It's all about STARTing

So about 2 months ago I saw one of my favorite people on Twitter, Jon Acuff, tweeted he following:

“For 24 hours only, if you want to go on an adventure email me at _________________”

I didn’t know what the adventure entailed, if it would require a passport, or jumpinh on a plane, or out of a plane for that matter.  All I knew was that I wanted something exciting, I probably couldn’t just take off work and go off to some far way place, but having the option and contemplating it, I could totally do that!

 So I replied, “Adventurer reporting for duty”

The rest…. Well the rest has been an amazing START.

I set risks and goals with clear time frames and steps to take.

I received tips, ideas and encouragement how to be active and pursue those risks.

I’ve gotten more focused on healthy eating and exercising.

I’ve meet WONDERFUL people at Atlanta Meet Ups.

I’ve started considering and planning photography experiences.

I’ve built an amazing community on Facebook, on FACEBOOK, the social media avenue that I no
longer cared for!

I’ve met amazing and encouraging STARTSingles, who keep me up waaaayyy too late at night.

I've been able to engage people throughout my day in conversations about their hopes and dreams.

WAS it an Adventure? ABSOLUTELY

Was it worth it? 100%

Did I complete my RISK? No, I have a long ways to where I would like to get, but I’ve gotten STARTed, and buit a foundation (with a lot of confidence and self control).

Am I going to continue on the awesome path? ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY

Awesome video done by Jen Moff from The Start Experiment

The Waiting Room

Last week I had to go to the Doctor’s office for a consult and it was a very interesting experience. See I went to the appointment got there a little earlier waiting in the waiting room as normal and then got called by the nurse to go to the patient room. As routine is she would check my pressure ask some basic questions and then say “Okay well the doctor will be with you in just a bit”. So I waited and waited, I had my phone to keep me entertained for a bit. Checking social media – Twitter, Instagram, facebook and even Pinterest. Twenty minutes passed, no Doctor, It had been a long couple of days and I even contemplated taking a nap but that would be awkward. I just had a feeling that as soon as I started falling asleep the doctor was going to walk in. Forty minutes passed and all this time I could hear things happening outside my room. People giggling, "congratulations" being said, people walking, papers being tousled, paper sheets being changed in other rooms, doors opening and closing. Yet no one came to my room, to my door. I even stepped outside at one point and asked the nurse if they had forgotten about me. She said no you're next so I went back and waiting some more, heard some more people leaving giggles and changes.

The feeling was all too familiar for some reasons. See for the last, I would say 2-3 years I feel like I've been in God's waiting room. Hearing all the noise going on outside. By noises outside I mean friends getting engaged and married having babies, friends moving and having adventures, People growing in their careers and achieving their dreams. Yet I’m sitting by myself in that small room looking at the walls, trying to keep busy and or distracted until God comes in. I've opened the doors many times asking God if he remembers that I’m here, in the room waiting.

After almost 60 minutes of waiting my doctor finally came into the room. She asked a few questions, we discussed a few things, and then she said, “Okay well lets get some tests done”. Next thing I know she is taking me to another room to get the tests done and then off to the lab for some blood work. After all the time spent waiting there was actually some work being done and eventually, in a week to be exact we would have some results and certain questions would be answered.  

I don’t know if my “waiting room” feelings in regards to God and this season of my life are right or not. I do realize now that God is speaking to my heart. I also know  I've been hearing about waiting and how to wait right lately, and my ears are open and I’m applying it as best as I can to my life. Yet I hope that just as the doctor did eventually came in and got things moving and done. God will also come and say, “Let’s do this”.

Dusting off the blog

Hello  there blog world! 

It's been a while, how have you been? me, good and extremely busy!

So I decided to come back to the blog-sphere, more specifically this blog. 

Why? you asked well as much as  I loved the layout and background of the tumblr blog, (which by the way I've placed a link on the side bar) I just couldn't get use to the format. For one, there is no comments section. Yes I researched and found that you could add an "app" of source or link and it can allow you to post comments but that's too techie for me. I also didn't find it too user and reader friendly when it came to writing longer thoughts. Lastly, there was something really weird about random people able to repost my post and pictures. Yet I might still use the tumblr account from time to time, for quick post, such as inspirational quotes, random pictures and such. 

So for the most part, I will be posting here. Sharing my random, and yes they are very random thoughts.  :)

 

On the Move.. Sorta

I moved... and now my blog has moved too! You can now find my ramblings here http://beautyofkairos.tumblr.com/

Will it be a temporary more or will I be back I don't know... we'll try it out and see!

Season of Changes

Well, I haven't done that well with keeping up with the blogging have I? sorry! It's definitely a season of changes.

Over the summer I made the decision to leave Florida, On September 28th I may the drive up to Georgia, I'm currently staying with my dad and the family. Looking for a job and home church, but it's been a lot harder than I thought it would be. At least the part about finding a home church. I definitely miss the fellowship of friends and my church in Ft. Lauderdale and I also have realized how special it was and how blessed I was to have it. I also realized that.. if I"m going to be honest, I didn't appreciate it or value it as I should have. It's so true what they say sometimes space and distance makes the heart grow fonder, and you never really know what you have until it's gone. Of course with the move lost of thoughts and feelings have crossed my mind, I've taken notes on some and hope to blog about those things later on. 

Besides a change of location, I also got to go back to Pittsburgh for my birthday! It was a great trip, just like last December. I got to do some sight seeing, visit new places, meet knew people - it was great! I had a birthday wish list of sorts that was just between me and the Lord, and I can really say that God answered it all. It was awesome and it reminded me once again of God's love for me. I think a part of my heart will always be in Pittsburgh, the question is will I be there in the future.

I've also taken some more pictures, I had my first "paid" photo shoot, took pictures of Kate's best friend and her mom, fall pictures that came out really nice. I went around a nearby city and took some pictures to submit to a contest that was being held for TobyMac backstage passes. I won the contest and Kate and her best friend got to go backstage and meet TobyMac. I also got a bit creative at the concert and took some pictures that I think are pretty cool. Of course during my trip to Pittsburgh I took TONS! One of the places I visited was the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden, TONS AND TONS of pictures of all the beautiful flowers.

Besides that I've just been spending time with the family and taking it literally one day at a time.

December's Pittsburgh Visit

So I’ve tried to write this blog for months… I’ve started it many times, but never really finished it. So let’s see if this time will do the charm.

A couple of years ago, probably around 2008 I was just going through a really hard time. Friendships were dropping left and right, I felt like God was taking everything that was dear to me away and I felt like I just wanted nothing else but to RUN AWAY!! To start somewhere fresh, and leave all the pain and hurt behind.

As I talked with one of good friends about this she asked me “where would you run away to?”. After thinking a fewminutes I answered “Pittsburgh” She asked “why” I again answered “Because it’s the one city where I would be by myself but for half of the year I would have something that I really liked that would entertain me.”

Obviously I never ‘ran away’ in 2008, although I did spend a good amount of time researching which neighborhoods were the best and looking at apartments on craiglist.  Yet the idea stayed with me and it resurfaced last fall, so once again I took to craiglist and this time I even started looking at airplane ticket, part of me just wanted to atleast visit one time to see if i even liked the city. 

Well in December we got a bonus at work and guess what I did… I booked a plane ticket to Pittsburgh. I also knew of some friends that lived there that I would have loved to meet up with while and catch up with while I was there. Well Mary and Tuff not only said yeah we would love to meet up they opened the doors to their home and hosted me while I was there. They were such a blessing,  they took me in and really showed me the town.

From the Monongahela Incline

To the Market Place

  Dinner at Jerome Bettis Grill

To the Strip District

To a drive by of the Steelers Training Facility.

The Cemetery ( Hey it’s on Pittsburgh’s TOP 10 places to visit!)

Mount Washington

Steelers Game!!

Some of my favorite from around the city

It was such an amazing trip that well if I had something to describe it by it would be Ephesians 3:20 and I actually wrote the date of the trip next to that verse in my bible. That was big for me, because the closing months of 2010 where very… “gloomy” for me.

So the spark and curiosity birthed in 2008 was ignited even more on that trip, the desire has grown even more. So for the last 5 months my question to God has been “where do you want me?” and I know that there’s BIG possibility that God may have already answered that question for me and that I missed hearing the respond. I’ve honestly become so tired of South Florida, and part of me feels like there’s no future for me here.

Now I have a decision to make stay here in South Florida or move. The move decision has even gotten a bit more complicated, because besides thinking of Pittsburgh I've also thought of Georgia. Which that in itself is a miracle, I never thought I would be consider moving to Atlanta with my dad. Yet after my last visit in April I've really been thinking about it, but I don’t want to step out of God’s will.  That’s my biggest fear, steeping out of God’s will for me, yet at times I feel like I already have.

A Love Story?

Last week as I read over some of the news coming out of Joplin , Mo and the devastating tornados I saw something that really caught my eye. It was the story of a wife and the sacrifice her husband made.

The Weather Channel did an interview with a young woman whose husband of 6-years, a former High School football star, threw himself over her in their bathtub to protect her and them from flying debris as their house was being ripped apart by the tornado.  He suffered a terrible puncture wound from a piece of large debris that went through his back and died shortly after. 

As soon as I read that I thought of Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” and the scripture came to life. This man loved his wife so much, he put himself in harm’s way to protect her. He took the hit, whatever it took to protect his wife, and it cost him his life. I don’t know what this man’s faith was, if he was a believer or not, but he loved his wife the way that God called him to. I'm sure it will a story that will be retold many times, a story of love, a husband's love for his wife.