My oh my...

(Kylie Speaking)

Hey, So this is the first time that I have come to the blog. I just started reading the book... I am only through 2 chapters. I had to finish the other books I was reading before starting on this. I wanted to have a blank slate. Any who. Summer just kicked into full gear when I learned I will be working 3-11pm Monday through Thursday and 1230-6 on Fridays until July 25.. then I'll be starting my summer class sometime in July (maybe the 9th?) .. I probably should figure that out. Anyways, this week flew by. I never realized how much working causes days to do that.

So God has been working on me this week. Everyday I close at Starbucks with a woman named Dollie. I really like her a lot, I always have. She works so hard to make money for her family. Here's her background: She looks like she is 18 but really she is 33. She got married to her husband Shane when she was 16 and had 2 children by the time she was 20. She and her husband have been married 16 or 17 years and have 2 daughters (14 and 12). Their family is fully of love, but hardship as well. I have just been praying that God will give me words of encouragement. She's not a believer. She wants the best for her family and that is what she lives for. Her husband just got laid off so they are living off 800 dollars a month. I just wanted everyone to say a little prayer for Dollie and her family. I want good things for them. She recently had quite a bit of medical attention for problems with her ovaries and kidneys and that all happened right after Shane got laid off and their insurance was cancelled. So now they have medical bills... and everything else to worry about. She wants to find a better job but only has her GED. I think that I feel for her so much because she is the kind of person I want to be working with when I get out of college. I want to be able to point her to the resources that will best fit her needs and get her into a life that isn't so stressful. She is worn out. I just have been praying for her and her family.

Other than working, I have been missing Johnathan. Him and 2 others went on an 11 day hike on the Appalachian Trail. They get back next Thursday. Summer has been relaxing and a good time to realize all life is meant to be enjoyed not stressed and rushed through.

As for Blue Like Jazz:
Quotes that stuck out to me:

"If he can sink a man's mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God." This went right along with how I have been thinking about our time and how we waste it on things that we shouldn't be.

"I realized I had set the happiness of my mother beyond my own material desires."

"If you don't love somebody, it gets annoying when they tell you what to do or what to feel, when you love them you get pleasure from their pleasure, and it makes it easy to serve." So true.

Then the whole section in chapter two that talked about how we don't need to look at the world to know that it's bad because we can look at ourselves. I keep thinking about this. It's too true. Like when people say that you cannot love someone until you love yourself. Also, don't date until you know yourself. Knowing who you are, being able to reflect on your character, self awareness is so important. How can you help others when you can't even help yourself, or at least ask for help? In a devotional that I read the other day it spoke of how we see creation as beautiful even when it has it's faults. For instance, the writer said she was admiring hummingbirds and thought how much she loved them, then the hummingbirds began to fight and she got angry.. but then she still loves them despite them. What I think of is a sunset or sunrise. Both are beautiful, but the sun is the main subject in this scene. There are times I hate the sun, I hate to sweat and it makes me sweat. Yet, I will always what the sun at the same time. But the main point of the writers' devotional was that how can we still love these creatures of the earth and nature, despite their negative aspects that sometimes we hate. God created all of those things, yet God created us all in his image, but we don't look past the faults of our enemies or those who cross us. Everyone has a beautiful side, why don't we look past the "bad" or "annoying" things to be able to experience that side of them? So many times people aren't given a chance because of an appearance or their history.

Well I wrote way more than I anticipated. Oops. Sorry for the long read.