sigh...what can I say?

So I've been pretty stressed lately about somethings in the forefront of my mind, time and well... life...it all starts to add up and make everything else become stressful too, right? So the last few days things have just been fallin into place. Sometimes you beg, plead and want things to go just so...but usually it's not on our time, it's on a better time. Sometimes you must sit and be silent for a bit, waiting for his time, not out time. Heard a phenom quote today..."Maybe when someone asks for strength they'll get an opportunity to be strong instead of strength. Maybe when someone asks for boldness they'll be put into a situation where they can be bold..."

So I have my opportunity to trust and look for peace and well...I'm pretty stoked about it.
Seems like the big one up there has been screamin at me all day! This is a bit of what I've heard so far (besides the quote above).
John 14
27"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Phil 4
6"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

So I'm looking for opportunities be strong, bold, to love, trust and have peace. What are you going to do?

to be chosen

He walks down the muddy path away from the river. Dragging two heavy jugs, overflowing with murky brown water. His little brother struggles to keep up, moving as quickly as he can. Water is what his mom asked for this morning, barely a whisper of a request. Even talking has become difficult for her. Now it's taken Yusufu over two hours to fetch the water and make his way home. Hoping water will make his mom happy, maybe make her feel better. The doctors said she has the disease; HIV, the disease everyone around him seems to have. His father and aunt passed away last Spring because of this disease. Yusufu stopped playing with his friends a long time ago, he has to help find food. He sees his friends playing outside their huts, laughing and kicking a soccer ball around. He wishes his mom was better, well enough to come out and watch him play soccer as well. Walking into the hut he sees his mom asleep in the corner. Looking at their little food supply he knows that he must go find more today or they won't have enough tomorrow. He pours the murky water in to a wooden cup and wakes his mother. She struggles to take small sips of the water. Yusufu sees tears stream down her cheeks as she lays back onto the dirt beneath. He exits the hut in search of food. He must 'be a man', his dad said before he died, take care of his mom, brother and little sister. A man he tries to be but at ten-years-old a man may be too much for him to handle.

"Someone picked me, someone picked me!" Yusufu came running into his hut. "Food, water and clothes, they told me mom, we get food, water and clothes!" he pauses and then begins to dance around again "I get to go to school!" he dances around his mom as she sits up slowly and a smile on her face. "We get food and clean water, mom, clean water!" Laughing he holds up his first letter. He can't read the words written to him, but they told him he would go to school and learn English. He gets clean water, food and a uniform. New clothes! He looks down at his shirt without one sleeve, pants ripped off just below the knees held up with a string he'd found on the roadside one day. "I knew someone would choose you, Yususfu. Everything is going to be better now." his mother struggles to say. He smiles knowing deep down anything can happen now.

www.healafrica.org
www.hopewalks.org
www.compassion.com

A Toast to You!

So I have some of the greatest friends...I've come to realize this of late. They are always there for me when I need it. Always got my back when I least expect it. And most importantly, we've been through a lot. So, if you're a friend of mine here's a toast (I found a quite cheesy and amusing) to you!


Here's to my friends.

Here's to my compadres. They call just to say, "hey"! And tell me, "he was a jerk anyway." They love me everyday.

Here's to my pals. The greatest guys and gals. We have fun out on the town or just chillin at the mall.

Here's to my buddies. They are so funny! They keep my days bright and sunny.

Here's to my friends. The best people you could ever find. They help me anytime I'm in a bind.

Here's to my friends...they've are the best they ever could have been!

Excuse me, are you just sitting there?

Excuse me, are you just sitting there?
This world we live in is constantly against itself. Good fighting bad. People killing their own, not feeding their children, raping their women. Then there are people out there protecting the hurt and abandoned, people bringing food around the world. It’s a constant fight, a tug-of-war with the world in-between.
People killing others. Rape, war and pillaging throughout the world. Anger and murder wild among people my age. Drugs, drinking normalcy for the next generation. Heroes and role models teaching young children acting out, making a fool of yourself, doing drugs and drinking underage is what you should do. So often kids will follow someone for the sake of looking cool, rather than for justice, right and wrong.
Death and life are housed in the same place. Disease and new life abundant in every hospital. A baby born into this world we’ve created, a mass of new life into such a dead place.
You have UNICEF bringing food to Africa, getting food to the villages without any hope for tomorrow. Supplying clean water and bringing new life to areas of war. World vision is teaching Africans to enable their skills and help create new jobs. Sponsoring children til they can support themselves and are sponsoring others.
John Mayer writes about “Waiting on the World to Change”, but how can we sit around a wait? Wouldn’t you rather get out and do something…something for the greater good. How can a beauty queen say she wants “world peace” and do nothing to promote that peace?
I can't help but wish for the day when there will be peace. When there won't be people pitted against each other constantly... when we will no longer need the PeaceCorps, United Nations, World Vision, Feed the Children and UNICEF. Someday we can live in love.

17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind... 19the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. 20 "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.... 22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together...

Get a Good Laugh...

So Friday night I almost died...well not really but it could have happened. I stopped by my parent's house in Prior Lake for a few minutes. My aunt had just gotten in town from Cali and I wanted to say hi. I left my parent's house and went to get gas.

I got to the gas station and pumped gas. I called my mum as I was finishing getting gas. Mind you, this is Friday evening about 6 and the gas station is BUSY. In the mean time a red pontiac had pulled in at the next pump over and gotten out of his car to punp gas. Next thing I know this car comes peeling into the gas station and the driver opens his door and starts shouting at the driver of the red pontiac. He pulls out a gun, hiding behind his car door and is screaming at the guy, cussing him out and telling him, "get over here, get over here now!" Everyone is moving away from the crazy man. I had gotten off the phone with my mum telling her, "I've got to go there's a man with a gun!" (my poor mother!)

Everyone who was pumping gas got away as fast as they could or ran into the gas station...I ran around my car and behind this Escalde next to me. If I ran for the gas station I'd have been in between the shooter and the guy he was aiming at. The popo got there pretty quickly, I must give props to the PL, Savage and Scott county. They were there in about 1-2 minutes. Crazy man still tried to kill the driver of the pontiac while the cops were yellin, "Driver, throw your keys on the ground. Driver, slowly place your weapon on the ground." He seemed oblivious to the fact that there were about 6-7 squad cars, he was out numbered about 12 to 1! Finally, they tackled him to the ground and took his gun.

So, that was my thrill of Friday night. LOL...I wish I had a camera with to record it. It would have been nice to see the whole thing again...it always goes so fast, right!? But...in Prior Lake? Who'd have thunk...in Prior Lake... lol

Well, happy Monday and enjoy the cooler day today!!

To Be This Kind of Wife

Ruth Graham, Billy Graham's wife passed away yesterday. She lead a life of compassion, kindness and servanthood. Billy Graham released a statement this morning...

"Ruth was my life partner, and we were called by God as a team," Billy Graham said in a statement. "No one else could have borne the load that she carried. She was a vital and integral part of our ministry, and my work through the years would have been impossible without her encouragement and support."
"I am so grateful to the Lord that he gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we've had in the mountains together. We've rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."

Oh to be that kind of wife...what a life she lead...

Amazing Grace

so many things in life run out; too quickly and too easily. money seems fly out the windows with bills flying by, and it doesn't grow plentiful on a tree. all the coffee is gone. the good myspace quotes are taken. you can fall out of love, or loose it. forgiveness is too easily lost. time is of the essence and never enough. the commercial free music always ends two songs too soon. flowers fade, dying quickly. summer sun and warmth end fast. lunch breaks seem to be mere seconds. special moments are a whisper on the wind.
and life, life is in our grasp like sand falling to the ground...we hold on to what we can as it fades into the past...

but grace. grace is the one thing each of us truly needs. grace never ends, it doesn’t run out. it forgives no matter what. it takes time to listen and earn trust. it loves unceasingly

grace is always enough

it's never what it seems

it's never what it seems. never what you'd said to me. nor what i've thought it would be...

never ending, always beginning and more so exciting. very caring and always inviting. a fun dance and song so loving.

the picture you played out for me. a rush excitement and a grand color scheme. all very thrilling it would seem.

til I said enough of this game. because i felt the shame. it came along with the hurt and pain.

i ran as fast as i could. to get as far away as i should.. saddened and afraid as it never should.

now forgive, i must. to be kind and just, never cussed. and mostly to learn to trust.

In this Place

They've come for different reasons. To get away from it all. For the peace and the quiet, the direction most of all.
She sits silently sobbing. Wishing she knew how to take care of her son and daughter now that he's left them. Looking down at her boy asleep in her lap, tears stream down her face. Later she'll tell her daughter it was because of God's grace.
Angry he sits on the pew staring up at his wife, she stands singing the songs. He wishes he could get up and escape hating this place. Apprearances all too important he puts on a happy face.
Sitting in the back, her hat perfectly in arranged. After over eighty sitting here she feels the peace. Closing her eyes as she prays for her last days.
They all sing the same songs of praise, hear the minister's words and say grace. But what about the meaning of it all? Will any take their experience and live to see His face?

Without Any Strings Attached

Without any strings attached. Keeping your heart in check. Without the "I'm sorry" note. Without the hint of bribery. With every intention of love. Without a care in the world. Ever giving, bright and showy. Brings tears to the eyes. Causing a smile to pass your lips. Forever remembered, forever cherished. A love like no other. More greatful than one can speak. More true than you'll ever know.

Flowers from a father...