I bet you never really thought about it

Greetings!

Spring is in the air and I am already getting a tan. I have been outside quite a bit running and walking so the sun has nicely tanned my face. I hadn't really noticed until someone came into Starbucks and asked if I went somewhere cuz I looked really tan. That won't be the case today as it is quite rainy and overcast. Oh well. It's supposed to get nicer here in the next few days. Doesn't really matter as I have to work days now. The last couple of days I have been working in the evening so I have had the day to do things, but I have been so tired that I have just been sleeping, then working out, cleaning the place a bit, and then going to work. Today I am off because I am volunteering for this gala at the hospital on Saturday and tonight is the volunteer orientation session. Since I closed they couldn't book me to work early so I just don't work. I wish that I had the energy to do something really productive, but I have also been trying to save money so I will just workout, watch some tv and do a little bit of grocery shopping.

Anyhow pertaining to the title of this blog . . . I cut myself really, really bad the other day. Right between the knuckles of my forefinger and my middle finger. It was a gash about a 1/2 cm deep by 1 cm wide and 1 cm long. No skin on top. It hurt a lot and I thought that I was going to go into shock. Anyhow it is healing and it's amazing to watch!!!!!! I have never looked at something so in depth before. I find myself staring at it all the time. Instead of healing from the bottom up, it is healing from the outside in. The new skin is being formed, little cells, pink and rosy trying to cover up this hole. The body is such an amazing thing. All the processes working together to heal itself. The healthy baceria to pull out the bad stuff, blood flow to get it healed, other fluids to flush things out and build up immunity, and proteins and other components to build the skin. I can't believe how beautiful it is. A time lapse camera would be so cool!

How cool then would it be to watch a whole human form! God is so creative. I think that I have already expressed how great I think that God's creation is many times because next to His grace and saving power it is the greatest thing that I love about God.

Lately I have been sort of frustrated with work and not learning anything and not living like a stand apart Christian, as in people should say "I want what she has". It's always been quite hard for me because I mean I am a positive person but not one of those super outgoing, bubbly types. So in order for someone to notice a difference in my life I need to live what I know and also tell them about it. Watch what you laugh at, smile and be encouraging, be empathetic, and watch all your own actions. You never know when someone else is watching. That eye roll, that little lie you tell, the negative/complaining tone that you have with a bad customer. It all matters. The couple verses that have been really going through my life lately are "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love." May I be gracious and compassionate to everyone, not showing partiality to age, race, attitude. I pray to be slow to anger, that includes PATIENCE, and rich in love. The love of Christ that needs to shine in me.

I heard this thing the other day about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is there to help us bring glory to God. He wants everything we do to be tied back to the glory of God. We do so many things by ourselves and for ourselves. I want to live a selfless life and it's not until I surrender it to Jesus and start looking through His eyes that I will have this. And this is the problem, that I always write this down, yet in one week or so I will forget and start living back how I was already. It's a hard path to follow but I am really praying a lot more an have the confidence in Christ that WE can accomplish this.

Summer plans are looking great too. There's a rodeo, a couple other festivals, farmers markets, Mariners games, trips to Portland, drive ins in the Jeep with the roof off, road trip to California, trip to the island, other misc. road trips, and lots of sun on the beach.

On a final note, I think that I found a church to go to finally. I really liked it last week. It's the Langley Evangelical Free Church. There are a ton of college and career aged people because it's so close to Trinity University. It's a little modern for my liking but I found myself staying awake a lot easier than usual (too little sleep:)) and the people were quite friendly and welcoming. I will let you know more how that progresses in the coming months. Please pray that I find a home church soon as I really want to connect somewhere. Also for the courage to step out of my shell an get involved in something.

Until next time . . . keep shining for Jesus!