just because

  You know every year thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year. I am not entirely sure why because for one it means winter is almost here which I don’t appreciate at all, two it is usually very cold and three it is very busy and there isn’t much time to relax. However the weekend of thanksgiving always end making me feel happy and thankful for the life that I have and the people that are in my life. A couple things have really stuck out to me this thanksgiving that I would love to share with you guys. One of the things that I have been really thankful for this year is a family that doesn’t depend on the success of their business and money for happiness. You see this fall we, as a family are only getting about 10 to 15 percent of our regular crop of apples. When you are used to getting 900 bins of apples from one section of your orchard and this year only getting 150 it could be rather depressing.   Out of our 800 acres there is next to nothing to pick thi...

I have been thinking a lot this week about time and how we spend it. Its been a very busy week and it is a busy time of year so this will vary for me depending on the time of year. When I disected this past week this is what I came up with. Now my question I want to ponder tonight is just what I did with those 54.5 hours? Did I use them wisely? Now of course there are many things I didnt document here. Like showering and getting ready in the morning/evening etc. Like driving from place to place. Like devotion time. But all week I felt like I had no time. I was running here and there and not sure just how I was gonna get everything done. But now that I do this I feel like I may have had extra time if I would have just managed it a bit better. There are things that I have to do but its what I do with those extra hours that count. Those hours that arent filled with work and sleep and eating. Those hours that could be used to make the world a better place, to make me a better person, to...

Alright, so it is time to write another blog on one of my favorite people and since i am sitting in the airport and really have nothing better to do i decided now is the right time. the person i am going to write about this time has always been very dear to me but since i have been away from her for almost  6 weeks i feel a little bit more strongly right now. i miss her for a number of reasons. the person i am going to write about is my little sister Tory. Tory and I are three years apart. Growing up we didnt have as much of a close relationship. She had her little friends and I was just so much bigger and more mature than all of them. She was just that annoying little sister that followed me and my friends around but all that changed as we both matured and realized it was a lot more fun to be friends cause who doesnt want to live with one of their friends. We have had many good memories together. Some of these have happened in our own home, some in the suv on the way to f...

Where is the love? This line comes to my mind over and over again as I relate to the children down here in Mexico. There is a children's home where I am at. When you play with them and hang out with them you realize they are like any other children you know. The little boys love to get into mischief. The girls love to do crafts, dress up and pose for pictures. But there is something else you realize very quickly about these kids that is different than the kids back home in my church or my cousins etc. These kids are starved for love. Notice the I used the word starved. Often when we are hungry we will say we starved but we never actually are. We are really hungry yes, but not starved. Starved is the point where if you don't get food you might die. These kids are starved for love. It doesn't matter if you give them a hug ten times that day they want another one. It doesnt matter if they are sitting listening to an interesting story or doing something to occupy themselves t...

So recently i have been reminded just how much i have been blessed to be at a church like grace. I decided to blog a bit tonight on just how much i love this little (but growing very quickly) church. About eight to ten years ago, not sure exactly how many i began going to this little church hidden on a back road just outside new hamburg. the first time we went there it was a time full of surprises. right at the beginning the suprises started with a thirty minute ride to church! going from a ten minute ride this seemed long! i have now grown to love this ride. i use it to study my sunday school lesson, listen to worship music to get me in the worship mood and talk with my siblings and parents. often on the way home this gives us time to discuss the message or just get caught up on eachother's past or coming weeks. The next suprise was the friendly atmosphere i felt as soon as i got there. people of all ages both male and female talked to me...Me! a little 8 or 9 year old girl. an...

Today is prolly the last day i will spend with my poor little puppy. this day has happened before and then mom has chickened out when going to the vet and always brought home more medication to give him one more chance at getting better. he always has gotten better too but now because of his extra dose of insulin we had to give him to try to improve his condition he has turned completely blind. my mom prayed for a sign and she has said this is her sign. so i am quite sure that if the vet is available tomorrow he will no longer be with us. i am not a big animal lover. not like my mom and sisters, but there is something about living with a dog for ten years in your house that makes him feel like part of the family. i know there are many things i wont miss bout him but there are also many things i will. however while watching him walk around and bump into things has been rather amusing it also makes me really sad and all i want to do is carry him to his destination. which is really qu...

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the story of David and Goliath in the Bible. Maybe it is because of my recent obsession with the Mark Lowry song, "Too Big to Miss" or maybe it is because i just recently read the story in my daily Bible readings. Have you ever thought about what it would have been like to be David that day? When i think of the story i often think of the work, courage. David had a lot of courage! He also had faith. He felt God's call and he went for it. We dont read that he hesitated even though I imagine there were a few thoughts going through his head, but even though people laughed at him and told him he was insane, he still went for it. He won a battle that day with one small stone. He of course couldnt have done it with out the Lord's help. The  lesson Mark Lowry draws from this story is taking the challenges in our life and remembering that we dont have to face them on our own. This always challenges me. As youth, I think we all kind o...

so one thing that God has blessed me with is many wonderful, awesome, super cool cousins! on both my martin and my kramer side. i have so many, many memories with them growing up. we could sit  in a circle with various ages and just laugh  and laugh and laugh. some of my best times were with my cousins. however since it would take a really long time to write a blog about all 50 of them individually, i wont. :) this blog however is dedicated to one of the best ones i got. one that the times we have spent together probably out weigh the times we havnt been together. his name is rickster! so ricky and I have always lived two minutes walking distance from eachother. i dont remember what the earliest memory i have of him is. but i do remember doing kidergarten with him and trent. then once we went to real school we started to have play dates after school. they were usually once a week. sometimes more. we would meet at the driving shed right after we had eaten our after school...

Well it is another new year! Another year to start over and try to make this year better then ever! I like to try to write down a few new year resolutions every year and then it is always fun to go back and look them over at the end of the year and see how I did at them. I thought of a few for this coming year. I wont share all of them but I will a few. It is actually rather smart to share new years resolutions with others because they can keep you accountable and it forces you to do them. It is really easy to throw out or ignore an idea when no one knows about it. So here are a few of my ideas: I would like to visit a new country! I dont know where for sure or how or when but somehow that would be a good idea. I have a two year term on the youth committee and am starting my second year with that. I want to do my best at that and give it everything I have even though it isnt always what I feel like doing and isnt always the most ...