Ash & Evergreens

Today, as I was on facebook, a friend commented on my status and said that I should "write a Devotional for athletes because I am wise beyond my years." I never really thought of that before. But I bet that I could do it. I bet with God's timing and guidance, that I could write an Athletes devotional. Boy, would that add to the plate... but I have years to do it. Hmmm, I guess I will be starting a new blog for my beginnings  of this work :) I'll post on here still with life things, but I will have a new blog for this new stage... I'll post what the new name is, later.

Sacrifice is a powerful word. By definition it means, " the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone."      As an athlete, when I hear the word sacrifice, my mind immediately thinks of hard work, dedication, and desire. I think of the time and effort that coaches and players put in to the sport they love and the people they love to be around. Athletes sacrifice their bodies, their social agendas, their sleep, and their time... all to make themselves the best they can be. I think of Caroline Doty, #5, who just graduated from UCONN and played basketball their for 5 years. She sacrificed so much to play the sport she loved. She even sacrificed the possibility of never playing again, by getting out on the court before her ACL recovery was complete. That's how much she loved(s) the game and her team. As an athlete, if you're not willing to sacrifice a little part of your life for your team then yo...

     Obviously, my title is a spin off the movie, "Love and Basketball" that some of you (my imaginary readers) may have seen. However, I'm pretty sure this will not have a similar story line at all.      Senior year has been going really well so far. Every day is just like the last and I am okay with that. I get my 4 classes in and then I get to hang out with my basketball coach the last two periods of school. In senior thesis class a few minutes ago I was asked if I did my math homework and I said that I attempted it. And then one of my classmates said, "Oh!...well if she tried then we should be fine." Ow. Thanks. But oh well, I really don't care too much to let it ruin my day.      But Basketball! It is insanely different and GREAT. We got a new coach this year and she could not have come at a better time. She has coached for years and summer ball and fall ball and is just an all around great person. She really wants to ge...

     My family is getting a lot better at visiting mine and my brother's hometown in the past few years. When we moved to Tennessee 8 years ago, we came back to the Mitten the year after to visit, and then not till 4 years after that. Now we try and go every year. At least we have the past 3 years.       I'm proud to be in the south now, i love it. I love the sunshine and a lot of the people and so many other things about it. The pride the south has in America and the pride a southerner has in being from the south is overwhelming. I've met so many great people that I cannot imagine life without...but MOST have been adults :) It's been a great several years in the south. And I thought it's where I wanted to stay, but as I sit here in my friend's basement living area, in this chair, typing this on their computer, in Holland, MI.... I think back to this week. The beautiful scenery and weather and people. The memories that flood back into m...

     One of the most recent fitness quotes I've seen that inspired me was, "Train your body how you train your mind." And that truly stuck with me and gave me good inspiration to keep going. As a person who has worked for almost 3 years to get weight off and has been off and on....anything I can get is helpful.      Getting your body to a state of physical fitness is a grueling journey. You go up and down. You're stronger and weaker at times. You are passionate and gung-ho about working out and other days you're lethargic and don't want to get our of your pj's. It's been true for me and my results have shown from it. I'm stronger now and have a little more definition. I've shrunk in inches but I've only lost 19 pounds. And man oh man what a process it's been.  The reason that I stay so committed even though I see little results is because of the result I will physically have one day and the spiritual growth and mental growth that I am ...

this title may sound odd and you may be wondering what it has to do with anything. But it is exactly what it means. Over the past month a lot has happened and in the end, a road less traveled on...forked. It amazes me how good things can split over blown out of proportion circumstances. So, with that, the foundations of my school have been shaken. Another classical (Christian) school is being put together by people who are ready for change at my school. Except, they don't really want change and so they're forming this new school to try and savor the old way of doing things. Notice that there was no trace of a negative tone or connotation in my describing some of the reasons for the new school. My school is getting ready to change and grow and hopefully accumulate more (to the standard) people that pca already embodies, for the most part haha. Now, I am sorry that I cannot make a 36 on my ACT or a 1240 on my SAT. I'm sorry that I cannot make straight A's all the time on ...

     My summer has been crazy so far. I've been home for a total of 6 days now in the past  3 1/2 weeks. As soon as school ended I hit the beach with a friend and got home for a day and went off to Haiti.      This was my third trip to Haiti and each year God teaches me something new. This year it wasnt a full blown out life lesson, but a small one. As we worked for 4 hours, 2 days in a row, mixing cement, filling up buckets with the hand made cement, passing the buckets down a human assembly line, and then tossing the empty buckets back to the beginning to be refilled all while getting cement all over us as we through the buckets to each other. All that work was going in to the start of a church floor. All the sweat, blood, laughs, and love we put into making that floor will one day be danced, sung, and preached upon one day. All going towards expanding the Kingdom. I didn't cry at all until we took off from Port-au-prince and started to he...

     It's that time of year where things start going cuh-razy. Graduations are going on and exams are being studied for (which is what I'm taking a break from at the moment). Our school is going crazy with some little decisions that have been made recently, people in my class seem to be heartless, preparing to leave for Haiti in 2 weeks, our German exchange student is going back to Germany next week, I can't seem to find a time to meet with my friend and mentor, mrs. Mack(in), my friend in Alabama has a broken family that I am dedicated to praying for and wish I could make it better!, basketball try outs are in two weeks and we are getting a new coach, I'm about to be a senior and I can't help but continually fast forward in my mind to things of next year...... PAUSE ALEX.          I feel like my head is spinning in a million different directions yet I'm not freaking out, stressed, nor do i have anxiety. I think it may be the fact that I've been ...

     I am missing Haiti a lot today. I see pictures of the land and kids there and long to be back. I have two months until I get to go back, but finishing up school is going to be tedious and tiring. To hold their hands and see their smiles. To hear the words I cannot understand, that's what I am waiting for. To pour Jesus into the lives of those kids and adults so they might know the love of the Savior.      Whenever I hear, "rocketeer," "Beautiful Day," "Something Beautiful," or "OMG(osh)" I am reminded of my days in Haiti last summer and how wonderful they were.      Yes, this post is short, but they don't all have to be long:) I am a Haitian now, I've been called so. haha For His Glory.

     Life has been so crazy recently. Sometimes being a girl is tough work! Girls like to go around spreading things about other people and making up stuff and tellin lies. It's so annoying and heartbreaking.      Little insider on me, I cannot lie. It's not possible for me to do so unless it's for someone's protection. Can't tell a lie about someone else, if I'm asked about something then I'm probably gonna tell what I know.      Well, recently, my trust has just been broken and shattered and burned and pulverized and stabbed and I don't know what to do about that. I feel like the woman in the newest "Jason Bourne" movie when all her co-workers get shot and being traumatized from that and then those people come to her house telling her that they are there to help and they end up trying to kill her. She can trust NO ONE. I feel the same way. I don't know who is going to tell me thr truth anymore. So many people are habitual l...

I had lunch with a dear yet hurting friend recently. And it was good to hang out and talk. The previous week, she had been struggling with dropping my friendship or not. And that hurt me like crazy. However, I still love her like a real friend would mainly because even when I treat God poorly, He still loves me. I can ignore him and think that I don't need his input... I don't have "time to spend with Him." And He still shows me grace and loves me and forgives.      So, just as Christ does so for me, I try to do for other people. I can't just give up on people as much as they so often give up on me...it's not my nature and not who God has called me to be. But even as I type this, my eyes are opened to forgiving and forgetting and not giving up.      Maybe one day she and others will realize this connection, but until then, I must love, not be a walking mat, but love.      I have been watching Passion2013 live stream on my co...