Everyone has regrets. It could be something as small as wishing you said hello to the stranger you felt compelled to say hello to, but didn't. Something as meaningless as choosing the wrong movie or choosing the wrong phone case. Something where at the moment you stand faced with a choice and you choose the item that you reasoned was best and when you finish the movie or whatever you chose you wonder if that was really the best choice.
Then other times it's something a little larger. What if you had turned on a different street that day? What if you had chosen not to go on that walk? What if you hadn't craved that white mocha coffee? These regrets are what we could call the "what if regrets."
Lastly, we have our large regrets. For me it's wishing I would have continued ballet, I hate myself for being so stubborn. My Mom pushed and prodded but nothing could get me to go back to my beloved ballet classes. My Mom's big regret is not continuing piano when she was younger. For my Dad it is the fact that he quit making a habit of working out in college. These regrets tend to be the ones that plague us for the rest of our lives.
As I stated earlier, everyone has some sort of regret, big or small.
Here is my kicker, if we followed every poke and prod of God's would we have any regrets at all? Whether you have formed an opinion or not, hear me out, please.
God is a sovereign God, He is an all knowing God. In Jeremiah chapter one verse five He says:
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations"
God knows exactly what we will do in the next five minutes, He leaves the choice up to us but He knows what our choice is going to be. He knows what kind of impact we will make upon this world, big or small. He is using us all, whether we touch only a couple of peoples lives or millions of people. He has His plans.
So, if He knows all, if He is omnipotent, why don't we turn to Him in our choices? I have often been compelled to smile at a person, say hello, start a conversation, sit by a stranger, and so much more. I feel nudges from God to do simple things that could make a huge difference in a persons life. Sometimes I obey God's request and other times I think about everything that could happen and I talk myself out of it. Ironically enough, every time I don't follow the little urges I'm filled with regret, but when I do commit the little act I am filled with a feeling of great happiness because most of the time the person is relieved by me doing whatever it is I did. God obviously knows what needs to be done, why must we have a hard time trusting that God knows what He is doing?
Same has to go with large decisions. My Dad has very recently taken on a new job. This a big milestone in his life. You can bet that this decision was made with countless hours in prayer and also listening to what the Lord wanted us to do. Big decisions are always what people think about when they pray about being lead by God. But it's our every step that needs to be guided by Him.
If we lived with our hearts and our lives totally devoted and dedicated to God and followed His every urge I think we would live without regret. Of course, we are sinners, we will always let Satan work his way into our minds and convince us that we are too timid to ever step out and do God's will. God knows all so, why not give our all for Him? No matter what.
It takes 30 days for a habit to be ingrained into a persons mind so, for the next 30 days every time you feel led to step out of your box, go for it. Live your life God's way and live without a worming regret! You will mess up, accept that! We are sinners, we are fallen people, we are imperfect. That is why we have Jesus. God knows we mess up, it breaks His heart, but He forgives.
So, make a habit of stepping out of your box! Have a never ending conversation with Him, He will lead you the way He wants you to go!
Live life without regret, live life God's way!
Abbie
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Getting lost without being lost
Sorry for my absence, school has started back up again and so, I'm working on getting back into the swing of things. I have a lot of fun classes but they all promise to be a challenge for me. On top of all of that tennis conditioning has started up and season will be in full swing in a month or so.
Any way I had the privilege of going on a bit of an "adventure" before break ended and I never had a chance to fill all of you in!! The idea came from the book "How to be an Adventurer of the World" that I dedicated a post to earlier. The instructions were simply to go on a walk and every time you thought, "oh I'll go this way" you had to go the other way. The book explains it as, "getting lost without being lost."
So I set out on my journey to lose myself in my awe of the Maker but still know where I was. It was a tad bit nippy out but I was nice and bundled up! If I saw something I wanted to explore, you can bet I went.
I found myself at a neighborhood park right by one of the pools I worked at this summer. I plowed through snow drifts that met up with my knees and touched everything that was of interest to me.
I'm going to make another reference to Lord of the Rings, just because the movie is that great! In the first movie Frodo quotes Bilbo:
"It's dangerous business Frodo, going out of your door, you step into the road, and if you don't keep your feet there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."
I wasn't swept of to some crazy amazing place and I didn't find anything too amazing either. But I did find something of great importance to me, my sanity. I lost it over break after being constantly surrounded by people. On my walk I was able to connect with myself again! I was able to explore my curiosities without being questioned about what I was doing. I wandered from the beaten path and left my prints in the untouched snow.
I have so many Lord of the Rings references I could use right now but I won't use them. I'll save it all for a LOTR post I just decided I'll make in the future.
I kind of rambled on in this post, I apologize. I will try to start keeping up with posts as well!
So, if all goes as planned, so long until tomorrow!! And hopefully my post is better too!
Abbie
Any way I had the privilege of going on a bit of an "adventure" before break ended and I never had a chance to fill all of you in!! The idea came from the book "How to be an Adventurer of the World" that I dedicated a post to earlier. The instructions were simply to go on a walk and every time you thought, "oh I'll go this way" you had to go the other way. The book explains it as, "getting lost without being lost."
So I set out on my journey to lose myself in my awe of the Maker but still know where I was. It was a tad bit nippy out but I was nice and bundled up! If I saw something I wanted to explore, you can bet I went.
I found myself at a neighborhood park right by one of the pools I worked at this summer. I plowed through snow drifts that met up with my knees and touched everything that was of interest to me.
I'm going to make another reference to Lord of the Rings, just because the movie is that great! In the first movie Frodo quotes Bilbo:
"It's dangerous business Frodo, going out of your door, you step into the road, and if you don't keep your feet there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."
I wasn't swept of to some crazy amazing place and I didn't find anything too amazing either. But I did find something of great importance to me, my sanity. I lost it over break after being constantly surrounded by people. On my walk I was able to connect with myself again! I was able to explore my curiosities without being questioned about what I was doing. I wandered from the beaten path and left my prints in the untouched snow.
I have so many Lord of the Rings references I could use right now but I won't use them. I'll save it all for a LOTR post I just decided I'll make in the future.
I kind of rambled on in this post, I apologize. I will try to start keeping up with posts as well!
So, if all goes as planned, so long until tomorrow!! And hopefully my post is better too!
Abbie
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Living life God's way
Happy faces, rosy cheeks, shouts of glee, the scraping of metal against ice, the holding of hands, and the falling on bums. I'll bet you can guess where I was today!
I laced my feet into a pair of figure skates and became the dreamer of skating dreams. It took me awhile to warm up but ten minutes in I was skating like a pro.
I spent this lovely day with my Aunt, Uncle, Cousins, and Grandparents. Out of our whole group my two year old cousin was the most ambitious. In the beginning she wanted nothing to do with the ice but after seeing her Cousins and Mommy and Daddy skate, she wanted in. She took to the ice like a fish to water and after seeing a couple of other little kids skating backwards while holding a grown ups hands she let go of my Uncle's hand and grabbed both of mine. She then says "I want to skate backwards."
I think we can all learn from my cousins bravery. I once read that as soon as a child worries about the future is when childhood is given up they start to become an adult. Like any child my cousin did not worry about falling, she saw something she wanted to try and trusted that I would not let her fall.
Why can't adults and adolescents be like that? Why do we worry about what will happen when we want to do something. Now granted, it's a good to think about the consequences. You don't just do, say drugs just because you want to. Most people know not to do drugs because they thought through the consequences.
I'm talking about things that we know the consequences wouldn't be too grave. I'm talking things that God approves of, things that God says, "I want you to do that." Why can't we just trust that God would never have us do something that wouldn't shape us into the person He wants us to be? Just like I wouldn't have let my cousin skate backwards if I thought she would be hurt from it.
Why can't we just go head long into any adventure God okays for us? It could be the adventure that we tell our grandchildren about at our knee someday. Do you want to miss that opportunity? Just like how Bilbo Baggins said yes to his adventure, after much prodding, but thankfully he went along, otherwise we would have no Lord of the Rings and he would have no story to tell.
Ignore the fact that I just referenced LOTR if you have never seen the movies or read the books (you should really watch/read them though, they are great!) But I want you to understand what I am trying to say here. Adventure is meant to be had and life is meant to be lived to glorify God. So, jump in, don't be scared, if God approves you would be crazy not to hurry on your way and do His bidding. Think of how amazing this world would be and how interesting people would be if everyone allowed their every step to be guided by God Himself. It would be a lovely world.
So, next time you feel God urging you to do something unexpected, big or small, I challenge you to go out on a whim and grab life by the horns and go for it!
Abbie
I laced my feet into a pair of figure skates and became the dreamer of skating dreams. It took me awhile to warm up but ten minutes in I was skating like a pro.
I spent this lovely day with my Aunt, Uncle, Cousins, and Grandparents. Out of our whole group my two year old cousin was the most ambitious. In the beginning she wanted nothing to do with the ice but after seeing her Cousins and Mommy and Daddy skate, she wanted in. She took to the ice like a fish to water and after seeing a couple of other little kids skating backwards while holding a grown ups hands she let go of my Uncle's hand and grabbed both of mine. She then says "I want to skate backwards."
I think we can all learn from my cousins bravery. I once read that as soon as a child worries about the future is when childhood is given up they start to become an adult. Like any child my cousin did not worry about falling, she saw something she wanted to try and trusted that I would not let her fall.
Why can't adults and adolescents be like that? Why do we worry about what will happen when we want to do something. Now granted, it's a good to think about the consequences. You don't just do, say drugs just because you want to. Most people know not to do drugs because they thought through the consequences.
I'm talking about things that we know the consequences wouldn't be too grave. I'm talking things that God approves of, things that God says, "I want you to do that." Why can't we just trust that God would never have us do something that wouldn't shape us into the person He wants us to be? Just like I wouldn't have let my cousin skate backwards if I thought she would be hurt from it.
Why can't we just go head long into any adventure God okays for us? It could be the adventure that we tell our grandchildren about at our knee someday. Do you want to miss that opportunity? Just like how Bilbo Baggins said yes to his adventure, after much prodding, but thankfully he went along, otherwise we would have no Lord of the Rings and he would have no story to tell.
Ignore the fact that I just referenced LOTR if you have never seen the movies or read the books (you should really watch/read them though, they are great!) But I want you to understand what I am trying to say here. Adventure is meant to be had and life is meant to be lived to glorify God. So, jump in, don't be scared, if God approves you would be crazy not to hurry on your way and do His bidding. Think of how amazing this world would be and how interesting people would be if everyone allowed their every step to be guided by God Himself. It would be a lovely world.
So, next time you feel God urging you to do something unexpected, big or small, I challenge you to go out on a whim and grab life by the horns and go for it!
Abbie
Monday, December 31, 2012
Reading
If there is one thing I love to do it is read. When I was little if I got in trouble my punishment would be having my books taken away. I knew exactly where my Mom would hide the books too and when my parents were out of the house I would sneak and read them. Books are what whisk me away from this world, when I get bored with my life and there is no adventure to be had. I just pick up a book and am instantly placed into a world I dream about living in. If I'm having a tough time or just want to escape from the world I pick up a book. I don't run away from my problems but I make them more bearable by living some other persons problems for a short time.
It seems to stun people that I become so close to characters that when my book is over I mope around mourning that my adventure with that person is over. It also seems to stun them that I talk about the character as if they are real "Oh, Addie wouldn't do that" "Millie says that life is for living so, jump in!" It seems to drive my family nuts because they always have to guess at if the person is real or not.
I can bounce back very quickly after the end of a book because I jump right into another. But the book I just finished absolutely tore me apart. I can't read another book because I know that no other book could amount to how great this book was, for the moment. I want to relish in the pain of this one. The author did a lovely job of getting me emotionally attached to these characters. I never cry over movies or books but at the end of this book I was honestly so close to bawling my eyes out. In the epilogue she says that they live a happy life AND THEN THEY DIE AT AN OLD AGE. You are like, "Abbie, what is you problem? They are just book characters and everyone has to die." Yeah, yeah, yeah I know. But these were my friends!! And I'm sitting there and they die and I'm still at my ripe age of 16. I started the journey with them when they were young, I grew up with them, then I have to bury them and I have only aged a couple of days.
I have spent my whole day feeling the pain of loss. I can't stop thinking of my friends, I can't stop thinking about what they would do or that they would have laughed at that or how they would have grabbed life by the hands and done this or that outrageous thing.
I have been sitting here for an hour and a half trying to write this post but I just can't stop thinking about my book and to top all of that off, this post makes no sense.
So, just ignore all of my mindless chatter and have a lovely new year and do like Miriam would do and look at every moment as an adventure.
Abbie
It seems to stun people that I become so close to characters that when my book is over I mope around mourning that my adventure with that person is over. It also seems to stun them that I talk about the character as if they are real "Oh, Addie wouldn't do that" "Millie says that life is for living so, jump in!" It seems to drive my family nuts because they always have to guess at if the person is real or not.
I can bounce back very quickly after the end of a book because I jump right into another. But the book I just finished absolutely tore me apart. I can't read another book because I know that no other book could amount to how great this book was, for the moment. I want to relish in the pain of this one. The author did a lovely job of getting me emotionally attached to these characters. I never cry over movies or books but at the end of this book I was honestly so close to bawling my eyes out. In the epilogue she says that they live a happy life AND THEN THEY DIE AT AN OLD AGE. You are like, "Abbie, what is you problem? They are just book characters and everyone has to die." Yeah, yeah, yeah I know. But these were my friends!! And I'm sitting there and they die and I'm still at my ripe age of 16. I started the journey with them when they were young, I grew up with them, then I have to bury them and I have only aged a couple of days.
I have spent my whole day feeling the pain of loss. I can't stop thinking of my friends, I can't stop thinking about what they would do or that they would have laughed at that or how they would have grabbed life by the hands and done this or that outrageous thing.
I have been sitting here for an hour and a half trying to write this post but I just can't stop thinking about my book and to top all of that off, this post makes no sense.
So, just ignore all of my mindless chatter and have a lovely new year and do like Miriam would do and look at every moment as an adventure.
Abbie
Thursday, December 27, 2012
So, you don't think God is great? Read this.
I've always found it crazy that people don't believe that there is a God. I know there are probably millions of posts out there very similar to how this one is going to be, but Imma do it any way!
I went on a walk this morning. I always enjoy admiring The Lord's creations so I kept my eyes wide open, as not to miss a single thing. Only two humans were spotted on my little adventure and towards the end of the walk my chin was feeling the nip of Jack Frost, despite my giant knitted scarf. Giant snow flakes were drifting to the ground, anxious to kiss old snow hello. As I walked into the wind I was careful to keep my chin tucked against my chest. But as soon as the wind wasn't slapping my face I allowed my curious eyes to wander over the white landscape.
How can a person not believe that there is a God? I mean, the snow flakes. It's said that no two flakes are the same, they are all made with a different design by the hand of God. Crazy, right? It's hard for me to fathom that it's even possible, I mean, how many years has it been snowing? Thousands of years and there is not a single design repeated in any flake. This has to take a lot of creativity, creativity that can only belong to a God who made the earth.
On my walk I also noticed many other things. How the birds still chased each other in circles around trees even though it was freezing and the three squirrels that played tag on the trunk of another tree. Am I the only one who thinks it's crazy that they can play on the trunk of a tree and not fall to the ground? Squirrels were made that way and I'm not going to be one to question how amazing God is. But still people believe that this all exploded into being? Even the simplest things scream, THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE MADE ME!!!
I once read somewhere that bumble bees defy all of scientists expectations. Their body's are supposed to be too big for their wings to support them. Scientifically bees aren't supposed to fly, but they do. If you don't think that is crazy then take a step back and take a different look at it. Bees, though they scare most of us, are mandatory for our living. Bees pollinate plants, so the plant can reproduce. Without a bee's flight nothing would get pollinated, causing plants to wither and die without producing offspring. That would mean no wheat, corn, barley, and any other plant. Everything we eat originates from a plant, no matter how processed. Now you say meat, we can eat meat you silly girl. Well, where does a cow, pig, or any other animal's food come from? That's right, plants. So, without a bee's flight, anything of any kind would not exist. I'm sorry if that doesn't blow your mind, I really am. Let me try once more to blow your mind on this concept. Bee no fly, you no live, no worry, bee do fly. Okay, sorry that was a pathetic attempt at humor. But this really is AMAZING, the bee is not expected to fly but God saw what the world would be like if the bee didn't fly, even though man doesn't seem to think it should be possible, with God all things are possible. Now don't try to tell me that bees morphed into being able to fly, that's silly.
There are so many crazy things that God wove into creation. There are 284 individual muscles in the caterpillar's head. 284 in the head alone. Caterpillar's heads are tiny!! The earth was placed the perfect distance to the sun, a tad bit closer and earth would be way too hot for life to live on, a little further away and it would be too cold. And people think that the earth exploded into the perfect spot. It's okay if you are just as confused as me.
I also looked up some facts about our planet that are crazy. The earth travels at the perfect speed around the sun, about 66,000 miles an hour. Faster and it would be an icy wasteland, slower and we would be pulled toward to sun and would burn up. Also the average distance between the stars within our galaxy is about six light years apart, that's about 36 trillion miles. To me they seem so close together when they shine in the sky. For more facts and to see theses facts visit: http://voices.yahoo.com/10-really-cool-facts-our-universe-5815702.html
I dare you to go on a walk, no matter the weather. I've gone on walks in the rain and snow, and you should too!! It's quite the adventure. Go alone and open your eyes, look around and notice the world around you! Ponder things and watch in awe as the world around you does it's thing. The Creator made this world for you to explore, so go on, get messy and learn about your surroundings!
Happy adventuring,
Abbie
I went on a walk this morning. I always enjoy admiring The Lord's creations so I kept my eyes wide open, as not to miss a single thing. Only two humans were spotted on my little adventure and towards the end of the walk my chin was feeling the nip of Jack Frost, despite my giant knitted scarf. Giant snow flakes were drifting to the ground, anxious to kiss old snow hello. As I walked into the wind I was careful to keep my chin tucked against my chest. But as soon as the wind wasn't slapping my face I allowed my curious eyes to wander over the white landscape.
How can a person not believe that there is a God? I mean, the snow flakes. It's said that no two flakes are the same, they are all made with a different design by the hand of God. Crazy, right? It's hard for me to fathom that it's even possible, I mean, how many years has it been snowing? Thousands of years and there is not a single design repeated in any flake. This has to take a lot of creativity, creativity that can only belong to a God who made the earth.
On my walk I also noticed many other things. How the birds still chased each other in circles around trees even though it was freezing and the three squirrels that played tag on the trunk of another tree. Am I the only one who thinks it's crazy that they can play on the trunk of a tree and not fall to the ground? Squirrels were made that way and I'm not going to be one to question how amazing God is. But still people believe that this all exploded into being? Even the simplest things scream, THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE MADE ME!!!
I once read somewhere that bumble bees defy all of scientists expectations. Their body's are supposed to be too big for their wings to support them. Scientifically bees aren't supposed to fly, but they do. If you don't think that is crazy then take a step back and take a different look at it. Bees, though they scare most of us, are mandatory for our living. Bees pollinate plants, so the plant can reproduce. Without a bee's flight nothing would get pollinated, causing plants to wither and die without producing offspring. That would mean no wheat, corn, barley, and any other plant. Everything we eat originates from a plant, no matter how processed. Now you say meat, we can eat meat you silly girl. Well, where does a cow, pig, or any other animal's food come from? That's right, plants. So, without a bee's flight, anything of any kind would not exist. I'm sorry if that doesn't blow your mind, I really am. Let me try once more to blow your mind on this concept. Bee no fly, you no live, no worry, bee do fly. Okay, sorry that was a pathetic attempt at humor. But this really is AMAZING, the bee is not expected to fly but God saw what the world would be like if the bee didn't fly, even though man doesn't seem to think it should be possible, with God all things are possible. Now don't try to tell me that bees morphed into being able to fly, that's silly.
There are so many crazy things that God wove into creation. There are 284 individual muscles in the caterpillar's head. 284 in the head alone. Caterpillar's heads are tiny!! The earth was placed the perfect distance to the sun, a tad bit closer and earth would be way too hot for life to live on, a little further away and it would be too cold. And people think that the earth exploded into the perfect spot. It's okay if you are just as confused as me.
I also looked up some facts about our planet that are crazy. The earth travels at the perfect speed around the sun, about 66,000 miles an hour. Faster and it would be an icy wasteland, slower and we would be pulled toward to sun and would burn up. Also the average distance between the stars within our galaxy is about six light years apart, that's about 36 trillion miles. To me they seem so close together when they shine in the sky. For more facts and to see theses facts visit: http://voices.yahoo.com/10-really-cool-facts-our-universe-5815702.html
I dare you to go on a walk, no matter the weather. I've gone on walks in the rain and snow, and you should too!! It's quite the adventure. Go alone and open your eyes, look around and notice the world around you! Ponder things and watch in awe as the world around you does it's thing. The Creator made this world for you to explore, so go on, get messy and learn about your surroundings!
Happy adventuring,
Abbie
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