It's a battlefield out there.

Some mornings I wake up, roll over, take a deep breath, and then I feel reality gush over me. I wish more than anything that I could fall back into the darkness and non-reality of my dreams, but instead I have to get up and face everything in life like a mature person.

And it’s hard.

But the world will never be conquered by someone who lies in bed all day, and so I throw the covers off of my warm, secure little hideout, and get up to face the problems and the challenges. I have battles to fight. And I am determined.

I fight battles every day. I fight them in my personal life, in my family life, in society, in America, and even in the world. I’m learning to fight temptations, learning to fight my impatience with my family, learning to get along with people that I don’t like, learning to fight injustice in America, and learning to fight for people’s rights in other countries.

I’ll say this: life isn’t a walk in the park. Life is a battlefield. And I’m learning to fight and win those battles.

The battles aren’t easy. They’re pretty hard sometimes. I can’t do it alone. So I do my best to lean on and listen to my Savior. He’s helping me.

I’m learning to face the pain and the hurt. I’m learning to bear the scars.

And I’m learning to carry on like a soldier. 

Glad to be alive

Confession: I take things for granted in my life. I do. All the time. I just assume that family/friends/things will always be in my life. But we can lose those things. So often we don’t realize how many blessings we have in our lives until they’re taken away - and then we realize how blessed we were. I think that we should try to enjoy and fully appreciate the people and things in our life - while we still have them. :)

Today, I am feeling blessed and SO thankful.

Today's thankful list:

-my beautiful family

-friends (even the annoying ones)

-laughter

-corn...

-smiles

-my rogueing bus

-sunshine

-air conditioning

-showers

-music

-real conversations

-opportunities

-life

Most of all, I’m glad to be in this wonderful state of Nebraska, in this beautiful world, I’m glad to be where I am, and I’m glad that I know YOU.

Today is a good day to be alive.

Loving your enemies

Jesus tells us that we are supposed to love our enemies.

That is one of the hardest things to do. It really is. 

A thought from the cornfield that really has nothing to do with corn

Yesterday I was walking and roguing (or is it "rogueing"? Enlighten me, please) in the cornfield, just like I have been all week. Out in the cornfield, you have a lot of time to… well, think.

I had been roguing one of the final rows at the end of the field and Alex came to bail me. The thing I love about Alex is his attitude about everything. He is so cheerful ALL the time and seems to take immense pleasure in the little things in life. He and I started talking. He told me about what he wants to do with his life, how he wants to become a pastor or do something in missions because he wants to help people. He told me about his love for talking with people, asking them about their faith, telling them about Jesus, and caring for them. He told me that he doesn’t care if he makes a lot of money, just so long as he can help people. What I loved most was that he was so passionate about it all. Just by hearing the way he talked and seeing his smile (I swear, he never stops smiling), I could tell that he was 100% sincere about everything he was saying. 

I think he’s also the world’s greatest optimist, always finding something to be thankful and happy about. We were walking back to the bus and he said, “You know, I’m really tired, but hey, at least I’m alive! The fact that I’m still able to breathe is something to be excited about.” That’s the kind of attitude that I love.

After talking with Alex, I started thinking (for quite a while) about how I love it when people are passionate. Passionate about what they do, what they want to do, what they believe, their love for others, and life. I love it when people talk to me about what they’re passionate about – seriously, talk to me about your passions. But mostly, I love it when I can see someone’s passion lived out in their own life. When I can see it in their eyes, the way they smile, the way they do something, how they talk, etc. Yeah. I like that. When people are passionate about important things in this world, it makes me so happy, and so glad to be alive. It reminds me that people really do care, and those people inspire me.

^Yeah. That’s what I thought about in a cornfield. Hey, at least it kept me from getting bored. :)

a little bit of me

I found a quote that (I think) describes me rather perfectly.

“There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting.” - L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables 

That is me. Through and through. Yep. I like to be interesting.