Surrendering to Joy

     Happy new year, and happy snowy weekend to everyone! Hopefully everyone had a good holiday season, and is running into this new year at top speed, ready to conquer anything! As for me, I am excited to see what this new year will bring; at present though, I am just waiting for winter to pass, and the cold to be gone.      Now, I love the snow. Snow and I get along very well, and always have! I just wish there was some magical way to have the snow without the crazy cold temperatures. This winter has made me officially realize that I was not meant for scraping ice off my car and piling unbelievable layers upon my person. No way, y'all; I was meant to live where the sun shines almost continuously, and the temperature never drops below thirty-five degrees. I love Fall, and I love early Spring; it is the in-between waiting period I dislike. Even the beauty of snow can only temporarily delay the impatience that inevitably rushes forth during Winter, and rule...

     Hello, everyone!      I know, I know, it's been forever and a day since I've written anything. Life has been rather crazy; I moved, I've been sick off and on, and the charging port on my laptop broke. Add the holidays on top of that, as well as working full time, and it's no wonder I haven't been able to get a new post out sooner! I sincerely apologize; this was in no way my intention. Actually, when I first started this blog, I intended to write at least one new post a month, if not more than that. I shall try and do better, although I will definitely be the first to admit that not only am I human, but also rather scatterbrained and absentminded these days. Pray for me and my poor brain, y'all! I'll stop with my excuses now...      So, I've had quite a few ideas the past few weeks that I was SURE I wanted to write about. In fact, I would plan each post out in my head, and then a few days later be taken with an idea that was EVEN bet...

     Hi friends -      Let me start by apologizing for not posting anything in the past month! Boy, life really took hold of me for awhile. I can honestly say that I have NEVER been this tired, physically or emotionally. I've been getting hit with a lot, mostly from work, and I am so sorry to say that I let this tiredness take over my life. However, I promise I am trying to fight back! In fact, I have been thinking over this post for a few weeks now; hopefully all my points come across as clear and concise as I intend them to be!      It's finally Fall, y'all! My most favorite season is upon us, although it seems to have taken quite awhile for the cooler weather to make an appearance. I can usually find at least two things that I love about each season; Fall, however, always fills me with delight, and a real sense of calm begins to pervade my spirit. Also, I could totally be biased; my birthday, after all, is next month! So...

    "I call it Joy , which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again. Apart from that, and considered only in its quality, it might almost equally well be called a particular kind of unhappiness or grief. But then it is a kind we want. I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is." -C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy.             Hey there, friends -        If you had asked me even just a couple of years ago where I thought my life would be at this point in time, nothing I would have answered with would be anywhere close to how things actually tu...

      Hey all - I apologize for the delay in posting; so many factors are behind it that I won't even mention most of them. However, my biggest block seemed to be coming up with something to write about. Then, completely out of the blue, I got hit with a metaphor that is unbelievably perfect! It goes along so well with everything God's been showing me recently, as well as with my last post. May it never be said that the Lord doesn't provide for us!      So, last Spring, as the school year was winding down, I was put in charge of a new project we had in our class. We received a small gardening kit, with three different types of seeds, as well as three different colors of "NASA space gel" to use instead of dirt. (This actually ended up being my project specifically, as preschoolers aren't exactly old enough for a project like this one. It was quite interesting just trying to keep them from shaking the poor things!) About a week or so after ...

     Evening everyone -      I heard an unbelievably beautiful song on the radio yesterday. It is called "Forgiven" by Crowder*, and several lines really stuck out to me. My favorite line from this song? "I could've been six feet under; I could've been lost forever"      It struck me that I could use that line as a starting point for a new blog post; it relates SO well to my life. There have been plenty of times the past couple of months where I have cried out in pure thankfulness to God for saving me from myself. Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone is lead astray at some point in their lives. I am hoping that this particular post will be at least a slight source of encouragement to anyone that currently feels as though they are lost or alone in darkness. I cannot emphasize this enough: you. Are. Never. Alone. EVER.      I've walked through a lot of darkness the past few years....

     Hello, all -      I'm not someone to post directly about political nonsense on social media, or get involved in those petty arguments in comment threads. I may share certain articles, or "react" to the ones that I agree with on Facebook. But I do not go out of my way to try and convince other people that I am right and they are wrong; it is not in my nature to try and change people's minds. If someone asks questions about what I believe, or why I think a certain way, I am more than happy to try and explain myself. I can have discussions with people who want to listen, and with those that can hear differing opinions from their own and not lose their minds. I'm sure most, if not all of you know what I'm talking about. HOWEVER, today I've decided to put some facts and opinions out there about a very touchy subject; I do not know how people will react to this post. Quite frankly though, I don't really care if people react the wrong wa...