God. Is. Love.

It feels so good to have a home.

I was raised/still am very Charismatic. I've never been in a church service where the Holy Spirit was moving and I was weirded out by what was physically going on in the service. That might be my favorite thing about my upbringing. I'm totally comfortable responding to the Holy Spirit in any place under any circumstance doing whatever He is asking. Even if it might seem embarrassing to some. My comfort zone is stretchy.

The church I am about to become a member of is very different from the church I was raised in. Well, I shouldn't say VERY. Just a little bit different. But I like it. It's a non-denominational church on the move, progressing each service toward the wonderful community of believers God has called it to be.

It's great because there isn't a lot of commotion, but the Holy Spirit is still very present in every service. That's one thing, though, that clashes with my idea of church.

God and His Holy Spirit are present in places they are called upon, desired. Whether it's the small Baptist church on the corner of Main or the 1200 member Pentecostal church on the other side of town. We call upon the same God, He desires and responds to the same kind of praise. He is present where He is loved.

It's like every service at this church is planned for me because the pastor knows it's just exactly what I need to heard. It's just exactly what I need help in, need convicted of, need more of.

For example, this last week was about love. It may sound simple, but loving is hard for me. It's hard for me to love the people I love and the people I don't even like. And I know I'm not the only one who struggles with this, although for a long time I thought I was.

Think for a second. It's hard to love people sometimes because they hurt us, because they don't love us, or because they are just plain annoying at times! It's hard to love because it's hard to put your heart out there, to risk not being loved back.

That's where we're wrong.

If we were really meant to live in fear of getting hurt we would never be able to love anyone. It's not us though, it's not our hearts on the line here. It's God's heart through us. We are a way He can express His love for other people.

Sure, there is a level of humility in loving. Not wanting to love someone because they've hurt you, for example. But that's the thing, it's not my heart, it's God expressing His heart through me. When this divine act of love teleportation takes place we feel it too, obviously, because it's through us.

How do we get this kind of love shock flowing through us? Exactly my question. Good thing I paid attention on Sunday. The pastor said this:

Step 1: Understand how much God really loves you.

Let me ask you this. Do you really understand how much God loves you? I don't think there is anyone who can answer Yes to that. But it might be possible for us to get a better understanding, one that fills the confines of our earthly minds.

So let that be your prayer this week. To really understand how much your Heavenly Father loves you.

P.S. If anyone needs scripture references, you can email me or facebook me. :)

Save Save Save!

Have I mentioned I love my job??



We're the only clinic in this town that is open on Saturday. All day.



However today was a day I will record as an enhancement to my life. All thanks to a 50+ year old man.



He was awesome.



He is an ex-competitive waterskiier. He explained to me how to gracefully go back over the wake once you're out in the open water. He told me how to solo ski and how to ski backwards. He even gave me some pointers to give to my dad about driving the boat. I was super excited.



I told him about the gentleman who told me it was all downhill after you turn 20. This guy said it wasn't until you turn 40. Then he gave me some really great pointers on how to save money. I explained that I save anywhere from 20-25% of every paycheck I get. He said that was great and when I turned 50 I would be patting myself on the back. He told me to invest in the stock market, which is actually the second time someone has told me that so I think I'm going to look into it.



He gave me some good advice that you can benefit from too. Young or old, especially young but don't count yourself out if you're old. He said to really think about what you're spending your money on now. Because when you're wanting to retire and you look at what you've got, you won't remember what you even spent your money on when you were younger. As in, eating out, buying new clothes and shoes, new cars, boats, campers. Every time you go into the gas station, ETHAN, don't buy a bunch of junk food. Seriously, start keeping tabs on how much money you spend per week on stuff that-a month later-you don't even remember buying. Then start putting that money into savings and you will not be disappointed. And it's never too late to start, as long as you're receiving some sort of income. Ethan wanted to go out to eat tonight, but I think we're just going to stay home. Like I said, it can start right now.

Oh My Baby

As you may or may not know, I just recently started working for an Optometrist. I've been working full time so I haven't had much time to blog, but I got off early today so I decided to catch up.

I really really like my job. A lot. I've wanted to do it since I was in the 6th grade. There are 2 things I love the most, number one the kiddos that come in. If you know me, you know I have a heart for the elderly. I mean I like all people, but I really just have passion for the eldery. But for some reason every kid that has come in has stolen my heart. All the boys look at me terrified and the girls just gawk. Yesterday a little boy came in and asked if I had a son like him, and I told him no, then he asked if I had a daughter, and I told him no, then he asked if I was married, and I told him I would be soon. Then he got really sad. I'm pretty sure I crushed his dreams, he was about to propose. Then I took him to the exam room. Which if you're little and you're without your mama, those tiny rooms packed with oversized black equipment can be a little intimidating. I started dialing his prescription into the feroptor when he noticed a tv up high on the wall. I don't really know what they're for, I've never turned one on before, but he started begging me to "Please please please just turn on the TV." I asked what he liked to watch and he said "Cowboys." It was that moment I regretted telling him I was about to get married, I can handle the 13 year age difference ;)

The first time I went to the eye doctor I was 11 and in the 6th grade. That's when my infatuation began. I don't know if it was the fact that I got to skip school to go, or that my dad got to skip work to go with me. Sometimes just doing something with my dad can make it the most awesome thing in the world. Funny how I'm 20 and that still works. I remember 2 things about that visit.

1. Popping a zit in the mirror and my dad laughing that the doctor didn't want my nasty zit all over his exam mirror
2. The puff of air

If you've ever been to an Optometrist before then you know exactly what "The Puff of Air" is, and you're probably shivering right now just thinking about it.

Professionally it's a pressure check/pre-screening for Glaucoma.

Unprofessionally....

Here's how it goes down. I lead the patient into the prep-room. Check their Visual Acuities, Color Blind, Depth Perception, laugh and joke with them, ask them to slide up to the table (still laughing and joking and talking about their interests). Little do they know... Ask them to please align themselves with the machine, ask if they can see the light. Keep talking then kind of slip in "just a quick puff of air" then laugh when they jump to the ceiling. Getting the first eye isn't so bad, it's the second eye, when they know it's coming, that takes a little more persuasion. It's actually pretty fun...for me... :)

All summer my baby has been parked in Iowa. Or should I say raced up and down the gravel roads until she's so dirty you can't even tell what color she is. I've had Rylee's G6 here for several weeks while she had mine up in Iowa. I gotta say, her car is all that and the bomb. It's sleek, cute, and very nice on the inside and outside. But it's only got a 4 cylinder. I didn't realize how much I appreciated my V6. I love driving my car, we connect on a foot/gaspedal/engine level. When you get in you immediately notice the race car style curvature on the odometer and air vents. You start the engine and it sounds like a tractor. You take off slowly down the road. With no change noted in your mind, you look down and you're going 45 and a 35 zone. She's a sneaky speed beast. It's like the air coming through the ventalation system gets trapped in the car and surrounds me, filling my brain with whispering thoughts of "a little faster a littler faster don't you want to see what I can do" Ohh the temptation. I say all of this to justify the three times I've been pulled over (2 of them on the same night) the new set of brakes I had to get and the fact that I've had to get new tires twice. I've had her for 4 years. My mom drove her one day and now she understands why all of those unfortunate events have happened, my dad not so much. It must be something only girls can connect with.