You have no idea what a blessing you have been to us.  You may never know what a blessing you have been to us (at least not this side of Heaven).

You have treated me like a capable adult.  That means so much to me.  You have encouraged me and that in turn has built my self confidence, my desire to take care of my body, and my desire to live for God.

If you had never come to our church, if our church had closed after the old pastor left, we (myself and my family) would probably not be going to church anymore.  We have been hurt by churches so much in the past that I do know if we would have had the desire or courage to find another church family.

If our old pastor had stayed, I probably would not be going to church anymore.  I was becoming sorely burned out.

I have had so much fun fixing your computers.  I like learning things, and I like helping people, and I’ve done both in fixing your computers.  I have received so much encouragement from you that, for the first time in my life, I am actually considering finding a job in the IT industry.

You have a wonderful family.  I’ve had a lot of fun eating lunch with your wife, helping your daughter with math, and getting to know your other daughter and son.  It is refreshing and encouraging to meet other people who are so full of love.

I have a lot of “secrets” in my past, dark things that I do not talk about very often.  I know I seem very outgoing, but in many ways I am actually quite shy.  I have been hurt a lot in the past, and because of that I tend to keep many things to myself.  It is really, really hard for me to share my testimony, because there was so much pain in my past, and because I have experienced more pain (judgment of the poor choices I made) from other Christians in the present.  But I am growing.  As time goes by, and as I am loved by other people (like you), it gets a little easier.

I know you understand the absolutely overwhelming love and peace and joy that has been in my life since I became a Christian.  It brings tears to my eyes just to remember those first few moments in Christ.  I am really, truly learning and being challenged by your messages, and growing in Christ because of them.  Thank you.

I pray for you every day.  I pray that God will return His blessings to you- that all the blessings you have brought to us will be returned to you a hundredfold.  But I know that even if you receive just a fraction of the blessings you have given us, you will be blessed indeed- because words or numbers cannot express the amount of blessing you have given.

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think it’s more than you can take
But you are stronger, stronger than you know
Don’t you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard
Impossible is not a word
It’s just a reason for someone not to try
Everybody’s scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It’ll be alright
Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

Overcome the odds
You do have a chance
(That’s what faith can do)
When the world says you can’t
It’ll tell you that you can!

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do
That’s what faith can do!

Even if you fall sometimes
You will have the strength to rise

-What Faith Can Do by Kutlass

I had big plans of getting a lot done today, but of course it didn’t happen like I had planned.

I wound up as a pet rescuer today and was the only person available to adopt a homeless hamster.  If you know me, you know I love hamsters.  I’ve owned many hamsters previously and I’ve been wanting to acquire another one for quite awhile.  So in a way it was a match made in heaven.

But of course, I live with my parents and my mother in particular absolutely HATES animals.  She is NOT happy about me adopting this little hamster and wants me to find someone else to take it.

So, the next couple of days will be insane, with me trying to find a way to make this hamster work.  That means I will be doing a lot of cleaning and a lot of reorganizing- and a lot of praying!  I really hope it works out- my days at home alone can get very lonely, and I reallyreallyreally want the company.

It seems like there’s just not enough time anymore.  Every time I finish one thing, there’s something else to do.

To add to the insanity, NaNoWriMo begins in just a couple of weeks and as usual I plan to participate.  I’ve never fully “won” a NaNoWriMo before though, and I’d like to “win” this year.  Except of course, that means November will be a totally chaotic month!

I have a sort-of outline for a story, but I desperately need to spend some time expanding it (now) to ease the insanity of next month.

It also kinda scares me to imagine a month of writing AND blogging, and trying to keep up with both.  Not sure how that’s gonna happen…

I should seriously get an award for it.

I still need to put together the slides for church tomorrow morning- that is, approximately 10.5 hours from now!

I’m in the process of winning a bunch of stuff on ebay.  Shh, don’t tell my family- it’s Christmas gifts!

*sigh* I suppose I should actually do some real work now.  Bye.

A few days ago, I came across this story in our local paper.  The story is about a local murder victim named Marcia Spicer, who was killed over 3 years ago.  Her death was absolutely horrible- she was murdered during a forced sex act.  Her attackers, Richard Davis and Dena Riley, have been sentenced- Davis, to execution, and Riley, to nine live sentences without parole.  Marcia Spicer’s family is not content with these sentences: they want Riley to also be sentenced to death.

I am certainly not condemning the actions of Marcia Spicer’s family.  I can’t imagine how I would react if my parents, my sister, or my best friend were taken from me.  But it makes me wonder…

On June 2, 2007, a local teenager named Kelsey Smith was abducted in broad daylight from the parking lot of a local department store.  Her body was found four days later.  She had been raped, sodomized, and murdered.  Her attacker was sentenced to life in prison without patrol.

Kelsey’s family responded by establishing Kelsey’s Army, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating women and their families, particularly young women, in self defense and proactive protection against crime.

In July of 1981, a six-year-old boy named Adam Walsh was abducted from a Florida department store and killed.  His death prompted his father, John Walsh, to become an advocate for victims’ rights.  He was instrumental in the formation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and also the television show America’s Most Wanted.  Adam’s death was tragic, but we can only wonder how many other children (and adults) have been saved in Adam’s memory.

It is a mystery why people react in such dramatically different ways to crimes that are in many ways similar.  But I certainly hope, should I ever find myself in a similar situation, that I will react in a productive and healthy way.