I am just going to brag for a sec.

30 Pounds later...

And I go from this (February of this year)

To this (October of this year)

Which results in the giving away of these...


Go me!

God is Good. God is Great.

Lately, I have been struck by several key attributes of God.

1. That God loves me.
2. That God knows me.
3. That God is truly, truly good and He desires to bless me.

As a result of feeling these characteristics in abundance, I have had a heightened feeling of gratitude towards the Lord. Seriously, just thinking about it makes me cry.

Thinking about all of this reminds me of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon. In Mosiah 4:11-12 he states:

11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have ^atasted of his love, and have received a ^bremission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own ^cnothingness, and his ^dgoodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of ^ehumility, ^fcalling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing ^gsteadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the ^alove of God, and always ^bretain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the ^cknowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

Thinking about God's goodness has caused me, literally, to call on the Lord. It has also caused me to realize that in the grand scheme of things, I am nothing and He makes everything happen. It has caused me to feel of His love with more of a surety. And, as a result, it has made me yearn to be more faithful to Him.

I know that the Lord truly is good. I haven't always felt this way. I have often questioned his wisdom as--in my natural eyes--he has seemed to withheld certain blessings from my life. Now, through a certain string of events, I have seen God's wisdom and His hand in my life. There are so many more unknowns to be faced. However, I know that my experiences as of late has caused me to remember his goodness.

I feel like Alma...

"I remember ^awhat the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me."

God is merciful. God is good, people of the blogging world. He loves us. He wants us to be happy. He has a plan for us. He answers prayers. I hope we can remember that. I hope I can remember that. This is my testimony to you on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Happy Sabbath!

And I don't even have time to post a pin to pinterest.

Let alone update my blog...

People.

It's October 8 (happy birthday to my dear sis, Chrissie), and I am already drowning in this teaching profession of mine. It feels like ALL I do is teach, plan, grade, email, work with students, and the list goes on...

Something about this year of teaching has made life harder. I teach 2 "preps" which means I teach 2 different subjects. That takes up more time. But I think the difference comes with knowing more about what good teaching is. My 1st year of teaching consisted of me just throwing assignments at kids; just wanting to have something planned so that they stay occupied for 85 minutes. Now, I realize that giving students certain types of work can sometimes be busy work. I am trying to be effective; teaching students skills as well as content that they can transfer to other subjects and to future classes.

So here I sit on a Saturday. Thinking I should lesson plan. Or grade. Or answer emails. I have no desire whatsoever...

Couple the teaching craziness to life craziness. Staying on top of my calling, still trying to be an involved family member and a good friend. Exercising and eating well takes time too. Also, keeping the social life progressing has been taking lots of time lately :)

All I want to do is read a good book, not sit in crazy lines to get my oil changed, explore DC in the fall, take a road trip, and freakin' post a pin to pinterest (check it out if you haven't, pinterest.com)

I know many of you feel the same way. And I know balance is key. But balance has been wobbly. And I fear falling flat on my face.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. I think I can face reality now.