Sweet Gatherings

Last week was a busy one at the Richie's house, not only do the fall activities typically start this week, but for us, this week is dotted with birthday celebrations!!

On Sunday night (the 6th), Jaysen had a handful of friends come to spend the night and celebrate his 14th birthday on Monday.

14-17 year old guys aren't hard to please; pizza, soda, Double-Stuff Oreos and M&M's was about all it took to satisfy!!

Wednesday night we kicked off fall with our youth group friends at a black Light party packed with games and Rita's water ice.

Thursday morning was the Ladies Tea at church; it's always so fun to come up with a decorating plan for the ladies!  They love to see what we've come up with!!  This time we celebrated Fall and I knew that my plaid blankets were going to be perfect, coupled with my vintage thermos collection and a few other rustic things, I think it turned out just right!!

Thursday was also my son Jon's 24th birthday!!  We had soccer practice, then it was cancelled and we had to run to the nearest wholesale shop to pick up everything we needed for the biggest celebration of the week coming Sunday.  He and his girlfriend went out to dinner and we all met back up at the house later and celebrated at 10:00!!!!  #livingtherichielife has come into play.  We are a busy family but not too busy to celebrate one another -even if it is at 10 pm!!  lol

Little pockets of time throughout the week were spent preparing for a larger gathering to come on Sunday the 13th.  But before that, Julia had her first soccer game of the season on Saturday, the 12th, which also happened to be Jessica's 19th birthday!!!!  I'm exhausted just typing this!!  It was a busy, busy week - but filled with such wonderful things!!!

Bill and I are the coaches for her team, which actually means Bill is the coach, Joe helps coach at practice and my name is on the roster as assistant coach! lol  I like to think of myself more like the team mom.  My girl killed it in goal for the entire game!!!  The girls played a GREAT game and won 3-2!!  

Jessica came home from college on Saturday night around 10:00 and we were in full party prep for the next day.  Using left over cake mix, Julia made a cake for Jessica in, yes, a metal bowl and presented it to her at MIDNIGHT!!!!!  You thought 10:00 was bad?!?  Remember #livintherichielife?  Yep, it's just how we do!!  

Sunday morning came quickly and there were still lots of things to accomplish before our last celebration of the week!!  There are so many pictures that I'd love to share from Sunday, but I'll spare you!

We had the honor of throwing Jon and Cali a baby shower for Oliver Lee, due to join us in November!! Here are just a few shots.

 

 

They got so many great gifts and Oliver is so very loved already!! The rain held off, the sun came out, friends and family gathered, children ran and laughed, the dogs loved being outside all day and my heart was overflowing with gratitude!! 

To top off an incredible day (and week), after the last gift was opened, Jon took a knee and asked his love if she would marry him!!!!  "Calaine Ann Graham, will you marry me?"  After a few moments and some tears, he stood up and proclaimed, "SHE SAID YES!!!!!"  It was such a sweet moment!!  My momma heart was bursting!!!

It's already Thursday, almost a week has passed by since the celebrations.  There is still residue from all of the celebrating.  It's so easy to get under the mess and feel miserable, but the mess is a reminder of all that is good and celebration worthy!  There is still celebrating to be done in the midst of cleaning up the mess!  Small mundane moments are moments worth celebrating if we choose to do so.

What moments, big or small, are you celebrating this month?  I'd love to hear from you!!

God Bless <3
Lorraine

How do I.......?

Disclaimer:  I am fully aware that I am being overly dramatic.  I'm not as bad as I am bound to make myself sound in this post.  I am merely dumping my exaggerated feelings here, in this place, where they will stay.  I fully intend to pick myself up and move on.....eventually, but.....for now,

HOW DO I????????

 

 

First let me back up for those of you who aren't currently aware of what is going in my life, which is probably very few of you, considering the only people that I know read this are people that are family or friends in real life or follow me on IG and FB.

 

Saturday we took our daughter, Jessica, of "Tea Tidbits and more", to college.  If you know us, you know that she is my right hand gal, heck we could even go as far to say that she's both of my stinkin hands and my brain!!!!!  She has been such a GINORMOUS help to me and the rest of the family.  It's Monday, it's raining, we're here and she's......there!  Needless to say, I am LOST! 

 



 

 

I can't apologize for that.  I warned you!!  Highly Dramatic!!!!  But still, the stinkin song keeps playing through my mind, over and over and over and over and.....well I think you get the point. I was having a hard enough time this month figuring out what to do with myself without cookies to keep me busy, now I have no cookies and no Jessica!  I seriously could go sit in a corner and rock and be perfectly content.  I won't do it.  The floor is uncomfortable and I'm not a fan of being uncomfortable.  So instead I am giving myself this day, this dreary, cold, rainy, lonely day to "grieve" the separation between myself and my arms and brain.  I'm doing a whole lot of nothing and IDEC!!  (I don't even care - for those of you not up on the text lingo of the younger generations)

 

 

 

On a happier and much less dramatic note, Jessica is doing fabulous (of course, who would've doubted that).  Okay, I was starting to wonder as Friday after Maggie left, tears found their way to Jessica's otherwise dry eyes and it was pretty much over from that point on.  It was an emotional departure. 

 

Maggie - the little girl that Jess babysat and we will continue to babysit!!  #maggiedaysarethebestdays

 

We got her there, un-bunked the beds, unpacked her stuff, did the orientation stuff, president's dinner etc. and then walked her back to her room.  Let's just say that the final "see ya" wasn't at all dramatic.  It was OVERLY dramatic, mostly because of the 10 year old who depends on her big sister even more than I do.  A brother may have shared in the dropping of tears ritual - he shall remain nameless.  We had to pull Julia off of her sister and drag her away.  It was heart wrenching and slightly annoying, because, HELLO??  I'd like to have some room for my tears too!!!!!!!  But I put on my big girl undies and remained the rock for my emotional children, hey it's what we moms do.

 

As you may have seen on IG, these were our "not about to fall apart, we're totally excited" faces. (lies, all lies.)

 

 

So honestly it was a blessing, because I don't really enjoy crying.  It's not a good look and I do like to feel needed, so I guess it was a win win!!  Orientation weekend kept our girl busy, which even though she was dreading it, it did end up to be a blessing.  Turns out that the 9:00 p.m (P stinkin M) kick-ball game was optional!!!  OMGTY!!!!!!  (oh my God, thank you -I don't know if that's a thing, I just made it up, right there!)  She, instead, played bored games, I mean BOARD games and met a few more people. 

 

Joe's elbow on the left, Julia lounged on the bed, Jay was in the chair and there are Jess's little feet!

 

 

From as much as you can grasp through texting, I thought she "sounded" great at the end of the evening.  11:40 PM and she was jumping in the shower and heading to bed!  Sunday morning had the kids rising early and heading to the city for breakfast, praise and worship and a session or two.  She got to meet her roommate and they hit it off.  They did a bit more rearranging of their dorm room and got to know each other better.  Later in the evening she headed off to Wal Mart with some other girls from her hall.  I truly didn't doubt that she would settle quickly and jump right in, it's just who she is.  But I think there's always a little tiny nook in the corner of a mother's heart that harbors such doubts, more like "what ifs" if you will.

 

The Library

 

 

We got to talk to her on the phone yesterday too and I swear she "sounds" like a college student.  I don't know what that sounds like exactly, but after an emotional weekend, it was so good to hear her sound like that! Monday morning Wait!  Today is Monday! THIS morning, she and her roommate "K" went to breakfast with a few other girls and played a game.  Today is the first day of classes, which were delayed due to ice.  I'm anxious to hear how her day went.

 

 

 

I'm getting a new perspective on being a mother.  It's hard not being with her.  Not because I'm a hovering mother, but because I'm used to being with her, to experiencing life with her.  Remember this is the girl who, when taken to Disney with her friends in January, opted to hang out with me and her dad and the friends readily agreed!  So this, it's weird.    I need to be aware of myself and my tendencies to try to be a part of everything.  I realize that I have to let her go.  She needs the space to spread her wings and begin to find her place in this world. 

 

 

Jess and Shelby

 

 

 

I know that she'll share everything with me when she can, so remembering that will be key.  Also, she knows me, so I'm sure that she will give me some room to be a meddling momma here and there.  :)

 

The time goes so quickly friends.  Enjoy every minute you have with your people!!!!  I'll be back later this week with a wrap up of the Alabama trip!!  After that, I have no idea!!  We'll see how this new chapter goes!!  I do have some bedroom pics to share as we are changing and rearranging bedrooms!  So stick around!!! 

 

God Bless

Lorraine

 

Why I love Fall!! {warning: lots of fall photos}

Let's be clear, I love every season for different reasons, but it happens to be fall, so fall is what I'm focused on.  Plus, it seems that it could very well be gone tomorrow, no matter what the calendar says!  The weather has been unpredictable to say the least, so I'm learning to look for the gifts and capture them when I can! 

Today, Jessica, my daughter, asked me if I could take some pictures for her blog. She really isn't very fond of taking pictures and says that she's just not able to think of creative settings for the things that she wants photographed.  I literally jumped at the offer!!!!!  As soon as I asked her what the content of her post was going to be, the ideas just started coming to mind!  I couldn't wait!

I have these great adirondack chairs that I literally just look at through the window (how sad) and I knew that this was where I needed to start!!  The yard already provided a perfect backdrop, I just had to gather some of it together and get to work!  As I was on my way out the door I thought about a basket or some sort container, so I diverted and went to my garage!!  Old metal picnic basket, check!!  Back to the yard, I took three steps outside and thought "plaid blanket, burlap pillow"!!  Got it!!  I passed by the stump sitting on my patio although I was pretty sure that I'd be back for him!

 

I moved the chair over to the birch trees and started setting up!  Jessica came out and I mentioned that I should have grabbed a coffee mug -so she brought me one!  :) For me, this is such a great picture of a perfect fall moment.  It's chilly but not too chilly, the leaves are leisurely falling from their high perches, big cup of coffee or hot cocoa, warm blanket and a good book!!

 

 

I don't have any pictures of the books with chair and the birch tree, you're gonna have to go check out her blog to see them!!  But after staging under the tree I moved over to the picnic table, that happens to be under our other birch tree.  These are her recent book finds.  I just found a really neat editing app on my phone so I had even more fun changing the pics up a bit!

 

 

I spotted this little nook at the base of the birch tree that was covered with moss and surrounded by leaves, I grabbed my picnic basket and headed there next!

 

We are still getting roses from our rose bushes and even though the hydrangeas are dying out, they are still incredibly beautiful with their ombre color.  I love flowers and this home came with over 50 rose bushes and we promptly added plenty of other flowering bushes to the mix!  It's so nice to be able to step outside and have a fresh bouquet of flowers in your hand in a matter of minutes!  Such a gift!

 

 

Later in the day Jessica had commented that she felt that this had been the perfect fall week.  The weather has been a mix of chilly and warmish, the leaves continue to fall and we've seen our fair share of clouds, rain and sunshine.  Then in a matter of moments it started pouring and the wind wipped up out of nowhere!  It had been raining off and on throughout the morning but we had hit a dry spot.  In the next few minutes the sun was shining brightly and the sky was blue!  So crazy!! 

 

Our back yard is one of my favorite places to be.  I don't get to spend the kind of time that I'd like to out there, but I sure do spend my fair amount of time gazing out the windows and just taking it all in.  In every season this home and yard has been a gift, save for a few weeks in the spring/summer when the horse flies are as big as a hummingbird!!  {yes, we were warned!}  This last shot is my absolute favorite spot in the yard.  As the sun sets it falls perfectly into frame inside a cut out area between our evergreen trees!  I love to run out and capture that shot all of the time.  I don't think I can have to many copies of it!!

 

 

In two short weeks, the hubs and I will be heading south for a little vacation in Sweet Home Alabama!!  I've already started to think about what to pack!!  Do they have a fall?  Is it anything like ours? (I'm thinking not) What's the weather like?  Should I bring my boots and cardi's?  I really don't know what to expect but I can't wait to find out!!  I may have to ask my friend, Evan what he thinks I should pack!!

 

Have a blessed weekend friends!!  Go out and enjoy all of the gifts that Fall has to offer!!

 

God bless,

Lorraine

 

 

 



Whatcha Readin'?

Hey guys - I've been pretty busy lately, but I'm not gonna bore you with that story again. Today I wanted to talk about the books I'm currently reading! I'm not super impressed with any of them, but without further ado...

I started reading this book a looooong time ago. I love Francine Rivers books, but this one has been a little slow. I can't seem to get into it. You can find the book on Amazon here. You can also read the story summary there, it's really not a terrible book and a friend has promised me that it's really good at the ending, I just can't seem to get into the story.


The Harbinger has gotten a lot of publicity in the past few months and the story is really quite captivating. I have to say, though, that I was very skeptical when I first started reading this, I went in with an image already conjured up in my head; go in with an open mind!! That's all I'm going to say. The message throughout the story is so very critical, I would definitely recommend this book. However, I feel like I sizzled out a little bit at the end, I need to get myself together and just read! Read more about the book and author here!


A few friends and I started reading this book together. It's a fictional novel based on the storylines of Job and Dinah. I love how the book makes the characters come alive and I'm excited to get farther into the book. It's really hard for me to read extra stuff right now because of my school work, but this is something that I want to finish! The book is available on Amazon, here!

That's all that I'm reading at the moment! I've never done anything like this on the blog before, but it might be something that I'll do again. Leave a comment telling me what you're reading right now!!

~ Jessica

 

The Light

Hey guys - I'm on spring break and getting back into the swing of blogging! Between midterms and papers being due, I've been busy! But, I'm back to blogging and couldn't be more excited. Without further ado.....

 

"The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome (understood) it." - John 1:5

A week or so ago I started reading through the book of John, and not only 10 verses in, I came across the above verse. I've read it dozens of times, and oftentimes I dismiss it; however, this time it struck me. The darkness can't understand or overcome the light. A picture popped into my head, I imagined a flashlight. Ironically, the same day I came across this verse, our electricity wasn't working. As we looked for a flashlight, in the dark, I realized that when you shine a flashlight in broad daylight, you can't see the light coming from it. All you see is the flashlight. But, when you shine your flashlight in a pitch-black room, the light shines brighter than ever.

 

God gives us a light, His light, and it is illuminated by the darkness and the trials that we go through. A flashlight without some source of power behind it means nothing. But when that flashlight, equipped with batteries and power, is turned on in the dark no amount of darkness can diminish the light. How bright is your light shining? Did you turn it off when the darkness surrounded you or did you continue to keep it shining bright?

 

~ Jessica

I Wouldn't Trade You for the World

I need to write something. I need to just start typing and see what comes out. I've sat down a few times this week and stared at this page. I've tried to conjure up some sort of recap of my week, craft post, something inspirational, anything! But nothing has come out. I'm near the middle of the semester, I have spring break in a week or so, midterms, papers, all of that good stuff. I'm also finishing up my General Psychology course (it was a half-semester course) and so I have a paper to write for that. I'm at that place where there is no "Creative Thinking" section of my brain left. Right now, I'm renting that area out to "Get 'er Done". So, today I come to you with not a whole lot.

Last night my friend and I were struggling through a bad mood and this morning I woke up happy, how that works, I don't know. Anyway, the first thing that came to mind this morning was a verse. Of course, I texted it to my friend and encouraged her for the day, told her I'll be praying for her. So I'm going to be a terd face and redirect you to another blog I wrote about this particular verse, and I'm going to encourage you to read it and let it sink in for the day. Yup... I just went there.

"That's how much you mean to me! That's how much I love you! I'd sell the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you." - Isaiah 43:4 (MSG)

Go ahead, click on the picture... you know you want to.

 

~ Jessica

February Disney Movie Night

I totally planned on posting Tuesday, but I never got around to it. I thought, "Hey, I'll just post Thursday" and then I was puking. And now I'm sitting here on Friday, wondering if I should even try. I have school work surrounding me, thoughts of quiet time plaguing my brain, and homeschooling to finish up. I'm almost done my psychology class and should probably start writing that research paper.

Anyway, this isn't going to be all about my school work... how boring would that be! Last Saturday a few most of my friends came over for our monthly Disney movie night! This month, since it was close to Valentine's day, we watched Lady & the Tramp and Enchanted. Well... some of us watched Lady & the Tramp, most of us slept through it... oops!

 

For dinner, we had an awkwardly lovely candle light dinner with spaghetti, garlic bread, and all of that fun stuff. Then, for dessert we had brownies & icecream. We were too stuffed to eat the goldfish and chips with onion dip!

Of course, Sunday we made sure to go to Plato's Closet and go get frozen yogurt (froyo, yogo, berry creamy, whatever you wish to call it). We also made sure to pack up our onion dip, chips, and goldfish and we ate them in the car! Oh, and by the way... I got a J.Crew sweater/hoodie for $14... say whaaaa??

 

 

Disney movie nights have been the thing to look forward to every month! I love hanging out with my friends and looking back at the memories from each month.

 

~ Jessica



 

 

Updated Spring Semester Resolutions

The spring semester is about 1/4th of the way done, if I had to guess, and it's still goin'. It's been a little rough, I've struggled a little bit with the work load, but, nevertheless, I'm still goin' as well. So, I thought that I would give you guys an updated look at my Spring Semester Resolutions.

1. Finish Season 1 of Alias

Season one is completed, and now we're onto season two. In the past two days, I've watched 11 episodes of Alias. I'm not sure whether I should be proud, or ashamed, of this fact. This is what my everyday looks like...

 

See... I'm still getting my school stuff done!! ....right??

 

2. Order Pictures from Shutterfly.com and Smash!

I did it! I really did it!! I have to admit, I didn't think I would... but I took advantage of Shutterfly's 101 free prints and bought 87 prints for the price of $5 for shipping! Yay! So far I've only smashed 3 pages, but that's a victory for me... here's a little sneak peak!

 

 

 

 

The picture quality isn't the best... but you get the point!

 

3. Save Money

Eeeehhhh.... enough said.

 

4. Work on Conciously Managing Time Spent on School Work and Recreation 

I haven't done too bad... as you can see in the above picture I seem to be effectively watching Alias and reading history books... that's good! But, this is a work in progress... I can't cross this off until the end of the semester!

 

5. Blog Atleast 2x a Week

I would say that this one has been successful... wouldn't you?? You tell me... success, or not??

 

~ Jessica

 

 

 



Sick Day Playlist

 

I seem to have come down with a cold, and as a result of that... I'm quite sluggish. All I really want to do is lay down and watch a movie, but since that isn't quite possible right now, I've created a Sick Day Playlist. These are some of my favorite songs, despite being sick, but I especially love them when all I want to do is close my eyes. Unless, of course, you can't close your eyes.... then don't listen to this. :)

 

 ~Jessica

Technology is Stupid!

I was trying to think about what to blog today, and instead of me coming up with an idea... it was given to me! But first, a little back story. For my history class I need this book by, preferably, Thursday. However, I found the book super cheap but it wasn't supposed to be in until the 21st. Now, with USPS tracking, it's highly easy to find out exactly where your package is at that exact moment... and I love it! I love to be able to know everything.

I told God that I was going to trust Him with getting my book on time, however, I was faithfully checking the USPS tracking. In fact, I was probably being more faithful to the tracking information than I was to praying about it. So, in my panic stricken mood yesterday I thought through all of the options of how to get my book on time, or find another book to buy on time, etc. I prayed about the best way to go about acquiring my book, and then I said "Lord, I'm just going to have to trust you with this, in fact, in order to show how much I trust you, I'm not going to check the tracking service."

Of course, I immediately went into a frenzy, "Jessica, what are you saying? You have this technology at your fingertips, there is no reason you shouldn't check it." But how often do we say we trust God without actually giving up something or really taking a step of faith, as small as mine might have been? The answer is rarely ever. We say, "Lord, I trust you. In fact, I trust you so much because I just looked at where the package is and it already made it to Philly!" No, we need to trust God.

People now-a-days don't rely on God because technology can fix our problems. We don't trust God because we know all of the details ahead of time. Continuing with the story, I got home today and checked the mailbox... guess what was waiting for me! Mmmmhmmm....

I was banking on the "reliability" of technology, the same technology that told me the book would arrive on the 21st. After that, I relied on God, the God that told me my book would come on time if I just trusted Him. I want to encourage you to trust God and take a step of faith, step away from the "reliability" of technology and step towards the real reliability of Christ.

~Jessica

Thoughts from the Day

After being homeschooled for the last 8ish years of my life, I'm starting to realize how fast a week, or even a day can fly by. Right now I'm waiting for my algebra class to start and I've decided to jot down some thoughts. The old feelings that I used to have when I went to highschool are coming back. I'm starting to think "Hey, I've sat in a classroom for the last 4-5 hours, what have I accomplished?" I know that I'm working towards an associate's degree by the age of 18, but sometimes it's hard to wait. Although, for me, something that isn't so hard, is being satisfied with where I am. Whenever I start to feel stuck or like I'm doing nothing productive, I look to where I'm going and I look to who I'm going through life with. A Chris Tomlin song says this: "and if my God is for me, then who can ever stop me." The song reminds me that waiting and feelings of a mundane life can't stop me from living the life he has for me.

I just want to encourage you all to look towards your future with God. Even if you can't envision anything beyond where you are now, know that what you see as mundane, God sees as overflowing with potential. Be satisfied in Him.

~Jessica

Live Life on Purpose: Book Review

"There are 600 churches and 460,000 Christians for every one unreached people."

What is our excuse?

 

 

I promised you guys a while ago that I would write a little book review on this book, this book that took me many months to finish. It's not long at all, it's just so full of information that I could only take in a little bit at a time!

The back of the book reads: "Your life only make sense in the context of God's plan to finish the Great Commission. God has given us the direction we need to make our lives count and leave our mark on eternity. When we find it, we move from merely existing to truly living life on purpose."

I love Amazon's summary of it as well: "The aim of God’s entire biblical story has one mission, reaching all the nations, and one method, all believers. Finding your life purpose only makes sense in the context of God's plan to reach the world. Discover the part you were meant to play in God’s epic plan."

If I had to summarize a review for this book in one sentence it would look like this:

If you are not willing to have your life interrupted and if you are not willing to change the course of said life, don't read this book!

 

Now that that is out of the way, let's continue. This book is going to change something. Whether it changes your mindset, your life goals, anything! You won't be the same. I can't recommend this book to anyone enough. People today are so self-centered and so unmotivated that it's not even funny. This book, I believe, can help change that. I don't want to put Live Life on Purpose on a pedestal and claim that it's The Bible, but I believe that it is the kick in the butt that people need.

I would love to give you a quote or two from the book, or tell you one thing that really stuck out to me, but I can't. It had too much of an impact on me to tell you my favorite part. The only thing I really know how to say is that you'll learn facts you never knew existed, be confronted with problems in the world that you didn't know of, and discover passions and interests that you didn't know you had. I have something highlighted on every page of this book and I'm sure I'll be reading it again and again.

Go ahead over to www.claudehickman.com to access resources, information about the author, and to purchase the book. Once again, I highly recommend this book if you're looking for something to be excited over again or if your life has hit a dull plateau.

~Jessica

 

 

Back to School, Back to Work

So......... I totally planned on posting a book review, a day-in-the-life post, or something fun like that. But my first day back to college was yesterday, and I'm already slightly swarmed with school work. Between teaching Joe and college I'm busy!

The day before I went back to college I decided to look at Joe's history schedule and rethink it. He isn't enjoying school very much and that doesn't make me happy. So the day before school started I decided to pull apart Joe's curriculum and pretty much make a new one within the guidelines of Sonlight. That was fun... No, really, it was! Hopefully I can keep up with it, though.

If you guys remember my Spring Semester Resolutions you'll remember that I wanted to work on my time management, that's gonna be interesting this semester. However, I'm loving getting back into the swing of school work and learning. It's exciting! So today has mostly been spent doing school stuff, which is fine. I'm trying to get done as much as possible today so that I can use the weekend to relax a bit, blog, and just dilly-dally.

I know this is a really lame blog post, and I contemplated not even posting it.... But I think I'm going to... I promise to have something better next time...

~ Jessica

The Lorax: Part Two

It case you couldn't tell... I really enjoyed The Lorax. :) Anyway, this is a continuation of this post. Take a look at the video below... then we'll continue.

It's a catchy song, right? But, if you listen to the words, you don't even have to listen closely, you might see the similarities between the Once-ler and yourself. How often do we, as humans, justify our sins? "How bad can it be? I'm just doing what comes naturally." We say to God, "you can't possibly expect me to be perfect, I'm human! You still love me in my sin, so as long as I sort of try a little, I'll be okay." But the answer is no. God knows that you won't ever stop sinning, but he wants you to try like it's nobody's business. He wants you to devote yourself to him, no strings attached.

I know how hard that is, I struggle with the sin:forgiveness ratio. How do we grieve over our sins, yet not beat ourselves up over them? As the movie comes to a close, the Once-ler regrets what he's doing as he sees the consequences. What does he do? He regrets it and grives over it, yes. But more importantly he waits for someone to make everything right. He waits patiently and hands over his knowledge and resources to someone that can help. We don't have to wait, Christ died and made everything right years ago. But that doesn't excuse us from the guilt and the regret. Without guilt or regret we would just keep on going in our sinful ways, and that isn't what God wants.

He wants us to regret what we've done, crawl to him, ask for forgiveness, and learn from it. Although I've used a silly medium to bring you this message... it might help to remember it. How often do we say "I'm just doing what comes naturally"? We can't use that as an excuse and hide behind it. Bring your concerns, regret, and guilt to God. Ask him how you can work on your sin:forgiveness ratio. He can forgive you and take your guilt away... trust me, it works.

~ Jessica

Spring Semester Resolutions

In less than a week I'll be sitting in a college classroom listening to a professor talk about English Composition. Yay! However, I'm not really upset or annoyed that my winter break is over. I finished a lot of things that were on my Winter Break Resolutions list, so I'm happy about that. I thought that I would come back with a Spring Semester Resolutions list. The list doesn't have as time-consuming things as my winter break post did because I figured that a good amount of my time will be spent on school work. So, without further ado....

Spring Semester Resolutions

I wish my college campus looked like this...

 

1. Finish Season 1 of

 

Yes, yes I know... It's sort of ridiculous. I started watching the show a few weeks ago and I'm hooked.If you've never seen Alias, I highly urge you to watch it. It's on Netflix right now... so hurry!

 

2. Order Pictures from Shutterfly.com & Smash!

 

I bought myself a Smash Book for Christmas and I can't wait to start! If you've never heard of Smash Book look here. I'm hoping to use it as a scrapbook, so you might see some updates soon!

 

3. Save Money!

It's pretty self-explanatory. After Christmas and a couple of online "shopping sprees" I've had, I really need to save more of my money. However, that doesn't include this weekend when I'm going out shopping. :)

 

4. Work on Consciously Managing Time Spent on School Work and Recreation

Ehhhhh... that's a long title. I talked more about my struggle with time management here. Take a look!

 

5. Blog Atleast 2 Times a Week

 

I've been on a consistent blogging schedule and I like it! It's worked really well and I feel good about it. I'd like to keep this up as the semester starts and school work starts to make an appearance in my life.

 

That's it for now... thanks for reading! I'll be checking in again on Tuesday, my last day before school starts!

~Jessica