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.

Serenity

Serenity-The absence of mental stress and anxiety. The ability to relieve the body of worries, troubles, and to just feel. To for a moment get in touch with our inner self and soul. It's simply peace. How can one attain this desirable feeling?

This is a question I do not know the answer to. But, I do know what brings serenity into my life. C'est Musique! It's music. To me music is a mysterious thing. It is something that can not be seen. It is a feeling that is indescribable. One cannot explain the elation that comes from listening to music in the times it touches something deeper within you. My whole life I have grown up in music. Luckily, I come from family that has music in their blood. As a little girl, it was my dream to play the violin. As I begged to learn, and finally got my way, I experienced the way music made me feel. My love of music has taken me on many journeys from Seattle, San Francisco, LA, and even to New York. Not only have I experienced physical journeys, but every time I engage myself in music, I am emotionally fulfilled.

From my love of violin, my interest has led me to playing in many orchestras, the piano, guitar, viola, and teaching music. I have found much pleasure while attending college by getting a minor in music. BUT it's not just the classical that gets me. It's any music. I am obsessed. I have music on everywhere I go. I will literally listen to any genre as long as I enjoy the band. If only my voice sounded good....then people wouldn't mind my boisterous singing all the time!

But as to serenity-music is what puts me in this ease and carefree state of mind. I spend countless hours at the piano or guitar when life sucks, or I just need to think. I have yet to find something else that can heal me and help me feel at peace after only an hour.

Welp about me!

My friend Jordan asked me to complete this survey she had recently completed. Since I have had nothing in particular to blog about lately, I decided I would do so! Yee haw!

Birthday: August 8, 1989

Birth Place: Camarillo, California

Height: 5'4''

Eye Color: simply brown:)

Hair Color: Auburn/reddish brown

Favorite Relatives: To me it seems rude to choose a "favorite" relative since all my relatives are family, and I am obliged to love them regardless of what they're like:) haha but in reality I love every single relative I have. I love my Maughan cousins, only because someone is guranteed to get hurt becuase of all the crazy things we do together. I love my Morris cousins because there are only a few of us so we are able to get together more often. I love my Grandma and Grandpa Morris, my Grandma and Grandpa Maughan, all of my dad's crazy brothers, and of course my immediate familia. I love my dad for who he is (if you know him you know what i mean) and my mother because she is my best friend. I love Scott because he is always there for me, I love Matt cuz I can relate to him and he lets me attempt to beat him up. And of course, I love my sister Kelsie because she is the sister I prayed to have as a 6 year old girl. So as for a favorite? There is not one. But I do absolutely love my cousins Kamry and Melanie. We are the closest in age and share some pretty good memories:)

Summer Memory: For the rest of my life I think my favorite Summer memory will have to be when I spent a summer in London/Europe. Extrordinary things happened there, and I felt like an extraordinary person. I was able to see the world and make unexpected friends. The memories that took place here are too many, and because of that reason alone it has become my favorite:)

Favorite TV Shows: Lost, 24, America's Next Top Model

What is on your Mouse Pad?: blue nothing

Favorite Game: Hmmm... Mario Party, Speed, Eygpitian Rat Screw, Big Booty (inside jokes)

Favorite Drink: Barqs Rootbeer! or Horchata

Favorite Color: definately purple

Favorite Sound: music. or birds in the morning

Favorite Smell: The smell of the pages of a new book

Worst Feeling in the World: Losing someone you love

Favorite Singer: Seriously? I don't have just one. but I will choose Celine Dion because she changes my life...everyday;) and i'm obsessed

Where will you be in 10 years: a mother of hopefully less than 3 kids, living in a foreign country(dream on), teaching music and in schools with a man i am still madly in love with.

First thoughts in the morning: Where am I? What day is it? Why did I sleep in an hour after my alarm went off? (haha this is soley because I am a deep sleeper and am disoriented for the first 30 mins I wake up)

Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate. duh.

What do you drive: white scoot scoot in the summer, blue '00 jetta elsewhere.

Thunderstorms cool or scary? I encourage them. I could spend hours in a thunderstorm. like them better than a sunny day.

Do you eat the stems of the broccoli? why not

Favorite brand of gum: Trident

Righty, Lefty, or both? Righty

Innie or Outie? outie

What color are the walls in you room: apartment room white. home room: various shades of pink and orange.

What is under your bed? my collection purses and my assortment of different tights. yoga mat.

Pets: I've had love birds, golden retrievers, border collies, brittany spaniel, fish, crabs, bunnies. currently my family has a little yappy pomeranian named Kota. He drives me nuts. But he is cute nontheless. The second I'm aloud to own a dog, I will buy a chocolate labrador.

Favorite Holiday: Christmas.

Favorite School Subject? humanities, music, math

Your lucky number is: 8

I'll eat sushi but not: olives, ketchup, meatloaf. yuck.

Hobbies: reading, tennis, friends, road trips, music, rock climbing, snowboarding, being outdoors.
Absolute must-have througout the day: chapstick. social event.

Rollercoasters-deadly or exciting: bring it on baby

Favorite stores: Urban Outfitters, Nordstroms

How many siblings do you have? 2 brothers, one sister.

Cool. Now you can say you know random facts about me:)

MJ

Ahhhh Stress Relievers

No matter what you do, it's gonna happen. You will become stressed. For me, the simplest things stress me out. From waking up late, to big decisions in life, sometimes life can be hard to handle. One thing I do know, that despite all the bad things that happen in life, we have been given MANY things to make life amazing. We just have to utilize them.

Here's my stress relievers:

Feed the Birds
Stop and smell the roses (I really do)
Go on a long scooter ride
Take a bubble bath
literally dance in the rain
Talk and vent to a trusted friend
Watch a movie with someone you Love
Get out and Enjoy Nature (regardless of which season)
Run...and don't look back
Write in a journal
Lay in the Grass
Go to the Temple
Have a one song dance party...and dance your heart out
Plant a garden, or simply some flowers
Laugh until you cry...for no reason at all.

What are your stress relievers?

MJ :)

The New Kite Boarding..Yea Baby

Most of you woke this morning March 5, and felt mixed emotions of anger, sadness, and bitterness when realizing the skies had dumped fair amounts of snow, hence, erasing any signs of Spring that began to shine only yesterday morning.

I just smiled.

To me, snow brings happiness. Yes it is cold, but there are many things that I absolutely adore about it.

One being snowboarding.

Some of you may have heard about the a new sport called "Kite Boarding". It looks a little something like this:


Yes I would classify this as an extreme sport. I am sure it is thrilling. I am jealous. Wish I could try. But, for those not so extreme and lack such resources, compensation for this sport can be made.

And it looks something like this:

Hahaha. With some planning, we highly anticipated this moment. Only resource needed: a dollar ninja kite from Wal mart. Unfortunately, when we tried to board and fly the kite with the actual string, it resulted in diving to the ground each time. We still found a way. But still... I believe I turned many heads, and heard many pleasant and unpleasant remarks as I went down this run.

Regardless, it didn't matter. We had fun.



The White Ninja.And if only you could see up close, you would see my face of pure excitement.

Best part is.....Round 2 begins today:)

Back to Blogging?

I have debated for days whether to return to the blogging world.

And yet I sit here typing.....which I assume means I have given in.

My reasons?

1. I work everyday, which involves sitting at a computer for hours and hours. Occasionaly, this leads me to slight madness. So after revisiting my blog, I found it had been deserted, while also looking quite pathetic. Solution? You guessed it.

2. Since I do sit at a computer, I find myself always reading my friend's blogs which helps me keep up with them in their crazy lives. Also, I have had a few requests that I should update my blog... and I find I agree, since there have been events in my life that exist ever since I have left Europe.

3. Lastly, I have an amazing friend, Jordan Lee who personalized my blog for me. Because of this reason alone, I decided it is better to use this gift then let it sit and rot away. Thanks Jord by the way=)

Plus, I am one who is constantly thinking. I think of everything from music, to crazy dreams of mine, from friends, laughter, love, unfortunate things.....anything about life. It'll be nice to get these things outta my head!

Basically, the things I write here are things I don't expect anyone to read. The things I write will be things I simply would like to write down, and hopefully can look back at and laugh at the things I come up with and think about. But... if your eyes ever do come upon this blog, I hope that you will find yourself laughing and learning, just like I am.