so much love.

Friends, I will be very vulnerable with you this week because I believe that I am not the only one with a tender heart today, and if I can lift another up by these words then I am glad God has given me the ability do so.

I didn't want to venture into this as I feel so inadequate to even comment on such an event but I have felt very fragile these last few days, like my heart may literally break. At the same time though I have this incomprehensible peace over me.

Like many of you I'm sure, your heart has been hurting this weekend as a very hurting event happened last Friday that has thrown so many emotions into chaos.

One thing I can’t help but think today is that there is so much love in this world.

At first glance that does not make sense, as many have sorrow, anger, confusion and bitterness (to say the least) coursing through their bodies these last couple days, but it must be realized that all of these extreme emotions stem from love.

If one does not love someone, they do not feel the extreme pain when they are taken from them.

If one does not love someone, they do not try and protect them with their life.

If one does not love someone, they do not rush to where there is danger to try and find their child, sibling, wife, husband, or friend.

If one does not love someone, they do not rally together to support one another and lift each other up in a time of need.

If one does not love someone, they do not weep for strangers in hurting times.

There is so much love.

Events happen that we do not understand, and never will on this earth. I wish we could find the answers we so desperately need but it is not possible. To try and understand causes such great inner turmoil that you lose sense of the present and your ability to love for tomorrow.

To try and live again after such a hurting event has thrown your world upside down is not an easy task nor a sign of forgetting the past, but an incredible testament of the heart wanting to live and love again, inspired by the one you have lost.

You were made to love. The devil tries to steal, kill and destroy it, but you were made to love.

Friends, I encourage you to hold tight to love today, tomorrow and for forever.  

A full heart is a brave heart

let's be brave and love

Excitement. Lots of it.

"WHO'S EXCIIIIIITED?!?!??!"

I just had to get that out there. Most likely you did not read it the same way I typed it sounding in my head... but here let me help:

(as loud as you can aka screaming) "WHO'S EX-CITE-EEEED!!!!!!!" (Now hold an expectant look on your face as you watch your audience, even if it's just the mirror.)

Before we jump in on something life changing, I will just tell you now that I got that quote/saying from a motivational CD that I keep hearing. It's such a good one. This dad wakes up his kids like this in the morning, and the kids, being used to such extreme excitement, do get excited to live that day!!

AHHH I'm excited just thinking about it.

"Sherylynn... calm yourself, what in the world are you excited about!"

To which I respond... everything! Because everything has a purpose and set by a God that loves me.

Someone said something today about it being a Monday and how they hated it but once I realized that it was indeed Monday guess what, that made me excited!! I was full of joy over the fact that it was Monday because that means God gave me a whole new week of being with Andrew, meeting people, going to gatherings, hanging out with my family, eating food, writing, reading, baking, working, organizing, dreaming, chasing goals, encouraging, inspiring, being artistique, planning brunches, catching up with old friends, looking at wedding photos, and a million more things! Monday is a brand new start, why oh why in the world do people hate on Monday so much!
Monday, I thank you for your representation of a new week! Hoorah!

Now if you were peering into my window right now (creepy, please don't) you would think that perhaps I am leading you astray because I am just sitting here typing, looking like the average woman. Wrong-O, my friend.......O. There is so much ambition and excitement that is growing within me everyday to be the best I can be and become the woman God wants me to be that sometimes I honestly think I make my heart skip a beat. Other times I'm so overwhelmed with joy I start tearing up in my office. It's fantastic!! I hope I am contagious!

Contagious indeed. To bring in current events today... the Christmas season is not about "ugh, I have to go to this party", "Ughh I have to go to the mall." "Ugh, I'm whining about something Christmas related." Be excited about everything the season represents and how many opportunities become available for you to meet new people, create amazing heart felt gifts with eco-friendly wrapping, be with family and/or friends that love you, and just cherish the moment and the days as opposed to trying to hide until the 'busyness of the season' has passed.

Challenge for you my dear friend: Wake up tomorrow morning and as your brain is figuring out what's happening, who you are, what day it is, etc., start telling yourself how excited you are for the day. Pray for your day to go well and the joy to multiply. Start pumping yourself up that you have so many opportunities to excel right at your fingertips today. Tell yourself how incredible you are and the potential you have to accomplish the impossible. You are going to have a great day. When you're ready... jump out of bed and scream:

WHO'S EXCITE-EEEEED!!!

Marriage: Christmas Decision Making Surprises

Hi Friends!

If you were unaware, about eight times a week I get the question, "How's married life?" so today I thought I would give you an update on said married life. So to catch you all up, Andrew and I are coming up on our one year anniversary of when we started dating... technically it won't be our anniversary since we aren't dating anymore but let's not get all caught up on that... basically what I wanted to highlight is the fact that we started dating at the end of December last year. This means that we have never been together for a Christmas season. This then makes it so much more interesting that we are married this year and are decorating our home and planning for our christmas holidays together.

The best part about our first christmas together is the unveiling of differences that we were unaware of. A few weeks ago Andrew and I ventured out to get our first stockings... (awwwww).... and it was going pretty well, except Andrew pointed out all the stockings he liked which unfortunately happened to be most of the stockings that I didn't like and all the ones I pointed out he considered to be too girly (I will admit, that was quite true). A couple stores later and we found a stocking we both agreed on, so I said perfect, grab two of them... At which point I realized that Andrew had never considered the idea that we would have matching stockings. Ooops, bad communication on my part.

Since we had some figuring out to do with the whole stocking situation I decided we could grab an angel for the top of the tree while we were already in the christmas section. This is when I realized that Andrew had been thinking of getting a star, not an angel, for the top of our tree the whole time. Oh my my, what a surprise. Basically we realized that many elements of our upbringings were completely opposite when it came to Christmas, such as when we open christmas presents (christmas morning vs christmas eve), different christmas traditions, different tastes in christmas decorations, Andrew's love for nutcrackers, my joy of singing Silent Night to any light in a dark room, and many others.

Now as I'm writing all of this I think it's quite humorous just how opposite Andrew and I are in our view of Christmas traditions as my house was typically quite Martha Stewart perfection compared with his home's cozy traditional memories collected. Neither is better than the other but they are just quite different. I also have the thought in my mind that at the end of the day none of these are big issues. The adventure of just finding out these different preferences of ours has been quite fun as well as finding solutions for how to bring our two visions together. Marriage life is so fun as you continually just learn more about each other and what different experiences you have had that makes the other person so unique. My husband is a very unique individual and I am so glad that we get to squish our Christmas traditions together and make compromises to create brand new traditions to decorate for our very first Christmas together...

 

Sometimes when you allow another viewpoint to come into your life, you see the world from a whole new fantastic level. Andrew Smith... I love that man.

B Words

Today I have on my mind what the world would look like if we could eliminate two B words:

1) Busy
2) Bored

Yes, there are other B words and some of them would be good to be eliminated too, but we are sticking with only these two for today.

Oook, so busy and bored, these words keep coming up because they are the two most common B words used. Oh fine, I made that up, but it's probably close to being true don't you think? How often do you get one of these words in response to "what did you do yesterday?" At first glance these words appear to be opposites, since if one is busy they must not be bored, and vice versa, but I believe society today has mixed up what these words mean. Now it's time for "Sherylynn Dictionary". I just made that up too.

Busy: A word that has come to mean an unproductive or overusage of time. A word used in response to get out of something, to cover poor planning, to accomodate unproductive tasks, to use in replace of "I'm not sure what I have accomplished in the last week because I spent a lot of time doing things I don't remember" or a 'go to' word used to explain that you don't know your limits and have over committed. Lastly, this word can be used without realizing the power it holds to make a person feel unimportant.

Bored: A word that has come to mean an unproductive use of time. A word used when one doesn't know how to be productive, when one doesn't know their potential, when one doesn't know their self-worth, when one doesn't know how to set goals. A word used when one has forgotten how to dream dreams.

I hope I am not being too harsh today but I think these words reveal so much about a person that they should be re-evaluated. To put everything together in a way that makes sense seems quite difficult but I will give it a try with the example of cell phone games:

For me, if a person tells me they were busy yesterday but then in the next sentence mentions that they played a new game on their cell phone for almost two hours I question their 'business' and what they value as a good use of time. This is where bored comes in, if one is 'bored' and therefore feels justified in playing the same unchallenging game over and over again, then passing it off as being 'busy,' this worries me. Friends, have you forgotten your potential and creativeness for accomplishing incredible things?

I am not saying don't have jobs, classes, church involvement or other commitments that fill up your schedule, but be aware of the fact that the time you spend being 'busy' and not productively building relationships, pursuing your dreams, goals, and developing as an individual is simply time wasted. You were created for incredible things and not rushing around without an exact task in mind beyond knowing that you are 'busy'.
Furthermore, boredom is not a part of who you are. You are not a boring individual and you never have been. Boredom is a frame of mind that is a bad habit, occurring when you forget your potential. Boredom can also be used as an excuse to not do something, in which case you are not actually bored you are delaying and distracting yourself from tasks at hand. Friends, you were made with a purpose and dream in your heart. And to add to that, you were wonderfully made with gifts and talents that are not being properly used when the only two things you know in life are being 'busy' or 'bored'.

You were made for so much more!

I hope something in there made sense and that you don't leave feeling offended... I just see so much potential around me everyday, waiting to be set free to fully develop into a masterpiece.

Have a great week friends. Hugs to all!

Dentists & Attitudes

ahhhh I don't want to write this blog... I've delayed it... I talked about it instead of writing it... I've done other things... I watched a youtube video about a sweet flash mob aaaaand now here I am. Whew deep breath: Today is a Confession time of sorts in the hopes that I may become a better person and somehow inspire others to face their fears as well.

Confession: I dislike the dentist.
(Just so you know, I refrained myself from using the word 'hate'. It was tough. Please read on.)

Now you may all be thinking "pffff big deal, nobody likes the dentist it's just something you have to do."
In which case, call me nobody because I do not like the dentist. When I think of the dentist what I feel is great fear, as well as a feeling of panic and dread and self-pity and dentist focused anger and wanting to bite people, etc.... it is many things I assure you that you do not want to feel.
I'm not sure where the fear came from but most likely from the fact that the dentist is linked with pain and feeling sick. I will share some stories, this is embarassing, but I'll tell you. Ay yi yi. When I was a younger person I never liked the dentist either, I recall getting brave enough to go to the dentist (since my mother made me) but then would refuse to open my mouth once sitting in the dentist chair. Then I would leave. Then I would get brave enough and return... and then yet again refuse to open my mouth. Yes, laugh away, hilarious. I don't know how often or how long this went on for, it's called mental blocks. Many a story I could share with you such as being allergic to products the dentists use and losing my voice as a result, feeling super sick, weak enamel, getting crazy teeth surgery and the numbing coming out before they were finished, retainers...retainers...retainers.. I'm getting all crazy just thinking about this and writing it down. ahhhhh dentist.

Let's find a point to this. Ok, so to recap we are talking about dentists. What always follows when I think of the dreaded word 'dentist' (think Lion King and the hyenas: "mufasa") is my attitude. Because this is usually how my visits go.
Step 1: Dread dentist appointment
Step 2: Force myself to dentist appointment, if extended wait period in waiting room, consider running away.
Step 3: Let any dentist personnel know that I do not want to be there by stating, "Just so you know, I have a really bad attitude about being here and don't want to be here."
Step 4: Refuse to make any follow up appointments then get a lecture on the importance of oral health.
Step 5: Plan to never return to the dentist.

That's not even exaggerating. Overdramatic yes. I mean even reading that seems crazy to me!! Who does that?!? That's embarassing to read and moreso when you realize it's yourself. Sherylynn why in the world are you telling people this!
Now here's why... I have to make a dentist appointment soon and it's become quite apparent that if I let myself continue the way I am; this fear, panic, self-pity, and HORRIBLE attitude towards the dentist, is just going to expand to the point that I might actually never return to the dentist and will end up wearing dentures by the time I am 30! Panic! Furthermore, as you can tell from my prior words, I have a very engrained bad attitude towards the dentist, however, this does not mean that it can't be changed. And that is what I intend to do. And do you know how you change an attitude? You catch yourself when speaking negatively and find the lies within it.

For example:

1) I hate the dentist!! LIE... I don't hate the dentist as a person, I dislike the pain that dental work causes me.
2) The dentist hates me. LIE... The dentist is there to protect my chompers and keep me healthy.
3) I have a bad attitude towards the dentist. LIE... I have an improving attitude towards the dentist.

If I let my fears get the best of me, I will not make the effort to make another dentist appointment and in the end will cause more damage to myself. If I stand up to my fear, choosing to have an attitude of overcoming, then I can pick up that phone and make myself an appointment. It starts with choosing which attitude you will take on and the appropriate actions that suit that attitude will follow. Which will you choose?

And lastly, here is what was stuck in my head the whole time I was writing:

"FISHY... WHY IS YOU SLEEPING!!"

Storytime: Debbie Discourager

It's been a while, time for a Storytime Monday inspired by recent thoughts. Let's jump in shall we.


Debbie Discourager was a typical human being named Debbie Discourager. She thought a lot about working out and eating healthy, but never doing so, she worked a 9-5 job, never really loving it, and had a full head of hair, but always wishing it was curly.

Debbie Discourager typically started her day by going to the local coffee shop and grabbing a coffee before heading to work. Today Emma Energy was in line ahead of her and struck up a conversation...
____________________________________________________
"What a gorgeous day outside, eh?" said Emma Energy excitedly, a die hard Canadian, "I woke up this morning and just had to get out there for a jog."

"You went jogging this morning..." Debbie Discourager replied with a look of disgust, "why the heck would you get up early to do something like that, wouldn't you rather sleep in and enjoy your day."
_____________________________________________________
Emma Energy had now grabbed her coffee and gave a quiet good bye to Debbie Discourager as she made her way out the door. Debbie Discourager thought nothing of it.

Once Debbie Discourager got to work she made sure everything was as she left it and went forth in her day. At break time her sister, Susan Sews, texted her a picture of the latest outfit she had just sewn for her child's doll...

______________________________________________________

"CHECK IT OUT DEB, JUST FINISHED THIS MORNING. SUPER CUTE!" Susan Sews texted.

"STOP WASTING YOUR TIME ON STUPID THINGS LIKE THIS SUSAN." Debbie Discourager replied in outrage that her sister had put time into yet another pointless thing for her child to play with.

_______________________________________________________
Debbie Discourager went back to her job without a second thought. Her sister never texted back a reply.

Come lunch time, the many employees began flooding into the lunch room to heat up their frozen entrees. Debbie Discourager was amongst the typical employees with her frozen lasagna dinner to be heated. She looked to her coworker beside her and realized that he had home made lasagna, actually made from scratch.
_______________________________________________________
"Pff why do you bother wasting time making that from scratch when you can quickly just buy it like this." She informed her coworker, showing him the cardboard container of frozen lasagna.

"My wife loves cooking and I think home made is a lot healthier and tastier," he replied then returned to his meal he was clearly enjoying.
_______________________________________________________
Debbie Discourager figured his wife must be one of those house wifes with nothing else to do but make her husband food and thought it was such a ridiculous idea to make elaborate meals for no reason.

The day ended and Debbie Discourager went home to watch TV and scoff at the people on the news that were trying to raise money by biking across Canada, clearly an unproductive use of time to just bike around like that.

Storytime Statement: Do you realize that in everyday situations you have the ability to encourage another human being simply by not discouraging them or making them feel ridiculous for going outside the 'norm'.

The difference from negativity to positivity is as simple as this:
"You went jogging this morning! Wow, good for you!"
"Oh my goodness, Susan, you amaze me with your sewing talent!"
"What a blessing your wife must be to you!"

Be a simple encourager this morning by being aware of your discouraging statements and flipping it. Similar to 'turn that frown, upside down'.

What a Mess: Confessions from a Neat Freak

Yes, mess. A delayed mess.

I will show you right from the get go what I am talking about:

Oh the horror.
Now this may not be considered that huge of a mess... I mean really there is only a lamp, lamp shade, jumbo fabric cutting board, box of old clothing, and random jackets and reusable bags (saving the planet... hollah!), but the horror of it all is that this is all in the backseat of my car. And to make it even worse... it's been there for the last month and a half since I went on strike from moving. Ohhhh the shame!! The shame!! My internal neat freak has revealed the worst of herself. I wish I could tell you that I have now cleaned this all up. That would be false. Double shame!

I'm rambling. I will tell you the point of exposing my vulnerable neat freak heart today. Speaking of heart, (brilliant segue Sherylynn) the backseat of my car got me thinking about how easily it is to just carry around junk with us. Worse than that, it's super impractical and a lot more complicated to carry this junk around. (In response to my mothers thought she is thinking as she reads this: Of course I don't consider that lamp to be junk. Also, I love that fabric board, that is not junk either but in the grand picture that's what it all looks like from an outsider. Clarified.)

In a literal sense, when I have a backseat full of junk my daily living gets a lot more complicated than it needs to be. For instance, I have to maneouver all of my daily items to fit around the existing junk, I can't just place my purse in the back seat, no I have to balance it on top of that box, and then sometimes I turn the corner too sharp and it falls down and squishes the lamp shade and I worry that I ruined it. Furthermore, when I carry all this junk with me I cannot transport friends, family members or strangers in need of a ride, my services to others becomes a lot more limited. Lastly, with all this junk in my backseat, I have to depend on others (aka my husband's car) to use their vehicle if we are going somewhere or doing something that requires space to transport or pickup items. And all this could be resolved if I just looked back there and sorted it out! My Andrew keeps telling me that eventually I am going to have to look back there, but I have been in complete avoidance because I'm on strike from moving. The picket signs are going to come down soon though.

Now driving point the life changing comparison, stay close, it'll be good... when we have issues in our lives that have not been dealt with or emotions from our past that are lingering about like a crazy freaky stalker, it is just the same as carrying around piles of junk with us everywhere we go. In this situation I consider the junk to be damaging emotions about or torwards elements of your past (bitterness, frustration, anger, sadness, etc.), as well as damaging memories that replay actions that stir up those bad feelings over and over again. Your daily life becomes a lot more complicated as you place in new emotions or thoughts around the existing 'junk' in your heart and brain but eventually just get absorbed into the bad emotions. Furthermore, your relationships with friends, family members, and strangers can begin to be cutoff as you will not be able to supply the physical, emotional, or mental support required to maintain that relationship as that space normally reserved for them within you is overflowing with 'junk'. And lastly, as some relationships are cutoff, your dependence level on other relationships will grow. You depend too heavily on another person, a TV show, game, movie, book, etc. to enable you to feel happy again. Where your head feels too full with 'junk' you can put your attention elsewhere for a time being and escape to a place where there is not necessarily no 'junk' but that junk is a welcome change from the misery you carry with you on a regular basis.

Friends, I encourage you today to start working towards a drama free life (no no drama... no no no no drama, you'll get it or you won't..) and that basically just means start resolving things!! As hard and time consuming as it may be to go through all the 'junk' in your 'backseat' to figure out what is there, why it is there, and where it should go the rewards of doing so are endless. Who knows what opportunities may arise if you have space for them to go!

Sharing a Fear

I have a fear.

I will share it with you today.

I promise all my sentences won't be this short and vague.

Ok, just one more, because it seems like such a dramatic opener.

So as mentioned, many sentences ago, I have a fear, and it is a very real fear that has just started to fully come to my attention and I would like to do my best to put a stop to it, or better yet, reverse it!! And now, at long last, I will reveal my fear: People are forgetting how to dream.

This alarms me greatly. If one does not know how to dream for their future, then they also do not know how to set goals, self motivate, achieve goals, find confidence in their accomplishments, strive for excellence, strive for self betterment and achieve something in life! I'm out of breath now because I typed that sentence without breathing. Where will our next leaders come from if our generation has forgotten how to have vision and dream dreams! It's a tense time where there are no dreams, because what replaces that void is 'settling'.
Settling for remaining at the level you are at at this very moment (personally, emotionally, financially, physically, educationally, other '-ally's') because you are too scared to dream. Or worse yet, schools have taken away the dreams of students and replaced them with a 'finish school, get education, get a good job, retire' attitude. Where are the dreams!! Where are the thoughts that occur between work, school, and sleeping... have these been hidden too far inside you that you forgot what it was to live for something bigger again? To experience life instead of just live it?

I borderline feel like I am going crazy sometimes because I have so many things I want to accomplish in life (write a book, ride an elephant, learn sign language, speak at a huge conference, write another book, be a rocking awesome wife, meet 100 new people, host huge dinner party's, and 189471 more small and big things) and I'm excited about them and work towards them but then I run into people that have no dreams or aspirations in life. Excuses for their family upbringings, current financial status, current educational status, and 'tomorrow thinking' are all used as reasons for why they cannot dream big dreams and it saddens me. Dreams are a choice and have to come from within! I'm not saying 'be like me' I'm saying awaken the 5 year old within you and dream of riding a pony again!! ... or for the boys... of being a real life cowboy with your horse galloping across a desert!! Feel alive again!!

Have you ever noticed that a week can pass you by so quickly? A month? A year? Your entire life?! When are you going to start dreaming again and reach to achieve them. Life is happening right now whether you want it to or not, and today, more than ever, there are so sooo many opportunities and adventures available for you ranging in price from free to a fortune. Start at one dream and go from there, the addictive factor will keep you hooked but you have to take that first step.

Here's a blunt tip: TV isn't real life, neither are movies, video games, your cell phone, Facebook, angry birds, Twitter, etc. Live your life, not someone else's, and don't go through your life with a cell phone glow on your face. LIVE!

Now friends, if you needed that little kick in the butt I so greatly encourage you to go Dream, Achieve, and Inspire for ... well for the rest of your life. Keep me posted because I'm excited to see your dreams come to life!

One Year Healiversary

Friends, today is a big day for me. An awesome day. Even more awesome than usual! I know, that's a lot of awesome. Don't get overwhelmed yet, stay with me... you awesome person you.

Today is my one year healiversary.

"What the heck is healiversary?" you ask. Great question. I will give you a wonderful hint, a year ago I wrote this: Delayed Post of Healing - Serious Level High

And now a year later... do I even dare go over the amount of blessings that have come upon me these past 12 months after a weekend of God given healing!! And attempt to explain just how this weekend really impacted my entire life only a measly year ago!!

Yes... I dare.

Here we go. Encounter Retreat. That is the name of the retreat that happened over a year ago. Ahhh I'm so excited as I write this. Ok staying calm. Let's get one thing straight from the get-go though... I did not want to go to this retreat. I had just come back from a month in Europe, I was getting used to this whole not crying on a daily basis thing, and I was beginning to settle into a pattern (finally) with work, school, and friends. As soon as I heard about this retreat I knew two things, one, that it was going to rock my world, two, I had to be there. Both of those facts did not change the feeling that I did not want to be there though. This is called "ridiculous resistance". I was brave, pep-talked myself, ignored the feeling and got myself to that retreat. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!

I go to the retreat and walk away feeling more complete and whole then I have in my entire life. I didn't feel torn in a million pieces anymore!! I felt whole and new, I felt like I had a purpose for life again! Can you imagine how great that feels after feeling lost and like there was no plan for my life for SO SO SOOO long! I mean just imagine! I thought there was no way to fully restore myself.

Now today, as I reflect an exact year later I can't believe the direction my life has taken. And I know you may have heard it before but I just can't move past this point or completely fathom the blessings that have poured upon me now that I have set my steps straight with the Lord. I cannot for one second deny the incredible peace and purpose he has poured down upon and the great love that he has for me. AHHH it makes me feel so excited for the future!! How does He love me so much! I have joy, I have purpose, I have value, I have a HUSBAND, I have incredible friends and family, I have incredible work environment, I have so so much.

I'm just rambling now because I'm too overwhelmed with love and gratefulness and joy and .... oh man. Love life! I will just leave you with this... because this my friends is the reason I get so excited. If a broken person like me can find such emotional freedom and peace I KNOW that others can follow and find that same healing.. EXCITING!!

"Speak my mind so that I may be free. But take the 'me' out of 'my' and make it Your own. Your will, Your guidance, Your words. Speak the words I do not want to say. The awkward, difficult, faith pushing words that save. The words that are delivered to me: the hands, feet and voice of the Lord that will bring His lost people home. The words that are uncomfortable, but so is hell. Bring the lost to Heaven and let them see for themselves that those words were never awkward or odd but words delivered to save them and guide them to their rightful home. Life is but a vapour, don't waste your few words."

Life Plan Panic

Good day Friends, I have a thought for you today that may bring peace to your hearts.

Picture a snail


Cute, ok good.

Now picture seeing that snail on the ground as you are walking.


Is your first thought when you see this snail, "Oh my gosh!! He's so behind, he's losing the race!! What's wrong with him!!!!!!"
I am guessing not. In my typical Sunshiney Day if I see a snail moving along, well ok I probably don't think much about it to be honest, but I also don't analyze this snail thinking that it is way behind on its journey to wherever it is going.
Stay with me, this is getting good...

Ok, now picture seeing two snails:

Does it now seem more likely that you will think one of the snails is falling behind? In this case obviously the snail on the left is behind. You can think whatever you want as these snails may not be racing at all, but simply headed in the same direction at different speeds.

Don't worry, there is a point to this. I'll tell you now...

In your own life you may be moving along on your own path completely unconcerned about how long it takes you to get wherever it is you're going.

• It is only when you start comparing yourself to other people that the idea is planted that you might be in some sort of 'race'.
• It is only when you start comparing yourself to the expectations that others have put upon you that you feel like your are losing the 'race'.
• It is only when you start comparing yourself to the gifts of others that you feel somehow you are inadequate and have lost the 'race'.

Do you see the stressful situation that this may put you in?! Wondering day in and day out if you are on the right path, why you don't know exactly where you are going, and what you were meant to do in this world! Seeing other people's life plans and what they have accomplished compared to you will never ease that situation.

I came upon this verse yesterday and it is beautiful and freeing:
"You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." Psalm 139:16

How can you get behind a life that is already perfectly planned out specifically for you?
Does this mean you can sit on your butt and life will come to you? No.
Does it mean you still have to take action to live to your full potential? HECK YES!

Friends, you have an amazing life plan set out before you. A life plan specific for you. An incredible plan. Even if you are moving at a snails pace keep yourself moving so that when you receive opportunities or guidance to be steered in another direction you already have the momentum going to get to that place quicker.

I'M EXCITED FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

A Ruined Day

Tuesday is the new Monday, moving right along...

You may be offended today. I half apologize for that, but I also hope you get over that in a timely fashion once you realize that you can leave this post feeling uplifted (if you so choose).

Let's begin and see where we end up as this topic has been on my mind for a while.

Have you ever heard this: “I’m soooo angry. I can’t believe they said and/or did that. She/He ruined my entire day.”

I overhear strangers saying this, it’s all over my facebook page, I hear some friends say it quite often, heck, I have probably said it myself once or twice in my life. But here’s the thing, I hear that now and my first thought is honestly somewhere along the lines of…

 “Well, that was dumb! Why did you let them do that.”

...because honestly, who do you have control of in this world? Who’s attitude are you in complete control of? Other people’s? Your Ex? Your current? Your now 'ex' friends? No, negative, the only person you have exact control of is you.

If you are letting somebody else ruin your day then that is none other than your fault. Maybe I don’t understand your situation, maybe you have a unique scenario… sure, but that doesn’t change the facts. How you look at a situation or more importantly how you allow yourself to react to a situation is completely up to you. Will you be the higher person keeping that situation a private matter to be resolved quickly, or will you allow yourself to become the poor victim then go and update your facebook status so everybody knows how you have been victimized and how horrible your life is while also giving you the chance to wallow in your 'ruined' day as others give their opinions on how offended you should be. (That is a run on sentence of confusion for why this happens daily all around me.)

Friends, you are better and stronger than wallowing in self pity over a rude and/or inappropriate comment someone might say to you... the more you don't make a 'vague' facebook status about it, don't rally your friends to start hating this person, and don't focus on this fact the better you will feel about yourself and feel about the quality of your day! I encourage you to be strong and the bigger person! Crazy things happen in life that could leave us all offended every 10 seconds… but what fun is that? Don’t you want to move past ridiculous situations so you can get back to living life and enjoying your day sooner?

Again, if you take the time to read this (p.s. thank you I appreciate it, honestly, thanks so much) but if you are also sitting there being like well Sherylynn… Sunshine… whoever you are, you have it good, your life is all in place obviously you don’t get it because nothing bad ever happens to you. Think again my friend!! You may not know about the difficult challenges going on in my life because:

1)      They are not a part of my facebook statuses.

2)      You probably don’t need to know about them. (Don't get all offended on me...)

3)     And most importantly, I don’t like to dwell on things but instead just pray and leave the issues with God to sort out. He’s good at that stuff!

It’s truly as simple as that.

“Every day you can have an incredibly great day, you just need to remember to have it.”

"Strict Policy" Breaker

A Sunshiney Day Moment:

I was at the store the other day purchasing some things for work.

Upon gathering my wonderfully selected items I went to the till, where one pays for said items.

Time Travel: Prior to leaving my work

I was given one of the corporate visas,

just to see if the store would take it.

My guess was no, but I was going to give it a try

just for some fun and entertainment.

End Time Travel.

So once at the cashier and after we had gone through that whole "How's your day?" "Great, yours?" etc. that they repeat over and over again (especially in the express lane) I handed her the visa for payment. The cashier took one look at the visa and got a bit serious to inform me that the store, we will call it Unsafepath, had a 'strict visa policy' and therefore would need photo ID for me to use that card. I told them it was a corporate card (while also trying to casually show that the company name matched my sweater). She asked if I had ID that matched to the actual name on the card, I said that I did not, however I did know the pass code for the visa... so then she just let me use the visa! That was too easy. Now ultimately, it didn't really matter if they took the visa or not because work would have just reimbursed me if they didn't. But the fact that I got around this 'strict policy' without barely even trying...I couldn't believe it. A supposed 'strict policy' just disappeared because I said I knew a little code, regardless of whether I had ID to match the card or not.

Let's talk about this in great and loving detail about the dangers of veering away from strict policy's. Fun!
So my thought is simply how often in our lives do we have 'strict policy's' on different things but then end up waiving them off if we are given a persuasive argument or met with resistance? Are we even aware that we are doing this or do we simply see that there was no immediate punishment from our bending of policy's and therefore no harm done?

Need some examples? Think wide range on this one: think goals for eating healthy, think not swearing, think habits, think premarital sex, think drinking, think eating at McDonalds, think not buying unneccesary things, think reading every single day, ... think about whatever your personal convictions may be, there is a very wide range!

If you decide to make a strict policy on something, example never eating at McDonalds again, then you must stick to that if you think you're going to make a difference and gain people's respect and acceptance of that policy. And here's the thing as much as keeping yourself accountable to your policy's, other people matter as well because once people know you have such a strict policy against eating at McDonalds (or not drinking alcoholic drinks, etc.), and that you do not budge from it they will stop asking you to go to there. Your name will not become associated with McDonalds, I know this from first hand experience!

One more example, let's go more serious here, even though it sounds a bit high school but I'm going here... If you decide that you are not going to have sex until you are married then, regardless of your reasoning, you must make a strict policy for that to actually happen. If a cute guy comes along and just wants to see if he can get past that policy, if you don't have your guard up and know where you stand then he's just going to talk you right out of that policy. Or maybe to go so far as saying that 'he loves you' (knowing the pass code) which might make you think that it is ok. Guess what, once somebody knows that your 'strict policy' can be broken through or avoided it will be harder to maintain that strict policy.

"A strict policy is for the dedicated, determined, and downright stubborn."

And that's ok, just make it positive.

New Opinion Marriage

Greetings friends!

I am now back to posting every Monday. And for the last few weeks I have been thinking on this topic: people's very conflicting views on marriage. Obviously I'm not going to get into some huge technical debate because let's be serious, I'll just bore myself... plus I lack the knowledge to do so... but I will mention this.

Here I go.

When family, friends or strangers find out you are getting married or have gotten married you basically get a variation of one of these reactions:

"Oh my gosh I'm so excited for you!!"
OR
"You'll regret it! Worst decision I ever made."

Now, be honest, which of these reactions do you think tells more about the persons own life/marriage then it does about yours?
Hint: Vote #2.
To keep you in the loop, I got married last week and I had a handful of situations where people I knew or complete strangers told me what a horrible decision marriage was and that I still have time to back out. In fact, as I was getting some wedding photos taken an older couple biked past us and the man said "You'll regret it" then kept biking. I shake my head at you. One, how do you think that makes your wife feel? Two, if you say dumb things like this in front of your wife, that is probably not helping your marriage. I will stop there.

My annoyance today is with people's opinion on marriage. Whether serious or 'joking' a vast majority of people carry the opinion that marriage is to be regretted, the end of your life, a horrible commitment, giving up all control of your life, a battlefield of sorts and the worst part is they work to pass this opinion on to any newly engaged or married couple! Why?? This baffles my mind. In an offensive manner I say that just because you dislike how your marriage is going should in no way impact the way my marriage(or other people's marriages) will go.

Now, before we get too carried away here I am shining the light on the positive. I know way more couples that love marriage!! They love what God has created and how He brings people together. I know people that love to fall in love over and over again with their spouse and have been doing so for years. Family and friends that work at their marriage and it thrives and they have nothing but encouragement and joy for new couples that get to now experience the joy of marrying the love of their life. Guess which side I am going to go to for advice. (Rhetorical question. Not going to pessimistic people, just for clarification).

If you are quietly thinking to yourself "Sherylynn you've only been married for a week... give it time you'll see what a bad decision it was.." I respond in my two year old nephew's fashion and I say "NOT!" aka No. When you fill your mind with these things then your mind and emotions start preparing themselves for when things will 'go bad' or for when the 'honeymoon stage' is over. I choose to be excited about marriage, not just for me but for others as well. I choose to be for my marriage not against it and I choose to encourage all marriages for my friends, family members, and even strangers. I choose to communicate and resolve when need be to keep my marriage strong. I choose to hold a new optimistic view on marriage that others can follow. I choose to look for life not death and to encourage not breakdown. I choose to love.

Married... who me?

"But I thought other people got married.... WHY AM I WEARING THIS WHITE DRESS!!"

My life feels unreal today. I am getting married. How did this happen. and to me?!? I feel like I am in awe of my life right now...pause... let me reword that.

I am in awe of God's work in my life right now, today, always.

HOW AM I GETTING MARRIED!! AND TO THE GREATEST GUY EVER. (Seriously.. have you met him? He's great. I want him... which works out well.)

I am just almost speechless with my joy and ... I have no words. You think I am kidding. I just... ahhhh!!

I always saw other people getting married around me.. siblings, cousins, friends... other people?.. but never really figured out how that happened. How does one find the person they are to marry, they get through the awkward dating stage and it just all works out and then you realize that it is your WEDDING DAY!! and all of a sudden you have become that bride that everyone will look at. This is such a strange feeling. I suppose many single people sit and wonder why they are single but there is also the other side, which I am finding right now... HOW AM I GETTING MARRIED!!! I knew this day was coming since I got engaged... but it is just real real today! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THAT HANDSOME MAN AND TO PARTY WITH EVERYONE!!!

Why do I get to be so blessed and privileged to be Andrew's wife, I mean this is crazy!! I get to (corny line warning) marry my best friend. I have many whom I LOVE to hangout with but Andrew tops the list. Andrew.. that man. He's funny, he's sweet, he takes care of me, he's crazy caring, he's just plain crazy, and he's incredibly great to look at to give only like 0.1% of why I love him so. THIS IS CRAZY!! And I get to spend forever with him! That is incredible. AHHHHHH I'M GETTING MARRIED!! GET ME DOWN THAT AISLE!! THANK YOU GOD!!!

I can't wait to eat some of our cherry mouse desserts... cookie crumble crust. Delicious.

So... those are my thoughts... now you know what this bride is thinking about.

FRIENDS!!! IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE!!!

Self Inflicted Facebook Pain

Good Day friends. Or more so Good Night friends.
It is just barely Monday still and it has occurred to me that ....dramatic pause... I forgot to write today!! Ohhh the shame...is gone because I will still make my deadline.Hoorah!!

Ok ok, Let's get to the point.

I was immediately inspired to write about this topic today (roughly 23 minutes ago) when my fiance finally came back from his bachelor party with paintball welts all over his body. He showed me his back and arms and I had the crazy thought of "WHY THE HECK IS THIS FUN!!" Not even a question, just upgraded to full on statement. But really...why is this fun to men? I believe it makes little to no sense to females why in the world men associate a big event (birthdays, weddings, anniversarys. Circle one) with inflicting great pain upon themselves. Why oh why would one ever do such a thing??

Hey while we're talking about mysteries how about this one: why do women stalk past relationships on facebook and then sit crying at their computer?? Hmmm... men any guesses for this one? Women, of their own free will, have the choice to actively stalk someone on facebook, see who they are talking to, what pictures are being posted, which pictures they are being tagged in, who they are adding as friends, etc etc. Women, we are just as bad as men, willingly going to inflict pain on ourselves to celebrate a big event (breakups, separations, ex-friends, divorces). Now... let's not kid ourselves and pretend we've never done this. Hello, my arm is waving high in the sky, guilty. Super guilty actually. I could have saved myself from a lot of pain in the past, not by ignoring facebook, but by simply having the self control to not go near albums or people's pages that I knew would just inflict pain.
"Oh but Sherylynn... all these pictures and cutesy comments from my ex to this girl (who I don't even know who she is and has blocked her profile to non-friends (how rude!) so I can't even see who she is) keep showing up on my homepage and I can't get away cuz I always just 'stumble' upon them again."
Uhhh yes you can. 1) Then don't go on facebook. 2) Stop clicking on them and then spending the next 30 minutes 'stumbling' upon their favorite television shows, where they were yesterday, how many friends they have, etc.. Think of it this way: if you have a cut but leave it alone, it will just heal, but if you pick at it day and night it takes a lot longer to heal!
If you know in your mind and heart that you are hoping something comes up from a past relationship when you login to facebook then you are just setting yourself up for pain. As if you are just pouring things into a wound that will get more infected and take forever to heal.

Basically, women don't understand men that want to inflict physical pain upon themseves for a big event. But think for a bit on the fact that women are often way more keen to inflict emotional pain upon themselves (on a daily basis i might add!) after a big event. If you can limit the amount of pain you willingly put yourself through via facebook (or whatever else) wouldn't you want to do so? I encourage that this week and will be praying for people in tricky situations to have wounds heal quicker, with less self-inflicted pain disrupting the process.

Much love to all! (and to all a good night)

Scribbling on Paper

It has happened, the realization that I will have a new name.

As I was signing a small stack of papers today attempting to make my 'SNiezen' signature look more legible than the previous one it really dawned on me that I will have a  new name once I get married next month. Not only that, but the difficulties of handwriting two capital S's in a row is a very difficult task. Oh, for clarification my new last name will be Smith. Moving on, so obviously I grabbed a spare piece of paper and attempted to give my new signature a test run... like I was back in middle school again crushing on a boy... and I feel like I'm playing grownup all over again. Teaching my hand to quickly hand write a cool looking signature that looks effortless but  yet is still legible is an unfinished task. Do you know how hard it is to finish off any signature, let alone with a 'th'. Oh man. Give it a try. Just write out SSmith twenty times on a page. Not weird at all.

Anyways, all that rambling to tell you that while I was scribbling on scrap paper trying to figure out my new name I began to worry myself about losing my identity... my last name is changing... what if people can't find me in the phone book (which no one actually looks in anymore these days)... am I a new person?!?!? Admittingly, it was a small scale panic attack. Many times in the past I have pretended to be someone else for fear of what people might think or to please someone else. So naturally, the very idea of changing my name sparked concern in me that I was becoming someone else. But alas!! it is not true. The very fact that I am getting a new last name is a testament to who God has created me to be and the blessings He has put in my life that I get to become a part of.  I get a new name and I'm excited for it.

Ummm that's my thought for this week. To go deeper I will say this: you can drag change out and whine that it is changing you or you can accept the fact that change can be for a good purpose and look at it with excitement so you can receive the blessings that come from it.

Ok  bye!!

Storytime - Shoes

Story time Monday... let's do it.......

Storytime: So one day Sally Sneakers was sitting on her porch steps looking quite glum staring down at her sneakers when her friend (who doesn't get a name) came and sat beside her.

"Why so glum Sally?" She asked her friend (but not her best.).
"My sneakers were dirty yesterday..." Sally responded holding back tears. "They are my only pair."
"What are you talking about you crazy Sally," her not so sensitive friend questioned, "I'm looking at your shoes and they are super white, whiter than I've ever seen them."

"Yes, but yesterday they were dirty." Sally again tried to explain to her friend in her sad state.
"But... now they're super clean, that's awesome! You must have a really great quality cleaning product." Her friend said again, trying to cheer her up.
"But they were dirty." Sally stated yet again, being ever so persistent.
"Yah, but now they're not, they're clean! Woohoo!! Let's go for a walk and show them off."
"I can't, these sneakers looked ruined yesterday."
"BUT NOW THEY'RE NOT." Said the impatient friend at this ridiculous conversation.

"... but they were yesterday...dirt everywhere....totally ruined..." Sally quietly stated trying to get the last word in.

This conversation continued for approximately 4 more minutes; Sally dwelling on the fact that her sneakers were once ruined as opposed to her friends point of view that she should be happy that they were now clean. The conversation ended when the friend walked away, leaving Sally to sink in her misery at her once dirty sneakers, since that was all she wanted to do anyways.

Storytime Statement:
You can dwell on the past dirt that may have ruined you OR get over it and be grateful that God made you pure and whole again.

If the shoes are clean, don't go looking for dirt!

Hello stranger, might I help you?

I won't give you a book review/report today... I suppose.

Let's just jump in. So last Thursday I was involved in a God Belongs in My City walk through Chilliwack. It was pretty powerful... groups of people just walked through the town praying over it. I can't wait to see what will come of it. The groups met up in central park afterwards and while I was there I felt like there was someone to my right that I should go help. There wasn't. So that was weird. But then I think God nudged me to go in this thought direction.. and I suppose in the bigger picture, what our city has potential for.

My original feeling was that there might be someone to my right that needed help carrying something (picture a person carrying way too many grocery bags), and before I even looked I knew that if there was someone I would go over to the sidewalk and help them carry their groceries. Now since there was nobody there it occurred to me that even if there was someone and I offered my help... they might not even take it. So then I came up with these three categorized thoughts of responses one might get:

1) "The No Thank-You ... now go away" Answer
This is the answer that you get and you just can't understand it. You offer someone help that is carrying way too many things (like five tvs) and yet they refuse and in fact get annoyed and angry that you would even dare to offer your help. The more you try and help the angrier they get. It's confusing to you since you were never trying to offend them or imply that they couldn't do it on their own but that it would simply be easier on them if they let someone help them.


2) "The Ask me again and I'll say yes" Answer
This is the answer that seems most typical. You offer your help to someone and our society is so often on automatic mode to decline outside help, because it may be untrustworthy, that they just refuse help before even considering how helpful it may actually be. So the initial response to your offer of help is declined but if you look at the person you can tell that they are now calculating in their brain how they will move the whale they just purchased into their car. Ask again if they need help... they will let you help them now because they re-evaluated their situation and know they need you more than they fully realized before.

3) "The thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou" Answer
This is the answer that makes you feel like a million bucks because the person is so grateful for your help. They are in the perfect desperate situation and they may not have been exactly waiting for you to offer your help but it comes at just the right moment that they jump at the opportunity. The recipient of your offer of help knows without a doubt that they can longer push their broken down car up the steep Promontory road, your presence alone rejuvenates them that they are not alone and the fact that you are willing to help fills them with gratitude and relief.

Now, with all these answers/responses broken down you may notice that this can be applied to different forms of help you may offer someone, particularly to me the thought stood out that some people are not ready to receive help or healing in their broken lives because they are simply not in that place just yet. That place where they have exhausted all other options and are just needing someone to offer them a step out of their despair but have no idea how to ask for it. Friends, I encourage you today to keep offering your help out in no matter what form it may look like (carrying groceries, offering encouragement, praying for another, paying for the persons meal behind you in the drive through, letting someone in a rush go ahead of you in a lineup, etc.) You never know what effect you can have on another person's life by simply offering them some help... the response is up to them, all you have to do is offer.

Plans Change

Hi friends!!

I more appropriately wanted to title this "Plans Change aka WHY THE HECK IS EVERYTHING NOT WORKING!!" but decided it could be too long... and people may think I have issues and was yelling at them.

So hello friends!! It is Monday (still officially for 7 more minutes so I have to type fast), and more specifically, the Monday after a long weekend. I hope you had such a great and relaxing weekend. I myself had a great long weekend. I really did, there was sun, pool, ice cream, great food (steaks and corn on the cob!! boom, best meal ever), so much hangout time with the fiance man, I got to do some improv at church... just such a great weekend overall.

In between doing super awesome sunshine filled long weekend stuff I also had to do some 'adult' things this weekend and run errands, you know how it is.. And one thing that really was on my mind today (and especially once I logged on to facebook and saw that I had been forced over to Timeline...) was that plans change and there are lessons to be learned for me to just roll with it and know there is a purpose. For instance, I did some wedding stuff this weekend and what was supposed to be a simple to do list of "pick up ties for groom and groomsmen" turned into a crazy somewhat complicated adventure. I am not discouraged nor do I particularly care if the shade of said tie is off by one degree... of colour(??)... but the adventure arose because in my mind it seemed so simple to walk into a store show them the shirt they had to match and find that same colour in a tie... only the problem is that since purple is still such a new invention, ever since we moved away from prime colours, many stores do not carry what we need. None of them actually. This happened with a few things this weekend... I really don't remember any of them beyond the ties at the moment but I constantly had the thought rolling around in my head of "why does this have to be so difficult?!" I get a plan stuck in my head and am not a fan when it doesn’t work out.

These plans changing thoughts actually brought me back to about a year ago and I will share this story with you. See I had this plan in September of 2010, after I stopped living a life full of lies, that I would give myself a month to grieve and get over the mess that I had made of my life and my heart, it was called 'Sad September' actually. After this one month of crying (because I literally just couldn't stop crying over the years I had wasted and my ripped to shreds self-esteem and self-worth), I planned for 'Optimistic October' to look towards my future and plan a new path which would nicely lead me all the way into 'Normal November'. It's always good to have a plan :) ............. until it gets completely shattered because October, November, December, January, February, March, April, June and July all pass and I couldn't stop crying. Now don't pity me over this because I sure don't, I learned sooo much in that time and am now so grateful for it that I wouldn't have changed that healing process at all. God loves us more than quick healing because he teaches us so much in those times of desperation. Ok, BUT what I do want to draw attention to is the fact that as month after month went by I became more and more frustrated because I felt behind on my 'plan'. I felt so lost that I could never catch up and wanted to quickly just heal myself so I could get back to my plan, my ridiculous plan that I thought was ever so important.

Now... hear me on this. If you plan out your entire life to perfection refusing to alter it, you leave no wiggle room for fantastic things and for God to work through you. On the same note, if you stress yourself out that you have no plan at the moment, you will never realize you are part of a plan. And lastly, if you pity yourself over supposed ‘failed’ plans, you will miss the joy of unexpected blessings.

Wherever you are in life, I encourage you to make tentative plans. If you don’t plan to have a goal in life you are simply surviving day to day and life will drain you. If you are at a period in your life where you feel like you have no idea what big plans to make or what to do next, hold tight… keep your mind open, keep searching and God will reveal a step for you to take in the right direction. If something just didn’t work out the way you thought it should, rejoice in that, whether good or bad, because God’s got this. Many times, as I expressed earlier, I get frustrated when plans change as I get tunnel minded and can’t think outside the single plan I had. Only later once a situation resolves itself in a way I never could have predicted do I realize that God had a better plan for me. If only my forgetful brain could remember this 24/7. Plans change for reasons beyond that which I can comprehend. The sooner I remember this, the sooner I learn to readjust my attitude and put my trust in God that any and all situations will be resolved.

So friends, I guess in great conclusion, plans change, but so can attitudes towards that change… I choose to rejoice for it is a new, unforseen adventure!

Forgiveness - Not tentative.

Thoughts will now pour all over this page and I have 10 minutes until my break is over.. GO!

Ok, so yesterday I read this book and the day before I had been reading this other book and both of them were biographies on these two very different individuals with incredible stories which highlighted forgiveness... and I knew I wanted to write on this. Now lately I feel like I have been giving book reports and I half apologize but they are so inspiring!! I feel selfish keeping this all to myself.

Sidenote: If you aren't reading books... you should. 

Caution though, guard what you are reading.

Grow your brain and heart, don't rot them.

End Sidenote.

So anyways, very quickly, one story was about a Cambodian teenager who saw his entire family killed (I'm talking about 10 siblings, his parents, his sister-in-law and his nephew) during a very cruel time in Cambodian history but ended up surviving with only his one sister. The other book was about this Dutch lady who survived the concentration camps during world war II (She was sent there because she helped a 'Jew' who later betrayed her family and turned out to be working for the Germans) but the rest of her family did not survive.

Now, with that base of tragedy, both these incredible people suffered loss which resulted in bitterness and crazy frustrating anger as they became prisoners in their own country and watched the people they loved die off, at the hands of others. And this is the part that gets me, they both came face to face with their exact prison guards and the men that killed their families... and they both came to forgive. WOW! If I'm making it sound like forgiveness was an easy decision for them I apologize as it most definitely was not.

Corrie Ten Boom (the Dutch lady) became a speaker after the war and one day gave a talk on forgiveness and immediately after came face to face with one of her cruelest prison guards. The guard had transformed his life and was asking for her forgiveness. Can you imagine, being asked to put into practice exactly what you just spoke on despite the fear and anger that this guys face caused her? She says this: "Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand (to shake the guards outstretched hand). I can do that much. You supply the feeling." Whoaaaaaa. This lady is incredible to me. She knows she doesn't have the strength, but she never ever doubts that God will be her strength.

Oh man my heart just feels so uplifted by this for two reasons. One, both of these people I would think would be fully justified never forgiving their enemies and simply looking for revenge their entire lives, I mean at first glance that makes sense.But that would have kept them in emotional prison, they sought forgiveness and they found freedom in forgiving! That is incredible. I feel giddy over this. Hearts held captive are set free through God's power!! Two, even though their emotions didn't feel like it, God gave them the strength to forgive, oh thank goodness, we do not have to lean on our own strength when forgiving those that we do not feel like forgiving because of the wrongs they did us.

My heart feels good about this. My heart rejoices. Forgiveness isn't easy, but letting God help you is. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I like this day.

Friends, there's a million more things I could say but basically my main thought is that God's strength will forever be more powerful than our own. Lean on his strength to help you through whatever circumstance that you think may be too hard or impossible to overcome. I have such a big smile on my face. I love God. SO HAPPY TO BE ALIVE TODAY!!!

Blind Forgetting

Oh Sherylynn, you funny girl, why do you forget things sometimes?

This is my thought I am having today. I honestly get a little frustrated with myself when I forget stuff but I always have a little chuckle when I remember what it is I forgot because it always seems to entertain me a little bit. Let me give some examples:

1) I forget that I can't see without the help of contacts or glasses and will panic a bit when I walk out of my room in the morning and everything is a blurry mess.
2) I forget that my car uses gas.
C) I forget that 3.25 minutes is not ample time to get ready in the morning before work; it didn't work yesterday... or the day before... or...
4) I forget to factor in travel time to get somewhere and think I should leave my house when the event starts then remember I'm already late.
5) I forget my passwords to almost everything, yes.. even if it's 'password'.
6) I forget how blessed I am.

You may have guessed that my main thought today is based around point 6. You are correct. Gold Star. Today for some reason I have this interesting side/back pain that feels like someone is smacking me with a wet towel every now and then when I think the pain has subsided. I'm not so worried about the pain because I know it will go away, it's just annoying. And I tell you this bit of personal information to remind you of something that I have forgotten. First let's give you some background....

About a month or so ago I read this non-fiction book called, 'A Miracle for (insert girl's name here that I forget)' and it changed the way I think and view life. To give a very brief overview, this 15 year old girl gets into a car accident and afterwards is mentally, physically and emotionally wounded BUT spiritually she is completely fine, in fact she is spiritually stronger than ever before. For example, she is in a coma for a few weeks barely surviving, but with crazy faith and constant prayer over her by friends and family (I'm talking 8 hours straight by one lady!!) she finally comes through and when she does its confirmed that she has heavy brain damage as she forgets how to spell her name, when her birthday is, what some simple words mean like 'mop', she speaks with a heavy slur, she can barely walk and can barely stay awake for more than a couple hours at a time, HOWEVER, she can rattle of chunks of scripture completely from memory and she prays out loud without a slur as happy as could be praising Jesus for all the great things in her life and for His love for her. This girl inspires me. She has lost the ability to do so many things and she forgets that she has lost that ability but she praises God with so much passion, joy and reassurance that He is doing great things in her life!

Instead of bringing a list of complaints to God about her current situation or why the car accident happened to her, she praises him for her injury because she gets to tell so many more people about Him and what he's done in her life. This girl who can barely remember if she went to the bathroom 2 minutes ago so keeps going in 5 minutes intervals, even obtained her graduation certificate! Her mother tried to prepare her daughter that she may not be able to pass the final exam but her daughter, with such incredible faith, just kind of looks at her mom and tells her that "God's got this" and then writes in her journal her praises to God for her life and her excitement to graduate. And she does graduate, as if it wasn't even a question. She has her moments of frustration but you start singing worship songs to her and she goes off into this world of joy and passion for Jesus. She never once complains to God or asks why but showers him with praise and is constantly just wrapped up in His love.

Now, all that above shows why this book changed my life. It flipped the way I thought, flipped the way I prayed, and flipped me into a stronger relationship with Him. And then I forgot about all of these 'flipping' realizations. How does that happen!?
I was reminded again today when my mix of random pain and car sickness got mushed together and I was praying to God that I wouldn't throw up on my mother's lovely vehicle floor. Then it hit me that I had completley forgotten all about my new mindset. A mindest to bring praises and thank you's to the Lord instead of "fix this situation for me.....oh yah..... please." And the great thing is that once you start giving that praise and thank you and dwelling in His love all other concerns seem to melt away and you realize that God's got your small problems, He's got this.

No More Pants: The Power of Accountability

Good Day Friends,

So as mentioned last week, my 30 days of dresses are over. If you don't know what I am talking about see this: No More Pants

Now I have many findings from my extensive research of this, the most shocking one being that I actually gave myself a lesson in accountability. Furthermore, my dress experiment simultaneously turned into a bit of one of those "8 ways to wear an article of clothing" as I jumbled around my sweaters and leggings to keep me from freezing to death in our cold June. Maybe you even noted that this past week when I stopped my little experiment it got really sunny... so either you're welcome because I enticed the sun to come out or I'm sorry because I delayed it with my dresses. Your pick.

Sidenote: Mosquitoe plague. Stay strong everyone.

Ok so, what did I learn that I took many extensive notes on (in my brain) I shall tell you:

1) Right off the bat I realized that it was so much easier to get ready in the morning! The hassle of 'does this match that', and 'where is that shirt' questions were never an issue. I had a stack of dresses and each day I just grabbed one and threw it on because I knew that my options were limited and that I had to wear all of these dresses eventually. I will admit that there was some thought put into it as I didn't want to end up with my 10 least favorite dresses in the end and still be expected to show myself in public. So it worked out great.

2) As days went by... it gets cold when you wear dresses and the sky rains. Some days I actually woke up thinking "Good Morning Sherylynn, this is crazy, it is pouring rain outside, you are going to freeze today, just wear a sweater to work with jeans. ahhh yes, jeans, you love jeans!" But alas, I did not, because of point 3.

3) Accountability. Yes friends, today I admit I didn't actually think I would learn anything from wearing dresses for 30 days... I mean that just seems too deep, I more or less just like to entertain myself sometimes and decided to tell you all about it. But here's the thing, you tell someone about an idea, goal, or dream you are trying to achieve or an addicition, mindset, or struggle you are trying to overcome and they remember. Maybe not all the details but they are watching (not in a creepy way). Here are some great examples:

Example 1: I had people that had read my post come up to me requesting I let them know when the 'unwanted' dress give away would be or to ask me what dress # I was on or to simply ask me how my 30 days experiment was going.

Example 2: I had people encouraging me. It seems so silly for dress wearing, but honestly it was nice to have people text or tell me that I could do it. Especially on pouring rain days.

Example 3: Last week, once the experiment was over, I was wearing capris and met up with my sister. Immediately she said, "Sherylynn!!" with an incredulous look on her face, "you're wearing pants!!" (as if this wasn't right) once I explained the experiment was over she realized it was ok and that I hadn't broken my 30 day challenge.

Now I tell you these examples because none of that would have happened if I hadn't made public what I was hoping to achieve. If nobody knew I was challenging myself to wear dresses for 30 days nobody would have been concerned or the wiser if I wore pants or not. I would have known if I stopped after 3 days. Maybe I could have tried again but quit after 6 days... or quit after 12 days... 1 day... 8 days... 24 days.. and the whole time nobody would have known that this was a struggle for me or a goal I wanted to accomplish. Relate this to smoking, lying, purity, working out, etc. I'm not saying tell the world, but if you tell at least one trusted friend about a struggle or goal in your life, a friend that will call you out, encourage you and keep you on track, you are accountable to someone and much more motivated or disciplined to follow through.

So friends, thank you for your words of encouragement and interest during this challenge. I also want to encourage you this week to let people you trust into your lives. Allow yourselves to be vulnerable to them, to let them hold you when you are down, encourage you to get up and keep you accountable to the person you want to become.

And with that I give you some of my favorite photos of the 30 Days of Summer Challenge: