Thankful.

Monday morning was a crazy morning. It started out with oversleeping almost two hours and went downhill from there. It involved too much traffic, lots of stress, late arrivals, running across LU, and not a very cheerful heart. In a grouchy mood, I realized something as I ran back to where I was parked. Instead of being stressed out, I needed to be thankful. Because how can you feel sorry for yourself and be thankful at the same time? You can't!

I needed to make a list. Starting out is the hardest, because my sinful and selfish heart would rather dwell in a bad attitude. Instead I need to be thankful for the many blessings in my life! So, by the grace of God, He gave me a thankful heart.

So I started making a list of what I was thankful for.

-Jesus died for my sins.
-the Gospel is true.
-my wonderful family.
-my amazing friends.
-that in the one week anniversary of when nana went into the hospital, she is no longer in the hospital and does not need dialysis.
-Chickfila.
-bacon.
-ice cream.
-A/C when it's 88 degrees out.
-my LU friends.
-the green and flowers of spring.

... and it went on. Ok, so obviously bacon is not super important, but the little things count too, right? :)

What happened when I was thankful, might you ask? The inevitable of course! I felt so much more cheerful! You can't be grateful and grumpy!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in ALL circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

This verse tell us that it is God's will for us to be thankful. He has bestowed many blessings upon us! Even in hard and difficult times, being thankful gives a new perspective and brighter on life.

What are you thankful for?

Love,

Lily

Merry Christmas!

I hope that you have had a fabulous day celebrating the birth of our Savior, surrounded by family, friends, and dear ones! 

Jesus came as a little baby into our fallen world. He lived a sinless life, died on the cross for OUR sins, and rose again. He is now seated at the right hand of the Most High King!

The best present we could ever receive is the gift of life that God offers to us. He offers us the FREE gift of salvation! Though ipods, trips, computers, cameras, and toys are wonderful, none compare to the gift of life God gives to us. 

Thank you, Lord, for the best present of all. May we keep our eyes on You!

Love and blessings,

Lily

A few links...

~Luke 2

~Guy dancing in public with an iPod: Christmas Edition (filmed in Green Hills and Cool Springs!)

~My new blog: for such a time as this.

~my other tumblr: life with lily.

One Thousand Gifts:: Take Twenty-Nine

928-961

928. Christmas break!

929. fun Christmas parties

930. fun friends to celebrate with

931. dear friends in for the weekend

932. Apple's super impressive and very awesome customer service

933. finding parking spots in the crazy Christmas season

934. safety when I'm driving

935. shopping with the fam

936. a dear and wonderful friend and her mom visiting our church when I was having a rough day

937. hanging out with great friends

938. the dear and amazing friends that I have been blessed with

939. Advent

940. Pandora

941. spending three hours searching for a specific gift and finally finding it

942. my family's love

943. family game night

944. swim meets

945. precal at Starbucks

946. being DONE with exams!

947. a good first semester

948. a dear sister willing to edit 70+ pictures for me

949. that sister getting up at 5:30 one morning to decorate the tree

950. being proud of a sister in a performance

951. Pinterest :)

952. getting to see and hold a precious new baby girl (!!)
953. the gift of life
954. being able to go to prayer meeting
955. poinsettias, egg nog, and peppermint ice cream

956. our dear church family
957. playing every week with amazing musicians
958. fellowship
959. celebrating Christ's birth on a Sunday

960. that Jesus came as a baby to a fallen earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for MY sins, rose again, and is now seated at the right hand of God. Thank you, Lord, for such a gift!

961. "Silent Night"

Silent night! holy night!All is calm all is brightround yon virgin mother and childHoly infant so tender and mildsleep in heavenly peace!
Silent night! holy night!Shepherds quake at the sightglories stream from heaven afarheavenly hosts sing HallelujahChrist the Saviour is born!
Silent night! holy night!Son of God love's pure lightradiant beams from thy holy facewith the dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus, Lord at thy birth.

Be blessed!

Merry Christmas!

Lily

Deep Thoughts

In this day and age everything is about “how can I get everything faster.” How can I get to my destination faster (speeding, running red lights), how can I make my food faster (microwave, take out), how can I check my email faster (smart phones), etc. Am I saying this is bad? No, well, except for speeding and running red lights! :) Having progress and improvement in media and such comes with pros and cons. We are constantly rushing and on the go. I am reminded of this especially when out driving. A woman pulled out in front of someone (they weren’t super close) and the second person laid on her horn. Seriously?! It really bothers me when people can’t wait five seconds. People run red lights because they don’t have time to sit there for approximately 90 seconds. When someone is waiting to turn on a two lane road, people drive around them so they can get to their destination faster. We are spoiled and it bothers us when we are inconvenienced, even for the smallest amount of time. I confess I am oftentimes bothered by inconveniences!

I was looking in my baby book the other day and was pretty shocked to see a printed email! The email services were random, obscure services I have never even heard of. Today everyone has email!

I was recently having a conversation with someone about communication and how it has changed over the past decade. We were talking about how people used to just randomly drop by to hang out. Nowadays we don’t want our schedules interrupted or messed up. Instead of face-to-face communication we send a text, email, or message via Facebook. It’s faster and easier for us.

We are so often self absorbed in our own worlds. In elevators no one talks. So many people just want someone to talk to! The other week I paid our waitress a compliment and soon she had basically told us her life story. People want to share!

Having improved media and communication can be a good thing and a bad thing! Don’t lose communication with those around you! For school the other week we read the short story called “Bartleby the Scrivener.” Basically this guy loses communication and connection with people and then dies. He gives up on life from lack of relationships. We were made for relationships— with God and others!

Take some time to be patient when inconvenienced! Send a relative a note in the mail! Talk to the person behind you in the checkout line! When inconvenienced, thank the Lord for the blessings in your day!

Just some things to think on this evening… :)

Lily

(originally posted Monday on my Tumblr)

tHoUgHtS oN a FrIdaY

Hey friends!

I hope that you are having a fabulous day!

You should read this post by my dear friend Jenny!

Following along the line of swim lessons, yesterday was our last day of the March session. I am SO proud of my kids- they have all done so well! I was so excited to see my first group lesson kids conquer their fear of the deep end! When we first went to the deep end there were several tears. After the 3 1/2 feet and 4 feet, the 5 feet deep end became their comfort level. When we had to go to the 7 feet for the first time they freaked out. Yesterday we had to move from the 5 feet to the 7 feet - and they did not complain at all! It was so awesome to see them conquer that fear and be comfortable in the deep end! Yay! I love teaching swim lessons- it makes me happy! :)

I had a wonderful day at school yesterday. I love my school family!

As I am trying to figure out what my plans are for this summer, I sometimes wish God would tell me what I should do via neon billboards. Saying "Do this" or "Don't do this" or "This would be a great thing for you" or "This would be a really bad decision." Alas, He has not chosen to work in that way :)

These verses comfort me greatly when I am feeling stressed about plans for the future.

Jeremiah 33:3: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Psalm 139:16: Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

I am so thankful that God is SOVEREIGN. And His plans are much much better than mine!

Be blessed today!

Love,

Lily

Baptism!

Today, Lily, Julia and Cara, along with two other members of our church, were baptized!! It was so wonderful and I am SO thankful! Many dear families from our church came and so did some of our darling friends came too!! And it was such a blessing to have both of my grandmothers and grandfather there! AND Dad got to baptize us with Pastor Stephen!

Whoo hoo! :o)

Wonderful Merciful Savior

From Ms. Dawn Wyse:

a doctor in haiti sent Eric and me this youtube video that he took after the earthquake. I can't believe he took time to track us down, but he wanted us to see this. I hope it blesses you all as much as it did me.

Dear Dawn and Eric-- The girl in bed is 14 years old and had an appendectomy a few days earlier. She was kept over in the unit because of a complication but recovered well. She had witnessed the deaths of several nearby patients. There were 22 patients in our tent unit, which was classified as the ICU for the University Hospital compound. I was helping run the unit for the International Medical Corp, it was about 105 degrees midday inside. There was no privacy. The people never complained and were always calm. They taught me the meaning of "Blessed are the poor". For the first time I admired impoverished people. I had told the girl she looked well enough to go home but she had to wait for clearance by a surgeon and had found a surgeon from Duke to come by and was examining other patients. Their soft three part harmony could be heard several patients away and was so beautiful I had to record it, the patient, her sister and mother granted my wish. I had no idea it was a song of faith and since they speak french it took a little while to sink in what they were singing. When I understood they were praising Jesus and they were so content I had to fight back tears. These are a resilient people, strong, beautiful and unassuming. My two weeks in Haiti were exhausting and a mini eternity. One day I got to work in a clinic 45 minutes from the Univ. Hosp. Along the road there was not a moment the devastation wasn't apparent. Expressions of faith were seen on buses and heard from town squares, the churches were overflowing, their faith preceded the earthquake. Your song was a high point of my trip and pretty well provided its theme and I can't get it out of my head. I have shown it to many people on who ask about the trip, bringing it up on the phone. Thank you. --Chris Ryckman, M.D.--(Chris)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG_-VsKwEKk or see below