HTML (Here I Type My Life)

No matter how tough times get, let this be a reminder that there was a point in time at which life was about as close to perfect as it gets.

Wow, time flies. It's been over a month since my last post. Then again, this has become a trend for me, as evidenced by the fact that there are still posts from December on the front page. Oh well. Life goes on.

Today's post is mostly religious in nature, so if you're not into that kind of thing, feel free to stop reading right now.

On the back of the bulletins at my church, there is a brief list or poem or other form of food for thought to read. This week's list is entitled, "I've Learned That..." by Andy Rooney. I'd like to share a few that I found interesting and share my thoughts.

...being kind is more important than being right.
Wow. This one really spoke to me, because I have always cared way too much about being right. There is a lot of wisdom in this statement. It's good to always make sure that you know you are right and have your facts straight and all of that. At the same time, it's not worth arguing about. Speaking from experience, it's usually best to just let things slide. Even if you are right, sometimes it's healthy to admit that there is the possibility that you may be wrong. I'm definitely going to keep this statement in mind in the future.

...to ignore the facts does not change the facts.
This one wasn't quite as personal for me as the previous one, but I still think it is a good thing to keep in mind. I know that sometimes what I am doing is wrong and I'm in denial about it or think that it isn't that bad or something. Who knows, maybe I'm doing that right now. When that's true, I'm ignoring the facts. A sin is a sin, whether we acknowledge it or not. That is why it is so important to understand exactly what things are sinful and what things aren't. I'm just as guilty as anyone in this area. I keep saying I need to get into the Bible more, and I haven't much.

...when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.
This one is another one that is more personal for me. I don't want to say that I hold grudges, but when someone hurts me badly or repeatedly, I tend to hold onto my anger longer. I had never thought of it this way before I read this sentence this morning. I don't normally plan to get even with people, but sometimes my imagination runs wild and I let my anger get out of hand. I definitely don't want to do that anymore, because I don't want them to continue to hurt me just because I won't let it go. It'll be hard, but I'll be better off in the long run.

...opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.
Ouch. I really feel this one, because I think that I've missed plenty of opportunities that I may not even realize just from being lazy or insisting on doing something my way instead of God's way. I think this is an aspect of life I hadn't thought much about previously. We're all taught that God has a special purpose for us and that through Him we can do great things. I believe with my whole heart that this is true. At the same time, though, there are billions of people in the world. If you don't want to fulfill God's purpose for you, He will find someone more willing. This is kind of a reality check for me; I need God, not the other way around.

...I wish I could have told my Dad that I love him one more time before he passed away.
My dad is alive and well. He's currently in the living room playing Mario Kart with my sister. As I've mentioned previously in this blog, sometimes we don't get along very well. Usually, we just secretly drive each other crazy and never address it. However, I've been realizing more and more lately that I just need to accept him for who he is. He's not perfect. I'm not perfect. Nobody is perfect. I can't justify getting mad every time he does something that grinds my gears. It would just kill me if I found out that someday, after our relationship continued on like this for several years, he thought I didn't love him. That's not true. Even through everything, he's my dad. I love him more than almost anyone else.

That's it for those. They were pretty interesting, I think. Next, a Bible verse. I'll admit that I don't really remember my pastor's sermon from this morning, but I did remember this verse, 1 Peter 4:8.

"And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.'"

There is a footnote at the end of that verse that refers to Proverbs 10:12, which is as follows:

"Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins."

As soon as I saw 1 Peter 4:8 on the projector screen this morning, a lot of things just clicked for me. I mean, this is it. This is what it's all about. To truly love someone, you have to be able to look past their sins and their faults and see the good in them. Probably the main reason relationships fail is addressed in this verse. You can't expect a person to be perfect when the Bible clearly states that none of us can or will be until we get to Heaven.

On a more personal level...when I get down on myself, I often ask my girlfriend, "How can you stand me? There are so many things wrong with me. How can you just accept that and love me anyway?" That verse is the answer. Fervent love. It overcomes all sin. That's just really awesome to me. I finally get it. I only hope I can love just as fervently in return.

In case you haven't been watching closely, I haven't updated my music related "gadgets" (as Blogger refers to them on the layout settings page) since December or January. That will change soon. It's just hard when I have a bunch of new music to get through and no sound on my computer.

Congratulations to the South Jeff boys and girls 4x800m relay teams, which both finished last at states. Still a very great season for both teams and the entire indoor track program in general.

Outdoor track starts next week. Should be fun. I'll let you know. =)

Breelgirl (10:49:25 PM): once upon a time, there was this most amazing, gorgeous, best person in the whole wide world. His name was Ben
Breelgirl (10:49:51 PM): Ben was a great person all his life and highly successful at everything he did.
Breelgirl (10:51:01 PM): In school, he was among the brightest and everyone looked up to him. He also could make anyone who was having a bad day be happy and was nice to everyone.
Breelgirl (10:51:44 PM): Then, it was time to move on with his life. He went to his dream school and graduated.
Breelgirl (10:51:55 PM): (with honors of course)
Breelgirl (10:52:46 PM): Then, he found a job right away. Ben's dream job in fact. And, he started off with a great salary and even got big promotions
Breelgirl (10:53:13 PM): Then, he decided it was time to settle down. He had a great life and a great job.
Breelgirl (10:54:33 PM): He got married to this girl and they had a great time together. They traveled the world and had the deepest love. Everyone was jealous of them.
Breelgirl (10:54:56 PM): They were best friends, and even more than that.
Breelgirl (10:55:05 PM): They were just perfect together.
Breelgirl (10:55:16 PM): Then, they decided to have some kids.
Breelgirl (10:55:32 PM): These kids really looked up to their father and wanted to be just like him.
Breelgirl (10:55:51 PM): Their father was a great man afterall.
Breelgirl (10:57:37 PM): The kids and their father had great times together. They were taught a great deal of things by thier father including sports, how to be a perfect person, and overall, great life lessons. Because of Ben, his kids grew up to be liked by everyone and were also very successful.
Breelgirl (10:58:29 PM): Ben just was an all around fabulous person.
Breelgirl (10:59:07 PM): His kids, boss, co-workers, friends,neighbors, and wife all looked up to him.
Breelgirl (11:00:32 PM): ok, so the good details all get left out when i write it myself and it didnt come out as well as I was hoping, and i didnt make it up becuase thats what is going to happen. so you can just forget about all that. not a good story.
Breelgirl (11:00:53 PM): but the overall point i guess is that you are great

Breelgirl (8:57:14 PM): and let me tell you this, all little girls have these visions of what the perfect relationship is (known as the knight in shining armor vision) and dream how they want their life to be when they get older and how they will be with the perfect person and all this stuff. you have proved to be more than anything i dreamed of when i younger. better than that knight in shining armor. you are so amazing, great, and all those other good words.

Breelgirl (8:57:23 PM): so no getting down on yourself

=)

I'm still not used to the layout I chose (since I created the blog like ten minutes ago), but hopefully this font is easier to view against dark blue than it is on the white background I'm typing it on.

The first reason I say today is a good day is probably obvious if you're reading this - it's the day I created this blog. My goal for this blog is made up of several parts: I'd like to have the majority of the crazy thoughts that go through my head somewhere in an organized fashion, and I'd like to present those thoughts in such a way that they might be found entertaining by my subscriber(s). Maybe someday I'll be able to take the parentheses out of that word for certain. I know of two people who I'm fairly certain would read this blog, but you know what they say about assuming.

The second reason today is a good day is not as obvious and in my opinion, far more important and impressive a milestone: I've been dating the most amazing girl in the world for exactly six months today (sorry Danny, if you ever read this. You'll just have to admit that You-Know-Who is at best the second most amazing girl in the world. My blog, my rules >_>)

Bethany Lynn Zembiec. Lefty. I don't know where to start. Your shirt is right: big things do come in small packages. You are the best, no matter how much bigger everyone else might seem. Everything about you is beautiful. I know I usually use the word simply as a means to describe your physical superiority to every other organism in existence, but you really are a beautiful person on the inside too. You are a true example of Christian character, good morals, and just a great, fun person to be around. I'm proud to say that you are my best friend. I'm proud to say that I even know you. Some people aren't that lucky. I thank God for that opportunity every day. I love you. Thanks for putting up with me.

Also, it would be a crime not to mention that you have the most amazing eyes I've ever seen.

I love you Bethany. Happy six months. <3