What are you thankful for? please share

Tis that time of year again; when people get so consumed with the prospect of Christmas and getting gifts that they forget to take pause in their lives and be thankful... so I'm going to share what I am thankful for and I would love the hear what you're thankful for.

1. I am thankful for a family that thinks that the best way to celebrate American thanksgiving is turkey bacon for breakfast.

2.I am thankful for friends who keep me accountable and listen to my irrational comments when I have a 25 page paper due.

3.I am thankful for a College, that challenges my patience and forces me to think outside the box to improve it and leave it better than I found it.

4. I am thankful for that person who makes me feel like I can actually change the world and who sees the value in words that come out of my mouth - you know who you are...

5. and MOST of all I am thankful for a God, who is so gracious, that he allows me to be as stupid and as ungrateful as I am. A God who loves me so much that he would sacrifice his only son, to save me from my sins.

My path

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 

I know its been a while, but life has been busy and my thoughts haven't really made it past my brain...

Yesterday I had the wonderful pleasure of having coffee with a great woman who has, in many ways, become a mentor to me. There were many components of  our conversation that honestly would nott be interesting to anyone who wasn't part of it, but she made a comment that has been on my mind since our coffee date... a comment I think is worth sharing.

So for a little context:

For I know the plans...

My favorite musical of all time is Wicked. "Why?" you might ask. Because it has my favorite song of all time... for good. The song goes something like this,

" I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them

Why do we hurt the ones we love?

Do you remember back in  like 2nd and 3rd grade when we all had crushes on people and thought the most acceptable course of action was to pinch/hit/bush/make fun of etc. him/her? If you don't remember that, you either have very bad memory or you were a freaky perfect kid. For the rest of us who remember this unfortunate stage in our development, I have something to share with you/ask of you.

I was at work today mentoring young minds (insert laughter here) when a little girl came up to me crying. It appears that one of the boys had been picking on her for a while now and she had reached her holding capacity. Naturally, being the great mentor I am, I called them together and asked what the issue was. After some probing, the little boy asked to talk to me in private at which point he told me he had a crush on the little girl. Now as funny as this is, and as cute as it is, after talking to these kids for a little while and helping them "solve" their problem...at least for the day, I realized something about human nature.Now I know none of us pinch/hit/bush/make fun our love interests anymore...or at least I HOPE none of us do that, but we seem to have more sophisticated and complex ways of inflicting pain on each other.

So my question is this, What is it about humans that pushes us to hurt the ones we love? What is it about our nature that makes us hurt others so easily? This has been nagging at me all day and if anyone has an answer I would love to hear it. Using our personal experiences and my students as an example, I think it's safe to say that even at our most innocent stage as children, when we "love" someone we can't seem to stop ourselves from hurting them...Why is that?

something about this song...

A time of uncertainty

Lord it's been a while
Once again I find myself at a time of uncertainty.
I don't know what I'm doing.
I've never been more unsure of my ability to make comprehensive decisions.
I've sought to trust you through the good and the bad in my life and yet I find myself tempted to walk away from your love.
Lord I come to you again, faced with difficult decisions
I know I should have come to you earlier but for some reason I thought I could do it on my own.
You said in psalm 121 that you are my keeper and you are my shade!
You've promised me in Jeremiah 29 that you have a plan for my life; plans to prosper and give me good hope and a future
So now Lord I  come to you, completely surrendered
You've asked all who are weary and burdened to come to you for their rest.
So I come to you Lord,
very well aware of my short comings and very much aware of my unworthinesses
Have your way in my life oh Lord
Direct my path.
Help me, for I know your way is best.
Shine your light on my path and show me your glory

In your name I pray
Amen

Women Hold Up Half the Sky

One day an elephant saw a hummingbird lying on its back with its tiny feet up in the air. "What are you doing?" asked the elephant.

The hummingbird replied, "I heard that the sky might fall today, and so I am ready to help hold it up, should it fall." 

The elephant laughed cruelly. "Do you really think," he said, "that those tiny feet could help hold up the sky?"

The hummingbird kept his feet up in the air, intent on his purpose, as he replied, "Not alone. But each must do what he can. And this is what I can do."
— A Chinese Folktale

After a great conversation with my friend Rach, I can't help but share these sites. Women in the world are suffering and you don't need to go half way around the world to find them. There are women suffering in our backyards and it's about time they got justice!

Please educate yourselves about the suffering in this world!

http://www.halftheskymovement.org/

http://www.dreamcenter.org/new/images/outreach/RescueProject/stats.pdf

http://www.ssjphila.org/documents/HTPolaris.pdf

...Hey, I like your Fro...

It's been a while... and the title has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm about to talk about.

Two weeks ago I was in a car accident (no panic, there was no major damage done to any of us) and it opened my eyes to many things, most importantly the value of the small moments in life.This year has been a challenge for me for many reason's but the biggest one is the fact that I've made it my goal to confront my insecurities and that's not always easy. So here's a prime example of taking joy in the little thinks AND confronting insecurities.

A week ago I held a chapel at school for women's history month. The chapel was three fold,

1. Address and discuss how we can be strong women of God

Seek and you will find

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

A couple weeks ago, I saw the sign floating around campus for the women's retreat, and for the first time in my life I had this sense of need to attend it. So I filled out the paper work and handed it in... then for a week I thought, and rethought, and thought again about my decision to attend ...maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. I mean, lets be honest with ourselves, the title of the retreat was "the courage to follow"... and we all know I don't do that very well. I don't do the vulnerability thing and I don't like the thought of a bunch of perfect people seeing my imperfections. Anyway, I paid the money, I didn't want to waste it, so I went (this has nothing to do with the story except that it gives background ha)

The speaker was Candace Corwin, a woman who was the farthest from perfect and only came to know God because she was trying to get a boy (riddle me that, right?).

For such a time as this

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? -Esther 4:14

Have you ever felt worthless? have you just felt like you had no purpose? Trust me I have... actually I was in one of those funks a couple days ago (actually a week ago) when a friend said something that was really kind of hurtful to me (something I'm still working on getting over) and my dad recommended a book to me called Ten prayers God will always say yes to... 
Have you ever thought of the night/day you were conceived?... not born, conceived!...yup gross right? haha
Ten prayers God will always say yes to by Anthony DeStefano definitely changes your opinion on the nasty night your mom and dad "did it".

new

I started a new blog on tumblr called fluisa....look it up!

Even in my weakness...

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

So if you know me at all, you pretty much know that I don't like being seen as a weak person; I automatically attribute emotional vulnerability to weakness (mind you I have a double standard so I only see this in myself and not in others... I'm some counselors nightmare ha). I don't know what it is with me and where I really got this idea, but for some reason I've always seen crying, or feeling any kind of emotion that requires you to be vulnerable,as a sign of weakness and I don't like people to think I'm weak. I come from a long line of strong people. A long line of people who have persevered through very difficult times, so I try everything I can to uphold the family name and be strong so that when everyone sees me, they will see a representation of the family I come from.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where

I've had a lot on my mind these past couple of days...a lot about love. Is it possible to love too much? To become so concentrated on one person and to put all your heart into that person that the only thing that matters, is not how they feel about you, or how they can please you, but how you can protect them in every way, and how you can show them love without them asking for it.