Listen and Breathe Today

A leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the task of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked. Anais Din

Mmm...today is a morning to curl up with a good book, sitting snuggled in blankets by the window, as the snow falls slowly down. A croissant in hand and a cup of tea to warm my tingling fingers; a sense of peace filtering around me.

Sometimes morning's just feel that way, don't they? As if all you wanted to do was relaaax and be at peace. The world can hold for a moment--as long as we can simply sit and breathe.

Ever close your eyes
Ever stop and listen
Ever feel alive
And you've nothing missing
You don't need a reason
Let the day go on and on

Let the rain fall down
Everywhere around you
Give into it now
Let the day surround you
You don't need a reason
Let the rain go on and on

What a day
What a day to take to
What a way
What a way
To make it through
What a day
What a day to take to
A wild child

Only take the time
From the helter skelter
Every day you find
Everything's in kilter
You don't need a reason
Let the day go on and on


Every summer sun
Every winter evening
Every spring to come
Every autumn leaving
You don't need a reason
Let it all go on and on

What a day
What a day to take to
What a way
What a way
To make it through
What a day
What a day to take to
A wild child 
Wild Child by Enya

(Have I mentioned that I love Enya?)

Do you ever take time out of your life to just breathe and enjoy the day? Moments of prolific tranquility? Even seconds of time where you feel at utter peace...

Every day is a gift from God, and this is not to say that you shouldn't be productive, but there are times when you need to just stop, listen and breathe.

Take some time out of your day today to relax and enjoy it--you'll never have a day quite like it. Curl up with a book, snuggle in a blanket or just simply stare out your window, relaxing. Whatever puts you at peace, do it.

Breathe, my friends.

A sneak preview...

Of a new series coming up on Aspire...

I was featured, a new look, and wanna see me dance?

Lauren Anne featured me in her new series, pen.on.paper.! She emailed me with a fun little writing interview that I filled out--hopefully my answers were helpful/funny/interesting. What I'm getting at is, go check it out. ^^

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Okay. I know. I JUST redid my blog.

...but I have an inspiration for a new design which I'm dying to put up. For the sake of you readers, I'll wait...how long, I do not know. ;) (here's a little sneak peek)

 

Loving that color scheme there...nice browns and reds. I admit it. I'm pining for Autumn. 

Yes, Autumn. I miss the colors and the crispness. I'm an autumn gal at heart, baby. ;) 

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I figure that you deserve a little look of my ballet, considering I've talked about it enough. ^^

These pictures were taken by Lauren Kastener during our Nutcrakcer dress rehersal. 

 

I was shepherdess for the class I help teach on Mondays (three and four year olds) and then Soldier Doll for my class. Aren't those sheep cute? I had so much fun working with them...they said and did the funniest things. ;)

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And there's my rambling post for tonight. Just wanted to give a little update on some fairly unrelated topics. Okay. Completely unrelated topics. But hey, random posts are fun, right? ^^

Look what I did >> One of the Hardest things for me

I recently re-dedicated my life to Christ, and since then, I've found that one of the hardest things I've been encountering is the idea of "look what I did."

Not just simply going, "Oh, I did that." or "I just designed that!" but the self-centered pridefullness of going, "Look what I did--I just converted someone to Christ."

The very idea that it's us who are converting people to Christ--that's what I daily struggle with.

Because it's NOT us. That's the simple answer.

If anything I write or do or say, if anything I do affects someone and helps them in their walk in Christ, it's still not my doing. It was all Christ's doing. I was simply the instrument that was used at the moment--or as Jeremy Erickson put it, I was the mirror.

This is a truth that I have to daily remind myself of. The simple trap that we all fall into is that of pride--of us thinking that we were the ones who ultimately led the person to Christ. We were just the tools that He used. And we need to remember that.

That doesn't go to say that we didn't have a part--I mean, we get to be the INSTRUMENTS of GOD; it doesn't get much more amazing than that. But we need to remember and embrace the truth that it was God who did the work. He was the one who breathed through us--He was the one who made us play. He helped us to reflect His light, in order to shine His truths in the dark.

So often we can fill our heads with self-glorifying thoughts. Thoughts of, "Oh, I'm holier than thou." Those are the thoughts that lead to destruction.

1st Peter 5:6 says:

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

Exalting here doesn't mean making you holier--it means God letting His light shine through you. It means having Him use you as an instrument. It means being breathed through with God's voice, and being propelled to use that which you've felt to share His truth.

It means to let go of "it was my doing" and instead, EMBRACE that it was His.

Note that it said the proper time. That means exactly what it says. The proper time. The time when it's needed. You would not begin banging a drum obnoxiously and without cause right in the middle of a flutist's solo, and neither will God have you witness for Him when it is not the right time.

That's not to say that we aren't ready. If we believe in Jesus, and if we follow Him and love Him--then we are ready. It's simply a choice of listening to his call--listening to the great orchestrator's sign and choosing whether or not we respond.

To close it up, I mentioned throughout this post we are instruments of God. He works through us. He chooses the instrument that He is going to use at the moment--the one that is equipped, or the one that is needed. The one that is ready.

But that doesn't mean He uses them in the same way.

Just as you wouldn't play a flute like you would a tuba, or a violin like you would an oboe, God doesn't use everyone in the same way. You were uniquely created to reflect God's truth and His love in your way.

Embrace that. Live it.

I'm back!...sort of

First of all, thank you all SO much for your wonderful comments and your prayers. I cannot tell you how much they made my day when I read them. They were definitely a blessing to me, and I'm SO grateful for you all.

And now for the nitty-gritty medical stuff. I was fatigued all weekend and I shrugged it off thinking that I hadn't had enough sleep and I was just tired from dance. On Sunday and Monday, I had some headaches, but I used the same reasoning I had used when I was fatigued.

On Tuesday, I had a slight, achy headache all morning and I was having trouble concentrating. Then, around 12:30, my throat started hurting. As the day progressed, I felt more lethargic and my throat hurt worse, until finally, I called my mom up and said, "Can I go in?" (which is pretty rare for me--I'm not a big fan of doctors and  blood tests and all that.)

We went in and I was feeling worse than before. They swabbed my throat except, I jerked back, so it wasn't a great swab. The rapid strep test came back negative, so that was good.

My mom asked if there was anything else we could do, and our doctor said I could get a finger poke to check my white blood cells. If they were elevated, I could be fighting bacteria.

Knowing how much I hate finger pokes, my mom left it up in my court. She told me that she felt I should do it,  but it was my choice.

I wrestled with this for a few minutes. My fear of getting my finger poked (believe me, I have a phobia of blood) and my discomfort with it. I prayed about it and I really felt that I should do it, but I didn't want to. I was struggling against my own wishes and then what I felt God was telling me I had to do. Finally though, I relented, and with definite fear, I okayed it.

As soon as the doctor left the room, I burst into tears and told my mom I wanted to go home. I was truly feeling miserable. My throat hurt, my head hurt, my whole body was aching, I was exhausted, and I wanted to go home and lie down. My mom told me that I didn't have to get the finger poke if I didn't want it, but I told her that I had prayed and needed to do it. That didn't make it much easier though.

So I got the finger poke, and I have to tell you, it was the absolute worst one I have ever gotten. (and I have gotten them a TON--a few years ago I got really sick and was literally a human pin-cushion). Not to make you queasy, but I could hear it puncture--loudly. I'll leave it at that.

They tested it and, lo and behold, when it came back, my white blood count was elevated more than double. And the structure was slightly different as well. I definitely had something I was fighting.

They prescribed an antibiotic for me to take, and we left for Target to pick it up. My mom was so proud that I had done the test, because if I hadn't I would've gone home with no medication.

At Target however, things took a turn for the worse. We had to wait about 25-30 min. for them to get my prescription ready, so we walked around Target. (we, meaning, my mom, Sam, Eli and me). At the end, I almost passed out. My head was spinning so bad and I felt so terrible. I honestly don't remember being that sick.

So long story short, I've been going through recovery. Tuesday night and yesterday morning were the worst. Today, I'm feeling much better, although my throat hurts pretty bad and I'm slightly fatigued/sore.

Again, thank you all SO much for your kind comments and your prayers. Both were MUCH appreciated. So thank you--I feel very blessed because of you all.

Please Pray

Hi, this is Hannah's mom, Rachel, posting for her.  Hannah asked me to let you know that she's pretty sick right now.  She went to the doctor and had a high white blood count so they put her on a strong antibiotic.  She's resting tonight, and we are hopeful that the antibiotic works quickly as she's quite uncomfortable.

Thank you so much for your prayers.  I know she's grateful for each of you, and your prayers.

Rachel

He Waited >> Noah's Story

I was reading my Bible last night, and was continuing along in Genesis (I've decided to start from the beginning) and this part caught me:

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. Genesis 8:1

I puzzled over it a bit, trying to untangle the meaning. God doesn't forget things...right? I mean, He's God. But after a little bit, it hit me and I was surprised at the grandeur hidden in that verse.

God didn't forget Noah--but in that passage, it was His way of saying, "I'm still here for you--don't worry, I remember."

Put it this way. They've been in the ark for an incredibly long amount of time now. They're probably all dying to get off. And outside, it's still flooded. So now they're going, "God, where are you? We're still here--remember Noah, and his wife? And Noah's sons and their wives? Yeah, we're right here...you didn't forget us God, did you?"

But God remembered.

He didn't forget them. He was still there--and He wasn't going to let them die.

So after that, I felt elated because it's such a big truth. God isn't going to forget you.He's not going to forget the works that you're doing for Him--works that you're doing out of love for Him, because He saved you. He sees you down here--He remembers.

Which brings me to something else--the reason for the title.

At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry." In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. Then God said to Noah, "Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.Genesis 8:6-18

Picture this. They've been in the ark for what seems like forever. And then finally, Noah sends out a raven--and that's not fruitful. So he waits and then sends out a dove, who comes back. Then he waits some more and sends out another dove who returns with an olive branch in her beak. So he waits even more and sends out the dove again. This time, she doesn't return.

So now Noah knows that it's pretty much dry out there, so he throws open the covering and beholds dry ground. His family must be dying to get out, and they're begging him to leave that ark.

But he doesn't. He waits.

Instead of trusting his own judgment and looking to satisfy his own needs, Noah waits until God says, "Okay, you can leave the ark now. Take your family and the animals, and go." Noah puts aside what he wants, and instead, he waits for God to say, "It's time--you can go."

That shows incredible trust and faith on Noah's part. Because really, he was probably dying to get off that ark. It was probably smelly, and somewhat cramped (think of all the animals that would have to go on it) and he was tired. The ground looked dry, and everyone was probably itching to get off the ark, but Noah waited to leave it. He waited to take his family and the animals off, until God said, "Go out from the ark."

Noah waited for God >> and God remembered him.

I was blown away when I read it. The faith on Noah's part. And then God--God who doesn't forget, but remembers.

If we were to live our lives like Noah did--think how fruitful they would be. Waiting for God's timing instead of going by our own. Instead of pursuing what we want, pursuing what He wants. And knowing that God remembers.

Living in that peace that comes from that kind of faith.