A lesson on priorities

"A meteorology professor stood before his Meteorology 101 class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty glass mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fil...l it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a jar of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open spaces between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar and of course the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous yes. The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and then proceeded to pour the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the grains of sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things -- your family, your partner, your health, your children, your friends, your favorite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. "The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. Play another 18. "There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."

Dont judge me because I sin differently from you!

Why do we cast so much judgement? Even worse why do we chose to judge so quickly? I pondered this as I lay on the beach today. Thats always where I do the most thinking! I began to think about one of my newer friendships. If you would have asked me a month ago how I felt about this particular woman, I would have given you a mouthful of reasons why I dislike her. One of them? Her appearance. How immature am I?! But after this weekend, and esspecially today, I would tell you that a month from now, we will probably be close friends! Its crazy what can happen when we chose to ignore the judgement we cast and get to know them before we decide if we dont like them. I regret judging, and im glad im choosing to change all that (:Many Blessings,
Cedes

Every day is a page in your book, so get to writting!

We dont embrace our moments near enough. We take for granted the idea that we will have tomorrow, when we arent even promised it! We push things off, we dont tell the people close to us how much we love them, we dont reach out to the broken, we dont do the things that we dream. Think about the person closest to you. Now imagine waking up tomorrow and finding out that they were gone, forever. What was the last thing you said to them? Do you go to bed angry, upset, arguing with them? When was the last time you told them that you love them? Hugged them? Told them that you were there for them no matter what? Think about it.
This weekend has been a serving eye opener. I spent a great majority of friday helping prepare for an easter egg hunt. I went to Chilis with a group of people and we were able to invite our waitress and her little ones. She even came to church today. That alone was enough to make the countless hours of hard work and the thousands of eggs I hand stuffed so worth it! Are you loving people around you? Ive truly been shown what happens when you reach out to others, even when youdo not know them!
Every day, write your story. Make eachday worth living. And always, always tell those you love how much they mean to you!
Always,
Mercedes

Empowerment

This week I've definately been on an empowerment streak. I'm discouraged by the fact that despite living in the 21st century, people still limit me. A statisitc was shared with me on wednesday. It was that men do significantly better than women in math and science. As a math major, I find that a disturbing fact. It has alot to do with stereotyping. Despute the time period I live in, women are still viewed as less. Its hard to teach my young girls that they can be anything they want to be, when they are exposed to a society that tells them women are always less succesful. Does that disturb anyone else? Im glad to see pbs shows, like Sid the Science Kid, promoting womens abilities. Today I went to turn the tv off, but changed my mind. Ive alwayys liked Sid the Science Kid for educational purposes, and figured it wouldnt harm the girls to let them watch 20 more minutes of tv. I was surely not dissapointed when I realized the episode was all about Women Scientists, and how girls can be anything they want to be. The girls loved it, and have been talking ever since about what kind of scientist they want to be when they grow up! I still find it awful to be under a stereotype viewed as lesser, but i'm glad that there is starting to be a change in some direction. Girls can do anything. If we were unleashed to our full potential, we could be the most powerful force in the world!

Life lessons from a toddler

Today I could hear God loud in clear, not through the Bible or Music, but through my toddlers!! I learned 2 very important lessons from 2 very sweet toddlers. My first one came through my two year old (my little ninja as I call him). Little Ninja is very active. He never stops moving, I mean never. And you can turn your back for less than 30 seconds, and he will be creating some sort of trouble. He is for sure a tornado of mass destruction! One of his favorite things to do is jump off of things. This is where the first lesson  comes into play. It was a very good reminder of an illastration many preachers use. As I stood in his room, little ninja climbed up the ladder to the top bunk (which is his older brothers bed). He proceeded to stare down at me in wonder. And thats when I knew he was going to jump. So I reached my arms up, and sure enough he lept into them. I gurantee you, that despite him being his rambuncous self, he would not have jumped if no one was there to catch him. He repeated this jump probably ten times before I had to go tend to the other kids, but all the while I ponderded his trust. Little Ninja made that jump out of trust. He trusted that I catch him and not let him hit the ground or get hurt. So many times we are like that with God. We are standing on the edge of the top bunk, wanting to jump, and God is standing there sayong "I will catch you."
The second lesson came from my 1 and1/2 year old, little monkey. Now little monkey is very attached. He absolutly loves to be held, and if he isnt being held, hes climbing on you trying to get you to hold him. Now little monkey has been walking for a signifigant amount of time, and he does not need to be held all the time. I have two other children to care for, and a hip baby adds an unnecesary amount of struggle. When I put little monkey down, he proceeds to throw himself onto the ground and scream as loud as he can. He kicks his feet, screams and wales all the while holding his arms up as if to say "PICK ME UP". How often do we do this with God? We dont get What we want When we want it, so we throw a tantrum, when God may be saying, give me a minute. See the thing with little monkey is, once he has quit his tantrum, and I have finished with what Im doing, I will pick him up again. All to often if we just quit our tantrum and listen, God will be through preparing what needs to be prepared, and He will give us the desires of our heart.

God Bless,
Mercedes

Find your sunshine in the midst of the rain.

It has been raining all day here outside. Ive also felt like its been storming on the inside of me this week. Life gets a little bit crazy sometimes, and its hard to tell whats up from whats down. The hardest thing for me is controlling my emotions. Alot easier said than done. If you didnt already know this I am in the middle of starting a non profit to fight human trafficking. I have a great team behind me, dont get me wrong, I just often feel alone and overwhelmed in this journey. As if being an 18 year old working college kid wasnt hard enough, Ive added  the adult stress of running a corparation. We havent even launched yet, and I can already hear the devil in the back of my mind going "Just give up already!" Looking at all the paperwork makes me break down, and looking at what its gonna cost me makes me want to cry. So I guess I can say what I am struggling with the most is TRUST. Thats no big suprise for people who know about my past. How does a teenager with so much hurt, learn to trust again? GOD. How does someone go from wanting to die because they feel worthless, to wanting to change the world because they feel empowered? GOD. Its the easy answer. But what do you do when you struggle to trust God with what He is doing? How do you make yourself believe that he has the power to make the dream He put inside you come true? It takes alot of work. One day Im going to change the world through the power of God, and there is no better dream than that.

Jesus didnt tell us to judge, he told us to love!

"Jesus, friend of sinners, we have strayed so far away
We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing
Jesus, friend of sinners, the truth's become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You but they're tripping over me
Always looking around but never looking up I'm so double minded
A plank eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks yours"

This song is on the new Casting Crowns cd. Ive had it on repeat for the past 3 days. It still gets to me every time. Im guilty of it, and so are you. We find it so easy to judge a sinner, but we cant judge ourselves. Ive become outraged by the number of people I see judging others. Particularly, Ive had to block many people on facebook, because they made me want to break the computer I was getting so mad. We as Christians were commanded to love others, especially sinners. No where does it say to go out and judge! (and on a side note, Christians should also vote and pray for their elected leaders, Thank you much!) It breaks my heart when a friend who isnt a believer tells me they dont want anything to do with Christianity because theyve been judged by a Christian! Judgement is never your call, leave that to God! See a need and meet it, dont judge the person who needs it!

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