Thankful Thursday

Thursdays seem to be sneaking up on me. I'm not actually sure where my weeks have been going. Time seems to be flying passed and I don't think that's a good thing. That means I'm not making the most of my days and not being grateful enough during the week. I've also found myself over romanticising things and places. Like these things and places will make me more grateful or slow my life down or be a better place for our nonexistent children to grow up and go to school or make my relationship with God a lot stronger. 

We've been talking about that in church, "my life would be better if..." Well, my life would be better if I lived in the kingdom of God now. That's the only "if" that can be applied. Because it is now.

Today has been kind of tough. Just a little. Due to certain situations at work,  I'm constantly under a microscope and  it's really exhausting. Just a lot of extra pressure that shouldn't be there and it's stressful. Then I find out that I've been working the wrong schedule. Not my fault, but still sucks. It's just one thing after another.

So after coming back from lunch to my student having a hard time and him telling me that he can't make good choices without me to finding out that I've been working the wrong schedule, mentally exhausted. 

And theeeeeeen Justin sends me this picture: 

 

So yeah, that hit me hard. Unbeknownst to Justin or that guy driving that truck, I really needed to see that. Also, Justin sent that earlier this morning and I didn't get a chance to read it until after all that. 

I hadn't even prayed. 

Well, I most certainly did afterwards.

I am so thankful that that guy put that on his truck and spreads the good news of the Lord to wherever he drives to. 

And that today, my husband happened to drive by him and take a picture and then send it to me. That guy is reaching so many more people than he can ever imagine.

Some other things I'm thankful for:

Cool morning air, especially when sleeping in the car before second service and while Justin plays first.

Gods beautiful earth, and watching the clouds go by, and thinking about how God made it and it was good.

A Saturday of reconnecting and silliness. My favorite times with Justin are when we're just hanging out and being silly.

Getting my tattoos finally finished! And the friends who hang out with me while Justin finished the inside of my elbow. Ouch!

Media fast, cuz who really needs Instagram?

When my student gets asked, "what'd you do over the weekend?" And he responds with "I went to a dance party.... It's a real thing, I went." Hilarious!

Or last week, he doesn't even say good morning to me, but rather asks me, "So coffee is just for adults right? Just water and juice for kids... No beer for kids right? Only adults. Just water and juice for kids." Hahahaha what the heck?!

Planting seeds and literally watching the grass grow, or watermelon or kale or tomatoes or pepper plants. I see the Lord so much in that. All we did was plant the seeds and water them and God does all the rest. He provides the sun and the cool evenings and everything that's required inside that little seed to make it sprout and is it silly that I think that's just absolutely beautiful? That looking outside at the grass that's growing outside and I get teary eyed thinking about how amazing our Lord is? Farming (of the urban sort in our case) can be an act of worship and is for me. 

Man, our Lord is so good.

What are you thankful for??

Love Chels

(Update: I definitely wrote this post Thursday, but for some reason I forget to publish until today [Friday]. Fail hahaha)

Thankful Thursday (On Friday)

Totally missed the boat on Thankful Thursday! My #angermanagement post was supposed to be the Thankful Thursday post, but just totally took a different direction hahha.

I am thankful for a lot this last week. Mostly for conviction, God really opening my eyes to the truth of the matter and helping me to adjust my attitude.

I'm thankful for Justin, who knew I was having some tough times and stressed me listening to the podcast. Not that the podcast was necessarily the answer to all, but that my husband saw the turmoil I was putting myself through and used the podcast to tell me to knock it off hahha.

I am thankful that there are parents that read and study their bibles with their children. How encouraging! 

Thankful for those students that we have that aren't good readers or don't like to read, but they'll read and can understand the words of the bible. That God says (in a student's words), I'm going to help you focus and understand. But not even just that, but when they don't understand, they ask.

For the coworkers that have become friends.

For friends that are encouraging and uplifting in the Lord.

For my student who today brought me strawberry wafers (even though they were completely crushed). He's quite the little turkey, but is also incredibly sweet.

I am thankful for the time that I got to spend relaxing and going out to dinner with Justin. We haven't done that in awhile and it was really nice getting to just sit down with him and reconnect.

And I'm thankful for our small group. I love those guys and the time we all get to spend together studying and talking about God's word. I'm especially thankful for the honesty and trust they we all share. 

It's amazing how a changed attitude can make a sucky week into a truly blessed one.

Happy Friday all!

Oh! This weekend Justin and I are taking a 48 hour media break and a Sabbath. Just spending some time reconnecting with other and with God. You guys should try it too!

Love, Chels

#AngerManagement

And so we meet again Thursday. This week (week as in since last Thursday) has gone by fast! Though, as individual days, they were incredibly slow, almost painful some of them. Thankful it's almost the weekend!

Also, I am seriously bummed that I've only been managing one post a week. But one is better and more than none! So ha!

It's so hard because I haven't been doing any of my hobbies lately. So nothing to post on! The days have been exhausting, plus, I think I'm on the verge of a sinus infection...

Wednesday was especially hard. I was tired and had a horrible attitude going into the day. And that attitude definitely didn't help. For example, I had to move the truck and on the way I would pass by the mailbox, I was like cool! I'll get the mail! But upon arriving at the mailbox, I realized that my truck keys don't have a mailbox key on them and I got instantly ticked! For no reason! The mailbox didn't do anything to me and it's not like I was going out of my to get the mail, it was just on the way! I should have just said oh well and been on my (not so) merry little way. 

You ever have those days when everything seems to go wrong? By seems I mean, over-exaggerating the severity of the "offense." After moving the truck, I took an unintentional two hour nap to recharge.

On Sunday I didn't feel well and missed church to catch up on sleep. What was the sermon on? Anger management. Of course right?? And of course I didn't listen to the podcast until this morning. I realize now, yesterday was my fault. 

In our small group, we're reading a book alongside with the church. In this book it discusses anger management in one of the chapters (also the chapter I hadn't read until today) and talks about how "unrighteous anger rarely happens when we are led by the Spirit. It is spawned by not seeing our situation in the light of God's kingdom." If I'm not living in God's kingdom and not fixing my eyes and heart upon Him, I'm still going to have those feelings of pride, worry, anger and resentment. 

Some questions I could have used from the sermon:

- Does God know? In the midst of my anger, did I at any point bring it to it and my frustrations to God? Nope. That was my first mistake.

- Is God angry? Psh. Maybe at me for not bringing it to Him, and not even angry, probably disappointed.

- Would Jesus be angry? No tables getting turned over here! He'd most likely have a parable to tell.

- Am I trying to control things? Yes. The whole day I spent trying to "be in control." Uhhh. I definitely wasn't.

- Am I scared? Of what? I'm scared of losing control. I'm scared that the situation I'm in will get worse. 

So I'll end on this note, staying angry is a choice, it requires way more energy than is worth it and is a very hard attitude to change and let go of... But if you're looking towards God and living in His kingdom, only then can the those feelings be let go.

Have a great and wonderful rest of the evening!

Love Chels

Thankful Thursday

This morning didn't start off so great. And by started off, I mean, as soon as I got to work. 745am. 

Long story short, I was yelled at because this person wanted me to do something I'm not supposed to do and I told them no. I may have been a little short with my response, but this happens all the time. And I don't like being put in situations where the person knows the answer to the question is no, but still asks anyways. So aggravating! 

Rather than being like, well I thought I'd try anyways hahha. Or just not ask the question, I was yelled at. And as soon as they stopped yelling, I got up and walked away. Literally. Out of the room.

I know that I work my butt off everyday, and go way out of my to be nice and I know that I didn't deserve that. 

How can I be thankful for this?

It sure is easy to be thankful when things are good! Or when you see a beautiful sunset or the breeze comes after it's been a freakin million degrees the last few days (obviously I way over exaggerated this and yes, I know that there's some place that's even hotter) or a moment to relax... 

But how about those tough things? Be it feelings of hopelessness or despair or you just got yelled at or you just can't seem to catch a breath...  

What's that phrase? Sometimes God calms the storm and sometimes He let's the storm rage and calms the child...

This morning, the "storm" raged. And I was calm (mostly, I may have made a couple comments that were unnecessary). But rather than yelling back or being mean, I got up and removed myself from the situation. 

Being thankful requires that in a tough time you take a moment to look back through a situation. I am thankful that I was able to stay calm and professional and that Lord provided me a way out. 

"And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

If you would have put me in that same situation a few years ago, my reaction would have been sadly different. The difference between then and now, I can rejoice in the Lord!

Because first Jesus says to love God with all your heart and soul and understanding and then to love your neighbor as yourself. Those are the greatest commandments.

How can I be thankful? Because I can rejoice in the Lord! Because He loves me and wants to comfort me. Because with Him I'm not alone. Because in Him I'll find rest. 

It's amazing how when you know and feel these things, how stuff rolls off your back that much easier and ya don't take it personally. And how much easier it is to be thankful!

I know that there's harder things that people go through, loss of a loved one, depression, anxiety, nothing going your way... But all the answers can be found in the Lord. 

 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7

And know that these feelings aren't what the Lord has planned for you, be thankful for that! And that His plans are far better than any of your plans or dreams!

Anyways, so this last week and today I am thankful for:

-Seeing a friend get baptized! So proud of him!

-How it reminded me of the feeling of how I was on fire for the Lord when I got baptized and how that's such an amazing feeling and that I need to get back to that

-The youth group kids and their kindness and love

-Helping a friend with branding for her product and hanging out with her and her little baby boy (babies seriously are the sweetest and their laugh! Oh how it's contagious!)

-Rest when I needed it

-Sick days

-A coworker that's now a friend and loves God and that we can share each other's burdens, encourage each other and rejoice together! I tell you, this is a really wonderful thing

-Time, even though I definitely don't manage it well enough but did seem to edit almost all of the wedding photos from a couple weekends ago

-Love. I was editing the wedding photos and watching a tv show the other day and the couple gets married and they share their vows (and even though it's not real), all of that made me think about my husband and the love that we share and how our wedding was just perfect (minus the crying the whole day part. I was just so happy!!! I still am though! I could get teary-eyed just thinking about it. Sighh.)

Today was good, well, yes. Yes it was. Not to mention it was so much cooler today! Hope that lasts hahha. 

Happy 25th To Me!

And its been a good one! Well, other than my student trying to start a food fight in the lunch room and yelling "p*nis" in the hallway! What a silly day!

Though I may have not completed my 25 Before 25 list (update here), I've come to realize that (and this is really obvious) just writing goals isn't enough, you actually have to make plans to achieve them. Who woulda thought? I've very good at making goals, but the steps to make em happen, not so much. Hahha.

Justin read my blog on "Managing That Little Thing Called Time" and his response was "Your blog made me laugh... because what you 'feel' like doing always overrides your time and priorities.... It'll only work if you're disciplined enough. Lol."

He's totally right though! I told him, "I need discipline!" and so the whole rest of last night, he walked around yelling "priorities!" at me. It helped! In an almost too intense kind of way haha. I did everything I wanted to do (minus the towel laundry) last night! Despite doing everything I wanted to do out of order and trying to watch Sons of Anarchy.

I want to say that I'll do the towel laundry before Justin gets home, but then I'm like, it's my birthday! Do nothing! And then I'm like, it's just another day! Do everything!

Sighh. So I'm currently at home, watching Once Upon A Time while blogging and sitting in the AC doing nothing else. Oh well, more to do tomorrow then. It's my birthday!

Thankful Thursday

This used to be called "The Little Things" but I figured all those little things that make me happy, are also the things that I'm thankful for -- and why not take what was just a little list and take it too a little bit of a deeper level. Not only that, but I'm really trying to honor God in all that I do. And blogging is another thing, that I do.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

-I am thankful for husband that loves me and a God that loves me even more.

-I am thankful that I'm able to pray, speak the Word of God and worship with the Lord out loud and thankful that there's men and women who fight for me to be able to keep that right.

-I am thankful for all the selfless people who gave their lives on 9/11 to save others and the people who came from far places to help search for missing people and clean up the debris.

-I am thankful that the Lord put that on their hearts.

-I am thankful for the family and friends I've been able to spend my 25 years of life with.

Dear Lord,
Thank you for all those things and so so much more. Help me Lord to be and stay grateful and forgive me for the things that I take advantage of.

Jokes, of the Popsicle Kind

The student that I'm a one on one for is trying really hard to make his new found friends laugh. And in the process tells some terrible (what he thinks are hilarious) jokes. He once told another student, "I'm going to pee in your eye!" So it was actually quite funny, if I'm being honest, really funny. It still makes me laugh out loud. 

What made it even more funny was that the other student's reaction! The kid looked at my student like, oh my gosh, this kid is going to pee in my eye! Though it was something any seven year old little boy might have said, the teacher was less than pleased. I had to explain to him that it's not an appropriate joke for school because not all kids will understand that he's just being funny and not actually going to do it.

That was at the end of last school year. So a summer later and the kid is still trying to make the same kind of jokes! And I find myself looking up jokes for this little guy to tell his friends.

So here's some of the popsicle stick jokes I've found!

-Why do owls always get invited to bird parties?

-They're always such a hoot

-What kind of band plays snappy music?

- A rubberband

-Why didn't the sun ever shine on the castle?

- It was full of knights

- Where does the dog hate to shop?

- The flea market

The hardest part about find jokes for a third grader is that, they don't even understand the jokes! But I guess that's not entirely the point. Kids laugh at everything. Well, most everything anyway hahha.

Managing That Little Thing Called Time

Today I've spent my time thinking about blog post ideas. What the heck do I write about?! I scoured pinterest for ideas and though I found a few things, none really seemed to fit my "blog identity." And then I'm like, what the heck is my identity as a blogger??

Hobby Hopping Housewife is what I use to identify myself as a blogger, but I'm beginning to think that I use that as more of an excuse. In all honesty, I burn myself out on things. I find something that I really enjoy, become obsessed with it and then do it until I can't do it anymore. So I literally have to hop between hobbies because I burnt myself on the last one. And this continues until I've gone through all my current hobbies, then picked up a new one, before I circle back through them again.

Since I've written my last blog post, I've really tried hard with prioritizing things. Problem is, not all things I "consider" a priority. For example, doing the dishes or laundry. Do those things need to be done? Yes. Is it on my list of things I would like to get done? Of course. Will it be a priority above editing the photos from the wedding on Saturday? Definitely not.

I think the issue at hand is not just prioritizing, but also time management. And knowing that sometimes things need to be more of a priority (like the dishes that are still in the sink as I'm writing this), but if I manage my time, I can get through the things I really don't enjoy (but really need to get done because who really wants their house to be mess?) and get on to the things that I really do enjoy. But not just that, but also being able to blog and craft and watercolor and do photoshoots and sew, all in the same week.... all along with having a clean house... and doing my bible studies and devotions... and not feeling pressed for time.

I guess that all entails having some sort of schedule too.

And being adaptable.

And flexible.

Shoot, life is tough.

How do you guys prioritize, schedule and manage your time?

25 Before 25 (update)

I'm completely terrible at blogging. Let's just start by saying that. Let's also say that I'm terrible at keeping up with hobbies, hence the hobby hopping part of my blog name. It's really hard! Photography, blogging, sewing, crafting, embroidering...netflixing... (I don't think that I can say that last one is an actual hobby, but it's definitely a de-stresser and I'm thankful for Netflix.)

 Anyways, so its hard. I just want to do all this stuff all the time! And I probably could if I was better at prioritizing. I feel like there's just not enough hours in the day, but that's not even true. There's plenty of hours in the day. And if I actually woke up on time, I'd have another hour to add to my day. But truth be told, I've become kinda lazy (I can feeeeel Justin giving me a look right now lol).

I love my job, just not working. Does that make sense? I would love to go back to working less hours. But it's summer, and my hours are less, so there's again, no excuse. So I'm just gonna stop. I keep digging myself a hole.

ANYWAYS. 25 Before 25.

-I made a quilt. A long time ago. 

And though I haven't posted anything about it really, I'm still counting it. 

Because I made it. 

And it took me forever. 

And grandma loved it because it had Elvis all over it.

And now everyone wants me to make them a quilt!

-We also ate the top of our wedding cake. A few days after our anniversary because we kept forgetting about it. It wasn't that bad actually. Would have been A LOT better, had we put it in a freezer container and not just the box. But that's whatever now. Can check that off the list!

-As far as everything else, I've failed miserably. But hey! I've still got time! Hahha.

  My new goal is to learn how to prioritize. So far, I'm doing pretty good. We just moved to a new apartment, which has made it easier because everything has a place and everything still looks nice and pretty and its our first place together (the other place was really his, he had that apartment before we got together, and this place is ours) and we both are putting much more time and effort into it.

I've also added somethings to better help with my prioritizing, like a small binder that I made into a planner that also holds my to do lists, the things I want to craft, bible study and verses and a spot for blog ideas and the such. Its actually really awesome. Each page I designed specifically for me to cater to my needs. And I love it. It's super cute. And you're probably jealous.

(Don't mind the glare on the pictures though please.) So far, its working great. 

The idea came from an app (Penultimate for Ipad) that I was using. I like the physical act of writing and this app you can do that. And it has templates for to do lists and planners and the such and I loved that I could just carry around my Ipad like I always do and everything I need in it and that I could check it on my phone as well. The problem was that the stylus for the Ipad sucks. It made my writing look really sloppy and for those of you that know me, that is something that my writing is not. (thanks mom for being OCD about my writing and making me write and write and write. *note: that was sarcastic, but also very not. I love my writing.) I tried a smaller stylus that a friend let me borrow (which reminds that I need to give it back to her), but it just didn't work that great. The only other option was for me to buy the super special stylus that the app promoted, but it was SEVENTY-FIVE bucks. I'm sure its really awesome and works really well, but I just didn't want to fork over that kinda money! So I made my own planner. The only bummer is that it's kinda bulky. But only a little.

I guess its time to call it. End rant.

In Six Months (Unedited)

So I'm tired as hell, and for as much as I should be doing other things (like dishes, laundry, cleaning in general, napping [because I'm falling asleep as I type], painting my nails...), all I want to do is write.

I read a lot of other blogs and right now the most common of posts seems to be about unedited writing. It just means that you write your unedited thoughts down, no cut & paste. Backspaces are allowed only for typing errors.

I really want to try this (which is actually what I'm doing right now), but it's extremely hard! You're supposed to write down what you're thinking, every little thought and what it leads to (at least that's what I gather from it). The hard part is this: 1) My thoughts are all over the place, thinking a million things at once. I'm thinking about writing this and then also that and that and oh yeah this other thing. It's terrible! I can't possibly type that fast! 2) I want to write about my observations for the day as it recaps in my head now that I'm home. No big deal, right? Wrong. I'm pretty sure that people don't want me writing about them (good or bad) and the things I've observed about them. I'd give some examples here but I think that's a privacy breach. Okay, so there were supposed to be more numbered points, but I don't even remember because I'm trying to stay on topic. Oh, that's number three. I'm trying to stay on topic. I always stray too far away from the topic or whole point of something and it drives me nuts! I end up going on a side tangent and seem to know no other words other than "anyways", "oh" and "and" to bring it back on point. Which brings me to the the fact that there is such a word for those type of words but it's slipped my head completely.

Anyways (ya see that? Tried to make use a new word to transition back to point, but I couldn't do it. Honors English, what a waste. Blehh)

Anywaaaaaaaaaays, (anyways doesn't really work here because now I'm onto a different topic, but whatevs, my blog, I do what I want) the church asked us today (via text that was actually via twitter & Facebook and sent to us as a text), "where do you see yourself spiritually in six months?" What?! How do you answer that? Well, I'd like to be finished with the New Testament and into the Old Testament by then, reading everyday and studying the word, but I don't think that that's quite the right answer... Though I can certainly tell you where I'd like to be in six months just in general or all the things that I need (want) to be done in the next six months or the things that I have planned.

Out of debt, car painted (rechromed, new tires, new weatherstripping), Justin to get a motorcycle (that's actually not true. I don't necessarily want him to get one... They freak me out! Not they [the motorcycles] personally, but everyone else who is not riding a motorcycle. I have complete confidence on my husband's riding capabilities, but not those of which are driving cars. But it's like his last hoo-ra before settling down? I think he just means kids [which is another topic]), Tina and Robert's wedding (see also: bridal shower and bachelorette party... To which all things I am the matron [because I'm married] of honor), invest in some Ford stock and be saving for a home. All in six months time. Which doesn't even touch upon stuff like getting closer to my husband and building a relationship together with God. And now I absolutely have to build that relationship with Jus because I got his name tattooed on my arm! Which according to a friend of mine, dooms the relationship... But I'm building that relationship with God and Justin. God isn't going to let it fail.

So where do I see myself spiritually in six months? To answer this question I think I'm going to answer the question of how are you going to build your relationship with God? To which I will reply, finishing the New Testament, getting into the Old Testament, studying His word, getting more involved in ministry and listening to Him. I think that's a good place to start...

Well, I think it's time for a nap now (at 750pm) and I failed miserably at the unedited part.

Oh well, maybe another time!

G'night!

Chels