aWeStRuCk & uNdOnE

sinking ship

2012-01-22T13:26:00.000-06:00

at church we're doing a series on ephesians.
today was 2:1-10.
and needless to say, i was
V-E-R-Y
convicted by an illustration.

pastor shared a recent story about ship that had started sinking but the captain did not send an alert. he kept saying that they were fine, not letting anyone that could save them (coast guard etc). the captain actually saved himself and sort of let the crew and passengers fend for themselves.

we are all dead in sins, born into sin, and there is nothing that we can do to change that fact. we are born sinners. BUT GOD in His infinite love made us ALIVE IN HIM by grace and through faith.

the point that pastor made that truly convicted me was this:

there is a sinking ship called "everyone in the world"-am i going to be the one to tell them they are in danger, or am i going to keep myself safe and let them drown?

i have never been a good evangelist. i am one of those who can place tracts all over the place, but actually share the tract with someone, not so much. and lately ive just been convicted by that. and today, pastor just drove it home.

i have this faith in this AMAZING God who loved ME soooooooooooooo much that He sent His son Jesus FOR ME! i have overcome so much because of my faith in Christ. i need to share that Love with others. i cant just stand around and watch them drown when i have the life saving faith to share with them.

audrey tiffany

2012-01-07T22:47:00.001-06:00

guilty pleasure confession.

(i believe ive shared something along these lines before, but this is a specific one for tonight)

sometimes i enjoy having my own private girls night.

(i know it's partially in part to having no real girlfriends that live close...but still...)

light a candle
get a nice ice water
i give myself a manicure
do a deep conditioning hair treatment
use yummy lotion
pop in a movie

and cuddle up in a blanket with the window open =)

tonight is one of the great classics...

2012

2012-01-01T00:13:00.000-06:00

well, it is now officially 2012.

(and yes, it still feels like fall to me lol)

there are people outside yelling "happy new year" and doing those little firecrackers. and from the solitude of my room, while watching the proposal and reading post secrets, i whisper "thanks you too."

and so starts my year of 2012. with quiet gratitude.

2011 turned out to not be that bad of a year. of course it had some downs, but there were also some ups as well.

got to see all my besties except one. have gotten to meet some amazing new people. paid off one school loan. spent time on the westcoast, eastcoast, caribbean. i swam with sharks. saw a few amazing concerts. my brother came home and back to the Lord. i became a member of my church. i got into grad school. and i think ive overall maintained a positive mindset...and got to cross some things off my bucket list along the way.

so now for 2012, i have my list of things to accomplish, my Bible in a year reading plan, my list of books to read for recreation, my Christian living books to read, my list of ways to live more simply, my health improvement goals.

hopefully in 2012 i will be able to cross some more things off my bucket list =)

Christmas is beautiful

2011-12-25T20:12:00.000-06:00

MeRrY
ChRiStMaS!!!

there's just something special about Christmas being on a sunday. i love it!

so, we go to church...and came back home and read the Bible Christmas story, did our stockings and presents.

then we started making our traditional waffle breakfast (except today for lunch lol). i made mochaccino muffins (yum-freaking-o!) and dad made eggs etc.

we had invited gramma and grampa and their friend larry over to join us. larry was a roommate of grampas one of the times in the nursing home. larry lives alone and doesnt have (basically) any family. so of course, following traditional van gundy style, we had him join us.

my grandparents are amazing evangelists. they arent afraid to talk about Jesus to anyone and everyone they see. (i only aspire to be a small percent of the people they are.) they've talked to larry countless times about Jesus and his need for Him. and he just wasnt feeling it and not seeing it.

after we ate lunch, we were just sitting around talking and whatnot, about random things. places we've been. our vacation. cats. california. world war 2. food. music. all kindsa things. and then all of a sudden, larry starts talking about how gramma and grampa have talked to him about God before and that gramma has gotten through to him and he sees His need for salvation. that he wants to please God.

in a most random of moments, i saw a 90 year old man, (who has mild dementia), having a moment of absolute clarity, recognizing His need for a Savior...and on Christmas of all days! so around the table, we all pray with larry and welcome him into our family.

it was absoutely beautiful.

dear awesome God:
thank you SO much for sending Your Son to us. for all the times we do so wrong, thank You for forgiving us, and loving us no matter what. thank You for the opportunity You give us to know You and believe in Jesus and have a real and eternal relationship with You. You are the most incredible and amazing One, and i will eternally love You.

airplanes, real world, & obituaries

2011-12-23T23:19:00.000-06:00

well, we leave for the cancun airport to fly home in about 8 hours. such a day time lol. i do NOT wanna go back. going back means stress.

we arrive back around midnight Christmas eve...so pretty much Christmas day. dont get to sleep in bc of church, which is fine by me, because i absolutely LOVE church...but then i have to finish sewing gramma's present before they come over...which idk if i'll have time to finish it because fine, i havent started it yet.

and then the rest of the day is Christmas and relaxing and enjoyment with family/friends...and the 26th i have/took off for my acutal holiday and i have to get back into real world mode.

-bills. having to think about what im spending and such.
--thinking ahead for summer (which isnt that far away in terms of paychecks and what i need to have done before then).
---finalizing my plans for 2012 (which if you know me at all, you know that new years is a big planning day lol).
----figuring out grad school tuition/books/timing/etc. not quite sure how thats gunna actually play out now.
-----but mainly work.

i so dont wanna go back to work. not having to be there and not having my cell phone on has been...in a word...incredible!

of course i missed talking to ummm certain persons...but i really didnt miss having to solve work problems. i know that means that tuesday will absolutely tank...but im quite thankful i have a couple capable and trustworthy co-workers. bless em.

and while im finishing...ya know what else is sad...and i think ive mentioned something about this before...but still...it is a habit for me to check the pantagraph obituaries daily. and if we're being honest, sometimes more than once a day. every day while we've been gone, ive checked em in the morning and at night. i have the webpage bookmarked on my computer and my parents. it's a sad state of affairs when youre 25 and the obituaries are a part of your daily life.

well kiddos, thats it for tonight. just finalizing an ipizzle mix for the trip home, and then its off to bed for maybe 6hrs if im lucky. fingers crossed =)

ps: be prepared for a nice long (with pictures included) post about mexico sometime next week.

xoxo.

what does Christmas feel like?

2011-12-19T08:21:00.000-06:00

it doesn't quite feel like Christmas to me.
right now im in mexico (check out my facebook!)
and we're at a 5star resort on the beach
in playa del carmen.
it's in the 80s...and im on the beach.
but even before we left, it felt like fall.
i got most of my gifts online
because i didnt have time to shop around
between work and church and other duties.
there are hardly any lights in morton aside from main street.
i drove around the night before we left,
and i was disappointed.
it's like...Christmas isnt even here this year.
we dont get back home til like 11pm or later on Christmas eve.
ima miss all the holiday baking i love and adore!
ima miss all the parties at work (for staff and the residents party).
ima miss the Christmas eve service at church.
ima miss it all.
at least i get to go to church on Christmas...
but then its over.
Christmas will be done for the year.
so sad.

what does Christmas feel like to you?

upcoming

2011-12-05T09:40:00.001-06:00

well well well
here i sit
by a nice fire
courtesy of my pops
and watch gossip girl
and start to write out my Christmas cards
while papi sits at the kitchen table
doing his homework on his day off
what a cute papi

i must say
im officially ready for snow =)
let me clarify
i do not want to drive on ice
i just want to see snow in the lawn

when december starts to roll around
i start to think of goals for the next year

not resolutions so much
but rather goals
or simply things i want to accomplish
within the coming year

certain books to read
pounds to lose
places to go
bills to have paid
crafts to have completed
blogs to write
things to try
the usual

i think in the coming weeks/days
im going to do a lil blog series

"my top 5's of Christmas"
-ornaments
-traditions
-places ive spent Christmas
-songs
-hymns
-etc

you should consider it too
we could all do top 5s blogs
and read about each others Christmases =)