Remembering The Good Times...*

I text a friend of mine from Lindenwood some song lyrics to a song that we used to drive around and listen to together and he said, "you remembering the good times?" Remembering the good times is something I have been doing a lot of this summer.

This evening I had dinner with an old friend from high school...well more like elementary school. Erin was one of my first friends that I made in Jackson. We were in Mrs. Ludwigs's fourth grade class together. We made a best friend's club and played together at recess. She came to my house and we played with my American Girl doll together. As we grew up we were in many more classes together and many more memories were made. Junior high was rough but it was always good to have Erin to help you through it. Then we made it to high school. We shopped for school dances together, we went to try outs for vball together, we talked about boys together. I was there when she got her heart broke for the first time and she was there when I got my first boy friend and my first kiss. And then we graduated and we went our separate ways. Tonight we met up for the first time since high school. We talked about how we would never go back to high school and how we loved college. We remembered the good times and have forgotten the bad times. And we laughed...and laughed. It was so good to see her. She is happy and in love. She beautiful and full of life. Seeing her and remembering the good times was great.

Another person that I have had the privilege to catch up and reminisce with this summer is one of old best friends, Sarah. My relationship with Sarah is and has always been different than my relationship with Erin. Sarah and I met in high school and we instantly clicked. We were inseparable until I left for college. She is a year younger than I am. We stayed in touch that first year of college but it was hard as I had a new life in St. Louis that she wasn't a part of. But as soon as she left for Rolla to go to school she understood completely. She has made her own life there and I think that is why our friendship has worked so well these past three years. We both understand that Jackson and high school is no longer our lives. We come home and we have lunch or dinner together and we talk about each other's lives separate from one another and then we always talk about the past...remembering the good times.

My best friend, Erica, is getting married in December. Needless to say, I am a little emotional over this. She has been my sister since we were like 11 years old, wearing swim caps and competing in swim team together. We didn't go to high school together but we had something bonding us that I didn't have with any of my other friends from school...God. In fact, I became a Christian just after meeting Erica and her family. I always say the Lord sent their family to ours to tell us about Jesus so that He could save us. I have lived with Erica many summers at camp and now for three years at college. We have one semester left together to create memories. But this summer I have read over some old notes of ours, old emails, old letters and spent a lot of time thinking back to the days when things were simple and all we had was each other and that's all we needed. I could sit and talk about the good times with Erica for a long time.

I think it is so important to remember the good times. Of course we are going to have bad times in our lives. We are going to go through trials, we are gonna have people hurt us, disappoint us, we are gonna fail and some days it is gonna feel like it is the end of the world but it is those times that gets us to the next good time. Instead of holding on to the bad and remembering those days...hold on to the good times. I text my friend back today after he asked me that question "you remembering the good times?" and I replied, "I am ALWAYS remembering the good times." :) So for all you that read my blog, thank you for the good times because I know I've had them with you and I hope we have many more to come.

Every Moment Counts

The breeze was just right across my face, blowing the few wispy pieces of hair hanging down in my face. The Colorado sun was hot but the air was thin. Overlooking the top of the parking garage we saw hundreds of people in multiple colored shirts. Masses of blue, green, tie die and so many others...masses of teams put together, each to support their own person or persons. My family wore red in honor of my aunt Chris who survived open heart surgery just five months prior. Walking the race was such a rush of emotions. I felt like I wanted to savor the moment with my family as a small group of 13 of us walked together for a much bigger cause than any of us could even really comprehend. I watched my aunt walk and laugh as she took a picture of herself and every single one of us walking with her. She looked so radiant and happy. This healthy, carefree woman. You would have never guessed she had her heart replaced in January.

Ahhh...January. I think back to the day when she had her surgery. I was so scared. Sure I had prayed and had faith in the Lord and the doctors working on her but I had never been faced with something so real before. I remember thinking that day that I could lose my aunt. My mind started racing. What would happen to her boys? Would Donnie (her husband) be able to handle all the boys and grieve on his own from the loss of his love of 25 plus years? Would she know how much she inspired me and how much I looked up to her? Would she realize that I wish I was more like her and that I loved her very much? I remember opening up my bible and just journaling prayer after prayer and just reading and reading. 4 hours passed and before I knew it she was awake, alive and healthy.

And now here she is walking in a 5k for heart disease. I am so proud of her. All these thoughts just made me realize that every moment counts. Even the little ones that we take for granted like helping my grandma cook dinner or setting the table with my little cousin, Garrett. I want to hang on to every word my cousin Hunter says to me and give all my attention to my only girl cousin from Colorado, McKenna. And I want to savor every hug Nick gives me because the mean the world to me. Maybe I am thinking these things because I don't see my Colorado family very often but even for my family that I do see everyday, it is so easy to take the little moments for granted. I know I have had similar thoughts in other blogs lately but I think it is something worth hearing...

So stop...and just live your moments because every moment counts.

I love "love"

In the book crazy love Francis Chan is talking about his wife's grandma who was totally and completely in love with Jesus. She is quoted as saying, "I love love!" I was thinking about that today...don't we all love "love". I am in Colorado and so I am getting to spend a lot of time with my family. This is family I see once or twice a year. My cousins are all younger and so every time I see them they are different. My twelve year old cousin, McKenna, is almost taller than me! Now I realize this does not take much but still it is just so crazy. My family all comes from different lives, different stories. My grandma lives alone...well it is her and her dog, Mickey, who she doesn't really like that much actually. My aunt (my mom's sister) comes from a house full of boys, four boys and two males dogs to be exact. My uncle (my mom's brother) brings his two kids over (one boy and one girl), leaving his wife at home for reasons I won't even get into on a blog. And then there is my mom coming from Missouri, a place she really doesn't care for but yet she loves because that is where her family is. We all come from different problems, worries, and struggles yet when we come together we are this united family that just picks up right where we left off the last time we were together (like I said that could have been anywhere from 6 months to a year ago). We love each other. And that is just something to be grateful for. I was talking to my mom today about how different her life was compared to my life. I really am blessed beyond measure. I don't even realize it sometimes but the Lord has blessed me and given me so much love in my life.



I had someone tell me that I used the word love a lot. Do you think you can really use it too much? I am sure you can...it gets overused and misused plenty. But the word love is something that the Lord emphasized so many times in the bible. It is used in the old testament through Genesis and Exodus, commanding the people to love and to show love. In Deuteronomy the Lord gives us the greatest command, to love the Lord Jesus with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength. Something we could spend our entire lives doing and never fully accomplishing I don't think. In Joshua it says if we love the Lord we will be like the sun and rise with strength. Later on in Job we see his great love for the Lord as He is tested and pushed to the limit, enduring and looking to the Lord with love. And of course the Psalms and Proverbs are full of verses on love. Verses on loving the Lord, loving others and best of all verses describing Jesus' great and perfect love for us.

The OT is full of love...and it just continues on in the NT. In the NT we are told to love our enemies, love our fathers and mothers, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We are even told to love each other as Christ has loved us...wow. We are told that if we love others then people will know we are disciples of Christ. And then the well known passage in Corinthians defining love. The verses go on and on. I think God knows that we are a forgetful people and we must be reminded and reminded. He calls us to love. We are made to love, so it is not surprising that we love "love" the way we do.

Whether we long to be loved my a parent or a sibling...or maybe we long to feel love from a friend...or perhaps we dream and anticipate the day we will be loved by another and spend the rest of our lives loving that person...we are a people that long for love. And you know what....? I LOVE that! :) I know that this blog is kind of long and a bunch of mixed thoughts but they are thoughts I have had lately and so I tried to make them as clear as possible. I wrote a poem once called "Romance" and it is about the greatest love and I would like to share it with you. I do not share my poetry often but I feel like this once fits with the topic so I will. I hope you enjoy it.

Romance

Rising early morning awoke by my true love.

The sunshine...warm hands of my creator touching my face.

My God sings to me His many written love songs

With His perfectly created birds.

I listen with a quiet heart feeling more loved then ever.

Clear, blue, soft...romantic.

The sky overlooks me as the Lord hugs me with the crisp cool breeze.

Closing my eyes I feel the soft lips of the Lord on my cheek...

I look upwards to see the rain beginning to fall...Love.

I lift my hands and begin to dance in the warmth falling from heaven.

Darkness begins to fall over me.

Fingers of my Father run through my hair as the wind of the night settles.

As I make my way to bed I look out the window

To see the Lord wink as me with a shooting star.

I close my eyes and talk to the lover of my soul.

Looking forward to another day of experiencing the most intimate relationship...

My Father's love for me.