Grasping Eternity

The past few weeks, our pastor has been doing a series of sermons on 1 Timothy 6:11-14. I have been especially convicted through his preaching on verse 12, which says, "...Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called..." For me, eternal life is often just something that I know about, but it really just stays in the back of my mind. I don’t often live in the light of eternity. But what if I were to follow this teaching and really take hold of eternal life? There is so much more to life then just the small trials that we experience each day. We have to look at our lives as God sees them, and understand the big picture. Each moment that He has given us is for us to live for His glory and for His eternal purpose.

I tend to get so bogged down in the little things, and I think I often lose sight of what is really important. God has reminded me so many times this week to think on how things really matter in the light of eternity. How I face the day, the attitude I have, and the way that I go about my tasks are so much more important then the actual tasks that I am completing. This week I have come to realize how important it is to always remind myself of the calling that God has placed on my life. Frequently, I need to re-evaluate whether I have my eyes set on eternity or on the trivial things of life. The little trials seem so much easier to bear when I look at them with the right perspective.

For me, this means not getting caught up in the busyness and stress of my school schedule. Instead, I remind myself why I am doing what I am doing. I feel very strongly that God has called me to be in nursing school. I am very interested in medical missions, and I really think that God is calling me to work (at least short-term) in this area. When I remind myself of this, I find that my schedule it doesn't seem nearly as stressful. I actually spend more time working on building relationships then getting good grades. While grades are important, I feel that my family should come first. College is such a short season of life, but relationships last for a lifetime. Who knows what a difference I may make by taking the time to actually show the people around me how much I care for them?

When I set my eyes on the goal of glorifying God and spreading His Word through my life, I find that my little trials actually seem rewarding. I know that it is all going to be worth it in the end. Whatever He has in store for me, I know that God has a wonderful plan for my life, and that I can trust Him with it.

Not Again...

Our filter let me access my blog for one day.  Now it’s not working again, so I guess I’ll just have to try posting through e-mail now.  I was about to post an article on One Night with the King, which we watched a few weeks ago, but I saved the draft on the blog, so I can’t get to it right now.  It is so aggravating….! 

Yay!!

I figured out how to log in without accessing the Blogger website... that means I think that I can post again! Finally!!!

School is going really well right now. It is very stressful, but I am so interested in the things we are learning right now. I had a huge test today in my Anatomy and Physiology class, and I was extremely stressed out about it. But I got up about 4:45 this morning to study for it, and I think that I did really well. While I was taking the test, I actually had fun; I kept thinking, "Wow. This stuff is so interesting!!" What I love learning about the most is all the clinical applications. I just love being able to apply what I learn. These past few weeks I've been learning about shock, collapsed lungs, high blood pressure, and a lot of other things that I'll use so much in my nursing school. It is so interesting!

I applied for nursing school about a week ago. I think that I should be able to get in. It is extremely competitive, but I had a 4.0 last semester and I think I'll have at least a 3.6 this semester. I'll just trust God and do my best!

Arggghh....

I don't know how often I'll be able to post because our filter is now blocking Blogger. I can get on it at school, but when I'm there I usually don't have a good opportunity to post anything. So anyway, we are working with our filtering company to try to sort things out so that I can get on here again from my computer. I hope it's soon! It's getting very aggravating!

Safe in the Arms of Jesus

Taylor Dardar, Sonny and Cassie's 18-day old son, passed away this evening at about 5:30. He is no longer in any pain, and his broken little body is perfectly healed in heaven. Right now he is in the arms of Jesus. I cannot express how brokenhearted we feel for his family. In the e-mail he sent tonight, Sonny quoted Jeremiah 29:11-- "for I know the plans that I have for you saith the Lord." God has a perfect plan in all of this, even if we might not know what it is right now. Please just keep them in your prayers.


Psalm 34:18 ~The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Psalm 73:23-26 ~Nevertheless, I am continually with You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 63:7-8 ~For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

Psalm 3:-5 ~But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy hill. Selah. I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

Prayer for Baby Taylor

Note: See update at bottom of post

I wanted to post really quickly and ask that everyone be praying for Sonny and Cassie Dardar and their little baby Taylor. Cassie delivered twins about a week and a half ago: two boys, named Sean and Taylor. Sean is perfectly healthy, but Taylor's heart stopped beating at birth for about 30 minutes. A few days ago, the doctors took him off of life support, expecting that he wouldn't live long. However, he continued breathing on his own and (as far as I know) is still off of the life support. But his brain was severely damaged when his heart stopped beating for so long, and the doctors are telling Sonny and Cassie that he will never walk, talk, see, hear, or respond. They say that if his heart stops again, they will not try to resuscitate him.

I can't even begin to imagine how hard this is on the Dardar family. It breaks my heart to think of it. We have all cried for their family so, so much. Please be praying for them!

Sonny is one of the members of the Christian band Broken Vessels. We know the Dardars because our good friend Jace Verdin (whom several of y'all have met) is the bass player for the group.

UPDATE: "He has been breathing on his own since Tuesday 2/13/07. His brain is still swollen. His liver and kidney are still not functioning properly. They attempted to feed him again yesterday but his stomach did not tolerate it. The doctors have said that Taylor's prognosis is "poor". However, they have stated that his labs have been surprisingly stable the past few days. It is a day to day evaluation. We have been blessed to be able to love Taylor, sing to him, read to him, and pray with him. As long as the Lord gives him breath we're going to go to the NICU and love him! We're praying for God's healing in Taylor's body. The doctor has said that if/when he is able to tolerate food that we will have more options available." This is from an e-mail sent on February 22 by Sonny Dardar.

Spring Dreams

Every year, I just love it when the azaleas bloom. For me, it always marks the start of spring. Walking around campus the past week, I have seen azalea bushes everywhere that are just bursting with buds. Our azalea bushes, however, don't seem to think that it is spring quite as soon as all the other bushes. I don't know why, except that maybe it is because they get so much shade where we have planted them. But today when I walked around corner of the house, I saw a bunch of beautiful pink buds. The bushes aren't in full bloom yet, but I know that spring will be here soon! I picked as many as I could and arranged them in a bowl. I can't wait for the hawthorn bushes to bloom. The white blooms look beautiful when arranged with the azaleas.

I also checked on my Spanish irises while I was in the garden, and I think I felt the beginnings of some buds deep in the stems. I hope that they bloom this year! I haven't had much success with them the past few years, but they seem much healthier this year then they have before. So hopefully in about a month, we'll be enjoying irises as well! I just love irises. They are so brilliant, yet so delicate. Even though they live for such a short time, they are still some of my favorite flowers.

This time of year always makes me so happy. I feel like I just have to escape outside to breath in spring. It always make me want to get my hands in the garden and plant things. I wish that I had time for that. Sometimes I feel like the beauty outside is almost calling to me!