The Rink of Life

Life is like a skating rink.  While young you stand outside the rink in but your socks gazing at the colors of the lights and at all the beautiful skates as they do tricks that you don't quite understand.

As you become a bit older you wander past the many rows of skates, studying them all until you find the perfect pair for you.  The right size, color, and style.  Once you've chosen your skates you learn to put them on and how to lace them up and tie them.  You grow wiser and watch all the skaters while you start to test your own skates on the carpet until you think you've got it.  

Then cautiously, or for others boldly, we make our way to the rink.  Putting first one foot in the rink, while holding on to something, then the other foot.  The wood flooring is slicker than the carpet that you are used to.  With baby steps you inch around the rink for the first time holding on to those you trust mindful of the other skaters that whiz past you.  Holding on to something with first both hands then one and finally none you skate.  

You then strike out on your own.  Yes, you do fall when you pick up too much speed, but there are those who help you up, dust you off, and help you along.  There are also those who push you down.  You will whiz past those lights that you had once wondered at.
Once you have skated that rink many times you will start to slow down.  you will skate at a more leasurely pace and begin to once again look at those lights that you had so long forgotten.  Finally you will slow to a stop and step out of that rink, the rink of life, to rest your weary, blistered feet.

- written 3/31/2009

A Trusting Hug...

Today I babysat two amazing little kids.  One was three years-old and the other was just over a year old.  Both of them were amazingly cute, but that isn’t really what struck me.   

As soon as their mom left, and it was just me and them, the three year-old runs over to me and gives me a big tackling hug.  They don’t really know me, and have never spent much time with me, but in complete trust he just runs over to me.  I was rather stunned by it.  There was no fear that I would reject him, no dislike, or sign of being tentative, no judgment.  Only trust.  

 If only we could have the trust, and love of that little boy when we run into God’s arms.  But we come tentatively, fearful He will turn us away.  The God of the universe, the same One who died on a cross because He loved us THAT much!!  The One who is deeply pained by our rejection of Him.  That same God is the one we come to hesitatingly?  

 Oh how I wish I had the trust of a child.  To be so unafraid that not even death itself could cause me to lose faith in God.  But I block myself off from Him at each bump in my road of life.  There is much to learn from a child… trust being only a part of it.
-written 1/28/2011-

Arise Ski Trip!!! :D

I haven’t posted for a while because I have been very busy.  But I just had to write something about the ski trip I went on last weekend!

It was insanely amazing!!!  I conquered several pretty steep blue squares… after practicing on some greens first.  It was awesome!!!  I started the day off hardly able to ski around on one ski… and ended completely confident in my skiing abilities!  Yeah… I have yet to try a black diamond but next time I will!

We arrived at the lodge at a quarter to midnight and stayed up at least another hour after listening to Ray Vaughan (amazing!) and unpacking the van.  It was a crazy ride up but well worth it once we got there.  After very little sleep, we woke up, ate a big breakfast(very bad coffee), headed out into the freezing cold weather, and hit the slopes.
Skied with Colin Bland for the whole day… joined by others some of the time.  I was constantly bickering with him & trying to convince him to go do harder slopes.  It was hilarious!  Shea took us both out on some harder blues and afterward I was ready to do more. I saw Travis wipe out on the slopes while sitting on a ski lift.  Ouch, but very funny!!  I think I wiped out less than 8 times all day.
After a huge-normous supper we went back out on the slopes again.  The temperature had dropped drastically and was probably well below 20 degrees… INSANE!!  I was very glad for Aunt Amy’s ski gear!
Ski lift(btw - Ski lifts are amazing!!)… the rush of going down a hill… then ski lift again… etc…
Exhausted we finally headed back to the lodge and shed our wet, cold cloths and headed back to the cafeteria for a talk with Ray.  He told us about how parallel marriage is to our relationship with God.  Very interesting!
Even less sleep… and up again for a long car ride home.  A great worship time before we left and Ray talked again.  This time, about sharing the gospel and it was great the way he explained it and how important it is.  Then home again… sore… but not badly bruised…
The End!!

I can only say that it was crazy fun!! (I can't wait to do it again!!!) 

Yep… I count it as a WIN!!!  :D
-written 1/27/2011-

Thanksgiving Break!

Break is over and I am back to doing school...

I had an amazing time however!  No school for FIVE days!!!  It was amazing.  Great food, and time with family were the highlights.

We went up to my great aunt's house for a yummy Thanksgiving dinner.  As always the cousins ended up playing in the leaves outside.  We do this every year.  Making our little town out of the leaves by building walls out of all of the millions of loose leaves that our in the yard.  Most of the leaves end up in one place – near the bushes at the back of the yard.  So every year we all run outside after dinner, and start shaping the leaves into walls, often using the bushes as ceilings or part of the structure.  Since building forts is one of my all time favorite thing to do I really like this game.  Most years we spend the whole time simply making out forts better and bigger, but this year we actually played town.  We had “speckles” (leaves with blotches on them) as our currency.  I was the mayor, and I owned a craft store.  We also had a grocery/hot meal store, and a bank.  Man, I really love just being a kid for a day.  No school to worry about… the only worry is what you want your “house” to look like, and how to weave monkey grass together into something the others will buy.  No facebook, cell phone, tv, music, etc… just me and my hands trying to make something.  It feels good!

Now I’m back to using my brain… mostly the part of my brain that doesn’t like to be used.  I like figuring out problems that let me to work with my hands, but school doesn’t usually allow this.  Mostly I end up using my brain and then transferring that information onto paper.  Oh well… I’ll get through.   I’m not trying to complain.

On a happier note, we finished setting up our Christmas tree on Saturday!  It looks really good!  The lights, and ornaments, and garland, and the star on top are all helping me get into the Christmas spirit.  Now I just need to find some time to finish decorating the house!  Hmmmmm… I wonder how I’m going to find it?  Time seems to tick by so slowly and yet I blink and it has gone, and it is never coming back.  It reminds me of the song that goes: “Life is precious, life is sweet, like the earth beneath my feet.  Though I know I’m passin’ through I know I belong to you…”  This is a great reminder that life is precious, and if we aren’t careful it will pass us by.
-written 11/29/2010-

A Rude Awakening & A Sweet Sister

What A Week!...

 The best story I have from this week is how Laura Beth woke me up yesterday morning.

Because I haven't gotten good rest all week, I decided that I would sleep in a little bit on Thursday morning, despite what my alarm clock said.  Mommy had already left to see the doctor, so it was just La, Daisy and I at home.  I was laying in my bed only half aware of what was going on downstairs when I hear my sister coming up to my room.  She climbs into my bed, overtop of me, and lies down next to me whispering (in her sweet little sister way) that I need to get up.  Being me, I refused, and snuggled down further into my warm blankets.  I thought that after that La would leave me alone... but noooooo... she wouldn't do that!  She got up off my bed and started to pull the blankets off of me.  

(For general interest -  this is a very mean thing to to since my room is the coldest in the house)

I of course struggled to get my blankets back but she eventually stripped them completely off the bed, and thew them onto my guest bed.  Brrrr... I haven't even mentioned that her hands were about the same temperature as ice cubes!  So as she is trying to get me out of bed I am screeching about how cold her hands are, and fighting to keep myself on the bed.  Eventually she pulls me half-laughing, half-screaming out of my bed.  Yes... it was funny.  After she finally got me off, I was no longer freezing cold.  In fact, I was rather warm from trying to fight her off.

So I got up...  I tried for a while to stay mad at Laura Beth, but that is a very hard thing to do.  She is too sweet.  I love my sister!!!  <3

Oh boy... you wouldn't think that it would be that hard to get a 16 year old girl out of bed... but I guess that's me.  :P 

-written 11/12/2010-

My First Post

I'm so excited to be starting a blog!!!

I've actually wanted to do this for quite a while now... so I'm very happy to be starting this!

This week will hopefully be a good one... even if it isn't, I have amazing friends who always manage cheer me up!  :)

I also have an amazing mother!!!

Tomorrow is her Birthday!  I'm so thankful for my mommy... she is a wonderful example of a godly woman for me!   I love my mommy!!!  <3

Why does the word have to throw all sorts of junk at teens... through movies, peer pressure, and so many other things.  The media just pounds us with all sorts of cultural norms that don't really match up with what the Bible says.

It is really starting to eat away at me...  :(

Life is hard...  but I'll make it through...  God will alway be there!!!  :)
-written 11/7/2010-