Altered Perspectives

Ever look at something one way for a really long time? Like not just a few hours but years and years and then just one day your perspective changes and your views are altered forever? And you know it's never just on that one thing. No everything that's connected to your first idea also now must be reexamined. It's almost like now you're double checking yourself. I know that I often think, "How did I miss that? What else can I see here?" And I don't just mean things that I'm actually physically looking at like a shirt that looks good in the store but when you get home it's herendous. No, more I mean life expectations. Or chances that we take. Or plans that we make. And the craziest thing is that just the smallest thing can alter one's perspective forever. It only takes a minute to wreck a car but that experience can change the way you drive or look at cars forever. It only takes two people, a few words, and a piece of paper to get married (really if you think about it) but it can alter one's perspective on life forever. I don't know...I just guess that to me the human brain and just how we view ourselves and things around us and how our brain processes it all is amazing and truly we should be in awe of the creator of something so amazing.
There have been so many times in my life that my perspectives have been altered. I'm sure in smaller measures it's happening everyday all day long. But some major alterations occured on a few occasions that I thought I'd process out loud.
When I gave my life to Christ. My whole world view and purpose in life was changed forever. It was as if I was now walking around on my hands because my entire world, or what I knew as my world turned upside down.
When I graduated from high school. I don't know. Maybe it's just me but my graduation from high school was so much more altering than my graduation from college. Maybe because I truly felt like an adult leaving home and moving away.
When I moved to DC. Talk about culture shock and major adjustments on my world view.
When I connect with friends who become some of my best friends. That alteration broadens everything just because now I've added some of their thoughts and views into my life.
And finally (only in this post not in reality or my life) when I stepped out of 9-5 job (or acutally a 7:30-4:30 job) and joined missionary ranks altering so many perspectives forever.

by the way...the picture is just the close up shot of the side of an elephant

INFORMATION

At my ripe old age there are lots of things I've learned. And now I shall share a few of those things with thee.

Thee and the are not the same word.
Fire is hot.
When you see a dogs teeth, it's not smiling.
Just because you knock on a door doesn't mean anyone will open it.
God's in charge. That includes when you're driving, working, playing, even sleeping. Pretty much all the time God is in control.
Mud is gross and to avoided unless you pay lots of money and are in some fancy salon type place and sitting in what looks like a baby pool.
There are 5 NFL teams with Birds for mascots.
You just tried to figure out what the 5 mascots are.
If you were born before Jan 1990, you are now an adult.
When you're hungry, eat.
When you're thirsty, drink.
When you're tired, sleep.
Eat and sleep almost rhyme but then they don't.
This is the end of my post.

LOL

LQTMS- laugh quietly to myself
SGITUALIMM- so gross I threw up a little in my mouth
WASQ- what a stupid question
BFW- Bored from waiting

yes i wrote these
-Chandler

17 things you didn't know you didn't know

1. Money isn't made out of paper; it's made out of cotton.
2. The 57 on Heinz ketchup bottle represents the varieties of pickle the company once had.
3. Your stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two weeks -otherwise it will digest itself.
4. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
5. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
6. Every person has a unique tongue print.
7. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.
8. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor who had red eyes. He was albino.
9. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
10. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.
11. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.
12. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog.
13. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
14. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing
the shark to explode.
15. Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.
16. American Airlines saved $40,000 in '87 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class.
17. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

decisions

So I've been trying for sometime to figure out to blog some of my thoughts on the new year. And I guess the best thing to say is that there are lot of new decisions that need to be made. I don't think that most of us realize how many decisions we make daily. Which is probably a good thing that we don't realize it because they could drive us crazy. Like paper or plastic, should I drink milk or water, should I slow down or speed up, should I respond to that email now or in 5 mins, should I use this brush or this comb, should we go left or right. These kind of decisions are just ones that we make most of time by how we feel about them at the time. Which is good that we are all able to do that, otherwise we'd all go nuts.



But with all that said there are still a lot of choices in our lives that do in a way drive us crazy and we can't always just do what ever we feel. It's not a paper or plastic kind of decision. It's more of a life affecting choice. And there are more now than ever before. And I'm really not here to take a stance on what I think about all that and the number of choices we have today. Instead I'm just putting thoughts out there about my own personal journey down decision road. Covering all areas such as what's the next step perfessionally, what's the best choice health wise, what do I want to prioritize this year.

I guess mostly I'm just talking and putting out there my thoughts. I know that just in my group of closest friends, there are tons of decisions being made by each of them right now. And it's exciting and scarey as heck. But honestly...isn't wonderful that we have the freedom to even the choice to make those decisions?

And so I end with...
Good Luck on your decision making in 2007
Remember to Pray
And never be afaind to ask for help

The Small Things

So it really is the small things in life that can make you the happiest. Case in point. Over the holidays I went to Wal Mart with my mom and I bought brand new bath mats for our bath room at my house here. We haven't had brand new mats since I've lived here. They are so soft and clean. And when I was taking off the tags I noticed they still smelled of new rubber like a tire store which here's an odd fact about me...I LOVE NEW RUBBER SMELL. The point being that it's small things like a new mat that make me happy daily.

Denver Pictures as Promised

Here are some pics from Denver. These are my sisters two Labs: Bronson, the black one, and Freita, the blonde one. And that's my sister at the bottom. Hi Jenny!