Today's Grab Bag of Thoughts

 I will admit that since I turned 18 years only I have only actually voted once.  Yes, you read that correctly once.  Believe me when I say I have already heard every one of the reasons I should vote and how "awful" I was for not voting.  Or how my ancestors...  Yes, I understand all that but in my heart I believe (and still sort of believe) that in reality my vote does not matter.  I figured that as long as I don't complain about politics then I was OK not voting.  I mean IF I didn't vote and complained about how things were run, then I'd be CRAZY right? I still do not understand why we have the whole electoral college.  I want them to count every single vote in the USA equally, but that is not what happens... " when a person casts a vote in the general election, they're not really voting directly for an individual ticket. They're voting for something called  Electors , and whichever ticket gets the most votes in a state then gets that state

Recently I read an excerpt from a new book by Lysa TerKeurst tilted " Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely " that really hit me.  Maybe not a message specifically directed to me, but I could relate and know many people who feel unloved, left out and lonely.  We all have those days when we feel amazing and not amazing and that is normal.  Ever been uninvited somewhere?  Shunned?  Lost friends because of gossip or a poor decision?  Been a bitch? Yes, just wrote that we are all grown ups here.  :-)  What if your self-worth depended on what others think of you (or what you think they think of you)??? As I continued to read, I started to think about the world we live in and how sometimes it can be extremely unfriendly, as can we all.  Everyday someone is hurt by someone else. Sometimes it shows on the outside, but most often it is hidden deep inside,  Sometimes it is on purpose, but a lot of times we let out our thought of ourselves get in th

These will seem like the hardest years of your life, and well they might very well be but you will get through them.  My heart sends these words to you:  You are cherished and not a mistake.  Regardless of how you are treated, what lies are told to you or about you.  No matter the mistakes you’ve made or how bad your past has been.  Your past is not your present. Your past is not your present even though you might believe that it is. Who you were and what you might have done does not necessarily equate to who you are now or who you can be.  God has a plan for you.  Life can be “bad” but God is ALWAYS good.  Every day is a new chance to get life right.  God made you for a purpose. You are unique:   There is no one on earth that can ever compare to you.  Never compare yourself to another person.  Never compare your messy insides to other people’s cleaned up outsides. You are loved for you, not who you think you need to be. You have a destiny:  As I’ve said, God created you for

As I sit here looking out on the dark ocean and the boats bobbing on the water in front of me, my mind is running wild.  I want something so bad and it is actually obtainable, but some what tainted.  I want the A version and I am being offered the B version.  I know the price I am willing to pay, but it seems to have strings attached that I didn't ask for.  It is sort of a dream come true, and a heart ache too. I want to say forget it, but I can't.  I want to detach myself from it's hold on me but I can't.  I want to tell the world of the options I got, but I also don't want anyone to tell me about other options.  Being alone here and being able to search my heart and mind have been great, but sometimes you can hear who is who and you just want to go go go. I'm sure that as I stay in this place longer the path I should take will reveal itself to me, but right now the options look scary and grim.  I know what I want, but don't know how to get it.

Just a Super Handy List of All Free Museum Days in Los Angeles (thanks We :-) Like LA ) Museums in Los Angeles That Are Always Free Annenberg Space for Photography Armory Center for the Arts Automobile Driving Museum  (technically free, though they will solicit a $5 donation) California African American Museum California Science Center Chinese American Museum Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum ESMoA FIDM Museum & Galleries Fowler Museum at UCLA Getty Villa Griffith Observatory Hammer Museum at UCLA J. Paul Getty Museum LAFD Museum in Hollywood (open only Saturdays 10am-4pm) LA Plaza de Culture y Artes LAX Flight Path Learning Center Los Angeles County Museum of Art (free after 3pm on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri if you’re an L.A. County resident) Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust Madrona Marsh Preserve Nethercutt Museum Santa Monica Museum of Art ($5 suggested donation) Torrance Art Museum Travel Town Museum UCLA Meteorite Gallery USC Fisher Museum of Art Val

This weekend I spent Friday through Sunday in the mountains of creatline with hundreds of sisters in Christ. Thousand Pines Christian Camp brought us all together to discover and discuss the Art of Balance, life with Jesus in an unbalanced world. Matthew 6:25-34.  The air was crisp, clear and so fresh as I start my Saturday walking through the pines and singing a praise song on my way to breakfast, when I realized I was starting to get a headache. No biggie, normally so I just try to put this behind me.  I ate, drank coffee and kept going.   As the day progressed, I kept going with the activities: chapel, off roading, archery, a nap in the sun and great conversation with old friends.  Though I continued through the day, I was not only pushing my headache aside I was pushing my fears and current "issues" aside in the effort to focus on God and what he wants to show me.  Every hour crept by and every hour the headache was getting worse. By dinner time, I could tell this wasn

I'm not a psychiatrist, nor do I play one on TV, but I am very certain that when a teenager is struggling with his emotions you don't play the I'm gonna be an asshole game and point out the raw obvious facts of his actions.  His girlfriend is in the hospital and the Drs have still having a hard time figuring out all that is wrong with her. His mother, who is now dead, had a lot of dr uncertainty around her illness and how to help her.  His new mom if suffering on the outside from some unknown illness and he's worried about her too   You don't look at this kid and say "Does your hurting and depression help her get better?" You don't tell him that "other student learning is being impaired by his sadness" and you sure as heck don't make a 14 yr old boy do breathing games if they don't help him.  Hard love doesn't work on this type of kid. But hey what do I know....I'm not a psychiatrist...I'm only his mom.  Why not just ask s