What I Was Doing On Seven-Eight-Nine at Ten Eleven a.m.

I was washing my hands in the bathroom at work.

What were you doing?

So True

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.
- Henry David Thoreau

I saw this quote, and it is exactly what I have wrestled with for quite some time. I really enjoy writing, and putting my own thoughts down to read later on in life, but how much is too much? And vice-versa, actually. I want a good balance of living life for the sake of living it, but how much time should really be spent recording and reading and taking pictures and organizing, etc...? Know what I mean? Anyway, this is just something that I've been contemplating for a couple of months, and would love your opinion as bloggers, and for those of you who do not blog, as people. *insert smiley-yes bloggers are people, too* Please share your thoughts as you wish. Thank you.

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You....

You know that feeling you get that eats away at you when someone has just delivered you a low blow? When you've been stabbed in back by someone you respected and cared about? Imagine being expected to forgive them, pray for them, and even love them. I'm sure that for most of us, the loving part is where we would draw the line. If someone hurts me or someone I love, I don't get over it easily.

But what if you are the person needing forgiveness? What if you have hurt somebody, done something stupid, and you really are sorry?

I think that we've all been there- in both places. I know that I have been, and on more than one occasion, too. I've been reading the book Wasabi Gospel by Shawn Wood for the last few days, and have to say that I have felt convicted reading this, feeling like it was directed right toward me. In his book, Shawn talks about an experience that he had that felt like he'd been wasabi-punched. He read Matthew 5:7,

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

It hit him just like unknowingly eating wasabi would, off-guard and hard, with a zing!

When I started reading this book, there were a couple of people that you could say, needed my mercy. They were not aware that I was harboring bitterness, but to be honest, I don't think that God really cares if they're aware or not, it's my heart that I need to worry about, not anyone else's. Now, I'm not saying that I just decided to forgive and voila! It's done! It's something that, unfortunately, takes time, and sometimes needs to be done over and over and over. I did begin, though, and that is an important and necessary step, right?

Anyway, I just wanted to give you a little idea about this book. I believe it will be released on August 1st, but is available for pre-sale on Amazon right now! I encourage you to check it out, go on over to Shawn's blog, and if you twitter, you can even follow him here! I am so thankful for his helpful 'nudge', pointing me in the right direction, the way toward freedom. I hope that you're led to purchase and read his book, too, and maybe when you're done, you could even pass it on to someone else who may need to be nudged, too!

Quick- A Fun Game!

Ok- tomorrow, 07/08/09 at 10:11 (a.m. or p.m.), grab your camera and take a photo of whatever you're doing right then. Liz Kartchner is hosting a little game with a drawing for some fun scrappy prizes. So, head on over to her blog to read more about it!

RockPaperScissors GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

RockPaperScissors GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!! This company is SO cute! Take a look for yourself! :)

More Quotes

The very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we have of ourselves with the appalling things that other people think about us.
- Quentin Crisp

We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones.
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.
- Sir Winston Churchill

Top Five Reasons to Go Back to Work

Reason#1: Why use your own toilet paper when you can use it for free at work?
Reason#2: (similar to #1)Why drink your own coffee when you get get it for free at work?
Reason#3: All of that spare time to sleep and eat and do whatever you want with can tire you out and make you stir crazy- if you're going to pay a mortgage or rent, you may as well look forward to being home instead of jumping at the chance to go 'out'.
Reason#4: When else am I going to have time to read through all of the posts on my google reader that I missed while I was, you know, living it up?
Reason#5: You have to make money, somehow, to save for the next 3 day weekend, which just happens to be only 44 workdays away, so hop on it, get to it!

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday and weekend! We did!!!