god's love.

alright. it's not little but i loved this too much to not post it on this blog in addition to my other one. God's love. such a huge, amazing thing. i know that personally i so often look for His love only in certain places. like at church or a conference or whatever. well. i've had a mini revelation kind of thing tonight. so often we're only expecting His love to show up in certain places or times. but ya know. His love is EVERYWHERE. it is in people. it is in circumstances. it is in nature. it is in you. it is in me. it is EVERYWHERE! this has so much to do with noticing the little things in life. the way the sun looks as it rises. the way the falls and the thought that every flake is unique. the way people accept you and welcome you in. if you look for His love, you find it EVERYWHERE. when things don't go as planned, maybe that's your opportunity to open your arms and say 'give me what you want Lord, i'll take it'. do things you wouldn't normally do. hang with people you wouldn't normally hang with. i think that God's love is even in those that don't believe in Him. His goodness radiates out of all of us. it's whether we embrace and focus it or turn against us. instead of looking at what could have been, look forward to the here, the now, the opportunities. instead of always focusing on the big picture, trying to plan whats going to happen, trying to manipulate things, focusing on what you cannot change. focus on the little things. you might not be able to change them either. but its so much easier to approach things when they're broken down. when all you focus on is the beauty of the snow, it is almost impossible to not feel His love radiating down and through you. for me anyways... again. i know i do this too, but i feel like we all are looking for big, miraculous things to happen, things that knock us down and make it impossible to not feel His love. and i do not doubt at all that those things do happen. but not as often as we would like. we will not meet our future spouse on a random beach or in paris. i mean, it's possible, but really... anyways. maybe the big miraculous things that are happening are all the little tiny things happening all around us everyday. nature. the care of others. even a simple head nod to appreciate that the other person exists. His love is EVERYWHERE. you just gotta look for it. ALWAYS.



If it seems that we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. - 2Corinthians 5:13-14

getting warm after being wet and cold.

playing in the snow is so much fun. it's so much fun that you don't realize how cold you are alot of the time. until you get inside that is. and then the snow that was solid starts to melt and you have cold water everywhere. and then you realize just how amazingly cold and wet and numb you are. but thats not the point of this post. it's the hot warm shower you take that turns you from freezing wet to steaming wet. and then you get dried off and put on your warm comfy clothes and be lazy. playing in the snow is super fun, which is obvious. but that getting warm and dry is the bomb.

knee sledding.

its the bomb dot com. who needs a sled? i mean come on, we're poor college students and the caf was closed last night so we couldn't even steal trays. so. go knee sledding. you run, you fall, you slide down the hill on your knees. it is amazing. even if it makes your jeans a bit discolored and weird where you repeatedly slide, they're just jeans. i mean really. jeans vs. memories of a lifetime. i vote memories. fo sho. oh, just don't do it on asphalt cause its not so comfy, bruises may occur... so yea. knee sledding. :D

falling snow.

it's so graceful and serene looking. it just floats down to the ground. before long, the sky and the ground are the same color almost. you can see the snow drifting down against trees and other dark things. and slowly accumulate. it might be really annoying when its just slush and ice and stuff on the ground, but you can't say its not pretty when it's falling!!

birds.

yesterday, i was sitting on the russell house porch swing, waiting for people to come for the weekly prayer thing for cru. it had torrentially poured the night before. but it was warm(ish) and i was in the sun and there werent many clouds out. and the birds were singing. it was wonderful. it was still pretty cool outside, especially since the wind was blowing. but those birds made things nice. i didn't so much as notice the coldness, but the beautiful sun and sky. and the happy birds that had to get wet and cold the night before but rejoiced in the warm sunshine of the new day. shouldn't we all be like that? the simple pleasure of having warm sunshine after a storm enough to make us sing out? i wanna be like that. even with crap going on, many of it battles inside of me, i want to find the joys in the small things and sing out about them. not focus on the negatives, not try to think ahead to the future which is out of my control, not interpret things to be more than they are. but focus on the small beautiful things. like the way the sky looks. the crisp air and wind. focus on God and the amazing things He has, is and will do. when we focus our lives on Him, everything else just seems to fall into place and i at least just seem to be happier. its hard to notice the mud you're standing in when you're looking up at the beautiful sky.

an escape.

ya know when it seems like the world is sorta against you? like nothing could go right and everyone seems to be against you. and theres no way you can stop thinking those negative thoughts. you want to be positive, but it just isnt working so you sorta give up. an escape can be a wonderful thing. today i had 3. they were wonderful. the weekly prayer time for cru was great as usual. that deep communication between us and God. but i was expecting for it to be good and a nice break. the other was unexpected. while waiting for a friend for lunch, i was sitting in cromer and the people that came and sat down and chilled then went on their way gave me a happiness. i dont know if that makes sense, but yea. like some people i didn't know. and one guy read an excerpt of mere christianity and it was amazing. and then him and another guy had a random deep conversation. it was cool. and. the even more expected escape was chem lab. it was really long and rather confusing but it was nice. it got my mind of things. i came in there just wanting to get done. three hours later, as i was leaving, i couldn't really help but be happy. it's pretty scary that chem lab was an escape, but it was. even though sometimes it seems like the world is against you, God provides escapes and little things, that if you notice them, can help you get through the day :) oh, and a 4th escape will prob be eating dinner with one of my favorite people.

a freak downpour (monsoon).

so. its been sorta dreary and rainy the last couple days here in the hky. well. we went to go eat then to go to bstud which is across campus from our dorm. so we drove cause it was sorta sprinkly and they were calling for rain. no rain before dinner. some rain from dinner to bstud. get out of bstud. it is pouring. like not just raining hard. sheets of water are coming down. and of course none of us brought an umbrella or anything (not that that would really help in this...) so we ran to the car. some slipped. some lost phones and bibles. drove to our dorm. ran back to our rooms. the steps leading down to our dorm have been conveniently converted into a babbling waterfall. and the usually little puddles at the bottom are now ponds. got completely soaked. it will take at least a day for my sneakers and jeans and sweater to dry out. its one of those rains where every piece of ground is wet. like in at least a fourth inch of water. not just wet, shallow river quality. now. usually such rain is looked down upon. it isnt really great to get soaking wet and freezing. but. i'm finding the amazingness in this. the amazing power that God has given His creation, to make all of this rain come down at once. the memories made of running through the rain. if it was warmer rain, i'd dance in it. it's a bit cold though, dancing might risk hypothermia... and the way the steps are a waterfall. i could stand under the covered part and just stand and listen to the rain and the waterfall noises all night. there is good in everything. even torrential downpours that threaten to ruin your leather shoes.

Superchick - Stand In The Rain.mp3
Superchick - Stand In The Rain

it made me think of this song :)

an unexpected warm day.

when its winter and has been freezing, a warm day in the 60s is wonderful. you dont have to wear a coat. its warm in the sunshine. warm enough to lay in the sun and do homework. its hope that winter will soon be over and it will be summer soon. oh how i love unexpectedly warm days!

falling asleep to rain.

ya know when it's raining and you can hear it on your window or the roof? and you fall asleep to it? yea. its the best. i personally really like it when its on the roof, but i dont get to experience that in my dorm, so i have to rely on the window pitter patters. pouring or just lightly raining, it's amazing. the only thing is when it gets to be thunder and lightening, it can keep you awake instead of soothing you to sleep. it hasnt thunder stormed in a while though... i sorta miss it. gotta love the rain pitter patter. it's especially wonderful on a tin roof. :)

crafts.

like paint by the number and stuff like that. stuff from when you were a kid. its so nice to just chill and relax and relive your childhood. having fun with the simple things. making bracelets. walking down the kids crafts and remembering doing all of them. and then doing them again. i dont know. its sorta hard to explain. crafts just bring the child out of anyone. couldn't we all use more of that?

that after swimming feeling.

the soft cleanness of your skin. the aroma of chlorine when you smell your skin. that good kind of tired. the hunger you get after exercising. the afterswim shower hair. putting it up in a bun after you shower and taking it down late at night and it still being damp and crimpy and smelling wonderful. that wonderful mix of chlorine and the yummy shampoo and conditioner. remembering that feeling of being underwater. its like another world. it makes me wish i had gills.

a cold morning.

now when i first get out of bed and think of the fact that i have to go out into the cold, i'm not thinking happy thoughts. but. usually when i get outside, i cant help but be happy. the sun is still rather low in the sky, having waken up not even an hour ago. much like me. the sky is beautiful. i try to focus on the refreshing nature of the cold, not the fact that i feel like my bones are being frozen. just breathing that cool crisp air and seeing the sun and beautiful sky. it makes waking up for an 820 class not so awful. it is a wonderful way to start the day. oh. and when its cold and i walk by cromer, i can smell the fireplace they have going. it is amazing. erin has been rather instrumental in helping me see the good in the cold, not just constantly thinking about how i want it to end.

a small comment.

sometimes its the smallest, off hand comment that makes your day. like when a friend tells you that you're their only true, real friend here at school. that they don't mind doing things for you because they know you're thankful and sincere and that you'll help them whenever they need it. that you're the one that waits for them even when it cuts into your own time. yea. it probably wasnt a big thing in their mind, but small comments sometimes make a bigger impact than long deep conversations.

the sun.

thank God for the sun.
it wakes me up. its especially nice when its the thing that wakes me up when i oversleep and have to run to class.
it keeps things warm. its especially nice when its a cold fall or winter day and i can feel the rays of warmth.
it makes me happy. who can't be happy when they look at a sunrise or sunset, especially on a mountain?

so on this little blog i'm doing, i'm going to focus on the little things. the things that i'm thankful for. so often we look at the negatives. i want to look at the positives. no matter how small they may seem. so yea. i'm not quite sure what this will turn into, but it's all about the little things in life that make it great. :)