Just when you think thing are looking up!

Do you ever get to that point where you begin to think things are looking up and then BAM! Life whacks you upside the head once again with a plank!

Well that would be how my weekend went. It was kind of strange how it happened because late Thursday night at around 11:00 I got a call from my Dad. Now there are two reasons why this was strange. First off my Dad and I have certain topics that he will call me about, most of the time it would be a computer issue or an upcoming trip. But neither of them seemed to be an 11:00 conversation for him because most of the time Dad goes upstairs and gets ready for bed at around 9, maybe 10. So a call from Dad at 11:00 set my heart to racing, my mind went into the process that it had to be bad news. Well he was calling to tell me that he got an email that had to do with the phone plan that we had changed on Monday. Whew!

So Friday night in the early evening I get a call from Mom. Not thinking anything about it this time Mom has the bad news. My great Aunt Vera is not doing well. Colon Cancer. Now I know that she has been having issues for years, but it kind of put a damper on my entire weekend. In fact, I have felt in a funk ever since.

Luckily this weekend I'm going up to see her and to spend some time with that side of my Family. The thing about my Aunt Vera is that she has always been the one that has gone out of her way to make sure I knew what the love of a grandmother felt like. My Grandmother, her older sister passed away just a month before I was born. Aunt Vera was always there for me to the point where she made sure I was well taken care of in Academy. When there were long times between home leaves she'd have me come over for the weekend, even through she lived right across the street. She has always shown me the love that I know my Grandmother would have shown me.

As I've though over this weekend, I remembered back to the good times when I was a kid and we spent summers at the shore. I remembered the years of her always being active and "spunky" as I always put it. My mom talked to her over the weekend and she said she still has that spunk in her voice. That made me smile!

No matter what Satan throws at us, he can't take away that "spunk!"

The group Casting Crowns has a song called "Praise you in the Storm"

The Chorus says:

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

Lord,

Be with my family today as we rally around my Aunt Vera. Help us to be uplifting to her and to be able to show her Your love as she has shown us our entire lives. Please help her pain to be easy. You are in control of our lives.

Brie!

What happened?

Have you ever had one of those days where things just seemed off? Just something was not right. But you really could not put your finger on what it was about it that made things off.

That's how the last few days have been for me. I just feel that something is not quite right.

How many times do we obsess over such feelings until we make things wrong. Many people do that with relationships and friendships. I know I have. We feel like something is wrong and we invent the senerio in our heads until it is wrong.

How can we buck this internal feeling of uncertainty? What fuels this fire of "somethings wrong" in our lives?

I'm really not sure what to do. I feel myself inventing a set of situations to protect myself from putting too much on the line. Is this really just a self-protection scam? So we make things explode to protect ourselves?

I remember as a child singing a simple song at church that says:

I cast all my cares upon you,
I lay all of my burdens down at your feet,
And anytime I don't know what to do,
I will cast all my cares upon you.

Lord,

I want you to take this situation as I lay it at your feet. I really don't know what the future will bring, but I know that you know and have a plan for me. Take this burden and work it out for me. Thank you in advance, Lord.

Brie!

Life Planning or Time Wasted!

Hi all,

I know I've been gone for a while and my last blog post stated that I was going to get back on my bandwagon and start blogging. Once again the best laid plans failed as life hit me. Through the storm, God gave me a wonderful vacation that I got to spend an incredible time with my awesome roommate and another of my best friends. Now almost a week back into reality I find myself still distracting myself from my spiritual life.

Tonight, I'm at the beach on a spiritual retreat. So refocusing is the key right now. I've taking a few minutes to read through a little bit of the book of Proverbs because it always seems to get me thinking and has wonderful gems of knowledge.

I've been focusing a lot on looking into my future and trying to make plans for the fall. I've been thinking about going back into the classroom to put my masters degree to use. Everything seems to be pointing me into that direction to get more classroom experience under my belt before I try to pick up some college level teaching.

But there is something that seems to be in the way. I've done the research and found how to apply to the school systems and yet just last night I finally applied for the first county. I'm really not sure what the hold up has been. I've kind of felt at a stand still in most of my life.

So when I opened to Proverbs 16:1-3 (The Message)

Mortals make elaborate plans,
but GOD had the last word.

Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good,
GOD probes for what is good.

Put GOD in charge of your work,
then what you've planned will take place.

So has my planning been good or wasted? I guess that is in God's hands. I've come to far in my walk to take ten steps back to do things the way I used to do them. Taking whatever looked good and just went from thing to thing until I got tired.

The group Mary Mary have a song that says
"I just can't give up now!
Come too far from where I started from.
Nobody told me the road would be easy
and I don't believe He's brought me this far to leave me."

Lord,

Take my life and do with it what you want me to do. Open my eyes and show me what you want me to do with my future. Make that path bright with lights so that I can see that it is the path that you want me to take. I know the path may not be easy, but I know I can make it with your help. Bless my family and friends!

Brie!