To the class that snuck up and stole my heart.

Wow. I'm writing this just a few hours after the class of 2017 has graduated and all I have to say is wow. These people are people that I've seen almost everyday for at least 3 years. I thought they would be the class that wouldn't affect me;however, they have done quite the opposite.
The class of 2016 was obviously a really good class in all versions of the word. I never thought that I would miss another class as much as them. As usual, I was wrong.(it seems to become a trend now.) The first day this year I was hanging out with Tony before school, having lunch with Courtney in William's room, and practicing soccer with Goggles. (For those of you who don't know, Goggles is actually Andrew Kristofferson,but he always wears sports goggles, so that's where the nickname came from.) I came into to the year thinking that Becca would be my only attachment. As time went on events happened, and I ended up confiding in some of the seniors. When Cortez got arrested, Tony and I talked about it a lot, and it still comes up every once in a while now. When my grandma was first diagnosed with cancer this fall, one of the first people I talked to about it was Courtney. As the time grew so did the relationships and the levels of trust. I can honestly say that there are very few things that I would not tell to any of my now graduated friends. It's kinda funny how fast something can become normal, like Courtney and Tony's relationship, or my routine with seniors. I'm going to miss seeing them everyday. Whether it's not hanging with Tony before school, not messing with Kayla and Courtney during 3rd hour, not asking Mak how she is or if she's okay during lunch, or even just listening to Leia complain about something during yearbook, everyday is going to seem a little empty now. All of those will be memories that I hope to not forget anytime soon. While I might have wished to leave somethings on better terms with at least one of you, I am ready. I am ready to see what you accomplish outside of MHS. I have a feeling great things will come from the class of 17, and I am ready to see them happen. And if anything happens and you need someone to talk to, or even to just listen, I will be open and available to you just like you were to me. Love you/ Miss you/ Don't be a stranger/any other ending you think fits here!

The timing of God

God's timing is astounding. Yes I might have been raised in a almost always late family, yes I might always want to get to stuff early, but his timing is perfect. I will provide you a couple of examples from tonight.  I am writing this on the way back from Winter Jam. (For those of you who don't know,  Winter Jam is a concert with multiple Christian artist.) Since late September my grandma has been diagnosed with stage four cancer of 3 different types. She was given 6 to 12 months to live. She is approaching her last semi-guaranteed month, with that being February. During the Tenth Avenue North segment of the concert, they started to tell a story. Their guitar player has a sister that had gotten diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, so they wrote the song "I have hope" for her during her year of intense chemotherapy. Well the studio had told them that it needed to be on the next album, and the sister decided to go to the studios with them. While they were recording the sister got a text from the hospital. She was officially announced "in remission".  This path month I've been slowly preparing myself for my grandma's death. When you are prepared it doesn't affect you as much. This story just showed that February might not be the end. God is still in the miracle business, and I just have to trust him. Needless to say I (who doesn't go to tears super often) was starting to tear up during this song, which along with my other thing that I will say in a couple of sentences, was what I needed to hear.
   My next example also comes from Winter Jam, but starts a few days before. I was taking a look at my life and the world around me, and I realized something very ironic. My best friend Becca (who you should check out her YouTube channel, Turtles and Jesus.) has almost everything I wanted from life right now. She had a job at a radio station, she knew what she was going to do with her life, she had a boyfriend that they both could see each other getting married to (that kinda scared me a little bit, so I'm glad I'm not Ben.), she had a car, her parents would pay for her insurance, she had her drivers license... and the list just goes on and on. So I had started getting jealous, started getting mad. I even over stepped my boundaries with the question of " Why not me God? Why does she get what I want?".  Little did I know that God was going to answer me tonight. Sadie Robertson( yes the girl from Duck Dynasty) took the stage with words that God needed her to speak. She brought up the story of David and Goliath first. Goliath had pretty much anything to almost make sure he would always be the champion of battle. He had lots of muscles, abnormal height, heavy protective armor, and a giant spear that could kill anyone. He comes David, this little old farm boy with no combat experience, no armor, and no really appreciated weapons. He told Saul " hey I can take care of this guy." I imagine Saul looked at him like he was crazy. Here was this silly little farm boy, who in no way matched up to Goliath at all, who said that he could take Goliath on a fight. Saul even asked him if he was sure. David answered that if God protected him from the bear, then God would protect him from Goliath. David (as far as we know) never complained, never asked God to change his circumstances with this fight, he just took his sling and stones, and did what God wanted him to. Needless to say he won. He didn't focus on what Goliath had, he focused on what he had. That's what I need to do. I need to stop looking at everyone else's stuff, and start looking at what I have.  So yeah, God's timing is perfect.

One of the greatest gifts: the smile :)

So often we have gifts from God that we don't even recognize, breathe, the ability to speak and think, and smiles. We take some of these things for granted so much, we forget about them. Ever look at a regular picture? The chances are that there is at least one smiling person. A lot of people go around smiling without even really knowing that they are doing it. Smiling can start conversations, and is one of the best ways to start to tell how someone is feeling at a given moment. Most of all though, is the pure joy it can radiate. For instance, I did something nice that was unexpected and as soon as the person found  what it was, they started smiling cheek to cheek. (God has a really good sense of timing too, but that's for another story.) That gave me one of the warmest feeling I have had in a while. It showed that if you try to make the world a better place one act at a time, it will work. It felt amazing knowing that I could have started that much happiness. They say that smiles and happiness are contagious, and they aren't wrong. One smile can lead to two, or three. Those two or three can lead to more... So always try to keep smiling, because it can start so.e great things