What's It to You?

     I feel like I have been using the word "it" quite a bit lately. Not purposefully, but IT is just something that is on my mind. Now what is it? It is different for every single person. Anything can be it.
     To fill you in, these are how the next couple of weeks are going to go. I will leave to North Carolina day after tomorrow, be there for about a week and a half, fly back to Boise, and then leave to Portland four days later. Talk about about a whirl wind of things happening! I love it and I am so excited, but what I want to focus on is being present in the moment. I want to take advantage of each experience that I have because North Carolina is a once and a life time experience, at least for a visit like this. Remember back in November when I posted about my great grandfather passing away? Well, I am meeting all of his relatives. All relatives I have not met. I will be able to see family property that has been passed down from generations to generations. I am so prepared to be called sweetie and honey in a southern accent while sipping on southern sweet tea. I want to see North Carolina thunder storms and enjoy every moment of it. I don't want to take the moment that God has granted me, focusing on what is going on in my life in Boise and what is to come in Portland.
     The other night, dad and I were cleaning the barn to prepare to buck hay the next day. Bucking hay is just another word for saying that we took bails of hay off of a pasture and stacked them inside of my barn. This is said in simple terms. Come out and help, and after 56 bails in the 102 degree weather you will be saying some words that normally don't come out of your mouth ;) Sooo now that that is cleared up, after dad and I prepared the barn, I sat on my fence and watched the sunset. I know that sounds cliche, but I was completely in the moment. There was a calm breeze on my face as the bright pink sky faded behind the foothills, and I was left to my thoughts. I closed my eyes and just listened to what was around me. I opened them to see my horse and two goats, and realized that this is IT. This is what I want. I want this moment. I want the feeling of this moment. I love this peace. When people talk about where God is and how he talks to people, I think this is a perfect example. God is everywhere, all the time, but when the earth turns a bit slower for people to pause and understand what they are feeling, such as me sitting on my fence, God is a lot easier to feel.

     So my question to you is this. What is IT for you? 

     If someone were to ask me this a couple of days ago I would response, "I don't know. I have an idea, but I don't have one solid answer." IT comes in the moment. I don't know if someone can "make" IT happen. I don't think people can find IT. I think IT finds people.

I think God uses IT to become closer to our hearts, leading us farther along into our journey. 

Papa, I finally get to see your North Carolina.

When You Least Expect IT

Yesterday I was exhausted. Yesterday I had hit my limit. Do you know that feeling when you are so emotionally and physically drained that you want to just sit and cry, but there is no real reason to? You hit a red light, so you want to say things that are not usually used in your vocabulary. You are sitting on the couch and the dog wants out and all you want to do is say, "can't you let yourself out?" Okay, so these are just everyday situations that seem so easy to handle, but when being tired is in the equation, these situations seem so much more difficult. Why am I bringing this up? Because yesterday was this kind of day.
After running on 4 hours of sleep, I got ready for a 10.5 hour day of nannying. Now, I don't want to give off the wrong impression. I love my job. I adore the child I watch and I am so blessed to be such a big part of his life. The reason I was tired was because working out, working, taking care of my animals, spending time with family, filling out papers for my senior year in college, researching master school programs, and trying to have a social life kind of brought me to a tired state of mind. I was physically and emotionally wiped out.
I went to work after my 6:45 AM workout. I played all morning, took care of the 11 week old puppy, and then got ready for swim lessons. I did not put on my swimsuit, instead I decided to take a day off from swimming with the child I am watching and let him play with other kids. After about 10 minutes following swim lessons, he comes up to me and asks, "Christi...can you swim with me?" How could I say no? "Of course," I said, "come with me to change into my swim suit. After I was ready, we went into the pool and we swam. In the middle of the pool are small fountains the kids can play in. The little boy ran into the fountains and said, "CHRISTI! LOOK LOOK!" as he was trying to grab the water. A sudden change in my spirit occurred. Life is so precious. He loves life, and a small bit of water makes his life even better. Innocence is beautiful, and his life is only beginning.
Why am I wasting time by being upset with hitting a red light? Why am I upset when I need to get up off of the couch to let my dog out? In reality, I need to sleep, and psychologically there is fact to that. But, I can control my attitude. So today, after my 5:45 AM workout, I was tired. But the difference between yesterday and today is that I am tired, as well as happy. When I least expected something positive during my day, my spirit recognized how precious life was, and I want to take advantage of every precious moment.
So today, I love.
Tomorrow, I can only be excited for.

Tomorrow I have a visit at a master's program! Wish me luck :)  

Learning, Faith & Living

As I wrote a few blogs ago, I am incorporating a blog into a class of mine. I will dedicate this blog to how I integrate learning, faith and living in my life :) 

Where would I be without family?

Learning

Faith

Living

Sometimes You Just Need to Embrace

The word embrace is so broad.

I typed into the search of pinterest the word "embrace" and quotes, pictures, and even bras appeared. It's something that I have been challenged with these last few days. "Embrace each moment and live to its fullest." "Embrace life because you don't know what is to come." "Embrace people with love." 

So what does it really mean to "embrace?"

Maybe people embrace the wrong things. What I am learning is that if I embrace God, I embrace life. When I embrace and seek Jesus in what I do, I embrace everything around me. 

Today is Tuesday. Tomorrow is Wednesday. Next week is dead week (the week before finals; we call it dead because everyone runs around at night getting work done and are zombies the next morning in their classes). Here is the cherry on top to finish my junior year: 

Next week is dead week.

May 5th is my birthday. 

May 6th is the starting of finals. 

May 10th and 11th are conference.

Mom will be here for Conference on May 9th. 

Nationals?

Challenge of the day!

What are you embracing?

Happy Tuesday :)

Boston

My prayers go out for Boston.

Story and updates at http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/15/explosions-near-finish-of-boston-marathon/?hpt=hp_t1

What kind of a world do we live in to be surrounded with fear? A world that needs prayer. As an update from Yahoonews says, there is a moment of silence at 6:30 pm tonight for the victims of the two explosions. 

Pray for Boston.

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

1 Corinthians 16:13

Tables May be Turning

These last couple of days have been feeling new. I think there are a couple of reasons for this "new feeling." 

1. There are three more academic weeks left of school. I always get anxious when this time comes. Anxious in such a way that I roll around in bed not able to sleep. I have things to get done, track meets are coming to an end, and something that really keeps me from being settled is knowing that I won't be sleeping in the same place in a matter of time. I know this is a silly thought, but it is how my mind works. Remember, change is not my favorite thing, and when I know that the end of the year is coming, I also know that a new apartment is coming as well, only to leave my old apartment behind. 

2. Summer is soon! Even though change is not always my favorite time of life (which is silly because it is ALL the time. Honestly, it's one of the things that is actually promised for everyone.) it means that seeing Kelsey (my horse), my goats, family, friends, and home soon. That does mean I leave my home here for a temporary time as well. The "new" feeling is technically a "transition" feeling. There is nothing new about what is happening, only what is to come after the transition. 

3, 4, 5, 6...I'm not sure of the other reasons at the moment, but I am sure when I stop writing I will think of many more :) 

Today is Saturday and I did not have a track meet. It has been such a weird season. Indoor Nationals created a short outdoor season for me, but it sure has been fun. Yesterday, the team and I traveled only 20 minutes down the street for a fun, relaxing relay meet. I only ran two 100 meters in two relays and I high jumped FOR FUN. My friend Deb and I made a deal. Deb said, "if you high jump, I will run a 200 meter dash." Well, there is no way I would pass that up, because she defiantly got the hard end of the stick! I jumped 4'4" (not too shabby for never jumping!) and Deb ran her way to the finish line of the 200. The first thing out of her mouth while she laid on the ground was, "why would anyone ever do this for fun?!" It was a great memory. My 4x100 relay team ran a 49.99 seconds. That is a season record, so lets see if we can make another season record. Nationals is in the low 48s. 

Meet Deb :)

Fast Flashback: Three minutes after the parents left all of the new freshmen at college in 2010, Deb and I were standing alone wondering, well...now what? We were in a new place, we knew no one, and our parents had just left back to their states. I was wearing a track sweatshirt. Deb tapped my shoulder and asked, "do you run track?" 

It all started from there. 

Listening in life is a key component to where someone wants to go, and where they will go. I believe that God speaks to people in so many different ways; dreams, signs during a day, gut feelings, conversations, anything. I bring this up because I feel like God is doing something in my life that I wasn't expecting. I need to pray about it, see what he is up to, and when I find more out I will share. I am sharing this small glimpse because I think that thinking before speaking is important. Sometimes God wants you to only listen to him, and other people's opinions may not be from God. I can't wait to share what is going on within my life.

Happy Saturday everyone! 

I treated myself to a pedicure today. What will you treat yourself with? 

You deserve it!

Accomplishments

Today I feel accomplished.

I woke up early to come to the library, printed two papers, finished five pages of notes, and even have time to blog! 

This weekend was filled with fast flying days and some good memories!

Saturday I had a track meet. Both of my relays took second place and I took 3rd place with a 12.89 in the 100 meter dash. Considering that was my second time running an open 100 this season, I am excited to see where my time will end. Nationals is 12.20 so lets see if I can go to outdoor nationals.

Sunday at Freedom Church we had 29 adults and children. We are outgrowing a one car garage and we are now looking for a facility to rent. Freedom Church is growing, and I am so blessed to be a part of its foundation.

This last week my head coach announced that he is not returning next year. What does that mean? That means that there is a potential for an entire new team of not only athletes, but coaches. Talk about a change. For my senior year I will be looking into graduate school, working toward my psychology degree, and ending my track career with an entirely different coach. This will be a new experience for me, but we grow from experiences. Right now I will focus on today, and only think about tomorrow (I have a problem of worrying about tomorrow).

What challenges me on a daily bases is the future. Yesterday, I found myself in one of the best stores. It is called World Market, and it's amazing! Alija and I had a fun time exploring all of its authentic treasures. I was looking at table cloths, beds, pictures, plates, matching dish mats, cups, tea mugs, anything and everything I wanted for my future home. I was matching colors, imagining where a deck would go in my back yard, placing summer dish mats on the covered patio, and this went on and on in my mind. Then I realized and had a small fear of when that will come. What if it doesn't come when I need it to? What if my plan doesn't work out the way I want it to? That's the funny thing about life that I am learning (I have always known plans don't always work, but now as I get older it's becoming more apparent), life will just happen. Whether we like how it happens or not, tomorrow will come. I guess where I am getting at is this...try to not worry about the small things. Have fun with matching dish mats and patio chairs, because one day it will most likely happen. Most of the things we worry about don't happen, so why not think about what we want to happen? When we focus on fear, it can undertake our thoughts and over take our emotions.

Focus on all of the good, thank God for all the days that come, and know that when God changes your plans (my plans) that he is protecting us from something that is less than the best. 

4 more Mondays left of school...and that even includes the Monday of finals week!

Forgive any errors as usual. After two papers and five pages of notes, my brain does not want to think, its just wants to do!