Oh, you better believe it's personal!

Let's face it, sometimes little things happen.  They hit a nerve with us and we take it personally.  And with me, it is 9 times out of 10 something that was done inadvertantly with without intention of anyone getting hurt.

But it still happens.  Things personally move us, hurt us, make us angry with ourselves or one another.  People personally let us down.  Things don't go they way we plan them in our perfect snapshot of what life should look like.

That is the sympton of a fallen world.  A world of pride, a world of selfishness, and a world of busi-ness.  A world where our agenda does not always include the best of some of the people we love.  We try, but we fail at times, because we are not perfect. 

Which is why it's personal.  There will always be personal let downs, personal disappointments, personal moments of feeling forgotten or  not-good-enough.  Which is why it is so great to have a personal God.  I sometimes forget to be thankful for the fact that there is a God out there that doesn't just spin the world on an axis, but wants to be here - there - wherever we are - for those personal moments that we feel personally hurt.  And not only does he want to be there, but he wants to be the source of that personal joy that keeps us from feeling too much personal hurt or disappointment.

I believe he blesses us dearly with people in our lives that love us and care for us, but without the occasional disappointment, we would not realize the personal joy that only he provides.

So is life personal?  Absolutely.
Is that painful sometimes?  Absolutely.
Is that overwhelmingly amazing as well?  Absolutely.

Funshare!

Another funshare for you all this week.  My friend JK sent this to me this morning, and I felt compelled to share with some of my other single christian girlfriends.  So if you are one, or know one, take a few minutes and check out the video in the link of something called Resurgence (I haven't looked it up too much yet, but it looks like one of those mega-church groups focused primarily on young adults - much like Willow Creek in Chicago or Frontline in DC.)

Must Watch Video for Christian Single girls!

"Who flirts with the ideology of 'how much I can get away with and still be saved'?"  I feel like I've asked myself that question so many times.  I'm not usually big into the whole Dramatic Poetry read, but I thought this was inspirational and convicting. 


IN OTHER NEWS...

I may or may not have gone to the Phillies v. Nationals game this week.

We may or may not have won 2 of the 3 game series.

I may or may not have gotten to hang out with Jon and Biga - which was awesome.

I may or may not have cured my baseball famine.

I may or may not have had sweet tickets.

I may or may not have run into some of my other Philly Phans.

I may or may not have gotten a wave from Shane Victorino.... and immediately turned into a poptart.

I may or may not have yelled "We still think you're WERTH it!!" and gotten waved to by Jayson Werth.

I may or may not have tried to take a picture with Teddy the running president. 

We may or may not have had a bad photographer for that picture, and Teddy may have smacked my butt as I walked away.  It was awkward.

I may or may not have continued yelling to Shane how much we love him.

We (Biga and I) may or may not have had Shane Victorino throw a ball to us.  TO US.

And if you are wondering - yes - all those things happened.  Do you want proof?  OK

Bases Loaded!  Did I meantion I Phreaking love my Phils?

<3 Shane <3

Jayson Werth

Happy Halladays!! Roy is my #2 to Shane Victorino <3

Home team?  NOPE.  Visitors.  Sorry Nats - maybe one day you'll have fans too

Pervy old Teddy.

Did Shane throw that ball to us?  YES!!!

Jon!  My Maryland Big Bro

Plans...?

There is this song I heard for the first time when I did summer staff with Younglife at SharpTop in Georgia.  The song was written by a man who lost his 4 year old child, lost his home and fortune in the Great Chicago Fire, then sent his family on a boat to Europe and the boat sank and his four daughters all died.
It is a terrible story, but after this, the author creates this beautiful song called 'It is well with my soul.' 
It is a beautiful point when you come through a struggle and can look up at a Holy Creator, and honestly profess that it is well with our souls.
But it is also good to have that peaceful contentment and honesty even when we are not going through tumultuous waters. 

I am excited for the future of Younglife at my high school, and my great high school friends. 

I am excited that a bunch of them are going to camp for a whole week to have a great time and get to know God more closely.

I am excited for a Wegman's date with Emily on Saturday.

I am excited for the Derwood Bible Church softball team to start the season on Saturday.

I am excited for the Phillies v. Nationals game tonight - even though the weather is a bit icky.

I am excited for new friendships, relationships, and just getting to know the heart of people.

I am excited for my family to visit next weekend for Easter.

I am excited for skydiving in 2 months!!

I am excited for my return to social networking.

I am excited for the results I've been seeing with my personal trainer.

I am excited for my trip to Texas 2 weeks from tomorrow!!

I am excited to see old friends, and explore new places.

I am excited to move into the Ashley house in May.

I am excited for the new opportunties that are coming at work.

Things haven't been perfect, but they have been well.  And I love that I can say that, and say that I am abundantly full with feelings of contentment, excitement, joy, peace, and fervor for what is coming up next for me :-)

I have great friends, fellowship, and family, (and most times a great job) and can not wait to be completely enthralled with them all over the next few weeks.



Ok, and so let me also add in here about my most recent obsession.  You have heard me talking about running the Philadelphia Rock'n'Roll 1/2 Marathon in September, and you may even recall reading about getting a personal trainer.  But I have also changed my diet in the last few weeks.  Specifically changed it to incorporate more of the yummy healthy stuff and less of the heavy junky stuff. 
However, this past weekend was so difficult for me.  I went to Younglife's Northbay Camp in northeastern MD and we spent the weekend serving.  (Pictures and stories to follow shortly - I promise!)  But we had Younglife food.  And if you've never had Younglife camp food before let me tell you - they give kids what kids want.  Cake, fried food, greasy food, pizza, baked goods, pretty much everything that will make a grown woman's thighs double in size just by thinking about it. 
But as I came home on Sunday, I was feeling pretty icky.  I thought at first maybe I was just tired, but the more upset my stomach got, the more I realized my body was more or less revolting from all the junk I consumed last weekend.  It was terrible at the time, but it is really refreshing to know that even my body is jumping on board with this whole healthy lifestyle thing.  Like the thought of brown rice and steamed broccoli for dinner beats some boneless buffalo wings by a mile these days!
Needless to say, that my smoothies, salad, over indulgence in water, and roasted asparagus for dinner last night combined with my nice 3.5 mile run (at a 10 min pace - YEA!!) was a welcome feeling after beating up my body all weekend.  Phils game tonight and one-hour-major-butt-kicking-session with Allison tomorrow!

Blog is going Political!!

Ok, I know a lot of you stopped reading.  But today is April 1, and contrary to what you may believe, what I am about to tell you is NOT an April Fool's joke.

12 people were killed in Afghanistan today.  Of those 12, 8 of them were international employees working for the UN to spread peace in a nation, a region, and a culture, where peace is a dirty word.

Almost 30 more were critically injured. 

The violence was spurred by a Christian group in Florida that burned the Quaran a few weeks ago.

I can't honestly tell you which one bothers me more. 

I am a Christian.  I am proud of my faith.  I will tell you about my faith if you ask, and I will try to live it out every day.  This does not mean I think less of you if you do not believe in God.  Being Jewish, or Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, aethiest, or WHATEVER does not make you less of a person than me.  I believe in my bible.  I believe that that is the truth of the world.  It does not mean I have the right to hurt or offend you, or destroy your things because you don't believe the same thing.  How messed up is thinking that goes "Well if you don't believe in my book, I'll burn yours!  Yea!  Take that.  Now your's is ashes so you have to read mine.  And believe it.  And let it change your life."

I read my bible sometimes.  And my take on it is that we need to try to be like this Jesus guy.  And to my recollection, Jesus didn't do that.  Jesus flipped tables over, and Jesus challenged the pharisees.  Jesus did not burn their temples or scriptures, or defame what was important to them (unless you consider flipping tables excessive.)  

But the Afghan rebels killed people.  In brutal ways.  People that were knowingly innocent and unrelated to the group in Florida.  They did it to prove a point.  Last I checked, the value of a human life is not equivalent to the need to "prove a point."  (I have separate thoughts on war, but best leave that to another time.)

It's just difficult sometimes to look at the world around us, and think about how much hate is being bred. Maybe you think me naive or too liberal or hippi-tastic, but I honestly believed that if we taught our children and communities that the value of a human life is unparalleled, than maybe we would see a world that isn't so scary to live in.    That we don't have to worry about raising children in.  A world that - will not be perfect - but will be safe.  We don't have to all agree - and we never will - but we do have to value and respect each other.

That is my prayer for this fallen world.

dating on saturday... church on sunday?

It's funny. As a single 23 year old, I get dating advice from every married couple whether I want it or not. I get Christian dating advice, I get DON'T GET MARRIED advice, and I get "eh, you're young, go have fun" advice. It's so funny sometimes to get have different people that you love in different ways give you unwanted advice. Unfortunately, it can also complicate and confuse the already complicated and confused.

The advice of -never get married just mess around with someone until you are bored- was very poorly recieved by me, and actually saddened my heart a bit that someone I love so much would clearly be upset with their current situation. Needless to say, that advice has gone to the wayside... and quickly.

But I have been struggling lately with the idea that casual dating may not be for me. I have been dating, and I have been having fun. Most people in my life tell me, just date around and see where things go. But some of the more committed christians in my life have encouraged me to be more thoughtful about people before dating. As I said, I have been dating. It's been fun, and honestly a big part of me wants to keep going out with boys, and flirting, but something is missing when I do that. And it hit me the other day. My best friend Cuppa (nicknames are appropriate on a public blog) made me realize that if I do date random funny, cute, charming guys I may have fun for a bit. But when it comes time for me to get to know the heart of the person I am dating, how can I share my faith, if they don't already have their own faith? And 'just going to church' should not cut it. When I am struggling, overjoyed, concerned, etc... will I ever feel completely open and intimate with that person and comfortable sharing it with them? And if I can't, aren't I just leading to more heartbreak when I realize that I need to leave someone that I have spent so much time getting to know, or continue in a relationship where I won't ever feel free enough to share my whole heart.

I did break up with a dude one time because he wasn't at that same point in his faith as I was, but I don't think I ever really understood the point of it in the long run. I have recently come to understand this, and how important that is to me. Regardless of what some of the people in my life may tell me, I know what I want, and why would I ever want to sell myself... my heart... short? I wouldn't, and when I meet someone that loves me that much, he's gonna be happy that I didn't sell myself short too.

So... I am comfortably single, NOT DATING, and waiting for the (gulp... here comes the scary christian word) courting.

And that makes my heart smile. :-)







oh yea, and also... I love my cuppa <3