Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Standing up for what is RIGHT!
Tonight I went to church and I worked with the 1st through 5th graders. We talked about standing up for what is right. I have been thinking about this topic a lot lately. Yesterday I was hanging out with one of my friends and she had her cousin and her cousin boyfriends brother with her and we decided that we were going to go to Wal-mart and then to Buffalo Gap. They all rode with me to Wal-Mart but when we got there they all got out because my friends car was there. They wanted to ride with my friend because she would let them smoke in her car. It made me feel left out but I can't stand to smell like smoke and I think that is it awful. It is a choice that you can make but I choose to not be involved in it. Then my friends cousin wanted to go get drunk and that is when I decided to leave. I don't like being around that sort of stuff. I have never understood why someone would want to poison their body with that kind of stuff. I have also never understood why that would be fun. Standing up for what is right or what you believe in is often hard and as you get older it get so much harder. When you are little it is little things like not watching a movie that you know you shouldn't watch. Then you grow up and you form your own opinions and go by your rules and it gets so much harder to stick to what you believe because what people think starts to become important. It shouldn't matter what they think. They are not the one who really matters. I am not a person who typically cares about what others think but I hate feeling like I am being left out. I like to feel like I belong. Then I think is feeling like you belong really that important. I know that it isn't so why does it hurt so much when you are left out? This is just something that I have been thinking about lately.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Day Care
I have been working at a day care since January 11. I started out working with kids who were just turning three. I didn't realize that I had fallen in love with these kids until this summer. I have been moved due to the fact that a) I took 3 weeks off and b) I have a lot of experience with all age groups of kids. This summer I have worked with about every kid in the day care and I know almost all their parents. Although I may not remember all their names I still like them. This week I am working with the 4 year olds. They have been a ton of fun. Next week I will be working with 1 year olds. It will be a whole new world and I will miss my new friends. The one really good advantage to working this summer is that they are working me 40 hour weeks so the pay is really good. What else would I do?? Either get into trouble or sit around the house doing nothing. Why do that when I can do something productive.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
New Orleans
New Orleans was AWESOME and then again it was sad. There were 15 of us that went 4 sponsors and 11 graduated seniors. 4 Guys and 11 Girls. We got our assignment on the day that we arrived. We went to bed early and got up at 6:00a.m. and ate breakfast and went to work. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. I knew that we would be taking everything that the person owned and piling it in the street but what I didn't know was how much it would impact me in the end. The lady who lived in the house that we did was in her 60s and she hadn't been back since she left. She didn't have a husband or any children and she lost her dog due to the storm. She stayed and was going to wait out the storm. It was just a hurricane after all and she thought she would be safe. If the levees hadn't of broke she probly would have been safe. She lived in New Orleans near the airport. She spent the first night on her refrigerator. The next day she ended up wading to the highway with her neighbors. She is deathly scared of water. It was a huge leap of faith. It was neat to hear her story. Our job was to put on these masks so we wouldn't get sick and go into her house and take everything out. Since she waded out she had left everything. It was a 2 bedroom house with a dining room and a living room. She also had a garage full of stuff and a laundry room with a bathroom out there. The whole house sat in about 3 feet of water for a month and then was left with no one touching it since. It was pretty gross. After we got all the funiture and appliances out we then tackled the carpet and then the walls. You tear everything down to the studs. It was pretty amazing how much we got done. It felt as if we were tearing apart her life. We took her house down to the studs and made a huge pile of all her belongings on the street. It also made me realize that all this stuff on earth means NOTHING! It is just stuff and this is just a passing point until we get to the really good stuff. So I started thinking why is all the stuff we have in our houses so important to us? You don't bring anything with you and you can't take anything back.(That made me think of the song You'll Be There by George Strait) The world is so messed up. We make things mean so much when in all reality they mean NOTHING! Anyway New Orleans was a time of growth and it was an eye opening experience.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
God is Awesome!
hey
I went to the dentist today and I was really tied. My mom had said something about me being a world traveler. The lady that took me back had started asking me questions about where I had been and what I have been doing. I was taking to her about my trip to New Orleans. Then my dentist came in and she asked me if I had been on my mission trip because last time I was in the office she asked me what I would be doing for the summer and I had told her I was going on a mission trip. Anyway after I told her she started work. Towards the end she told me that she was going to give me a crown that I needed for one of my other teeth that she had started earlier in the year. I nearly started crying. I was so excited. A crown is about $900. She said that since I was doing good things for others she would do something for me. I have always heard that if you do good things for others that blessings will come back to you doubled. I was just amazed at how it happened. God is so AWESOME! I will post on my trip to New Orleans later.
Love,
Heather
I went to the dentist today and I was really tied. My mom had said something about me being a world traveler. The lady that took me back had started asking me questions about where I had been and what I have been doing. I was taking to her about my trip to New Orleans. Then my dentist came in and she asked me if I had been on my mission trip because last time I was in the office she asked me what I would be doing for the summer and I had told her I was going on a mission trip. Anyway after I told her she started work. Towards the end she told me that she was going to give me a crown that I needed for one of my other teeth that she had started earlier in the year. I nearly started crying. I was so excited. A crown is about $900. She said that since I was doing good things for others she would do something for me. I have always heard that if you do good things for others that blessings will come back to you doubled. I was just amazed at how it happened. God is so AWESOME! I will post on my trip to New Orleans later.
Love,
Heather
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Keep your fork!
Remember to Keep your Fork
There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things "in order," she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.
"There's one more thing," she said excitedly. "What's that?" came the pastor's reply. "This is very important," the young woman continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."
The pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say.
"That surprises you, doesn't it?" the young woman asked. "Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request," said the pastor.
The young woman explained. "My grandmother once told me this story, and from there on out, I have always done so. I have also, always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, "Keep your fork". It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming... like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!'
So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder "What's with the fork?". Then I want you to tell them: "Keep your fork ... the best is yet to come."
The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the young woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience and knowledge. She KNEW that something better was coming.
At the funeral people were walking by the young woman's casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the pastor heard the question "What's with the fork?" And over and over he smiled.
During his message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right.
So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you ever so gently, that the best is yet to come. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care. Remember to always be there for them, even when you need them more. For you never know when it may be their time to "Keep your fork."
Cherish the time you have, and the memories you share... being friends with someone is not an opportunity but a sweet responsibility.
Author Unknown
This morning during class at church we were told this story and It brought tears to my eyes becuase as class was going on my parents were driving to Lubbock to see my grandfather who has been in the hospital for over a month. He can't feel anything from the waist down and he is going to a nursing home sometime this week. Anyway he LOVES this story. So for his birthday my mom framed it and on the frame she put forks. We never know when our last day will be but we do know that better things are to come.
~Heather~
There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things "in order," she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.
"There's one more thing," she said excitedly. "What's that?" came the pastor's reply. "This is very important," the young woman continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."
The pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say.
"That surprises you, doesn't it?" the young woman asked. "Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request," said the pastor.
The young woman explained. "My grandmother once told me this story, and from there on out, I have always done so. I have also, always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, "Keep your fork". It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming... like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!'
So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder "What's with the fork?". Then I want you to tell them: "Keep your fork ... the best is yet to come."
The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the young woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience and knowledge. She KNEW that something better was coming.
At the funeral people were walking by the young woman's casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the pastor heard the question "What's with the fork?" And over and over he smiled.
During his message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right.
So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you ever so gently, that the best is yet to come. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care. Remember to always be there for them, even when you need them more. For you never know when it may be their time to "Keep your fork."
Cherish the time you have, and the memories you share... being friends with someone is not an opportunity but a sweet responsibility.
Author Unknown
This morning during class at church we were told this story and It brought tears to my eyes becuase as class was going on my parents were driving to Lubbock to see my grandfather who has been in the hospital for over a month. He can't feel anything from the waist down and he is going to a nursing home sometime this week. Anyway he LOVES this story. So for his birthday my mom framed it and on the frame she put forks. We never know when our last day will be but we do know that better things are to come.
~Heather~
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