49 days... :)

Everyday emergencies...

Oh my goodness! Has it really been more than a month since my last post? I've been a terrible blogger as of late; so sorry. :( In all honesty, my life has been none stop craziness. With the semester coming to a close and every day getting closer and closer to July 16th (the day I marry my best friend. :) ).. there is never a moment of quiet. There is always something to be done. I am forever reading a textbook, writing a lab report, studying, working on invitations, zapping things for registries, organizing centerpiece ideas, setting up hotel wedding blocks, or tidying up at Dad's house or Scott's (soon to be our) apartment at any given moment. The days and weekends seem to always be eaten up before they even get here.



The other day, I had a very serious talk with my Future Hubs about just how crazy busy our lives have gotten recently. Scott has been between jobs the past two or three weeks, and we are blessed that he will be starting a new job with Charleston County Schools this coming week, but even with the time off... his life has stayed filled with "stuff" just as much as mine has.

We recognized that in all of the hustle and bustle (speaking of bustle... I have got to remember to get my dress to a seamstress.. ahh! The to-do list is never-ending!).. we are losing sight of the MOST IMPORTANT things.. like quiet time to worship and commune with our Heavenly Father and time to just BE together, not running errands together, not watching movies together, not even going to church together... just time to be Scott and Natasha.. together.

I know it sounds silly, but I really feel that it is so important to remember little things like time in a relationship - whether it be with Our Father or with our significant other. Without that time, you can so easily grow into two different people. I've talked to so many people who wonder when and how the object of their love grew into someone totally different, especially when they were "together" all the time. What were you doing with that time, though? Were you actually getting to know each other better? Or were you simply two people in the same room or same car? Time together should be just as much about quality as it is quantity.

This is mostly true of your significant other (or spouse for those of you who have already made that commitment.. as I will in just under four months). When it comes to God, though, He never changes.. we do. We allow ourselves to become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent.. the everyday stuff that seems like it has to get down now! But God wants more than the scraps of time left in our lives after all of our errands are run. I am so guilty of allowing the everyday "emergencies" to dictate my life. I am imperfect, and I need to remember to give my life over to the true Master and Lord of my life. My relationship with Him is so much more important than the satisfaction that comes from crossing things off of a to-do list.
I am so blessed to be marrying a man that recognizes this and is as convicted by this as I am. We promised each other that we would work harder to recognize when "life" was getting in the way of actually living and learning to know and love our God better, and that we would let the other know when we saw it beginning to happen. I pray everyday that God would continue to bless our relationship, and soon enough our marriage, but I am certain that God cares more about a relationship with us - an actual relationship with us and not just a quick "Hi, God. Thanks for another day, God. Bye, God" every morning, noon, and evening - than the centerpieces, or the floral arrangements, or the tests, or the litany of other truly insignificant things that crowd out our days.

So, in conclusion (for now), I pray that God would continue to bless my relationships, and that He would help me to focus my life on living to glorify Him (and not my GPA or my wedding or my residence). I pray that I would be constantly reminded of God's awesomeness, that He is in control of all things, and that I would strive to make Him the number one priority in my life.

Amen.

Sniffly sniff, whistily wheeze...

I do not like sickness. He is not my friend. I liken him to an unwelcome house guest that shows up at the most inopportune times and quickly proceeds to wear out his welcome. I just got over strep throat approximately one week ago. Now, a good head cold has taken up residence in my knoggin. Boo.

I must have no manner of luck at all. I hardly ever get sick. My body must be making up for lost time. This is definitely my least favorite part about this time of year. Birthday? Yay! Valentine's Day? Woohoo. Bring on the chocolate. Illness? ... meh. I think I have just created the perfect little cocktail of susceptibility in my life as of late - I get very little sleep. I stress over everything... school, wedding details, laundry, you name it. My diet is not what one might call balanced. And oh yeah... I live with a two year old who goes to daycare. Let's be honest with ourselves here.. is a daycare really anything but a petri dish with a playground and plush toys? Oy with the poodles already.

I don't mean to be so bleh. My head is cloudy. My ears seem plugged... as if everything I hear is a mile away. I cannot breathe through my nose. The bottle to the right is my best friend. -------->



The sniffles bring out the worst in me. I should work on that.

I'm not normally such a stink. I just needed to get my "hmph" out. I was able to get a lot done this evening, which was such a blessing. I have a pretty heavy week this week coming - two or three tests, numerous computer exercises, several short essays, a research paper on ethics in information technology (ugh..), etc. Being able to knock out a lot this evening alleviated some of the stress I was feeling about all of that, especially since Scott and I are painting my dad's entire house (just about) this weekend. That will be fun! Ha. Trust me, a blog will definitely (and hopefully with pictures!) be in store post painting weekend.

In the mean time, I will continue to try to use my time as efficiently as possible, doing things like Google image searching "sniffle," and finding such gems as this one:


Now how can anyone grump at that?

Or other treats that convict me when all I want is a doctor's note so that I don't have to leave my glass of OJ and warm bed to drive all the way to school, like this one:

Now, my strep throat warranted a visit to the doc. I will spare him my sniffles. Should've eaten that apple a day! Drat.

And lastly, ladies and gentlemen, I have saved you the best for last. Please, click the link below and enjoy. Share it with every sick person that you know. It is sure to bring a smile to anyone suffering with a case of the "sniffly sniff, whistily wheezes." :)

http://lair2000.net/Pooh_Lyrics/Songs/Sniffly_Sniff.html

Thanks for reading! :)

Oh, whadda weekend..

This weekend was a whirlwind! I can't believe it's already done. Two huge things happened this weekend - first, Scott moved into our apartment! There are no words for how much I love this apartment or how excited I am to live there (with the future hubs, haha) in only five months! Second, I turned 21! Where did 2009 go? When did Feb. 7th of 2010 get here? And swoosh.. it's gone already. Times flies when you're havin' fun. Goodness. :)

To elaborate on the weekend's festivities, we began moving on Friday (well... I began then; Scott works second shift at Boeing, and didn't get to get started in the fun until Saturday morning). We have sooo much stuff! And we're only moving stuff from his house in right now.. big furniture, dishes, shelves, essentials... those sorts of things. The little knick-knacks and cute stuff - stuff that'll give the place personality, lol - will trickle in over the next five months as I make my transition over there. Can't wait to live in our wonderful little two-bedroom apartment and get started on our life together, as Mr. and Mrs. Robert Scott Lewis. *Warm fuzzies.*

I'm almost jealous that he gets to move in already. We searched high and low for apartments - had to find the right fit (and the right price, of course). The inside had to have the right feel - nothing too suffocating, too cramped, too old, too... you know... We wanted a good community, too. Okay, maybe that was more my request - something homey, something comfortable, something that didn't make me want to run from my car to the apartment, something that made me happy to invite people over. We got all of it! A wonderful apartment - two bedrooms, wonderful lighting, up-to-date fixtures, not too old, not too expensive, located a perfect distance from Scott's work and my school, and situated in a cozy little community complete with trees, a pond, and cute little stands scattered around that hold tiny poo-bags to clean up after your pets (don't laugh... we'll have puppies one day, and I appreciated the thought). :) Praise the Lord for answered prayers. I am overwhelmed by his awesomeness, and I am so excited to see how He will continue to work in our lives.

Next big weekend event - I'm 21! I am officially into my twenties. When I was twelve, I can distinctly remember thinking, "I'm going to be 13 soon! Thirteen. I am going to be an age with 'teen' in it! Oh my!" Ha. Oh how the times change... and fly by! All that being said, I was able to enjoy my 21st in the midst of the busy moving weekend. Saturday evening (Feb. 6th, mind you), Scott and my younger sister, Kaitlyn, took me to mexican (my favorite! :D), and the kind people at Senor Tequila allowed me an (early) lime margarita (or two.. haha). We had such a fun time, and Kaitlyn kindly drove us home. :) Sunday, my actual birthday, my mom treated me to lunch with Scott and Kait at the Noisy Oyster.. shrimp, oysters, and.. this delicious beverage called a Van Gogh Espresso Shake. Sounds silly, I know. It did have "big girl" things in it like Bailey's Irish Cream and something else, but I have to be honest when I say that I ordered it because it had ice cream, coffee-flavored something or other, lots of whipped cream, and coffee beans on top! The picture looked nice. Ha! Happy birthday to me.

Oh yeah! It was Super Bowl weekend, too. We had dinner at Scott's parents house to watch the game and have a good time. His mom made me a birthday cake. It was a yellow cake with chocolate icing, colorful sprinkles, and the coolest squiggly birthday candles. 'Twas delicious, and I was so grateful for the kindness from my future in-laws. :)

Now.. back to the grind. It is Monday... sigh.. much to read, more to write, and even more to study. Have to quickly type up some missed notes for a friend, and all while watching Gilmore Girls in Scott's (soon to be our) living room with my wonderful future husband. I love him, and I think I just might marry him.

More soon. Thanks for reading! :)

Gettin' ready for the big time...

Oh. My. Goodness.

In the past week and a half, I have had three tests, numerous "busy" assignments (i.e. computer exercises, short essays, article reviews, etc), a few projects, nursery duty, wedding planning events, and... SICKness... emphasis on the SICK. Out of nowhere, my body decided to punish me for all of the stress I've been putting it through. Not getting enough sleep, a hardly balanced diet, very little exercise (short of walking across campus), stress, worry, stress, worry... it all caught up with me. Monday afternoon I had a sinus headache to rival all sinus headaches. To be quite honest, I wished that somebody had invented a vice grip for the head. All I could do was take Tylenol sinus something or other and lay down. I woke up Tuesday feeling somewhat better, definitely not 100%. By Tuesday afternoon, I knew I was in trouble. I was disoriented, foggy, and in a lot more pain. My throat also started to irritate me greatly... It all came crashing down by Wednesday morning. I woke up Wednesday feeling quite like what I would imagine one who has just been struck by a Peterbilt would feel like. My throat was on fire. I ached all over. After looking in the mirror and finding an angry looking tonsil the size of a walnut, I decided a doctor's appointment was probably the safe route to take.

My fears were confirmed by a long, painful and annoying Q-tip. Doc told me it was one of the nastiest cases of strep throat she'd seen in a while. Joy. Now two days into the Zpak, I'm feeling as though my health is improving. I'm certainly nowhere near fully recovered. I had to break a 101.7 fever last night; got it back down to normal today. I've guzzled probably gallons of water in 48 hrs, injested mass quanties of Tylenol, gargled several glasses of warm salt water, rested and caught up on some DVR'd Lifetime movies (guilty pleasure... sue me :P) ...and now... I must get back to work.

I have sooo much to do! I have no time for sickness. I gave two full days over to this little bugger known as Streptococcus pyogenes, and now, with several days of Zpak to go.. I must get back to the mountain of work that awaits me (and that has been steadily building in my absence). Tonight, I have to finish a physiology lab report on muscle fatigue and study for a psychology exam tomorrow. Hip hip hooray. Tomorrow, I will spend my Friday with my nose in a book (well.. several) catching up on reading that I have been too out of it to benefit from in these past few days.

I find myself wondering... was this period of being under the weather supposed to be punishment? or benefit? I did appreciate the 48 hrs of R&R, but it fell right in the middle of a business-as-usual week! I know I have been asking too much of myself, and that is probably what left me susceptible to such a nasty case of icky throat.. but goodness gracious! I will just have to do a better job of fitting healthier habits into my schedule. Must kick procrastination in the tookus!

Hehe:

Please pray for me. Time management is not my forte', and the mountain of work (and wedding planning left to do) is great.

"But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matt. 19:26)

Lord, please just help me to use this promise to further Your kingdom, and not my own. Amen.

All about the attitude...

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.” ~ Charles R. Swindoll

So true!!

I have been having a remarkably wonderful day, and I attribute a great deal of the day's awesomeness to ideology such as the one ingeniously explained above. Mr. Swindoll makes some very good points there. Can you imagine where the world would be if everyone acted only based on their past, education, money, circumstances, failures, or successes? What about what other people thought or said or did? Or how about their appearance, giftedness or skill?

I imagine that the world would be a sad, limited, dreary place. Thank the Lord we are not limited by those things, though. We are given the choice to rise above those supposed limitations and accomplish great things ... It is our attitude that is the crucial determining factor in what becomes of our life, however. We should not lose our motivation for greater things because of a shortage of time, a lack of money, a heavy workload, or a discouraging comment. Instead, those things should make us work that much harder.

Remember Matthew 19:26 - "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"

Days like today are blessings. They allow me the opportunity to look back on where I've been and what I've been through... and to look forward to where I'm headed... and Praise the Lord for the strength and opportunities He alone has provided. I would not be here today - enthusiastically pursuing the career that I am, enjoying the friendships with which I have been blessed, or eagerly awaiting to marry the wonderful and Godly man of my dreams (in only five and a half more months! :D ) - if God had not called me out and equipped me to do so.

I pray that everything I do is for the glory of the Lord and that I always keep the right and faithful attitude toward life. :)

What shakes you?

Just a few quick thoughts this morning... I've been thinking a great deal about some of the things Pastor Mark shared yesterday morning. There were several items that he spoke on that struck so close to home. Using the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22:1-19, Mark discussed idols. Idols are not just the obvious things - things that evoke a negative connotation and bring to mind "idolatry" when you mention them - things like money, fame, and power. Idols can be anything that comes between you and God. For instance, in this passage, God tells Abraham to "take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love" to sacrifice as a burnt offering. In today's society, how heinous does that sound? But in Abraham's time, can you imagine it? Abraham, who waited nearly a hundred years for the blessing of his son Isaac, was now being asked to sacrifice him. Why, one might ask, would God ask that of Abraham?

Abraham had allowed Isaac to become an idol in his heart. God's particular wording indicates this. Mark explained that God didn't just say "Abraham. Go and sacrific your son." He clarified and qualified the command. He told Abraham to sacrific his only son, the son whom Abraham loves. Abraham needed this experience to recognize that he had allowed Isaac to become an idol. He was faithful, though. In Gen. 22:5, Abraham told his servants that he and Isaac were going to worship and that "we" (both he and Isaac) would be back. How did he know that? He couldn't have known that God would spare Isaac, or that God would then provide a ram in the thicket to sacrifice. Can you imagine the faithfulness to follow through the way Abraham did in this passage? He must have had faith that the God who had the power to bring Abraham the desire of his heart - a son, an heir - even at his and his wife's advanced age also had the power to bring his son back.

God spared Isaac. To me, this was a heart check, a conviction that God provided to Abraham. Through it, Abraham was able to see that he had allowed Isaac to become more important than God.

This illustration astounds me. How easy is it for that to happen? You would never even think about the sin of idolatry being commited in this sense, at least I wouldn't. Your children? More important than God? What if it's a situation like Abraham's? How easy would it be to put up on a pedestal and all but worship a child that has been so long awaited and so long desired? This is true of other things that we would not necessarily associate with idolatry, as well. Relationships, spouses, romance, order, control, academic success, career, you name it. Who would think that these "positive, wholesome" things could be idols? Do they come between you and God? Do they get more of your time and attention than your Holy Father? Well, then... it's time for a heart check.

Pastor Mark quoted a man that said "Idols are the things that cause you to shake when they are shaken." What shakes you?





Another thought he shared that shook me was the idea that God provides the things that we desire most in life (as in more than a desire to draw close to Him) as a punishment so that we are then enslaved in bondage to our own idols. What an eye-opener. I praise the Lord for equipping Pastor Mark to share His word in such a profound and convicting manner. I am so thankful for a much needed heart check, and I think we would all be so lucky to have one... on a regular basis.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for your Word and for your faithfulness. Please protect my heart and my mind from the things of this world. Remind me daily of your awesomeness and your power. Draw me close to you, and transform me - in every way - to be like you. Convict me when I allow other things to creep in and come between us - order, relationships, success, family members - and please forgive me when I let this happen. Please allow me to always trust in you, always look to you, always strive to be with you, to know you, and to glorify you. In your precious Son's name, I pray.

Amen.