"The Opposite of Poverty is Enough"

One of my absolute favorite quotes penned by our President and CEO at Compassion International is, "The opposite of poverty is enough".  I have worked for Compassion for two years now and every day my heart grows bigger and bigger for the poor and the oppressed.  And as my heart grows for the poor, so does the sadness and anger I feel at the senseless injustices I hear about and see through the experiences of other Compassion staff members. Some of the stories of what these little tiny children go through on a routine basis are completely heartbreaking. 

When I walked into the chapel service today at work, I didn't really know what to expect.  In all honesty, I was a little tired, not feeling well and had a million projects on my mind that I had to finish.  The speaker for the day, Shane Claiborne, was announced, and when he walked on stage my attention was instantly caught.  Standing on the stage was a guy with dreadlocks down to the center of his back, big baggie cargo pants with pockets the size of buckets, a long loose fitting shirt, sandals and a red bandana tied around the top of his dreads with big, black thick framed glasses on his face.  My first thought was, 'Huh.  That's interesting'.  But when Shane began to speak I was immediately captivated.  His passionate speaking about the poor and how we can change poverty completely captivated me.  There was so much that he said that spoke to me, but I will only share one with you on this blog and then let you look him up from here...

Shane talked about a newspaper he read many years ago that competely started a fire in him.  In fact, he carries the front page of that newspaper everywhere he goes, and he had the yellow, tattered newspaper page with him when he spoke to us. He waved the newspaper at us and said, "I noticed two things on the front of this newspaper as I was reading it.  First of all, the main article on the page is talking about children who are making grass into patties to eat in (enter the country here...sorry, I forget which country he said). They were eating grass because they were starving and literally had nothing else to eat." The article was truly heartbreaking.  "On the same page, the other headlining article is'The Growing Rate of Obesity in America'.   Coincidence? I personally don't think so. :)" The article went on to say how many American's live in access and convenience and not only overeat, but continuously throw away food that we don't eat.  One of the quotes that Shane said after that, I thought was profoundly powerful.  He said, "Millions of people die from poverty, but millions of people also die from wealth".  He explained how people who live in excess and overindulge tend to live reckless lives not only to their health, but to their souls. He went on with a disclaimer that not all wealthy people are like this, but a high percentage are. I thought he made a great point. 

I encourage you to look up Shane Claiborne.  He is the author of the books, "The Irresistible Revolution", "Jesus for President" and others.  He leads a movement called The Simple Way, a faith community in inner city Philadelphia that has helped connect radical faith communities around the world.  Shane spent 10 weeks working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta years ago and also spent time in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team.  Go check out his website: http://www.thesimpleway.org/

All I know is, what he had to say really spoke to me.  It makes me so thankful to have a roof over my head and food in my mouth, and to live in a country where I have many more freedoms than most. 

God doesn't suggest we help the poor, he commands it.
"Anyone who oppresses the poor is insulting God who made them. To help the poor is to honor God."
-Proverbs 14:31

God's Fireworks

Though I was a little envious of not getting to be with all my family over 4th of July, I still had a wonderful Independence Day with one of my adoptive Colorado families.  LeAnn is a co-worker of mine and a very dear friend.  She is married and has 3 awesome kids (who are grown, around my age).  I spent the day with LeAnn and her husband and her son and his wife.  We had some BBQ in the park for a good portion of the afternoon until the heavens opened up and niagra falls came out.  Let me tell you, God created a WAY better fireworks show that night than any man-made ones I have ever seen.  We had rain like I haven't seen in a LONG time, topped off with some golfball sized hail.  It was quite the event! I ended up playing cards with the Vasquez family until about 10pm that night...it was great! I hope you all had a nice time with your friends and family. :)

Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:

Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait".

"Wait? You say, wait! " my indignant reply.

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.
My future and all to which I can relate
hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
And Lord, You promised that if we believe

we need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
and grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting.... for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,

And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want--But, you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;

You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save.... (for a start),

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight,

The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked

Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that "My grace is sufficient for Thee."

Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still, "WAIT."

26 Life Lessons Learned by Age 26

Here are 26 life lessons I have learned by the ripe young age of 26:

1.) God is real. Very real.
2.) No matter how how you try, not everyone is going to like you. So deal with it.
3.) Never enter a public restroom without moist towlettes.
4.) Love is not about finding the perfect person.  It is about seeing the imperfect person perfectly.
5.) Don't substitude dishwashersoap with hand soap if you run out.  Bad things will happen.
6.) You see people very differently from adult eyes than you did when you had kid eyes.
7.) Country music will never be good.  No matter how hard you try to get me be 'cultured' with it.
8.) The best friends you will have in your life are the ones who will tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear.
9.) Keep your family close to your heart and always cherish them, even if you don't hear from them often.  They are the most important people in your life.
10.) You will get your heart broken at least a couple of times in your life up to this point. And you will have to try to find a way to push forward.
11.)  Don't bring hard boiled eggs to eat for lunch at work.  Because you get seriously funny looks from co-workers who not so subtly throw beano at you.
12.) Time doesn't necessarily heal all wounds. It just makes them easier to compartmentalize.
13.) No one.  And I mean NO one....should EVER wear skinny emo pants. 
14.) The phrase, 'God will never give you more than you can handle' is a man-made phrase. He DOES give you more than you can handle so that you can rely on Him for those things that you can't get through on your own strength.
15.) There is nothing more beautiful than sitting on a beach looking at a big blue ocean.
16.)  Some people are just plain mean.
17.) Don't take yourself too seriously.  No one else does.
18.) It's ok to get angry with God.  He can take it.
19.) Don't compare your life with others.  You have no idea what their journey is about.
20.) Life is too short for long pity parties.  Either get busy living, or get busy dying.
21.) Be eccentric now.  Don't wait for old age to have blue hair.
22.) Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.
23.) God loves you because of who GOD IS.  Not because of anything you did or didn't do.
24.) If you don't ask, you don't get.
25.) Make peace with your past so it doesn't screw up your present.
26.) And last but not least...........life is not tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Laughter is the Best Medicine, Except When Your Not Supposed To

I was sitting in a relatively boring 'how to communicate effectively through writing' meeting with my team at work, and one of my co-workers sitting next to me was cracking jokes and got me laughing hysterically at the most awkward timing...then the snowball got rolling and he started laughing then it made me laugh more, which made him laugh more to where I had tears rolling down my face. All the while I am trying not to let the teacher see me for fear she would think I was making fun of her.  This got me thinking about a time about 5 or 6 years ago when my family and I went to my youngest sister's talent show at their high school, which is a private Christian school.  I was sitting next to my sister Megan and we were listening to the good and some of the...lets just say...not so good talents.  I was trying to respectfully watch and just try to be appreciative of their bravery for getting up on the stage. Pretty soon this young girl gets up on the stage and starts singing in the most awful pitch I have ever heard in my life...and boy is she doing it with gusto! I instantly knew that I could not look at my sister Megan sitting next to me for fear that the laughter would be released.  Sure enough, out of the corner of my eye, I see my sister Megan turn her head directly to me with a huge Cheshire Cat grin on her face......and I just LOST it....I tried so so hard to keep it in, but something in me that day just didn't have the capability and I started laughing hysterically...and LOUDLY to the point where I was crying.  I FELT SO BAD! But I honest to goodness had no capacity in me whatsoever to contain it.  Then because of my reaction my sister Megan loses it and starts also laughing to the point of tears and we couldn't stop for almost the whole song.  Thank GOODNESS that poor little girl up on the stage did not hear us...I felt so bad...we were more laughing at each other than her, but I can't imagine how she would have felt had she heard us.  I DID however get the poison look of death from my mom when she saw us laughing uncontrollably...That pretty much said it all!

Oh the memories. :)

Home Sweet Colorado

It is finally starting to act like a summer here.  The sun has been coming out, the grass is green, the skies are blue, and the beautiful Colorado that I moved here for is finally showing her pretty face!

On a completely different note, I had some weird and disturbing dreams last night.  I had a dream that my sisters little dog had another batch of puppies. And they were SO cute! But in my dream, they were outside with momma dog and a possum came up and snatched one and took it away to eat it!! And all I could hear is this high pitched yelping coming from the bushes and I couldn't get to it to save it! It was an aweful dream! I wondering if it was one of those random message dreams that God sometimes gives, like when the skinny cow ate the fat cow.  This somehow seems much more disturbing though. Here is a picture of my sisters pups when they were born last year...they are adorable!

Here's to hoping I have better dreams this week! This week is flying by, which I'm grateful for.  Gotta love the weekends!

The Good, The Bad, and the Sad.

Wow! It has seriously been a long time since I have blogged.  I thought today was probably the day! Life has been kind of a whirlwind lately.  It has been good.  This year has been decidedly better than last year.  Mainly due to a drastic life attitude adjustment on my own part.  For some reason, last year was just tough for me...I had slowly been creeping into this negative attitude about life and human nature in general.  I felt like I wasn't where I expected to be at that point in my life.  But that has all changed.

I'm still not completely sure why, but have had a renewed hope about life in general starting about 6 months ago.  I think it is God holding me on His lap saying, 'Kelsey, I am still here.  Even though you don't always see me, or can't see me working how you would like me to work, I know what I am doing. I am in control and I am holding you in my arms."  I just feel this huge blanket of comfort and peace and feel fully confident that God can still do a great work in me yet. 

I have been very intentional in the past months about going out more and being as sociable and active as I possibly can.  I've been spending time with friends that I haven't seen in a while, I've been going to the gym, and I've been more actively participating in events at church and work.  I think that for me, the more I let myself slip into sitting home alone, the easier it is to slip into negativity.  Surrounding myself with friends and family have been the best thing for me.

Even though this year has been a good year for me personally, it has still had some significant  hardships...though I feel that these hardships have helped me to maintain a proper perspective on appreciating the little things in life. I lost my sweet Grandpa Tom suddenly in March.  He was so special to me.  Only 68 years old...I have never in my life seen him without a mischievious grin on his face.  He was always known for his big grandious stories.  I loved him very much and I have nothing but fun memories of him.  It was hard to see my mom grieving at the loss of her daddy.  Seeing any family member in pain like that is a tough thing.  There isn't a day that has gone by that I haven't thought of him.  It has really made me appreciate every spare moment I get with my family and the precious time I have with them on this earth.  

This past weekend I lost a friend to stomach cancer.  Zach was one of the first people I met when moving to Colorado Springs.  I went to a Saturday night church service that he and his family went to at Pulpit Rock church and was in several  small Bible study groups with him. He always made me feel so welcome and included. The example of his life really touched me.  The character and genuineness of him and his family was truly an inspiration to me.  Zach was extremely funny and wise.  He loved the Lord with all of his heart and it poured out of every part of his body.  His death really affected me in a strong way, even though I haven't seen him in a while.  I keep thinking to myself, 'now THAT is the kind of person I want to be for God.  THAT is the kind of legacy I want to leave behind to my spouse and my children.' I truly believe that when he passed on Sunday, God scooped him up in his arms and said, 'Well done my good and faithful servant.  Welcome home.' :) 

I am hoping to make many more positive changes in my life over the next few years.  I don't know exactly what that means yet, but I just know that I want to live a good life, with a good attitude and one that is pleasing to God.  I could write so much more, but I think I'll leave it to that today.  I'm hoping to keep up with this writing thing...maybe one of those positive changes. :) Have a good day my friends!

So I have this amazing stepdad...and he's an artist

I couldn't resist the opportunity to share with you some of my stepdad's most recent paintings. He has switched his focus to abstract art, which I must say, is amazing. I would love to just put his paintings in every room of my house. Take a look at some of his most recent work...(and yes...he sells them, so if some of you are interested, let me know!).

Time to Regroup

It has been quite a while since I have blogged. A lot has happened since I wrote last, but I’ve been too lazy to put it all into writing. I guess I could start with my car accident. On April 2nd we had a huge blizzard in Colorado Springs. Our work closed down at about 1pm due to the weather conditions. By this time though, the storm was so bad that you could barely see your hand in front of you and the roads were completely iced over. I turned right to come out of my office and was not even a mile down the road when I saw a car two cars ahead do a donut in the middle of the road. I thought...”Not good”. Sure enough, the car directly in front of me slammed on her breaks and slid into the curb with the back of her car sticking into the lane I was in. I of course braked, but with the roads solid ice my breaks did nothing and I slid right into the back of her car. Then the car behind me crushed me in between him and the car in front of me completing smashing my car like an accordion. Thankfully, the only injuries I had were some bad whiplash and a sprained wrist, but my car didn’t make it out so good. She was completely totaled. So after waiting in my car for almost an hour and a half for emergency crew I finally was taken out and my car towed away. A few weeks later I received a settlement from my insurance company for my car and was able to get a new one….here are the new wheels! (2008 Nissan Sentra)



So, despite the yucky situation, I feel like God was really watching out for me. I could have been injured much worse, especially considering the condition of my car, and everything with my insurance went very smoothly.
April 8th I turned 25. I have to be honest…I don’t feel old by any means, but this age feel strange to me. I’m not early 20’s anymore but not quite late 20’s either. Turning 25 has also made me question a lot of things about direction in my life and what the next 5 years are going to bring. I’ve thought a lot about that lately but am not going to really get into that now. I decided that this year I wanted to treat myself to a little birthday vacation so I went to southern Cali for a week to visit a good friend of mine out there. We went to Disneyland, did some BBQ’s, went to the beach, went to a club. I had a really nice time.:)



Lately I have been questioning whether or not I want to stay in Colorado. It’s just not like it used to be. I love it here, it’s a wonderful place, but I’m feeling pretty stagnant out here right now. There are times where I feel like I should just pack up everything and move to Indiana and work for my dad and the family business. Cost of living there is about half of what it is here it would be nice to save up some money and be close to family at the same time. I also think about going back to Arizona sometimes, although I never really felt like I could call that place ‘home’. After high school I never felt like Arizona was a good fit for me. Maybe I just have that gene in me that always wants to try something new. For my friends reading this, don’t get excited, I haven’t decided to pack up everything and leave at this point. :) It’s just something I think about from time to time.
There has been a lot of other things going on in between all of this, but I don’t really have time this morning to get it all down. I just wanted to do a quick catch-up blog. For my wonderful and amazing mother, Happy Mother’s Day! I couldn’t ask for a more loving and devoted mother. I love you so much!

Thank You Mr. President

My good friend Suzanne had this posted on her blog today and I thought it was so fitting for everything I am feeling today. So much focus on the new President, but I just felt like honoring our old President today. Whether you liked him or not, he deserves your respect and gratitude.

Goodbye, Mr. President,
I guess the time has come for you to,
Pack up all your things and turn the page,
So I was thinking as you left,
I’d try to write a song to tell you,
What so many of us want to say.

For all those sleepless nights,
I am sure you must have had,
For all the prayers I’m sure you prayed,
For how you tried to lead us when the way was so unclear,
I am sure it wasn’t always evident,
But thank you Mr. President!

Goodbye, Mr. President,
You will not be forgotten,
All the courage and the hope you helped us find,
I can’t imagine how it felt,
To stand where you were standing,
And to try to make the calls you thought were right.

So for those sleepless nights,
I am sure you must have had,
That put those lines around your eyes,
For how you carried the weight,
Even when the lights went out,
I am sure you’ll never know how much it meant,
I thank you, Mr. President.

So for those days ahead,
When they write about the past,
And everybody has their say,
From all of us who know,
You gave us everything you could,
We hope you will remember this,
Thank you, Mr. President!
Goodbye, Mr. President.

—Steven Curtis Chapman

Let's Talk About Star Wars.

This weekend I holed up in my house and watched Star Wars. Yes...I watched all three. Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. I know...I already sound like a huge nerd. But I must say, the original Star Wars trilogy is one of my favorite trilogies of all time. It's such a classic that really cannot be beat. As I was watching the Empire Stikes back yesterday I realized that Luke (Mark Hamill) looked a lot different to me in this movie then he did in the first movie. First of all, it looked like he had aged about ten years from the first, and secondly, his face looked a lot puffier to me. I did a little research on this and in doing so found out that after the filming of the first Star Wars movie, Mark Hamill was in a serious car accident and messed up his face pretty badly. Hence the difference in appearance. If you look closely in the Empire Stikes back you can see a new scar on his upper lip. Of course...this doesn't really explain how he aged ten years. Stress maybe? I was never a fan of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leiah. There is something about her that has always bugged me. I don't know if it's the fact that she looks like she is 15 but has the voice of an old woman or if it's the fact that she just looks like she would be a downright mean person in real life. (She was 19 when the first one was filmed by the way).Harrison Ford is of course brilliant as Han Solo. I had read somewhere that this was his first time ever acting (at age 34). Apparently he was contracted as a carpenter or something on the set and tried out for the role of Han Solo on a whim and nailed it. And the legend of Harrison Ford was born. Chewbacca is such a great character. Not only is he tall and make entertaining gurgling sounds that no other human being can properly mimic, but he kicks a lot of booty. Does anyone know who the actor was who played Chewey? I haven't figured that one out yet.

These movies are just great. Yes, the lines are extremely cheesy, yes, the technology is somewhat lacking at some points, but it doesn't matter. I think George Lucas did such an amazing job at writing this extremely entertaining Sci-Fi series. That's all I wanted to say....besides Yoda is the bomb.

May the force be with you.

My Friend Katy :)

Today I wanted to blog about a very special friend of mine. Katy is a very new friend of mine, but I feel like I've known her for a very long time. I met her at my new job working for Compassion International and she is amazing. She has such a big heart and an extremely outgoing and fun personality. I bring Katy up today because on Monday she is leaving for Rwanda for 2 months on a mission trip. She will be spending two months working in an orphanage that is dedicated to taking care of abandoned kids, ranging from infancy to 8 years old. She will be the only one who speaks English in the house she is staying in. Katy has had a passion for Africa her whole life and will be fulfilling a lifelong dream by going out there to be with the babies. I am so happy and proud of her for pursuing her dreams and doing something so good for these kids and for God. I know that is has to be such a scary and big step for her to do this by herself. Katy has never even been out of the country before so I can't imagine how exciting this experience will be for her!

I am praying for you Katy and I look up to you so much for what you are doing! I will miss you so much!

Commercial Creativity

Last night I had a discussion with a group of friends about the 'amazing' new commercials that have recently come out. I thought this discussion was blog-worthy. After seeing my wonderful friends 'The Stick Horses' perform, we all went to Chili's where the topic of the 'Snuggie' was brought up. This spawned the conversation of world's worst commercials.

I'm sure you all know what the Snuggie is. It is the 'blanket' that you can put your arms through and wrap around you like a giant moo moo so you don't have to be cold for two seconds while trying to turn on a lamp or turn pages. This commercial is a classic. My favorite shot is when you see a whole family at a ball game cheering on their team wearing, you guessed it, their prized 'snuggies'. I don't know about you guys...but I'm pretty sure no one I know would be caught dead wearing one of those in public. I would even venture to say I would even be embarrassed to wear one in my own house. BUT the plus side is, if you order one, you get a free reading light as a bonus!

Next commercial: Sham-Wow. The word gives me a great deal of amusement just saying it. It's the 'sham' that can soak up to 20 times it's weight in liquid. They demonstrate this great invention by soaking a piece of carpet 'in real time' with soda and making sure it soaks through to the back. Miraculously with a few pats on the 'Sham-WOW', the liquid has disappeared! Amazing. But WAIT, there's MORE! If you stick around to the end of the commercial, they even offer to DOUBLE your order if you call within the next twenty minutes. But you have to do it NOW or the offer will no longer stand. I imagine these are selling at such a fast rate that they can only extend this special offer to those who are smart enough to call in the next twenty minutes.

Another mention-worthy commercial is 'Cash-for-gold.com'. By simply calling a number you can get an envelope shipped to you where you can deposit all of your 'scrap gold' into an envelope and they will immediately send you a big check. My favorite: "I sent in my wedding ring from my FIRST marriage to Cash for Gold, and got a check in the mail the very next day!

There are many more I could mention, but I thought that these were the prominent ones. Over the years Oxy Clean, Chia Pets, and Mentos have definitely stood out in my mind. But the good news is, they keep getting better with time!

Some Good Intention Goals

My good friend Stefanie has inspired me to write some goals for the upcoming new year. I have thought about a few, but always hesitate to set them as I fear failing miserably at following through with them. But I'm going to give it a shot (in no particular order).

Goal #1: Save up to buy new furniture.
So...my roommate and I have furniture in our house, aquired by my wonderful friends Dale and Jessica. And I love the furniture! However, this pretty much fills up our upstairs living room, and I would very much like to get our very empty downstairs living room filled up. I have my eye on a cranberry colored couch set from JC Penny's...watch out! :)

Goal #2: Spend more time in Bible study and prayer.
I have to admit, last year I did terribly in this category. I had very lofty intentions but ended up doing Bible study and prayer way less then what I wanted. This year I am really going to concentrate on making this a number one priority every day. This is essential for me and I am excited to make it a more prominent part of my day. :)

Goal #3: Get in shape!
I would say this is a number one goal for about 99.9% of the population every year, so I'm sure it sounds a bit cliche. But I don't care. It is true, I do go to the gym often. However, it doesn't exactly get me to the skinny toned-self I would like to be. ;) I am going to start keeping a better eye on what I am eating and drinking and try to mix up my exercise routine a bit more. My good friend Jared is constantly running marathons and halfs...maybe I could set a goal to do one with him.:) It's always nice to have more energy and to feel like you are doing good things for your body.

Goal #4: Travel
I would like to take a few long weekend trips this year to see friends in other states. I haven't been able to do that for a while but I really feel like this is the year to do this. I have some friends in Cali that I want to see and I really would like to see my brother and sister-in-law and the babies in Texas. Also on the list is to see my sister and brother-in-law and more kiddos in Washington...so many people I want to see! I am going to try and do this.

Goal #5: Get back into music.
For those of you who have known me for a while, you know that I have played the clarinet since I was 9. Music has always been a huge part of my life. But since I have been out of college, I have not been able to perform like I used to. When I was in college I performed in symphonies and orchestras all the time and I really miss that. I would like to get back into that somehow. I am not sure what that means yet, but I'm going to be looking. I am also trying to get better at playing flute, piano and sax. Although I learned how to play the basics on these in college, I would love to perfect my skills on this and incorporate it somehow into my music goals. I miss music so much.

Well, there we have it! Happy New Year friends!

Arizona Bound

Today I leave for Arizona for Christmas time with the family. I am looking forward to some days of relaxation and spending time with the people I love. :) I wish my dad could be there to make the picture complete...but you are there in spirit dad! For all my friends, have a WONDERFUL Christmas. Enjoy your families, enjoy good food, and don't forget about baby Jesus. :)

Christmas Spirit

I have heard it from many people this year and have come to believe that I have been experiencing it myself. The lack of Christmas spirit. Times are hard for many people this year. Economically our nation is in a state of crisis. I have many friends who have lost loved ones recently which is making it extremely hard to deal with the holidays. The fact that we have had very little snow in our typically snow-littered Christmas season hasn't helped. But I was thinking about it today and thinking of what it truly means to be in the 'Christmas spirit'. Just listing off the reasons why my Christmas spirit hasn't been there has made me realize that my focus is entirely wrong. It is so incredibly easy to get caught up in the tradition and commercialism of Christmas. It's an underlying understanding that during Christmas you put up a tree, buy presents for people, go see your relatives, and have a big Christmas dinner. These things are all great, but I don't believe our 'Christmas spirit' should be derived from these things.

I think the the spirit should be a spirit of thankfulness. Thankfulness to God for sending his son to us on this very special day. Today I was thinking about the true miracle of this day and everything that it has meant for the rest of history. The true significance of this birth. Of all of the births in history, of all of the millions of babies brought into the world, this one was the most remarkable. I was trying to think about what the different players in the Christmas story must have been thinking and feeling on this very special day. Joseph had to have been an incredibly faithful and trusting man. He was caring for Mary, who he was engaged to, and was pregnant. Though he knew she was a virgin, this was extremely unacceptable in his society. Mary could have gotten stoned for being an adulteress at this time and Joseph could have been shunned for choosing to support her. He chose to trust God and walk along side her and be faithful to Mary. Mary must have been honored and terrified at the same time. Here she was, probably barely even 14 or 15 years old and is told that she is going to give birth to the son of God. Knowing that she is a virgin and that many people will not believe her, she says to the angel Gabriel, 'Let all of these things you have said to me come to pass." She gratefully accepted this very overwhelming and honorable task into her heart. Jesus was born under seemingly unremarkable conditions. In a manger with animals and shepherds around. Not something you would imagine a Son of God being born in to. But God had a powerful purpose for all of this. I don't really know that I know all of His reasons, but I imagine it to be because He wanted to send a message that he was here for the poor, for the rich, for the sick, for the needy, for the young, for the old...for everyone.

When I really look into the birth of Christ and what it has meant to the world, I instantly get my Christmas spirit back. It puts to mind the huge sacrifice that was made for us later on in his life. It also puts to mind what Christ stood for. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. I think that our Christmas spirit should come from these things and should always be remembered. Merry Christmas friends. :)

My Unfavorite Holiday Game

I have decided that the famous ‘gift exchange’ at holiday parties is my least favorite game of the season. I’m not talking about your casual gift exchange among family and friends. I am talking about the gift exchange where you pile all of the gifts in front of the group and everyone takes a number to see in what order everyone chooses a gift from the pile. This is the exchange where you may choose to steal someone else’s present or open a new gift when it comes to your number. One gift can only be stolen up to three times. There are a couple of reasons why I don’t like this game. The first one being, I think the spirit of the season should be more about giving and sharing rather then stealing and choosing the ‘biggest, shiniest gift under the tree’. When I think of Christmas I think of the birth of Christ, spending time with my family and giving to my loved ones. I don’t like the constant ‘it’s all about me’ theme that seems to surround Christmas. Now granted, it may seem like I am blowing the idea of this game out of proportion. I realize that it’s all in good fun. However, this is just one reason why I personally don’t like it. The second reason I am not a fan of this game is that it takes FOREVER to get through it. Last night I went to an IAAP meeting (International Association of Administrative Professionals). We played the ‘Exchange Game’ at the party. There were over 40 people at this party. So that meant that we had to get through over 40 people selecting AND opening a present, or stealing a present. I found that at the beginning we went through the numbers at a fairly quick pace. But as we approached number 25, the game got progressively slower and slower until we were almost at a complete stand still. The problems arose when a person decided to steal a present. After someone steals a present, the person they stole it from can either steal someone else’s present or choose a new one for them self to open. Most of them were choosing to steal someone else’s present, therefore setting off the snowball cycle of stolen presents. Meaning we could never get to the next number because everyone who got ‘stolen’ from kept stealing right back. It was endless! I think it took us upwards of TWO HOURS to get through this game! So be forewarned…if you are looking for the ‘Gift Exchange Game’, you probably don’t want to come to any of my Christmas parties.

Black is the New Blonde.

I dyed my hair jet black today. I have been wanting to do this for quite a while now but have been scared to. I finally took the plunge...and discovered that I actually like it! I have a few friends who will probably kill me for doing it (you know who you are). I just had highlights put in a few weeks ago when I got my hair cut, but I didn't really like them that much. I couldn't really tell any difference from what my hair color looked like before.

So now I am the black haired woman. :)

Modern Technology...Not So Helpful

When I was at the airport this weekend I came across an interesting dilemma. Have you ever tried to use the restroom with your carry-on luggage in tow? Let’s just say….it’s not an experience I enjoy. I will begin by saying that modern technology is not all that it’s cracked up to be. Automatic flushing toilets are Satan. Let’s look at this scenario. I am trying to stuff myself in to this tiny bathroom stall with BOTH my carry-on bags in tow. So basically once me and my bags are inside, there is sitting room only. I discover that my lock, of course, is broken. So I assume the position with one arm holding the door shut, with my feet on top of the bags that are piled directly in front of me. I go to sit down and do my business and in mid-pee I get an unexpected shower from the oh-so-helpful automatic toilet flush….that likes to flush whenever it darn well pleases. So not only do I get the spray of joy, but when I AM finished it doesn’t flush and I have to find that little button thing that you push to flush in manually. Then comes the task of getting myself OUT of the stall with the luggage. Not so useful that the doors open INTO the stall that is already packed with the toilet, your body, and your two carry-ons. I finally squeeze myself out with the luggage in tow to get to the ‘automatic sinks’. The sinks do come on on command; however, your two choices of water temperature are scalding, or boiling. I go to stick my hand under the ‘automatic soap dispenser’ and there is no soap in any of them. So I go back to boiling my hands in hopes that the millions of nasty germs I’m sure to have picked up in the disgusting bathroom will have been burned off. Then I proceed to go to a café in the airport to get my $10.00 turkey sandwich. As I sit there eating I am pondering all of these things, and just how ‘useful’ modern technology has turned out to be.

Can I Extend My Vacation?

If I had it my way, I would be on vacation forever. I am coming back to the Springs tomorrow. I have been in Indiana the past 5 days and enjoying every minute of it. :) I have been able to spend some amazingly wonderful time with my dad and aunts and uncles and even a little time with my grandparents. It's been a whirlwind, but relaxing at the same time. I needed a break so badly. I have been pushing myself really hard with this new job and stressing myself out with so many other things lately too...this vacation came at a perfect time! I am just not ready to go back yet! That whole being a responsible adult thing gets in the way too much, so alas, I will be back late tomorrow night. :) I will give a little recap of my trip so far.

I got in Thursday afternoon (Thanksgiving) and dad and I went over and had Thannksgiving dinner with my Uncle Brian, Aunt Missy, my 4 cousins, and my Uncle David and Aunt Dana. Then we went and visited Dad's best friend Tony and his wife and 2 year old son. (Tony is like my 3rd dad, he is WONDERFUL). Friday we woke up, and dad took me to his 2 different office locations. This guy names Leonard who has worked in for the family business for like 40 years cooked dad and I this amazing lunch at the office. Then dad and I cruised around and did some site seeing all over the place. Later Friday night dad and I went bowling. I bowled a 114 the first game and a steadt 90 the next two. Dad totally smoked me. :) Saturday Dad and I got up and he took me to see my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle on my mom's side. They live about an hour away from Dad in Shelbyville. We were there most of the morning then headed back to Anderson and took a WONDERFUL 2 hour nap before having a nice dinner in Indianapolis with my aunt and uncle. Sunday (today) we got up and went to church then went out to lunch with Tony and and another friend of dad's. Then we went to visit my dad's uncle pat and my dad's other friends Barney and Sandy that I remeber from when I was a really little kid. We also stopped by my uncle David's house for a while after that. Then we headed over to Tony's house where he and his wife made us dinner and their two year old son Landon entertained us for about an hour afterward with his sweet dance moves. :) It was great!

It has been a wonderful time of visiting with wonderful family and friends. And not having to work for a few days has been great. I know I have an extremely busy next few weeks coming up at work so I am prepping myself for work mode again. But I sure am thankful for the great time I've had on this trip. I miss family so much living in Colorado. Colorado is wonderful, but it's tough having no family around. Luckily I have super close friends out there who are just like family to me who get me through until my visits. :) Coming home tomorrow Colorado. :)