Patience makes perfect

Remember that feeling right when you're about to graduate high school and you still haven't decided what college you're going to? Or if you even want to go to college? And if you do, you have no idea what you're going to major in. I'm learning that that feeling comes back later in life. That feeling of irritation and dread ever time someone asks you, "So what are your plans for next year?" As I learn and grow,

Let me encourage you

God has perfect timing. Maybe you are out of high school and you're serving in church and working and you don't quite know what you want to do next. Maybe it's not that you don't know what you want to do, but it's that you know exactly what you want to do and you just don't have the opportunity to do it yet.

God has a plan.

He will not leave you hanging. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" I encourage you to read Psalm 139; it talks about how God knit you together in your mother's womb, He knows the amount of hairs on your head, he knows what you're going to say before you say it. That's the God that we serve. A God who knows everything. A God who cares about us. He wants to use you more than you want to be used.

Just be patient.

Pray, seek His will, desperately desire His presence, serve, be faithful, never lose hope. Faith, hope, and love. Those three things will never disappoint. When we draw near to God He will draw near to us.

Faith.Hope.Love.

Chelsea Rae

Half time and hopping fences

Story of the Day: Half-time and Hopping Fences

Characters: (in order of appearance)

• Myself
• Kailyn Cook
• Mean ticket lady
• My parents
• 45 year old man with no sense of personal space
• Inner fat kid

Setting:

Sumner Stadium, around 8:15 pm, drizzly.

I have a very good friend whose name is Kailyn. Now, a little bit about Kailyn is that she is never one to disappoint. She repeatedly says and does things that surprise me, all the while remaining true to herself. Because if you're always doing the unexpected then that becomes part of who are, right? She is hilarious, and beautiful, and has incredible character. I keep telling her to start a blog because I want everyone to be able to take part in all the wisdom God has blessed her with!

To start this story off let's talk about the weather. It's a drizzly (you know, that typical Washington weather where it's not quite raining but it's enough to make your hair frizzy) Saturday night, and we decide to go to Sunset Stadium in Sumner to watch the Cascade Christian Cougars play football. We get there right after half time and we decide to use that to our advantage - we go up to the ticket counter fully prepared to get in for free. (Plus, I'm alumni, shouldn't that count for something?) Anyway, even with all my skills at persuasion (some would call it manipulation, but it's not my fault people are easily swayed) the ticket lady made us both pay full price! Seriously disappointing. My mom said she saved us two seats but when we went to sit down we were so squished we couldn't even turn around to talk to the people behind us. (I know, I know, I'm at a football game, I should watch the game instead of talk!) Being a little selfish, I let Kailyn sit next to the 45 year old man who didn't mind having an up-close and personal conversation and who must not have known the meaning of personal space. Naturally, we were also sitting in the middle of the row at the very top of the stands. To get in and out we had to inconvenience about 10 people and make them stand up, all the while missing the precious moments of the their freshman son getting his thirty seconds of fame on the field for the first (and probably the last) time all year!

You know when you go to a sporting event to watch a specific person, and then they aren't even in the game? Well, I'll bet you can imagine what happens next! My brother couldn't play because of his ankle. And go figure, he played in the first two quarters when I wasn't there. Awesome. It's definitely time to bounce. Kailyn and I prepare ourselves for the onslaught of glares and grumbles we're about to receive and stand up to leave. To avoid the mean ticket lady we decide to go around back of the stadium. As we approach the gate we realize it's locked. Our feet are squishy, our pants are soaked up to our knees, and now we have to walk all the back and around! Gah! My car was so close and yet so far...

I size up the fence and say casually, "You know, we could always hop the fence." I laugh a little, knowing that's just the little fat kid inside of me (you know you have one) that doesn't want to walk back. I turn around and Kailyn has already shimmied to the top of the fence! So I follow her example and climb over. She stops at the top (you know that's the worst place to stop because all the metal is jabbing you!), and she groans, "I think I pulled a muscle!" She makes her way down and we walk/hobble to our cars, successfully eliminating the mean ticket lady and an extra 100 yards of walking.

Se acaba. El fin.

Faith.Hope.Love.

Chelsea Rae

"Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?" - Dennis and Wendy Mannering

What are you doing to change yourself? Your community? The world?

If you're feeling discouraged, feeling like you can't make a difference because you're just one person, I want you to continue reading.

Attitude is everything. Someone once said that our lives are 10% what happens to us and 90% how we choose to react to what happens to us. Winston Churchill said, "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." Attitude is a choice. Just like choosing what we're going to wear, eat, say - we choose to be optimistic or pessimistic. Some people substitute the world "realist" for "pessimist", but I want to clarify that those two words, while somewhat related, are very different. The definition of a realist is as follows: Realist: (n) a person who tends to view or represent things as they really are. This is the definition of a pessimist: (n) a person who habitually sees or anticipates the worst, a person disposed to be gloomy. So a realist sees things realistically, that makes sense. A pessimist anticipates the worst, that's a little different. Because, realistically, the "worst" doesn't always happen. A pessimist looks for the worst. And as followers of Christ we are not called to be pessimists or realists; we're called to be optimists, to cling to hope at all times, and to never lose faith. We are to always expect God's best!

I don't want anyone reading this to feel condemned. I know some people are naturally bent towards being more down to earth and realistic, but, let me repeat, that is totally different than dwelling on the negative and seeing the glass as half empty. It's easy to lose hope and feel discouraged when we let all the negativity in the world consume our thoughts. That brings me to this point, we have to focus. When it comes to making a difference we have to choose one thing we want to do first. After you get that one thing going, you can expand that idea or possibly start a new one. But instead of hearing all the statistics about - how many starving children there are, how many homeless people there are, how many animals and plants are dying because of pollution, how many people are unemployed - and letting them weigh you down, you have to figure out what you're passionate about and focus on that.

Take Blake Mycoskie for example. He is one man who had one idea. Since 2006 he has given away over 1 million pairs of shoes to children in need! Do you really think he knew he was going to be that successful when he started selling shoes made out of canvas and burlap? I highly doubt it. Do you have an idea that could potentially change the world? Well, you'll never know until you try! Believe in yourself and the creativity that God has put inside of you. He puts dreams and desires in your heart for a reason, because knows that He will equip you to accomplish them if you rely completely on Him! Now if that isn't enough to inspire you, then...I don't know what else to tell ya.

Dare to dream! Dare to make a difference! Dare to try! Dare to fail! You know how the old adage goes - If you shoot for the moon, you'll land among the stars. Never lose hope, and determine in your heart to be an eternal optimist.

What attitude are you going to choose?