Evil did NOT win

Saturday is the heartbreaking anniversary of when Sandy Hook happened.  I sadly would have totally forgotten about it if I had not run into a video last night that one made me cry, and two reminded me of how amazing our God is.  How He heals and how the kindness of other can make the biggest difference in a persons life.  Back in April I wrote on Tragedy vs Beauty.  How the hope and beauty in this world is what we need to look for when bad things happen.  Below is an amazing video, of what love can do.

Because it Mattered

Ok so maybe it was like a year ago, but about 3 months ago I decided to step further into this.  To let myself be happy even though my current situation is well lets be honest...crappy. To be ok with the fact that I am done with religious life and to accept the person my past has made me.  For far too long I kept it as two separate things because I am not the same person I was three years ago, in fact I was scared of that person.  I went from being a depressed, timid, quiet, introvert.  To more of an extrovert who speaks there mind and goes after conflict.  I went from a person who just went with it so I was not noticed, to more of a maverick  because I have had the freedom to be who I was indented to be (Lord help those who have stuck with me through this change).  But my past that was not something that I had fully accepted into my life because I don't think I was ready but now (being past few months) as John Green so eloquently puts it....

And that is ok, in fact it's ok if it always hurts in some aspects because I have finally come to the conclusion that some things you can never forget and leave behind, but you can accept and go one.   There will be hurt and bad and pain but more importantly there will also always be light, and one to turn to at the end of the day who understand its all.

When life gives you Lemons squeeze them in your eyes

A good friend of mine says that when people complain and he is tired of hearing it.  ( Not to their face of couse) It makes me laugh every time, and when I wanted to start complaining today because I am on day 5ish of staying in bed from what I have called the plague, no meds are bring near enough relief,  I have to be moved out on Saturday and still have not started to pack, and my shoulder is still a punk making me unable to lift  at all I thought of this and laughed.  And then I realized I am exceedingly blessing.  Blessed because I have some really amazing friends.  Those who drove me to the quick care (again) and waited with me while I got stronger meds.  Those who have offered and have brought me meals. (including homemade pizza and chocolate chip cookies).  Those who have offered everyday to help me pack once I am out of bed. Those who check in on me everyday to see if I need anything, and those amazing people who are helping me move and then move again two weeks later when my new apartment is done being cleaned and remolded.     So to all you really amazing friends out there thank you.  You have no idea how much you small gestures have moved me and above all shown me the Fathers heart once again.  

He tells the truth, even if I have no idea who he is....

Tragedy vs. Beauty

I was going to have my Sunday funnies a day late because several people have requested it, but when I heard about the bombing today in Boston it got me thinking.  

We live in a world that is not perfect, that is full of hurt and bad things.  We also live in a world of extreme beauty.  Where a traveler gives a young girl his shoes, a man gives an American Solider some tea on a hot day, a dry cleaner who offers free cleaning for the homeless, and a Subway who offers free meals for the homeless.  Hope and beauty are everywhere, we only need to open our eyes a little to see it.

I remember when 9/11 happened and for months the images that were played.  The same happened for Sandy Hook.  I remember yelling  "STOP!' at my TV a few weeks after Sandy Hooked happened and they were showing videos of scared child again.  We have become a society that concentrates on the bad, that replays it over and over again.  That makes us hate those who did it.  Hatred breads nothing, but harm.  Ultimately in time, we need to come to forgive as we are forgiven but if that is too hard remember the beauty instead.  Remember the life that people had.  Remember someone who was lost name instead of breading hate for those who did the act and above all pray.  Pray for the healing of those effected but also pray for those who did it.  It is crazy to think of and sometimes even saying that makes people mad, but take a moment and imagine a word where we prayed for those who did bad.  It is not saying that they do not belong in jail, or that the law should not be served, it is simply saying that I know God created you for a better purpose and I am going to pray for you to see that, that you seek forgiveness and His love.

This is Noah and he is one of the Children who died in Sandy Hook.
I choose to remember his face and name and the beauty he
gave to this earth even for a short time.