Big Sister to be

I just finished up a lunch meeting with a lady from Big Brothers/Big Sisters. She conducted my volunteer interview to become a BIG! I am really excited about being a part of a young girls life in a way that could really make a difference. I know I am a part of many young girls/womens lives in OH and you see how they have turned out. :)

I just hope Jennifer hasn't corrupted them too badly since I left!

Be strong ladies, stand firm against the evil.

You know I love you Jen, I just wanted to pick on you today.

I miss ya'll and can't wait to see you at Christmas time.

Hugs,

Cook's Choice and Cowboys Delight

I have recently been trying out some new recipes from 2 sources online and I really like them. The first is www.kraftfoods.com which has a lot of quick and easy recipes. The second is definitely a good one. It is www.allrecipes.com. A made two recipes from this one tonight. We are having "Italian night" tomorrow with our life group and I made Baked Ziti. It is layered with provolone cheese, sour cream, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. I haven't tasted it yet, but I just know it will be great! Also I made something called Cowboy Casserole. It has ground beef, bacon, pork & beans, bbq sauce, and biscuits and it was really good. I did feel like I should be eating out of a steel coffee cup from the old days, and sittin in front of a fire with my horse, my dog and a of course my hat! So check out the recipes form these two site and give me a idea what they taste like.

Leading the Followers or following the followers?

Tonight was once again my class at NWACC. My professor for the class was not able to be there tonight because of a family emergency. He called me late this afternoon to make sure I would be in class and to see if I could "handle" things for the night. I was excited to help out and conduct our class. I made sure to take roll since we do get points for attending class. I found that a lot of our students were right on track with their homework and so we went ahead to the next section over Excel. I had to pick some case problems for the students to complete for homework. Overall not to many people asked questions and the class was very quiet. I was actually able to work on the case problems myself. In doing so I realized I don't know much when it comes to formulas in Excel. They kinda confuse me. They have specific ways that each one has to be entered, and a certain order of operations to follow. Why did they make them so complicated? Why can't they be simple to remember? Well anyways that was my class tonight.

On another subject, I had a really interesting conversation with a co-worker today about Christianity. We discussed some really deep issues that I sometimes question. Like, if we accept Christ and become born again and then completely deny Christ, will we still get to heaven? Will God give us a chance to explain? Or what about this; if we in our heart want to accept him and die before we actually speak it, does that count? Do we get a chance to meet God and say I just didn't get a chance. I know some of these questions may be simple for some to answer but when you really think about it, sometimes you begin to question yourself. I am a total believer in God's grace all the way. I think that we will never know the answer to these questions until we meet God. I would like to think that God's grace extends to us even at that time, but a part of me beliefs that we have to use the time we have on Earth to make those choices and if we don't then we just don't!

I guess it comes down to this... We are living a perfectly planned life that God knows everything about. When we are on Earth living life, we might as well have hope in him since we really have nothing to lose, but absolutely everything to gain. Having God means having hope in everything, having joy that no one or nothing can steal, living a life that is flawless. Now isn't that a lot to fathom? I thought so too.

Life

I received a call from a friend of Josh and I's today. She didn't call to catch up or talk about the weekend. She called to tell me of the death of her Father-in-law. I was absolutely blown away. He had a massive heart attack last night and died. I tried to be strong and tell her that we would be here if she needed anything. After the call ended I begin thinking and I started to feel sick at the thought of that being me or Josh. I have been very emotional since them today. I cry evertime I think of my parents, or Josh's. I wanted so desperately to go home and hug them all. To tell them I love them, I miss them and spend much needed time with them. I guess the reality of it all just hit me like a heavyweight boxing champ's punch right in the stomach. I just want to be in OH where our families, and friends are right now. I want to tell my Dad to take care of himself, to eat better, to exercise, anything he can to be around as long as he can. But, then I realize that he could do all of that and still be gone tomorrow, because God decides when our time on Earth is up. Then I think that there has to be a reason for anyones untimely death. So, I pray

God, please reveal your purpose to me, to our friends' family. Let them know that God will be all the support, courage, love, strength that they will need. Help me to make the most of every moment of every day. To spend time with/talk to everyone that matters to me as often as I can, just to tell them how much I love them and how much more God loves them.

Life really has a way of waking up a side of you that you never knew.

Labor Day weekend makes me sick

Well, my weekend has flown by. I spent the entire day Saturaday and Sunday in bed sick! I am feeling better today, but I know I better take it easy. I beleive that I have a UTI(Urinary tract infection). I get them frequently, but it has been a long time since I have been sick like this from one. You feel like you have the flu. The last time I had one this bad I ended up in the ER with blood poisoning. I have to be very careful with these to make sure that the don't get that far again. I felt like I was dying when I went to the hospital and I don't ever want to feel like that again. I think I am doing well today though, I just have to drink lots of water, and cranberry juice.
Hope everyone is having a great Labor Day Weekend.