Leap Year!!!

There is something that makes me smile when Leap Year happens.  I don't know if it is because every year I think of Aubrey and Jimmy Bronson and I laugh at how "technically" they are only 8 now.  (It's a good laugh...not a laughing at you)  Or maybe just because it seems like it is this special magical day because it only happens once in every 4 years.  It's a day of unlocked potential!!  Either way...I love leap year and it gives all those "almost March babies" a chance to be born in the best month ever!  So here's to you leap year babies.  May your lives be truly blessed with happiness....and incase you need instructions on how to do that...please read the chart below.  It's as easy as that!  :)

I know I know....not the most poetic post.  Just wanted to keep it short and sweet and try to put a little smile on at least one persons face!  

"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential."

~Winston Churchill~

#37 - Find 10 Bible Verses That Mean Something to Me

Struggles.  We all have them.  It would be foolish of us to think that life is just this easy breezy full of colors and success thing that we go through.  It would be nice.  No worries.  No cares.  But if that is what life was, easy, then how would we ever know what we are capable of?

The other day I found myself under the covers thinking that I did not want to get out from underneath them.  It could be that I have the most comfortable bed in the world, but that day just felt different.  I didn't want to get up.  I didn't want to leave my little bubble.  I didn't want to have to deal with being strong.  I didn't want to deal with the struggles.  I didn't want to feel....anything.  I was broken.

As I laid there, I thought about all the different relationships that I had had in my life.  Parents, siblings, friends, boyfriends, etc.  Some of these people are such blessings in my life...others, well...let's just say I'm glad that they were only there for a fleeting moment in time.  In thinking of all those people, one person came to mind.  My grandfather.  I thought about all the cherished times I had with him and how I was blessed to see him right before his passing.  (It had been a long time since I had been home before that)

I remember him calling me the peanut gallery.  Or telling my sisters and I that that was a "NO PRESENT CHRISTMAS!  THE WELL WAS DRY!"  He use to ask me such challenging questions like, "How many pancakes does it take to shingle a dog house?"  Of course as a kid my thoughts were, why would you shingle a doghouse with pancakes?  I remember the love...the laughter...the good times.  It was in that thought process that I thought about the verse from his funeral.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.  A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to keep them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.  He has made everything beautiful in its time.  I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live."

~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11-12

There is a time.  For everything.  Such powerful words.  I had my time to be broken and then I realized that it was my time to be healed.  My time to face the struggles and know that I could overcome them.  My time to define who I was going to become.  Determined.  Determined to not let what others say or do to me get me down.  Determined to accomplish more of my goals.  Determined to be a better version of myself.

Even with all that determination that I felt that day, I knew life still wouldn't be the easy breezy full of colors and success that I wanted it to be.  So I thought of that verse that motivated me to get up and out of bed that day and decided to find 10 verses that were inspirational to me.  Here they are...and another day zero item down...life.is.good.

1) 1 Peter 5:10

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

2) Romans 5:3

"We rejoice in our suffering because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."

3) Deuteronomy 31:6

"Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

4) Psalm 46:10

"Hey says, 'Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.'"

5)  Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your hear and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

6) 1 Corinthians 15:33

"Do not be mislead: Bad company corrupts good character."

7)  1 Samuel 16:7

"The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them.  People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

8)  Romans 8:18

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

9) 1 Peter 3:14

"But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.  'Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.' Take courage."

10)  Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

What If??

Giving up.  It doesn't come easy and most of us try in our power not to do it. But when do you throw in the towel?  After all, the life you have is the life you were destined to have....or so I've been told.  It was meant to be.  But if that were true, why does everything else in this world seem to be so random?

What if one little small tiny thing I said or did differently could've changed my entire life?  What if I had chosen another life for myself?  What if I had been raised in a completely different way?  Better yet, what if my mother had never been sick and passed away?  What if I had never gone to the bar that night?  What if I would've just said goodbye the first time?  What if I didn't let my heart to be allowed to open itself up?  What if?

I know I can't sit here and play the what if game.  I am sure my  life would be completely different.  But it's just hard to think about what could be if you would've gone down a different path.  So I asked myself the other day when I found myself standing there at the crossroad....do I continue to go down the path I've always known or do I travel down the other path that might lead me to new places.  When do I throw in the towel and say I'm ready for something new?  When do I admit that the path I've been on seems to be just a lost cause?  I'm standing right now at the fork because it has all just become too much.  I'm tired.  I don't want to fight anymore....I want to give up.

So here is where the real work begins.  I need to find hope where there seems to be absolutely none.  None at all.  I realize life is a gift and that no matter how hard or how painful it can be at times, most things are just going to work out and I'm going to be ok.  As if these things were just destined to happen.

My mom would always tell me, "Whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."  Well world...I'm not dead yet so I guess as each day goes by I find myself getting stronger.  More wise.  More independent.  More everything.  I know that this too shall pass and all the answers that I search for will eventually come to light.  If not...I guess I just wasn't meant to know them.

"You is kind.  You is smart.  You is important."

~Kathryn Stockett~