October Sky

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Letters

It started when I was little. My Dad used to take trips for his job and I always hated when he left. So, one day, my Dad had an idea. He wrote a letter to me before he left and mailed it out so that it would come back to our house while he was gone. The letters were written on cool paper and were never written in a normal fashion. I loved getting mail and I loved the fact that my Dad had written a letter just for me. As I got older I got used to my Dad traveling and for a while he did not travel much so the letters turned into notes or just cool quotes that he had heard or read.

After high school, I was the one who was leaving and who would not be coming back for a while. That is when the letters started coming again. Now, they come about once a week. He always sends me a card that has puppies or some other fun picture on the front. The letters are written sideways, up, down, in circles, diagonally and I have even had a letter that was cut into pieces that I had to put together like a puzzle.

At first I thought, “What’s the big deal. Why do they mean so much to me? They are just letters.” But, I have managed to keep every single letter that my Dad has sent me. Through my years in college I have met quite a few people who have never known their Dad or don’t really want to get to know their Dad anymore than they already do. It’s actually kind of sad when you think about it. But, it makes me appreciate who my Dad is and what he does in order to let me know that he loves me.

They are just letters to anybody else who might happen to see them. But to me, it is what the letters represent that matters most. My Dad works hard and long weeks and he still takes the time out of his week to write me a letter. He knows how much they mean to me now and he knows what a highlight they are in my week.

This week is no different. It is the first week of the school year and a letter made its way across the country just so my Dad could tell me that he loves me. It does not take much time or effort but it does take some. As kids we sometimes take for granted all the things that are parents do for us. Every once in a while we see the things they do and notice the difference that they have on our lives.

I guess I never truly appreciated it until now but I will never forget the letters that my Papa has written me.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Instrumental Music

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Why do people look down when they walk?

I have noticed when I have been walking around that most people walk with their eyes towards the ground. Why? This thought has intrigued me for the last couple of weeks and I have put quite a bit of thought into it. I feel like there is a link between how people walk through life and what they do in life. I know it might be a stretch but I am going to try it out and see what comes of it. Here is why I think that people look down when they are walking:

1. They are afraid of tripping and falling on their face. People are afraid to look dumb or to fail in front of others. There will be times when you trip up or fall flat on your face in life. I want to let you in on a secret of life: Everybody fails, everybody trips, you are not perfect and you never will be. If you are always watching out for yourself when will you ever have time to look out for others? I am not saying that you should completely ignore yourself. I am just saying, if you always keep the focus on you, you will miss out on opportunities to help others. Look up to see who is around you and see what God wants you to do in your life as you walk through it.

2. They are afraid of looking people in the eyes. I was raised by my parents to look people in the eyes, to say hello and to shake their hand. I did this when I was a kid because my parents told me to but I now know that what they did for me has set me apart from others my age. I have come to find that most other people are afraid to make eye contact with others when they walk past them and even rarer is to have someone say hello while they pass you. I know that there are a lot of weird people in the world but I think that most people would be pleasantly surprised to find out that a lot of people just want someone to acknowledge their existence. It doesn’t take much to change someone’s outlook on their day. Say hello, smile and see the difference you can make. God is going to give you opportunities to do things in life that might make you uncomfortable and will definitely make you different. But, in the end, who wants to be the same as everyone else walking around?

3. They don’t want to be different. I get the feeling that people didn’t use to walk around with their eyes focused on the road in front of them. I think that people started doing it because others were not acknowledging them and they felt out of place. It can be discouraging when no one is willing to look you in the eyes and say hello. But, for every ten that pass by there is one who looks up and maybe, just maybe, I got the chance to change their day. God tells us that we are different than others. We are unique and made for a specific purpose in life. In order to be used by God, you can’t just be part of the crowd, you have to stick out.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The Simple Life

In life, we tend to look back with nostalgia at times when things in life were simple. Why is that? Why do we look back with longing for times when life seemed so simple? But, was life really that simple back then or did we just not know any better?

Think about this, when you were young, you depended on your parents for everything. Everything! When you ate, where you went, what you did, how you did it, why you did it, and when you slept. You did not have any control over your life at all. Life was simple, but you had no control and therefore none of the responsibility. Yes, life was simple. It was simple because you had complete faith that the person responsible for you was going to make the right decisions for your life.

As we have grown up and look at our life and all its complications, we sometimes wish we could go back to the good ole days. We fret and worry over every little decision to the point of overwhelming ourselves with the most minute details. It is enough to make anyone overwhelmed and stressed out instantly.

I don’t know how people get through the day. I used to think that I was the only one who had ever gone through this process in life where I was so scared to do anything that I had never done before that it had the potential to make my life very boring. What would happen if we never did anything by ourselves? We would never gain the confidence in ourselves to be able to do anything without someone else holding our hand. We would never grow up.

We all learn eventually what helps us cope with a new situation and what enables us to move forward with our lives. I don’t know what that thing is for everyone else is, but I like having the Creator of the universe in control of my life. I have learned to trust Him with my life and that no matter what happens, He is in control. Life has gotten a lot easier since I made this decision to trust someone else with my life. Plus, when I trust God with my decisions in life, it gives me confidence in who I am and what I am doing.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Friends

“A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.”

The Ultimate Promise

God will allow you to be tested. Satan will tear you down. This world will call you crazy. Our culture will say you are different. People will insult you, persecute you, and bring you down. BUT, God will build you, mold you, change you, love you, protect you, help you, bless you, surround you, hold you, feed you, clothe you and fill you up.

He will:
Give you angels to protect you, armor to defend you, baptize you in the Spirit, treat you as His bride, provide you with refuge, love you, have compassion for you, deliver you, open doors for you, fulfill your dreams, give you endurance, fight every enemy, forgive you for everything, never forsake you, fulfill your every need, give you many gifts, open every gate, give you unlimited grace, guard you, heal you, honor you, give you hope, fill you with humility, instruct you, give you integrity, intercede for you, show you kindness, expand your knowledge beyond preconceived limits, give you a love for life , love you in every way, do mystical things in your life, show you mercy, show you miracle after miracle, reveal His great mystery to you, give you patience, provide peace in your life, give you perseverance, provide you refuge from the crashing storms of life, reign as King in your life, rescue you from your suffering, reward you for following His Word, save you from any danger that attempts to take you down, shield you in every situation, give you strength that you never thought was possible, break all strongholds that are in your life, sustain you through every war that is waged in your life, give you talents that will amaze you, teach you the way to do all things in the right manner, allow you to give testimony to the effect that He has had in your life, transform you from nothing to be better than you ever thought was possible, give you treasures beyond your wildest dreams, give you triumph when you never thought it was possible and train you to stay true to His Word.

He:
Thinks that you are precious, promises to do great things in the course of your life, is proud to have you as His child and wants to make you more pure in every way possible.

He wants you:
To trust Him for everything in life, to stand upright in your life proclaiming His magnificence, to be valiant in proclaiming His Word, to have the vigor to do what no one else will, to have the vision to see what others cannot and to wage war against others who are opposing His will.

He wants:
To wash you clean of every sin in your life, to watch over you every moment you are living, to show you the way to live, to equip you with the weapons needed to fight a spiritual war, to show you His will for your life, to give you wisdom beyond your years, to allow you to witness about His glory, to give you the words to speak into peoples' hearts, to allow you to do the works that reflect the compassion of His heart, to show the world how He has changed you, to give you a zeal for life and to do the work of His will.

He is:
Preparing you for greatness.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Quote for the day

"Even in a world where knowledge and information is so easy to access, there is no substitution for experience."