86,400

Email I got from my dad that I wanted to share. Kind of goes along with my Life is Short post.


Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:
Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 in your private account
for your use.
However, this prize has rules, just as any game has certain rules.

The first set of rules would be:
Everything that you didn't spend during each day would be taken
away from you.
You may not simply transfer money into some other account.
You may only spend it.
Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another
$86,400.00 for that day.

The second set of rules:
The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say,
Its over,the game is over!
It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do?
You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right?
Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right?

Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly
spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?ACTUALLY, this GAME is REALITY!Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank. We just can't seem to see it.
The MAGICAL BANK is TIME!
Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when
we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.
What we haven't used up that day is forever lost.Yesterday is forever gone.Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account
at any time....WITHOUT WARNING.SO, what will YOU do with your next 86,400 seconds?Aren't they worth so much more than the same amount in dollars?
Think about that, and always think of this:
Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker
than you think.So take care of yourself, be Happy, Love Deeply and enjoy your life!Here's wishing you a wonderful and beautiful day!!!

Heaven!

I am super distracted today. Firstly, it's Valentine's Day, but other than the distraction of the fact that I am single... I am also distracted by a million other things, my car situation (my tire blew out this weekend & my other car is in the shop), my job, my bills, my friendships, this headache I seem to get every day multiple times throughout the day. The list could go on with all the things that are distracting me. You get the point. So sorry if this post seems scatter-brained. Hopefully it will still make sense & I will be able to get my point across.

I had an amazing day yesterday. Clay, Kendra, & I went to the Austin Stone for church. Matt Carter gave his sermon on Heaven. It was a fun, happy message about the promises of Heaven & the new world. Isaiah 65:17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind."  2 Peter 3:13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.  Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

Listen to Matt Carter's sermon at this link below.

http://www.austinstone.org/resources/sermons/category/what_will_heaven_be_like/


How exciting is that sermon!!! I am so ready for a world without sin. I am so ready to meet Jesus & God & all the people from the Bible. I am so ready to have relationships without sin. I am just sitting here trying to imagine all this & I am in complete awe. There is no way I can even imagine how wonderful it is all going to be, yet I am so excited & fired up about it. I hope that you are too!  A world with no insecurites, no worries, not death, no tears, no sin, no pain... best of all our creator will be there with us!

God is molding me into the person that I was made to be. Sometimes I may fail, but He is always there to pick me up.

I don't need anything but Jesus & God's Grace. I am going to try to stop worrying about the small things. I am going to stop worrying about "boys". I don't need them. I am going to start focusing more on the important things. It won't be easy. But is anything ever worth doing or worth having easy to obtain?

Today, Jesus is my valentine. <3 & Everyday from now on for that matter & he even was every day before that I Just didn't realize it :)

Life is short

I know we have all heard the phrase that "life is short, so cherish it," or "life is short, don't waste it," etc. But, have you ever really thought about that phrase? Really, have you? Life does not seem short.. especially not at the age of myself & my peers. Sometimes we seem to think we are on top of the word & invincible. Sure we see things happen to people our age, but we think, jeez that will never happen to me. We think we have nothing but time, so we constanly put things off thinking that we can get to that later, we are still young.

If we continue to think like this we will probably end up old & regretting putting things off & not living life to the fullest in our younger moments when we were much more capable of doing things. That is, if we even live long enough to grow old. Life is fragile. It could be over at any moment.

"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered- how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath." Psalm 39: 4-5 (New Living Translation).

Imagine when you breathe onto glass, & how your breath appears on the glass for only an instant & then disappears. I picture our life to be like that. Compared to eternity; our lives are but mere breaths.

So, I ask you, where do you want to spend your enternity after this life? How are you spending your life right now? What would you do differently today if you knew you were going to die tomorrow?

In church, we have been discussing eternity. This quote continuously got brought up. I think it is an awesome & powerful quote...

"I resolve to live everyday as if I had already seen the happiness of heaven and the torments of hell."
- Johnathan Edwards

Wow! How awesome is that quote?? I want to start living everyday like that. Thinking about the happiness of Heaven & the torments of Hell. Imagine how differently I would live my life if I could do that!

Matt Carter is doing his entire sermon on Heaven this Sunday. I will definitely share it with you guys. My last post was his sermon on Hell. I highly recommend listening to it.

This post was inspired by my friend who I almost lost Thursday night. She had a really bad car wreck. I am so thankful that God was watching over her & has kept her here with us. He must have a plan for her. <3 I am excited to see what that plan is. But it made me stop & think about how fragile life really is. So don't waste another minute. Start living life today as if you were to die tomorrow, I mean really. Be authentic (inspired by Holly Stallcup's blog... http://www.fallinginlovedevo.blogspot.com/ ) with yourself & others. Truely take the time to let the people you love & care about know how much you love & care about them. Take the time to get to know other people. Most importantly, take the time to know God better & pursue your relationship with Him.

Thoughts on Hell...

Last Sunday Clay & I went to the Austin Stone, like we have started doing every Sunday, but this Sunday was different. This Sunday Matt Carter delivered a very powerful message. (Okay, well every Sunday he delivers a powerful message in my opinion, but this one even more so).
His entire message was on Hell. Which pastor’s don’t ever talk about these days. Not an entire sermon like that anyway. It was intense, it was powerful, it made me think a whole lot & see things differently. I just want to share it with everyone…
http://www.austinstone.org/resources/sermons/category/hell/
At this link you can listen to the podcast of the sermon that day.
The line that probably made me think the most was one of his last lines.
 He says something along the lines of…
For non-believers, enjoy this world, because earth is the closest to Heaven you are ever going to get. For believers who have put their faith & trust in Jesus, endure this world, because earth is the closest to Hell you are ever going to get.

Every Woman Should Read This

These words are amazing. I live by these. Every woman should, don't waste your time, don't feel heartache for a man whose not going to show you he loves you. He may say he does, but if he's not going to show you, his words mean nothing.
I know I'm never going to waste my time on a man who doesn't show me he loves me.

He can have an amazing personality. You can watch
him across a room and laugh at everything he says. He
can charm a stone.  He can charm you.  He can make you
feel like he is the only person alive who understands
you at that moment. He can fill the air with wit and
with charisma and with enthusiasm.
     But if he fills you with nothing, he ain't worth
it.  It doesn't matter how hilarious he is. How smart
he is, how creative he is, how dynamic, how thrilling,
how sweet, how original.  It matters how he treats
you.  And there it is.
     The difficult part of finding someone you want to
be with isn't finding someone whose personality
entertains you. It isn't that he can crack you up or turn
you on. Of course, it is those things, but it's so much
more.  If he's interested in you some of the time but
not all of the time he's not the one.  If he makes
you giggle but makes you cry he's not the one.  If he
makes you think but makes you think ill of yourself
he's not the one.  He's got to want you as much as you
want him. You can't just convince yourself that deep
down he does just because you want him to want you as
much as you want him.  It doesn't matter what he feels
deep down if he doesn't show it.
     This isn't a movie. This is real life.  Movies
have brainwashed you. Sure they have. Pure and simple.
In every tale of the beast who is tamed by the beauty.
Whether the beast in him be insecurity or alcohol or
drugs or other women. Or heartlessness or brainlessness
or cowardice.  Listen up. You're not his Beauty,
you're not his Dorothy, you're not his therapist, and
you're most assuredly not his wizard.  He is who he is. And
because you are who you are give up. It doesn't make
you weak. It doesn't mean you weren't good enough. It
means you have a lick of sense about you. There will
be no "Happily Ever After" at the end of your
dysfunctional version of the yellow brick road.
     You love tales in which the beast changes for the
love of the woman because it makes you feel like you
hold some kind of magical power over him. To transform
him into who he really wants to be. To reveal the
prince within the monster.  But guess what? You don't hold
that power. Newsflash:  No one does. He is the only
one who holds the power to change himself. And if he
hasn't changed for himself, he sure as hell isn't going
to do it for you.  This isn't Beauty and the Beast. It
isn't any version of the story of the asshole who
turns his life around because some dame sees the good in
him.
     The truest stories are those of the man who does
change for a little while, or at least seems to, but
goes back to his old ways and leaves the hopeful woman
disappointed. This doesn't make him evil. It makes him
human. The human who isn't right for you.  It's not
your fault. It doesn't mean you weren't intelligent
enough, or funny enough, or beautiful enough, or unique
enough, or understanding enough, or patient enough. You
weren't the muse to inspire him, because that muse
does not exist. It doesn't mean that you can't still be
his friend.
     Chances are that eventually he will meet someone
and settle down and seem to become all of the things
that you hoped he could be for you.   But don't let
this hurt you. Don't be fooled. You were good enough for
him. He just wasn't good enough for you.
     If you continue hoping that sooner or later he
will come around, realize how wonderful you are, and how
you deserve better and that he's not living up to his
full potential as a person, you are breaking your own
heart. He isn't. You are. You know deep down who he
is. YOU KNOW. Beneath the goodness hiding beneath his
fear is an even deeper fear that will prevent him from
ever in one million years being what you think he can
be. You know it. Stop bullshitting yourself. No amount
of either bullying or coddling from you is going to
bring him around. You know this deep down, oh yes you do
but you stay.  Because keeping yourself tied to a
man who will never change keeps you from getting
involved with a man who might change you.
     Admitting that stops making it about his fear,
though, and makes it about yours.  Listen to me.
Somewhere out there waits a man who will be strong enough for
your strength. Wise enough for your wisdom.  A wise
woman waits for that man. She doesn't waste herself on a
madman because she will feel like more of a woman if
she is the one who can finally cure him of
his demons.  Being a woman is knowing you haven't sold
yourself short. That you haven't allowed his failures
to become your own.  Being a woman is being brave. 
Not brave enough to stay and try to change him.
     Brave enough to walk away!!!

You deserve the best!

My daddy emailed this to me, I've read things like this before... & I am sure most of you have but here is a reminder...

Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot- who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake to watch you sleep... the boy who kisses your forehead... who holds your hand in front of his friends & thinks you're just as pretty without makeup on, who is constantly reminding you of how ...much he cares and how lucky he is to have YOU... who turns to his friends and says, "that's her"....

Remember girls/women you deserve the best. You deserve the above. Don't settle. Hold out & wait for this guy. He is out there. I promise. =]

A New Direction

It has been a year & about three months since I have graduated from McMurry. I graduated with no clue of what to do with my life. I knew I wanted to take a year off from school before going on to graduate school. So I moved into my parents house & took the first job I got offered, which happened to be at the bank. I instantly took to a life that was almost like college, except instead of class I went to work. I would go out to the bars all the time, stay out late, whatever.

Here lately, I've gotten tired of that life. I moved out of my parent's house about a month & a half ago or so. I've stopped going out to the bar completely on weekdays. I go maybe once if even that on the weekends. There's just too much drama at the bar, not to mention the waste of money. I am tired of the men I meet at the bars who try to pursue me.  Not all of the men I have met at the bars have been that awful, but I mean really, think about it, it's hard to meet a decent man at the bar. It's not that I would even go out to the bar to meet men, but of course it would happen regardless. I'm getting off subject though. I would go out, drink too much, stay up late, spend too much money, & feel awful at work the next day. This was not getting me anywhere in life. It has helped since I have moved to Horseshoe Bay. I am trying to budget my money better & save. Plus, I'm not as close to the bars, it's not as convenient. & I love my parents to death, but I think a lot of the reason I would go out would be to get some space of my own & away from them, out of their house, you know. So now I more or less have my own space to go to. I can invite whoever I want to come over whenever. It's definitely made a difference.

Besides minimizing the bar scene in my life majorly, I have started maximizing God in my life. The Sunday before last  I went with my roomie & her parents to a church in Austin called the Austin Stone. I absolutely loved it. There are a lot of college students that go there... a lot of young people & the dress is very casual. It was a lot like church camp. Haha. Really, a worship band on stage, a huge screen, dim lights. It's held in Stephen F. Austin's High School gym.  It was awesome. The pastor was awesome, he kept my interest, made me laugh, it was great. Then this past Sunday I went with Mike, who I met at the stone through my roomie & her parent, to a church in Bastrop which is at the Bastrop middle school. It is called River Valley. It was Jersey day, to kick off the start of NFL. So most people were sporting their favorite teams jersey. It was very laid back & relaxed. The worship band was called Burgundy Road. They are absolutely amazing people. I got to talk to all of them & hang out with a few of them afterwards. I love these two churches and plan to continue attending church every Sunday, maybe I will alternate Sundays & continue attending both.

As for my job & where I am right now in life.. I still do not have it all figured out. But that's ok. I finally feel like I am starting down the right path, the right direction. I am not too worried about it. God will help me figure it out. He will send me down the right path & where I need to go. All I have to do is trust in Him & have faith.

=]