Not taking life for granted.

Today I stumbled upon a quote that was not what I expected, but got me thinking. "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." -Winston Churchill

I did not expect to here these words and it got me thinking about how often we try to live for ourselves and how often we take away from life instead of giving back to it. After reading this quote I thought about how often I take the things that are given to me for granted and how often I just don't care to give back to the people in my life that deserve it... I even thought about the people that give so much up for me. I find that it is crucial to give of ourselves in order to truly be happy. I love to receive a gift, but I love to give a gift even more. I recently bought a pair of toms shoes and for those of you who don't know what they are... they are shoes in which every time that you buy a pair of shoes you also give a pair of shoes to another child. I loved the idea of giving a child a pair of shoes. If you would like more details here is the website tomsshoes.com

I don't just desire to buy a pair of shoes or give away my most prized possessions, but to truly give myself to others. Through my time, efforts, heart, and just serve people in the way that we were meant to. "With Love"

The Ordeal About Life

Why is it that life seems like it should be so simple on the surface, but yet it is so difficult. You know when you are growing up and you feel like life will be so simple and no one will get in my way. Its like your dreams are perfect and no one can stop you. And then you get there and you are like man I don't even feel like you deserve to have a dream. Its like you will never get there. I know that God has the bigger picture and that he has paved the path ahead, but why should I follow something that my heart doesn't know if it is right or wrong. I wonder if anyone else feels that life works in mysterious ways. If you feel like your mind only works in ways that you want it to. Its like you run from the true dream and trick yourself so much that you don't truly know what your true dream is anymore. Your mind pulls away from your soul and what you truly live for. So here is line that we all have to make. Who are we truly living for? For God? For others? For ourselves? What is becoming our true God in life and what is controlling all of us? And that is what we need to fix, our hearts or our minds, whatever gets in the way must be fixed and moved in place to glorify God and all he is. I would love to hear about your story. So comment. Please

The way that music affects our life

Have you ever thought about the way that music affects our lives and the way that we sometimes let it control our emotions? I sometimes put on music that puts me a great mood and I tend to have a great day after that point, and sometimes I put on music that is upsetting or just plain outrageous. I tend to let that music run my emotions, and don't care about how much time I spend listening to music that is secular or just wrong to listen to. I just let things get into my head too much sometimes. Don't get me wrong I love to sit down and listen to some great music. However, sometimes I let it begin to control my life and the emotions that I put off. I am going to challenge myself this week, not to let the music I listen to affect me as much and begin to care about what other people's emotions are and not my own. It's time to care about others more than ourselves.

A new look on the way other people act!

Have you ever been around someone, who just seems to be so surface level and isn't really that intentional about the way that they act around you and your not sure why? I have begun to notice small things at a time when i am around someone that I barely know or someone that I have just met. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and they just don't seem to care about what you are saying? Like when you are truly trying to get to know someone and they just don't seem to give you a full attention, or they don't really look at you when you are speaking. I have also noticed this when I first meet people, and they only seem to ask you very general questions that are so ordinary. Such as, "How is your day?" or "Wow isn't it a beautiful day out today?" It just seems like people are stuck in a habit of being so generic and don't want to be intentional. The worst part about this is that I have begun to notice this not only in others, but also in myself. I have observed myself in the act of being fake, or unintentional. Its like when you get caught up in your own life too much, that you don't care enough to get to know those around you. So my challenge for those of you who read this is to get intentional and actually get to know people for who they truly are and not worry about your self image or think about the fact that you may never see that person again, because the truth is is that if your not intentional why should some be intentional to you. Its time to care about those around you and be the love that you should be. "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

Oh how i miss rock climbing

I havent climbed in a few weeks and i truly miss it. It had been nearly a year since i had gone even a week without climbing and now i truly miss it like crazy. I want to get off of my butt and get onto the walls. I havent touched a rock in nearly three months and im going crazy. So ive been forced to settle for looking at pictures of other climbers. It makes me want to go to places all over the world like this.