WARNING!!!

Do you like to daydream?

I do and I do it alot! That's really how I get inspired to create new characters and stories. At night as I'm about to drift off, I like to place my characters in a scene and let them act it out. Then if I like it, hopefully I'll remember it in the morning haha!

Since I restarted going to school last semester, I daydream less at night because I'm worried about tests, assignments I didn't complete yet or just the fact that I'm beat. If I'm super tired, I tend to pass out within a matter of minutes. So my story today takes place on a Sunday night, the Sunday night before the Spring semester began.

I had chosen to take only 9 credit hours so I could continue to work 30 + hours a week. I had ordered all my books through my school book store and Amazon. It's also important to mention that I take the bus, well two buses, to get to my campus.  One drives me down to the bus transit station and from there I get one the second that takes me right to campus. I do this because I live in Houston where traffic is a mess more times than it's not. Plus add on the fact that my university charges $200+ PER SEMESTER for parking!!! Or you can give yourself a real deal and pay $400+ for an ANNUAL pass!!!

And there's just no way, no way that I'm going to be doing that. Besides, people complain that it can take an hour to find a spot, not a good spot, anyways. Plus, remember the traffic? So for me, I pay $25 a month to ride a bus to school that saves me a little time and stress.

Back to the Sunday night before my first semester of school.

I got everything ready. Notebook, pens, my outfit all ready. I'm lying in bed, trying to daydream because I realize I'm not as tired as I thought. Sleep continues to elude me and I can't imagine anything interesting to entertain me. So I wait.

Suddenly it hits me, hard and fast.

I get this really strong feeling that I need to change my school schedule. This feeling increases to the point that it gets me out of bed and in front of my lap top because I have that strong impression that something bad would happen to me if I didn't.

I already knew what change I had to make. I had an evening class scheduled at 5:30 pm which ended at 7 pm. I knew I had the feeling because if I kept that class, I would be taking late evening buses and I'd have to walk through downtown Houston at night to catch the bus to take me home. (The bus stop is three blocks from the down town transit center btw).

Last semester I had my classes earlier in the day so that I always went home on the buses with the business people. Well, who knows what kind of people I'd be seeing around that time of night. So I listened to the prompting, which I knew came from God and I dropped the class.

The feeling went away like a puff of smoke. Poof!

I was able to find an online class that I needed anyways and things were fixed. I know there are some people who struggle with listening to their instincts/thoughts/impressions/feelings etc. A lot of people can't seem to tell if they're making up the feelings themselves or not. I'm hoping my experience can help you learn how to tell.

1. The feeling was so abrupt and strong that I just knew it wasn't coming from me. I wasn't even thinking about walking around down town Houston. Plus the feeling went away right after I dropped the class. 
2. I pray to God for protection nearly all the time to begin with. How can He protect me if I'm not willing to listen to the His warnings? In my experience, God has communicated to me through my thoughts (I always hear my own voice when that happens) and through feelings. 
3. Everything GOOD comes from Him. If you have a thought/feeling/impression/instinct that you know is GOOD, then trust it and follow it. It gets easier the more you do it. After awhile you learn to trust Him without doubting yourself and just DO. 

There was another time when a similar thing happened to me. I was serving an 18 month mission for my church on a French island called La Reunion. (Go find it on a globe!) In my church, missionaries always work in pairs called companionships. Me and my companion go to see a less active member and when we get to his place to check up on him, another guy walks out. Immediately I get a horrible nauseous feeling in my stomach. The feeling then was to get out because whoever that guy was, he wasn't anything good. So we listened and took off as fast as possible with no harm to ourselves.

Here's the moral of these stories, Trust those feelings/impressions/thoughts/instincts whatever form they take. Trust them. 

It'll be worth it. 

The Lost Egg

Have you ever lost something and then couldn't find it again?

Even if you put it down somewhere only five seconds ago?

I have. I have lost everything from CDs, jackets, and books. And mind you, I'm not losing anything I don't care about. Oh, no! Heaven forbid I lose something I actually could care less about, or feel any satisfaction for losing it in the first place.

More times than not, I haven't ever been able to find what I've lost. There have been a few times, however, where I have found things again. This post tells such a story.

Easter of this year, after getting the idea from my in-laws, I decided to create an Easter egg hunt for my siblings and my father (who has more of a kid inside of him than my own little brother) inside my parents home. I bought pastel eggs and filled all of the eggs with candy, except for the yellow or "golden" eggs. Those I filled with dollar bills. I divided my eggs in half and hid them all equally on the first and second floors. Then I let my family have at it.

World War III erupted in my living room.

Fortunately for us, we all love each other too much to do any serious or permanent damage.

They found all the eggs, some more easily than others, all but one. One lost egg. And it wasn't just any egg with candy. It was one of the "golden" eggs. No one could find it. I couldn't find it! And I had hid the darn thing! Too well it appeared.

So I kept retracing my steps, over and over. Nothing. Oh, and by the way, if you ever decide to have an indoor egg hunt, it would help to keep note of where you hide the eggs. Why didn't I think of that before I hid them???

Anyways so I get to the point where I stop and think. I pray and I asked Heavenly Father to help me find the egg. I wasn't asking for myself. The whole reason I had done this was so my family could have fun and enjoy Easter. It was such a small thing. Who would pray to find a lost egg? Well, I did. I cared about it and I figured if I did, then my Heavenly Father would too.

After my short, simple but sincere prayer, I resume searching. I'm looking in my bathroom when all of a sudden, I'm not seeing my bathroom anymore. I'm seeing a moving picture in my mind, like a movie, and it's me hiding the egg in the spot I can't find, as if I'm hiding it again at that same moment. It was like God went into my brain and hit a "rewind" button. It was that clear.

Talk about an "Ah-HA!" moment and multiply it by 10! That's how cool it was. I rush over to the spot in our game room where we have a basket of winter gloves, and sure enough there's the egg, hidden a little too well I might add. I would never have found that egg by myself.

So I tell my family I found it, give them a few clues and watch them find it. There was much rejoicing over that one little egg.

So right now you might be wondering, how did that happen? I know that memory did not come from myself. It was a gift God sent me through the power of the Holy Ghost. John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost...shall...bring all things to your remembrance..."

God cares about the little things in our lives, even lost eggs. If you pray and ask for His help for things big or small, He will help you as He helped me to bless my family. It might not come the same way as my example, but help will come. :)

Opportunities and Red Flags

One of Disney's cooler animations, Aladdin, tells the story of a young poor boy and his discovery of a magic lamp which has imprisoned a powerful genie. Rubbing the lamp, Aladdin frees the genie and is rewarded with three wishes. Suddenly Aladdin realizes he could have anything and everything he has ever wanted.

In the story the lamp is like a red flag of opportunity, something capable of fulfilling one of your desires that almost feels like it fell out of the sky right in front of your eyes...without you even asking for it. But as most everyone else knows, those red flags can also serve as warnings. In this post I will be linking them to opportunities.

One of the challenges for me and for my fiance earlier this year was figuring out where we would live. We had set a date to be married in July and both our families couldn't have been happier with our decision. There were a few challenges we quickly encountered, I'm sure as most people do when they plan their life together with a loved one.

Challenge #1- Where would we live?
Challenge #2- How would we support ourselves?
Challenge #4- What about school?

I was 25 at the time my fiance proposed and I had not yet obtained a college degree, (see my other blog for details) and neither had he. We both planned and prepared to attend and eventually graduate with degrees but for either of us, that time was a little too far in the distant future to satisfy any worryings we had about providing for ourselves. I had my current job at Sweet Tomatoes while my fiance worked at a day care. As you can imagine, neither provided a substantial income. So....what to do?

Both sets of parents had offered to let us live in their home until one of us had a degree. Though the most financial friendly option at the time, our concerns about privacy eventually persuaded us to look for a solution else where. The idea of an apartment appealed to both of us because of privacy, independence and distance it could allow us, however in my area, cheap apartments are not something you want to look for, no matter how many pennies you're pinching.

Confident we'd work out this challenge, we continued forward with our plans and prepared for our marriage. Little time after our engagement, I talked with a lady from my church. We were at a park with a group of other women from my church. This lady I talked too told me of her husband's project assignment oversees and their need of seeking out a couple to watch their house for them for a couple of years until the assignment was completed.

This is what I mean about red flags of opportunity.
And no, I did not ask for this.

The idea hadn't even crossed my mind until that present time. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, I knew that was the best solution for me and my future husband. We talked with the couple. Planned and negotiated and were chosen to be the keepers of their house.

Because of this great blessing, my husband and I will be able to save more money than most young couples are able to in the first couple years of marriage. I can't say I've been blessed because it feels more like I've been spoiled! 

I don't know what I've done or did to receive this rich blessing from my Father in Heaven. All I can say is that He knows me well and cares about me enough to shower me with rich blessings that I don't even have to ask for, because He loves me. Just like He loves to bless me, He loves to bless you just as much. Sometimes those blessings might be disguises as "luck" or "chance" or "fate". Whatever the reason, everything good comes from God, and therefore, everything good that happens to you in your life, come from Him. :)

Once upon a time...

Ok so right now you must be thinking I'm a little crazy right? Who in their right mind would throw even the smallest hint of a fairytale into a Christian setting? But no, this isn't your typical fairytale with that famous beginning, a problem followed by an epic quest or battle to resolve said problem, which is concluded by the lines that every young lover dreams of, "And they lived happily ever after".

Simply there is no ending, because I haven't died yet.

I decided to throw in the title because of a story I'm going to tell from my childhood. I picked the title because, well, I was young, the story is from my past, we all have a past, and hey, it makes it sound a little more intriguing right?

A few nights ago, I was laying in bed, having just finished reading, Come to the Garden by Jennifer Wilder Morgan. It's a spiritual novel inspired by true events, some of which are quite touching. It touched me. God has always been at the center of my life and I found myself able to relate to the author's experiences. So, after having finished the novel, the thought came to my mind, and I knew that God had been the one who put it in my mind, Write a blog about how God interacts in my life daily.

The thought came clear as a bell, and though it was my own voice that I heard, the words were not. I know God had just spoken to me. Who am I to ignore such clear direction?

So here I am, not knowing at all how this could impact me or anyone else or even you reading this. I do trust and believe that God intends to bless you for reading this, maybe even help you somehow. Who knows?

And here I go.

The very first time that I can remember when God answered my prayers, I was very young. Maybe 6 or 7 years old. Me and my sister Emily where at my Dad's work office building to be with him while he worked on some assignments. It was the weekend, a Saturday. There was less than a handful of people around, and it was dark. I'm not sure why, but my sister and I left my Dad's office. At one point, we tried to go back but couldn't. I didn't remember the way. We were lost.

Now my sister was around 3 or 4, and I'm sure I was trying to be the brave, protective older sibling by hiding my fears. Like I said, it was dark and there was no one else around. I was scared. I didn't like the dark and I hated being lost even more. When it was obvious that I couldn't find my way on my own, I prayed with my sister. I prayed that God would help me find a way back to my father and that me and my sister would be safe.

As soon as I finished that short, humble prayer of a 7 year old. I stood up, took my sister's hand and led her forward. Now, I didn't actually remember the way back right away. I just moved forward, with a child's faith that God would hear me. I knew He would help. A few steps forward and I remembered the way back. Me and my sister found my father and excitedly told him our story. The fear was gone and in its place was joy and confidence.

I think it's important to note that I didn't sit around and passively wait on God. I say passively because though some circumstances do require that we wait, I believe God expects us to try to move forward as best we can, always maintaining and building the faith and confidence needed to receive that answer that will come according to His will and time.

Right now my sister Emily is nearing the end of her 18th mission to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One of her favorite scriptures comes from the New Testament.

"All things are possible to him that believes"