Someone Who Inspires Me:

Nicole is one of my youth kids. She's a junior in school and reminds me of myself so much (especially at that age).

Pretty much since day one she and I have gotten along fabulously well. Except one time when she and a couple of other youth decided they want to play match-maker with me and another guy... but I digress....

I'm not going to sit here and write all about how fantastic she is and all that (because I could go on for days and days on how great she is). But I do want to talk about how she inspires me.

A few months ago I had a huge falling out with someone very close to me. Ironically, that same night she posted a video to my wall. "SHANNNNNONNN!! Can you come back to Little Rock now? Ok, thanks..." I literally cried when I watched this video. After a day of feeling like I'm the worst person in the world, she made me smile.

Even tonight, she worked on reconciling with one of her friends. Which therefore inspired me to do the same.

As a Christian, I know that I am supposed to live a life that honors God. But I think being close to my youth has been a strong reminder of WHY God has to be apparent in every aspect of our lives.

It's so funny to me that Nicole constantly says, "Thanks for being there" and stuff like that. She says it without even knowing how much of a blessing she is for me.

I'm so blessed. I am so blessed to be inspired by an amazing young woman.

Isn't It Nice To Know

So I was thinking about this Relient k song that says:

I found my new black shoes. While cleaning out the bones left in my closet. They were there with a bad excuse...

Isn't it nice to know that the lining is silver? Isn't it nice to know that we're golden?

To me, this song is a simple reminder of God's presence in our lives.

Last week I was reminded of his presence in a big way. Lately my sales haven't been where I need them to be. I have lots of projects in the works, but they just weren't closing. This is so frustrating when you have worked so hard, but it just hasn't hit. So the week before last I broke down. Cried and cried out to God.

And he came through.

Afterwards I felt so stupid for not crying out to him sooner. But it was so sweet just to know that He hears me. How amazing is that?!

So isn't it nice to know? I think so too.

Dreams

When you wake up, do you remember your dreams? I don't usually, however, last night I dreamed that I was trying out for cheerleading again in high school. It was like I was a senior and there were all these youngin's around and I knew i was a shoe in for a position, so i was just helping the others learn the cheers.

strangley, i wasn't that great of a cheerleader. haha.

So, lately I've been watching Glee (season 1) and it is probably one of the best shows ever made. No lie. Anyway, it seems like the show is always referencing to each person's dream. So it made me think, what's my dream?

• To honor God with my life. The good. The bad. The ugly. All of it to be used to his glory. That I could, one day, lead someone to Christ. That I can help others to learn to love Him more. (And that I would also learn to love Him more and more).
• To find love. One day I'm sure it will happen, but it hasn't happened for me yet. Sometimes this is very frustrating and I am impatient, but ultimately, I do believe that it will happen when it is right.
• Family. Yeah, even though I'm afraid of babies, it's what I want. Not anytime soon or anything like that, but just one day.
• A legacy. That reflects God and just makes people smile. Although I am constantly surprised that I am a "role model" I do hope that the good qualities I have may rub off on others.

And that's it. Sure it would be nice if my engagement/wedding/and any other jewelry came from a little blue box with "Tiffany's" across the top. Or was able to always have a BMW (or Mini) in the driveway for me. But ultimately, I just want to be blessed (not happy -which seems so temporary).

Well, like I said, I don't usually remember my dreams when I wake up, so maybe it's like I am still asleep. Maybe I'll realize that my dreams are my reality. And, I hope, the best is still yet to come.