I've read Mark 12:30 countless times, but this time I've found new meaning in it.

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."

Whatever amount of strength there is, it should be spent on loving God. It doesn't have to be super-human. It just has to be what I've got, however limited that is. The more time spent loving God, the stronger the love becomes. Another thing that's crazy is that He is also the one that provides the strength, the desire, and the call to draw nearer to Him!

I want to start doing daily Love Work-Outs with God to grow stronger and healthier! Who wants to join?

Lack of Focus

These last couple weeks I have been struggling with keeping focused and taking time to sit and soak up time with God. And unfortunately, today was not any different. I managed to find links on Facebook that "needed to be checked" as well as taking an extra long time to figure out breakfast and writing a "To Do List". So, by the time I actually drew myself away from those things, I was feeling very frustrated, very distracted, and not really sure just how much I'd get from my devotions.

I started my prayer journal with, "What do you want me to learn today, God?... Will you open my mind to the lessons you have for me?" I read through Isaiah 10, not really being inspired by anything except for the fact that Isaiah was hard core and that I admired his persistence and faith. Then I switched over to Patriarchs and Prophets chapter 31, "Hope for the Heathen, which dug deeper into Isaiah's time period. This is where I found the little jewels that encouraged me in my walk.


Chapter 31 in Patriarchs and Prophets
"No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God. He is the Maker of all mankind. All men are of one family by creation, and all are one through redemption...His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere... In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free." p. 369-70

"Heaven's plan of salvation is broad enough to embrace the whole world. God longs to breathe in to prostrate humanity the breath of life. And He will not permit any soul to be disappointed who is sincere in his longing for something higher and nobler than anything the world can offer. Constantly He is sending His angels to those who, while surrounded by circumstances the most discouraging, pray in faith for some power higher than themselves to take possession of them and bring deliverance and peace. In various ways God will reveal Himself to them and will place them in touch with providences that will establish their confidence in the One who has given himself a ransom for all..." p. 377-78

That second section is what really jumped out at me. The mental picture of God leaning over offering us something more, something that will give life to our lives. It encouraged me that I really am not alone, I've got hope, and that I need to continue to fight the fight of faith. I've got an awesome, patient, present and long suffering God.

How is God speaking to you today? 

Life is Short

Grieving a death is an interesting thing. There is no solution, nothing that benefits the person lost, but they leave an emptiness, something that can't be filled by anyone else. I think there is something very healthy in remembering, but at the same time there seems to be something almost dissatisfying about it too. There's never an end to the memories. I can sit and remember the many memories of my dad for hours on end. His quiet personality, his dry sense of humor, his love for nature, and many more things... but that doesn't bring him back. Or sit and wish that my dad could be here to experience the different accomplishments and phases of the last two years. I wish I could call him up with my many questions, or hear him preach another sermon, go on more road trips, find another Sabbath afternoon hike, and hear more random, goofy songs that he would have found through listening to Pandora. But in the end the wishing doesn't help. What it does bring up though, is the fact that life truly is short. Whether it's a couple days, a couple years, 58 years, or 106 years, life goes quickly. Grief seems to put priorities in place; it makes me think of those around me who I still currently have, like my amazing, crazy, goofy family, the friends I have made over the years, and the random strangers I've interacted with. Each one has added something that only they could add, because of them being them. I am truly blessed with family, friends, and acquaintances!

So, as I reflect on this anniversary of my dad's death and what I want for this next year, I want to continue to remember, replay memories, laugh, cry, BUT above all, I want to make sure that I learn to love more, appreciate more, and share more with those that are currently around me.

I am blessed with both memories and with people!

Exodus 29

39 Offer one [sacrifice] in the morning and the other at twilight. 42 “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you; 46 They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

Exodus 29:39,42,46

Things learned from these verses:
1. The sacrifices were to start and end the day

2. God wants to meet AND talk with us

3. He wants us to recognize what He's brought us from (slavery of sin to freedom in Him)

4. He wants to live with us

5. He wants us to recognize that He is our God

My Dad's Desk

This was the desk that my dad had spent hours at preparing sermons, listening to his eclectic music, looking out the window at the gorgeous flowers and plants, playing sudoku or other puzzles, and listening to many, many hours of his family and church member's share about their lives. 

And now, I've had the privilege of studying for nursing boards at this desk for the past week. I've holed myself up in the study and gone over question upon question till I thought I would go crazy. Between cramming questions in, there were moments of crying because of the stress of studying as well as memories of my dad. But there were also moments of dancing around the room with John and Joseph, which included laughter because we lack coordination :)

I still miss my dad and wish that I could walk into the study to see him instead of an empty chair....but instead I have the MANY memories of him... and those are good memories! When I see him again, I'll be excited to tell him that I passed my NCLEX and give him a HUGE hug!!!  Really, when I think of seeing him again, there will probably be many other things on my mind, so I'll most likely completely forget about the NCLEX :) 

Anyways, looking back I'm glad I had an opportunity to remember old times, to depend on God, and let out a little steam while dancing around the house with John and Joseph! I'm blessed! 

Medical Humor and Quotes

One thousand Americans stop smoking every day - by dying. ~Author Unknown

A hypochondriac is one who has a pill for everything except what ails him. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

In the nineteenth century men lost their fear of God and acquired a fear of microbes. ~Author Unknown

Symptoms, then are in reality nothing but the cry from suffering organs. ~Jean Martin Charcot, translated from French

History of Medicine 
2000 B.C. - "Here, eat this root."
1000 B.C. - "That root is heathen, say this prayer."
1850 A.D. - "That prayer is superstition, drink this potion."
1940 A.D. - "That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill."
1985 A.D. - "That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic."
2000 A.D. - "That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root."
Author Unknown

Symptoms are the body's mother tongue; signs are in a foreign language. ~John Brown


When you treat a disease, first treat the mind. ~Chen Jen

It is sometimes as dangerous to be run into by a microbe as by a trolley car. ~J.J. Walsh

Poisons and medicine are oftentimes the same substance given with different intents. ~Peter Mere Latham

Medicines are not meat to live by. ~German Proverb

As it takes two to make a quarrel, so it takes two to make a disease, the microbe and its host. ~Charles V. Chapin

Never forget that it is not a pneumonia, but a pneumonic man who is your patient. ~William Withey Gull

I will lift mine eyes unto the pills. Almost everyone takes them, from the humble aspirin to the multi-coloured, king-sized three deckers, which put you to sleep, wake you up, stimulate and soothe you all in one. It is an age of pills. ~Malcolm Muggeridge, 1962

If you are too smart to pay the doctor, you had better be too smart to get ill. ~African Proverb

The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. ~Thomas Edison

Show a Little Bit of Love and Kindness

My reminder for the day! 

Sing a song; Spread some cheer

There are sad and lonely faces every where...

Be a friend; Show some love

It will lift them from the dungeons of despair.

Show a little bit of love and kindness,

Never go around with hatred's blindness

Take a little time to reach for joy and wear a happy face...

Sing a little bit when the days are dreary,

Offer little help to a friend who's weary

That's the way to make the world a happy place.