What can I learn?

This week hasn't been the most pleasant week. Two very special people in my way have passed away.

Tuesday and Wednesday were the calling hours and funeral for my great aunt. She was a very sweet lady, very patient too. She was a peacemaker. I wasn't very close to my aunt, but it still felt like a piece of me was missing. I felt bad for my uncle who has now watched his 4 siblings and his wife die. So strange. Can you imagine how that feels? I can't.

I was sitting in the funeral service on Wednesday behind my uncle who was sobbing. I wanted to just give him a hug. I can't stand watching men cry. It's heart wrenching. Anyway, I was just sitting there asking God to not only give comfort to my family, but asking Him what could I learn from all of this and how could I be a blessing in this situation?

I can't lie and say it wasn't nice to see some old relatives. It was. We only see each other at weddings and funerals. Not many people in the family have been getting married though. Kind of a downer that all we're left with is funerals. But it was so nice to see distant relatives and old friends just talking about the "good old days." I hope I can have that when I'm well into my years.

On Tuesday night, as many of you know, my uncle also passed away. This one is a tougher pill for me to swallow. This is like losing another grandfather. I was much closer to him than I was to my aunt (who was on another side of the family if you don't know). I can only say good things about him. What I can't seem to get over is the Sunday before he had his stroke, I went out to lunch with him, my aunt, my grandma, and Tina. I'm just glad my last words to him were "Thank you," and "I love you."

I don't mourn the loss of him because I know he's much better off where he is now. He's seeing all the fruits of his labor and enjoying God's overwhelming presence. I just mourn because it happened so fast. I just think about those he left behind.

So God is still answering my question on what can I learn from all of this and how can I be a blessing in these situations. But here's what I got so far....
-God is in everything good in your life because everything good in your life stems from love. He's in love you share with the people around you.
-And His love comforts, it protects, and casts out fear, so always be on the lookout to love. Do the best you can.
-Family, even distant relatives, are blessings. You can all learn from them. If there's closeness there, it's not a bond easily broken.
-If your earthly family is strong here, how much more is God's family?
-To sound cliche, you never know what tomorrow brings, so be prepared.
-Think about what you want people to say at your funeral. It makes you think. How do you live your dash?
-Death was never God's intention. How silly were we to chose it?

That's basically all for today. Sorry if this was too long. This was just kind of me venting.

My girls

I'm here at school. I have an a hour before my next class starts. Yay. I shall blog.

I know Thanksgiving is over, but here are some girls that I am thankful for....

Janna - Today I went out with a friend from back in the day. Janna Reynolds. Wow. It's been awhile. We've known each other for 8 years now. Sheesh. I haven't seen her since her graduation party. She stopped in Cranberry to have lunch with me on her way back to George Mason in DC. She's brilliant and can debate like no one else I know. She's destined for greatness. On top of all that, she's engaged. What?!?! This is the girl who I used to go to my math tutor with in 7th grade, who called me Henry the 8th, who had the greatest birthday parties ever. Man. Life changes so fast. It was definitely nice to have that connection again with someone from my past outside of my family. I think I've really needed that the past couple weeks. It was definitely refreshing to see and talk to her again.

Tina - Last Sunday, after an incredibly long day of work, I came home and was quite ready to pass out on my bed and not wake up for the next 12 hours or so. That didn't happen. Tina was up and I went to go say goodnight to her. We ended up talking for 2 hours. That happens with friends...especially when friends are girls. But it wasn't just the normal "Let's talk about school and work and boys." It was deep. We went through our old journals together, shared about what we'd learned in the past couple years, shared scriptures that stuck out to us. We both learned a lot from each other. It was a divine appointment. Again, that rejuvinated me. Having friends who encourage and build you up are so much more than just people you take for granted, they're God-sends. They're the true friends.

Stephy-Loo - My wife. *giggle* She's amazing. We always have a great time together - baking, jumping on a trampoline, or watching old Disney movies. She's always the voice of reason. She's the one who has her head on straight. She's got it all-brains, beauty, and wisdom. She's a great example to everyone on how to be godly. I respect her and love her very much.

Krystle - I've only known her for a short time, but man! What a firecracker! :D She's got such a great heart and a great passion. She's funny too. She's got so many gifts and a great testimony. We really have a lot in common and I'm really excited to get to know her more.

Vanessa - What girl in Revolution does not want to be Vanessa? She's amazing!!! Again, her heart and her passion inspire people. She's not afraid to be who she is and the best thing is she knows who she is. She's awesome.

Christy Williams - Some of you will get to meet her very soon. She's coming to visit me in a couple weeks. Her creativity and optimism astound me. She's done it all. Written books, started magazines, directed movies, written movies, written comics, she paints, draws, photographs. If it's creative, she does it. She's brilliant and sooooo talented. She's always uplifting and telling me I deserve the best even when I don't believe her. She's has so much potential and I can't wait to see her grow into that.

That's basically all I have time for now. These are not the only women in my life I am thankful for. I encourage you to write down who it is that you are thankful for and who you admire and respect and why. It'll keep you grounded and help you realize what you should be or are striving towards.

Today is a pretty relaxing day. No school to worry about. No work until after 6. And I got to sleep in...waaaaay in. haha! It's nice.

I'm spending my time building myself up. Today I'm taking it easy. Today is my Sabbath; my day to just be with Him. I'm learning the difference between rest and laziness. I have not perfected not being lazy yet, but it's a constant process. God delights in our rest because it should be in Him, but He hates our laziness.

God has really been showing me how important it is to realize that time is money. How are you spending your time and what is it being spent on? So think for a second, if you will. There's 24 hours in each day. How much do you do you spend sleeping? On average 6-8 hours. That leaves us with 16-18 hours left in that day. We should realize, even as we're young, that we're not going to be here forever and that we have to find a life of purpose. If we are not living our days for Christ, our days add up to nothing. I'm not saying that you just have to get into a "works" mentality and just have to work work work. I'm just saying that you have to speculate how much idle time you have in one day. Like I said before, God delights in our rest, but He despises laziness.

Psalm 90:12 (NLT) - "Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom."

Proverbs 12:11 (AMP) - "...but he who follows worthless pursuits is lacking in sense and is without understanding."

Ecclesiastes 11:9 (NLT) - "Young man, it's wonderful to be young! Enjoy ever minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give and account to God for everything you do."

I forget who said this, but I heard it a while ago and it really stuck out to me. "When God wants to grow a squash He grows it in one summer; but when He wants to grow an oak He takes a century." Which lasts longer; the squash or the oak tree? This also reminded me of Isaiah 61:3 when God was saying that His people may be called "oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." Before it talks about being "oaks," it talks about the Spirit of the Lord and the anointing for setting the captives free beauty for ashes, etc. You should read this chapter. It's amazing.

Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 in Luke 4. The Spirit of the Lord God was upon Him. Jesus is the One who set us free to be "oaks of righteousness." It takes some time to grow into your calling. It is also up to us to use our time wisely to become those strong trees.

This was very long so I appologize. I hope you got something out of it. This was just a good chance to share my heart.

Have a good day!

My first blog

YAY!!

So here it is. The kick-off. My first blog EVER! Schweetness.

I don't really know what to say in this one. I just had the time to start it, so I did.

I'm really tired at the moment. I don't mean just physically tired either. It happens. I'll feel better soon. Thank the Lord for the holidays. YAY, GOD!!!

This is an awesome beginning. I promise I won't always be this boring.