Learn from my mistake

For the last few weeks I've felt really hollow inside. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, and life was kind of a nightmare. I finally prayed to God and asked Him to please change whatever was wrong with me... and He did. It was then that I realized - I had been forgetting to pray for myself.

A few years ago, I was in a phase where all I did was pray for myself when I prayed - asking God to help with this or that - and I was forgetting to pray for other people. I realized that, and started praying for others. Time went by, and I stopped praying for myself and concentrating on everyone else. Huge mistake.

It was very prideful of me to think that I didn't need to ask God for help - that I could live just fine on my own. It took a few weeks of being totally empty and miserable inside to realize that maybe I did need God's help. Pride goes before a fall, yes?

So to all my blogging friends... don't forget to pray for yourself. Ask - no - beg God to help you and to lead and guide you. It's so important to pray for others too - don't get me wrong - but don't forget that your relationship with God is the one thing that will keep you solid in life. Don't sacrifice that.

"Sometimes I cry, and ask God 'why me?'. He replies and says 'I knew you would be strong. Otherwise I would have picked someone else.' "

-anonymous

hooks and curtains

Yesterday found my family and I reading a Torah (first five books of the Bible) portion - we were reading in Exodus about when God told the Israelites how to build the Tabernacle. We were reading chapter 36, and these two verses stuck out to me:

12: Fifty loops he made on one curtain, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the end curtain of the second set; the loops held one curtain to another.
13: And he made fifty hooks of gold, and joined the curtains to each other with the hooks, and the Dwelling Place became one.

So basically we have two curtains, that are being joined together with gold hooks. Anything similar to that come to mind? Marriage is what came to my mind! When two people get married, they are joined together as one (see Mark 10:8), and what is the symbol that two people are married? They wear gold rings on their fingers.

Plus, the whole thing of them building a Tabernacle, and our bodies are our Tabernacle... so when two become joined... yeah. Anyways! That was just my random theory as to why we might wear gold rings when we get married - or just a cool symbolistic thing around that. (and yes, I got pretty excited when I shared it with my family :D ) Any thoughts?

advice

Theological post to come tomorrow. For now, a piece of advice.

Guys, when you say something/post a photo/ask an opinion (of something that's not crazy important... like... 'are these glasses cool?' or 'does this beard look good?').... if all your guy friends are saying one thing, and all your girl friends (in a strictly 'friendship relationship', of course) are saying another, go with what the girls are saying. Especially if you're single and ever want to find a special girl. Just saying.*

*mostly joking, with a twinge of "no, this has happened, and I'm actually serious". :)

lamesauce and folks

So my loving brother kindly told me today that I need to make my blog more like myself. I asked him what he meant and he said "well, you say stuff like 'lamesauce' and 'folks' all the time in real life, but not on your blog!" I guess it's the English major in me that wants to write correctly, and not how I talk (which means I don't talk correctly? I don't know). Anyways, folks, here's to me blogging more like myself! ...I guess. hehehe

single = awesome

Not gonna lie, it's been a hard day to be single. Found out some college friends are now courting, found out that a former co-worker is dating a sweet gal..... and don't get me wrong, I'm super happy for all of them! It's just hard cause it's not me :P (I know, I'm a selfish, discontent loser.)

But! This post isn't all negative, promise. All day (besides teaching dance), I've been paging though this blog called 1000 Awesome Things. Each post is about something kinda small, kinda funny, but awesome! It's about appreciating the little things in life -- like when someone actually returns a pen you loaned to them, when you dry off in the warm sun after swimming, when little kids give you artwork.... stuff like that. The author did a post on how being single is awesome - and he's totally right! Being single IS awesome. There are so many things I'm doing today that I won't be able to do once I find that special guy. So I need to enjoy those awesome things now.

Yeah, this was kind of an 'encourage myself' post.... but the moral of the story is: you should go read the 1000 Awesome Things blog. It's kind of awesome. :)

bubble wrap: everyone loves it

Went to Starbucks the other day, and I patiently waited at the counter for the barista to come out of the back room. When she did, she apologized for me having to wait by saying: "Sorry I wasn't out right away! There was bubble wrap in the back and I just couldn't leave it without doing some popping." Hahaha!!! Pretty much made my day (well that, and the Pumpkin Spice Latte that I got). :D

a most splendid weekend

This weekend I got to spend with my dear Mom and some very dear friends. Mom and I drove to Minneapolis where we ate great food, shopped, laughed, talked, and generally had a blast.

My good friend Brit and I went to a Hillsong concert - let me tell you - that was amazing! I'm not usually a 'concert' type person - but this was great. To be with 8,000 people worshiping God for 2+ hours - Halleluyah!!! Brit and I were dancing, singing (well, more like shouting), hands-in-the-air praising the Creator of the universe - it was really cool.

I also got to spend time with some college friends that I haven't gotten to see in awhile, and that was wonderful! We played catchphrase, ate walking tacos while sitting down (just think about it... hahaha), and laughed and laughed and laughed.

As Thanksgiving creeps upon us, it makes me so thankful for all that I have, and realize that wow... I am blessed. SO blessed. :)

surprises

Surprises are a funny thing. For me, if I know a surprise is coming, it kills me to not know what it is. Like if Mom says we're doing something special on Friday... but doesn't say what - it drives me nuts! When surprises are totally unexpected though, that's when they're awesome. You have no idea something's coming then.... bam! There it is in all its unexpected glory. That's pretty great.

On another note, my brothers and I made caramel popcorn this evening, and we colored it green. It was so fun! ....and kinda strange to eat green food that wasn't, like, spinach. Or broccoli. Or pasta covered in pesto sauce. Anyways, it was a fun evening doing that. :)

Last thought on surprises - a couple years ago my family was on a long trip, and my middle brother was always saying 'expect the unexpected' whenever anything crazy would happen! ....sadly, that was the same trip where he was happily rollerblading and then fell and broke his arm. :( But still, I do like the saying 'expect the unexpected'. Because even though it doesn't really make sense, it still does, ya know?

intro

This is my new blog - my old one - countessindia.blogspot.com is broken and I don't know how to fix it. So it's dead. ;( R.I.P. Feel free to follow, comment, share, whatever on this blog!

The title refers to a song by Coldplay called Life in Technicolor. I thought it would be a good name because I just blog about life stuff (and because it's a super sweet song). Hopefully I write in such a way to make it colorful... but you can be the judge of that. :)