Friday, December 18, 2009

I LOVE Christmas cards!

Not only do I love this time of year, I absolutely LOVE sending and receiving Christmas cards. I saw this link on my friend Kristin's blog and just spent 30 minutes looking at so many fun Christmas cards. Some of you received this in the mail but for those of you who didn't, here is what the 2009 version of my Christmas card looked like!



Merry Christmas sweet friends!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

little decisions...

I am borrowing this from my friend Jill's blog.

"Twenty years from now, it won’t matter if your shirt was ironed or your house was spotless. But what will matter are the little decisions you made every day to invest in the people around you, to give without regret, and to love until it hurts."

I have been thinking a lot lately about the people in my world and how I am truly blessed by each and everyone of them.

Let's face it, I'm an extrovert. I am energized by people. I am challenged by people. I need pepole in my life. When I moved to Wichita in January 0f 2005 a friend of mine called me a starving extrovert. At the time, I don't think there was a more accurate description. I needed that time of "starvation" to really appreciate the friendships that would come. Now almost 5 years later, I can confidently say that this once starving extrovert is no longer starving. There are people in my life who know me, who really know me and are okay with that. There are people in my life who I see everyday who don't know me and are okay with that. There are students in my classroom who know me for a short time and then move on, graduate and who will change the world, or at least the little corner of the world that they will influence. There are people in my life that make me laugh so hard I cry, that let me cry, that ask the hard questions, that listen to me babble for hours about nothing really important, that challenge me to be a better person just by being around them. The people in my life remind me that it's okay to be me, that I am free to be me. Sure there are people who I wish lived HERE but those friendships that have survived the miles hold a special place in my heart. I need people HERE, I need people NEAR, I need people FAR. Really I just need people.

I am thankful that it doesn't matter if my shirt was ironed because if I am completely honest, if something needs ironed then it ends up in the back of my closest. I do love a clean house and having people over to enjoy my clean house but some of the best conversations I've had with people in my little house have taken place when the house on Indianapolis wasn't spotless.

This post is random yes, but for those of you who know me, aren't a bit surprised. I needed time and an avenue to process. Life is crazy busy and I am a victim of God's grace.

I needed to be reminded that the little decisions I make every day matter. The people in my life matter. and for that I am grateful.