Last Day

Today was my last day on earth. . .as a teenager. :D Tomorrow I will wake, having completed my second decade!

Just thought you'd like to know that. :)

Me n my youngest niece: The Cutie Pie) :D

Guest Post: Bella

Today I am very excited to give you my very first guest blog, written by one of my best-est friends, Isabella! (Affectionately known as "Bella")

I have known Isabella for most of my life now and over the years her sweet, truth-hungry spirit has blessed and challenged me in more ways than I could name.

A few fun facts bout Bella: She loves all kinds of tea and everything to do with it. She has a talent for matchmaking. ;) She has a wonderful, easy laugh and enjoys dressing up for no reason at all.

Today Bella brings a simple challenge for us that has already proved thought-provoking for me, as I am sure it will for you. I also highly recommend that you check out Bella's blog over at Once Upon a Rose.

And without further ado. . . Here is Bella. :)


            What were you doing in the morning?  Me, well, I would have enjoyed sitting on the couch, eating toast (spread with a LOT of jam), and reading.  Or, better yet, snuggling deep down in bed and hibernating for another hour.  Yup, that would have been heaven!  Instead, I was sitting on a hard chair in one of the most dysfunctional offices in Newnan.  The DDS department.  (Y'all who live here know exactly what i mean...)  I was there because I needed to get my permit renewed.  And, dumb enough as this may sound, I was actually a teensy bit nervous.  You would think that I'd be nervous about whether my mum and I had all of the documents.  But I wasn't.  Instead, I was crossing my fingers that my permit picture would turn out nice.  Yes, I know that sounds vain.....but being a girl, how could I help it?! 

            Anyway, to fill the time, I ended up reading a little and.....people watching.  There was this one Indian girl, too, that I especially noticed.  She was leaving the "the test room" (a.k.a. the room of immense joy or gloom) to exit the building.  As she walked past me, we made eye contact.  Now, I have to say, that this is always the moment when I make my assessment of a person, during those first few seconds when I have no clue who the person is (and in this case, never would).  The expression that the person makes during that amount of time either makes them stand out in my memory or simply remain a random person.  Looking at me with big, warm eyes, this girl immediately broke in a smile that was beautiful and friendly.  I immediately found myself smiling back.  While this girl could have walked by and simply stared (and I would have returned the stare...no doubt), she instead chose to smile, filling me with a sense of warmth.       After she was gone, I couldn't help wondering: what impact could I have if I chose to smile every time I made eye contact with someone?  I have to admit that I usually choose simply to stare.  But, what if, I did choose to smile?  Just like this girl brightened my day, maybe I could be a small ray of sunshine to someone else. 

            In addition, people who smile are far easier to approach.  As Christians, we should strive to make people feel comfortable enough to approach and talk to us.  If people don’t feel like they can strike up a conversation with us, if we come across as distant and standoffish, we will miss many opportunities to minister to people.   However, even if you only get to see someone once in your life, wouldn't you like to leave them with the beauty of a smile?  When someone is having a bad day, a smile can really brighten up their day. 

            So, that being said, I want to challenge all of you to smile next time you see a stranger (of course, not like our family also wouldn't benefit from us smiling more... :D).  Even if they don't smile back, you can walk away knowing you extended kindness.  That being said, thanks for reading this!  For those of you are aren't already following Jenna's blog, I highly recommend that you consider it.   Feel free to visit Once Upon a Rose too! ;)  

            P.S.  My permit picture turned out...!!!!     
Bella

Where I've Been

 Whew, where did April go? It's May, my big Two-O birthday is coming up and summer is coming on full-blast!

Since April has flown past without a chance for me to write, let's take a moment to revisit.

1) April was sprinkled with my younger  brother's (can't call him my "little" brother any more) baseball games. Micah has been playing in a homeschool league for the past three years. I always enjoy watching him play.

2) I teach piano to three students and had a co-recital in April with my good friend, Bethany. My students made me so proud!

Bethany and I

My students and I

3) My sister, brother-in-law and three nieces moved here for a little while. My days have been richly filled with colored picture-gifts, searches for shoes, hair-ties, hugs and kisses, no-no's, walks outside and tickling fights. :)

The Birthday girl

The Almost-Five-Year-Old

The Baby

3) My big brother was ordained to go on the mission field with his wife, Sarah!! On the spur of the moment, Caleb and I re-learned The Lord's Prayer in three days and played a violin-piano duet at his ordination service. That was crazy fun!

4) Last but not least, at the end of April/beginning of May my family traveled down to Florida to see Micah in the Homeschool World Series. It was great to see him play and wonderful to have a mini-vacation. This was my first trip to FL and I enjoyed it immensely!

Marvelous sunset

My first view of the Gulf!

Stunning ocean-life

April was full of fast-paced fun but now I'm looking forward to some slow summer May days. :)

What did you do this past April?