Day 16 and 17 Gardening and Good Food!

Day 16: On Monday, I had intended on planting some flowers in the garden for momma, but she wasn't sure where she wanted them and had already began to weed in the front yard. I went out there to help and we got a little more than half of it done but then it started getting hot so we stopped.

 

I also trimmed the holly bush up so it didn't look all scraggly.

Yesterday for day 17, I decided to buy dinner for the fam and get our usual taco tuesday deal from a bomb place called Taco Ready. If you're local to the Covina area, check it out. It's on San Bernardino, just west of Barranca. Really great Mexican food!

Today is Day 18 and I plan on writing a letter or two(or three!) to people who have impacted my life. I can't wait to do this!

And there are only three days left! I'll be baking cookies for the mailman, sewing a case for momma's new glasses, and volunteering at the banquet before the Covina Christmas Parade!


I hope these posts have inspired you to do some good in your own communitites. That's really what this is all about. Not just me serving people around me, but inspiring others to join in and do their part too.
Love to you all!
Kris

Day 15 Delightful Dinner

No I didn't forget day 14... I just didn't do anything. Woops! I plan on doing an extra something in the next few days to make up for it...

But today, I made a special dinner for my family! I looked around on Pinterest for some tasty recipes and ended up making chicken and lemon garlic green beans and potatoes. It was pretty good but left a funny after taste in my mouth. My fam seemed to like it though, because it was all gone!

The table set all nicee...

 Chicken! Green beans are underneath.

Strawberry jello parfaits! These were also delicious but mine didn't come out as pretty as the ones on pinterest... O well! haha

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed making dinner and getting everything all special. I will definitely be using my new Pinterest account to the advantage of my family :P

Love to you all!
Only six days left!

Day 12 and 13

On Thanksgiving, I made pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies with the intention of going to one of the stores having a black friday sale and passing them out to the people waiting in line. Well after going to four different stores... we were out of luck! I guess the stores just stayed open the whole time? And there wasn't any real waiting in lines? Lame. Black Friday is taking over Thanksgiving :(

 

 

Anyway, our attempt failed, but I decided to take those cookies and deliver them the next day to the Covina Police Dept. I don't have a pic of this but I'm sure they were grateful to have a yummy snack!

Day 12-sorta fail. Day 13 success!

Only a week left of 21 Days of Kindness!!

Love to you.

Day 10 and 11 Cookies and Change

Yesterday, I baked chocolate chip cookies for a friend who just had surgery and his family. I then delievered them to his house that night where I am pretty sure they all enjoyed them :)

 

Today for Day 11, I stole an idea from another birthday acts of kindness blog and decided to put some change on a vending machine for the next person who came along.

 

 Sorta hard to tell in the picture but it's a machine that fills up those five gallon water jugs.

 

Hopefully someone is touched by a stranger's kindness and that they get to fill up their bottle for free!

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Day 9 Give Life

Today Dad and I donated blood to the Red Cross! After trying in high school(they ran out of supplies), getting tattoos, and leaving the country, I was finally able to do it! I was a little nervous but everything went great.

 

Of course my camera died when we got there, so all I have are some bad cell phone pics.

 



This is my arm if you can even tell 

Finishing up

 

Dad and I chillin and eating snacks after we got it done!

If you haven't done it, you should seriously consider donating blood. It's super easy and pretty much painless. If you're healthy, look for a blood drive near you and go do it!

Days 6, 7, 8 Helpful Hands

I've been a horrible blogger the last few days. Sorry guys! The past couple days have been pretty chill acts of kindness that aren't really out of the ordinary but I have to trust that they were helpful. Day 6(Fri) my sister and I helped my parents set up church for the annual Thanksgiving Breakfast. We have to undo all the rows of chairs, set up tables, and put all the chairs around them and decorate each table. Luckily we had a sweet lady named Dori who did all the cute decorations. Awesome!

 

All set!

 

Day 7 I made coffee cake for the Thanksgiving breakfast. Something that was simple but allowed my mom to use the time for something else.

 

I used the crappy camera... but it sure did taste good!

 

Day 8 was sort of a failure. Sorry to let everyone down(more like myself...haha). I didn't have anything planned, and then it escaped me throughout the day. So I didn't exactly do something worth writing about. I did help clean up at church after the breakfast which was helpful and kind I suppose.

Blog about today (Day 9) coming soon!

Day 5 Pick up Your Trash!

Today my lovely sister and mother helped me out with picking up the trash in the alley behind our house. We walk by it often on our way to the store and I thought it would be a good thing to add to our list.

Workers, truckers, and random people take breaks back there and often leave their trash behind. It's also a place that is frequented by homeless people. We had our work cut out for us!

 

After getting about halfway down the alley, we all got holes in our gloves and decided to stop for sanitary reasons... The other half is still littered with trash so we might go back another day(after we get more gloves) and finish that. But what we did today, more or less filled up two large trash bags! Yes!

If you're just now joining this blog, read about 21 Days of Kindness here.

Day 4 Flyers for Food

Every year my church collects food for needy families so that they are able to have a nice Thanksgiving meal. Part of this requires volunteers to go to grocery stores, hand out flyers, and collect the donated food. That's what we did today for Day 4! 

 

 Alex and I joined Mary and John for two hours handing out flyers to Stater Bros customers. (I took a picture with John but it didn't get saved on my phone!)

Some people ignored us, others turned us down, but what we really liked, was when someone came to us holding a bag of food, smiling, saying "I hope this helps". Random strangers, little did you know, (and little did I realize until right now) that you were all involved in Day 4 of the 21 Days. I came to the grocery store expecting to help serve the church and also indirectly, the needy families, but what I realized is that I was also a witness to thirty or so acts of kindness today. Pretty cool. I'm glad you were all a part. Oh and shout out to my mom who came to the store just to buy and donate groceries! You rock momma!

Today was a success(in our two hour shift, four baskets were filled with items which were taken back to the church) and I got so much joy out of smiling and asking for others to help participate. Even more so when many of those same people came back with giving hands full of food.

Blessings and joy to you,
Kris

Day 3 Notes in Books

Today, Bre and I went to the library and left encouraging notes in a bunch of different books. She chose to write notes specifically to the readers of some of her favorite books while I just wrote simple encouraging things and placed them in random books that caught my eye.

 

 Which book has a special note?

We'll never know who or when someone will stumble upon our notes but I'm sure each one will get at least a smile from someone, knowing that somebody somehwhere decided to show some love one day.

 

Happy reading!

Day 2 Reaching the Nations

Today my family went to Foursquare Missions Press to give a little bit of our time to put together materials that go out with missionaries to countries all over the world. Mom and I worked on making gospel bracelets most of the time, while Bre, Dad, and Alex punched out pictures from Bible stories that will be used to teach kids about Jesus!

 

These bracelets are taken all over the world to help tell the gospel message in a simple way(We made 100!). Yellow for God's goodness and light. Black for sin and the fall of mankind. Red for Jesus' death on the cross for our sins. White for the "cleansing" that takes place once we accept Jesus. And green for the growth that occurs in our lives as we grow closer to the Lord. (Rough idea of what the colors mean)

 

The next two pictures are the gospel bracelets in action! These are two photos I took while in Kenya in May 2011. Our team brought supplies from Missions Press and the bracelets were just one thing we used to share the gospel.

I know firsthand that God will use the bracelets we made today to reach 100 more people!

 Bre, Dad, and Alex punched out eight sets of 13 weeks of curriculum that will also be sent into the mission field!

 

Day 2 of kindness was not only spent helping out the community by lending helpful hands, but also by bringing more light(Jesus!) into the dark places of the world.


Love.

Day 1 Take What You Need

For the first day of 21 Days of Kindness, I made "Take What You Need" signs. They all have little tear offs that say things like love, motivation, beauty, strength, etc. Last night, my sister Colie and I put up a few signs around the neighborhood. We put them at parks, a pole in grocery store parking lot, public restroom stalls, etc, etc.

 

 It was really windy and quite cold! We were always sent hurrying to the warm car to get out of the elements. I love fall!

 

We're hoping that nobody takes them down, but instead chooses to see the love and spread of kindness.

What do you need today? Encouragement? Motivation? Hope? Inspiration?

Take it.
It's yours.



Love to you all, Kris

21 Days of Kindness

Today, I begin a three week period of showing kindness every day. Whether that be writing people encouraging notes, volunteering, or picking up trash, it's happening. I am spending these next 21 days leading up to my 21st birthday as a sort of celebration and "give back" to the world/community. Why not use my own life to bring happiness and kindness to someone?

Although I have designated only twenty-one days to do this, I hope it gets into my head that I should always be looking for ways to serve the people around me. As a follower of Christ, I am called to love. Showing people kindness is an easy way to do that. I'm hoping that as I enter this dedicated time, that my heart will be transformed and humbled as I learn what it's like to give freely of myself. Even after I turn the age so many look forward to, I pray that my life will be transformed by these three weeks, and it will be a reflection of what my 21st year will look like.

I'm hoping to post frequently, if not daily, with pictures, stories and experiences.
Blog about Day 1 to come soon!

Four

Four things I've learned today:

1. Stop relying solely on humans, they might not always be available
2. A tiny(or not so tiny) blessing can brighten any day, making me realize that my "mood" isn't all that bad anyway, so knock it off Kris.
3. God answers prayers (no brainer, but evidence of it today)
4. God uses others to help you grow and pursue greater things

Numero uno: As the fall semester starts to wrap up, most students are getting swamped with homework, finding it hard to have social lives, becoming stressed, and starting to count down the days until Christmas break. To some degree, this includes my boyfriend. As much as I know without a doubt that he will always be there for me, I realized today that I have to accept that sometimes, he can't be. And that's perfectly ok (so don't feel bad hun). He is crazy busy with school and I have to learn to accept that I can't take up all his time, complaining about why I think my life sucks right now. Life gets busy sometimes and other times, it is so devoid of busyness that it's monotonous and mundane. (I'm in the latter category unfortunately) All that said, today I learned that human beings can't always be there for me. Which causes me to state something that should be obvious to all believers, but we don't truly get it until we experience it, or forget about it and have to re-experience it later. God is the ONLY being that will ALWAYS be there. Why do I forget this? And why do I constantly look to others for validation, advice, praise, etc, etc? Because I forget who matters most and that my heavenly father wants that precious time with me that I probably too often give to others. Lord help me remember that.

Two: Blessings... It is such a great feeling to receive blessing. Seriously. And I know there are little things throughout my days that I should see as blessings, but honestly it feels about time that I received a big blessing. I hope that's not terribly wrong of me to say. But I've been praying and asking God for lots of things for a while and hoping that he would be gracious and grant these requests, and I feel like I haven't heard or seen much. But today I was blessed financially by my parents and, the body of Christ, and a stranger who kindly kept my outstanding bill from going to collections. Thank you Lord! That's all great, but what gets me, is how in receiving a bundle of cash to go towards my bill from my loved ones, my mood instantly brightened. I was almost brought to tears, and the gloomy feelings from the blah day disappeared. Really? I feel like there is something wrong there. Not that a wad of cash brightened my day. But that my day was so easily brightened! How can I take this situation and apply it to every time I get upset with where I'm at? Is it that I need to get over the sour mood and look for good? As hard as it seems, it's apparently not that hard. Do I need to worship God even when I feel like laying in bed and doing nothing? Do I need to look for the good in each day? Yes, yes, yes. (I don't feel like I did a good enough job explaining why I was so perplexed about my instant mood change... Cuz I still don't understand it.)

Three: Like I hinted at in number two, God answers prayers! I've been praying about this horrendous bill I have to pay and had the fear of it being sent to a collection agency. Well today I was blessed with $610 towards my bill and an agreement not to be sent to collections as long as I keep paying what I can. This is a wonderful answer to prayer!

Four: In talking with Alex today, he encouraged me to pray for what I want in a job. Specifics, impacts I can make, environment, pay, future possibilities, etc. This thought has probably crossed my mind before, but this simple request pointed me towards God in my job search, and provided me a way to grow my faith and prayer life. I truly believe that if I write these things down and pray for them, that God will answer me and prepare a job that has each thing I am looking for. It's so simple, but God can use another person to make us realize that we need to take a certain action. I'm grateful for a man that encourages me towards kingdom things and wants to see me get a job where I am happy and where God is using me. It is encouraging to see God use things other than our time together to speak into my life. God's direction and all of his speaking will not always come directly from him to me in my devotional time. It will sometimes come from those around me that love me, from strangers, books, and music. I can't forget this and can't get caught up in the ritual and routine of my daily life. I must seek out the things he is softly speaking to me through others' actions and through my own feelings towards things.


Blessings.
Hope somebody learned something from what I learned today.
Love to you all.

God Is the Strength of My Heart

The last few days have been intense. Extremely intense. And it’s moments like these where I am forced to make a decision. Do I attempt to pull myself together and stumble my way forward, blinded and alone? Or do I get down on my knees and ask for help from the only one who sees everything going on?

There has been a very real spiritual battle over me this weekend(I'll get into that later). I know why too. A few weeks ago, I felt called to ask for prayer requests of people in the young adults group (foolishly, I didn’t at the time), then felt like I wanted to set aside half an hour each day for intercessory prayer. Then it was confirmed by someone from church that Alex and I should be praying for the group together. That we should intercede on behalf of the group. Then on Thursday, while I was dogsitting I watched a few different sermons, messages, and worshippy things on TV. One happened to be a live prayer and prophetic conference at IHOP in Kansas City. The speaker taught about the prophetess Anna in Luke 2:36-38.  He pointed out that not only was she a prophetess, but also an intercessor (v37) as she worshiped day and night, with fasting and praying. He continued on saying that she was also an evangelizer, for she told people about Jesus(v38). He believed that there were people who were called to be Anna’s. That those people are called to be “intercessory missionaries”. Each of the three: prophecy, intercession, and evangelizing work together to make an intercessory missionary. Prophecy is used to give direction to the intercession and because of the intercession, evangelizing takes place(He explained it much better).  Intercessory missionaries are people that would be reaching the nations, but through intercession. These people would day and night, choose to worship the Lord, with fasting and praying. Their prayers would begin to change the lives of the people around them. He prayed over the crowd and also those watching on TV that intercessory missionaries would rise up. That they would be called and God would anoint them. I asked the Lord for this. I felt like it was an extension of everything that has been happening the last few weeks. All this intercession and prayer talk. I felt like this was just a natural progression with everything that had been occurring. And so I share with you in faith, that God has anointed me to be an intercessory missionary. What a wondrous thing to know a call that God has put on your life and to know that he will use that in great ways to further his kingdom. But just as Jesus was tempted and tried by the devil before he began his public ministry, so too will we be tempted when we start making progress for/in God's kingdom. And I think that’s where this weekend comes in(sorry that took a while haha). All weekend long, I had been wracked with thoughts, exhausted and overwhelmed by emotions and feelings, and plagued by lies of the enemy that would have me fail. I’ve been eating less, sleeping more, but looking like I stayed up all night. It’s been hard but I gotta keep on moving forward and making progress. There’s the slightest part in me that wants to say that I failed yesterday. But I must look at the good, not the bad. Look at what was accomplished, what was saved, not at what I gave in to momentarily. I battled with a demon of depression yesterday. I haven’t had a problem with this in quite some time, and yesterday it came on me seemingly out of nowhere.  I struggled. For a little while, it seemed like I would fail. But through prayer and the dedication of a loved one, I had the victory! I am so glad that I did. It’s taught me something. It showed me, that that crap can come out of nowhere. That I must always be on guard. And that if I’m not spending time with the Lord, it’s going to be that much easier for me to fall. If I’m not in the Word, and I don’t know the truth of the word, how will I know when the enemy is speaking lies to me? That is exactly what happened yesterday. The enemy was speaking lies in my head and the scary thing is, I knew it. I was completely aware of it, and I listened. It breaks my heart now, knowing that I didn’t stand up, but I know that God still loves me and he will always give me the strength if I ask him. I must cling to him always. Through the trials, suffering, and pain, he is my only hope.

All our troubles
And all our tears
God our hope
He has overcome

All our failure
And all our fear
God our love
He has overcome

All our heartache
And all our pain
God our healer
He has overcome

All our troubles
And all our tears
God our hope
He has overcome

God our refuge
God our strength
God is with us
He has overcome

Some powerful lyrics from Hillsong United’s Aftermath album. Really really good.

All this to say, that God is working in me. It’s intense, and I’ve been attacked and I know it’s not going to end there. Pray for me. I need it. Pray that I don’t lose sight of my hope, Jesus. Pray that I hold fast to 2 Corinthians 4: 16 and 17 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” And also to James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Pray that I continue to stand strong, but also not to be discouraged when things are tough. Pray that I will seek him in everything. And finally, pray that I may know and remember that the God of peace has equipped me with everything good for doing his will(Heb 13:20,21). If I'm ever in a hard situation, I must not forget that he has already given me the tools to move through it. What a great God! He is loving and merciful and worthy of all praise.

"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name."(!) Psalm 103:1

 

Writing My Story

Donald Miller never ceases to amaze me. I want to get his new book.

Read his newest blog here: How I Use MySubplot


Then go here and read about my own "life" stories that I am writing: MyStories (more to come later)


Finally, go make your own.



Love.

Inactivity Leads to Atrophy

There are a few things that I enjoy doing and have a desire(sorta) to do but for some reason, haven't been able to bring myself to actually do it. Whether that is working on a painting that's been sitting around forever, writing a new poem or finishing an old one, or reading a book I've been wanting to read forever. I sorta want to do it but don't. I sorta want to read a whole book of the Bible and study it, but I don't. I sorta want to write out certain experiences and the feelings behind them, but I don't. Why?? Why????? I keep asking myself that. But I don't actually do any of it. I sorta just sit around thinking about doing it. "That's lame!" (She's the Man quote...haha) And well... I picked up a book today that I have yet to read all the way through, but I browse through it every once in a while.

Joyce Meyer's "Battlefield of the Mind". A few things stuck out to me as I read.

"When a believer is inactive in any area in which he has capability or talent, that particular area begins to atrophy or become immobilized. The longer he does nothing, the less he wants to do anything."
^^true story. I've gotten this way with lots of things(as stated above). It's annoying. I just dont really want to do anything... But that is because I have been inactive. Meyer uses the example of exercise to further her point. When you have been inactive in working out, you no longer have the desire to do it. It seems hard, not worth it, etc. when you are starting out. But once you become active it gets easier and more enjoyable.

"If you desire victory over your problems, you must have backbone and not just wishbone! You must be active--not passive."
^^loved this! Backbone and not wishbone. Active not passive. So I grew a backbone today, and I painted. I didn't exactly want to. I didn't exactly know what to paint. But I decided to put that aside and do it because I know I love it. And I am happier :) haha

One more:
"You will not change your behavior until you change your thoughts."
and Romans 8:6 says
"The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace."

Good things to think about...

That's all.

Love to you.

Words

Has not everything already been written by someone?

Have not the tales of love and disaster been penned by some stranger’s hand?

Have not the births and new beginnings been created from one person’s heart?

Have not the same adventures and dramas been expressed with ink and paper?

So what do I have to share? What can I say when I write that is so different from everything that is already out there?

That is the question I ask but know not the answer to. I wish to write and create something beautiful. Create a gathering of words that was not there before but now says something so poignant and distinct that it is one of a kind. But I know not what to write about. The desire and feelings are there, but not the words. What a terrible pity.

Connected Stories

As I am about a quarter of the way through the third book I've read in less than a week, I've come to a strange realization. If the author is a good one, he or she will create a new world in which these characters live and breathe and go about their lives, and we, the readers, are able to see this place in our mind's eye. We journey along with each character as they experience loss, love, family troubles, and whatever else befalls them. Now think about the last book you read, or maybe one you are reading right now. Do you ever find yourself connecting bits of the story with your own life? Do you ever imagine that the mother in the story is walking her dog around your neighborhood? Or that the scene of the pool party is happening in your backyard?

Maybe it's just me, but when I read books, I do this. It doesn't matter how good the author is at creating a new setting that I have never experienced. I always find a way to connect it to something I have. And what I find interesting, is that most of the time, I do not imagine things from places I am experiencing in the present. Most often, I imagine the old houses we used to live in. Or a friend's house. Or someplace I visited once. Or neighborhoods that I do not live in. I'm not even sure if this makes any sense, but it's just funny. By the end of the book, these made up characters have moved from my cousin's house in the suburbs to the house I used to live in in a quiet neighborhood, and go on vacation to a place I once visited. How weird. Does anyone else do this? Am I crazy? Either way, I think I like it. It makes me wonder about the brain and why and how it does the things it does. How it connects certain words or phrases to places we have been. Maybe it's a subconscious way that we are looking to connect with the story. If we can just bring it into our own world, our own homes, our own families, then we can more easily connect, understand, and perhaps empathize with what is going on.

White

Your love washes over me
Making me white as snow
You see only clean, pure, white
I am yours and yours alone.

Fall Food

We had a WONDERFUL dinner tonight. Pot roast. Yum. We put out a new table cloth(just a few bucks at a thrift store!) and used the china. 

 

Sooo yummmy!!

Fresh apple cider from Oak Glen!

After dinner Bre decided to make apple crisp with some of the apples we picked yesterday.

So pretty!

 Before putting the dessert in the oven, we decided to go to the parking garage to watch the sunset. It was lovelyy!

It sure has been a wonderful weekend. I am ready for fall. Even more so, I am ready for it to stop being 100 degrees and get cool! Pull out my scarves and boots. I can't wait.

Autumn Apples

The last two days have been FULL of autumny type things. Yay!

Yesterday, Mom, Dad, Bre and I headed to Oak Glen for a day. This is something we try to do every year in the fall. Normally we go in October for the pumpkins but we decided that we should go early and pick some apples! If you've never been and you like country things and picking fresh fruit, you should visit!!

The day started out with blue skies and beautiful clouds

 We stopped for lunch at the old school house. Bre collected acorns for crafty type things while the rest of us enjoyed the shade and took pictures.

The storm was coming... hence windblown hair haha

We've never seen this sign before so we had to get a picture with it.
Perhaps it will become a new tradition!

 After a long day getting in and out of the car at all the different places along the mountain, we finally picked apples! We picked spartan and gala apples.

 

 I ate one right from the tree and it was delicious. And warm. Sorta a cool thing, eating a freshly picked apple that was still warm from the sun.

After stopping at another place to use the restroom, it began to rain! And thunder and lightning!

Normally I enjoy thunderstorms, but I was scared... You're so much closer to it all when you're up on a mountain.... but the rain was lovely.

It was a long day but enjoyable with fun memories. Fall is here!

More pics of this evening to come soon!