Hannah's Heartstrings

To my future children, and the currently growing up generation of kids and teenagers,

Welcome.

You are taking your first steps into the world of adulthood, where you will ultimately spend most of your life, if you live long enough. It can be scary here. There are huge responsibilities, bills that are due, people that are mean and don’t care about you, a government that desires to drain the life out of you, super early mornings, and no excuses. You will probably hate it some days, but I can bet not as much as you think you hate your childhood and teenage years.

Childhood is fun. There are so many things you can get away with as a kid that you can’t as an adult. You have fewer responsibilities, more imagination, and the chance to make a really good start in life. You have friends to play with, all your basic necessities like food and clothing just appear, you don’t have to worry about money, and you have no idea that your parents are bending over backwards to give you a good life.

But sometimes all you can think about is that fact that your parents won’t get off your back. They never leave you alone, always wonder what you’re doing, who you’re with, where you’re going, what your grades are like, why you didn’t take out the trash, and making rules you just can’t help but groan about. Can’t they ever just give you a break?

Here is a little message from someone who has been-there-done-that: I hope they don’t.


I hope you remember your childhood and teen years as the most awkward, uncomfortable stage of your life.

I hope your parents are seemingly on you about *everything*, and make you earn your spot in the land of maturity and responsibility.

I hope you know the feeling of wanting to crawl in a hole because your mom embarrasses you in front your friends.

I hope your parents don’t give you the iPod you asked for, and instead make you go outside and play in the dirt like a normal, healthy ten-year-old should.

I hope you get a package of underwear for Christmas, and blush seven different shades of red  when you open it.

I hope your mom takes pictures of you running through the house as a naked toddler, and of the first time you pooped in the toilet while being potty trained. And then shows them to prospective love interests.

I hope your dad calls you out of  group of friends to admonish you about something you are doing, and then makes you sit on the sidelines or, even worse, go tell your friends you aren’t allowed to participate in said activity.

I hope you get spanked.

I hope your parents make you wait till certain ages/milestones to do certain things. Like, you can do this when you are this age or reach this goal. You can have a phone when you have a job. You can go out with your friends when you have a car that you pay for. You can date when you’re a hundred.

I hope that, when your mom or dad sit down to talk to you about relationships, sex and your changing body, you squirm and blush and pray for it to be over soon, but I also hope you take a second to realize that they are as uncomfortable as you are.

I hope you are nervous about the way you look, nervous about your first day of school or work, nervous about talking to your crush, nervous about an important test, nervous about telling your parents something important to you. I hope your heart pounds in your ears and that you break out into a cold sweat. I hope that you stayed up late the night before thinking. I hope you know what that’s like.

I hope someone teases you. Like, really makes fun of you, because that will give you chance like no other to learn the meaning of grace and forgiveness.

I hope your parents instill in you a love of books. Real books. Not Kindles or ebooks. Not even audio books.  Real paper books. I hope they take you to the library and let you check out a couple dozen and that you finish them before they are due back.

I hope you have to eat things you don’t like, and are made to do every menial household task possible. I hope your chores include cleaning toilets, doing laundry, mopping floors, dusting and vacuuming, mowing the yard, pulling weeds and babysitting your younger siblings. And what’s more, I hope there are consequences for neglecting those chores…ones that you really hate.

I hope you have to sit through parental lectures that you will never appreciate until you get older. I hope you sit there, just slightly angry, not wanting to listen but paying attention enough to answer questions if needed. I hope you are hugged and sent to your room after, and that you sit there in the quiet thinking about every word.

I hope your parents make you do awkward things that absolutely kill you, like say hello to people, shake the hand of an adult, apologize to people of all ages when you do something wrong, answer questions when you are asked. I hope they teach you how to hold up a conversation with anyone, and how to be polite.

I hope you have disappointments and learn how to deal with them. I hope that the party you were looking forward to gets canceled because someone gets sick, and that your family has to leave your favorite restaurant because your little brother is misbehaving.

I hope you are forced to make do with what you have even when your friends seem to have everything. I  hope  you know what its like to have a limited amount of money and I really hope you learn to appreciate hand-me-down clothing.

I hope you have lots of uncomfortable moments, because those are what shape you.

Life is hard. People are mean. You will be hurt, disappointed, let down, broken hearted, disrespected, misunderstood, shamed and hated, especially if you live a life drenched in God’s Word and glorifying to Him.

We can’t grow up in a world where everything is fine and goes our way only to enter an adult world where it doesn’t. We have to learn that we can’t just pitch a fit and turn up the drama when life hits us hard. Those awkward, uncomfortable moments are what will ultimately teach you patience, contentment and grace. You won’t understand it until you get older, and until you are able to see your younger years from an outside point of view. Everything looks miserable when you are smack dab in the middle of it,  but take a look from another perspective and you can see how good it really is. Or maybe it isn’t good, but somehow, its useful. You can use it somewhere in your life. If nothing else, you will learn how to avoid uncomfortable situations in the future…or at least get out of them gracefully!

So yes, my wish for you in life is that you are given such opportunities. Wishing that life will be easy and comfortable for you is the most unrealistic thing ever. And besides, that wouldn’t be fair to every other person in the world that has ever made it to adulthood.


{Yes, those are pictures of my childhood. :) }

Ok. So, I am very much a tightwad, so things like yard sales and thrift stores absolutely thrill me. I mean, where else can you find such treasure for such amazing prices? Its like Christmas for adults!

I’ve learned a lot of tricks for maximizing yard sale potential over the past few years. My mom and I have developed quite the extensive theory about the best yard sale hunting. We amused my in-laws one day by going through our whole process, which made for quite the interesting conversation.

I realize that yard sale season will be over soon, and there aren’t too many really good weeks left for it. But this is pretty good information and I’m excited to share it with you!

Now, you may be thinking, “What’s so in depth about yard sale?” Its not really that it in depth. But there are just some things to make the whole buying and selling experience better.

So here goes.

Sellers

-Advertise well. Put your signs up for several miles in various directions, pointing from major roads and with clear direction to where your sale is. The further out and more well advertised your sale is, the more likely I am to show up. Don’t be afraid to use Craigslist to get the word out too. Most of the best sales I’ve found have been because of Craigslist. Good advertising makes me believe that you have something worth me coming to look at.

-Price your items! This is crucial. If I go to a sale and nothing has prices on it, I’ll leave. The worst thing you can say to me is “Nothing has prices, so just make me an offer.” Uh-uh, you don’t want me to do that. Cause you apparently think your stuff is priceless (pun intended), and all I see is junk. I’ll make you an offer, but you likely will be offended. Unless I see some thing really amazing that I really want, I won’t suggest a price cause its just not worth it to me.
So get some stickers or pieces of masking tape and think up some prices. If you have big ticket items, be open to negotiation. But at least give your customers something to work with.

-Price reasonably. I’ve been known to turn around and leave sales that are priced ridiculously. Take into consideration that your stuff is second hand, and unless you are selling brand spanking new stuff, don’t expect to make a huge profit.
Clothing is the biggest one. T-shirts and tank tops should be $.25-50, no higher than $.75 for ones in top condition. Button-up tops, skirts, dresses and jeans in excellent condition should be no more than $1, but if they are new with tags, no more than $3.
VHS tapes, books, cassettes, coloring books, notebooks, and toys should be $.25 or under, and no more than $.50 for ones in excellent condition.
With other random household items, consider how much they have been used, how old they are, if they are out of date, missing pieces, dusty, smell bad or just look weird, and then price wisely. It does not matter to your customers who got it for you, how cool you think it is, if you think its an antique, or especially how much you paid for it. All they care about is the fact that its not new anymore, and whether or not they can get good use out of it.
Bedding, blankets, towels and pillows are tough, because I personally would never buy them second hand unless they were new with tags. So if you are brave enough to try selling your old ones, good luck. Just price them cheap.
Furniture. Eh, that’s a tough one. If you’re going to sell it, please make sure its in good condition. And don’t charge too much for it. Sure if its brand new, go ahead and try to get $50-60 for that loveseat or dresser. But if its old, faded, got scratches or just…old…please keep it more like $10-20 depending on the size of the item. And be open to negotiation.

It’s second hand, people.

-Don’t “sell”. You are not a sales person. I do not want to hear how great your item is. If its that great, I will buy it. Guilt tripping me is not going to work. If you talk to me too much, other than passing remarks about the weather, odds are I will leave without buying anything.
Even more important: DO NOT follow me around. If I want to look at it I will look at it, and I would prefer to do it without you hovering over me.

-Take your signs down! When you are done with your sale, BE DONE. don’t keep advertising a sale that ended last summer just cause you’re lazy. And for heaven’s sake…if you absolutely must leave them up after your sale is over, PLEASE put a date on your sign so I don’t go following your breadcrumb trail to a sale that doesn’t exist anymore.

Now. Buyers. Your turn!

-Be prepared. Especially if you are making this an all day thing. Bottle of water, a snack, and most importantly a map or GPS. Unless you know the area really well, you’ll find places a lot easier if you have a little help. Carry with you a decent amount of change and small bills. Odds are you will go to ten different sales and pay for $1 worth of stuff at each, rather than one sale and pay for $10 worth of stuff immediately.

-Go early. If you want to see everything, start as soon as you can.

-Go late. Things may be more picked over, but a lot of times, people are more willing to discount their stuff on the Saturday of their sale than on the Thursday or Friday. If they are doing a multiple day sale, by the time that last day rolls around, their attitude has likely changed from “I have wonderful things
! Come buy them all and pay me lots of money!” to “Ohmygoodness I don’t care just take it!!”

-The Art of the Drive-by. You don’t have to stop at every sale. Some of them you can know if they are good or not just by driving by. I tend to look for tables with piles of clothes, small pieces of furniture, shoes and books, and if I don’t see anything like that, I generally won’t stop.
Most of the time I won’t stop if the sale is inside a house, either, but that’s just personal preference. I really don’t like walking through some stranger’s home. I did break that rule just recently because their sale was really well advertised and inviting, and I managed to score a bookshelf out of it, so sometimes it is worth it.

-Working the area. This goes with the Art of the Drive-by. Not to sound prejudiced or anything, but the area that you shop determines the quality of the stuff. The best places to go are subdivisions or nicer suburban or semi rural areas. If their house and yard are well kept, then odds are their items are too. Once you get more into the city and the cost of living goes down, the quality of the sales greatly lessens.

-Have a plan…and deviate. If you plan on making a day of it, search Craigslist or your local newspaper for some sales in your area. Try to map it out so you make somewhat of a loop, and then hit the road! Above all don’t be afraid to deviate. If you are on your way to a sale and see a sign for another one on the side of the road, go for it!

-Enough is enough. As with any shopping trip, know when you are done. Whether its by having spent your allotted amount of money, or simply by being tired and hungry, stop when you’re done. Don’t get too tired or else you’ll end up hating the experience.


Forgive me if I sound completely insane. I had a lot of fun writing this. And honestly, everything about it is exactly what I do when I go on a yard sale hunt!

So whether buying or selling, I hope you enjoy your next yard sale adventure. And hey…if you ever need a hunting buddy, call me up!!

Its been a good month. Well, month and a half now that I’m getting to writing this. The wedding went beautifully, the honeymoon was so much fun, and the beginning of our life after has been full of relaxing and enjoying spending lots of time together. And I've learned a few significant things.

I guess I could better say that I've been slowly learning these things over the past 2+ years of knowing Kyle. But they have become especially significant since being around him 24/7 for extended periods of time. Its so true that things start to feel different once you’re with someone all the time. Its one thing to go on a date, or even spend a few days in each others’ presence. But its another thing to live side by side and do everything you would normally do on an average daily basis together. 

Therefore, these are the things that have been heavily on my mind during our first month of marriage.



Being married is all about your perspective. Perspective is huge. Its easy to be nice to someone when you have stars and hearts flying around your head. But keeping that attitude when that person isn't listening, is grumpy, or is just having a bad day...yeah, that's when the challenge comes.
I can't control how my husband treats me. I cannot coerce or dictate his level of romance. I am the only one I can control. It is not up to me to make sure he is loving me enough or being romantic enough to me. My only job is to make sure I am seeing to his needs, loving on him enough, doing above and beyond for him.
My attitude is crucial. How I react and behave is the crux of everything. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" said it best: "The man may be the head, but the woman is the neck and she can turn the head any way she likes." We women do not realize the power we possess.

For instance, if Kyle is playing a video game and I am bored and want him to spend time with me, I can do one of two things. 1) I can pout and act mad and whine that he isn't paying attention to me. Or... 2) I can take an interest in what he is doing, cuddle up next to him and watch him until he is done.  It's all my choice. Either be happy that he's there with me or whine and make myself miserable. After all, he's a guy and if there is nothing important to do at the moment, there's no reason why he shouldn't enjoy slaying  a few zombies. How I react totally determines the rest of our night.

Yes, obviously guys need to step up, be men, treat their wives beautifully, take care of us, and be our heroes. But not at our bidding. We are not to dictate their behavior towards us. We are only to focus on our behavior towards them and in doing so, invite and entice our knights in shining armor to play their part.

I've written before about applying grace. This falls along the same lines.



We don't have to be perfect. We don't have to have it all together. I don't need to stress out about little stupid things. In twenty years, I won't remember any of it anyways. Odds are, I won't remember that, a month after the wedding, we still didn't have our bed frame set up and there were still boxes of things that needed unpacked. I likely won't remember the amount of time I spent thinking about things I probably could have decided in a few minutes.

Odds are, I'll remember the little things I took advantage of. The way my wedding bouquet looked in that vase on the table. Getting into tickle fights and laughing so hard I could barely breathe. How excited we were the first few times I didn't have to leave the apartment at night to go back to his parents house, or when he could take me home from an event with him. Snuggling in front of a movie. The first bible conference we went together where we actually got to have our own room!! Those are the things I want to remember.

Things are probably going to get difficult. We aren't guaranteed an easy ride in life. All we can do is work hard, be faithful and kind to each other, deal in grace and make the best of every situation. This is our life and we choose how to live it. We have chosen, out of the millions of people on this planet, to spend our lives with each other. We could have picked other people. But no. I chose him and he chose me. We made our choices and now every day must live fulfilling the promises we made to each other.

It doesn't have to be hard. It goes back to that perspective thing. Your attitude is what makes things hard, for the most part. It may not be easy all the time. But it doesn't have to be miserable.

Oh Hello.

Its you.

I can tell you’re surprised to see me. You don’t say anything, barely a greeting, and quickly avert your eyes from mine. I would give you a hug, but I decide I probably shouldn't. You wouldn't like it.

I had hoped there would be a slight chance you’d be glad to see me. Just a glimmer, a smile, a sparkle in your eyes that let me know you still felt even the tiniest bit of love for me. But there’s nothing. Not even a hint. I am less than nothing to you. We are worse than strangers, for we can never become friends.

Do  you remember? Remember that time in your life when I meant something to you?

I remember.

I remember you saying I was your best friend. Your sister. You were the one I confided in and could pour my heart out to.

Your friendship was so important to me. You meant so much to me.

But maybe it wasn't really the friendship I thought it was. What was I really, to you, if you could throw me away that easily? Friends should be able to survive disagreements. It shouldn't be the means of ripping us apart forever.

I know we've established that we were both in the wrong. We both hurt each other. But I’m not here to dig up old scars. I've moved on. I've forgiven you. Honestly, I can’t even remember what the initial argument was about.

All I really want to say is how much I miss you.

I miss your voice, your laugh, the quirky things you’d do, your crazy opinions and thought patterns. I miss never really quite being able to figure you out, and feeling like I could be myself around you. I miss our adventures, our late night talks and giggly, squishy girl hugs.

I miss what I know will never be again.

This is the chance encounter that will likely never happen. These are the words I can never say, the letter I've written a thousand times in my mind that I will never send. The phone call neither of us would make. I would try. In a heartbeat I would pick up the phone and call you. But you've already deemed it pointless.

Okay, yes…losing you was for the best. I guess we needed separation. Perhaps we were too close. Now that I find myself with the husband of my dreams, I can see how our relationship may have interfered with my marriage. But still I wish it had been on better terms.

I wish you could forgive me. I wish that you could show me grace and try to understand me. I wish that reconciliation was an option in your heart.

I wish you could still love me. 

 

I wrote this piece back in May, but never posted it. It never seemed quite complete, so I just hung onto it, letting it mellow in my mind until the right time…

She’s one of those difficult people. You know what I’m talking about. The kind that just seems to have it out for you for no good reason.  I can’t seem to make her happy. I end up just staying out of her way. I tell myself I’m not there to please her, and it really doesn’t matter. Let it slide, don’t fret about it. But…it bugs me. What is it about me? Is it even me? What is her problem? I want to be mad at her.

Love her like Jesus…

He tells me something hard. Something deep. How do I react? I pause before responding. I let it sink in and process the weight of what he’s saying. I can tell he’s holding his breath, waiting for me to say something. What’s he waiting for? Is he expecting anger? Resentment? Judgment? I let the seconds drag and think. This is big, and how I respond is crucial. I may not understand. But there is a balance in my hands. I have the ability to crush or uplift with one sentence.

Love him like Jesus…

She keeps pushing me away. Once a best friend, now less than a stranger. She won’t let me fix it. The more I try to reach out, the more she turns away. It hurts. I offended her, I know. I chose a path she couldn’t follow. I made choices in my life she couldn’t agree with. I chose a side she was against. And now I pay for it. I am given the silent treatment. When words are spoken, its as if years of friendship and sisterhood never existed. What can I do?

Love her like Jesus…

“You don’t need the answers
To all of Life’s questions,
Just know that He loves them
And stay by their side…
Love them like Jesus…”

(Casting Crowns, “Love Her Like Jesus”)

I’ve learned more since then. I’ve learned many more lessons about applying grace to the people in my life. Whether its choosing to not lash out at a sibling, or going through a painfully deep conversation with my boyfriend, or even just suppressing the desire to strangle that insanely difficult customer in the store I work at. It all centers around one thing. Grace.

We choose our reactions. We often say things like “He made me so mad!” and use that to justify our anger. But what might happen if we chose to react in a different way? Yes, we get angry, hurt, disappointed. We want to put up a fight and win it. Getting all fired up is easy. I know. Its easy to just boil over and lash out irrationally to whomever is causing the problem at the moment. Sometimes a little anger, better yet a little passion, is just, because in the right situation, it causes the other party to realize that you are serious and they need to pay attention. But in general, there’s a better reaction.

Just recently, I started really noticing how many instances I have on a daily basis to show grace to the people around me. It has amazed me. I can show grace to my siblings when they are being downright annoying. To the people that come into my workplace that try to give me a runaround about the job I’ve been trained to do. To the person that is in my life whether I like it or not. To basically any person that irritates me or that I, in any wise, just wish would disappear.

Kyle and I talk about this extensively. Mostly concerning each other. We watch other couples around us, particularly ones that are constantly in some sort of argument over one thing or another. In an odd way, it helps us to see examples like that, because it helps us to remember that, without showing each other grace and dealing with each other in grace, we would be in exactly the same position. I don’t see how any relationship can be entirely fulfilling if all that happens is arguing, bickering, nagging each other and putting each other down.

The other part of that conversation is the pure fact that we are human. We are going to let each other down, get irritated, have bad days, get sick and tired, and really just not feel like being graceful. We are not perfect, nor should we expect each other to be. We aren’t always going to remember to take a deep breath and think about our words and reactions. We are human and we are going to mess up. But its how we deal with it that makes the difference. Are we going to let it fester and grow? Are we going to hold it against each other for the rest of our lives? Are we going to lash out and make it worse?

I will not always understand the motive or reasoning behind a person’s actions or words. I won’t always understand why someone chooses to behave in a certain way. I don’t always know what’s going on behind the scenes. I can’t control what other people do. All I can control is me. My actions and reactions. All I can understand is how I choose to behave and how I choose to treat that other person. I can make it worse. Or I can make it better. I can take a terrible situation and put a smile on that person’s face just by listening, loving, giving a hug and choosing to forgive. God has shown me more love and grace than I ever deserve. What else can I do except strive to show just a fraction of that love and grace to the people around me?

Like I said in the short piece I wrote in May; I hold a balance in my hands. With one word, I can uplift or tear down. What am I going to choose?

A few months ago, I tried to write a post about Kyle’s deployment and homecoming. I’ve never had trouble expressing myself through words before, but for some reason I simply could not find the ones I wanted to describe what it was like to have my man risking his life on the other side of the world, and then to have him return safe and sound. Some may be able to describe it. But for me there are no words that fully show what it is like to go even seven months without the one you love…to have that heart pounding rush every time you hear something on the news about a firefight in Afghanistan…the days that seem never to end…the phone calls that become so dear and never last long enough. And then there’s the beautiful aspect of homecoming. Homecoming. Its honestly one of the best things in the world. I simply can’t explain how good it felt to see him standing there and to be the girl that rushed up and hugged him.

I tried to write these things in a beautiful and elegant post. I’ve read plenty of them, and seen numerous homecoming slideshows and videos. But there just were no words. No really good ones anyways. I can say how amazing it was. How wonderful. How beautiful. I can say how hard, yet how good deployment was. How thankful I am. How much we grew from it. But nothing compares to actually living it. You have to live this stuff to fully understand it.

I learned quite a few things. I learned how to better apply grace in my life. Having the first seven months of our dating relationship be during deployment meant some readjusting to my thinking. I couldn’t be near him. I couldn’t call him or text him. I could email him, but sometimes it would take him a while to check it. We were able to video chat a couple times. But we weren’t able to spend good quality time together in person. There were a couple times we got to talk for hours either on the phone or computer. But we had to learn to make things interesting with what we had. We sent lists of questions back and forth to each other. We talked as often as we were able to. But I had to learn that this was a very different world, and would continue to be as long as Kyle was in the Marines.

That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned and something that I want to stress to other military girlfriends, especially girlfriends that are just getting into this. The military world is very different. You can’t treat it the same as the civilian world. You have to be more gracious, more understanding, more loving. Your guy goes through a lot. He lives with a target on his back, especially if he’s deployed, and if he’s not, he lives with the constant expectation that he could be. The last thing he needs is you whining at him because he hasn’t texted or called you today. He’s going to have training and field days and classes. He’s going to need his buddies more than he needs you. He’s going to fall asleep on the phone or else have a million other things on his mind. He’s going to need you to stand behind him and support him, to be there for him when he does need you, because he will. And when he does call you, or is in a position where you can contact him, he’s gonna need you to be excited to hear from him, to enjoy the sound of his voice and not complain because you haven’t heard from him in a while.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that you be some sort of measly mousy little woman that gets walked all over. He doesn’t need that either. He needs you to be strong. Stand up for what you believe in and make sure he knows that you are believing in him. Wait for him, and make sure he knows you are. Share with him your thoughts and burdens. Our guys are much more wise than we often give them credit for. Kyle was able to help me through some difficult heart things, even before we started our relationship. No one else has ever offered me advice and wisdom the way he has.

Simply put, lose the drama. Enrich your man’s life. Don’t make him dread calling you because all you do is whine and argue. If you are not enjoying being his girl, then something is wrong. Make him smile. Be the one he can’t wait to come home to. There is nothing wrong with consistently making someone else happy.
Applying grace in life is one of the hardest, most beautiful things ever. There have been a couple times where Kyle and I have gotten into a conversation where I could have easily escalated into irrational anger. I could have easily lashed out against him. I could have chosen to be hurt and disappointed. There were instances where Kyle could have chosen to be mad at me. But he didn’t. And I didn’t. And we both surprised each other. I made a point to not respond how he was expecting me to, but instead to deal gracefully and lovingly. And it made a world of difference. Instead of coming between us, the tough conversations brought us closer together.

I’ll never say I’m perfect or that I’ve got it all together and figured out. Its going to take me years to learn everything, and even then I doubt I will. But these are the things I’m learning now. I’m eternally grateful to the people around me that have helped me learn these things at such an early point in life. I feel like a lot of couples head into marriage with no idea where they are going and very little grasp on important issues. So it is very encouraging to me to see other young people heading into marriage with good heads on their shoulders, a right understanding of grace and love, and going about this whole journey much more prepared.
I don’t think I will truly be able to communicate all that I learned over the past year with Kyle. He has taught me so many things. I am so grateful for his patience with me, and so excited to continue this journey with him in married life. I can’t wait to see what the next year, and years, bring for us. What new things will we learn? What adventures will we have? There’s so much out there!

Kyle sent me this list shortly before homecoming. I had learned several of these things, but its a wonderful reminder. Its makes you think about just how different the world of a military girlfriend/fiancee/wife really is. I know this is aimed towards Marine girlfriends, but really it applies to all branches. So adjust as necessary and heed the wisdom! 

*I have no idea who created this list. It is brilliant and if you are or know the author, please let me know!*
*Edited slightly for content ;)*


1. Don’t count on anything! Hurry up and wait.

2. Don’t listen to anyone on the outside. All you will get is negative remarks which will make things harder for you to deal with.

3. When he becomes stubborn and a royal pain in the butt, just remind yourself he’s probably had a bad day and being away from you is hard on him too. SO just let him rant and don’t take it personal.

4. When your down, treat yourself.

5. Learn how to listen, if you don’t know how! He will need you. You will be the one he comes to when he needs to complain, but don’t complain back. That is what the USMC girlfriends are for! This is a hard time for our men and they need us much more than sometimes they think they do.

6. Love your marine, be truthful, and reassure him, even if he is deployed, he’ll have someone to come back to.

7. He will try to pull away at some point, whether directly telling you to move on and not wait for him or just becoming distant. It’s a way they try to deal. Stick with him because he really does want (and need) you there.

8. When he is away for a long time or even just a couple of hours away, write a lot of letters. Communication is key to a relationship!

9. Some of his friends will probably be morons. Expect this.

10. You aren’t the only woman in his life. His mom misses him and loves him too, so make sure to update her on what's going on with him.

11. He needs to feel important so don’t hold back on the compliment's-remind him how proud you are of what he does.

12. Chances are they wont call when they say they will. That especially applies for the deployed!

13. Don’t buy that non-refundable airplane ticket too early.

14. When eating with a marine you wither finish your “chow” in 15 min or less or be stared at until you finish.

15. Never take one single minute with them for granted. Live each day with them like it’s the last one you’ll have for a while because with the Marine Corps it just might be.

16. Take lots of pictures, so you can remember what each other look like.

17. Don’t even TRY to compare your Marines to ordinary men. You can no longer complain about broken plans, the phone call you were supposed to get but didn’t, missed birthdays and anniversaries, his snoring (hey at least he’s sleeping beside you,) spending more time with “the boys” than you, etc, etc, etc.

18. Always look on the bright side of things. How many of your gal-pals got to get their first encounter, first date, first kiss from their man over and over again?

19. Gotta be able to keep up with your man. We give our marines a whole new meaning of PT.

20. Even if he says he will, he probably wont. Maybe he really means probably not OR probably not when he said he would. Example: “I might not be able to call you tomorrow,” or “I might call you tomorrow,” but he cant find the time to call until a week later. That might turn into 2 weeks.

21. Being a Marines girlfriend is the toughest job in the corps. You have to deal with stress similar to the wives, without the promise of forever or the benefits and support they get.

22. Patience is the biggest key to making the relationship work. You have to wait a lot but in the end waiting is what makes it all worth while.

Where food is concerned, we live in a world of absolutes, particularly here in the U.S. We have a broad spectrum of foods before us, but there are generalities that all food must fall under in order to please us. We know what pizza is supposed to taste like. We know what ice cream, spaghetti, hot dogs, and potato salad are supposed to taste like. Christmas dinners, birthday cake, chocolate and cotton candy. There are differences and variations within each of our foods. Different flavors and combinations. But ultimately, we have set in stone ideas about what our food should taste like, and for that matter, look like.

But what if…what if…we’re wrong?

Have you ever seen the movie “The Matrix”? It is rather brilliant tale of a man who comes to learn that the world he believes he lives in doesn’t really exist, but instead is an elaborate computer generated hoax designed to trick the minds of humans being used as slaves for robots that have overtaken the real world. The concept of the movie is really quite amazing, and gets you thinking. What if this isn’t real? What if we are being tricked? How would you feel if you woke up one morning to find that everything you thought you knew was completely and utterly wrong?

Step back for a moment and, with the Matrix in mind, open your mind to the possibility I am about to suggest to you.

What if everything you know about how food should taste and look is wrong?

From the very beginning of our lives, as small children learning to eat food on our own, we are given food and told exactly what it should be like. This is ice cream. This is cereal. This is a hamburger. There are no other options. This is what food is. It is engrained in our minds. We don’t question it, and grow up with these stereotypes dictating our every meal.

But just imagine if we were wrong. What if those stereotypes were just that…stereotypes?

Imagine breaking out of the matrix to find a whole new world of food. A world where food was different. Where people eat to live, not live to eat. Where people don’t expect food to be the same as it has been for years and use creativity and ingenuity to create food that blows the mind of all who even hear of it.

Yep. You’ve now entered my world.

Welcome to the world outside the matrix.

After over two years of experimenting and trying to find a good recipe, I am pleased to present one of the very few “free*” cracker recipes that actually works!!
*Free: gluten free, soy free, dairy free, vegan, corn free, sugar free
　
Crackers

1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup arrowroot powder
2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1/4 cup almond meal or flax meal
1-2 Tbsp. oil (hemp or coconut works very well!)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. stevia powder
Dash of salt
1/2 to 1 tsp. tamari or coconut aminos
1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Mix all ingredients together and knead to form a stiff dough. Shape into small balls and flatten. Bake at 450* till golden (about 15 minutes).

Pictures, letters, cards. Notes of things that were important to a teenager. Writings. Declarations of who I was becoming.

The past twenty-two years of my life can fit into one solitary brown box. If needed, my life could fit into a mid-sized suitcase. Yes, there are some unnecessary things…I could scale down much further. But I keep them because I can, because I am not forced to do without them.
I am very sentimental. Too much for my own good. I keep things I should have gotten rid of years ago. A green Skittles bag? Well, it was a limited edition one with Princess Leia on it from the re-release of the first three Stars Wars films. Bits of papers with scribbles on them? Oh yes, those were from my dear little friends when they were first learning how to write. They are now graduating from high school. Ticket stubs? That was from when my Dad took me to see the Nutcracker Ballet. And that shoebox full of letters? Don’t you dare touch that…that is every letter from the past 11 years sent to me by my dearest Canadian girlfriend. The smaller boxes? Well, one holds dried flowers that my uncle sent me on my sixteenth birthday. The other holds all my baby teeth. Yes. Teeth.

I spent most of yesterday going through my boxes. I had, oh, five or six of them. I’m down to one. There were some things that were simply not necessary to save anymore. Some things I never want to part with. Letters and pictures that remind me of a simpler time. The calendar who’s biggest event was my friend getting her first puppy. The scrawled out note of a six-year old thanking me for teaching her the Cat’s Cradle game. The only drawing I have left from a little boy who bruised my ten-year-old heart…the one drawing that escaped my anger and did not get thrown away…the drawing that reminds me never to hold a grudge, because that little boy grew up to be one of the best men I know. There’s the cards and letters from a girl I grew up with…letters dated just a year or two before she was killed in a car accident.

Some things I did release from my grasp. Some things didn’t hold as much sentimental value as they originally did. Other things I was glad to be rid of. Little by little, letting go of things I regret, words I said that shouldn’t have been spoken, people I let in that I should have showed more caution to. Releasing their hold on me. Telling myself its okay, and that even when it hurt, I learned something. God gave me the strength to handle it, the grace to get through it, and now its time to move on and do something new.
Some things brought laughter. Most were quickly followed by tears. Some things brought anger and a feeling of defeat over remembering friendships that were, and are no more. Things I can’t fix, even though I try. Life I can’t go back to, even if I wanted.

There are things I have said and shouldn’t have. There are things I haven’t said, and should have.
But what kind of life do I have if I just sit here regretting and wishing over what was? If I focus on the bad I wish hadn’t have happened, then I miss all the beauty that did. And if I worry about the bad of the present and future, I miss all the beauty that is.

This is what life is all about. Seeing and enjoying every little bit of beauty, living with our eyes wide open, and praising God for all of it. We have nothing to live for if we do not have God. Our lives are purposeless and empty, not matter what we try to fill them up with.

God has the amazing ability to make everything beautiful. Even pain. “…My strength is made perfect in weakness…” God’s grace and love turns tears into smiles.

If this isn’t exciting, then we are doing it wrong. There is so much beauty for us to see here. Sometimes we just have to look for it. We have to stop, breathe and absorb.

There was that little boy that pulled himself up on the countertop where I work and looked right at me and said “I love you!” A little boy I’ve never seen and may never see again, but his sweet little words will touch my heart forever.

There’s the sweet sound of my boyfriend’s voice spanning an ocean, and the numbers in my calendar book that tell me he’s almost home.

There’s the friend I’ve never met, sending me a note just to tell me she’s thinking about me.

The baby of a life-long friend about to be born.

My brother telling me how much he misses me.

My mom bringing me home cashews and avocados because she knows I like them.

Finally being old enough to tease my dad without it sounding disrespectful.

The way my heart beats.

The things that make me smile.


I don’t want to miss a moment.

This is the version of avocado pudding that I have been making. I altered it slightly from the original "4 Ingredient Raw Avocado Pudding" recipe I found on www.healthfulpursuit.com. I added the chia seeds and stevia, doubled the avocado but left the lemons the same amount. I also omitted the extra lemon juice, cause it just seemed to be too sloppy.
I've also included a version I came up with today. I was out of dates and had kiwi, strawberries and coconut. It turned out beautifully and tastes like heaven.
I am going to try freezing the pudding to make a sort of ice cream. :)

Better Avocado Pudding

2 avocados
Flesh of 2 lemons
12 dates, pitted
1-2 TBSP chia seeds
up to 1 tsp stevia powder

Chop dates in a food processor first, then add all other ingredients and blend till smooth.
Refrigerate before eating for a few hours to give the chia seeds time to gel up.

"Tropical" version:
Add 1 kiwi in place of the lemons, then add 6-10 whole strawberries, 1-2 TBSP coconut flakes and a dash of lemon juice.

*Vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, soy-free, grain-free*

Unseen once is now made seen
Black, Red, White, Green
Am I a lion, or a lamb?
Am I a boy, or a man?
Drown, come and drown with me
Taste Elyon’s fruit, listen and see
Elyon plays, Elyon sings
His voice soft as a Roush’s wings
Dance, come and dance with me
Forever part of the Circle be
Elyon’s water, pleasure and life
Simple and real, wrong made right
Deeper, deeper…deeper still
You don’t understand? Wait, you will.
The game is on, the Romance begun
The divine magic of two become one
Fight for, chase, desire, pursue
Cherish, hope for, love, woo
Echo of Eden, heaven’s touch
You never thought you could want this so much
Now the Battle is here, the Enemy come
The Great Romance has a war to be won
Be careful the master you choose
It means whether you win or lose
Elyon is silent, Elyon waits
While hell bursts open its gates
The Circle fights, the Circle cries
What was always now dies
Then the Hero comes, he always comes
Watch as now he runs
Power flows, white and pure
There he is, strong and sure
The Warrior, Creator, Lover, Friend
The beginning and the end
Drown, drown again with me
Elyon’s water, taste and see
Am I a lion, or a lamb?
Am I boy, or a man?
Unseen once is now made seen
Black…Red…White…Green.

By Hannah McMichael
Inspired by Ted Dekker's "Circle" series

(If you have not read these books, you won't understand this poem. Go read them!!)