I officially conquered my to do list today.

To do list:

• Go to bank.
• Apply for passport.
• Pick out and order new glasses. (and end up paying only $8.08.  ohhh yeah.)
• Have a lovely outdoor lunch.
• Add "go golfing" to bucket list. (since I never add on to it on Wednesdays anymore...)
• Do all of the above with Mom.
• Take awkward outfit pictures of myself.

Check.  Times seven.

Tee: Urban Outfitters (last year).  Vest: thrifted and redesigned.  Shorts: handmade.  Earrings: Steinmart.  Sunglasses: Payless, $9.99.

Yay for summer!

Head's up!

Dear readers of my blog,

There's a guest post on its way.  Brought to you by a lovely individual I love very much.  So stay tuned!

Also, if YOU happen to be interested in guest posting, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.  This is gonna be fuuunnn...

Love,

Jesseca

A child in awe of You.

     He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing.  At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case from the rack over our heads, and set it on the floor. 

     "Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?" he said.

     I stood up and tugged at it.  It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.

     "It's too heavy," I said.

     "Yes," he said.  "And it would be a very poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load.  It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge.  Some knowledge is too heavy for children.  When you are older and stronger you can bear it.  For now you must trust me to carry it for you."

     And I was satisfied.  More than satisfied   wonderfully at peace.  There were answers to this and all my hard questions   for now I was content to leave them in my father's keeping.

Quote from The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom.  Read it.  It'll change your life.

________________________________________________________

We like to have all the answers.  We want to have a solid 10-year plan for our lives with every little detail planned out.  We want to know why this happened and when that is going to work out.

Why am I here?

What's my purpose?

Where do I go?

What do I do with my life?

Can't you talk to me, God?

The questions go on and on.  But when will we trust Him enough to be content with Him, even without the answers?

The God of the universe who continues to give us breath every morning has all of the answers.  There isn't a single answer He doesn't have, no matter what it is.  Yet He knows just when we can handle knowing the answers.

If He never gives you an answer again and you live the rest of your life only blindly clinging to His hand, will you still love Him?  Will you continue to be in awe of Him as a child is in awe of his father?  Will you continue to give Him your life when nothing makes sense at all?

He is more than enough.  Just to be with Him is all we could ever want.

"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Matthew 6:33

Let's party!

What is the pretense of this celebration?

Well.

A:  It's utterly, undeniably, unofficially {it's not June 21 yet},  summer.

B:  My ring is done!  It's GORGEOUS!!!  I am so happy I could just dance!

and C:  I finally have a picture for my blog background that I actually took.  Therefore, my blog is no longer {quite as} generic.

So.  I think we should party.

P.S.  Want to hear the story behind the band?  When I was eight or so, I bought this ring at a bookstore and wore it all the time for awhile.  Then just recently, I started wearing it again for no particular reason.  Well, when I went to the jeweler's to see how they could reset my diamond, the guy was like, "We could put it in that band you're wearing!"  So that's what they did.  And I am so utterly happy about it.

We have this fish...

I'm telling you, people.  We have a fish that's older than Methuselah.

Once upon a sunny summer day a long time ago, Mom, Brother and I had gone to Wal-Mart to buy some fishies.  On this particular occasion, I had worn a lavender polo dress because it was one of my favorites.  I had a pink one too.  Ahem.

We went in, picked out 4 or 5 fish, then held our bags of fish whilst watching some festivities going on outside the store.  I remember a sumo wrestling match...?  The kind where you put on that awkward costume thingy and wrestle another person in a matching suit.

{I'm not certain why I remember all those details... Weird?  Maybe.}

After that fascinating event, we came home and put our brand new pets in a matching-ly new tank, happy to have something exciting to occupy our imaginations.

That, my friends, was around 8 years ago.

Many a fish have come and gone {rest their little souls} but Mohican has stood the test.  He still swims around his little house day in and day out, never skipping a beat or a meal.

Oh, and he's about this long __________. {actual size}  That's right, our 8-year-old fish is no more than an inch long.

It seems like these warm summery days have brought me dozens of childhood memories.  Perhaps it's the sunshine, or maybe it's just the fact that my life is in a major transition.  No longer am I a student of scholastics, but rather a full-time student of life.  It's exciting, invigorating, and fascinating, and of course hard at the same time.  But the things you have to work the hardest for are often the things you end up treasuring the most.

I had a little too much fun with the next one.  If there really was a movie coming out on June 21 starring me, I think you would've already heard about it.

Sit.

Sometimes He just wants you to sit.

Don't say anything.

Don't move.

Don't try to figure Him out.

Don't try to figure yourself out, or your situation, or your fears, or your feelings.

Just sit.

__________

"Be still, and know that I am God...." (NKJV)

"Step out of the traffic!  Take a long,

loving look at me, your High God,

above politics, above everything." (MSG)

"Let be and be still, and know

(recognize and understand) that I am God." (AMP)

I wish summer days were still spent like this.

Don't you?

This week I:

• Enjoyed ice cream three times.  On different days, of course.  It's summer, baby!
• Officially got two jobs.
• Shopped more times than I care to remember.
• Sent my diamond in to get reset!  It'll be a solitaire set in a simple band I already had.  I can't wait for it to be done!
• Saw Morgan every day except Thursday {and had lunch with her twice}.
• Went to a hoppin' estate sale down the street.  It was weird poking around in somebody else's house...with everything for sale...it was old and smelled of cigarette smoke...I *ahem* didn't buy anything...
• Started an email address for my future husband, so I can send him videos and music and whatever.  I already have a journal for him, but this is stepping it up a notch!  I was inspired by this commercial for Google Chrome:

I hope you've had a great week {so far} too!