Psalm 31:9-14

"Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress.

Tears blur my eyes.

My body and soul are withering away.

I am dying from grief;

my years are shortened by sadness.

Sin has drained my strength;

I am wasting away from within.

I am scorned by all my enemies

and despised by my neighbors-

even my friends are afraid to come near me. 

When they see me on the street, 

they run the other way.

I am ignored as if I were dead,

as if I were a broken pot.

I have heard the many rumors about me,

and I am surrounded by terror. 

My enemies conspire against me, plotting to take my life.

But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, 

'You are my God!'"

As I grabbed my bible from the bottom drawer of my desk, a notecard, that was once wedged tightly in between the pages, fluttered to the ground. The words on the notecard were written by my high school self during a time when I felt much like the broken pot that David described in his writings... In response to Psalm 31:9-14, the card read :

Refresh yourself.  

Rest in the presence of the Lord and allow Him to reinvigorate your spirit. 

Lose yourself. 

Surrender all your encumbrances, all your thoughts, all your busyness to God. He is your burden-bearer. 

 He has conquered the world and stripped it of its power to harm you.

Thank you, God, for that little reminder as I prepare for my second semester at IWU to commence. 

Obviously today is not August 4th, but how about we pretend it is! I am only three days late anyway.... Happy National Sister's Day to my beautiful older sister, Meg !

I am so excited about bringing these to college with me! The regular sized mason jars are going to be used as "pencil cans". The tiffany blue and lavender mason jars are mine and the others are ones I made for friends. The three miniature mason jars are going to be used for paper clips, push pins, laundry quarters, etc.  I am really happy with how they turned out! When it comes to crafts, I am usually accidentally cutting holes in my shirt and hot gluing my fingers together. 

A few thoughts about #YOLO....

1. It is used to justify decisions that would normally make a person hesitate.

2. No matter how many times you use YOLO as a hash tag or a life motto, your decisions  (good or bad) will always have consequences. You can make a decision in as little as a few seconds, but your consequences can live with you forever.

3. You only live once? False, you live everyday. You only die once.

4. Since you only have one life, why risk ruining it?

5. YOLO can also mean You Obviously Love Oreos

6. Instead of seeing YOLO as an acronym that encourages rash decisions, use it to inspire you to spread God's love to others. At the end of the day, you want to be able to feel blessed not remorseful.

7. Like I said above... there are good "YOLO" moments. I have had a many.... ask me about them!

8. Before you "YOLO" your way through life, think of the long-term effects your decisions may have on : future jobs, your future spouse, your health, your future children, your reputation.....

9. Don't forget that God's grace erases all sin and pays all debt. He is redeemer! It is never too late to start over.

Take a glimpse at my well-spent Saturday....

Because the four goldie pups were already spoken for, no doggies were purchased in the process. Just a whole lot of love passed around!

All six Vaschak cousins (June, 2013)

Dear Massachusetts, it literally cost us an arm and a leg (and my stomach contents) to arrive in your state for my cousin's wedding. Dear Cleveland Hopkins Airport,  I am impressed with your incredibly sympathetic employees. When we were stuck in the mile-long security line, nearly missing our flight, your employees kindly stood there and smiled all the while watching us panic as time slipped away. I have decided to blame you for making me have to sprint what felt like a marathon, scale three flights of steps, and puke on the airplane. I puked in a bag.... that is just gross.  Dear Fisher Cats,  I am now aware that you dine on small animals, toddlers, and grandmas. Thank you for not inhabiting Ohio and please do not get any ideas of doing so anytime soon. Dear Vaschaks, my legs felt like jello ... that means it was a successful night of dancing right? We need to draw straws to see who is getting married next. I am ready for round two already!