It's up to us to be the change

Today I am thankful for...

1. Balance. More than anything, I am declaring this in faith.

2. Choosing every second, that I will listen to God's vioce in my heart and not to the voice of fear. Fear will always bring the past into the present and project it into the future. Fear will cripple you from the inside, out. That's why I have to make this choice every second of every day.

3. When you know something with utter certainty, then it is worth the wait, and wait with no anxiety.

4. That I am loved by God, my wonderful husband, my family and my friends. This is all I need.

There are so many things to be thankful for, some things we take for granted, like the air in our lungs, or the food we eat, but all of these things are a blessing from God that we do not deserve. He gives because He loves us and He wants us to be comfortable, but He does not want us to be greedy. Share everything you have, even if all you have is the love in your heart. Someone needs a little piece of you, every day. Live like Jesus lived, you never know who's watching you.

Flags and flowers

"Anytime someone puts on the uniform and bears arms in service to this country, they are a hero."

Matthew's memorial service was today. It was pretty amazing actually. Along with the procession of firetrucks and police vehicles I'm pretty sure at least half of the town of Williams, Arizona was present along with marines and others. The service was moved from a church to a middle school auditorium because of the amount of people in attendance. It looked like there were about 400 people.

My husband had never been to a funeral before but I have been to my share, so I have to admit, it was difficult trying to help him make sense of all of his emotions, emotions that I didn't share. This ceremony was closure for me. As Thomas and I talked, I assured him that Matthew would want us to be a part of this. There is a reason we journeyed as far as we did to be here. There's no doubt in my mind.

Of course we recognize the impact that Matthew has had on our lives, but I don't think Thomas realizes the impact he had on Matthew. I know for him it was an honor and privilege to have led Matthew in his walk with the Lord, a young man who already had such a passion to serve God and to do His will. Those angels in Heaven better watch out, because when Matthew gets his wings, there will be no stopping him!

So thankful we could be here this weekend. I am, even more than I already was, inspired by this young man, Matthew Broehm.


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Among the stars

You are where you are today for a reason. There is a reason for everything. If you are not where you want to be in life there is a reason for it. We live in a world of actions and reactions. If you do one thing, you will reap something else. You are not where you are by accident.

Even in moments of chance, either good or bad luck, you are in control. You might not be able to control the events, but you can control how you feel afterwards.

It's not what life hands you that's important, but what you do with the opportunities life presents. There are opportunities all around us if you look hard enough. Follow your gifts, be grateful and play the rules of life.

Nothing in life is unattainable. Even if you are trying to do something that no one has ever done before. "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."


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Purple cards

My husband and I have never had a hard time making friends. We usually just choose to spend our time together. It suits us, we're home-bodies. When one of us needs to go to the store, the other one grumbles and reluctantly rolls out of bed because we like to be together. We have a few close friends but there are not many "adult couples" that we hang out with.

...Then there was last night. First, we tried to find somewhere that would serve us food and drinks after midnight, and that was an epic fail. On the Border lied to us. And there was a really long story about miso soup. But after all of that we found ourselves having a great time with two other couples from work. We played a hilarious game called "quelf," which I highly recommend getting if you like games like cranium, but this is better. My husband refused to participate whenever he drew a purple card (charades), which was just about every turn, but had a helmet on his head for about 2 hours.








Priceless.

I feel good about this new found friendship. And I'm excited to see where it leads us.

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Standing together, facing the world

Had an AMAZING day today at the Bellen/Harwood wedding. Congratulations to Janson and Travis. Your family is truly wonderful, thank you for letting me be a part of your special day. Today was my first "official" wedding photo shoot. I was working with Picture Pastries Photographer Natalie Fierro and her friend Steve. Before I say anything else, I just want to put out there, that 5am is an ungodly hour, no one should ever be awake then, and I never want to do it again. All that aside, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life as I laughed today. Janson and her family and friends are very open, and this makes for total epic hilariousness. This day was also a day full of heavy emotions, and I feel honored to have been in attendance.

Janson, if you read this, I am inspired by your love for life, for the Lord and by your priceless poses!

Life in a brown paper bag

Today, I went on an adventure, to buy a live mouse, to feed to Gregory. Gregory is one of our girls' pet python. Don't be scared, he's actually pretty precious. But today as I purchased and carried from the pet store a tiny little mouse, in a brown paper bag who was shaking profusely, I was wanting Gregory to have a hungry tummy. This poor little thing didn't stand a chance, I just imagined him thinking "oh no, they're putting me in the bag, everyone else who's gone into one of those bags has never come back..." and then, darkness. The furious pitter patter of his paws inside the bag as he tried to escape broke my heart. I thought about opening the bag and trying to comfort it, but then I thought I might get attached, so I stopped myself. I just let him try to claw and bite it's way out of the bag for the remainder of the ride home.

When I got home, I tried to put a brave face on, because I knew that Gregory had to eat and that snakes eat mice, it's just what they do. I can't change the inevitable. One of our other girls, who has a heart of gold, snatched the brown paper bag from my hand and tried to save the little mouse's life. I attempted to get the bag back by telling her that I didn't have 20 minutes to go back out and get another mouse if she chose to let this one go, which I didn't. But I would be lying if I said I didn't secretly want her to open the door and let it escape. Eventually she handed the mouse over with sniffles and a sad face. Poor little mouse. Rest in peace.




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I Hope You Dance

This song is the cry of my heart right now. There is a plan for your life. You have to choose whether or not you want to live it.

I Hope You Dance
Lee Ann Womack

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty-handed

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances but they're worth taking
Loving might be a mistake but it's worth making

Don't let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder)
I hope you dance
(Where have those years gone)

I hope you dance

Dance