I can't get up....

I think my body has become part of this brown, L shaped couch. I mean, I've only been sitting here for 40 minutes, but the sensation of mental exhaustion and physical fatigue seems to be taking over. Just recapping the prior week almost does me over.

This week was Parent Teacher Conferences. An amazing thing as a teacher, but also requires 10 minute intervals to cram in all a student is doing, (I slowly became amazed at how my mouth continued to talk while my brain was drawing a blank) from 4-7:30 work day on top of the craziness of teaching.

Fridays are crazy as a teacher. Fun rewards and activities to give, kids anticipating the weekend....which means behavior becomes again, crazy. You must be on top of your game in order to survive Fridays.

Fridays after Parent Teacher Conferences....let's just say I am loving this brown couch right now.

My life has changed substantially in the past 6 months. I have a hard time even remembering the life I held 6 months ago. There are so many stories that should have been told, stories to still tell, and many more to come. Hence, why I am writing now (and also due to the fact that I am becoming a sloth here on this couch). I'm starting to appreciate my experience in teaching this year only to the stories that it gives for me to laugh about.

So as I sit here, hearing the buzz of reruns of the republican debate, (laughing at the intensity of the man speaking as spit flies from his mouth, and noticing how everyone seems to be asked to only wear things that consist of red, white, and blue,) I hope to share some of the times I needed to laugh in class and couldn't, or the times where I shouldn't have laughed and I did, and many more.

LIfe is about living. And if you don't write down what you live, it can easily be forgotten.

-MJ

Read Read Read

‎"If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are. Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads." - Robert Pattinson

ok ok... Robert Pattinson (edward from twilight...blugh) but to those readers out there, you know how it is....

Source: blog.freepeople.com via Jessica on Pinterest

MJ

Decisions

When you make the right decision... you find yourself happier than you thought you ever could be.

When you make the wrong decision... your life becomes a living nightmare.

No pressure.

Reeeeaaaad Me!

So I sit at work a lot. This means I sit at a computer. Alot. I was reading on lds.org trying to you know, feel spiritually uplifted. And BAM this is what I found. I had no intentions of posting on my almost abandoned blog, but after reading this, I wanted to share. I hope you enjoy!

This story came from an article titled The Lord Needs Missionaries by President Monson.

Bike to the Future

By Peter Evans and Richard M. Romney



Lots of young men prepare financially to serve a mission. In Africa part of that preparation is earning enough money for a passport. Sedrick Tshiambine earned what he needed in an enterprising way: by selling bananas from the back of a bicycle.

Sedrick lives in Luputa, Democratic Republic of Congo. He’s one of 45 young men in the Luputa district who is working to save money for a passport to go on a mission. In DR Congo a passport costs $250, which is about two-thirds the cost of building a house.

But Sedrick was undaunted. He earned his mission money by cycling 15–30 kilometers (9–19 miles) from Luputa to small villages, where he purchased bananas, then cycling back across the hot African savanna, his bike heavily laden with fruit to sell in the city. Each week he traveled about 180 kilometers (112 miles) along the sandy roads, and only once did an unbalanced load cause a tumble.

For his efforts Sedrick earned about $1.25 a week, or $65.00 a year. It took him four years to save enough to purchase his passport, but now he knows his future will include a full-time mission because he is financially ready to answer the call to serve.

After reading this, I felt so selfish. How many of us would be willing to do what Sedrick did? 250 dollars to me, is nothing. That is a weeks worth of money for me. After reading this story, I do not understand why I have been so blessed. However, I hope to recommit myself to being grateful, serving, and giving because "where much is given, much is required."



May we all find more ways to serve in our daily lives:)

MJ

Be Not Afraid

I was was reading my friend Jordan's mission blog and came across this and really like it. I hope you do to. It was what was written on an art display of Christ. This was the caption under a sculpture of Jesus walking on water.



IT is I, Be not afraid.


Matthew 14:25-31


25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?


"And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them saying, Be of good cheer. It is I; be not afraid.”



Fear is one of the most powerful and common human emotions. But it is the opposite of faith. Faith in Jesus Christ gives us strength to face and conquer the challenges life brings. Having faith in Jesus Christ means relying completely on Him. Knowing that even though you do not understand all things, He does.


We can overcome anything through Him if we simply have faith.

Imagination

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."-Albert Einstein

I love this. I like this because as a little girl and as a grown girl, I have an imagination. I always find myself dreaming crazy dreams, and thinking crazy ideas. I always felt like those with imagination had more substance...(not that I'm saying I do), and more personality, because they have more passion for life. This is because they don't try to KNOW what is already known in the world- but they try to CREATE something that has never existed before.

So what do you think? Is imagination more valuable than knowledge?

Warmth

Tonight is one of those nights where life has offered a simple gift to me. Life sometimes is hard. Sometimes, we hurt. And sometimes, we find ourselves in rough patches that we so desparetely tried to avoid. The beauty of life though exists within those small moments where despite the pain, all feels right in the world. Tonight I write not to share with anyone. I am assured that no one will read these thoughts. I write simply because I feel the need, and the need to express the beautiful things in life that we all seem to simply forget.

To me, I measure how well my day was by how exciting I ended that night. Generally the more people I saw and the crazier stuff I do, makes me feel satisfied. I found myself tonight, realizing how selfish we all are and how much we are cheating ourselves from life by spending so much time looking towards the next party, the next fling, and the next excitement. We overlook the simple things that Heavenly Father has given us, the simple things that bring true happiness.

Tonight, I chose to spend with my grandma, mom, and aunt for dinner in celebrating my Grandma's 77th birthday. This is the closing of the first week that my grandma has gotten through without her husband of 58 years in the home. After much debate, we put Papa in a rest home a block away from grandma. This way grandma can stop taking care of him as if he were a baby, and can start to live again. This was extrememly hard for grandma, but she knew it was the right answer as she also noticed her health dwindling. Nontheless, my grandma has never given up in trying to bring my Papa back. She has never stopped loving him, and has never stopped missing him. You see, Papa's health has been bad for a long time. After his cancer, loss of eye-sight, and constant mini strokes, he now has also forgotten how to use his body. Some days he cannot walk. And somedays he cannot talk. And on the worse days, he forgets how to eat and even breathe. But he is still here, his body is, and while he is my grandma still talks and spends hours with him everyday.

The simple joys tonight that brought warmth to me, started as I watched my grandma's eyes light up as they brought her at least a liter of a root beer float. I enjoyed watching my grandma eat almost the whole thing, because I knew that grandma was back to her old self again. Next, she told us that she promised Papa we would all come visit tonight. Deep down, we all knew that if we didn't show, he would never know, but we went anyways. As I walked into the home, and saw my grandpa sitting in his wheelchair, hunched over all by himself, I instantly wanted to cry. I went on to say hello and remind him that I love him, and could tell this was a day he did not remember me. As we proceeded to take him to his room, another old lady named Hazel came rushing to great us and took no shame in telling us that it was time to but our grandpa to bed because he had been sitting there all day by himself. As we took him back, I could not help but chuckle as this senial, yet happy women thanked Heavenly Father that we came to put granpa to bed.

As I entered Papa's room, I was happy to see all the pictures that were up of our family around. As I looked at a collage of my mom and her dad growing up, I could not help but smile at all the memories she had of them, riding motorcycles, tipping him in his chair, and dressing up like hobos together. As I sat here, with my family, I could not help but feel peace. Here I sat with my family. With people that had unconditional love for me, with people that have lived their lives, have gone before me. I then realized the beauty of love. As cheesy as it sounds, I was so content. Here I had family that has been there for me through every challenge in life. They have always been there to support, and have truly cried with me in my times of sorrow. And as we left my Papa for the night, and my mom said goodbye with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes, I realized that life is about these moments. Our lives are defined each of our hard times we undergo. But more importantly, our lives are shaped by the people we choose to love, and the ones we choose to love unconditionally. As I watched my grandpa mutter Happy Birthday to his wife, and watched my grandma kiss Papa on the head, I could not help but think how miraculous this simple gesture was. And how miraculous it is all around me, the lives of the older couples, that are still together, and have gone through life together. They have overcome every trial together, shared every fear, and doubts. They also have shared life's greatest moments together. But the beauty of it all is watching a love, still stronger than ever after 58 years, as two people strive to take care of each other. It is all around me. I see it fromt a gentle touch of a husband, to hearing my parents get excited to see eachother still, and exchange I love you.

I know it seems so simple, but tonight I am so grateful. Despite my desires i have been at home for the past 5 months. But now more than ever, I realize how much of a better person I have become because I get to love. I get to love unconditionally, and I get to watch those around me be so happy in their love, whether it is the love of my newly wed brother, to quiet exchange of I love you from my parents, or the kiss of my grandma to her dying husband. I see so much what life is about. I want to take part in it. I want to love unconditionally. I am so blessed that I have been given family, where I can experience this beautiful gift that has been given to us all everyday of my life. I can't wait to one day have a family of my own, and to leave a legacy of my own.