dirty, broken things. I have first hand knowledge of what human beings can do to each other. I also know that the world is beautiful because of its creator. People are imperfect, rotten, and evil. Jesus loves people so much that he made an incredible sacrifice. God made the flowers. He made the blue sky and the beach. He made pristine snow and puppies to romp through it. He makes beautiful things out of dust. He takes brokenness aside and makes it beautiful.

Some people call it optimism, others say "oh don't worry, with time you'll become cynical like us." I have to believe the world is a beautiful place because I don't WANT to be like them. I want to always care about how that CPR in progress call ended. I want my heart to always hurt when someone goes to jail. I love what I do. It really has to be a field you're called into, not just a job. Friends and family will never know how it drains you, how you can differentiate between types of crying over the phone. You tell them the funny stories because those are the ones you want to remember.

I believe the world is a beautiful place. Because I have to.

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. 

I was doing SO well about posting. I'm still alive, I promise. I started working about 2 1/2 weeks ago and LOVE my job. The bummer is that I don't have internet access at the house right now, hence the rare updates. But someday I'll get access and write a nice little post. Don't worry--I haven't forgotten about you all :)

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 :)

I'm addicted and I just can't get enough

I love Pinterest. Especially now, as I'm starting to figure out what I want my apartment to look/be like. One brilliant thing I found is the blog Blissful and Domestic. She gives wonderful ideas for how to live on a budget. This shall be my project when I start working next week. I figure, I'll have 2 months to plan a budget, work on shopping at thrift stores for stuff, and get in a routine before I move and throw a wrench in everything.

Right now, the plan is to hit Ikea after I see the actual space I'll be living in. I've already assembled a pallet TV stand, ransacked Value Village for kitchen stuff, and repaired my little old car's broken parts all by myself (with a little help from my dad and 1A Auto). I think the next thing on my to-do list will be these:

http://www.thegirlinspired.com/2011/07/instant-gratification-canvas-photo-diy.html

DIY canvas photos. I plan on having pictures everywhere in my house, so this is awesome. Between those and these:

http://diy-vintage-chic.blogspot.com/2012/06/transfer-image-to-wood-tutorial.html

there will be pictures EVERYWHERE!!! And thus, I am excited.

And then, there's these:
 I'm thinking living room material?

Oh, I also decided that my kitchen will be coffee-themed, and my bathroom will be duck-themed. very excited.

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!