“We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.” – Lloyd Alexander

~ I must be learning quite a bit then...

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” – President Woodrow Wilson

Regie Hamm - This Is The Time Of My Life

What stood out to me more than the "contest" were the lyrics of the song Regie Hamm penned as "This Is The Time Of My Life" and the story of David's brother Adam - the one who believed in him enough to get him to agree to audition. Originally I had been looking for a shorter clip with just the song, but then realized I wanted to have those brief moments with his brother congratulating him too - in addition to his humbled reaction to winning.

LIFE IS SO SHORT!!! There is such a need to taste every moment and live it out loud...regardless of what you are doing!

The way to make your dreams come true - let go, give into love, and let the bitterness burn!!!




Regie Hamm - This Is The Time Of My Life

I’ve been waiting for my dreams
To turn into something
I could believe in
And looking for that
Magic rainbow
On the horizon
I couldn’t see it
Until I let go
Gave into love and watched all the bitterness burn
Now I’m coming alive
Body and soul
And feelin’ my world start to turn

And I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time
To be more than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life

Holding onto things that vanished
Into the air
Left me in pieces
But now I’m rising from the ashes
Finding my wings
And all that I needed
Was there all along
Within my reach
As close as the beat of my heart

So I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time to be
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life

And I’m out on the edge of forever
Ready to run
I’m keeping my feet on the ground
My arms open wide
My face to the sun

I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time to be
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
This is the time
This is the time of my life.
This is the time of my life.

Point Of Grace – How You Live

I

Point Of Grace – How You Live From the album How You Live

Wake up to the sunlight with your windows open
Don't hold in your anger or leave things unspoken
Wear your red dress, use your good dishes
Make a big mess and make lots of wishes

And have what you want, but want what you have
And don't spend your life looking back

Turn up the music
Turn it up loud
Take a few chances and let it all out
'Cause you won't regret it
Looking back from where you have been
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live

So go to the ballgames and go to the ballet
And go see your folks more than just on the holidays
Kiss all your children, dance with your wife
Tell your husband you love him every night

Don't run from the truth 'cause you can't get away, no
Face it and you'll be okay

(Chorus)

Oh, wherever you are and wherever you've been
Now is the time to begin
So give to the needy, and pray for the grieving
Even when you don't think that you can
'Cause all that you do is bound to come back to you
So think of your fellow man
And make peace with God, and make peace with yourself
'Cause in the end, there's nobody else

(Chorus)

Inspirational Speech by Dr. Randy Pausch on the Oprah Winfrey Show: The Last Lecture

Dr. Pausch passed away on July 25, 2008

But Somehow There's Peace

Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly)

It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
And all I can do is surrender

(Chorus)

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Reevaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...

(Chorus)
Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly
Something Heavenly

It's time to face up
Clean this old house
Time breathe in and let everything out

Laminin - How Great Is Our God!

Today I received this clip. It is so amazing, I thought I would post it here as well.

May you be encouraged by this short YouTube clip given by Louie Giglio on a molecule within the human body called Laminin - a cell adhesion molecule.

Thank you for how you serve our country...

Here I sit amazed and grateful for all the men and women who have, are, and will continue to serve and protect our nation and freedom.

Today my mind is specifically centered upon the families I have had the privilege of getting to know in the past three months and how they are daily serving our nation. Although the men of these families are the ones officially wearing the uniform, I have watched how valiantly the women married to these men along with their children have served as well.

What makes this Memorial Day even all the more special is one of these families were able to reunite this past Thursday and celebrate the holiday weekend together.

For years I have known about Vandenberg Air Force Base - essentially all of my life. However, three months ago God directed my footsteps to community of believers being pastored by those with a vision and heart to be a place of refuge and home for those who call this geographic area home including those stationed at the base for their current assignment.

As a result, I have been given the privilege and opportunity to connect with these incredible men, women, and children who willingly and valiantly choose to serve and protect our nation and freedom.

Thank you for the gift of your friendship and how you choose to serve our county!!!

El Día de los Niños

Today I had an opportunity to get together with 3 girlfriends from church and 6 children (4 girls and 2 boys). We met a few locations to distribute some donations one of my girlfriends had acquired.

One of the locations was the People's Self-Help Housing Youth Education Enhancement Program (YEEP), http://www.pshhc.org/programs-yeep.html.

People's Self Help-Housing (PSHH), is a non-profit charitable organization in California that relies upon various donations. Their mission statement is: To provide affordable housing and programs leading to self-sufficiency for low income families, seniors, and other special needs groups on California's Central Coast.

The YEEP program offers a year round, daily after school educational program for K-12th grade students. Many of the resident parents within the community we visited today are primarily Spanish speaking with limited English skills. So the staff along with local volunteers come in to work side by side with these children and help them with their various homework assignments.


What we discovered today is that April 30th is El Día de los Niños ~ The Day of the Child. It is a holiday which is widely observed throughout Mexico and Latin America; a day set aside to value and uplift children.

We were already excited to give away the school bags filled with school supplies such as color pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, and paper. However, after we learned what a special day today was we were amazed with God's perfect timing...we did not know the cultural significance of today, but He did. It was such a blast getting to watch the 6 kids with us distribute the school bags one by one to all the children who came to the Education Center today. There was so much joy and delight!!!

Unfortunately none of the 4 of us brought our cameras today, but I know we all were impacted and have mental digital photos (I found the previously taken picture above on the internet of the actual facility we were at today).

Here is another photo I found...it makes me wonder how many of these children were actually present today? What was so inspiring was their absolute delight ~ it did not matter that it was school supplies, they were gleefully exuding gratitude.

When we were out in the parking lot we were kind of knocking ourselves for not having more planned, but then it hit us ~ that gives us another opportunity to come back again on another day...and maybe next time one of us will remember to bring the camera :).

A.NiesingPhotographer...Check It out!!!

Today I found this great photographer via the internet ~ Andre Niesing

You have to check out his work - he is an incredible storyteller!!!

the website ~ http://www.aniesingphotographer.com/flashv4.html

the blog ~ http://theanblog.blogspot.com/

So am I getting married? Not yet...at least to my knowledge...and it would be quite a surprise since I am not currently seeing anyone.

Have I joined a band? No.

Am I getting some portraits? Well even though I am overdue for some, no.

So why then? I found him on Facebook...of course I joined the Facebook group :).

After viewing his website and blog, I was totally inspired!!! Why? Because I have begun to explore some varied interests when it comes to design. And I totally love the way he captures reality!!! As I was looking at his galleries, my eyes and creativity were fully stimulated...how did he do that???

So now take a moment to check out his website/blog and allow yourself to be inspired at what he has captured through the lens of his Canon EOS Mark II Digital Cameras.

Inspired to what? To enjoy life and live it to the fullest!!! Granted we may not have his camera, but almost everyone these days has some type of digital camera. Regardless, even if you are using a disposable camera or standard camera ~ get out there, enjoy life, and capture a few snapshots of how you chose to live life to the fullest for that particular moment!!!

PS If you happen to need some professional photos...maybe he is your solution...he does travel all over.

Allowing Yourself To Make The Journey

"Courage is not the absence of fear,
but rather the judgment that
something else is more important than fear.
The brave may not live forever,
but the cautious do not live at all.
From now on you'll be traveling the road
between who you think you are and who you can be.
The key is to allow yourself to make the journey."

- from The Princess Diaries

Things Become Scary In The Dark That Shouldn't Be...

Wow...today was definitely one of those WOW days at church. Currently Rob is doing a series on Easter, and this week was on how light shines in the darkness.

There is so much I could say...but time is limited for me now...and yes I can hear a few of those hallelujahs from across the miles :).

My encouragement would be if you have a moment, check it out (well not literally today, it may take a couple of days for it to be put on the website):

http://www.churchforlife.com/page6.php

Look for today's date 04.06.08, and probably the title Easter Sunday - Open hearts Pt 3. It will be well worth the time you invest to listen to it.

He mentioned how there are 400 verses which reference light & darkness. Here is the list of verses he shared with us today:

1. Genesis 1:1-4
2. Job 12:22
3. Psalm 18:28
4. Psalm 19:7-8
5. Psalm 27:1 (NKJV)...{I was not paying attention before this verse to the translation...silly me}
6. Psalm 90:8 (NIV)
7. Psalm 119:105 (NIV)
8. Proverbs 6:23 (NIV)
9. Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV)
10. I John 1:1-5 (NIV)
11. John 3:16-21 (NIV)
12. John 8:12 (NIV)
13. John 12:46 (NIV)
14. II Corninthians 4:4-6 (NIV)
15. I John 1:5-7 (NIV)
16. I John 2:9 (NIV)
17. Colossians 1:12-14 (NIV)
18. Ephesians 5:8 (NIV)

As he was sharing Psalm 27:1, he talked about how he gets "creeped" out at night when he goes to his garage. It does not affect him at all during the day, he doesn't even think about it twice. But for some reason at night he gets "creeped" out just a bit. Then he said something to the effect of things become scary in the dark that shouldn't be scary - it really hit home for me (hence the title).

Well there is much more I would love to add, but can't at this point...and maybe those things were for me???

Friends, Flashbacks, 80's, & Bunco

Over the years I have come to really enjoy Friends. A few years back I would look forward to watching the syndications on KTLA - and then be bummed if it was a "repeat"...ok dumb I know because they were all repeats, hence the term syndication.

Now with technology I can literally hand-pick whatever season and whatever episode(s) I want to watch, whenever I want to...yes over a period of time I have acquired all 10 seasons. The best part is I do not have to worry about commercials...or the dreaded 'to be continued'.

Granted there are some things that happen in Friends that I do not agree with, but what I love about the series is I find myself laughing quite often. Likewise, I find myself grateful for the close circle of friends I have had, have, and will have through all the varied seasons of my own life.

This coming Tuesday a bunch us will be getting together to play Bunco and the theme is 80's. What does that have to do with anything? Well tonight I was watching episode 11 in Season 10, and it had the last occurrence of fat Monica dancing - it totally made me laugh because it was so funny...check it out (my favorite part begins at 3:30 it was the tag for the episode):



I was in high school in the 80's, but never quite dressed the "part"...well obviously to some degree I did, but fashion really was not quite my thing. Anyway what made me laugh even harder tonight was many of the women I will be with on Tuesday night will fashion-wise look just like these women in the clip...it will definitely be a flashback :).

In the midst of laughing and envisioning Tuesday night, I was also a bit inspired. The only real difference between fat Monica and thin Monica was the weight. Ok so that may be another dumb thought, but think about it...Monica chose to live life to the fullest regardless of the size of her waist - she enjoyed life!!! She did not wait until she was thin Monica to begin enjoying life - she lived life to the fullest within the moment. And yes she should not have been drinking because she was underage, but as I mentioned my favorite part begins around the 3:30 mark - where she is simply dancing, finishing her pizza, and enjoying life.

So some of you may be wondering will I dress the "part" Tuesday night...well no; BUT I will however choose to live life to the fullest, laugh - maybe so hard I cry, and enjoy life!!!

Life is too short - so here's to living within the moment and celebrating the gift of today!!!

Does It Have To Be On Purpose?

Earlier this week I had an opportunity to catch up with a good friend. We met for coffee at Starbucks (and no I am not a coffee drinker, but I have found a few good drinks I enjoy so that I can visit with my coffee friends...though it has been a while since I have done that).

I thought you said you met at Starbucks? We did. However, it was a cold spring morning and the blessings of April showers ended up with us heading back out to our cars, driving over to her house, enjoying some yummy pancakes and a warm fire, and well hours of conversation. We both were quite surprised when one of her children arrived home from school and we realized it was now 2:30 pm. The irony was that as we were trying to place the semicolon in our conversation we only made it as far as the kitchen. Then we both agreed to the logic that if we sat in the wood chairs at the table we would not talk much longer because those chairs were not as comfortable as the comfy couches...plus we were further away from the fireplace. Well, about an hour later we finally forced ourselves to pause (if another child did not need to be picked up we probably could have kept talking).

One of the topics which came up during our marathon visit was whether or not it was ok to do something if there was no purpose involved? Both of us share a commonality of being serious at times, I struggle with it far deeper than she does - all too often I wear my "oh so too serious" expression of thought. And since our conversation, I have pondered that a bit...Ms. Oh So Too Serious is not quite done pondering that question.

Although this particular blog may seem random and purposeless, part of the reason it is even being created is so there is a sequential blog to yesterday's post. I had several plans, purposes, and points I had intended to make today - none really were accomplished...BUT that is ok.

Want to talk about irony? I created this blog I believe on February 26, 2008, and the first post was on April 3, 2008...that still baffles me a bit.

Blogging - interesting concept...I am exploring, BUT I am still not so sure what I think about this process. However, as I am learning with several things in life - what exactly do I have to lose?

As far as design and layout...Ms. Oh So Too Serious is not quite pleased at all with what currently lies on the screen. It is definitely better than nothing, but so not the final selection bringing me contentment...makes me wonder when I will get around to doing something about that???

Well that is probably enough nonsense rambling for now...those of you who know me know I could go on much longer...much, much longer...but for now I choose to stop and that is ok because it doesn't have to be on purpose does it?

Does that make any sense...it does not even quite make sense to me...but that's the point right?

Gradually Becoming

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

II Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of His face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him.

II Corinthians 3:18 (Message)

Something had happened within the Corinthian church where credentials were being called into question. Additionally it appears as though there was more weight and attention upon the letter of the law than the letter of the Spirit. From this vantage point Paul begins or continues to describe the glory of the new covenant. He emphasizes God's glory and how the Israelites could not directly look at Moses following his time with God when God gave the ten commandments. Then he compares or expounds God's present glory within our lives under the new covenant. Transformation or Transfiguration is occurring within our lives - to what? Gradually we are continually becoming more and more like Him as He continues to enter our lives...the Spirit continues to delve deeper within us as we allow and invite Him to do so.

Moses originally needed a veil because of the intensity of God's glory - it enabled him to interact with the people. However, did he really need a veil? And if he genuinely needed it - what was it that caused him to continue wearing it after the glory began to fade? Why exactly did the glory begin to fade? Although the point is not being "proud" or "arrogant" that you have spent so much time in the presence of God that you "glow" - the question which comes to my mind is am I "glowing" and if not...why? My mind thinks of Hebrews - I think - where we are able to boldly come before the throne because Jesus split the veil of separation. We do not function under the same "restrictions" the Israelites of old did - so then why is my face not "glowing" with the reflection of God's majesty? And then the encouragement from another perspective...gradually becoming! -Ing - the state of continuing process. Somedays are better than others. Salvation - it is secure. Sanctification - it is ongoing. As I continue to invite and allow God to continue entering my life this process of transformation/transfiguration continues step by step resulting in me becoming, gradually becoming, more and more like Him.

Ok so here I sit with You - club in hand...ready to "beat myself into submission." So why then is it if You do not desire to "beat" me, that I do it to myself? Why is it that You desire to lavishly embrace me with Your grace, and on some level I perceive that; yet, rather than choosing to receive and surrender to Your grace I feel as though I need to use the club to "beat" myself into Your image? That's exactly what You are requesting of me isn't it? NO! So why if I have this intensity within me to be transformed into Your image that I still stubbornly am vainlessly attempting to make You fit into my box and do things my way? In light of everything especially now in the midst of all that is current have I still not learned "the lesson." Perhaps those self-inflicted "beatings" have done some damage to my ability to comprehend???!!!??? So here we sit together ready to enter into a brand new day. Thank You that my grip is loosening more and more upon that club I have held so tightly through the years. Thank You that this does not all have to happen overnight, and reminding me that it is a process - a continuing process that requires time. Thank You for the hope and the promise that step by step as I continue to walk hand-in-hand with You that my life will continue gradually becoming brighter and brighter and more beautiful as You continue to enter my life and I continue to become like You. Today may I shine with the brightness of Your face and bring You glory.