Disneyland-Heidi-Day-Adventure.

Tomorrow I get to go somewhere totally fun.

Where?

Disneyland!

And I am going with somebody totally cool.

Who?

Myself!

It’s true. I am going to Disneyland on my day-off-work and I am going alone.

And I am SO excited.

I have wanted to spend a day at Disneyland by myself since the day I was a junior in high school and spent two hours in Fantasyland annotating the book “Fahrenheit 451” for my English class while my mom and little sisters went on all the rides. I originally thought it would be a chore. However, I didn’t want to stay at home when my family went to Disneyland so I had to bring my homework along. Those two hours were so much fun and one of my highlights of all my Disneyland experiences.

Disney music all around = awesome. Delicious smells = awesome. People watching = awesome. Annotating literature surrounded by all these things = double awesome.

(I know, I know. Possibly a bit strange? Definitely nerdy. But Oh.So.True.)

So since that day, I have wanted to spend an entire day myself wandering through the magic of Disneyland and California Adventure and soaking it in from an entirely different perspective than I normally do. I love exploring this place in different ways. (That is the beautiful thing about having an annual pass.)

“What do you plan on doing all day by yourself?” you may ask.

Well, as Anne Shirley would say, “there is so much scope for the imagination” at Disneyland and I want to go with my Bible, my book, and my journal, and a few pens and let my imagination and inspiration run free!

I’m envisioning…

…Curling up by the fireplace in the California Grand Hotel and having my devotions. …
Walking down Main St. and looking at all the details I always miss in those adorably decorated windows.
…Sitting with my journal by one of the many water locations and just writing whatever comes to mind.
…Tasting one of their huge corn dogs for the first time or perhaps indulging in an ice cream cone. I haven’t decided which one yet.
...Planting myself in a crowded spot and people watching.
…Sitting down on an ordinary bench while letting my mind imagine the unordinary.

So, something I have wanted to do for seven years (I’m not exaggerating) is finally coming true!
So this dream (“a wish that your heart makes”) is finally being realized at “the place where dreams come true!” [would you care for anymore Disney references? I got plenty!]

I’ll take some pictures and maybe post a few of them next week when I recap the experience of the Disneyland-Heidi-Day-Adventure.

Wish me luck as I enjoy my zipadee-dooda-Day!!!

How They Make Home.

She has a delicious scent plug-ins in her room. She is the queen of accessories and always knows how to glam up my outfit when I come over. She has her mementos, pictures, and verses decorating every corner of her room. She carries her iPod station or Macbook around to whatever room she is in and she picks the perfect playlist to set the desired mood for the atmosphere - whether it is a lazy afternoon by the pool or an early morning getting-dressed session. She opens mango salsa and spinach chips for an afternoon snack.

This is how she makes her space

beautiful.warm.inviting.home.

She is my sister.

Her fridge contains organic ingredients and healthy, raw dairy products. As an act of love, she spends time in the kitchen preparing meals and trying out new recipes for her family. She sets enticing snacks out all day long. She arranges the place mats at the dinner table closer together in order to facilitate better conversation and deeper community during the meal. She turns music on and has oil scent plug-ins. Visitors are greeted by the running water up the walkway, a welcome sign, and an unlocked door.

This is how she makes her space
beautiful.warm.inviting.home.

She is my best friend's mom.

She has a pot of freshly ground coffee brewing. She has a variety of coffee creamers to choose from to make every cup of coffee special. She arranges the furniture to facilitate easy conversation. She has at least two candles in every room and buys seasonal scents. She doesn't wait until company comes to light them but instead enjoys them every day. There is a music station on the counter and the sounds of worship music can usually be heard streaming from that corner. Musical instruments are placed around her house, cultivating an environment of creativity. She delights in the expression of beauty.

This is how she makes her space

beautiful.warm.inviting.home.

She is my mom.

I have been observing these women lately. I feel so "home" in their presence. I feel home in their "space." I have been observing what they do to cultivate these atmospheres that I enjoy so much. And, outside of their warm and loving personalities, I see some similarities.

Music.

Scents.

Food.

Conversation settings.

Aesthetic Beauty.

They all make a distinct effort to include these things in their home experiences. As I continue to build my home, I'm grateful for these woman (and others in my life) who I can glean from.

What do YOU do to create the environment you love in the space that you call your own?

My Heart Is In H.B.

I belong here.

Whenever I come here, I feel like I'm home. Known. I know myself best here.

Just like the smell of freshly brewed coffee when I walk into my parents house, the smell of the long and soft green grass on the north side of the HB pier welcomes me home. It's as if the scent of the grass is saying,
"Hey Heidi! Good to see you again. Sit! Soak it in. Relax! Welcome home."

So I do.

And here I am.

A blown wish-flower stem lays next to me - the seeds already scattered by my big blow with all the breath I could muster.

Perhaps that why I feel like I belong here. So many wishes have been blown here by me during the course of my life. I am sure some of those wishes have taken root in this grass.
Perhaps I've recycled my wishes and have blown the same wishes I have helped to grow here. Blowing and Planting. Blowing and Planting. My wishes keep growing here in HB.

As I lay in this wish-sprinkled grass, I see an unoccupied picnic table to my far left. But in my mind's eye, there is much activity at that table.

In my mind's eye, My Grandma Clarice is spreading out a plastic, red-and-white checkered table cloth. It catches in the wind and my nine-year-old self runs to catch the corners and help her lay it down.

We all carry down the food and most of us are wearing over-sized Michigan sweatshirts. My mom holds my newly-born sister tightly bundled in a blanket. I switch between being a mature daughter helping with the dishes to being a pony-tailed girl who wants to roll down the hills with my six-year-old sister.

After a couple hours, it starts to get windy. My grandpa warns that we shouldn't be out when it is cold and damp. My mom rallies us up and my dad loads the car. I soak every last bit of the wind that I can before I get in the car and stare out the window at the ocean.

I blink....and I'm back to reality.



As I'm laying on this ground where I've planted my wishes, I realize that my sometimes-wish of going back in time can only happen in the fond remembrances of my mind.

But the gentle swirling breeze around me and the rhythmic roar of the ocean before me reminds me that my future lies in forward motion. The whisper seems to say to me,

"It is good to know where you've come from. Be thankful for your roots, embrace your foundation, smile at your memories.

But live in the now.

And, without rushing, anticipate your future with joy.

And in this moment, laying on a bed of grass and childhood wishes,

Be Glad."

This post was first written in my journal, on a beautiful Sunday early-evening, in Huntington Beach, CA

Hurt By Love.

I have been hurt by Love.

No, I haven't been hurt by romance. I haven't experienced falling in love in a romantic relationship only to have the other person change their mind and let my heart go. I do have friends who have been hurt by love in this way and I have seen second-hand the pain they have endured.

But the hurt that I am referring to is different.

My heart has a deep capacity to love. That love causes me to attach very strongly to the things and people I love and when those things I love are lost or taken from me, my heart bleeds from the holes that the losses leave.

I don't remember being hurt much by love in my childhood or teen years. Of course, I wasn't much of a risk-taker back then either. During that time, I saved the majority of my love and the depth of my love for members of my family.

When I started college, however, things changed. I started to experience the freedom of giving away my love to others outside of my family. Not just giving my love as an act of service or ministry, but giving my love and receiving others love in a way that bound my heart with others.

I experienced a depth of friendships I had never known. I experienced the presence of Jesus in my life closer than ever before, and I experienced giving my full heart to the man I fell in love with. I discovered to an even greater degree how beautiful love is.

But it didn't take long for me to discover the intensity of pain that love can bring. It is true what Much-Afraid said that, "... if you really love someone you give that loved one the power to hurt and pain you in a way nothing else can."

Those that I love didn't mean to intentionally cause me pain. And those things that I loved such as security, unity, and ease had no control over the fact that my heart was hurt when I lost those things. Life happens.

Disappointments, changes, and new relational roles in my family brought confusion and pain.

The loss of a friendship that I never imagined my life without left sadness.

The loss of community and purpose I experienced at my old church left me in a season of brokenness.

The loss of my grandpa and my grandma tore out my heart and shook my foundation.

The loss of my unborn baby has threatened my ability to dare hope for what I long for in my future.

Yes, Love - and the giving away of my love - has caused me pain.

And now I can't help but wonder if all my pains, which were caused by my love, are keeping me from receiving the abundant Love of Jesus. The Love from Him that I used to receive so freely. The Love from Him that I used to receive without question.

I am realizing now, that because of my losses and the pain they have caused, I have begun to question if He truly loves me in the way I thought He did. This has made it difficult for me to approach Him with the freedom I used to enjoy. And thus, I have been kept from an abundant walk of joy with Him.

As I type this, I see now (if only a little glimmer) the reason God came down and died upon a cross for humankind. He loved us so much that He wanted to restore broken creation and, more importantly, restore perfect relationship with Him.

The pains I experienced were not God's fault. The pains are the result of the brokenness of creation and the sin that is so ever-present in the world.

But God can use my pains.

Just as He is now using them to show me more of the depth of WHY He came to die.

He came to make things right.

He came to make things new.

He came to cleanse those who would receive Him from sin.

He came to show us that It Is Happy To Love when we realize that He IS Love.

Even still, I look forward to the day when I reach the place where there will be no more pain as the result of my love.

As His Word says in Revelation 21:4

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things will be gone forever."

Thank you, Jesus!

Happy First Day of Autumn!

I thought yesterday was the start of autumn, but then I googled it this morning and discovered that for the United States, the start of the autumn season is TODAY!
Fun fact for ya: For Europe, the start of Autumn is tomorrow, September 23rd (at least for this year.)

I am taking so much delight in the fact that this year the start of autumn actually feels like autumn - even right here in Orange County, CA!

Gray skies, mysterious clouds, crisp air, a perfect fall breeze.....

It Is Wonderful.

The season of autumn brings much to look forward to. In my family, we have traditions for pretty much every type of event year-round. However, the fall season holds the majority of our favorite traditions.



I'm looking forward to pumpkin pie, nights around the fireplace at my parents house with the whole family, coffee and creamer, pumpkin patches, family dinners, lots of picture taking and more.


I'm also looking forward to the experimentation and creation of my own traditions as well. I plan on trying a few new seasonal recipes and maybe discovering some new candle scents. I'm going to buy some autumn tea flavors and I might even attempt some autumn decorating of my house this year.

The turning of a season.

The expectation of the future.

The contentment of today.




What about YOU? What are some of the ways you make the autumn season special? What are some traditions you look forward to year after year?

Little Miss Heidi...

Tried to stay tidy,

While eating her

CURDS AND WHEY.

I am SUPER excited about an awesome technique I just learned. I can now make my own whey and my own cream cheese (curds)!!!

There are a few ways to do this depending on what dairy product is being used, but I learned to do it through separating the curds and whey from Whole, Organic, Plain Yogurt.

Here's the first picture I took of the process (sidenote: I went out to Tuesday Morning and bought this awesome wire sieve after work)


To get the whey out of the yogurt, you put a thin towel (I found the perfect one today!) and use it to line the wire mesh strainer. The strainer goes over the container that catches the whey. Then, pour the yogurt into the towel. The whey will slowly start to drip into the container below.


This is a picture of the yogurt that has already started to release some of the whey.

You can let this process occur all day, but I only had the afternoon. To finish the process, you tie the ends of the towel across a long spoon and let the towel full of the yogurt hang into a long, wide-mouthed container (a vase is suggested.) Then you put it in the fridge overnight and pour the rest of the whey into the whey jar. The solids left in the towel are used as cream cheese or sour cream; it has the ability to taste like either item depending on the setting. It is SO delicious.



This is what the last step looks like before it goes in the fridge. Do you see that glass jar full of the clear, yellowish liquid? That's the whey! Tomorrow morning I will pour the rest into that jar and then I am planning on reusing the yogurt container to store the cream cheese.

What, you may ask, are the practical uses for whey?

The most important use is Digestion. Taking a straight spoon or two of the whey a day is an excellent way to improve your digestion; it is rich with enzymes.

It is also used to ferment foods and beverages. Sauerkraut and pickles are the next two recipes I want to try and both those recipes call for whey.

So, my friends, as you can see, I am quite excited about this new style of cooking.
I still have so much to learn and I really want to properly introduce you to my new cookbook (which is more like a life-transformer tool) but that will have to wait for another day.

Oh, and I promise I've been thinking about lots of spiritual stuff lately too.

Mainly, Contentment.

But I just had to share my excitement of these cooking ventures with you all.

Deeper posts to come soon :-)


*ps - did you all get the literary nursery rhyme reference at the beginning of this post?

Just checkin'

;-)

Contentment. Awwwww…….

After a long evening of cooking, I am settled in on my couch, letting my hair drip dry from my shower over the edge of the cushions.

My body is tired but not exhausted.

My brain is alert but calm and quiet.

My heart is content and satisfied.

There were lots of things on my roster for what I wanted to accomplish today after work. Lots of those things didn’t get done. (i.e. progress on painting my walls, vacuuming, folding the basket of clean laundry, cleaning my patio and watering all my plants)

But there were lots of things that DID get done. I just didn’t realize how long it would take to do them.

But do you know what I am excited about???

I am excited that I am not stressed out about what I didn’t do and that I am more excited about what I DID do! THAT is an accomplishment for me. Like I wrote about here, I am really learning to slow down and embrace each day, even if the day has a ton packed into it!

I want my heart to be content and my spirit to be calm, even if my pace of life does not slow down.

So, partly because I want to prove that I actually did something tonight and more because I am just really excited about a bunch of new recipes I am learning and my new focus on cooking in my life, I have decided to show you pictures. (taken with my iPhone of course!)




Above is the remainder of my Homeade Chicken Stock. Some stock was used to prepare the Cream of Mushroom Soup.



Above is Homeade Cream of Mushroom Soup. Made with the chicken stock and homeade cream cheese!



Above is a full jar of fresh chicken salad and then a bowl of remaining chicken waiting to be used in another recipe.

I also hardboiled a bunch of eggs for an easy snack, sliced up some cantaloup, and made a quinoa salad with some yummy fresh ingredients.

I'm having so much fun learning to cook in a new and healthy and old-fashioned way. I am sure sometime in the near future I will introduce you to my new cookbook that I got at my friends house over the past weekend, and I am sure I will write about all that I am learning about our American food products. But for now, I have much to learn and I am simply excited to share the photo's of my process :-)


What about you? Is there anything that your heart is finding contentment in?

Words. Friendship. Rest.

I seem to have run out of words the past couple days.

I not only seem to be at a loss of words to put on this blog but also at a loss of words flying around at rapid speed in my head.

And I am mucho happy about the latter.

On Friday, I wrote about striving and the constant motions of words and questions whirring around in my head. That night, I headed up to my best friend’s house in Northridge. We actually spent the weekend at her parent’s house; a place which I have come to know as my personal retreat getaway in the last couple years.

My weekend was FULL of words. What would you expect if you hadn’t seen your best friend for three months because she had been out-of-state??

Words exchanged across a tiny wooden table in the corner at Starbucks.

Words exchanged in the shady corner of the backyard with a tissue in hand and tears running out the corners of my eyes.

Words shared a foot across from each other as we shared the bed and talked about the things best friends talk about late at night. More words shared even with our backs turned because we were trying to sleep but we still had more to say.

Words in the kitchen while making our snacks.

Words of exclamation while watching Planet Earth videos.

Words while driving. Words while resting. Words while laughing.

It felt SO good.

My friend and I? Well, we both do words well!

The combination of the flowing of words and the receiving of words, rest and play, productivity and pampering has resulted in some of the most mentally peaceful days I have had in a long time.

The lightening speed of words zipping around in my head isn’t really occurring right now. In fact, I have actually caught myself a couple times in the past few days not thinking about anything.

I would all of a sudden realize, “Oh my gosh! I was just not thinking about anything!”

THAT hasn’t happened in a long time. And it felt good.

I still have a lot of the same questions that I have been asking myself. They aren’t all answered. But I don’t feel so panicked about needing having the answers all NOW. I will continue to search (especially from the Lord) and the answers will come.

But the main thing that this weekend of words, friendship and rest showed me was that the main thing is Jesus.

It is all about KNOWING JESUS.

I knew that. But I needed those three things (words, friendship, and rest) to remind me of that and to refresh my soul.


And to my dear friend and her lovely mom and wonderful family, thank you SO much!

I Am Striving.

It’s true.

And I don’t know how to stop.

According to my outside actions, it may not look like I’m striving, but OH! My mind is running. My thoughts are racing. I feel desperate to figure IT out.

To figure WHAT out?

Everything.

Who am I in light of the life experiences I have gone through in the past few years?

What is my purpose amidst a world that has more suffering than I realized?

What little steps can I take to make myself a more balanced, understanding, and wise person?

How can I prepare myself, set myself up, for God’s will in my life?

What the heck IS God’s will in my life?

How do I rid myself of the spiritual pride that I thought was finally gone and I keep rediscovering?

How? Why? What? Where? When? REPEAT.

When I can barely fall asleep from these (and other) thoughts racing through my brain at lightening speed, and when I wake up from a restless night of sleep only to find that my “sleeping” brain was still running all night and when I am once again going the through the motions of the morning aware that my brain is still on full-speed ahead mode, I become exhausted emotionally.

Why can’t I just “Be Still and Know that He is God?” That’s sounds nearly impossible.

However, I think I have an inkling of what the root of all this is.

Could it be my spiritual pride? Could it be that I consider myself relatively important? Because one thing I DID realize yesterday is that my mental state right now isn’t exactly giving the impression of a person who is saying, “I must decrease that He must increase (John 3:30)”

I feel like all the striving in my thoughts keeps putting the focus back on me, Me, ME!

I talked over the phone with my friend yesterday and after our conversation she sent me a text urging me to sit down in the Word for at least 5 minutes and meditate on Psalm 103.

I actually did. And it actually helped.

“Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name!”

Oh, how I hope that THAT verse becomes my heartbeat and the meditation of my mind. But I know I can't do this alone and in my own strength.

Left alone, I strive. In fellowship, I am encouraged back to meditation on God's Word.

Perhaps that's why God created us for community.

Thank you, Lord, for friends that lead us back to Your Word and to Your Heart. My mind needs much renewing. I pray that you would surround me with encouragment to put my eyes back on YOU Jesus. To my heart back in Your Word. Thank you for Your patience, gentleness, and love.

My New Journal.

I am thankful for spiral bound journals.

Spiral bound journals make me SO happy!

I KNEW I liked spiral bound journals better than regularly bound journals but last time I needed a journal the cutest design caught my eye while I was in line waiting to buy clothes at Ross. (You know, the bins where they snag you with last minute things you forgot you "needed" and you stare at it for so long while your in line that you get sucked into the good deal)

Anyways, I was standing in that line, saw the journal, LOVED the front cover, realized I only had a few pages left in my other journal, and I decided to buy it. Plus, it was SO cheap....it was too perfect!

Except for the fact that it wasn't spiral bound.

I knew that was going to be a problem. I argued with myself that it would be fine. I told myself that I would still write in it as much even though it wasn't a spiral. I would still carry it around and be excited to put my pen to paper whenever I had a spare minute. None of my habits would change despite the lack of a twirling siding.

But my gut had known better.

Not even a fourth of the way into this journal, and I no longer was picking it up. I was no longer carrying it with me. I seemed to have lost my zeal for journaling, for brainstorming, and for jotting out my prayers.

I started to try carrying it with me again but each time I did I still never used it. I just had no interest in writing while I had to keep one side of the journal from closing on me while I wrote (due to the lack of spiral binding of course...) I knew the journal wasn't going to be balanced on my lap as I wrote and I would be frustrated instead of relaxed.

So today, I broke down.

I usually have a serious rule that I don't start a new journal until I have filled up Every. Single. Page. of my old journal.

But today, I made an exception.

I bought a pack of two spiral bound journals for six bucks (even better than the deal on my last journal!) and I have already written three pages in the course of today!

It was SO lovely!

It laid flat on my desk because it could bend all the way.

I got the full use of the paper because the crease wasn't folding due to the regular binding.

I could hold it in my lap, ponder for a bit, and then jot down what came to my mind, with ease and comfort.

After today, I have hereby made a solemn vow that I will never again buy a journal that does not have spiral binding.

Not matter how tempting the cute front cover may be.....

You're Gonna Miss This.

Last week, one of the members of our church life group was house-sitting for her sister and she offered to host our weekly gathering at her sister’s place.

So, [fifteen-minutes-too-late] Adam and I jumped in our super-clean [thanks Adam!!] Explorer and drove down to a city we haven’t been in for almost two years. It was the city where we started our married life together.

The house we met at that night was just a couple blocks away from our old church where we used to spend SO much of our time. It was also just a very short drive away from our first (and second) apartment.

So, after our life group ended, Adam and I decided to drive down to our apartment.

It was so weird.

We hadn’t been back to this area since we had moved into the town home we bought in November 2008. There just hadn’t really been any reason to go back.

Driving to our old apartments, we passed by the CVS that we would always stop at for daily necessities.

We passed the Brueggers Bagels that we always looked forward to eating at right before church on a Sunday morning. It was always two cheese jalapeno bagels for Adam and one try-something-new-every-time bagel for me.

We passed the El Pollo Loco, Rubys, Starbucks, Baja Fresh, and Rubios that we had eaten in so many times enjoying a date with one another or a time of fellowship with our friends from church.

We passed the park and movie theater where we had gone street witnessing with the group from church. And where we had played Frisbee and Smash-Ball on a summer night.

And then we entered our apartment complex. We drove in the same entrance we used to always use. First, we drove over to our one bedroom. Then we drove over to the other side of the complex to where we had our two bedroom.

Had it really been almost two years since we in that complex? Together, we talked and talked about details that we remembered.

Things we did in specific places.

Conversations we had and the exact locations we had them in.

Trips to the laundry room.

Driving around late at night trying to find a parking lot.

Carrying my piano up those stairs.

Remembering what our place looked like inside.

I didn’t know it then, but we were building memories.

I mean, I knew that one day I’d remember those days but, in that first year, I never really stopped to realize the preciousness of each day and the fact that I would cherish those memories in the future.

Back then, I was too focused on building.

Building our marriage. Building our relationships. Building and keeping up with all our activities. Getting ahead in school. Building for the future.

I never realized I would miss that time of life. I occasionally would tell myself I would. And I’d sing along in the car to the country song, “You’re Gonna Miss This” and remind myself to open my eyes a little more.

But I didn’t actually believe it.

Now I do.

But from that experience, this is what I have learned.

Cherish today.

Ok, so things aren’t perfect. I still have to finish painting my less-than-halfway painted walls. I still have to get my piano tuned. I still have to do this. And that. And this other thing. And that other thing.

That’s ok.

I’m gonna miss these days someday. I don’t realize it or think about it enough, but I am building memories NOW.

Our first year of marriage, I was just living. Every-day-daily-life living. And now, those daily-life-days are memories. Beautiful memories.

And my today will, someday, be a memory.

At this point of my post my parents are probably reading and smiling to themselves saying, “Finally, she is realizing this! Hopefully she is actually getting it!”

My parents know very well that I have a tendency to always look ahead to the next thing. Ever since I was a young child I wanted the next stage of life. When I was in junior high, I just wanted to get to high school so that I could prepare for college. Two years into college, I was married.

My mom has always said to me that I am her “April Child Dreaming of June.” (lyrics to a song about always dreaming of the next stage of life.)

I’m going to [try to] start allowing my mind to slow down. Maybe my pace of life won’t slow down. But I want to be more aware of soaking up my days and enjoying the little blessings and even the struggles that life is offering me today.

I want to take more pictures.

I want to write and journal about my daily experiences.

I want to steal those hidden moments to embrace it all.


Because tomorrow, today will be a memory.


This song below PERFECTLY describes me. Minus the arrival-of-children part. That is the one part of the song that hasn’t quite happened. Yet :-)

And, for all you who pretend you don’t like Country Music, this song is going to bring out the truth. After listening to this song, there is no denying that Country Music is awesome.

Distractions.

How attached to technology are you?

I know I am VERY attached. My mind is constantly aware of where my phone is. My fingers are constantly pressing the text message icon on my phone. I am constantly wondering if I have a recent email or if anyone has updated their status on facebook.

Thanks to my iPhone, I can have instant access to satisfying my desire to KNOW.

Touch the little Facebook icon and BAM! I can follow the lives of all my family and friends.

Touch the little text message icon and BAM! I can see if I got any new messages that I wasn’t aware of when I walked away from my desk 5 minutes ago.

Touch the little email icon and BAM! I can see if I got a new email.

And if any of these features take more than 15 seconds to upload, I start getting a little frustrated.

Hello??? Don’t you know I want to see NOW???

Instant gratification. That is the mindset of the culture we live in.

I try to stay away from the mindset of instant gratification but I get sucked in so easily. It is very easy for me to adapt to technology that gives me answers faster and faster but it is much harder to adapt when, for some reason, I can’t get those answers right away.

---------------

I was having some quiet time with the Lord after work. I was in our spare bedroom, where the sunlight wasn’t blaring in brightly, and just enjoying stilling my heart before Him. By habit, my hands reached for the cell phone laying at my side I checked my email. I sent a text message. I answered the text that I received in return.

Ok….time to get back to my quiet time. I lay on the futon for a few minutes, eyes closed, praying. When I opened my eyes to read the Word, I saw it. My cell phone was still next to me in the same spot I left it. I reached for it AGAIN! What can I do now that I haven’t done 5 minutes ago???

I picked it up but realized [thankfully] that it was NOT necessary to unlock the screen. I laid it under the futon and enjoyed the rest of my quiet time distraction free. Out of sight, [sorta]out of mind.

I don’t want to technology to control me. I don’t want it to control my actions. I don’t want it to consume my thoughts.

What do you think about technology and it’s addictive powers?