Faith Over Fear

Living in the present is hard sometimes.  I still remember being in sixth grade, wearing my velour leopard pants (what was I thinking, right?), and dreaming of being "grown up" - No more school, I could get married, be a mom, oh and also become the 6th Spice Girl, which was my main goal at the age of 12...and still a little bit at the age of 27.  My mom would always tell me to enjoy the days that I had and live in the moment and I would always think, "no way, things will be so much better when I get older!" Looking back, I have NO idea what I thought could be easier than the 6th grade life...I mean, really, what could possibly have been stressing me out? I was probably just bummed that "Dunkaroos" and "Koala Yummies" were no longer going to be around.  Those were good, right?  But I digress... I don't know if it's true for you, but I know that for myself it is always easy to think "things will be better if this or that...

"Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest, Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love." ~Blessed Assurance We sang this song today as we laid my Grandma, Edith Vos, to rest.  What a magnificent woman of God she was.  I am so thankful that I got to be a part of her life. While it was bittersweet to say good-bye to her on Mother's Day weekend, it was also so wonderful to be able to celebrate the life of a inspirational woman who was an amazing example of Christ's love on a daily basis.  She never sweat the small stuff and she always gave the large stuff to God - I believe her exact words were, "Get on your knees, pray about it then forget about it." Good words to live by.  She did not live a life without trials but she never let them break her spirit, she knew there was Someone bigger who was in control.  Her laughter was contagious and she always had a great sense of humor...which ...

"All this pain.. I wonder if I'll ever find my way. I wonder if my life could really change, at all. All this earth.. Could all that is lost ever be found? Could a garden come up from this ground, at all? ...You make beautiful things out of  us."   ~ Beautiful Things - Gungor I don't know if you have ever heard that song, but it is one of my favorites.  While listening to K-Love a while back I heard the lead singer talking about the meaning behind this song.  Tears came to my eyes when I heard him explain how his wife wrote this song in the midst of struggling with infertility.  He said that not only was she going through this pain, but she had noticed that there were a lot of people in their church and community who were going through times of trial as well.  "This song is an expression of hope that God will make beautiful things out of the dust in our lives, and God will somehow use us, use our obedience and love, our feeble human eff...

Complaining has become a habit of mine.  Man, do I complain a lot. How annoying is that?  I don't think I realized how much of a whiner I was until this whole "situation" came about.  When you start to focus on one negative thing, it is so easy to let other negatives seep in.  All of the sudden it was like I was focusing on everything that I thought was wrong with my life.  Not a good way to go about your days. That, and no one wants to be around a whiner ~"whiners are wieners"...and I was being a major wiener.  When December 31st came around I was more than ready to say good bye to 2011, it was not my favorite year.  Something clicked on January 1st.  I think I was inspired by the excitement of a new year and new "resolutions" (which I personally never make - unless subconsciously I decided that my resolution would be to eat more donuts.  If that's the case, then I totally nailed it) but I felt like this was a fres...