Tonight at Bible study we had a pretty cool discussion on what we like about Jesus, how we see him, and how we have trouble seeing him. I said I have a hard time trusting and relying on him as my father. I like to take hold of some issues and try to fix things myself, which only ends up in a mess. It is pretty cool to trust in God through a time of trial and have it all make perfect sense later.

Justin said one time "God is going to go there no matter what and if I don't let him it's just going to be harder and take longer."

Four Eyes!

I went to the eye doctor today, turns out I need glasses, and I look like a total nerd in them.... cool!

Listen to her...

Hah, who knew?

Your Inner European is Dutch!

Open minded and tolerant. You're up for just about anything.

Who's Your Inner European?

That is a really good picture to portray Dutch people, because we all look exactly like that. Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond... go orange.

Moving On

We have mastered the art of moving on. It is the means for protecting ourselves in this world. If you do not posses the ability to move on from someone who has hurt you, you are almost certainly preparing yourself to face a lot of heartache. We are not fond of heartache. Someone hurts you, you start looking for someone else to love that you see as clean and blameless. This is because if you were to stay with the previous person who hurt you, all you would see in them would be the pain they caused you. It would consume you, and the sting would be too great to withstand. If you hurt someone, you move away from the relationship, you forget the guilt, you find someone who you can start fresh with. Someone you can love all over again. You try not to hurt them, at least as bad as the last one you loved and hurt previously. We are always looking for something better, something that will more satisfy ourselves, because we think mainly about ourselves. Our idea of love is for ourselves, but imagine loving for the better of the other person. Imagine Jesus. Imagine someone who would wait faithfully and patiently, welcoming us back to love them each time we go astray. Someone who loves us more passionately than any other romance this Earth has ever seen. Someone who would welcome us into their arms, after every single time we break their heart, again... and again. Imagine someone who, no matter what we do to them, no matter how many times we betray them or act as if they never existed, they see us as clean and blameless, white as snow. I can't picture that, none of us can, we only know how to move on...

In this family picture when my dad was 6, he couldn't hold the pose because he saw a squirrel in the corner of the yard and decided that it was his duty to shoot it.

You have got to be kidding me.

My frickin street is going to look like this again because Thursday-Friday are predicted to have highs in the 30s and snow showers. Curse you, Michigan.

I think I've figured it out...?

It's been a season of life for me where I have done a lot of thinking. Recent events have made me see that I need to do some more planning on what I really want my life to look like, and what dreams and goals I have that are really realistic. I feel like I have finally come to a point where I've figured some stuff out, and that feels good. Italy is a no go. I think that my previous desire to go there was a combination of me freaking out/being selfish/having unrealistic and useless goals. I'm now planning on going away for a couple of months this fall to learn Spanish and do some missionary work in Latin or South America. I am excited that God has put this desire in my heart. I live with my parents and go to LCC, I have some growing up to do. I feel like this type of thing, pushing myself far outside of my comfort zone, spreading the gospel to people who have never heard it, is exactly what I need to grow as a person, and to also draw closer to God. So keep in mind that I just decided all of this over the past 48 hours and really had a change of heart after hearing Noel's message tonight. Please pray for what is in store for me, whatever that might be.