Insignificance

Who said that we were important? What makes it so that we become so prideful in things that we do? Why should we be prideful in the things of which are wrong?

Manipulation: Could this ever be a good thing?
I've manipulated hearts and changed what they thought of themselves... Gave them pride in things they couldn't control. I took pride in that. Manipulation of peoples minds... Hitler/Stalin... Would I be compared that greatly to a person, who dictated how people were run, gunned down and injured just because the man felt insignificant enough to want power in return? Do I have a Dictator inside of me? YES. We all want control of our lives relationships... and the easiest way to accomplish that goal, if you are me would be MANIPULATION, which I've had pride in.

Independence: What is too much?
A parent of mine wished that I would have less independence. I never knew I had too much. I don't like help from other people. I don't like being dependent on others to give me financial stability. Pride... Yes, being told sometimes that I would be unworthy made me a fighter. The fact that I accomplished what I had set out to do and did not give any credit to the one who let me... That is my pride. I think its all me. Never any one else.
I was doing the dishes the other night... Three people asked me if I needed help. I just had surgery, but I can do things on my own. In my head, I wanted help, what was out spoken was "I got this, I'm really OK." This is the forever lie I always feed my self. Sometimes I cannot continue all alone, but I wont say it -because I am a fighter-only to pretend I am as strong as I want people to believe: that I can do it on my own. Too much independence - PRIDE.

Relationships: I don't understand them OR why people have the desire to set others up.
I want control of this area. Every time it is mine to control I know it doesn't work right or that I change it into a mind game. Whenever a relationship idea created visions in my head and some one initiated the formality of it (normally not me) God would always whisper in my head, "Christine, what are you doing?"
MY RESPONSE: "Ya know what, You're not doing a fantastic job of leading me through my life obviously, and they seem nice. Why not?"  When it was good, its amazing or so it seems, but when its bad manipulations ensue, freak outs from both parties, and it rains destruction. The whispers are still in the back of my head. (Example of James 1:15) Control? It doesn't exist, yet so often we try and grasp the reigns and steer our lives one way or the next with out trust in the one thing that will get us to our passions. (Psalms 37:4) When I try to control it is because of my pride.

God has the last one planned in his time and way. The middle one controlled. The first one changing as I recognized the harm its been creating others.

My pride is causing a lack of humility and intimacy with God. Of course in order to fear God we need to be insignificant, so he can show us how he wants us to be significant. Control is the desire ensued by fear. Our only task is to fear God, which I don't know quite what that means yet, but as I am realizing how small I am and am seeing that he is so much bigger than all of the petty fears I find in myself.

TRUST THROUGH MY INSIGNIFICANCE
Taking away my pride is a change in my thought process, its learning how to be humble, how to trust him, and learning to keep open communication; so I am able to hear what his desires are for me to put them as my own. Becoming one with something is intimacy.

Manipulations: God has brought up things I took pride in, which I've not thought about in years,  and said, "I want you to change your look on this". This  takes trust understanding and humility. The couple things I am working on so there may be more intimacy in my relationship with him.

Independence: God said to me to be honest with others in what you feel, the most important help you can get is being vulnerable in who you really are. Not hiding the things that need to be seen. Allow yourself to let others feed into you. This was noticed through surgery, God broke me and is putting me back together stronger than what I was. Breaking me is sometimes the only way to say, "Christine you cannot do this on your own, realize your friends gifts, show them what they are, allow them to pour into you, because you know and can pour into them because you feel deeply for them."

Relationships: I could brag about these, but there is nothing there. I understood what defiance meant and didn't care. I became reckless in who I was didn't care. Apathy is the opposite of Love, at least in my knowledge. In this area I had an apathy for Christ in this part of my story, which appears to be the most stressful.
He kept saying "RELEASE THE CONTROL!" (Proverbs 16:9, 19:21, Jeremiah 10:23)

I never want to relinquish control to one whom I don't fully understand, but that is where trust comes in. This is the reason why I am unable to move on from past things. Though I know he is the one person who can block my insane stubbornness with unconditional love. Therefore, I've found my true love and passion, him who gives me peace. Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. I give it to you, not just once.

The chaos of these emotions are like waves in the sea, but when he's my ground, I find freedom. A song has been stuck in my head frequently- OCEANS- I am Peter apparently. When I call your name, I'll keep my eyes above the waves, because when the ocean will rise, I will rest in your embrace. I am yours and you are mine. Its beautiful.

Pride needs to be humbled. Control needs to be relinquished for trust. The trust that he loves. (Proverbs 16)

If that is too long it can be summed up to these:
Prov. 16: 18-19 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts him. 


Continue to make me have insignificance so I will understand the love you provide in such a way I wish to desire nothing less.

Thank you.

Mary-go-round pt 2

We are supposed to love our enemies, but what if we are ourown enemy?

In this life we are not supposed to fear.

Not hold dear to the things which are near.

Not to know but one thing we should fear

GOD.

Who say not to keep those things that we fear near?

Who say we cannot do the things we need to be dear?

Im not afraid of the past

Because that’d just be daft

Not to understand the darkest cast

Brought upon the nearest mast

Freedom

Who determines how freedom has been cast?

Who needs others to show their fear from the past?

I want to be bold

Beyond the furthest hold

Not stopping for their fold

But knowing what I’ve told

Strength

Unknown what the future may hold

Unsure about what others have told

I’d like to be able say to the future

Behold it is not my nature

To show you how I nurture

Others who’ve been butchered

The nearer future

Cannot be butchered

Nor can it be nurtured

Dilemma  

Who knows what it nurtures among the foulest creatures?

Who controls the billows of the nature beyond the future?

Who determines who’s weaker or stronger?

Who creates the length of grandeur?

There is a secret beauty

That lies beneath our vulnerability

The despise beyond the possibility

Creates the curiosity

Challenge

Who can say what we don’t know creates a possibility torespect Thee?

What if we accepted the beauty in the challenge of our curiosity?

Should we take the time to expose

The lullabies with in our souls

Revealing the vulnerabilities

Among the possibilities

That what is held in the future

Is for us to find the nurture

That our father above told

Our family of old

Or the tales of darkest pasts

Can reveal the freeing masts

That we no longer have to fear

But we can draw near

To the one who can free us, God.

Which we can find the strength to fight for our freedom fromthe challenging dilemmas that we face in the future, that we could not find thestrength in ourselves

The double face mask

There is something about it. The S word. No not the swear word. But the one that requires you to go to the hospital... Yeah that one. Surgery.

But before all of that nonsense there are other things that need to be discussed. Seriously, I am normally a reckless person. I expected something like the s word could have no doubt crossed the conversations in the span of my life time. I just didn't expect it to happen then, the prime time of my "young - adulthood". It would've been more expected in my 50s or even 40s. But not when I am 25.

If you've read my blog steadily you may have noted that I graduated in May of 2013, this year and right after finals week I received a call saying I got a job at a particular company that deals with emotionally disturbed youth. I was excited, and it had become my dream to start helping families-before DHS had ripped them apart for understandable reasons. My dream was to work with the level 5's and lower, to teach them skills so they can control anxieties and frustrations and learn to find good supporters that they needed to eventually stand on their own. That was my plan.

Four months into this hope, dream, aspiration of the job I've come to realize that I am not able to perform the duties that I once had, of which I enjoyed so very much. I wasn't being reckless at all; I just merely played a game with the youth I worked with. During this game I did a short stop turn kick and destroyed my ACL (tendon in the knee needed for stabilization... turning, bending, jumping, and running). September 12, 2013 makes me feel like my course has changed even though my aspiration has not. I guess it's another raging river rapid in my life's journey pertaining to my desired life's work.

There is a benefit and a shortcoming to it happening at work. First the benefit, I did not need to pay for practically anything, which I owe every bit of gratitude toward the claim company. My case worker has been kind through my paranoia and has walked with me through much of it even though I’ve only known her for a month. Second the shortcoming, everything takes 20x longer than if it were on my own insurance.

Some people say that I have nothing to complain about, but everyone has their quarrels, so here is my saying. Maybe some of you know what it’s like to have the rug pulled out from under your feet surrounded by a dust storm, not being able to see anything around you. That is how I've felt. It had taken them a month and a half for me to see an orthopedic surgeon. It took another month and a half for them to schedule my surgery. Im still not able to do work or enjoy things that I used to, and I am becoming restless, bored, and frankly done with it all.

After all, what do you do when you are told you cannot work for months and you are almost out of money? Sure they still pay you but at 50-60% of normal, but there are bills: rent, electric, health, car, dental, vision, and renters insurance, electric, credit cards, and the luxury of internet that apparently everyone needs. This means pay checks had a minimal of 50$ for food maybe a little more per month. It meant Adult Life just got Harder and things were put on hold.

I stopped trying to find a home. I couldn't work anymore, couldn't find a desk job, because that would mean I'd lose the financial ability for me to go through with the surgery. I previously lost the ability to control my life, which was God's job any way, though I wished it was mine. I'd like it if he could sometime show me the whole picture instead of just pieces of the puzzle. I don't like putting my life on hold so I can analyze one piece. I'm a busy body, I need to keep moving. If I stop I break down, and its bad.

I used to have anxiety attacks at least two to three times a week at school. Some people said maybe I needed to quit, or that I needed to read the Bible more, or that I just wasn't trusting. These things take time, which unfortunately I have less patience on myself than I do on kids. My anxiety ended when I graduated and went to work. Now that my job is no longer a part of my life for longer than 5 months, it has returned stronger than ever.

There is the fear that paralyzes you with every "worst case scenario" that doctors give you. The fear that is caused by the unknown, creates doubt and sickness in the hopes and dreams that have been created previously. Evidently, these all turn to darkness so the only-thing one feels is the anxiety and the lack of hope that anything will be right again.

Questions I have had in my mind: How is this going to help my future goal? Will my job sack me? Will they wish to move me to another location? Do they like me? Will they trust me for what I have to say? Is my dream valid for what God wants me to do? Will I be able to change it if it is not his desire for me to have this goal? What is his desire for my life? And how can I do my best with what I've been given... esp. when I feel like I've been given nothing? Do I trust you to protect me when I am afraid? How can I when I don’t even remember certain things, or you are not here?

I’m currently on Percocet which apparently changes the mood of who you are. I was finally at peace when I was taking between 8-10 a day. Now, I take 4-8 a day depending on how much pain I feel. I've also noticed it helps calm my nerves. Counterproductive when attempting to safely get off of it. So my desire is to effectively get off of it and not be in a constant state of panic. This is what paralyzes me.

I don't know how to explain it, but I am unable to provide a constant state of peaceful relaxation with the events that have occurred. The fact that I am unsure of where I will be going in a year creates the challenges of the unknown. My friends will be leaving in May and that creates an even greater stressor. So what do I decide to do? Move.

The hope of purchasing a home was fulfilled. I'm currently in the process of closing on a home that is further away from the school and the people that I am used to seeing on a regular basis. The thing I fear with this endeavor is being cut off from people; being alone. I've never liked being on my own, but I've been able to learn how to be independent due to how I've grown up. The part of where I am in my life makes me nervous of what I should become. So this is who I am an overwhelmed unsure person who doesn't know the direction they need to go. Yeah.

Mary-go-round pt 1

This is a part of the stuff, which is unable to be discussed in my brain in a coherent monologue.

You have this control over me

Unsure where to stand unwavering

Knowing my heart to a T

You are there comforting

Never afraid of you

But fear of being with out you

When I am alone I'm falling 

With you here I have no doubt

The fear I feel inside

Creates the dynamic to hide

You are the anchor to me

And you bind my soul to thee

I was fine in this life

Till uprooted through strife

This change in consistency

Has turned into a panic frenzy

No longer aware

Of who I am, what I’ll be

Unsure of where I stand

To whom I run, or what to see

I cannot be me

I cannot be three

There is a middle

In which I’ve not found

No fiddle

That makes a happy sound

I’ve turned gray and ashy

Cold inside

The only way I’m not crappy

Is when you’re by my side

I don’t know what to do

I just find the hope I need in you

Am I too demanding?

Do I need a change of plan?

You’re so amazing.

Afraid to take your hand

Unsure of if it’s right

Unknown about this flight

I want to travel the world with you

Having no fear about where we’d go

Just peace between us two

Unafraid of what we don’t know

I know of this one thing

You are my freedom

In this troubling

If you wish to come with me

To free us from the misery

You may want to consider this one thing

Before you decide,

Deal with the suffering

Of which you wish to hide

Till then we should break our stride

So we can recover our cherished find.

The Three Wars.

My thoughts and desires to be said would be a cancerous disease spreading as wildfire across the fields dry from drought. No one can ever express the passion or love felt between two people, who have the honest integrity of a loving father. This type of sacrificial love comes not from the lustful desires between humans but one thought through planned beauty.

There are no explanations for the actions that I’ve done and no honesty among them. What I feel and desire would not be one of honest integrity or of hopeful plans.  The things I’ve felt and heard would be unwise to mention in such a free setting as this.

I do not know who I am, nor do those around me. I portray myself as one for a blip moment in time and the next day I’d be spouting sonnets of praise to the heavens. No one would ever suspect that what lies underneath could devour a soul, or two.

The gasps from inside unleash only but a few times. What should have been destroyed forever now has the freedom to roam, wildly consuming all beauty among the already laid ashes. The terrifying beast with in craves to devour even the dust of beauty.

And beauty is only to be protected by the frontward portrayal of love. Maybe love has never been the center maybe it does not know its place among the thorns. Or it knows its place and yet protects only the smallest healthiest seed of hope which will never be found by the beast.

The hornet, which antagonizes both, decides to follow suit of its self, ignoring all other ambitious plans targeting the smallest sector of passion creating an onset of wild flowers blooming across the otherwise barren land. No one would have guessed the pop ups of the crazed blooms. Though pretty and misleading as they were, they could never have amounted to the baby seed that was being protected by the true and honest love.

What then is it, is it honesty, purity, hope, desire, passion, lusts, fury, frost bitten hearts that continue our journey of discovery? Or is it the true love that is only revealed by the protector of our beings keeping the greatest blip of purity protected?

This is what my daily life is like, complex thoughts, hopes and dreams of maybe understanding the greater plan of the world. Maybe I understand it, but do not always succeed in it because the hornet or the beast becomes the distraction of my day. Maybe when the protector puts them to death, maybe then will I be able to truly live, fulfilling my duty as an individual with integrity and with excellence.  

Adumbration

I can’t help but find

That in this broken time

I am no longer in a bind

Because I’m a mime

But scrambled up in my mind

Are the consequences of mine

When feelings cannot unwind

My thoughts and emotions

Are creating commotion

When the notions aren’t in motion

Therefore I have an aberration

The path that I’ve have walked

Leads not to what I’ve thought

This is why I’m blocked

And in that I fought

This dreaded adumbration I’ve made up.

I no longer live a life of passion

Only steady in the stagnant waters

I await a course for direction

In which there are no barters

Maybe this avulsion is necessary

Because I make decisions of arbitrary.

Maybe I hastened momentarily

Forgetting my responsibility

He needed to wake me up

Stir me from my slumber

Distract me from my cup

Pour me a new fiber

The fibrous masses around my bones

That removes all the stones

In which I am able to realize I’m home

Maybe the broken tissue inside of me

Is my relationship with the father and me

No longer discussing decisions over tea

But silently hating each other, being bitter indeed

Prolly because he’s bothering me

The hope I had of the future is changing

I don’t know what’s to come

I had a dream that was ragging

I thought it was your wisdom

But it could be my path unwinding

You’re much wiser than I

But I feel distant lacking tie

Beneath the skies

You try and whisper but I just want a flashing sign

Impatient frustrated and exhausted

I’m terrified of what the future might hold

Unwilling to hear of the hope you told

No longer to keep my feet in this mold

I cannot hear but wish to know

Where do I go from here?

So now you know the fear

Of which I tow

To you’re feet

Where I lay them at

…

Now what? Where do I go? Please give me peace in the process.

...

 Written by: Christine Hake

Logistical Lingering of Life

There are discontents in my life. Complications I thought I dealt with, that keep reappearing and stabbing me in the sides. I don't know what the next steps are.

People ask me to complete tasks of which I don't know the steps to. When I find time to locate them I don't have time to finish them. Is this what adult life is, finding tasks and not completing them? Is it when we know how to balance life and friends?

I have a confession/concern. What does it mean if I cheated my way through life, back stabbing all that I knew and befriended? Sure I sit, I listen, I understand, but when it comes down to it do I really care or am I apathetic toward those who put their life on the line for me? Which is a very small amount of people. Is it all an act to me, or do i very much desire their friendship?

People say, "What do you have to complain about?, You have a job, you pay your bills..." the list goes on. But what they don't fully understand is what that means. That means I need to keep track of all the bills, food, utilities, rent, animals (if I ever get one), medical nonsense, oh and like 80 other things. Not to mention the job that I do is not an easy one. It is hard and people trigger you every day and bring up things that you've thought you dealt with, but almost lost your cool because the kid touched you in one specific way.  My job is triggering not only for the kids but for the staff. It doesn't pay well, and I am supposed to run a home with that money, it is not easy.

If you want to attempt to buy a home well that's extra time away from doing FUN things, there is only so much time that can be taken as fun time for trying to buy a home. It would be nice though just to settle for something awful and make it grand later. Then that would go is it a bad investment? Did I loose my money? Can I find a roommate? How am I gonna pay my bills? What if I loose my job? What will my family think?

My family is like, it would be good for you to gain the experience, it would be beneficial if you were to fulfill the needs of your bills and such... But I don't pay water sewer garbage, its a collective sum that is separated when you own a home. Then there are taxes and other such ridicule which you get back in your tax return, which is going to be a heinous task.

So sure, yes I make some sorta something, I pay the things I need too, and am struggling with saving funds like all college people go through, but I want to do something fun to celebrate this year of "freedom" but we will see what happens next May 13th... Who knows the world might end in my mind.

The only person who knows the time and place of the world ending is God. I'm gonna be honest, my life is overwhelming though when the feat is completed I am sure that I will be in a more stable place to handle everything.

Normality with Sugar on Top

Every once in a while there are these days, they are the days that every one hates. The days that are dreaded by all. Well, sometimes they are these days and others are more neutral. Then there are those days that every thing is going perfect and four people end up having incidences.

Some times those days are considered the days that are hated by most. See those days are the days when everything was perfect and unfortunately it ends terribly. Well, that was the outlook of this day.

Rarely am I sent to another area of work; I'm normally with the average 6-10 year old kid. What they don't tell us is... "You are going to deal with the kids that are the most traumatized." ... How are they traumatized?... "Its better if you don't know"... excuse me?... "just go figure it out"...

I got to be honest, I do NOT always know what to expect on my every day. How many kids will blow out, etcetera, all I know is that I am here working, understanding that I am here for the protection of others and the support of the staff. I don't have any idea how well I do or why I do some of the things I do. I just do.

I normally am standing there watching the parameters around a room and the other staff and kids to see how everyone is doing. Im like a reader, of personalities, thoughts, fears, annoyance, anxiety, and whatever other emotion that is normally presented in a physical manner. Kids, well they do not always understand their emotions or why they even have them. The other part of my job is helping them perceive the ideas behind the emotion they present.

Today, was a normal day. Nothing out of the ordinary. I just float around to give what assistance staff need at the time of moment and fly back to where I was. I get to meet more people and interact with more youth than I know what to do with. "normally" that would be fine. But today, its like everything was fine in the mornings and boom. The evenings exploded like it was the fourth of July, but on fire.

I am unclear, however, when I am supposed to intervene or what. Though, I can say what exploded in the evening would also be covered in the later night. See, when kids explode normally they tend to wine or complain, and maybe, just maybe, if it got intense enough they would kick and scream on the floor. (The family that I came from would not have tolerated it. How can I?) Simple, their lives were significantly different than that of normality.
"What is normal? What are cows?"-normality restored....
These kids scale walls for fun. They jump on tables, swear at you, and hate you all with in 10 minutes. What I think amazes me most is that these kids are some of the most brilliant incredible kids that you could ever choose to love.

A kid tonight after an ordeal came up to me and started talking to me about their feelings. I'm not going to share everything, but the individual said they didn't believe in me when they were mad. Then, after everything calmed down, we went to the room got ready for bed and I read. Goosebumps. Yes a bed time treat for any kid that age. Afterwards the individual decided to pinky (Like a pinky promise) saying that they believed in me. They also said they didn't want me to leave, and that they would hold my pinky until the person who was to switch me out came.

The dramatic switch in this kid was beautiful. The individual asked me to draw my hand so that they could hold my pinky until I came back to work on wed. So, I tucked the child in bed said good night, and left with them still holding my pinky. Nights like this make me want to go to work.

Becoming an Adult

Most people say that becoming an adult is more than just an age thing and that it has a lot to do with responsibility. Still many are unclear on what it means to be an adult.
Is it going to work every day?
Is it going to school?
Is it when we get married?
Is it how we dress
Is it the bills?
Is it how we present ourselves to others?

Oxfords Definition:
adult |əˈdəlt; ˈadˌəlt|noun- a person who is fully grown or developed : children should be accompanied by an adult. A fully developed animal. Law a person who has reached the age of majority. adjective- (of a person or animal) fully grown or developed : the adult inhabitants ofthe U.S.     emotionally and mentally mature : an effort to be adult and civilized.    So a person who is fully grown would be age 25. This is when brains and eyes have fully developed. Is this what it means to be fully grown? Or is it a combination. A person who has reached adulthood when they are mature physically, mentally, or emotionally. Ok so when I was 15 years old, 10 years ago, people said I was mature for my age. Did that mean that I understood how to appropriately act among others in a way that appeared to be better than others? I was not as mature as I am now, but now it seems that my maturity has turned into an understanding of a lack of fun, but some Adults have fun, others become destroyed by their continuous business and tiredness. MY definition of an adult, is one who can hold their own and understand what their boundaries are in being independent versus in community. I feel like an adult, I did at the beginning of this year and even more so finishing up the school year. In June I will be moving from my home, starting a career, coming home from Costa Rica, and who knows what else. God has blessed me with abundance through out my years at Multnomah and I am happy to announce that I have finished. I am officially done with my Bachelors, though I could have finished better, what matters is I finished, God provided me a job, and a group of friends that I couldn't even ask for. I have been blessed with what I've gotten and given. The next two years I am happy to say that I have become an adult, through perseverance and pursuit of the greatest thing ever, God and Independence within community. I have learned what it is like to be an adult, pay the bills, rent a property,  do well even though I felt like giving up and pursuing greatness when all hope seems lost. 

God, Thank you for allowing me to finish. Thank you for providing for my every need; even though I've been cranky unwilling and a pain in your butt many times. You've helped me to do well in my life. You've given me a reason to live. You've given me my friends, my family and my job. I pray that you continue to pursue me though sometimes I may fail, that you will continue to be my aid in my human existence though my desire is to give up.  Thank you for being there even when I wanted to throw in my towel. I love you. Thank You my friends who have always told me to continue trying in what I do. For telling me to sleep when I needed it, and for always supporting me in my endeavors. You are all awesome and I love you too. Thank you my family for supporting me financially and helping me with school last minute. Hopefully I can repay you some day... 

All of you have influenced who I have become as an adult. Becoming an adult is a never ending process in which the adventures will still be taking place and the tidal waves will still come in. 

Graduation

Graduation... An overwhelming thought for most, now consumes my thoughts and concerns. I know that I will be protected and provided for. Is life sometimes stressful, well of course. If we think about it with out stress we can never really know peace. In the peace that I understand there is an abundance of hope for whatever lies before me.

What lies beyond graduation? I have no idea. There is so much going on between now and when I am finished I am so excited for. Is it work? DUH, if it wasn't I would not grow from it. That is why I am so excited for what lies before. I have no idea, it is excitement that I can say I am looking forward to. 

About three years ago I wanted to know everything about my future, who I was going to marry, what I was going to do after I finish my education, and who I was going to be afterwards. But you know I'm OK with not knowing. I've realized that this year God has provided for me in ways I could not even imagine and I am content with accepting the fact that I am just going to be surprised about things and I'm stoked. 

I just had an interview Monday for a position that I would love to do. The second interview took place on Friday. I know if I don't get it, there will be something greater out there for me to do. How do I continue on throughout my life? Excitement, in whatever may befall, and that is so exciting for me, that I cannot even imagine what might God has in store for me. I'm excited....

Please let me get the job, I want to love these kids. 

<3 C.

Tidal Waves

There are points in our lives when we do not know where we will go or how we will get there. When we are swept away by a wave or two in our lives, it is important that we find things that are enjoyable about the ride.  We might not have control over every aspect of the journey and sometimes we might feel like we are drowning. The goal then is to find something stronger that can be used to keep us afloat. Not everything is easy, nor should it be, but what is important is the journey to our destination.

Journeys are the most important part for building experience, which happens to be the most necessary thing for finding a job, living life and raising kids... someday. The more I personally find out about my life's experiences the more I understand what I am supposed to do in my life.

As I approach graduation, though stressful, I am learning that these experiences through the educational system encourages my process of recovery through the difficult swings of life, or the "tidal waves". I am still unclear what parts I need to focus on so I can actually ride the waves and not just attempt to stay afloat. What I know and understand about who I am, is that I need to apply the things I've learned in my life to the future events and trust solely on God as the foundations for my new beginnings. Change is always difficult, but when we can embrace the difficulties and hope for the best, that is when we can experience the most growth occurs, in who we are and who we will become.

I am not an expert on life or how to live it. I am simply a human being with challenges and difficulties, that lives life in a way that hopefully will be noted by others. I feel that sometimes I do things that are in revenge of what people say against me, but the action appears as taking initiative.

I am learning that through the difficulties I can be an individual of advocacy for others, who feel like they cannot speak up and are trapped in the daily routine of life. But in boundaries I understand the need for compassion and strictness, however unclear on how to balance them. These I am sure will become clearer as time continues and I mature in understanding and faith.

I sometimes fail in the area of faith, but am willing to undergo a routine change so that I can become more flourished in that. I wish sometimes it would be easier, but it isn't. We have to fight in life, fight the waters that attempt to drown us and enjoy the moments of peace that balance out the rest of our lives.

Change equals difficulties, difficulties equal experience, experience equals useful skills that help us through the roughest waters in our lives and many times they feel like tidal waves.

<3 Christine