God doesn't give you more than you can handle...

WOW. This has been quite a week . . .

This is going to be really long, but bare with me . . . you will learn a lot from it.

There are things that happen in my life that I just cannot understand, and do not know why they happen. But let me start off by saying... I love my life. I love my family. I love my friends. Most importantly, I love my LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Sunday morning I had the hardest time waking up for church. I don't know why . . . but Sundays are really hard to get up for, and it really is the best [and my favorite] day of the week. I go to church, we worship, receive amazing sermons/messages from Roger, Glenn, and Jack, and then take in God's love to improve our lives. It's just amazing.

Back to my story. This week, the sermon was about how we shouldn't mourn or have guilt about our past, and worry about the future. It's about living in today and living for God's glory. I am a WORRY WART. I worry about anything and everything. I started throwing those worries away and started living in today. It feels so great to have that lifted off my chest. Each and every day that my relationship strengthens with God I feel more and more rejuvenated and like a new person.

So . . . I left church with amazing thoughts and just felt like my life couldn't be better. Then, we see Tom, Allyson, and Ally's family. I tried saying hello to Ally and her family several times and no response . . . yet Rob and I had a coversation with Tom for nearly 30 minutes . . . it's so great to see he is doing better things with his life and seems really happy. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to see that. The unfortunate thing is that we had this wonderful sermon about forgetting about the past and living in God's glory today, and it was like as soon as that family hit those church doors and set into the world, they completely disregarded the message and I could just feel the hatred being portrayed toward me. I unfortunate and disappointing. My dad has always said, since I was little . . . pray for your enemies. Well, I will definitely be praying for that family. How sad... I hope one day, when I am 50 something years old, I am not standing on my church grounds glaring at a 21-year-old with hatred and an unforgiving heart. Pray for them for me . . .

Cooper graduated from obedience training on Monday. I am so glad . . . he was becoming such a great dog. Here's a pic of us with the cutie:


I say that he "was" becoming a good dog because he died yesterday. Coop, Penny, and I were driving on River, getting ready to turn into my complex, and Coop saw a dog being walked on the side of the road. I tried to roll the window up, but he squeezed through. He jumped out of the window, dodged one car, but got hit by another, flew through the air, and died immediately. YES... I watched all of this. To make matters worse, the man walking the dog that Coop was going after just walked away, no regard for the situation. Then, nobody stopped to help me. I stood, at River Road, bawling my eyes out, staring at my dead dog as nearly 30 cars just slowed down and swerved around him. One nice lady stopped to see if I was alright, and then two very nice ladies stopped their car, stopped traffic, took me aside, and picked Coop up off the road. Another lady stopped to see if we needed a blanket to put him in my car. The lady that hit him was the sweetest thing and I am so sad that it had to be her. She hadn't ever gotten a ticket, been in an accident, or harmed an animal. I tried to convince her it wasn't her fault. How sad . . . To make matters worse, the man that was walking the dog came back, only to hide on the other side of the wall between some bushes to videotape all of us and the commotion. I swear . . . there are some sick people out there.

We are okay with what happened. Dogs die. I loved Coop. He made me so happy. He brought Rob and I so much closer. Am I okay with the fact that I witnessed all of that yesterday? No . . . but am I going to be alright? YES! God loves me and has been comforting me through all of this. BUT . . . this whole situation makes me despise Tucson even more. Makes me realize why I am getting out of this town. **ugh**

I'm praying for my family. I'm praying for my friends. I'm praying for those 5 nice ladies that helped me yesterday. I'm praying for the Solomons. I'm praying . . .

14 days until NYC.

78 days until I am a college graduate.

One year and two days until I am Mrs. Robert Lewis Rader . . .

What a wonderful life.

Bible Verse to think about:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

-Romans 15:13

I am at peace with this week because I have a God in my heart that is a mighty God. If I trust in Him, hope will follow, and I will live in Him.

much love & muchos besos a todos -

b

Rejuvenation

I'm sitting at my desk thinking of ways I can procrastinate... I have a test at 12:30 tomorrow and have only studied a few hours. I haven't ever been a procrastinator in my life until this semester. This week made me realize how much of a procrastinator I have been. It seems like "manana, manana" is my motto lately. Starting tonight that motto is going to be thrown away! I have always been an extremely motivated individual and lately I have been somewhat lax in my ways. I am going to start tomorrow fresh and with a new perspective. I'm going to bring the old me back, and prove to myself that I can do the things I used to and be happy. I am a planner. I am a list-maker. I am a task-taker. I'm motivated. I'm strong. I'm bringing it all back.

In light of that, I am going to set some daily goals for myself:

• Read the Bible at least 30 minutes per day.
• Make church my #1 on Sundays [join an ABF next week].
• Get ahead in my studies [finish things two days before they are due...like I used to].
• Read a novel 30 minutes per day.
• Exercise 30 minutes + per day.
• Drink more water.
• Eat more fruit and veggies.
• Think positively [no more Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer syndrome].
• Make my passions my priorities [prioritize].

I love Monday nights with Jose and Melea. It's been really hard lately seeing that all of my best friends have left town in the past year to six months... I'm going to call, email, and text them more. Everyday I am at my house I realize more and more the value of those friendships. I love my girls. . . and do not know what I would do without them.

I can't wait til next week. My dad is coming back from Bolivia for a few weeks. He called me today. I wanted to cry I was so excited but I didn't want to bring him down. I can't wait to hear all of his interesting and cultural stories. I have to turn my passport stuff in [prioritize]!!

We got our slideshow of our engagement pictures... absolutely stunning.

Here's a preview:

Here's the link: http://aplusrphoto.com/show/briana-rob/

Love to my girlies who aren't close in distance but close in heart: Krista, Aubri, Taylor, and Sissy for always being supportive and having faith in me.

I think that's all for tonight. Oh, wait: 22 Days until Spring Break in NYC and 86 until I'm officially a college graduate. **Praise the Lord**

Bible verse for the night [definitely appropriate for the mood]:

Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

xoxo

b