garage sales are hard work.

Up until a week or so ago, I had no idea how much work it is to put together a sucessful garage sale. But as we all know, hard work pays off. And man does it pay big! In just the first 3 days of my sale I raised about $1,000 (praise Jesus... that was my goal for the weekend!), and I still have lots left for when I set up the sale again next weekend! All of the hard work and stress leading up to the sale and the all-nighter spent pricing right up until the first customer came was so worth it. I was basically running on exhaustion mode for a good couple of days.

Lots of clothes and toys out in the driveway!
We sold a TON of books! This is just what we started with, but by day two we had reloaded this table with a bunch more books.
I counted 82 pairs of shoes. WOW.
To be completely honest, I have a slight aversion to hard work. I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm lazy, but it seems like I always manage to find something to do that's just a bit more entertaining than cleaning my room or mowing the lawn! I suppose thats not too unusual for most people, I mean really, who would choose to stay in and work rather than go out and spend time with friends?

Still, my avoidance of anything that may be more hard work than fun is something I need to work on in myself. When somebody asks a favor of me, I don't want my default thoughts to jump to how much time I will have to sacrifice, or what I may get out of it. Instead, I want to automatically be filled with joy because of the opportunity to work for someone else! I want to be a genuinely helpful person. A hard worker. Someone who is known for their dedication to whatever task they take on. I want to be a person who can look past the present and what I want now, and to be able to recognize that my efforts now will be even more rewarding in the future. I want to be able to take pride in the things I do. My garage sale showed me how awesome that feels, the feeling of accomplishment when you can look back and be proud of what you've done. That good feeling of knowing that you worked as hard as you could and that you didn't slack on anything or take the easy way.

Back in grade school, every Friday during chapel we were asked if we had done all of our work from that week "Neat, Complete, On Time, and To the Best of Your Ability." If we had, then we would stand up. Usually everyone stood up, whether they had finished all of their work that week or not. Personally, I felt like lying and standing up for 5 seconds was better than singling myself out by not standing up if I hadn't worked as hard as I could have that week. But I do remember how good it felt when I could stand up when that time came and I could truthfully say that I had finished everything "Neat, Complete, On Time, and To the Best of My Ability." That's a feeling I would definitely like to have more often, and I'm hoping that God can work in me to make me a harder worker. I know He can change my heart and grant me the motivation to make the most of the time He's given me.

A better work ethic is definitely something I am hoping to develop during my DTS with YWAM in the fall! I am praying for the Lord to do what He does best and change me into a more purpose driven person. Then I will be able to face whatever task He gives me with determination and with the final goal in mind! Now just to tackle all the work I need to get done before the sale again on Thursday... lots left to organize and price!! Wish me luck :)

"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."-Proverbs 14:23

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."-Colossians 3:23

I love my mom!

Since today is mother's day, I feel like it's a fantastic time just to mention how awesome my mom is :)
My mother has put up with so much from me, and I'm soo greatful that she has. Anyone else probably would have given up on me a long time ago, but she always saw the potential in me to be a better person. She saved me from a lot of trouble in the past, and even though I hated it at the time, I'm way thankful for her getting so involved in my life. It would have been much easier for her to just ignore the mistakes i was making and not try to intervene, but she has always been looking out for my best interests. I'm honestly very happy with where my life is at right now, and I owe it all to her. I never would have made it this far without her help!
She works harder than any other person I know to make sure that me and my family are as well off as possible. I may not tell her enough, but I really do appreciate everything she does. I love that I can go to her with any problem or situation, and she can give the best and most practical advice and make me laugh about it. She is smart and loving and has always been here for me when I needed her.
I'm so lucky to have her as my mother/friend!
Love you mom, happy mother's day :) :) :)
<3

Hello summer, I've missed you.

At 10:05 a.m. yesterday, I turned in my very last paper of the 09-10 school year. At 12:13 p.m. today, I was officially moved out of my dorm and leaving Crown. These past few weeks flew by faster than I could keep up with. I never imagined that I would be feeling disappointed that the semester was coming to an end and summer break was coming up. However, with all of the goodbyes I've had to say in the past few days, I'm a weird mixture of sad/happy/lonely/I don't even know what else. So much has happened since school started in August. There were good times, bad times, reeeallly bad times, and then some really amazing times. I met so many awesome people that changed my life, probably more than they know. I'm really just crazy blessed to have had all of the cool experiences that I did.

Goodbyes are hard, especially when there's a chance that it's a goodbye forever. When the thought of that gets me down, I just try to remind myself that goodbyes are basically transitions into the next season of my life. So long to Crown and homework and all my friends there, and hello to summer, which will bring with it a whole new list of adventures! If we never had to let go of anything, we would never be able to experience new and amazing things. Even if I want the stars that come out at night to stay forever, I need to accept the change that brings sunlight and warmth in the morning. And then, when the sunset comes around and all I want to do is look at all of my favorite colors painted in the sky, once again I say goodbye to the day and hello to the rising moon. Change isn't always easy, but it's so worth it. It's what makes life worth living! I'm so thankful that God keeps me on my toes, changing things up all the time. I'm pretty sure life would be ridiculously boring otherwise.

I must say though, that I am extremely looking forward to this summer. I have amazing friends and family that I will get to spend time with, and lots of fun things planned. I will be working hard to collect all the money that I need for my DTS in September, and I am definitely going to be tested in my faith when it comes to getting all of that together. But, I know that God will provide and I can't wait to see the cool ways that He comes through for me.

So, I guess this is the end of my first official blog post. I'm really not even sure who will read these, but hey if you made it this far, thanks for caring enough to keep reading? Haha
Well, I am now off to sleep on my first real night of summer. Ah this feels goooood.

"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons;" -Daniel 2:20