I wrote this when I was in high school.
People are always talking about God; how wonderful and beautiful He is, but I’ve never seen Him. So, one day, I decided I’d go look for Him.
I started looking for Him in my hometown. I walked down the main avenue searching through old buildings and deserted shops. Some of which windows were broken out and paint was peeling. God was obviously not in any of these places, so I just kept walking.
I walked down the highway, looking for God on the sides of the road, where it’s crumbled and overgrown with weeds. Perhaps god would be lying there, lost and forgotten. Once again, I failed to find Him, so I just kept walking.
I came upon a wheat field, blowing in the spring breeze, golden and beautiful. “God could be here,” I thought, “amongst the grain,” so I stepped off the road and looked within the waves of wheat.
Hours passed as I walked through the filed, my bare legs being brushed by the grain, yet God could not be found, so I just kept walking.
After what seemed like forever, I reached the mountains. I began climbing upwards towards the top. I stopped only for a moment to rest, and noticed the awesome beauty around me.
Wild flowers bloomed in all different shades of the rainbow. The sound of trickling water sang an enchanting song along with the birds that flew overhead. I looked for God all afternoon on that mountain, in the streams that collected in pools of water, in the flowers that dance in the wind. I even looked for God at the top of the mountain, where the valley lay below, but still, I could not find Him, so I just kept walking.
I reached the jungles that lay in the valleys at the bottom of the mountain. Greenery interlaced in and out of the trees like intertwined fingers. Exotic animals, some of which I’d only seen pictures of in library books, ran free. Radiant flowers adorned the plants and bushes that I passed. But still no God, so I just kept walking.
Soon, I came to the desert. The sun beat down with great intensity. Lizards scampered across the scalding sand. The heat that rose caused mirages to appear in the distance. Cacti grew from the auburn sand, and I stood there once again, amazed by the beauty that encompassed me. But, to my disappointment, God still evaded me. So I just kept walking.
I found myself at the edge of the earth, where the ocean crashed against the sandy shores. Out across the vast water, I witnessed a school of dolphins playing. Pelicans swooped down and caught unsuspecting fish.
The sweet smell of the ocean air filled my lungs as I took a deep breath and continued my search for God. Yet, all I could find were rocks; smooth and round from the ocean, and shells that were once inhabited by living creatures.
The skies had begun to darken and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever find God. I’d looked in the city. I’d look in the streets. I’d looked in the golden waves of wheat. I’d looked in the mountains. I’d looked in the jungles. I’d looked in the sands of the desert. And there I was, on the beaches of the ocean, and still, I had not found God. And I didn’t feel like walking.
So, I sat on the cooling sand and began to think. I thought about the buildings of my hometown, and how they were in ruins. I thought about the road I began to walk down and how it was crumbling. Man had made these things, and now they were deteriorating.
Then I began to think about the wheat fields, the mountains, the jungle, the desert and the beach that I was sitting on. I thought about how beautiful it all was. I then looked up at the sky, and took in the beauty of the stars. The way they shined in the blackened vastness.
I began to realize that God is all around us. He’s in the breeze that blows the wheat. He’s in the streams that water the mountain blossoms. He’s in the vines that cover the jungle. He’s in the warm sand that blankets the deserts. He’s in the waves that crash on the beach. He’s even in the skies that stretch over it all.
With that knowledge, a peace came over me and I knew that I had found God. And He was Wonderful. He was Beautiful. He was more than I had hoped to find. He was God, and I didn’t have to just keep walking.
Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Wow, a lot happens in 8 months...
Life keeps happening in spite of the fact that I haven't blogged about it in about 8 months. I'll give a quick overview and then "hopefully" I'll be a bit more diligent in my blogging.
In September, Savannah started 1st Grade. She is a good student, and mostly enjoys school. I'm praying for the opportunity to homeschool her, but until that time, I am confident that God will use her (and my) time at that school for His glory.
In October, our baby girl turned 6! She had a doggy themed party. All her guests came dressed as doggies and she had a doggy shaped cake made with love by Grammie. I spent the entire week before the party redoing her room.
November was a time for celebrating family and being thankful for all God has done for us. We had TWO Thanksgivings! One the day before with my side of the family, and then another one on the day of Thanksgiving with Wayne's side of the family.
It was pretty quite around here come December. Wayne had his celebration of Christmas with Savannah. It was a pretty quite day at our house. Just the way I like it. ;)
Savannah also received a Student of the Month award in December, for Responsibility.
January was pretty uneventful. Not much to report.
In February, Savannah performed at her school's talent show with three of her friends. They were gummy bears! She did such a wonderful job. Not only did she remember all of her moves, but she performed wonderfully too! It reignited her desire to dance, so we re enrolled her in dance. So, now she is dancing (tap, ballet, and jazz) and doing gymnastics.
February also brought a surgery to my door. During my yearly "girly" doctor appointment, my ob/gyn found a large fibroid on the posterior of my uterus. He said it was rather large and wanted me to have an ultrasound done to see exactly what it consisted of.
Well, during that ultrasound, the tech found no fibroid, but she did find a large cyst on my right ovary. I have known about this cyst since my ultrasound almost 7 years ago, when I was pregnant with Savannah. I had also seen a picture of it from when I had the laparoscopy three years ago. It didn't concern me too much, until they started throwing around words like "complex" cyst and "solid components."
Due to the fact that it was no longer just a simple cyst but was now a complex cyst with solid components, they ordered a pelvic MRI. After my doctor received the results from the MRI, he referred me to an oncologist. I wasn't too concerned, at this point because of all the research I had done. Plus, just as with the Asherman's Syndrome, I knew God would receive the glory and that He had a plan for this situation. (By the way, only about 1% of ovarian cysts are cancerous, and statistically they are in women 50 years of age or older.)
To make a long story short, I saw the oncologist and showed him the picture of the cyst that I had from the laparoscopy and he too, did not seem concerned. However, due to the size of the cyst, he did say it would need to be removed.
A few weeks later, I went in for surgery and the removed the cyst, which was the size of a grapefruit. It was so large, that it was actually nestled in my colon. It was also a dermoid cyst. The "solid component" was a ball of hair. I've had this cyst my entire life and only really felt its existence when I ovulated. It's a strange feeling to be pain free during ovulation for the first time in my life.
Which brings us to March. This month brought a new mile stone in Savannah's growth. She lost her first tooth! She also had her 1st Grade performance at her school, which had a patriotic theme. Her class sang The Star Spangled Banner and a few other songs.
There are a few other things that I want to add, but they are recent enough to warrant their own posts.
In September, Savannah started 1st Grade. She is a good student, and mostly enjoys school. I'm praying for the opportunity to homeschool her, but until that time, I am confident that God will use her (and my) time at that school for His glory.
In October, our baby girl turned 6! She had a doggy themed party. All her guests came dressed as doggies and she had a doggy shaped cake made with love by Grammie. I spent the entire week before the party redoing her room.
November was a time for celebrating family and being thankful for all God has done for us. We had TWO Thanksgivings! One the day before with my side of the family, and then another one on the day of Thanksgiving with Wayne's side of the family.
It was pretty quite around here come December. Wayne had his celebration of Christmas with Savannah. It was a pretty quite day at our house. Just the way I like it. ;)
Savannah also received a Student of the Month award in December, for Responsibility.
January was pretty uneventful. Not much to report.In February, Savannah performed at her school's talent show with three of her friends. They were gummy bears! She did such a wonderful job. Not only did she remember all of her moves, but she performed wonderfully too! It reignited her desire to dance, so we re enrolled her in dance. So, now she is dancing (tap, ballet, and jazz) and doing gymnastics.
February also brought a surgery to my door. During my yearly "girly" doctor appointment, my ob/gyn found a large fibroid on the posterior of my uterus. He said it was rather large and wanted me to have an ultrasound done to see exactly what it consisted of.Well, during that ultrasound, the tech found no fibroid, but she did find a large cyst on my right ovary. I have known about this cyst since my ultrasound almost 7 years ago, when I was pregnant with Savannah. I had also seen a picture of it from when I had the laparoscopy three years ago. It didn't concern me too much, until they started throwing around words like "complex" cyst and "solid components."
Due to the fact that it was no longer just a simple cyst but was now a complex cyst with solid components, they ordered a pelvic MRI. After my doctor received the results from the MRI, he referred me to an oncologist. I wasn't too concerned, at this point because of all the research I had done. Plus, just as with the Asherman's Syndrome, I knew God would receive the glory and that He had a plan for this situation. (By the way, only about 1% of ovarian cysts are cancerous, and statistically they are in women 50 years of age or older.)
To make a long story short, I saw the oncologist and showed him the picture of the cyst that I had from the laparoscopy and he too, did not seem concerned. However, due to the size of the cyst, he did say it would need to be removed.
A few weeks later, I went in for surgery and the removed the cyst, which was the size of a grapefruit. It was so large, that it was actually nestled in my colon. It was also a dermoid cyst. The "solid component" was a ball of hair. I've had this cyst my entire life and only really felt its existence when I ovulated. It's a strange feeling to be pain free during ovulation for the first time in my life.
Which brings us to March. This month brought a new mile stone in Savannah's growth. She lost her first tooth! She also had her 1st Grade performance at her school, which had a patriotic theme. Her class sang The Star Spangled Banner and a few other songs.
There are a few other things that I want to add, but they are recent enough to warrant their own posts.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The "Fruits" of Our Labor
It's been nearly three months since we planted our garden at Grammie and Papa's house. We received a call that it was "time to harvest." And boy was it! It was actually overdue on the zucchini's. There were about three of them that are uneatable because they grew too big.
We harvested all of the carrots, because the pumpkin had no place to go. I picked it up off the ground (where I can see it had already received a tasting from some little critter) and placed it where the carrots had been.
I'm pretty sure that we won't have any cantaloupe. Th
ere just isn't enough room! Next year, we are going to make our planter box MUCH bigger, and plant MUCH smarter.
We may or may not get a watermelon. The
plant seems to be getting big, but as of now, it's only flowers. It may be too late in the season, and they may have been overtaken by the zucchini, which is way out of control. Zucchini bread, anyone?
Here are the pictures from today. We will go back in a couple of weeks to check on more zucchini. I'm sure that more will be ready to pick.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Gardening at Grammie and Papa's
Last year Savannah and I planted sunflowers, pumpkins, and watermelons at my parent's house. The only thing that ever grew was the watermelons. The rabbits and ground squirrels ate the sunflowers as soon as any green come up out of the dirt and the pumpkins flowers never had a chance. The only reason we were able to grow watermelons was because Papa covered the foliage with chicken wire!
This year, we are going to outsmart those little varmints. This year Papa build a planter box. It's about 10 or so feet long, 3 or so feet high and about 3 or so feet wide. Papa drove the tractor while Wayne and I filled the box with dirt.
We added vegetable planter mix (not organic unfortunately) and Savannah helped to til it together with the native soil.
Here is a picture of us planting the sunflowers. We put them at the back of the planter box where they wouldn't shade the rest of the fruits and vegetables.
Next we planted watermelon, zucchini, cantelope, carrots, and pumpkins. It's probably too much for that little area, but we just couldn't make up our minds!
Last year, Grammie bought Savannah her own gardening tools. She had fun using them for their practical purpose!
The height of the box would keep the squirrels and bunnies from eating our garden, but we wanted to make sure that nothing would even think about approaching. A mini-sized scarecrow should do the trick! (Um, notice the adorable dress Savannah chose to dig in the dirt with? She said, "Mommy. You can always wash it.")
We're very optimistic about this years crop. We're just sad that our yard doesn't get enough sun to have the garden at our house. For now, we're grateful for Grammie and Papa helping us out and letting us grow our garden in their yard!
This year, we are going to outsmart those little varmints. This year Papa build a planter box. It's about 10 or so feet long, 3 or so feet high and about 3 or so feet wide. Papa drove the tractor while Wayne and I filled the box with dirt.
We added vegetable planter mix (not organic unfortunately) and Savannah helped to til it together with the native soil.
Here is a picture of us planting the sunflowers. We put them at the back of the planter box where they wouldn't shade the rest of the fruits and vegetables.
Next we planted watermelon, zucchini, cantelope, carrots, and pumpkins. It's probably too much for that little area, but we just couldn't make up our minds!
Last year, Grammie bought Savannah her own gardening tools. She had fun using them for their practical purpose!
The height of the box would keep the squirrels and bunnies from eating our garden, but we wanted to make sure that nothing would even think about approaching. A mini-sized scarecrow should do the trick! (Um, notice the adorable dress Savannah chose to dig in the dirt with? She said, "Mommy. You can always wash it.")
We're very optimistic about this years crop. We're just sad that our yard doesn't get enough sun to have the garden at our house. For now, we're grateful for Grammie and Papa helping us out and letting us grow our garden in their yard!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Making Pretzels
Savannah and I love to bake. Last year, Wayne got soft pretzel mix from his friend at work. We had such a good time making them. In fact, I believe I blogged about it. When Savannah brought home her fundraising packet from school, I saw that they had soft preztel mix. I was even more excited to find out that it was organic soft pretzel mix! Here are some pictures of this years batch of pretzels.
Look, ma. Organic!
Pouring the mix into the bowl.
After adding the water, oil, and yeast, mix, mix, mix.
Kneading the dough is fun!
Daddy lending moral support.
Separating the dough into equal sized portions. (Yes, my daughter is a dork... :) The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.)
Rolling the dough to make into the pretzel shape.
Fresh out of the oven. We've got your typical pretzel shape, a butterfly, a heart, and the figure 8 for one of Savannah's favorite shows "John and Kate Plus 8." In fact, she kept calling it her "John and Kate Plus 8" pretzel.
The finished product. I only made two with sea salt on top. The others were made into cinnamon 'n sugar pretzels. They were very yummy.
I was just looking at last year's blog about making pretzels, and I'm surprised that I made them at all this year! I now remember what a hard time we had. We didn't have ANY of those problems this year. Of course, it was much warmer this time than the last time, so that may have contributed to the ease of this batch of pretzels.
Look, ma. Organic!
Pouring the mix into the bowl.
After adding the water, oil, and yeast, mix, mix, mix.
Kneading the dough is fun!
Daddy lending moral support.
Separating the dough into equal sized portions. (Yes, my daughter is a dork... :) The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.)
Rolling the dough to make into the pretzel shape.
Fresh out of the oven. We've got your typical pretzel shape, a butterfly, a heart, and the figure 8 for one of Savannah's favorite shows "John and Kate Plus 8." In fact, she kept calling it her "John and Kate Plus 8" pretzel.
The finished product. I only made two with sea salt on top. The others were made into cinnamon 'n sugar pretzels. They were very yummy.
I was just looking at last year's blog about making pretzels, and I'm surprised that I made them at all this year! I now remember what a hard time we had. We didn't have ANY of those problems this year. Of course, it was much warmer this time than the last time, so that may have contributed to the ease of this batch of pretzels.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Weigh in....
I lost 5 pounds this week! I'm currently 165 via my home scale. And honestly, it wasn't even that difficult. I love this not dieting just eating right thing. :)
Confession: I didn't move my body everyday, but I did stay away from fast food. (Well, I had Bob's Big Boy on Saturday, but that was after my brand new Sidekick phone got stolen. It was an emotional weak point, which I realize is one of the big reasons I overeat. I chalked it up to a learning experience and vowed to be good the rest of the week, which I was...)
Confession: I didn't move my body everyday, but I did stay away from fast food. (Well, I had Bob's Big Boy on Saturday, but that was after my brand new Sidekick phone got stolen. It was an emotional weak point, which I realize is one of the big reasons I overeat. I chalked it up to a learning experience and vowed to be good the rest of the week, which I was...)
Friday, October 10, 2008
Temple of God
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
I have to humbly admit I've let my temple go. I know how it happened and it's something I've struggled with since probably high school. I remember going on my first diet around my sophomore year. It seems like ever since then I've had trouble keeping my weight in check. And honestly, it's just because I have such unhealthy eating habits. Not to mention the fact that I'm lazy. I don't want to claim that, but I do have to admit it.
So, I'm officially changing my ways TODAY! I'm hoping to update weekly with what I've done (or haven't done) to adopt a more healthy way of living for me as well as Savannah.
First: No more fast food. The only fast food I will allow myself or Savannah to consume (Wayne is on his own) is In-N-Out and that is only every once in awhile.
Second: Some sort of exercise every day. Even if it's just a walk around the block. This body will be moving.
I'm considering these next photos BEFORE photos. I want to post progress pictures, but I think I'll do that monthly instead of weekly. We'll see.
*deep breath* Here they are...
These may not seem all that horrible to you, and really they aren't. I am blessed with legs that work to go hiking, great friends, and a beautiful daughter, but I am honestly 30 pounds overweight. I currently weight, by my home scale, 170 pounds. I'd like to be around 140.
With the help of the Lord, I will be an overcomer. See you in a week!
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