Peacefulness 

There is a certain peace that comes from being outside before the sun has risen; before everyone has woken up, when the birds, the ducks, and the rabbits have full reign of the earth. It feels like a completely different world: a calm and peaceful world without the busy everyday life commitments of work, busy schedules, and requirements of life.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ –Romans 5:1

I'm not someone who regularly ever gets up before the sun, but today, when I had to wake up at 5 to get to work, I experienced this sense of peace. The weather was mild; a perfect balance of the fresh feeling of morning mixed with the beginnings of summer, and for a person who is usually cold, there was no sign of any cool-weather induced goosebumps or shivers.

I imagine that this is what God experienced when he 'hovered over the waters of the earth" in Genesis 1:2. This is a sense of peace that I want to experience more in my life. As I have been studying the fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22), I have been looking for examples of application of these fruits to my life. And today, I felt PEACE. A peace that was necessary. A peace that made me thankful to have experienced when I left my room at 5:45 even though it was early. A peace that got me through the 11 hours of work ahead of me that I was so anxious about before.

Thank you God for Peace. I needed it.

"Today is unique! It has never occurred before and it will never be repeated. At midnight it will end, quietly, suddenly, totally. Forever. But the hours between now and then are opportunities with eternal possibilities" -Charles R. Swindoll 

 As I was reading through Psalm 90 this morning, I was reminded about the truly short length of our lives. Moses compares our lives to a blade of grass that is new and vibrant in the morning when it 'springs up', but by night it is 'dry and withered'. This is a perfect example of the above quote, which coincidentally happened to be on the page of my journal that I wrote on this morning. Each day that we have is an opportunity to live to the fullest and be joyful, and to make the most out of it. 

   I've been thinking about this a lot as my grandparents are getting older, and it has made me realise that spending time with family and making time for them is an important part of our lives. I feel like I definitely don't do this enough and I tend to rush around worrying about things that don't even matter, like something my mom said to me that upset me or something my brother did that made me mad. Honestly, in the scope of things, these instances are minor, and frankly, don't matter. Just because my brother ate my leftovers from Olive Garden, doesn't mean that my life is going to end (as much as I was looking forward to that breadstick for lunch). But seriously, I have a roof over my head, food to eat, and somewhere to sleep. I am so blessed. I don't want to spend days being upset at my family or being so angry that I keep reliving those moments, making it more difficult to forgive and forget about them, especially when they don't even matter. The above quote is such a good reminder that days are short, but we have the opportunity to really make a difference on a daily basis. 

What is.. Love?

Recently I've been having a tough time getting to sleep. I don't know what it is, (maybe the fact that I've been sleeping in lately, or using the computer before I go to bed), but it really has taken a toll on me. I'm pretty sure I yawn in class at least 20 times every hour (which is awkward when the teacher glances in my direction).

Anyways, a friend recently reminded me of something that my pastor had recently said that helps him when he can't sleep. He suggested taking a passage from the bible, a Psalm perhaps, and taking it word by word and just meditating on each word; thinking about what that word really means. So, a couple nights ago I tried this, and I can't remember when I fell asleep, but it did help. I don't even think I made it through the whole verse. As I was reading 1 Corinthians 13 today, I mulled over the verses about Love (the ones that are often cited at weddings- the 'Love is patient, love is kind' ones) and I think that it is important to break down these verses and really look at what the words mean. I think that this passage is often used without really digging deeper into the meanings, and I believe that there is a lot behind these verses that can be applied to our own lives. 

Before the 'Love is patient, love is kind' verses, 1 Cor 13:2 says that "...if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing". The bible emphasises love so strongly as something that we cannot live without embracing. In verse 4, it (as some of you probably know) says, "Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud." And stop there, for a minute. I, for one, know that I definitely struggle with all of those things. I am not patient or kind all of the time and I can definitely think of times when I have envied, boasted, and not been humble. In fact, I struggle with these things on a daily basis. The other day when I was at the grocery store,