Seventeen.

I believe that everything happens for a reason.

I believe that not one instance in our lives is irrelevant, and I believe that each moment that passes means much.

Often times I catch my self wondering, "Why am I going through this?"

How predictible, simply humanistic.

I try so hard to recall my faith on this subject everytime something does not go my way, and everytime I am confused about what is going on.

And each and everytime I draw the same conclusion as the instance before.

Life is crazy, and love is crazier.

But I have the assurance of knowing that my plans have been mapped out perfectly, even since before I was born.I have the blessing of a king that cares so much for me that each moment in my life leads to another in an extremely relevant, and amazing way.

And somehow, even when I mess up and do my own thing, those moments that hurt, and those moments of vunerability, lead to a beautiful moment.

And this beautiful moment, which is life, leads to a perfect eternity with the creator of the universe.

My heart aches for those who don't know, and those who do not believe.

Because they don't have this assurance.

Without this, without knowing that what I am going through has a purpose, and a significance in my perfectly divine plan, my life would be a jumble of an emotional, scared, paranoid mess.

Because of this I am able to breathe, and not stress.

I am able to lay back and relax while I live moment to moment; and enjoy each passing one.

I can smile when nothing good has even happened, and I can laugh in the worst possible moments because I am living for a king whose love is greater than any.

I am living for a king who is smiling back, and knowing that one day I will understand why everything happens, and when that happens, I will forever be seated at His throne and in His presence.

My smile right now is huge.

It is not happiness I have.

It is joy.

Pure Joy.

Goodnight, World.

I hope you seek this peace.

sixteen.

Life has been going wonderful lately, absolutely perfect.
I got rid of the bad in my life, and have begun to embrace the good; and to hold on to the joy I have. I have begun to appreciate even the smallest of things, and seek happiness from them. I have opened my heart and allowed vunerability, and allowed myself to truly care about someone who is absolutely wonderful.
This is something that is very hard for me to do, because I am so afraid to be hurt. I build walls, in hopes to stay safe, and sometimes I end up more hurt in the end because sometimes, I have learned, it is good to feel pain rather than nothing at all, rather than numbness. Just to ensure yourself that you are alive, and have not become hard to emotion.
I have changed a great amount in the past few months of living here, and I am really enjoying who God is molding me into. I have become passive about small things that have no significance, and I do not stress about anything anymore. What is the point?
What is the point to not be happy, what is the point to see the bad in everything? It is just hurting yourself.
Through my self discovery I am learning much patience, and this for me is much needed.
I have decided to let God work, and I will do my job, and wait. My God can see much more than I can, and I trust that his plans for me are perfect.

No longer will I be afraid to feel.



"Sometimes though, we build walls, not to keep people out; but to see who cares enough to knock them down."


All for now, World.

fifteen.

But sometimes, I know why they arn't.

Fourteen.

Sometimes I wish things were different.

Thirteen.

"Discouragment is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus... not love for Jesus, Himself."

-Oswald Chambers

Twelve.

It feels amazing to be home, finally.

But in two days, I head to the beach with this wild one.

... and I can't wait.

Eleven.

I am thinking,

you need to come to Texas.

Ten.

Happy Sixteenth Birthday, Brother.

I love you.

Nine.

I wish I was there...

Eight.

God is so amazing.

I just got back from student Life for Kids Camp,

and so many wonderful things happened.

I got to hear a child pray for salvation,

which, is the greatest thing EVER to hear.

I restored a friendship.

I got to worship;

with 1,699 other people, mostly children (which made it all the more sweeter.)

I got good pictures.

and great memories.

And God finally showed me why things happened the way they did.

And I think I am finally understanding what patience means.

Thank goodness.

This past week could not have been better.

"For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me. "

Matthew 18:2-5

Goodday, World.

Seven.

I have the coolest job in the entire world.

Today I took my fifth and sixth graders to Hurricane Harbor.

It is an annual trip, so everyone looks forward to going.

We spent from 10:30 am to 6:15pm at the park, in the sunshine.

Let's just say we all got our Vitamin D, no doubt.

I NEVER burn, but today... yes, I look like a lobster.

On our way home from the park, we got about 3 minutes down the road, and one of the ladies driving called and said her low tire pressure light came on.

So we had to pull ove rthe whole caravan, to fix it.

Come to find out she had run over a bolt. So luckily, we had Mr. Terry to fix it!

We were in the parking lot of Burger King switching tires for almost an hour.

But with a ton of kids, anything is fun... we had a photoshoot of course.

We got home an hour and a half late, but the day was really fun.

Too bad I actually have to work tomorrow.

"Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free." Proverbs 11:21

Goodnight, World.

(the picture of the day is actually a really fany trailor hitch thing, off the vehicle that had the flat in the shape of Texas, and my reflection in it.)

I have all my photography at myspace.com/erikadanielle527 you should check it out.

Six.

Today was good.

But, long and tiring none the less.

Big event at my church tonight.

Tons of people.

Billions of pictures.

Lots of fireworks.

Quite a few friends.

It was a good day.

And now, I am exhausted.

"Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free." Proverbs 11: 21

Goodnight, World.

Five.

So, today was nothing special.

except for the fact that I did absolutely nothing productive :)

I laid around in bed, literally until four o'clock.

Some may say that, that is a waste of a day.

But I beg to differ, I caught up on so much needed rest.

AfterI finally got up and joined the living, I got ready and spent a few hours outside, just getting my vitamin D.

Then I watched Camp Rock (it may be a disney show, call me crazy, but it is awesome.)

Then I went to the store, and got some essentials; hand sanitizer, jonas brohers magazine (ha!), and a mango fuze.

I then watched a movie with my grandma on Lifetime, haha.

Then rode around with Megan, and got a mango fruitista freeze from taco bell.

That is all my day was.

But I appreciated the rest.

very much so.

My brother is leaving for the beach tomorrow, and I will miss him dearly. (see picture above of him and me.)

He gets to skimboard without me, and I am jealous. :)

But that's okay, he deserves the fun.

"When you're kind to others, you help yourself; when you're cruel to others, you hurt yourself." Proverbs 11:17

Goodnight, World.

Four.

Crazy day.

Today I slept in until one in the afternoon, then fianlly got up to run some errands with Megan.

I ended up finding this amazing purse for a really good price; it is black, bulky, slouchy, gold detailing(zipper) on the outside, and leopard print on the inside. Nothing feels better than adding a new bag to my collection of around one million purses. While running errangs I picked up tiara for Brittany's birthday party, and miniature champaign glassed to make a toast at the resturant; it was hilarious.

Brittany, Jessica, Caitlin, Emily, and I all met up at Jessica's house at about 6:30ish to head on to the town we were going to eat to celebrate B's birthday, and where she was going to get her nose pierced. To reach our destination, it should have only taken around an hour, but it ended up taking almost two; thanks to me. I was wearing a new shirt, and one of the buttons popped off, so we had to stop and find a place that had a sewing kit so I could ghetto-up my shirt, so It wouldn't be too hoochie... which set us back a while, not to mention, Brittany was driving, and instead of a lead foot, she has a foot light as a feather, and drives slower than a grandma with no arms. But not a dull moment was spent on the way up there.

When we got there we took pictures gallore of everything, and I broke out the toast glasses. It was so funny, we told B to close her eyes so she wouldn't ruin the suprise. We filled up out tiny, baby, glasses by using our straws and when Brit opened her eyes, she wasn't sure what it was exactly. Needless to say, after we convinced her we had not spiked her dp champagine glass, and made a toast. The rest of dinner was crazy, just catching up, laughing, and being lurked around by our oddly strange waitor.

After dinner we headed to my normal tattoo parlor so the Birthday girl could get her nose pierced, by there really good piercing guy.

When we got there we waited a while and Brittany and Jessica decided they wanted to redo their really crappy tattos they got done a while back. So, they asked me to sketch a way to cover up what they had. After Brit got her nose pierced, we talked to the tattoo artist who did the work on my back (super good) and told him what we were thinking. He was a total jerk, and was tellling us that it couldn't be done.

Now, I know a lot about tattooing, and I knew he was just not wanting to do the tattoos becuase I knew what I had come up with would be a possible.

So, the girls and I traveled the town for another tattoo parlor, and all the ones that I new of closed at midnight, and by this time it was 11:30, so I decided to call our trusty local parlor, and they said they were opened until two.

We headed back to town, and when we arrived at the shop, the artist said it would be a great way to fix what they had! Thank you very much :)

Since the girls wanted my handwriting, I got to draw it directly on their skin, and the artist just traced it with the gun.

It turned out looking really classy, and pretty. I am so pumped I got to get a taste of tattooing.

Today was a super neat day.

A day of laughs, catching up, jokes, experiences, and many, many, many, many, way too many, pictures.

But I guess that's what it's all about, eh?

" Moral character makes for smooth traveling; an evil life is a hard life. " Proverbs 11:5

Goodnight, World.

Three.

lovely day, once again.

I am a children's minister intern and today at 4:00pm we had a car wash to help raise money for kids camp. The tickets were presold for $10 a piece, and there were about 25 kids who actually participated in this fundraiser, selling approximatley 10 or so tickets a piece, so you can imagine the number of cars that were there!

My wonderful best friend came and stuck it out for four very long hours with me, while I took pictures of the kids washing the cars. It turned out to be a really cool expierence, and I got some amazing pictures.

After the car wash Megan and I washed up and went to my grandma's house (which is a really cool hang out place) and my good friend Andy came to say goodbye becuase he is going to LA in the morning to train for his mission trip to China in a week; and ended up hanging out with us all night. Actually Meg is asleep on the left side of the couch, and Andy is on the right side of me watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I have decided I am totally jealous of Andy, not because he gets to go to China (which would be AMAZING) but he gets to spend a week in LA, which is my future home while I go to seminary. Kim, I told him to keep a lookout for Lucy for ya when he gets to China :)

We hung out around the house for a while, then decided we were thirsty so we went to Whataburger, hung out at our usual outside table for a while, then headed to Ol' Trusty Wal-Mart to stock Andy up for his trip to LA tomorrow. Amongst all his stuff, we bought some sparkling cider, and stove top popcorn to have a going away party when we got back to the house.

Of course there wasn't a bottle opener so we had to use sissors, which was hilarious.

And although the popcorn acually worked, it took longer than usual.

An adventure, to say the least.

Now I am exhausted.

And tired.

But is a good tired... a sleepiness from a great day, from great friends, from great laughs, and from pure happiness.

Oh, and it is now officially June 27,2008; my wonderful friend, Brittany's birthday.

Big night coming up.

"Friends come and friends go,but a true friend sticks by you like family." Proverbs 18:24

Goodnight, World.

(Today I have two pictures; one of Andy, Megan, and I getting ready to pop our popcorn. and one I took at the carwash.)

Two.

Today was a day that I will never forget.

I took my own advice and soaked in every moment... and it was wonderful.

After work and church, my best friend Megan, and her sister (also my good friend) came over and hung out.

WIth the three of us there is never a dull, or sophisicated moment; so it was just fun.

We took super crazy pictures, and hung out with my next door neighbor's grandson, who is visiting for the summer, for the first time. And may I say he is very handsome. :)

Talked about weird things, and laughed so loud, we probably woke up the whole neighborhood.

Tonight was just a genuienly good night.

And today I got to council a girl with issues that I have dealt with in the past.

It is always amazing to see how God can use heartaches, and turn them into blessings.

So, take my advice, like life slowly, soaking it all in, and I promise it will be worth it.

The bad times, brush them off.

Life is too short to let it ruin you.

Just breathe.

"Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God—soon I'll be praising again.He puts a smile on my face.He's my God." Psalm 42:5

Goodnight, World.

One.

I have been thinking a lot about starting a blog, and I decided today is the day to do it.

I have been totally stricken (if that is even a word) with inspiration lately to just truly enjoy life, to take in every moment, to really take time to love, laugh, hope, and to dream. I want to remember life, I want to be able to recall all the good days, and forget the bad days. I want to soak it all in. I want to be able to look back when I am 80 years old and remember how amazing life was, "way back when." :) I will start enjoying the time I have. Mind as well, right?

I am going to start taking a picture a day to mark the memories of my life.

I am going to post them all in black and white on my apartment wall at ETBU, in the fall, and posting them on here, hopefully.

I want to be able to look at them everyday, and let them remind me how amazing life truly is.

I am so blessed.

As much as I have loved today, I have to say goodbye to it.

But thankfully, not to the memories.

Don't brashly announce what you are going to do tomorrow; you don't know the first thing about tomorrow.Proverbs 27:1

Goodnight, World.