The middle

"Savor the time in the middle

It can be the quickest passed

And some of the best memories either made or lost"

The Lord gave these words to me

He also gave them to Mason on the same day

(which is pretty cool if you ask me)

Both of us caught up in a familiar race

trying to get to the next stage

willing ourselves through this day for the next

but only for us to stop.

enjoy this "middle" 

for it can be the best looking back

Lent

I didn't grow up practicing Lent
Its a relatively new thing for me

The idea of giving up something so miniature in our lives for 40 days seemed...
almost silly to me

here is the reason why:
Jesus gave up His life for me,
so to remember Him, I will give up...
facebook
coffee
instagram
sugar
etc.

The act of giving up those silly things in comparison to Jesus giving up his life made me near tears
and it made me not even want to participate

This was my thinking until last year
Last year I gave up coffee for Lent
40 LOOOOOOOOOOONG days without coffee
like really, no coffee people

-Side note-
Mason had so much patience with me
He is a saint!
Not gonna lie, he was a little worried about what I was going to give up this year
-End side note-

Every morning that I woke up, went to the kitchen, tried to pour myself a cup of coffee
and couldn't...
I thought of Jesus
and was thankful

Every afternoon that I went by my favorite coffee shop and looked longing at all those lucky people with iced coffee in their hands (They had NO IDEA how lucky they were)...
Again, I was thankful for the sacrifice Jesus made for me

Not to mention the 50 other times during the day that I thought to myself...
"How good would a cup of coffee be right now?!"

When easter Sunday came 40 days later
I can't tell you how overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness I was
It wasn't just one day that I got to think of my Savior
It had been 40 days

 I celebrated the sacrifice Jesus made for me and the Life that He has now filled me with...
BY DRINKING COFFEE
ALL DAY
Easter was honestly one of the happiest days of 2012 for me
Not only due to the coffee
but the anticipation and the celebration knowing that WE ARE WORTH SAVING
My Savior knew I would need Him,
and He died for me

No matter what it is
how small it is
how insignificant you feel
Giving up something that you have or use everyday
WILL bring your heart and your mind closer to the Lord
if you let it

mmmm, smell dat home

I am pretty sure my sense of smell contributes about 90% of my memories into my memory bank.
I never knew my home had a smell
but now living in San Diego
I do

I stepped out of the building
and the smell of home was overwhelming
I wasn't anywhere near home
but I felt like I was there
I closed my eyes
I took it in

I could have been on the horse trail behind my house
I could have been jogging with my sister
or walking around the park with my brothers

I could have been walking into Jo-Anns with my mom and grandma
or going to get coffee with Rachel
I could have been sitting in the rocking chair in our backyard with my dad
I could have been going for a swim in our pool
Happy Hour could have been commencing in the chairs surrounding

In reality,
I was walking out of the hospital in my uniform
in San Diego
Gross from the night before
Tired as all get out
But renewed in my spirit
my mind traveling miles to hundreds of memories
stored safely behind the lock-and-key of olfactory perception

Underrated

My Husband enjoys sharing quotes with me
One of his most enjoyable quotes:
"There is nothing so overrated than sex, and underrated as a good dump."

I think there may be some male humor in this
as I don't find it nearly as funny as he does
but none-the-less it got me thinking
There are a lot of underrated and overrated aspects of life

I am quite sure that there is nothing so underrated than a quiet morning with no plans
waking up, without a feeling of rush
sitting and drinking one,
no, let's be honest,
three cups of coffee
catching up on reading
spending time in my kitchen
time on my knees in prayer
I think that a quiet morning with no plans is remarkable

And as I plan to write about something that is "overrated"
I sit here and think about it,
and continue to think about it
and I have come to the conclusion that I may just be underrating my life!

It is actually difficult for me to think of something worth writing about that is overrated
I find that simple things in life tend to get overlooked, underrated
and yes, there are things that get attention that don't necessarily need it
but I would much rather ponder the aspects that I need to appreciate more
than the ones I need to appreciate less

What aspects of your life have you been underrating?