Yay! A new spoken word with Sarah Kay.

Love her stuff! :)

A friend showed me this today

& I am so glad they made a full-version, music video of this!

December 28, 2012

“…I realized how much of our lives are spent trying to avoid conflict. Half the commercials on television are selling us something that will make life easier. Part of me wonders if our stories aren’t being stolen by the easy life.” p.186

“She said she had married a guy, and he was just a guy. He wasn’t going to make all her problems go away, because he was just a guy. And that freed her to really love him as a guy, not as an ultimate problem solver. And because her husband believed she was just a girl, he was free to really love her too. Neither needed the other to make everything okay. They were simply content to have good company through life’s conflicts. I thought that was beautiful.” p. 205

“I like those scenes in the Bible where God stops people and asks the to build an altar. You’d think He was making them do that for Himself, but I don’t think God really gets much from looking at a pile of rocks. Instead, I think God wanted his people to build altars for their sake, something that would help them remember, something they could look back on and remember the time when they were rescued, or they were given grace.” p. 214

-A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

November 2, 2012

Of all the staff on our campus, I spend the most time with this student. I rotate with him through his classes, I do small group lessons with him & I’ve seen it all. I don’t know when he will give me a good day or a bad day. I don’t know when he will give me a good hour/few minutes or a bad one. And yet, no matter how relieved I am to end the day and go back home to rest, I think about this student at home. I think about this student when I wake up and get ready to seize another day at it again.

But an e-mail from my principal tonight brought tears to my eyes and reminded me that it is going to be worth it. I want to remember this:

“Hey there,

I just wanted to share with you that as I was closing up the 2/3 office today, _______’s mom approached me. With tears in her eyes, she wanted to say how thankful she is for all that we do. She knows it isn’t easy and she said that she has been to a lot of schools, but none like this and none that have tried so hard. I told her that we all care about ______ and will work to give him the best. 

I know things are rough, but just wanted to share that your work doesn’t go unnoticed. 

Have a good weekend.”

September 16, 2012

Today, two near & dear friends of mine moved to Dubai.
Even though there were many tears, I know deep down that my heart is happy for them & for the good work they will continue to do in Dubai.

Today was my little brother’s first day of 8th grade. It was also his first day riding the bus to and from school. He was so excited he woke up earlier than I did for work…and I woke up at 6:10 am too!

We left the house at the same time, even though he had at least 20 minutes to spare because the bus stop was only 30 seconds away from our house. We both left—him on foot and me in my car. And then I proceeded to listen to this song as I drove off:

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Japan Missions 2012
Ofunato, Japan
miss it <3 

June 27, 2012

“And his advice to me was this—This is really great. You should enjoy it. And I didn’t. Best advice I ever got that I had ignored. Instead, I worried about it. I worried about the next deadline, the next idea, the next story. There wasn’t a moment for the next 14 or 15 years that I wasn’t writing something in my head or wondering about it. And I didn’t stop and look around and go,’This is really fun.’ I wish I had enjoyed it more. It has been an amazing ride. But there were parts of the ride I had missed because I was too worried about things going wrong that I hadn’t been able to enjoy the bit that I was on.”

-Neil Gaiman

“Never underestimate the vital importance of finding early in life the work that for you is play. This turns possible underachievers into happy warriors.”

-Dr. Paul Samuelson

June 27, 2012

A few days ago, I recalled something my guiding teacher had actually told…one of her first graders. In the back corner of the room, some girls had been talking about another girl behind her back. It starts that young. My guiding teacher called them over to her desk and I was curious as to how she would choose to resolve this one so I subtly leaned over to listen.

She said, “People will talk about you all your life, you need to learn how to ignore it.”

I wonder if Alexandria knew the weight and truth of those words. At least if she didn’t, they definitely did not go to waste because I picked them up and will keep them forever. It’s so true. Even if they have nothing to say; they’ll find something to say so learn to ignore it. It was so different than the typical stop-calling-other-students-names approach. It was more true to reality and useful.

Anyway, tonight, God’s really placed Ms. Gray upon my heart. I received a text a few days ago from my advisor (also Ms. Gray’s colleague) that Ms. Gray’s one and only son had passed away in a car accident. Any thoughts that were previously running through my mind were immediately scattered by utter shock. I cannot even fathom the feelings of such a loss. I…yea, I don’t even want to. But the Lord must know she’s a very strong woman. And she is. I actually have no doubt that she can rise above it. But in the moments that she can’t, Lord grant her the strength and the hope.

She honestly doesn’t even know how much I love and value her, haha. But worthy of a space on this blog so I may never forget :)

June 24, 2012

Definitely one of the better moments in my life.
First time being a bridesmaid for a friend’s wedding & it was such a fun experience.

The venue (Scripps in SD) was absolutely breathtaking with the beach/ocean serving as the backdrop. The bride and groom (Jane&Ricky) are perfect together. Loved how the bride was so down to do anything, even go out to the beach in her wedding dress afterwards to play in the water. Loved growing closer to the bridal party. 

On to the next one :)
Josh and Grace’s.