Fall

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I adore it. I love the smells, the colors, the weather. And I can feel it in the air today. The shadows seem to be changing. I can smell it in the air today too. It just smells different. I have felt it coming on for about a week now. Last week I saw the first writing spiders of the season. One in particular builds a web in the same place every year.. near our building outside. They always creep me out a little because they are so big, but it excites me too because I know fall is just around the corner.
I sat out on our front steps today and just enjoyed the feeling in the air. I looked at the beautiful clear blue sky and breathed in the clean smell in the air. When I look around me and see the sights like I saw today, I can see God's fingerprints all over His creation. It is truly an amazing creation. I'm so thankful for my sight. That I can see and bask in the beauty of all that is around me. My heart just feels so full it could burst today. So incredibly grateful for the good gifts my Father has given me.
I'm looking forward to the crisp weather that is coming soon, to get to pull out my sweaters and boots. To not have to worry that I'm losing my tan! It will be here before we know it and I cannot wait!

Friendships take time

Oh my goodness, it has been ages since I have blogged! That is what nursing school will do to you! I have barely any time left in my busy schedule except to check my facebook and email, although there have been many times when I've thought about blogging but just haven't gotten around to it. Life is busy busy. But good. And this brings me to the point of this blog.
Over my 27 years of life, I have had so many friends. And one thing I have learned is that friendships take time and cultivation. Even the best of friendships need a little TLC. There have been friends that I have not seen in many years and only talked to a couple of times a year, yet when we get together, it feels like we just pick up where we left off. But if you don't talk or communicate to the person at all, that friendship can deteriorate.
I have found it to be especially difficult for my friendships this past semester after starting nursing school. I barely have time left for my husband and family at this point, and sometimes my friends get left on the back burner. I warned all my good friends what was going to happen before I started nursing, but I have had to really make the time to keep in touch with them. If that means a short text or email, or even something as simple as a comment on their facebook wall.
While I was pondering on this, a quote that I had heard a long time ago came to mind. "If you want a friend, Be a friend."
It is so true. It isn't fun being friends with someone who only wants to be around you or hang out with you when it's convenient for them. It isn't fun being friends with someone who puts no effort into the friendship. I'm sure we all have had friends like that. Friendships and relationships in general take effort on both sides.
I know that I've been a friend like that in the past to people, but I surely don't want to continue in that path.
I really want to make an effort in my friendships. An effort to maintain them and an effort to make sure my friends know how important they are to me, no matter the distance or how busy my life gets. I'm so thankful for my friends. They are a gift from God!

Pr 18:24 ( the Message) "Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family."
I want to be a true friend. The kind that sticks with my friend through thick and thin, through good times and bad, through busy schedules and restful times. A friend like that is a precious, precious find. Hold on to with all you have. We need good friends in our lives!

I find myself in need of a Savior

I've been thinking alot about the true meaning of Christmas lately. This year, we have less money to spend on presents and I've focused so much more on celebrating Christ's coming as a baby. I have the poor economy to thank for this. It has been such a blessing to focus on Christ's love for us in the fact that He came to earth as a baby to be a sacrifice for our sins.

I was praying today thanking God for His grace in my life. Thanking him that He forgives again and again .. for the same sins that I struggle with daily. So as I was praying, I thought to myself how much I need my Savior. For many reasons, but especially because of my daily struggle with sin. Because of that, I find myself in need of a Savior. Daily!

I'm so thankful that He came. That God in flesh came down to give himself as a sacrifice for me. Knowing that I would disappoint him time and time again didn't thwart his love for me or his coming. He still came BECAUSE I would disappoint him time and time again.

and so.. I find myself in need of a Savior.

Why

Have you ever questioned why God lets things happen to people? Why He allows such awful pain in his children's lives? I wonder that from time to time. And this morning is no exception. This morning I watched a slideshow of pictures of Kate McRae and her family. These pictures were taken this past weekend by a photographer that flew from Texas to Arizona just to photograph Kate and her family. Her story has touched so many lives. This photographer is a cancer survivor so she understood everything that Kate and her family is going through. As I watched the slideshow and sobbed like a baby, I cried out to God to heal Kate. I have cried out that prayer to him for months now on Kate's behalf and I still choose to believe that He is able to heal her and that He will. But it still doesn't make it any easier to swallow that she is having to suffer like that at only five years old. She is starting her third round of chemo and it is supposed to be a really harsh round, but at least now we now that the chemo is working. The tumor is shrinking and God is still in control!
So I continue to trust Him. Not because of the circumstances, but because of His Character! I don't have to know the answers to my questions. I just need to know Who is able to answer them. Even if I may never know those answers until I see his face in heaven one day.

To check out that slideshow go to : www.ohsoposhphotography.com and then click on blog... scroll down and click on the white arrow on the first picture of kate.

A lesson from the nursing home

I have had the interesting experience of getting to do my clinicals for my Certified Nursing Assistant class at Adams Farm Center for Living and Rehabilitation. It has been both a sad and wonderful experience. One of the most wonderful things that I have seen happened on our first night and it stuck with me. We were taking our tour of the facility and a lot of the residents there were sitting in the halls in their wheelchairs lined up and observing us. We passed this one section of residents and I heard a lady singing, "Hallelujah, thine the glory. Hallelujah, Amen. Hallelujah, thine the glory, Revive Us Again." I smiled immediately because I recognized that hymn as one that we used to sing at the church I grew up in. My dad was the song leader so I was very familiar with those hymns.
Anyway, when I heard it,I smiled and thought to myself,."Even though that poor little lady has lost her mind, she had that hymn so deeply engrained in her memory that it came out when nothing else could." After I left that night, I thought about it a lot. It is interesting how some people who never cursed in their life, curse like sailors when they lose their mind. And then others, like this little lady, sing hymns. It is my prayer that I would love my Savior and have the things of Him so deeply engrained in my mind and soul that I would sing hymns or songs of worship to my Savior even when my mind is gone. What a testimony.

My experience in the unemployment line..

This morning, I had the pleasure of going to the employment security commission office. The office opened at 8:30 but I was told it would open at 8:15, and being my punctual self, I got there at 7:45.... that's right.. I ended up being 45 minutes early. Nevertheless, when I got there, there were already several people in line.. lined up outside the door. It was crazy. By the time, they opened the door, I bet there was 40 people in line. It was crazy. And sad. I heard stories all around me of people losing their jobs after 30 years with the companies. There were people of all ages, all colors, all backgrounds, yet we all had a common bond... UNEMPLOYMENT. The dreaded word. One guy that I stood in line beside was a minister to people in prisons and he said the most important thing we have is our hope in Christ. That is so true.
I have been depressed in the past about being unemployed, depressed about our money hardships.. but in the past week, my outlook on things has changed dramatically. My dear friends' daughter has brain cancer. How could anything I'm going through even come CLOSE to that? I still have my health. I still have my family. No one in my family is fighting for their life. I would say my life is pretty great.
So- I say all of that to say this: We should use this time to remember what is really important. Our faith in Christ, our relationships with our families and the people around us.
Don't get bogged down by things that really don't matter.

And keep praying for Kate and the McRaes. They desperately need you prayers. Kate has a long road ahead of her until God chooses to heal her, which I believe that He will.

Update on Kate McRae

Her very delicate brain surgery is set for today 9:00 a.m. MT in Arizona.
Her parents posted this video yesterday and asked that we spread this any way we know how, so I don't know how many people read my blog, but even if one person sees this video and prays for her then my blog will have served it's purpose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ese3zYZ-NA4
This video broke my heart to watch some of my dearest friends world shaking on the verge of shattering. Please pray for this family and their daughter Kate.
I remember when Holly was pregnant with Kate. She had early contractions in like her 5th month of pregnancy in the middle of the night. I went to stay with Olivia their older daughter that night while Holly and Aaron went to the hospital to get the contractions stopped. They got the contractions stopped and Holly had a healthy pregnancy after that. I know that even then, the Lord had big plans for little Kate. He still does. Plans for a hope and a future. We don't know what those plans are but I am trusting the God who created little Kate to do big things for her and go on to use her in a mighty way one day.
Please pray hard today. God is mighty. He always comes through.