Soaking in the Rainy Days

It seems that about 85% of the world despises rainy days. That statistic was not legitimate, but I'm sure you get my gist. However, I am one of the 15% of my made up statistic who loves rainy days. Don't get me wrong, if it's been raining for over four days and there's a monsoon taking place, I begin to get sick of the rain. Other than that.. rain is miraculous.

"So, what can I even do on a rainy day?" you may wonder. Well, it's your lucky day! You now have a blog post in front of you to throw some ideas at you.

1. Rainy days are always the best days for writing...
   Writing blog posts- Like this one! Booya! Tell the world what you think when you have the time to think about it!
   Writing letters- Emails are so overrated. Hand-written letters are so much more personal, they're fun to write and they're even more fun to receive! Why don't people write letters anymore? They're just so fantastic. Not to mention, extremely romantic. Just saying.
   Writing stories- Let your imagination run wild! In stories, you can make up anything and everything, and it's ok, because it's a story. It can be completely fictional and terribly irrational, but that's quite alright!
   Writing memories or thoughts- I tend to absolutely love having journals simply filled with memories, favorite quotes, thoughts, recent lessons I've learned, etc. They're always a great time to read through later on in life.
   I absolutely love rainy days because I have an excuse to sit down and write whatever it is I want to write in whatever form I want to write it!
2. Rainy days are also fantastic for reading.... Whether you're a believer in Jesus Christ or not, the Bible is always a fantastic read. In addition, I'm sure you have a list of "to read" books that you still haven't touched, in which case, rainy days are calling your name! If you do not have a "to read" list, then you better get on that, because you're missing out in life. If you need some ideas, I can assure you that I can successfully supply you with worth-while reads.
3. Crafts! Don't ask me what type of crafts, because I would be the worst person to ask, but that's why people like us have websites like Pinterest and Stumbleupon. So get searching and crafting!
4. Movie marathons or Television show marathons... My current t.v. shows are Once Upon a Time and Parenthood. In general, I just love movies (as long as they're not ridiculously dirty or inappropriate). The film world is absolutely amazing- an art I truly love.
5. That extra cleaning... Come on. We all know we have that one room in our houses we avoid touching, and therefore it is a mess of clutter and hoarding. Or maybe that's just my house. Anyway, this is always a good option. Turn up the jams and get organizing!
6. Or just go run around in it! Really, why waste the rain? If it's a warmer day, go enjoy the free water park! Make a water slide outside, get out your super-soakers, and prep up those water baloons. Get the neighborhood together. Go do it now!
7. Playing your long lost instrument... for those of you who used to play an instrument way back in the day, go dust it off and have a jam session. Playing my piano is one of the most heavenly things to do on a rainy day. If you don't play an instrument, look up a youtube tutorial and learn one! Playing an instrument is one of the most relaxing, rewarding hobbies of all time...
8. Trying out new recipes... you know all of those left over ingredients in your fridge? You can now use them for something! Hooray! Search online what type of recipes you can make out of whatever it is you have stored up and get cooking.
9. Scrapbooking... remember all of those pictures you printed that you always said you'd make something cool out of but never did? Well, snag some paper, any design and any color, and start pasting. Three-hole-punch them, stick them in a binder and viola. Scrapbook.

..I'm sure more ideas will come to me later, and when they do, you can be assured that I will tack them on this list. If you have more ideas, feel free to throw them out to the rest of us!

Rain allows us to sit, contemplate and just inhale life for all it's worth. Something about the rain is so mesmerizing, forcing me to retreat into a world of my own. It's so eery and surreal.

Don't waste rainy days.. soak them in. Literally, figuratively.. however you want to do it.

Tis the Season for Graduations and Weddings..

Apparently this summer was dubbed "summer of graduations" without my knowledge. Two of my cousins graduated from college with a BS, one of my second cousins graduated with a Masters and my little (..or not so little) cousin just graduated from high school today. Oof.

Growing up. It seems to be a sort of unexplainable phenomena. The little guy cousins who were always small with squeaky voices now tower over me and suddenly sound like men when they speak. The little girl cousins now don't play with dolls anymore, but instead sit and have conversations with me as a source of enjoyment. It's craziness. All of it.
I wonder how my parents feel? I wonder how I'll feel some day as a parent (God willing)?
Oh man, I don't even like to think about that. I'm just not going to.

On top of that, so many weddings. Thankfully, this summer my cousins decided to only go through with one wedding. However, have no fear. Next summer I estimate about 2-3 weddings (of cousins alone).
I'm not even 21 yet and I've been a bridesmaid/maid of honor in four weddings. FOUR. Three of them being cousin's weddings and one being my sister's wedding. So that's just family. Please keep in mind, I have a big family. I also do have friends.. so they may factor into this. Well, I'm way past the "three times a bridesmaid, never a bride," mark. Hopefully that is just a superstition...

Yes. Life. It's a curious thing. I actually started my long-intended novel about life. Yeah, I know that's vague, but that's the idea- to reel you in now, developing your curiosities and whetting your appetite. Do you have any ideas? No? That's ok, me neither. But the intro paragraph sounds convincing, so I'm good to go.
I keep having fantastic ideas for novels, begin them and then lose interest and never finish them. You know what my problem is? I'm horrible at developing plots from beginning to end. Give me a completed plot, and the actual writing of the novel would be a piece of cake. My mind would go wild if I just had some sort of skeleton to the story. Who wants to team up with me? Any takers?

Divinely Created to Impact

Oh, how intricate life is.

On these summer days I have a lot of time to think and remember.
I think about who I was, who I am and who I'm going to be,
and then I think about all the different people who have impacted me, even if only in the slightest way. I remember each person who made a difference in my life, whether for a year or a week.. or even a moment. Those situations that, had I not experienced them, my current perspective would be slightly altered. I guess you could call it a sort of "butterfly affect," minus all the superstition.

I think of what or who has influenced my likes and dislikes. How the books of my childhood pushed me to love literature and writing. How admiration of my sister encouraged me to pursue playing piano (and how my piano teacher's belief in me pushed me to thrive and really enjoy the instrument). How my parents' lives exemplified Christ for me to see tangibly. How my teachers either gave me favorable or unfavorable tastes of their said subjects.
I think of the friends who came and went out of my life, teaching me about myself, about other people and even about God. Of the friends who showed me what love looks like and of the friends who showed me what manipulation looks like. Of the friends who were there when I needed them, whether they would be in my life long-term or not. Of the friends who taught me how to be a friend.

Everyone makes a difference. No matter how insignificant you may feel in someone's life, you have impacted them in some way, whether in a positive or negative way.
And on top of it all, God knows you. God knows me. God knows where we've been and where we're going. And He knows why.

As I reminisce, I thank God for His hand in my life and the people He has put in it, making me who I am. I thank God for His constant involvement in my life, never leaving me to brave the pains of this life alone. Always with me to rejoice with me in the joys of life.
I thank Him for the ability to rest in Him and to trust that my life will happen just as it should. I will meet the people I will need to meet, and I will face the trials I need to face. I will make the memories and learn the lessons. I will take my place in this giant cycle of life, contributing to each person's memories and lessons. No one can take the place of YOU. No one can take the place of ME.

We are who God created us to be, intricately designed with care and meaning. We have purpose, no matter how minute the purpose may seem.

Be blessed today by the fact that you are divinely created to IMPACT.

The Day that I Was Scammed

Scams. They're sort of like scabs, but more gross.

Today I went to an interview for what seemed to be a legitimate job. To some, maybe it is a legitimate job. Hey, maybe I'm the loser for even going to the interview. Thankfully, every moment is a teachable moment. What did the moment teach me? Sales people are GOOD at what they do. Very good. I also learned that Sales is not my calling and never will be (no matter how convincing I can be).

I should have sensed this was a little sketchy by the letter I got telling me to call them for more information, but sometimes your hopefulness clouds your intuition. So, off I went to the headquarters with the sketchy letter (how did they get my address?.. I still have yet to know..) in hand, ready to tackle whatever job God was bringing my way. As I walked into the office, everything seemed pretty normal..
they had normal employees (I think?),
there were chairs and a table (must be a real office, right?)
and most people were dressed professionally.
 I went in for the first part of the interview which was with this guy (maybe a manager? maybe not?) and another interviewee. He asked us some questions and then sent us on to the "second interview" which was to be a group interview. We sat, pretty awkwardly, might I add, and time was passing slowly. And by slow, I mean turtle slow. The manager (?) came back into the room with those of us who were naive enough to remain for the remainder of the interview.

Then he talked.
And he talked.
And then he asked us questions we didn't know.
And then we answered.. to which he usually responded with "No. Actually..." and the proceeded to repeat what we had already said.  

Everything he said was vague, yet intriguing.
Simple, yet highly complicated.
Friendly, yet uncomfortable.
Nothing really was explained, nor was anything really confirmed.

After this 2 hour interview (yes... I sat there listening to this man drone on for 2 hours), the man handed us applications. One of the guys next to me then decided it was appropriate to crumple up the application, throw it on the ground and walk out angrily (that should have been my cue), to which the manager (?) responded, "Does anyone else feel the need to crumple up their application and leave?" ... At this point, the manager/salesman had us spun pretty tight in his web, pulling us closer to his fangs and plotting how we might be devoured. Just kidding. That's dramatic. Needless to say, we bought it. It seemed legitimate.. I mean, who wouldn't want to go into strangers houses to sell kitchen knives? So, we all eagerly filled out the application (why was I so eager? I'm telling you.. these guys are GOOD), scribbling down the best of the best suck-up information, waiting to be brought in for our one-on-one portion of the interview where we would be told whether or not we got the job.
Then I heard my name. It was my turn to go in.

"Obviously we cannot offer everyone this job," began the spider.. I mean.. man. He slowly read through my information, reeling me in closer into the center of the web.
"If I were to offer you this job, on a scale of 1-10, how excited would you be?" he asked me.
"Um.. an 8?" I ventured to say. And then I asked God to forgive me for lying.
"Why an 8?" he asked.
"Well.. I would be excited to receive a job, but I also would like to think about it."
At this point, he noticed I was starting to become a little wary of it all.
"Well," he continued quickly, "I can see from your information that you are a hard worker and would do a great job at this position. I would like to welcome you to the team! Training (which would be 3 days, 5 hours each day and unpaid, might I add) begins tomorrow!" He then shook my hand as I blurted out a quick "thank you" without really thinking about what just happened.

May I please point out that he did not tell me that they would "like to offer me a position" nor did he ask me "whether or not I would be pleased to accept the position." As I walked out of the office, up the stairs and back to the car, I just realized what had happened. I had spent two hours in an interview only to be conned into accepting a position at a company whose product was legitimate, but whose methods were slimy.

Needless to say, I am not going to the training, and I will not be selling knives in stranger's homes.
While it was quite a waste of my life, I did learn. After experiencing falling for a scam first-hand, I can tell you that my naivety level and trust for unknown employers went way down.

What a day. My first encounter with a con-artist. A day to remember.

Joy in the Pits

There are some days when we just want to shut the world out. No one seems to understand and life just seems bleak. How are those days formed? Where do those attitudes come from? I'd like to know so I can figure out how to annihilate those days all together.

Sometimes it feels like everything that God has been teaching me the last year has crumbled into bits due to my lack of faith. I know God's promises and I hear His word, yet I somehow fall back into the same position I had been in before He moved in my heart. Why does that happen? 
He has shown me that He pursues me, yet I still do not feel pursued.
He tells me that I am His, yet I still do not feel like I belong.
He says He carries me through uncertain times, yet I still feel like I'm dragging along.
Why? I don't really know.

Sometimes, we find ourselves in these pits, and sometimes the question is not how to get out of the pit; Sometimes the question is how to find joy in the pit.
I'm alive.
I am not being eaten by alligators that could have possibly been in this pit.
The sun still shines over the pit during the day, and I can still see the stars at night.
I'm not in the pit with any skeletons or anything, so it's pretty tranquil down here....

Really though, at the end of the day, the pits aren't what make or break us.
However, our response to the pit displays who we are.
What it really comes down to is, God is still God, whether we're on top of a mountain or lost in a cave somewhere. Our down days are still as much a part of who we are becoming as the up days. In fact, the down days are really what shape us. Being pounded against a table may be painful, but being formed into the proper shape is essential.

Sometimes, my problems seem impossible to face, but then I remember that those are my God's favorite problems to take on because it is through the impossible that God's power and beauty is shown.

In all honesty, these posts are the hardest for me to write, because I'm definitely leaving myself very vulnerable. It's ok though, because the "vulnerable" times are just as part of the Christian life as the "on-fire" times.