Monday

Is it just another Manic Monday? Maybe, not...

"Why don't people like Monday? It's a day of optimism. The week can only get better from here. We should rename it "Funday."" - stolen from Josh Wilson (via his Twitter Updates).

I'll try changing my perspective on Monday... after all, it couldn't hurt Monday's chances of being a good day!

Happy Monday!

A Lesson...

On how to pick up the pieces when life falls apart... don't know if I could be any more moved than I am right now. Read this article:

Mealer Brothers a Lesson in Courage.

Wow. Life can change in an instant. Sometimes for the worse. Sometimes for the better. Sometimes to show you what you are made of.

This family is made up of a lot of love, courage and determination.

God is too good to me!

Seriously, He is good! I mean, GOOD! All the time! I am a big fan of seeing God's hand through out life. I have so many stories of places I can see Him protecting me before I became a Christian; I can see how He has guided me in decisions to places and people that would bring me joy; I can see His answers to prayer. God is GOOD!

It is no different in my job. How I came to hear about the job is a total "God Story" as some of my friends like to say.

I sit across from a woman at a luncheon at church. She talks to me for about 15 minutes and then says, "I think I have a job for you." She didn't even KNOW I was looking for a job. She didn't even KNOW I had been a Girl Scout as a girl. But God did. And He knew exactly what I was doing. He knew my passions well enough to know that I need to feel like 'I am making a difference.' He knew my personality well enough to know that I enjoy working with people, but also need to have independence and control in my job. And He gave it to me in this job.

Well, He has also allowed me to succeed in this job. I saw Him provide in BIG ways this year:

- He allowed me to have enough girls in on wait lists this summer so that I would make my goals by 7 girls in one area and 12 girls in another!

- He has provided me with some awesome new leaders for new troops who are EXCITED to be doing it. And sometimes they "seem to come out of nowhere." (yea right -- He sends them!)

- He has provided me with both two different Product Sale Managers so that I don't have to the job in lieu of a volunteer.

There are so many other ways, but He is exciting, encouraging and brings a smile to my face! :-)

Hope you can see God showing up in your life today!

The Courage to be Me!

Wow -- such a timely article for me... and for where I am at. I'll try to process it more today and share with you sometime soon. But more than anything I wanted to share it with you all.

Hope it hits home for more people than just me!

(In)Courage

I have found this awesome site. You need to check it out. As part of their launch, they want women to write about what has been encouraging them lately...

As you all have heard me say these last couple of entries -- this has been a hard summer. Actually, this has been a hard year. Ever since I turned 25, it has been one thing after another... and at this point, I don't know how much more a roller coaster I can take.

That being said, I want to take a moment to write about what has encouraged me recently... because despite being in a valley there have been moments where i could just feel God wiping away my tears.

Here it goes:

FRIENDS!

A couple of weeks ago, I was thisclose to tears at church. Then one of the newer girls in my Sunday School class leaned over and said (and not knowing how unloved I felt in that moment), "I know you are getting ready to move. I would be glad to cook you dinner sometime this week just to help take a load off of what you have to do. Let me know, ok?" In that moment I felt God also say, "I will take care of you. Trust me."

FRIENDS, again!

I am blessed by friendship. I won't go into details, but it is a struggle for me to believe that anyone really wants me around. Most of this can be traced back to some pretty bad/selfish friendships in middle and high school. However, God has given me friendships that I do not deserve since college and post grad. There is Jenn (who will forever be my carbon copy and consistently reminds me of truth); there is Christy (who no matter how long it takes me to email her back consistently loves me); there is Laura (who continually points me to Christ and has allowed tears to flow whenever I have needed it this summer); there is Rachel (who will hope for me when I can't hope anymore); there is Amanda (who will serve me and others even in her depths of despair, she loves unconditionally); there is Laurie (who loves people for their good and who loves me despite the time passed) there are also many more who I can't even begin to name. God loves me through these people... and I am thankful for that. During this valley each one of them has been used by God to just love on me.

MUSIC.

There have been more songs than I can name in the last two to three weeks that have literally touched me in the depths. There is a playlist that I have been listening to almost constantly and I called it "Encourage my heart, Lord." Here is just a snippet of the songs that have been put on there:

Come Ye Sinners
More Beautiful You, Jonny Diaz
You Know, Revive
Blessed Be, Jason Gray
Beautiful the Blood
In Christ Alone
Glorious Day, Jeff Johnson
I Will Not Stumble
Prince of Peace
Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners
Trading my Sorrows
Do Not Fear
I Rest, Skillet
Jesus, I am Resting
Meet with Me
Seek You first
Beautiful One
Marvelous Light
Mercy, Luke Williams
Joyful, Joyful
Amazing Grace
I Love You, Lord
Jesus Lead On

There have also been a couple of Coldplay songs (went to there concert on Thursday -- more on that later) that have been pretty awesome, too!:

Fix You
Till Kingdom Come
The Hardest Part
The Scientist

So, that is what has been encouraging me lately. What about you? Be (in)couraged today! I know that even this post has given me hope for a good day!

Giving God the Glory

We all know I love my Michigan Wolverines. It is something you pick up on soon after meeting me.

And well with my love for the Wolverines comes some deep dislike (maybe even hatred) of certain teams. Ohio State Buckeyes, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Florida Gators are just a few.

However, I really like Tim Tebow from the Florida Gators. Why? Read this article.

He is a man after God's own heart and that is awesome. Also awesome? When he says football is just a game. Love it!

Anyway, thought I would share.

Another Heartwarming Tale

Read this blog post.

Its another one of those "people are really good, and show love" moments. I love it when it is proved that people are actually caring etc.

Just thought I would share it with you... in case you need a pick me up!

Thoughts on Work

I really like my new job. I went upstairs to refill my cup with some water and I was thinking, "is this really my job? I greatly enjoy it!"

Praise God that I feel this way about my job. It is fantastic!!! I like knowing that I enjoy what I do, and that overall I get up excited about work.

However, I do not enjoy the fact that my butt is sore all... sitting in a seat all day can make your bottom hurt. Mine does almost everyday by 5pm. Maybe that means I just need to get up and take more walks, huh?

There are great people out there.

Read this article.

What a great man. He finds 185,000 dollar check. He doesn't try to cash it. He instead returns it. Guess what people, in a world where we typically only get to hear the bad, this just proves that there is good, too!

Makes me happy to know that geninuenly nice, honest, good people exist.

Just thought this may encourage you all, as normally we only get to hear about the bad!

Have a wonderful day back at work. 2008 is beginning, woohoo!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

So, I LOVE Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. It is quite possibly one of my favorite shows. Now, I know what you are thinking. "But Jaye P, you already watch a million shows and claim you love all of them."

True, my friend, true.

I love October Road. I love Grey's Anatomy. I LOOOOVE American Idol. I pretty much don't miss any of those shows... tape them every week and make sure to watch them. But, Extreme Makeover ROCKS MY WORLD!

I think this is because they actually do something good. They are helping people... it can be sappy. I admit it. And really, I basically cry every other show. But, I can't help it. I LOVE the show.

Another reason I love the show is because this year, they built a house for family in Raleigh, NC. Umm... Raleigh is next door. So, obviously a bunch of us all went to check it out. And it was amazing... saw Ed in passing... Tracy ran by. But, coolest of all... got my picture with Paulie (see above).

It was awesome. It just made my day... maybe because that is also the day that i found out I didn't get the job at Google... so seeing it all up close and personal, as well as meeting Paul, just made me remember my life... not so bad. Put a smile on my face. LOVE IT!

So, just thought I would ramble on how much I love the show, and such...

However... my one pet peeve was realized this week. Can you believe that Ty used POP top instead of the proper Soda Top. He says POP. Inexcusable. Ty, we will have to work that, my friend. We will have to work on that. ;-).

Ok, kidding aside. I love the show... here is me with Paul!

Sunshine and Happiness!

One of the best things about living in the South again is the fact that I just spent 2 hours at the poolside!

I LOVE IT!

It made me happy just to listen to my music and to read a magazine. Anyone who can should try it!

:-) :-) :-)