Facing the Giants

I finally watched "Facing the Giants" last night. I know it has been out for a long while now, but I finally watched it and I must say, aside from the cheesy acting at times, it was a GREAT movie. It brought up quite a few points that I feel like I need to consider in my life. For those of you who haven't seen the movie or don't know what it's about; it's basically about facing your giants. It's about loving God no matter what. Loving and praising God in the good times and the bad times; whether you win or lose. At one point in the movie, a man is telling a story about 2 landowners who had been praying for rain because there had been a drought in the area for years. Here is the clip from the movie..I don't think I could do it justice...


That was such a great point to me because I think so many times we ask God for so many things that we aren't ready for and we don't even realize it. Whatever it may be, I think we all need to start preparing ourselves for it because I have learned that God has our best interest in mind and He is not going to give us something if our hearts aren't ready. Lots of times we agonize over handing something over to God because we think we can handle it better when often times, the minute we finally relinquish it all...that's when BIG things happen. I know it's a constant struggle of mine, but it's definitely something I'm working on.

Slumdog Millionaire

OMG!! I finally watched Slumdog Millionaire today and it was AWESOME!! I absolutely loved it!! Normally I don't go for the Oscar winning movies because to me, they just aren't that good, BUT...I REALLY liked this one. It starts off kinda slow, but if you give it a chance, I promise you will like it!

Love is patient...

After recently watching "Fireproof" (the movie), my mom purchased the book "The Love Dare" that was a huge part of the movie. I decided that I wanted to read it. Not because I am in a marriage that is crumbling to the ground, but to maybe give me a better understanding of love...true love. The way the book is laid out is it's a 40 day journey (or dare, if you will) and each day starts with teaching a characteristic about love, then at the end of that chapter it gives you a "dare", something to do for your spouse that relates to that characteristic of love. I haven't finished the book yet, but I wanted to share some things that have really jumped out at the me and have spoken to me already.

The very first day is about patience. I was actually really excited to read this chapter because those of you who know me well, know that I have little-to-NO patience! It's something I have always strived to have more of, but I have never really seemed to grasp it. In this book, it tells us that love will inspire us to become patient people. It says that rather than being restless and demanding, love helps you settle down....it brings an internal calm to an external storm. The book said something though that really hit home for me and you can apply it not only to a marriage, but to any relationship you have. It says,

"Patience gives your spouse permission to be human. It understands that everyone fails. When a mistake is made, it chooses to give them more time than they deserve to correct it. It gives you the ability to hold on during the tough times in your relationship rather than bailing out under pressure."

This, to me not only is a great definition of patience, but of forgiveness and grace as well. We are human, we are going to make mistakes. I have learned that when you truly love someone (the kind of love that ONLY comes from God), you are able to forgive someone that seems unforgivable and are able to extend grace (and mercy) to people that don't deserve it. The reason we are able to do that is because we have Christ in us and that is the ONLY way we are able to do it. Without Him, it's impossible, but with Him, ALL things are possible. Just through reading the first few chapters of this book, I am learning more about how TRUE love only comes from God. There are other types of love (which I will write about later), but those types of love will quickly fade in time, but true, agape love which comes from Jesus in us, NEVER fails.

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4:2

Dacy's Baby Shower and Auburn Road

I just realized that I haven't posted anything in a while...so I guess it's time to give a little update on what's going on in the life of Amy. The end of this week was eventful. Let me start off with my job. I am still on dreaded orientation, but starting next week (or the next) I will be transitioning onto the floor with my nurse preceptor. I actually got to spend Thursday with a nurse on the floor b/c my nurse educator was out that day and I loved it! It was a bit overwhelming at first b/c I realized that I have A LOT to learn, but at the same time I realized that I am really going to LOVE this! This is definitely what God wants me to do WITHOUT a doubt and it's SO comforting when you know you are in the center of God's wonderful will for your life. We had 2 patients that day (which is the norm) and I was thinking that I wouldn't have the chance to see either of them deliver before I left at 3, but luckily one of them delivered at 1:45!! I just love the whole process of watching a child being born. Not only do you witness life coming into the world, but you get to see the reactions of the emotional mother and proud daddy. Sometimes they cry b/c they have so much joy and then sometimes they just sit and smile in utter awe at what the Lord has given them. I love watching the moment when they FIRST lay eyes on their child. With every delivery I have seen thus far (not that many, but enough), there is not one that doesn't get me right in the center of my chest and send a chill down my spine. THAT'S how I know this is what God wants me to do. Because not only am I caring for and helping people in such a wonderful yet scary time in their life, but I get joy from it too! WOW! How amazing is that?! And then after all the hustle and bustle of getting the baby dried off and warmed up and the doctor has finished all his business, the lights get turned down, mom finally gets her baby and they just get to spend some sweet time together before the baby has to go to the nursery. So..that's my work story.

Friday night I went to see "Taken" with Josh, Dacy and Rob and let me say it was GREAT! I recommend it to anyone! It's one of those "edge of your seat" type of movies...action, suspense, emotion all rolled into one.


Saturday was Dacy's baby shower in Auburn. Let me just start by saying that EVERYONE is getting married or having babies!! I can't believe my Dacy is having a little Dacy of her own!! It was SO much fun to go to this shower b/c I got to see all the same sweet ladies that I met at a wedding shower of hers before her and Rob got married. It was kinda neat and nostalgic. I cannot wait to meet little DC and be apart of her life! Here are some pics from the day.

Me and Dacy

The Proud Parents

The Rubios--love them!

The 2 Pregnant girls..due 1 week apart!


Also went to see my buddies Auburn Road Saturday night at Fat Daddy's. Here are some pics from that too.

The guys

Me and Josh

Me, Kelly and Liz

Love this one of Josh!

Well, that pretty much concludes my weekend. Sorry for the long post!

Enjoying my free time and learning a lesson or two..

I started my new job December 8th working at a dialysis clinic. Over the past month I have gone through alot of basic training about dialysis. It is a very specialized area and I have realized that I have tons to learn. BUT the good thing about me taking this job so close to the holidays is that I have had pretty good hours and a good bit of free time to just relax, enjoy the holidays and just have some ME time. I realized that I love to read but never seem to be able to find the time to. So during this time I decided to read the Twlight Series.

I had been hearing about the Twilight series obivously because of the movie, but I had a few friends tell me that it was AWESOME. I ABSOLUTELY loved it! I started reading it and couldn't put it down! I finished the WHOLE series in about a week or week and a half (and these are not thin books!).I even got my mom reading them as well! I highly recommend it to anyone simply searching for a good read.

Yesterday I went to see "Yes Man" with Jim Carrey. If anyone has seen it, I think they will

agree that it has different levels of meaning. This movie is basically about a guy who is lonely, sulking over his divorce and doesn't want to make any commitments to people. He is scared that if he makes himself vulnerable/available people won't like what they see. So he attends this seminar in which he makes a promise to say "yes" to everything. This in turn, leads him on a whirlwind of an adventure meeting people, doing things, opening doors that otherwise wouldn't have been opened if he hadn't said "yes". That's basically the jist of the story, I won't go into any details in case you want to see the movie for yourself. After seeing this movie, I got to thinking on more of a spiritual level. How God sometimes opens doors that we aren't even aware of, it is just our choice to choose to go through the opened door or to shut it. Say someone invites you to go somewhere and you simply deny the invitation because "you don't feel good" or "you are busy" (when really you aren't); although it just seems like a normal activity to go hang out or do something. It may be God's way of opening a door and you didn't even realize it! I can't think of how many times I have done this. I could be missing out on an opportunity to be blessed and I simply said "I'm too busy". WOW! It just really hit home with me. Not that I will say "yes" to everything, but that I will be more open to other possibilities.