A weekend enjoyed and two lessons learned.

I would like to tell you a story today. There once was a little girl. She grew up in a home that wasn't perfect, but she was loved. She enjoyed a childhood full of bliss, church activities, and long summer days. When this little girl grew up, she went to college and loved it with all of her heart. However, when she moved out on her own and continued to go to church, people didn't sit by her anymore, and they didn't smile and wave when they saw her. This girl began to feel unwanted, and she became very sad. She fell away and didn't go any more. This girl felt like she had no friends, and she feels the same way today. She searches for happiness in her life by trying new things and buying new things, but all she REALLY news is the Lord and some loving people who can help her find Him.
I won't tell you who this story is about, but she is VERY close to my heart. As I spent my weekend with this amazing woman, I realized just how many people there are in the world who need friendship and love, and most of us TOTALLY overlook them. A smile and a wave can be more valuable than a million dollars to someone who is lost and searching for happiness. Lesson number one? God is ALWAYS there for us...even when no one else is. That is hard, I know. Really. Lesson number two? NEVER, EVER, let someone sit by themselves. Love everyone, and it will eventually come back to you. 

Daddy daughter talk. :]

So, tonight I was avoiding my cello practicing as usual, and I ended up in the kitchen with my dad while he was cleaning up after dinner (I happily opted to just sit at the bar). We got to talking politics and government as we usually do, and my practicing-avoidance turned into an excellent, hour-long conversation. As we got talking, it became apparent to me just how naive I am when it comes to our constitution and my rights as an American citizen. Our constitution and government crumbles more and more as time goes on, and it is because the people don't realize that their rights are slipping out from right underneath them. We need to be proactive and study the constitution and its amendments! It is so important for us to know our rights and privileges so that we do not loose the most amazing aspect of this country--its freedoms.
I also realized how important it is to be self-reliant and to earn what we have. Nearly 40% of Americans these days receive some form of government assistance. Don't get me wrong, some people REALLY need it. I know that. However, the majority are just not ambitious and like to live off of my tax money. Having to work a minimum wage job this summer and earn money to pay for my college education has really humbled me and taught me a lot about how much life costs, and it frustrates me that I am paying for those people who aren't willing to do that. It is so much more rewarding to get something when you earn it yourself! It gives you an amazing sense of accomplishment and independence. It also gives you a greater appreciation and respect for the things that you are able to have. I am very grateful that my parents haven't handed me everything and have made me earn things for myself even though they could have given me all of those things. I think I will take my education more seriously because of it. :)

I sure am going to miss my daddy when I leave in 3 1/2 weeks. 

Just a poem tonight. :]

Snow falls down
and cleans the polluted air
from the gases there.
A gray emotion hangs
over the small Polish town.

Young children cling
to the hands of desperate mothers.
Men in green prod them along
like cattle to the slaughter house.
The Metal grates leave stinging marks
on their naked feet.

Children become droopy-eyed
and shrieks sound through the forest
heard by none.
Sleep takes the terrified souls
and their cries rise from the dust.

By: Jessica

Note: 320,000 Jews were murdered in Chelmno, Poland between Jan. 1942 and Jan. 1945. They were crammed into vans and driven into the woods. All the while, exhaust was pumped into the over-populated vans. The innocent Jews were buried in mass graves, naked. 

The first one to create something beautiful. :]

The little girl sat at her window staring at the rain-streaked glass. Her family was asleep, and the house was much too quiet to entertain a nine-year-old. She sighed and wondered what she might do to ease her boredom. All of her neighbors and friends were inside due to the dreary weather. She walked into her mudroom and saw her small, yellow polka-dotted rain boots. It was the beginning of a blissful two hours. She slipped them on and opened the sliding glass door that led to the cement patio behind her small, country home. She lifted her face and felt the first lukewarm drop roll down her forehead and off of her nose. She spread her arms wide and began to spin. It was then that she could hear the music...there were birds, raindrops, and her feet splashing in the little puddles. Her next door neighbor, and eighty-year-old man, looked out his window and watched for a moment as this young girl played in the rain. His heart ached over his wife who had died a few weeks earlier and the grandchildren he rarely saw due to their living a few states away. Although he did not have any rain boots and his arthritis prevented him from dancing, he stepped slowly onto his back porch and let the door swing shut behind him. The rain WAS beautiful. On the other side, a single mother of 3 who had not slept the night before looked out her window with tired, worn-out eyes. She had been working night shifts to support her children and hang onto their small, two-bedroom home. As she watched her neighbor dance in the rain, her heart smiled. She had a daughter of about the same age. She slipped onto her porch and began to spin, and her long shift last night and lack of money washed away with the rain. A beautiful smile spread across her face. One by one, each and every neighbor of the little girl's saw her dancing, and they too stepped outside to share in her joy. Eventually, everyone melted back into their homes, dripping wet, with smiles on their faces, the little girl's the biggest of all. 

A message from Dr. Seuss...

The crazy-genious, word-making man once said, "Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!"
I went to bed last night with this quote sneaking into every one of my late night thoughts, but I was too tired to pick my laptop, which was 2 ft. away, from the ground and blog about it. :) As I thought about this quote last night, I began to doubt the validity of its words. I mean, there are what, approximately 7 BILLION people in the world today? Why am I needed? What is MY purpose here? There has to be SOMEONE who could do everything that I have done without me being here...let's be honest. :) However, God didn't agree with me. I have a unique purpose here on this earth. EVERYONE does. Even if it is as simple as befriending one lonely person, sending a letter to a suicidal friend that made them change their mind, being an example to younger siblings....being a prophet. There is a reason for each and every one of us here. It doesn't matter how small of a task, the world needs every single one of us. Just think, if everyone in the world was like me, we would still be living in caves and simply practicing instruments ALL day long. No one would have any interest in science, math, or anything else (granted, we wouldn't have instruments without those things, but let's just pretend). How grateful I am for all of the different people who are out there, which brings me to another Dr. Seuss quote. "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!" People today are so narrow-minded and opinionated. We judge those of different races, we do not look at situations from all sides, we judge too quickly. I learned an amazing lesson from a family-friend and violin instructor. She ALWAYS assumes the best about everyone, and she is never quick to judge. If only we could think right, left, low, and high like her! Everyone on this earth is different and needed because of it. Let us change today, RIGHT NOW. Let's show the world how accepting and loving we can be of others and their opinions. You don't have to make their opinions their own, you simply have to be nice and love them for what they are, for their infinite worth in God's eyes. 

Not even a crumb. :]

So, as many of you know, I am allergic to wheat and usually bitter and mopey about it. :) However, as I was thinking about my allergy today, it taught me a moral lesson. I went to girls camp a week ago, and I did not think to plan ahead and bring my own food for when I couldn't eat what was being served. Because of this, I ended up having to eat wheat on quite a few occasions, and I dealt with some mega-awful stomach pain when I got home from camp. After three days of a wrenching stomach ache, I was pretty motivated NEVER to eat wheat again in my entire life. I am proud to say that I have not eaten any for 8 days now....yes, I know. It is a minuscule accomplishment, but it is an accomplishment for me. :) Now, to the moral of my story. It is SO hard to avoid eating wheat, unbelievably hard, especially when I know it is not going to end my life if I eat it. ;) When I do not prepare ahead of time and plan, I end up in trouble and with an awful stomach ache afterwards. When I just simply give in and eat something that I want to that I shouldn't, it doesn't always affect me so badly, but then I've tasted it, and I know what I'm missing out on. I think that this is true of any temptation set out for us by the devil. If we do not plan ahead and have our standards rock solid before the situation arises, we will not be prepared and will end up in pain and misery later. If we give in just the TEENSIEST bit to our temptation, it is just so easy to go back for a little more and a little more until we end up in trouble. Once you have tasted of the temptation, it is not as easy to avoid it because you have tried it before, you know what you are 'missing out on' in a sense. Also, you have then weakened your sense of will-power at that point because you gave in, and so the second time the temptation comes around, you are a little weaker and more easily persuaded to let your guard down. Satan is out to get us, and I know it more surely than anything else. He wants to make us feel like we are missing out on all of the fun that the world is having while we are at church and obeying our standards. However, he is a wicked ruler. Those who are under his jurisdiction are slaves, not free, happy redeemed people. We CAN win the battle against him and rise to resurrected, beautiful glory. We must be strong and not even taste a crumb. :)

The story inside..the words on the pages.

I was beginning to be convinced that my only inspiration could come in the wee hours of the morning...but I guess not. :) We have all heard the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover", but how often do we actually go by it? First impressions can often create lasting, permanent impressions with the people whom we associate with. I have discovered something in the past few weeks. What is on the outside doesn't matter...it's what's on the INSIDE. I know that everyone says that, but it's true. Everyone has a beautiful, original story on the inside of their covers. Some are more boring, some intense, some romantic, some a little TOO interesting, but everyone has one of their own. Each story is beautiful and original. Every single person has the potential to make a difference in this world-- EVERY person. Think about someone who was stranded on the side of the road in a snow storm and was helped by a random passerby. That person made a difference. Think about the lonely person who opened their door to a plate of cookies or a sweet note and flowers. That secret person made a difference. Why do we not dig a little deeper and find those things? Too often we judge people by their covers, by what we think they are made of based on appearance. I have an amazing friend, and I would never have come in acquaintance with him had I not looked to the inner, sweet spirit that he possesses. I  have learned over the past few years to read the book first, and then decide how I feel about it. :)