Praying for Siblings

Prayer is not always one of my strong points. I know it is essential in the life of a believer, but I often find myself repeating the same things in prayers.  Recently, I have been trying to focus on praying more and praying better.  I've noticed that there are a lot of suggestions for praying for children/husbands/boyfriends/fiancés.  While those are great, because I four younger siblings, they are definitely on my prayer list.  Here are some topics I have come up with.  Let me know what you think!

1. Pray that they will always serve God first.  Of course my ultimate hope is that my siblings will choose to follow God.  I want nothing more to see them in His Kingdom someday soon!  

 

 

2. Pray that they will make wise life choices.  I have come to realize that I don't have a whole lot of choice in what my siblings do, so I pray that their choices will be made with prayer and thought.  I pray that as the choose spouses and careers, they will find joy and peace.  

 

 

3. Pray that they will be helped through temptation. Obviously my siblings will face temptations to do the wrong thing.  Like Job prayed for each of his children to avoid sin, I pray that my siblings will be able to stand firm.  

 

 

 

4. Pray that you will be friends as you grow older. I wouldn't say I am super close to my siblings, but I think we are growing closer as we age. I pray that as we grow up and go our separate ways, we will see each other as not just siblings, but friends.  I pray that we will be able to go to each other in times of need without fearing judgment or criticism.  

 

 

 

5. Pray that they will learn from their mistakes and continue to grow.  Even as I pray that they will be able to stand firm against the pressures of the world, I know that they will have times they will fall. Some people go through life never learning from their poor choices. I pray that this will not be the case with my siblings, but that they will grow in wisdom and godliness.

Nights Like These

Just to clarify, these are not my feet. I wish they were though..

It's Thursday night and as I sit here and write my post for Friday, I can't help but think how thankful I am for nights like these.  Nights when you can just take a breather and relax from the stress of life.  Nights when you can ignore deadlines and drink a delicious Lime Refresher from Starbucks (as I happen to be doing).  Nights when grades and paychecks don't seem quite so important. 

I love these so much... happiness in a cup!

Thursday nights are the end of the "hard" part of the week.  Even if I have lots of things to do, I take these evenings to forget about life.  It's so good. I highly recommend everyone has one such night to be rejuvenated. Spend time on the things you care about and forget about the trivial things that seem to fill up life.

In other news, I have lots to look forward to in the coming week.  I am so excited to see Catching Fire tomorrow. I also get to see my little brother's band perform.  I am beyond happy to see this beautiful face next week (his, not mine)

I am sad to miss Thanksgiving with my family for the first time.  I am also sad because I will miss out on our annual tradition of Cheetos and Gushers for Thanksgiving dinner. Oh well, whatcha gonna do? There will be more Cheetos and Gushers in the future.

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Big Question

My all-important question today is...

dun....

dun.........

dun...................

Why isn't it socially acceptable to wear robes in public? This question may seem flippant and trite, but I would like to propose to you that wearing robes in public would be just great.  I personally love to wear my robe and if I had my way, I would be wearing it 24/7.  Seriously, I jump at the opportunity to wear my robe all day (ask my friends... they will admit to have seen me lounging around my house all day in it). 

Robes can cover more of your body than most clothes do.  For example, one of my robes covers my ankles, wrists and neck.  That seems like a decent thing to wear around.  Also, it really flows, so you really can't even see my legs and arms at all.

Now, I admit that this is a bit of a long stretch.  But spread the word.... Robes are where it's at!!!

Time to be Thankful.

Ahh... how I love Thanksgiving.  It is by far my favorite holiday.  What better way to feel joyful then to spend a whole day celebrating what you are thankful for??  I shared this list last year and want to share it again (not my own words, found it here).  This is so powerful to me because it is so easy to think of what we AREN'T blessed with instead of what we ARE.  

I am thankful for…

 

The taxes I pay because it means I am employed

 

The clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat

 

A lawn that has to be mowed, windows that have to be cleaned and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home

 

The spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking

 

The lady in church who sings off key because it means I can hear

 

The huge piles of laundry and ironing because it means loved ones are nearby

 

The alarm that goes off in the early morning because it means I am alive

 

 

I have also been doing some decorating around the house, in the spirit of remembering what this holiday is truly about.  What are YOU thankful for?

Our crazy pumpkins! (:

The "thankful corner" in our kitchen

The thankful basket... hopefully will be full by Thanksgiving!

The burlap banner I made.. I'm really disappointed that I couldn't get  a good picture of it. It says "Give Thanks"

The front porch!

 

What You Do Reflects What You Love



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Do you think it's true? I do. For example, people who spend 24/7 on the job. Do they love what they do? I don't know if they love working nonstop, but they must love something about it, whether it be  prestige or money (are there other benefits of working nonstop? I can't think of any!)

When it comes to my life, what I claim to love is my Heavenly Father and the individuals who fill my life.  But when it comes to what I do, I would have to say that I am found lacking.  You see, so often we have to make choices about how we spend our time.  I find that I am constantly having conflicts of interest... and what do I choose? Often, not the things I say I love most. 

I overheard some students talking to my microbiology teacher the other day, who said, "This class is just preparing you for graduate school.  Once you are in grad school that is your WHOLE life (emphasis added by me)."  And I'm thinking.. I don't want that to be my whole life.  Not just I don't want it to be my whole life, but it is wrong for it to be my whole life.  So when that moment comes when I have to decide what my life is about, I pray that I choose what is really important. To me, that's not work or school.  We must do those things and hopefully they bring us some measure of joy, too.  But what's most important, what brings most meaning and joy, how we spend our time... we must decide. I pray that that choice is made with wisdom.

Stop

Stop and remember what is most important in life... and be thankful!

Build.

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I know I've mentioned it before, but I am really struggling in my microbiology class this semester.  And I'm not the only one. Our class average is an F.  Not just an F, but 46%!  So I think it is safe to say that the majority of the class does not have a good grasp on microbiology.  Anyway, I've been going into my professor's office hours a lot to get help with concepts I don't understand (basically everything).  I've noticed this guy (we'll call him Bob) from my class is there on Fridays because I usually have to wait for him to be done.  Last week, I was sitting outside the door and overheard (okay, purposely listened) to this guy talking about our class.  Not just talking, but completely bashing the rest of our class for being lazy and not trying.  He kept talking about what a great class it is, how awesome the teacher is, how hard he is working, blah, blah, blah... 

It made me so upset! Why is he being such a jerk?  Doesn't he know that other people can hear? I am not lazy!! I was so indignant. But it got me thinking: Do I do the same thing?

Why do we try so hard to make ourselves seem better than the people around us?  Why do we try to build ourselves up by tearing others down?  It's not just that guy from my class, although he certainly was verbal about his disdain for his classmates.  We all do it! Not in the same way, but I know I certainly feel a lot better about a bad grade if someone else did just as badly as me.  It doesn't change the fact that I did badly, so why do I care? Selfishness?  Probably.  But does that attitude really exude the love of Christ?  When I want to make myself better than others, am I loving them above myself? Of course not.  I can point the finger at "Bob" but my own attitude show similar self-building aspects.

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It just goes to show that this quote is so true. I have always thought of it as comparison can make you feel inferior, but it can also go the opposite way and steal your joy when you think of others as inferior to yourself. You may make yourself feel better temporarily by doing better or having more than someone else, but in the end, that kind of attitude doesn't bring true joy.  When we have the love that Christ had for us, we should rejoice in the successes of others.  We should be building others up!    

 

I don't have any easy answer.  It's certainly not easy to watch someone have lots of good things happen to them when you are struggling.  But that doesn't mean it's right to rejoice when others struggle. I believe we would all have a lot more joy if we took time to build each other up.  We all struggle and fall at times; let's not make those struggles even harder on those around us. 

 

Throwback

Can we all just take a second to look at how cute my little sister was (and still is!). Boy, do I love that crazy head of hair!
Oh, and my other siblings were not shabby either.

My all-time favorite

Please note our stylin' matching boots

It makes me a little bit sad to think how fast we have all grown up! It hardly seems real that my sister is 10 years old.  But I am so thankful for them and look forward to being even better friends with them as we get older.

Updates

I have officially sent in my Physical Therapy school applications!! Ahhhh.  I can't believe that I will (hopefully!) be in graduate school next year. Am I old enough for that?  I really don't think so. Fifty-one days until I graduate from college.  It has been a stressful week getting all the last minute things done.  Now I am enjoying a relaxing evening of nachos, ice cream, and the live For King and Country DVD.  Have I mentioned that I love them?  I think I have, one or twice. (-: I am excited this weekend to take a CPR class and go to Apple Hill with the family! Hope you are all having a wonderful almost-weekend.