Summer 2010

Today was the last day of my finals. I am done with school for now. Only one more semester left until graduation. I'm looking forward to summer even though it means saying goodbye to the boyfriend for a little while. I have all sorts of exciting plans for the summer which might be busier than the school year.

What I'm doing this summer:

- Five weeks of karate camp in the dojo. Some weeks will just be one hour each day and other weeks will be four and a half hours.

- A little over a week long camping trip in Northern CA with some of my family.

- A trip to Texas for the USKA World Championships.

- Teaching karate five days a week in the afternoon for the whole summer minus the camping trip and Worlds trip time.

- Bonfires and hanging out with friends on the weekends.

- At least one or two weekend trips to visit relations.

I think that basically fills up my summer.

A More Loving Heart

A much loved man went home to heaven last night. He touched the hearts of many people. My friends are grieved over his death. My regret is that I did not open my heart out to him and get to know him and his wonderful wife. My heart aches for my friends and those I know in the community. I feel like I missed out on knowing yet another person. But I know that one day I will go to heaven and meet all the people who I wished I knew on earth and all my loved ones as well.

My hope is that I would be able to follow in the example of my friend who opens her heart to all people that she encounters. I want to be like her. I pray that God will give me a more loving heart.

Zeke

I don't care for dogs that much. I don't like it when dogs jump on me and leave dirt, mud, and hair all over me. I don't like it when dogs jump on me and scratch me or slobber all over me. Above all I don't like it when dogs lick me in the face. But there was one dog that didn't do all these things. He was a great dog and I thought that he redeemed all other dogs by his good behavior. His one fault was that he would run off. Sometimes it was for a short time and other times it was for hours. This fault led to disaster. This past weekend Zeke ran off and when he came back we could tell that something was wrong. He threw up that night and several times the next morning. We took him to the vet and they wanted to pump him full of IV fluids and give him an antibiotic and pain killer. He had a fever and was in pain. We thought he may have eaten some poison but we will never know. The vet kept him overnight and Zeke died Sunday morning. He was a great dog and I will always remember him. He celebrated two Christmas's with us and was a part of the family. Every evening he was allowed to come into the house and hang out with us while we watched TV and spent time together as a family. He earned a special place in the family and will be sorely missed.

"All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."

I was recently pondering over this concept. I realized that I always fall short. Sometimes I fall shorter than other times. I find myself not loving God with everything I am. I don't live to my full potential and sometimes I fail altogether. But the blessed thing is that God's grace covers all my shortcomings.

A relationship works both ways. You have to meet half way. This is the same with my relationship with God. It works both ways. But the difference is that He makes up for my falling short. Sometimes He meets me half way but more often He meets me more than half way. If my salvation or even my relationship depended on my ability to love God and follow Him then I would be lost. Thanks be to God who makes up the difference that I lack.

Leaving the Nest

Last Saturday I released my butterfly. My boyfriend and I along with friends released our butterflies together. It was a beautiful thing to hold Tiny on my finger before she took off into the big blue sky. I'm glad that she is free and happy but I miss seeing her pretty self when I sit at my desk.