Dreams for this year

I really don't like New Years resolutions but I do like New Years dreams.

My biggest New Years dream has TRAVEL written all over it. I would love to go to different countries even different parts of the United States. Now that I have friends or even friends of friends spread all over this world, I would really like to take advantage/the opportunity to go to some of these places.


These are on my list- In country, Phoenix (where I am at right now) to visit Chris, Becky, and chilren; Jacksonville to visit Jen, Clay, and Cayden; San Fran to visit Hill, Dan, and Russell; maybe I can go to Oregon to hi to Alysun and her family; Montana; Colorado to visit a long "lost" cousin; Texas to see my cousin. Out of country- Hawaii to visit Cassandra; Ireland; Scotland; Spain; South Africa (or Malawi); Uganda to visit Tad and Christy; Estonia (okay I just put that out there cause who knows, I may get to live there; for shock factor I e-mailed HQ to express my interest if they happen to open an office there. They sent out an e-mail to see who would be interested...and I sent one back say YES!). Just think of the countries I could visit around there *sigh*)

So I know there's ALOT of money involved with traveling and it even sounds selfish...but one step at a time...I should say Lord willing though. So Lord willing!

Have you ever looked at your fingerprints?

I was sitting here thinking (I do a lot of that), so instead of being stuck in my head, I thought I would share my thoughts.



Have you taken the time to look at your fingerprints? As you probably know by now, they are your very own..no one else shares your prints. They are your and yours alone! All the curves, waves, circles...all the patterns are yours. Part of your personal identification! Do you know how amazing that is? Have you considered how awesome that is? Your basic anatomy is the same as everyone else's. Guys are guys and girls are girls. But your fingerprints....



God gave you your very own fingerprints! Aside from your prints, have you considered how your wonderful God made you? Have you considered the inner workings of your body, how everything works together?



I took Anatomy (which was my ultimate favorite class in college) and Physiology and I asked myself, how after seeing all this complexity can anyone think that we just blew up into space, that we crawled out of some mucky-mush, or that we took a painful journey from being apes to men and women. What?!



I know that we don't think about this necessarily (unless we are in pain or some part of our body is not working right) but think about it for a little bit and be amazed with God.



I am so amazed! All I can say is, "COOL!"

Praise God

So many different things wracking my brain...all very self-centered of course..like, what smart thing am I going to say, can I have an intellectual conversation with someone, maybe I need to go to school, what can I do to make myself feel better, oh, so and so needs to hear this, I wonder if he will call me, ooo I get to get my hair done tonight, I want to watch American Idol and the rambling continues.

Then I hear it..someone whistling a familiar song...I'm trying to make it out...someone in my office whistling this song...noooo... then I hear it!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Praise Him all creatures here below

Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

That's when God says, "HERE I AM!" You need to focus on me. All that other stuff will fall by the wayside or fall into place...look at Me. Praise me.

A lot of times I don't hear Him cause I'm caught up in myself and then...the light comes on and my brain feels lighter..if only for a moment...Praise God

I lost it all!!!

I can't believe it! As I was doing the finishing touches on my last post, updating you on Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Years somehow I accidently erased it all~SO SAD!!! Waaaaaah~ If I fell motivated I will start another post on the above events. Until then...HAPPY 2009!! *MWAH*

Tis the Year...

Merry Christmas!!

My life this year was quite the journey, from babysitting two precious boys for a great couple, to house sitting/dog sitting for a couple of families, to being a hair model, to helping students from different countries practice their English through conversation, to taking a class called Encountering the World of Islam at CABC, to catering for a local company, to dating and to visiting friends in both Virginia (in that trip I got to also visit North Carolina) and San Francisco, to just living life. I’ve had my ups and downs but all in all I see how God has been faithful and I’m thankful for that!

Whatever your year has looked like this past year, I hope that you are able to take time and enjoy your family and/or friends. I also hope that you are able to look back and see God's handiwork in your lives.

God is awesome and 2008 was great, life is fine, now on to 2009!

Love, April

Looking forward to...

Yes, it is that time of year again and the song in my head right now is a mixture of Charlie Brown's Christmas and Mercy Me's Christmas C.D....honestly. Let me put on the Mercy Me music right now..there.

I have been typing with a bandaged left middle finger. Better typing then using it for something else, right? I felt like a gimp at first but now I'm use to it. It will be coming off in a little bit though. You are probably wondering why I have it..well you know when that skin around your cuticle decides to peel from your fingers? Well there was an area that I decided to pick at and Viola! blood! Ouch..

Okay, so that is not the reason for this post...

I have a couple of things to look forward to, like staying at the Hotel del Corornado with my mum and sisters (remember Hillary?) tomorrow night through Saturday- that will be so much fun; I get to house sit/dog sit for a co-worker and his family starting Christmas Eve (I am so looking forward to that, though one of the dogs is hyperactive until she calms down..oh poor Gwen, short for Gwendolyn..and then there is Sparty, short for Spartacus); then there is Christmas with family (yipeee!); and then the President saw it fit to give us government workers the day after off (you go, Mr. President!).

My motto or saying for now is, “God is awesome and 2008 was great, my life is fine, now on to 2009!"

So I hope that you all have a great rest of your week and Christmas with your family!

Until next post...

Oh before I go, you know the post before about listing at least 5 things to be grateful for each day (things that happened on that day)..it's working. I know that there is no magic to getting yourself out of a slump but when you think about the things that you are blessed with, about what God did, it really opens your eyes and eventually makes your heart thankful and lighter. At first it may feel like an arm that has been in a cast for awhile and has atrophied and it's hard to use it at first. (And when it is your heart that has been deflated, one of your most important muscles..have mercy..) But as you start to use that muscle, you start to find your strength again. And thank You Lord for that!

Psalm 121: 1 I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
3 He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.
5 The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night.
7 The Lord keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.

It's been awhile...

It's been too long since I have written...but here I am! Though I haven't experienced the death of a relative but break ups are still hard nonetheless. The funny thing about pain though, I've come to know, is that I always come away learning something. Now, I may learn it slowly but I eventually learn it.

If I can be honest with you, when stuff like this happens I feel thrown out of wack like a bad back. I feel for a lot of instances that I've lost a sense of self, of who I am. I start to second guess who I am, I look back at the different memories, I let the "should ofs" or "what ifs" drag me down. I ask for forgiveness many times for the mistakes that I have made in the past; the hurt I have caused. I'm sorry for my disobedience. I wonder what it is that I'm suppose to do. I wonder how the other person is doing..I go between the hope of friendship again to wondering if that is possible..knowing that it is..but

Then slowly, the light starts to shine through. Through the words of a friend, through a hug, through a radio program, God Himself through His Word...wow, God? Really? You love me still, You still want to talk to me, You still have a plan for me? Really?

So here I am again...

Yesterday as I was walking to my car, I started to feel down again and then I thought I am going to list five things today that I am grateful for. As I started to recall what I could be grateful for today, my heart started to feel lighter and so did my mind. So I thought, that's what I am going to start doing...at the end of the day, I am going to list at least 5 things that I am grateful for today.

God is patient!

That's all for now...

Wait...

Thank you Hillary for posting this earlier in the year, when I really needed to hear this..but didn't heed..but I'll just rest now because God knows just what we need.

Wait- by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your
Word."

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign."

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply.

"Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with
mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run."

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would
be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know
Me.You'd not know the depth of my love for each
saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the
faint."

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see."

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a
start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My
heart."

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last."

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you."

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though often My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

Looking forward..to what?!?

So this past Thanksgiving was a pretty good time..a little nerve wracking at first my dear Cameron but my extended family made him feel welcomed.



I kind of wish I was one of those bloggers that let's my readers know all that is going on but I think it's okay to be discreet at times.



On that note, I will be going to Billings, Montana to go visit Cameron and meet his family while I am there. Yipee! I really am looking forward to not only see Cameron and meet his family, but get a taste of Montana...

*********************************************************************************

So that's what I was starting to write on Tuesday..and wouldn't you know the system kept on messing up...for a reason I am sure...Cameron and I are no longer a dating couple. There is so much that I could write right now but for now I am a mixture of feelings and don't feel like saying a lot. So please forgive me if you feel like you are in the dark. I may write my thoughts down about this later. I know this too will pass...

Before the holidays...

I just got a text message from Cameron that his grandmother just passed away. I can only imagine what he is feeling right now.

He loved his grandmother. He would talk to her like every weekend to just say hi or catch her up on the new happenings of his life, like what colleges he's been accepted to or that he was dating a new girl. He just talked to her this past Sunday. He left service to talk to her for a little bit.

She sounded like an awesome grandmother. She just turned 92 not too long ago. She lived a long, good life. I would have liked to have met her.

I can't believe that she is gone. It's so surreal and it's the day just before Thanksgiving! In myself and I am inclined to ask, "Why?" I know that we all go sometime, but why today?

Just the other night Cameron was telling me how he felt like God was telling him to stay in touch with his grandparents. Call them often. And he was faithful in doing so. And I know that he is glad that he did.

Thank God for grandparents!