One Life

Our church is in the middle of a series called "One Life" It's one of those series that is relatable to EVERYONE, no matter where you are in faith or lack thereof. Because we all have one thing in common, One life to live. No matter what your belief on what happens after death, the fact remains that in the body in which you currently reside only has one life to live. You don't get two. Unless of course GOD wills it, then I suppose you'll have as many lives in your body as he commands. But for most of us "Average Joes" we only get one. While going through this series my small group is going through a book of equal "epicness" if you will, called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It is inspiring in more ways than one, and I am kicking myself for never picking it up before now! It is life changing. I can say with all honesty that going through the book and this sermon series has my spirit going through an array of emotions, from "you stupid selfish no good sinner" to "I don't even know how to comprehend this grace, love, peace, joy and motivation" I guess I am working on getting back to the "glory days" of my faith. You know, 18-19 years old, never done anything bad, innocent beyond belief, unscathed by the evil in this world... Oh how quickly that all changed! It's mind boggling to me how easy it is to fall behind. To let go. It's easy to forget and live a selfish life. A life lived like I will be here forever, like it will never end. And oh how things are constantly missed and pushed away in laziness and contentedness. It's such a blase life. Now my spirit is at war with myself, shouting and pushing me to be better, do better, live in the reality of my circumstances. I AM DYING! My days are numbered, we've heard it all before. The morbid proclamation, we are all going to die, and none of us know when! SO LIVE, and do it well! Don't ask me why I am crazy encouraged by that. Its as if my life that I can complain about having no meaning at all is starting to shine a little brighter, like if i get off my couch, I just might be able to make a difference. I mean, i could die after writing this... or I could LIVE after writing this. Live a life of service to those in need. Life a life free of distractions from all the noise and with purpose. I could choose GOD and choose to be strong and follow his endless adventures. When has doing something you're not comfortable with been anything other than a crazy rewarding adventure. Anyways, enough rambling. I just feel like my eyes have been opened for the first time since the "glory days" and a hope for something more than I feel right now is on the horizon. Anyone who has a life to live deserves to know that truth! There is more for you! Your present circumstances or blandness in life can have flavor and meaning! What you're doing does not have to be IT! It doesn't have to be miserable! If you want more information, or if you want to be encouraged... Buy Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Its not long and its amazing, Or if you hate reading like I do, go to http://subsplash.com/rccc/s/b710939/ and listen to the audio! It could change your life, either way... What do you have to lose?

2015

2015 has been real. Brandon and I basically had no life while we saved so we could spend nearly a month abroad and backpack Europe, Which has been a dream of mine since I first stepped foot in Ireland! It was in that moment at 15 I knew I NEEDED to travel and see this huge world and embrace the many different cultures and traditions it has to offer. Oh. My. Gosh. It was BEYOND amazing. Not only was it challenging to save for a year and a half, but it was a roller coaster of emotion. We experienced more in that month than we could have dreamed. Have beautiful days and terrible ones, felt physical turmoil and refreshed all at the same time, Walked our legs to capacity, ate a plethora of genres, met cool people, saw a bunch of naked people (Which we did not expect or really want to see i might add), laughed, cried, blah blah blah!

Needless to say we had a great time, would definitely encourage anyone with a beating heart and desire to travel to do the same. And dont pull the "Well i have responsibilities" card, we tried too as well... and yea, your responsibilities will still be there when you get back! Live a little!

On top of that our Nephew and Niece both turned/are turning 1 this year. We had a healthy baby boy and a Premature baby girl! Seeing them both grow into the adorable humans they are today has been humbling and making me very baby cray cray. Brandon wont budge. *sigh* But i'm off the pill, so take that Brandon! (He knows, and if he didnt he does now!)

My sister is 15 and just got a car... Excuse me while a few people resuscitate me from a heart attack because I must be getting old! We moved to Texas when she was 4. When asked about her very first bus driver ever she described him as "Brownish" because she didn't know the technical term and was to young to notice personality traits... Now shes driving.

In other news, Bruce our son. Dog. SonDog. is in training. He is an awesome Boston Terrier and super excited and loveable 99.9% of the time. If you have ever been around bostons you know they pass toxic gas as well... 99.8% of the time. He's awesome, and the closest thing I have to quench my baby cray desires. He doesnt mind that I change his clothes every day, bought him a carseat and push him in the cart at the grocery store.... Im not that crazy, and i dont do any of those things... really... i dont.

We moved from Austin back to SA area to be closer to our family. We are now living in a house as opposed to an apartment and are out in the middle of nowhere as opposed to the city. And no im not exaggerating, drive to my house, see for yourself! I do love it though, other than that Raccoons that are hunting our outdoor cats. I love it. I hate the raccoons.

Oh, and we have an indoor cat! And we HAD 5 outdoor cats until the raccoons went wild and killed them off. We do have 1 survivor. Aria Stark, which is appropriate since the actual Aria is a lone wolf too. I loved my cats, and miss them all... In my head I picture them getting fed by someone else, still alive and well. Which since we didnt find any bodies, could be true. So i will continue to dream.

As for the holidays and the rest of this year, we will continue to cherish the amount of time we get to spend with our families and friends. We are grateful, I am grateful to have been able to move back home, go back to a church we both love and get connected with a great community group.

Life is good, 2015 has been Great.
The End.