Living Sacrifice

Thursday, June 16, 2005

well, I just wanted to post one more time before I leave for vacation. I'm super excited, but a little nervous just about being away for 2 1/2 weeks and all that. I know there are going to be certain aspects about the trip that are going to make it difficult for me. If you are a person that likes to pray for people, if you think of it, please pray for me while I am away, that I will stay strong not in my own strength, but in His strength, and that I will be kept safe and will use this time to draw nearer to Him.

I'll hopefully have some beautiful pictures and great stories when I come back!!!

Off I go....... :)

Friday, June 10, 2005

Well, I thought I would post before my internet service is disconnected. It's supposed to go out sometime today, and then I'll be internet-less for a month and a half. Wow.

Anyway, life is full of planning for vacation right now. If I have my head in the right place, I think this might end up being the coolest vacation I have ever taken. I'm really starting to get excited about it. I will be spending a week and a half with my parents and little sis in California, and then I will have a week to myself to explore the Northwest US. I placed my itinerary at the bottom of the post. If you want more details, I have addresses and phone numbers of the places I will be staying when I am on my own.

I really feel like I have become somewhat dead in my life. I feel very distant from God, I find it hard to pray and focus, I find my thoughts being where they shouldn't, and I just feel like I am walking through the motions of life and not really experiencing anything. I don't feel like I am making memories. But anyway, I don't expect a vacation to fix this, but I do feel like this vacation was a blessing from God as His way of saying "Look how much I love you....enough to give you the vacation you've always wanted." I think I posted about the little story of when I found out I was going out West. God does love me that much.....but that's easy to say but much harder to believe and understand. Anyway, I just hope that I don't let this opportunity of enjoying God's creation pass me by because of all the crap I let get in the way of my relationship with God. I hope it can be a time of running back to Him.

I am also excited about a new camera I will be receiving from Spencer and Jason in the very near future for a graduation present! Spen showed me pictures of it.....it looks AWESOME!! I can't wait to use it on the trip, and that hopefully means many more pictures on my blog! :)

Anyway, life is not necessarily bad right now....just kind of lacking. The readings in the mornings with Spen at Glenn and Cathy's have helped remind me that the first thing I do when I wake up should be to focus on God. I think it's made a difference in my days. Maybe it's the first step in becoming alive again in Christ, because I'm tired of feeling like the living dead.


KIM'S VACATION ITINERARY:

June 16th: leave Columbus, Ohio for Los Angeles, California; stay in Marina Del Ray for 2 nights

June 18th: Morro Bay

June 19th: San Francisco for 2 nights

June 21st: Not sure...need to ask my mom about this. She left out the 21st on the list

June 22nd: Yosemite National Park for 2 nights

June 24th: Lake Tahoe for 2 nights

June 26th: Parents and Lace fly back, I drive to Crater Lake, Oregon

June 27th: Mt. Saint Helens

June 28th: Seattle, Washington

June 29th: Camping at Wilderness Gateway in Idaho

June 30th: Yellowstone National Park, 2 nights

July 2nd: Denver, Colorado

July 3rd: Fly back to Columbus, Ohio from Denver

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Well, I don't know if he ever reads this, but today (well, technically yesterday) is Micah Gangwer's birthday, just so everyone knows. :) Happy Birthday Micah!!!

And my lifes goes on. I've been experiencing many things lately, some good, and not really good at all, and I'm just trying to figure things out. I'm at a point in my life where things can be very exciting, but very depressing as well. So, I'm learning how to work with that and keep pressing on. Thank God for mercy and grace over me.

Out of all the things lately, I think something that is worth mentioning is an idea (or really, just a reminder) of just plain old taking the first step to start a conversation with someone. I realized that over the past couple years, I have become so involved in my own world that I am literally always thinking about me in situations rather than other people and what I can do for them. But anyway....I went into Jimmy Johns the other day, and most of the time, I think we just walk through the motions of life and forget we are dealing with other people who have lives and emotions. What happened was so simple, but so significant. The employee waiting on me simply asked about my name tag.....asking where I worked (because my name tag says "Great Escape" instead of Princess 4). And just because of that simple question, we were able to have a conversation, and I think we both left the conversation with our day a bit brighter. And I thought "wow....such a simple concept....to merely show interest in someone else's life." So, I want to start working on that....reaching out to people by asking simple questions or just showing interest in something small. It's a great way to connect to people and let them know you care. And I know this all sounds so simple, but honestly, I've allowed myself to forget a lot of simple things in life. In the end, though, it really is all very simple. It comes down to one word: love.

Saturday, June 04, 2005

Well, I got to see Batman Begins at a business somewhere off of route 4 in Cinci....it's a booking business for movies, and they have their own personal theater. It was pretty sweet.....those were the most comfortable movie chairs I have ever sat in. Anyway, I don't want to give away any of the movie, but I will tell you that it was AWESOME! I mean, I also don't want to get people all stoked up and then be disappointed. Keep in mind that everything said about movies is opinion and relative to each person. So, with that being said, I thought it was excellent and that Christian Bale made an excellent Batman (although I still think of Little Women every time I see him....lol). Anyway, I would recommend seeing it when it comes out on June 15th. But I don't know if I would recommend it for kids.....it's pretty dark for children, unless they like that kind of thing. Oh, and if you want to know more details, just ask in person, so I don't give any details on here that people don't want to know before seeing it.