Now that school is again starting after a week of "fall" break I thought it high time to up-date. Allot can happen in two weeks time. Some things good, some things bad, nonetheless they are memories and images that stay with us for a lifetime. They are our story, which helps us learn and grow. So what has happened to me this past two weeks you may ask? Fear.
Fear is a very real thing in everybody's life. I will never forget in 5 grade my classmates and I went on a field trip to a rock climbing wall. I had never been on a rock wall like that before and I remember being terrified. My dad happened to be one of the chaperones who, of course insisted that I get harnessed up and ready to face my fear. Half way up the wall I froze, completely panic stricken. I remember looking down at the guy with the rope and saying "I wanna come down" than looking over at my dad who looked at the guy with the rope and told him "She cannot come down until she rings the bell at the top." I felt completely out of control and mad that my dad thought I could make it to the top and live. I, of course protested and cried, until my dad said "Laura Jane the only way you are EVER going to over come ANY fear is to do what you are afraid of." After a few more minutes I took a shaky breathe and put one foot over the other till I could reach and ring the bell. When I got to the bottom I had never been so happy in all my life; and guess what I was never afraid of climbing walls again. Today I climb rock walls in caves with no fear and no harness; I owe it to my dad who pushed me past my fear.
I am greatly blessed to have a dad who has always pushed me past my greatest fears in life. But what do we do when our greatest fears grip our minds, soul, heart, and body? What do we do when all we want to do is curl up in a little "safety" ball and hide out till all that we fear is gone? I am only just now learning how to deal with it fully, and it is a process that I know I need help in and that I know I am only just beginning to grow in. It is a process that I hope to someday master so that fear no longer reigns in my life. There are a few things I do know though that have truly helped me get on the right path.
One thing is I absolutely must learn to give up control. This has always been and probably always will be one of my biggest struggles. I am a firstborn, I am oh so very stubborn, I am a leader, I say what I am thinking, and most of all I like, no scratch that, I love being in control of my life and what is happening around me. If something slips out of my grasp and there is nothing I can do about it, I sink into a pit of fear, which than drags me down till I feel there is no escaping it. What than am I doing to cure myself of this downward spiral?! I am learning to give Jesus Christ control of my life. If I do not trust him with my very life than there is honestly no hope for me at all.
Another thing that I know is good, is facing that fear head on. I ask myself a series of questions. First, why do I feel fear? What is making me fearful? Once I figure out what I am afraid of I put it in my real life situation. What is the worst thing that could happen in this situation? What are the odds of that happening? If they are high am I going to let that fear take over my mind and body or am I going to trust that Jesus loves me and that he has my best interest at heart? Because if I believe that Christ is in control of my life and that he does actually care about and want the best for me than there will be no room for that fear to grow and take hold.
So today am I going to let fear take hold of me and rule my world or am I going to let Christ's love in to take away all fear? It is a daily choice that I know I have to face every single day. And I pray to God that I make the right choice every single day so that I no longer have to live in fear of what is to come or what has happened.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
6 Random Facts
My friend once told me that I had allot of weird facts in my head, after she told me this I wrote her a whole letter of my random facts of knowledge. After I sent the letter I thought of a bunch more and thought why not share these awesome random facts that I use all of the time!
1) When using a box cake mix replace the water with milk. Your cake will taste better and will be moist! People will want to know what your cake recipe is!
3) Alright girls you know when your mascara is almost gone but you really really don't want to go buy a new tube. Don't! Just add a few drops of contact solution! It works I do it all the time! You can usually do it up to three times and it last much longer!
4) Don't you just hate when you accidentally get deodorant stain on your clothes?! Don't sweat it....just grab a cotton sock and gently rub the area with the deodorant with the sock it will come right off! No water needed nothing! I got deodorant on my prom dress and it came right off with the sock.
5) Alright I have read sooo many articles on how to get stains out...but I have now found something that really actually works! I have done it twice now once on a shirt that had motor oil and once on a shirt that had meat grease on it. Just spray carpet cleaner on the affected area than just throw into the washer with soap. (We use tide) Next thing you know the stain is gone!
6) When you have a pot of boiling water on the stove throw a wooden spoon across the top and it won't boil over! It really works and has saved me a huge mess more than once!
And those are my six random facts that I love!
1) When using a box cake mix replace the water with milk. Your cake will taste better and will be moist! People will want to know what your cake recipe is!
4) Don't you just hate when you accidentally get deodorant stain on your clothes?! Don't sweat it....just grab a cotton sock and gently rub the area with the deodorant with the sock it will come right off! No water needed nothing! I got deodorant on my prom dress and it came right off with the sock.
5) Alright I have read sooo many articles on how to get stains out...but I have now found something that really actually works! I have done it twice now once on a shirt that had motor oil and once on a shirt that had meat grease on it. Just spray carpet cleaner on the affected area than just throw into the washer with soap. (We use tide) Next thing you know the stain is gone!
6) When you have a pot of boiling water on the stove throw a wooden spoon across the top and it won't boil over! It really works and has saved me a huge mess more than once!
And those are my six random facts that I love!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Good O'l Hymn Sing
I love all kinds of music, but growing up sometimes I just dreaded going to church on certain Sundays just because, I knew we would be singing just the hymns. In my thinking they were all super slow and boring and what was the point of even singing them...they were for the older generation and that was it. I felt like we did it just to make sure the older people were happy. It was a duty we performed once a month. A dreaded duty.
Finally when I turned 13 or 14 I started playing piano for church and lo and behold I had to learn how to play all these wretched songs. As I grew in my playing ability all kinds of different people taught me how to play the hymns all different kinds of ways and as I learned how to mix, change the key, make them faster/slower I grew to like them little by little. Eventually as I matured and went through difficult trials I actually read/sang the lyrics and as I read/sang them I realized how amazingly profound they really were.
The authors that wrote all these amazing pieces of work put tons of thought and effort into the lyrics. They actually thought about and pondered their words...it was never a mad scramble to throw new music out onto the table...it was something that they worked on sometimes it was never meant to even be a song. Sometimes it was just a poem expressing their great love for an amazing savior and than someone came along, read it and made it into a song later down the road.
Now I am definitely not disregarding Christ Tomlin, or the David Crowder Band or any of the other modern worship bands..in fact I love their music. But sometimes what means the most to me and my soul when I am feeling lonely or depressed or sometimes just plain happy is singing and playing some of the old hymns. There is something about the truth and thought that is in them that makes you actually think about how amazing the God we serve truly is.
One of my favorite hymns is In Christ Alone. It first sympathizes with our pain and shows us that we can rely on Jesus, but it doesn't stop there it then goes onto describe how and why we can rely on him. I love that because, allot of our modern songs just say things about relying on him and his love but they don't always explain how he does this or why he does this. Most of the hymns says certain things and than explains those certain things which it sometimes just what I need.
I love my church down here in Georgia in fact it is one of the best churches I have ever been to. I fell in love with their music and band. I love the atmosphere that we worship in, I love how we worship all together as one big family. I love the modern and up-beat feel of the music. And normally this is what I would rather listen to and play. But sometimes...I just long to pull out the old hymn book and just have a good o'l hymn sing.
Finally when I turned 13 or 14 I started playing piano for church and lo and behold I had to learn how to play all these wretched songs. As I grew in my playing ability all kinds of different people taught me how to play the hymns all different kinds of ways and as I learned how to mix, change the key, make them faster/slower I grew to like them little by little. Eventually as I matured and went through difficult trials I actually read/sang the lyrics and as I read/sang them I realized how amazingly profound they really were.
The authors that wrote all these amazing pieces of work put tons of thought and effort into the lyrics. They actually thought about and pondered their words...it was never a mad scramble to throw new music out onto the table...it was something that they worked on sometimes it was never meant to even be a song. Sometimes it was just a poem expressing their great love for an amazing savior and than someone came along, read it and made it into a song later down the road.
Now I am definitely not disregarding Christ Tomlin, or the David Crowder Band or any of the other modern worship bands..in fact I love their music. But sometimes what means the most to me and my soul when I am feeling lonely or depressed or sometimes just plain happy is singing and playing some of the old hymns. There is something about the truth and thought that is in them that makes you actually think about how amazing the God we serve truly is.
One of my favorite hymns is In Christ Alone. It first sympathizes with our pain and shows us that we can rely on Jesus, but it doesn't stop there it then goes onto describe how and why we can rely on him. I love that because, allot of our modern songs just say things about relying on him and his love but they don't always explain how he does this or why he does this. Most of the hymns says certain things and than explains those certain things which it sometimes just what I need.
I love my church down here in Georgia in fact it is one of the best churches I have ever been to. I fell in love with their music and band. I love the atmosphere that we worship in, I love how we worship all together as one big family. I love the modern and up-beat feel of the music. And normally this is what I would rather listen to and play. But sometimes...I just long to pull out the old hymn book and just have a good o'l hymn sing.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Minnesota Country Girl
Due to the fact that I have been given plenty of crap from both Northern and Southern people alike about being country, I have decided to clarify the term country.
First off being country does not automatically make you a southerner. If you live below the mason-dixon line this does not automatically make you a country boy/girl. If you live above the mason-dixon line this does not automatically make you a city boy/girl. In other words there are both country AND city people in both the north and south. Believe me I have now lived in both north and now south, I have met the same amount of city people as country people in both places. Promise.
Second, people in the north DO have country music. Country music is not just for people in the south, we Northern people also have a genre called country and last time I checked its the same people that y'all/you guys listen to down here. Some southern people have told me that country music does not apply to those of us who come from/live in the north.....ummm guys we have trucks, beer, girls, fields and we hunt and fish as well, it's not just you guys from the south. Also if you don't listen to country music or don't like it, this does not automatically make you a city person. Country music is not the only kind of music that exists.
Now thirdly, since moving to Georgia I have been accused of becoming a southern country girl; I have also been accused of being a northern city girl. May I propose to you my lovely southern and northern friends that I am a northern country girl. (GASP) Yes I can be from the north and still be a country girl to the core, and I can also live in the south and not be southern! Ever since moving here to Georgia I actually miss the country. I miss having woods for miles and miles right outside my back door. I miss being able to bike down to the river to go swimming. I miss trout fishing in southern Minnesota. I miss hunting those pesky deer on a cold November morning. Yes I definitely miss my home in the country. I also miss the snow, the northern accent, good coffee, the many many lakes, lefse, ice skating, long car rides listening to Prairie Home Companion, and everything else northern and Minnesotan.
Although I miss my home in Minnesota I am learning to adapt to the country of the south. I now enjoy caving, fried chicken (and fried pretty much every other food), blackberry picking, camping in the south (which is different than camping in the north), and now I am ready to try chicken and waffles, and alligator hunting. Note none of this makes me southern.
Now to tell you what makes a person southern or northern and country or city. First you have to have lived in the south or the north for at least 10 years and you have to have a northern or southern accent (Of course there are variations of both but, you get the idea.) If you are northern you own at least one parka if not two or three, you say "you guys", a toboggan is something you ride on to go sledding, you usually love cold weather, you talk very fast, and you know what lutefisk is. If you are southern you talk very slowly, really hate anything cold unless it is sweet tea, a toboggan is a hat, you say "y'all", and you know what chicken and waffles is. If you are a country person you like to hunt, fish, camp, and pretty much just do anything that involves the outdoors. If you are a city person you don't mind living downtown in a big city, you could probably go your whole life without going somewhere where there in no cell phone service, and you probably like to do things that are indoors. Now you guys must realize that these are just the basics on how to tell the difference...I could keep going and going but, than this post would be more like book than just a post.
So I am proud to say that I am a Minnesota country girl. I love everything cold and everything adventures, and now I am learning how to love some things southern. But please realize that I will probably never be a southern girl and I know I will never be a city girl. I am proud of my northern self, and I love all my southern city friends, northern city friends, southern country friends, and northern country friends.
First off being country does not automatically make you a southerner. If you live below the mason-dixon line this does not automatically make you a country boy/girl. If you live above the mason-dixon line this does not automatically make you a city boy/girl. In other words there are both country AND city people in both the north and south. Believe me I have now lived in both north and now south, I have met the same amount of city people as country people in both places. Promise.
Second, people in the north DO have country music. Country music is not just for people in the south, we Northern people also have a genre called country and last time I checked its the same people that y'all/you guys listen to down here. Some southern people have told me that country music does not apply to those of us who come from/live in the north.....ummm guys we have trucks, beer, girls, fields and we hunt and fish as well, it's not just you guys from the south. Also if you don't listen to country music or don't like it, this does not automatically make you a city person. Country music is not the only kind of music that exists.
Now thirdly, since moving to Georgia I have been accused of becoming a southern country girl; I have also been accused of being a northern city girl. May I propose to you my lovely southern and northern friends that I am a northern country girl. (GASP) Yes I can be from the north and still be a country girl to the core, and I can also live in the south and not be southern! Ever since moving here to Georgia I actually miss the country. I miss having woods for miles and miles right outside my back door. I miss being able to bike down to the river to go swimming. I miss trout fishing in southern Minnesota. I miss hunting those pesky deer on a cold November morning. Yes I definitely miss my home in the country. I also miss the snow, the northern accent, good coffee, the many many lakes, lefse, ice skating, long car rides listening to Prairie Home Companion, and everything else northern and Minnesotan.
Although I miss my home in Minnesota I am learning to adapt to the country of the south. I now enjoy caving, fried chicken (and fried pretty much every other food), blackberry picking, camping in the south (which is different than camping in the north), and now I am ready to try chicken and waffles, and alligator hunting. Note none of this makes me southern.
Now to tell you what makes a person southern or northern and country or city. First you have to have lived in the south or the north for at least 10 years and you have to have a northern or southern accent (Of course there are variations of both but, you get the idea.) If you are northern you own at least one parka if not two or three, you say "you guys", a toboggan is something you ride on to go sledding, you usually love cold weather, you talk very fast, and you know what lutefisk is. If you are southern you talk very slowly, really hate anything cold unless it is sweet tea, a toboggan is a hat, you say "y'all", and you know what chicken and waffles is. If you are a country person you like to hunt, fish, camp, and pretty much just do anything that involves the outdoors. If you are a city person you don't mind living downtown in a big city, you could probably go your whole life without going somewhere where there in no cell phone service, and you probably like to do things that are indoors. Now you guys must realize that these are just the basics on how to tell the difference...I could keep going and going but, than this post would be more like book than just a post.
So I am proud to say that I am a Minnesota country girl. I love everything cold and everything adventures, and now I am learning how to love some things southern. But please realize that I will probably never be a southern girl and I know I will never be a city girl. I am proud of my northern self, and I love all my southern city friends, northern city friends, southern country friends, and northern country friends.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Braid Tutorial!!
Ok so the other day I was messing around with my hair and I was trying to come up with new ways to do my hair for summer. Since of course down here in GA it is awfully hot and I like to have my hair off my neck but, I get really sick of a normal pony tail really fast. So this is what I came up with!!
So now I guess that the rest of you guys would love to know how I did this so here's the tutorial! :)
First I start with my hair wet and I brush it straight back.
Next I start by taking three pieces of hair by my ear. I start by just braiding normally once or twice.
After that every time you go to braid the right strand you take the hair from the top of your head. And remember you are only braiding the top section of your hair.
Just continue this till you run out of hair to pull back from the front of your head. Then you just braid normally to the tip of your hair and tie it off.
Just pin the braid to the top of your head so that you can work on the bottom section.
Now you are basically doing the same exact steps....its just the lower part of your hair. So start braiding normally.
Every time you go to braid the right side pick up the hair that's left over.
Continue this till you get to the end. Then braid normally and tie if off with a hair tie at the end.
Now you have your two braids done! Yay!!!
Take the bottom braid and tuck it underneath itself and secure with bobby pins.
Now take the top braid and pin it underneath itself with bobby pins......and there you go!!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Small World
Ok so I was just thinking about how big Atlanta is and how few people I have met when you think about all the people here in Atlanta. And then I was thinking about the people that I do know down here and how they have all lived here their whole lives and still don't even know a fourth of the people here in Atlanta. But somehow our paths crossed and we now know each other.
I have met allot of interesting people down here in Georgia. Allot of them have really cool stories about how they grew up down here in the south. They tell me about their big families, all their hunting and fishing stories, their great talent for southern cooking, and pretty much anything and everything southern. They also teach me all of the southern things I need to know to survive down here. For example: A buggy = A grocery cart Where do you sit = Where do you live Coke = Pop/soda. I usually just laugh and say "You betcha." Which they obviously think is hilarious and then they just give up teaching me anything about their way of living.
I recently met my new really good friend Valerija. She on the other hand does not share southern stories of big family gatherings, great BBQ, and the like. Nope two years ago Val was adopted from Latvia. Two years ago she thought she would never be adopted.......two years ago I thought I would never move from Duluth,MN.
We have gotten to know each other really well. We have allot of things in common. We both recently moved into a totally different culture. We also both have totally sweet accents and blonde hair. We both love doing the same kinds of things. Basically we are just really thankful that we met each other and that we get the chance to be good friends!
I just think it is soo cool they way God works to bring people together. Who would have thought that someday Val would move all the way here to Atlanta, GA from Latvia, but not just anywhere in Atlanta the same suburb in Atlanta, and we both chose to go to the same huge youth group and she just so happened to see me by myself one day. And I never would have thought that I would move down here to Atlanta, GA and live in the same suburb and go to the same youth group as her!
But that's the coolest thing about it......we live in a small world with a big God...
I have met allot of interesting people down here in Georgia. Allot of them have really cool stories about how they grew up down here in the south. They tell me about their big families, all their hunting and fishing stories, their great talent for southern cooking, and pretty much anything and everything southern. They also teach me all of the southern things I need to know to survive down here. For example: A buggy = A grocery cart Where do you sit = Where do you live Coke = Pop/soda. I usually just laugh and say "You betcha." Which they obviously think is hilarious and then they just give up teaching me anything about their way of living.
I recently met my new really good friend Valerija. She on the other hand does not share southern stories of big family gatherings, great BBQ, and the like. Nope two years ago Val was adopted from Latvia. Two years ago she thought she would never be adopted.......two years ago I thought I would never move from Duluth,MN.
We have gotten to know each other really well. We have allot of things in common. We both recently moved into a totally different culture. We also both have totally sweet accents and blonde hair. We both love doing the same kinds of things. Basically we are just really thankful that we met each other and that we get the chance to be good friends!
I just think it is soo cool they way God works to bring people together. Who would have thought that someday Val would move all the way here to Atlanta, GA from Latvia, but not just anywhere in Atlanta the same suburb in Atlanta, and we both chose to go to the same huge youth group and she just so happened to see me by myself one day. And I never would have thought that I would move down here to Atlanta, GA and live in the same suburb and go to the same youth group as her!
But that's the coolest thing about it......we live in a small world with a big God...
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