Adventist Health Wake-Up Call

Something to think about in the new year:

I took a few minutes this morning to peruse the December 2015 Adventist World and the January 2016 Outlook (Adventist Publication from Mid-America). Between the two publications, there were 3 articles expressing the same topic, the topic of health.

Adventists are KNOWN for their health message. Ellen White expresses the importance of taking care of our bodies to truly do what we are meant to do for Christ. She expresses the best benefits being from a plant-based diet, but how many of us actually follow that advice?

Since I’ve embarked on my own vegan journey, I’ve watched so many documentaries and so many times Loma Linda is listed – the Adventists are listed – for living longer than any other North American groups because of our vegetarian/vegan diets. If the rest of the world is noticing, then why aren’t we following our own message?

We are so quick to apologize for the many sins we accept: lying, envy, stealing, even having bad thoughts towards another. These sins are obvious. But is it not also a sin to avoid taking care of our own health?

Think back to the Garden of Eden, to God’s OPTIMAL design for us. We all know animals weren’t killed then. Everyone lived in harmony, both human and animals alike. We didn’t eat all of this junk food that we have now. We didn’t eat animal flesh. We didn’t eat eggs or drink milk. We had the beautiful fruit from the earth. That was the diet God intended.

Now, the world has continued to become degraded. Our soil quality is not what it used to be. You do need to eat vegetables, fruit, grains and legumes. But the key is, you can still get all the nutrients, even often better received by your body, with an animal-less diet. God hasn’t left us hanging. His diet is still here.

In fact, cultures and groups who eat minimal to no animal products suffer less disease and illness. Why do we put our bodies through this?

As a child, I thought all of these things were ok. But the more research I do, the more I realize how blind we are. The even scarier part is that we refuse to be truthful with ourselves. We don’t consider the fact that the devil can easily use food to get us. Think of all the junk food society craves. Have you ever wondered why the ingredients list is always 10+ items long? Most of them you don’t even know what they are. The food industry wants to get you “hooked” and they know what ingredients to use to do it. We are a society with a “health message” where the majority ignore the truth.

We all know the phrase we long to hear when Jesus returns, “Well done good and faithful servant”. But how many of us can He say that to when it comes to His very temples? These bodies are not ours and we must treat them as such. These bodies are God’s. We invite the Holy Spirit to live within us, and yet we treat His house like garbage.

I’m an avid exerciser, and no it’s not always fun. There are days I drag myself to the gym. But without exercise, my heart would not function like it should, my body would not carry me around like it should, and my health would not be in continuous progress like it is.

I also was a cheese addict. I went vegetarian cold-turkey when I was influenced by my first vegetarians. I remained that way for years, often considering going vegan, but never actually having the willpower to say no to cheese. If I could double cheese on anything and everything, you can bet that I did.

When I decided to go vegan, I went through cheese withdrawal for about a week. Who could have ever thought you could go through cheese withdrawal? But it happens because of the design of cheese. It is meant to be addictive. At times during that week, I had to make sure I had fruit in my hand to shove in my mouth so that I wouldn’t be tempted to eat the cheese. And now? I would never look back.

So where does this leave our society? In my opinion, uneducated. It doesn’t take an Adventist to see the benefits of plant-based diets. The science is spreading through the world like wildfire. Evidence is springing up with the results in peoples’ lives. Several doctors are realizing their lack of nutritional education and are starting to get involved. It’s time for us to learn it for ourselves, to understand the impact we are having on ourselves and others. Can you imagine rarely getting sick? Rarely having headaches? Rarely having to go to a doctor? It’s possible, you just need to want to embark on the journey that is not going to be fun at first.

We also need to remember that everything we do in life – EVERYTHING – is seen by our LORD. He knows our motives, He knows our hearts. Just as it’s not always easy to walk up to someone to share the message of Christ with them (especially if you’re expecting backlash), it’s not easy to want to change your habits. But as we see throughout the Bible and throughout the world still today, God’s call is not an easy one. God doesn’t even bring you to paths you can handle. Instead, He wants your heart to be earnest, and then to walk with Him on the path He wants you to take, even carrying you part of the way when necessary.

This is not meant to be a controversial topic. It is meant to be a reminder of truth, of a journey that I have been on myself lately. I’m not perfect either. Even though I was able to hear the call to better health, to realizing and beating my addiction to cheese, I need to get better at a whole food diet and ditch the convenient, pre-made vegan food that I have made a habit of eating.

Life is a journey and it’s never easy. If it was so easy to be healthy, everybody would be healthy. It takes determination, acceptance of what needs to be changed, and the willpower to do it. And even so, all of our efforts without Christ on our journey with us are of little use. Christ is the extra motivation that we need. Picture this: You know Jesus is coming to your house today. What would you do? I know I would be cleaning like mad, making sure it looked the best it could, and preparing the best food I absolutely could. Our bodies are no different. We invite the Holy Spirit in, but how many of us have cleaned internally? Are you feeding your body the best foods so it runs the healthiest and is the cleanest it can be? That is a question for serious thought.

I’m going to leave you with some quotes from Ellen White and the author of the article, “Adventists Urged to Examine Their Meals,” Andrew McChesney:

“We have had this information for more than 120 years, ” said Dr. Peter N. Landless, director of the Adventist world church’s Health Ministries Department. “Sadly, many have chosen not to follow the advice that has been given to God’s inspired servant, but it is always reassuring when one sees that that which is given by inspiration proven by peer-reviewed, evidence-based science.”

He added: “Our prayer is that our church will take note, not because this is an issue related to salvation, but because it affects the quality of life and our service to a broken world, the mission to which we have been called.”

“Flesh was never the best food; but its use is now doubly objectionable, since disease in animals is so rapidly increasing,” White wrote in the book Child Guidance. [You would be surprised how much diseased flesh is in your animal products today, since she said this so many years ago! Our world is corrupt and hides many things from us.]

White, who Adventists believe had the gift of prophecy, wrote in the same book that meat would become more contaminated as the earth neared its last days and that Adventists would stop eating it. “Flesh will cease to form a part of their diet,” she said. “We should ever keep this end in view and endeavour to work steadily toward it. I cannot think that in the practice of flesh eating we are in harmony with the light which God has been pleased to give us.”

I wish you all a happy, healthy 2016 as we prepare for the ever-closer coming of our LORD and Saviour. May we leave ourselves behind and put God first, no matter what journey He asks us to embark on. Because unlike many things in life, we know the end. We know that all the evil of the world will fade away, and Christ will reign in the best lives we can’t even possibly imagine. All of our unanswered questions will be answered, and we will no longer have to watch suffering take place. Our LORD will be with us, face-to-face, with the loving embrace that will bring happy tears knowing that everything we’ve suffered, everything we’ve endured, everything we’ve experienced will have all been worth it. I cannot wait to thank Him for all that He has brought me through, and for all that He has done for me. What a glorious day that will be!

The Penalty of Standing Out

I hate the way the world works sometimes. I hate seeing people in pain. I hate watching people getting picked on or bullied. I hate sin and wrong-doings in this world.

When I was going through my university years, completing my education degree, I had a desire to work with special needs children. It wasn’t because I looked forward to the extra work that often comes with special needs children, but because I wanted to make a difference. I knew special needs children were often put down and sometimes stared at as if the were a circus sideshow. I knew I could step up and be the voice of those children, and I knew that I could help those children feel as important as they are. But that’s not what happened.

At first I ended up teaching at a Native School. It took me awhile to learn the different dynamics needed to teach students who come from a history of anger. It was a definite learning curve in understanding the culture, the behaviours, and the thoughts about different things. But one of the things I found is that my classroom was often their safe place. My classroom was the one place they could count on someone being there to love them. I was a safe place for these kids.

Now as much as I loved being in that position, time would have me change again. This time, to a place where I wasn’t such a safe place. These kids did not need me (or at least felt like they didn’t). The attitudes were indifferent, the gratitude was gone. I really struggled at first to see how in the world I could make a difference when my students were convinced they had everything the needed.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t my first year that I figured it out. It was my second and my third that really opened my heart. I realized that maybe I wouldn’t be able to reach all students, even though I try. But there is at least one in each class who needs someone they can trust; someone they can break down their barriers and let them truly see the inside that they keep.

It broke my heart when the first student really let me in their life. The amount of background some of these kids hide is disheartening. It sometimes makes you wonder how they even function. It’s no wonder some of them put up a tough-front at school. Some of them are simply caught in that worldly struggle: the one where they are fighting between being good and doing what they know is right, and doing what the world expects and wants them to do. Absolutely the struggle gets worse as the generations get older. It’s sad in the very least, but it does, unfortunately, exist.

I witnessed something that brought this whole thing up in my mind. A situation that brought up a whole slew of memories.

One of my students is running for class rep in the upcoming school year. She’s an awesome student, wonderful in both academics and her Christianity. Unfortunately, she is one in very few that does not struggle with desires to be popular. She will not swear because others are doing it. She does not talk about inappropriate things because she has no interest. She knows what she believes and she sticks to it. She knows what is right, and that is what she does. And it has made her unpopular in her class.

Today, the vote was completed. And though she almost perfectly fits the description of the position she is running for, more votes were left blank than were voted in favour. My heart sank and my blood boiled a little. If there were legitimately good reasons for not letting her have the position, then I would accept that. But I know it’s because they are upset the one person they wanted to run wasn’t able due to his grades. Whether it’s an expression of bitterness or anger, is it right to decline someone that not only wants the position, but is ready, willing and capable of doing it well?

I don’t know what the right solution is. After all, voting is an expression of your opinion. But my heart aches in knowing that the reasons behind the reactions are wrong. And that bothers me. Someone who perfectly is capable of doing something so well, being held back by unpopularity, is wrong. It takes me right back to my whole philosophy of teaching, and that is that students are capable of more than they are doing, and standing up for those who don’t have as much of a voice.

I grew up in public schools where situations are much worse than I have ever experienced in my years of private school. I have seen “losers” beat up for simply not being good enough for others. I have seen the separation and isolation of those who needed the extra pull-out help and did not think like the others. I have seen students dragged from classrooms because they were acting out in anger about their situations. It’s not pretty.

One year, we did a fundraiser where the boys provided a lunch, and we bid on these “anonymous lunches”. When the bidding was done and every girl had her lunch, then the boys would reveal themselves and we would share lunch with them. I just happened to get one of those classmates that was always taken out for extra help, and who had problems with his anger, reacting from the situations he was in and the way he was treated.

I will forever regret the way I treated him.

I didn’t say anything mean, but that’s simply because I didn’t say anything at all. I was silent the whole time. And now I cannot even go back and apologize for being “snobby” because he was killed in a car accident several years ago (I think I was still in high school). That’s guilt that I have to live with, and guilt that started to change the way I reacted to people.

The one girl that was dragged from our classroom was probably the lowest person in our class. She didn’t always take showers, and she didn’t come from the most well-off family. In fact, I actually don’t know how she was treated at home. But what I do know is that people didn’t like her and daily made fun of her. I will never forget the one day she came up to me and told me that I was her role-model. I didn’t try to be anyone’s role-model, I just tried to talk to her and be nice when others wouldn’t. And look at the difference that made on her life. The simplest of acts I could have done, and it literally changed her world.

Now I’d like to say others followed, but they didn’t. I’d like to say her life changed for the best, but it didn’t. I did manage to get in contact with her again during university, sadly to find out she was pregnant and the baby’s father wanted nothing to do with her as soon as she became pregnant. As a matter of fact, he ran out with another girl and married her very shortly afterwards. And to make matters worse, he called social services claiming she was an unfit mother and had her baby taken away. In no way did her life get better.

I’m sad to say I’ve lost contact with her. My only method of contact no longer seems to work. I do pray for her, that things work out and she’s able to have her baby back in her life. I know she was fighting hard for him. But I pray God’s love surrounds her and God-willing, I will be able to connect with her again.

I truly, truly do hate the world treats people that are different – people that stand out from everybody else. I had the position of popularity and I misused it once. But I promise to do my best to never misuse it again. When a situation arises where someone needs a voice, I wish to be that voice for them, to stand up on their behalf. Just because you don’t think the same as everyone else or do the same things everyone else does is not a reason to be treated so badly. Stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. Make a difference in someone’s life. Even if it’s just one person you’ve helped, you’ve literally just changed a person’s entire world. Do what you can and don’t delay. You never know the good you can leave behind.

Day 14

I did not sleep well at all last night. I don’t know what was wrong with me. I was literally paranoid about everything (didn’t help my dog barked, and the neighbour decided to turn on their tv which just happens to be on the opposite side of the same wall where my head is). It was a very, very restless night.

This morning, I had to literally drag myself out of bed, and thus was very rushed getting ready. I am also being evaluated by my principal today, so there’s just so much going through my head.

For the morning, and on into lunch, I’ve been drinking away 1.75L of pulpy orange juice. I knew today would be a rushed mess, so I planned accordingly on ease of intake. The orange juice is easy to sip away.

It was a very stressful day, not just with the lack of sleep, but also with my evaluation in the afternoon. I only snacked on one banana for the afternoon. It was really not turning out to be a good day.

My evaluation went ok, though I don’t get my results back right away. I was starving and not focussed or anything by the time the end of the day hit. I just wanted to go home. I wrapped up things as soon as I could, and I went home.

Once I got home, I took a few minutes just to chill and debrief. It was a day I didn’t really want to repeat again. After I felt a bit better, I ate two chocolate and coconut vegan granola bars, and a pot of rice that I added a spoon of vegan cream cheese and some nutritional yeast flakes to. It gave me the nutrition I needed to feel better, and to fuel up for the gym.

I had a great workout. I did a hard circuit of ISO explosive squats, lunges, planks, overhead squats and push-ups. I then did 35 minutes of hard cycling on the stationary bike. I was WIPED by the time I was done, but I was so proud I finished!

Upon coming home, I took out a huge watermelon that I had, and managed to eat a quarter of it. Watermelon fills me up so fast! I then finished the night with some more of my fresh mango cake topped with coconut yogurt.

You know, it makes a total difference in how I feel based on what I eat. When I eat cleaner, I feel better. When I eat a ton of junk, I feel like junk. After that last pizza binge, I weighed 8 pounds more the next day. It just goes to show how that much grease and slow digesting stuff really can mess with you. I gotta stay on the clean train!

My husband also had a really garlicky cheese pizza, and I was so tempted just to take one little piece or bite. But I conquered! I can do this!

Ever Feel Like There is Too Much Going On?

Do you ever feel like you are so swamped, you don’t know how in the world you are going to remember everything, let alone accomplish everything? That was me this morning.

I knew I was getting evaluated today, and I had all of my online resources researched and found, created a game for the lesson, felt awesome and prepared to go. But that all changed when I came to work this morning.

It was announced that we also had to have detailed lesson plans prepared for this evaluation. I totally forgot to do that. I had to find time throughout my day to get that 4-page document done, not including the photocopying I had to do as well.

We were also reminded that this week was WISE week, and 8:30-9:30 each morning would be spent in assembly. Ok, I need to revise my schedule a little bit.

We were also reminded that we needed to review our contracts and get them sent in soon. Ok, I have everything printed to review, but need to actually sit down and do that.

That was just worship. Then I came to sit at my desk and made a list… 20 items long!

Before the principal came, I would have to clean my desk, clean the area around my desk, get those pesky smudge marks off my whiteboard, make sure the students are in perfect uniform, make sure their desks and cupboards are decently clean, make sure the homework table looks like there is a rhyme and reason to it.

Not just that, but we also have 2 trips coming up within a week and a half of each other. The money, the permission slips, the packing, everything has to be ready to go for those. I have about 3-4 hours of photocopying to do for ESL students’ folders. I have an hour of grading for ESL writing. I have approx. 5 hours of grading sitting on my grading table. I have a pastor’s appreciation card to prepare for tomorrow. I have tutoring binders to get ready for tomorrow. I have presentations that need to be done for classes this week. I just have so much stuff at work, let alone my list for home, that is insane!

Am I alone in this? Do you ever feel like this? Let me know if you have any tips on management and organization below! I’m always looking for helpful tips!

In Memory of Dolce, My Baby

As I mentioned in my Spring Break post, one of the occurrences was that my little Dolce passed away. So in memory of him, I thought I would share his story.

Originally, I had fallen in love with a different skinny pig. I had gone to the pet store so many times over problems with my fish that eventually my perspective turned from “That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen!” to “I absolutely love him!”. The unfortunate part was that as I walked into the pet store just as this little girl was walking out with my skinny pig. I was devastated. My boyfriend (future husband) at the time was able to send me a list of other pet stores because my heart was too broken to go home without this skinny pig.

I made it to another pet store, and thankfully, there was one skinny pig. I picked him up happily and took him home. This became my Armani.

Armani was an amazing pet, got along well with my dog and everything, but he started screaming at night. Upon some research, I found out they were companion animals and so the reason for his screams was loneliness. Thus began the hunt for another skinny pig.

We just happened to find this “werewolf” skinny pig, about an hour’s drive away. We made that drive. Dolce was a pure black skinny pig. He was less friendly than Armani, but the two got along well. However, it wasn’t more than a few months, and suddenly, we came home and Armani was dead. There weren’t any fight marks or anything, and of course, the pet stores do not record the age of small animals, so I do not know the cause of his death. We watched closely to see if Dolce would be as lonely as Armani was, but he seemed to be fine on his own.

Through our remaining time with Dolce – 4 years – we moved twice, travelled with him to the states several times, and just had such fun with him through everything. He was our little buddy. But as he aged, and as his last week of life came (unknowingly), I was thankful to get to spend some extra time with him before he passed. He will always be my little buddy and I will miss him incredibly.

My little Dolce’s last bath, drying under a nice towel with his most favourite food in the world: carrots!

Angel at the CarWash

Something happened this weekend that can only be explained with God’s intervention. Read on to see for yourself.

My husband and I took his truck to the carwash. We had a free coupon, so we ended up at a carwash where you pay for tokens and then manually wash the vehicle yourself in one of the bays inside the building. Of course, we luckily didn’t have to pay for the tokens since we had a free coupon for some.

Washing the truck went fine, and it looked much better afterwards.

As my husband was backing out of his bay, his truck stopped and simultaneously started revving very high. He tried to hit the brakes (as it was still in reverse), then tried shifting it to neutral and then park but the truck did not stop revving high. He then quickly shut off his truck.

Upon a small inspection, sitting in the middle of the building, somehow the gas pedal had gotten stuck on the mat, and so it was thankfully an easy fix.

But let me ask you a question: If the truck was continuously in reverse, why did the truck stop instead of hitting the red truck directly behind us, possibly crushing the man washing it?

It’s things like these that remind me God is still here. His angels are here. There is no reason that truck should have stopped. Theoretically we should have continued going backwards and doing the awful damage mentioned before. I am still getting a fast heartbeat just thinking about it. But God is the God of everything, and I will never cease to be thankful for what He did, has done, and will do.

Celebration of Learning

I’m not sure how many other schools do this, but every year, our school hosts what we call a Celebration of Learning. It is essentially student-led conferences, but rather than staying in a stationary place, the students have stations with either activities, projects or discussion places set up in order to demonstrate to their parents or families what they have been learning.

The tables I included in my room this year were:
Table 1 – Welcome Table – Take the piece of paper that has the activities and tables outlined as you travel around the room.
Table 2 – French – Play a memory match game using the cards which contain the French and English days of the week.
Table 3 – L.A. – Show your parents the textbook “Volcano” and describe what you have learned about Mount St. Helens. Then look at the Slideshow to show your picture with your volcano project.
Table 4 – Art – Show your parents your Huichol Yarn Painting and describe the method you are using to complete it.
Table 5 – Math – Get your bag of Skittles from the teacher and complete the written ratios.
Table 6 – Science – Using the materials provided, demonstrate the experiment we performed in class to prove that air takes up space (big, clear tub filled with water, clear glass, blank paper).
Table 7 – Spelling – Give your parents a spelling test using any lesson we have studied.
Table 8 – Social Studies – Share your plan with your family to help a problem in your community.
Table 9 – Bible – Using the Bibles provided, share one thing you have learned since studying Revelation.

This night does take a large amount of time to plan and set up, but the effects of it are awesome. There is little for the teacher to do, other than the set up and preparations. Instead, you get to sit back, make sure everything is running smoothly, and watch how the students interact with their own parents. You get to see parents smiling and laughing with their children. It’s really amazing to watch the relationships that get strengthened in a night like this.

I also like it because it causes busy parents to set extra time aside to sit and be interested in what their children are doing. I think the extra time alone, with the spotlight being on them in their classroom makes the night that much more special.

I’m curious to hear if your school does anything like this. Leave a comment below! I’m always up for new ideas!

And… Patience is Tested Again!

So we got up nice and early, prepared everything necessary for the Immigration interview, and even landed a perfect downtown parking spot and made it inside the building half an hour early. We took the elevator to the second floor only to be shocked that there were approximately 30 other people in line ahead of us. Oh well, we’re here, this is the day, we’re going to get it done no matter how long it takes!

Once they finally opened, it took awhile for them to reach us in line. We finally reached the window after at least an hour and were able to register that we were there. Everything went well except my husband’s pictures were a little too big. This turned out to be alright though because they had another photographer on the first floor and there was obviously ample time to go get them done.

We took the elevator back downstairs, and got his pictures done. This only took a few minutes. In our stress throughout the morning, we did not eat anything. Knowing how big the wait was (or estimating), we went to the basement food court for some breakfast. My husband had a fresh cinnamon bun and I had a delicious chicken and pecan salad with a hard-boiled egg. This helped my stomach sit a little better going back upstairs.

We got back upstairs, and quickly found that all of the seats had been taken, and we resorted to sitting on the floor with others. We waited for quite awhile until a woman came out and announced that their computer systems went down and they weren’t able to get them back up. So they were calling people in one-by-one to get phone numbers to arrange for an appointment later on.

At first, I was so frustrated. It was in fact, my husband who put it back in perspective: we now get to spend a day together! So I snapped out of it, and after he gave them his phone number, we headed off to the mall.

We didn’t buy anything, but we just enjoyed some leisure time, walking around the mall and ate lunch at Moxie’s.

After we came home, we discovered a message on his phone. Immigration had called saying they were starting to interview people again at 1:00 but that they wouldn’t be able to take everyone since obviously they were trying to fit a whole day’s worth of appointments into a couple hours. We didn’t go.

I was a little upset, except my husband explained to me again that the end of the message also said “or we will arrange an appointment hopefully next week”. So on Friday, we got another letter saying that we have an appointment this Thursday again. Oh boy. Here go the nerves again. But this time, we will be an hour early. Praying that God continues to hold this whole situation in His hands.

Week 12 Day 1: Squat Victory and Tips!

I can’t believe this is the last week of the challenge. Oh man. And you know, I started this challenge with the mindset of: I have to win! I’m proud to say I’m finishing this challenge with the mindset of: I don’t care if I win, I’ve come so far in my mentality and strength. I’m happy!

Today was another low-key day. It’s warmer outside, (-25 C) but still not something you want to go take a walk in.

More household chores got done (I’m so productive in the morning!), and we went out for groceries. We also stopped by the school to see if my car would start. Now, keep in mind that car has been sitting in deep snow, not plugged in, for 3 days. Absolutely frozen. Yet, what did that car do when my husband turned the key? Started as if it were a warm, summer day outside. Man, I love that car! I can understand its initial shock to the temperature and storm on Friday. I can sympathize about that. But it got used to the fact the weather is here, and it amazed me by starting and running without a problem! What a car!

We went home after our errands to eat before the gym. My husband just happened to fall asleep and took a nap. And it just so happened that a girl posted a couple squatting videos that were about 45 minutes in total. The videos reviewed everything that you should do right and everything that you could do wrong when it comes to squats. It literally broke the whole process down step by tiny step. It was so convenient these videos were posted today because I had to do squats today. I took many mental notes, and looked forward to trying this out. After all, squats have been a 3-year frustration for me.

When we got to the gym, I did my quick 5-minute warm-up on the treadmill. I then got ready and headed straight for the squat rack. I did my first set of 15 with much lower weight than normal (65 lbs) focussing on all the tips for my squats. I felt really good about them, but of course it’s always easier for someone to watch you and critique. So I went and got my husband. I simply did one rep, and my husband freaked out that I did it perfectly! I then explained to him what I had watched, the step-by-step of what I did, and just was so happy. 3 years of frustration, finally, finally fixed.

It took a long time for me to finish my 4 sets of squats. I was so focused on making sure my squat was in proper form, and adding weight each time. I was so tired and sore by the time I was done, and yet I had 8 more exercises to do. All of them were 4 sets today of 12-15 reps. I fought crying so many times. I could barely walk. But somehow, I managed to get through the workout, and went home without an ounce of energy to spare. It was killer. Cardio wasn’t even a thought today. I was dead.

We did go home, and we ate and got ready for bed. My poor body was used and needed the rest. What an awesome, awesome workout.

**If you are interested in watching these videos as well, here are the links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPNmkTIQTpM&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtPN-ftmxG8&feature=youtu.be

Sometimes Life Doesn’t Go The Way You Think

It’s without a doubt you’ve had some experience with this. It could be that everything seems to be going great one minute and then falls apart the next. It could be that everything is aligned to go a certain way and still it derails before your very eyes. Whatever the case may be, I’m sure you’ve experienced something like this at least once in your life.

Tonight I had one of these experiences and unfortunately I’m not up to sharing it right now. But it blind – sided me; totally took me by surprise.  It literally broke my heart and sent me into a downward spiral. And incase you’re wondering, no my husband and I are not getting a divorce. I wouldn’t have the strength to write you if that was the case. But this event that happened tonight reminded me that no matter what, I can’t live this life on my own. I have to be in close contact, holding the hand of my heavenly father every step of the way. I get blind – sided,  but He doesn’t.  I fall down and break apart but He doesn’t.  I sometimes feel like giving up on everything,  not seeing the point in anything. But God never gives up. And He sees the point in everything.  And therefore, I am reminded that I need Him daily, hourly, and each second.

I had a friend talk to me for the first time in a few weeks and she asked how I’ve been. So I updated her on the events of only the last week. Her question that followed was the same I get from many people,  “Is your life ever boring?”. It’s so true! I don’t have a chance to be bored. My life is either actively going in the right direction or I’m left scrambling to pick my life back up and put the pieces together enough to function again. I don’t get a break. It NEVER ends.

The more I sat and thought of this, the more I was reminded of things people have told me and things that I believe.

#1: God has me in my life for a reason and as much as I may not like it, it’s because He knows I’m the one who will somehow battle through it and develop the strength from previous events to tackle the increasing grandeur of future events. I seriously look over my past, the fears, the unknowns, and through God’s grace, I made it through stronger than before. But shortly after comes an event of larger size that once again breaks me down until through God’s grace once again, I build greater endurance and strength to overcome again. I mean I’m only in my early twenties,  and through the small amount of stories I share with my students at school, I have parents that have come to tell me I’ve been through more things that most people twice my age. I’m always scared of sounding like a know – it – all because I’ve moved so much, travelled some, been through extensive amounts of situations I can give info on so many different things. Students often come to my classroom to talk or to get advice because they know I’ve got something.  And maybe that’s part of the purpose, so that I can counsel others.  But it’s still an excruciatingly painful process with many scars that unfortunately get carried along.

#2: The devil attacks those He’s afraid of. Quite often, I’ve been reminded that the devil doesn’t waste his time on those who already deny God. His goal is to get us as far away FROM God as possible,  so he would only spend his time attacking those who try to regain for Christ’s kingdom, those who love God and try to follow Him the best they can. I’ve been told that when life is going seamlessly great, you have to question why the devil is not after you.  Again, not great news, because it basically guarantees life is going to be rough. But at the same time, God never guaranteed an easy life. He simply promised that those who endure on Earth will be rewarded in Heaven.  He promised that whenever we asked, He would help us. And that’s how we get through the worst parts of life, with God carrying us part of the way.

Tonight has not been the easiest night, but I know that God is here with me and is holding His hand over my heart, whispering that everything will be ok because He has this whole world in His hands. And I will cling to His embrace knowing that He is the reason I’m here and the reason I continue to survive through each thing I encounter. God is literally my all.