The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. - e.e. cummings

Alright, So I am a very visual person. You can read to me but nothing hits me like a few photos. So I have made the below video to document the last few months of my life: (We also had a surplus of photos from the last hospital stay because we're using them for the Children's book I am illustrating.)

Good News! I did not cry yesterday after getting my hair done. It was a
relief. Today I feel quiet don't want to say much but do have a few things. Awhile ago my youth pastor shared with me how he disliked people trying to sell him things over the phone. He was like soon you end up in 20 minute conversations with them over their product. It frustrates him... So I got an idea I was intrigued by his disgust and like all of us usually are... Out for a
little fun!

So I decided I was going to be Gretchen from a pencil company. I called his number and he answered right away."Hello this is Gretchen from the pencil company we would like to help you share the message Jesus has in your heart and speak to your youth through our pencils"Pastor Chris started laughing and laughing... He had no idea who it was! Although he knew it was a joke... Every other kid would be in school. It was great! Soon I told him who I was and he thought it was even funnier. So yeah a sick kid can have a little fun once in awhile.

Today is my first official Inspirational Person... I thought long and hard about this and decided it would have to be someone who was noticed within the last 24 hours of my life upon doing something.

Today is Pastor Chris & his wife Ashley:

Okay so I remember Pastor Chris' first year at Victory youth group was on Wednesday nights and we did some pretty crazy stuff and sometimes got really messy. I almost think messy is an understatement when coming to the one kick off Sunday when they covered the new youth room with tarps and we did all sorts of relay races. I thought that he was crazy. To let us Middle School and High School students run through jello, run with eggs, pretty much it was A LOT worse than 100 finger painting 4 year olds. I was like wow. This doesn't even feel like youth group. I started going regularly on Wednesday nights and I really enjoyed it. I had never had a pastor touch me on such a deep level. He spoke with a southern accent yeah, but that didn't compare to the messages he shared with us about God and he really hit home almost every time I heard him speak. Soon youth group was moved to Sunday nights and I was unable to come as frequently because of schedule conflict. Although I did and still do go once in awhile. He has been an amazing pastor at our church and brought in teens by what seems to be bus loads to our church. He has reached so many and is a wonderful man. He also always finds time in his schedule to come visit me while I am in the hospital. EVEN when I was way up in Rochester he came. He is a very devoted person and has really changed my life.

Now, I wouldn't be able to tell you about Chris without telling you about his wife Ashley. I don't know her well actually I do believe we have only been together on one occasion for worship and that was at a girls night out function for church. I went we made journals and the journal I made was the first journal I ever kept. I wrote prayers and prayer requests and that was as simple as it was because I was against journaling. Through that night she taught us a lot. A lot about being women through Christ and we did a lot of different but fun things. Her journal led me to journal on and now I have a new journal that I write in a lot. Through that one note she left in the journal she gave each of us it inspired me to reach out and see Christ on a different level.. Now I will admit I didn't take a leap and poof I was spiritual and I still have issues with faith every now and then but she was a big stepping stone to where I am today. I will close with her note to us and then a poem.

"A journal is not only a record of events that touch our lives
and change us, it is a private space in which we can meet God and see His hand
touch our lives through answered prayer. My prayer for you is that you will seek
the Lord daily and allow him to mold you into the person
He would have you be. I believe in you. Stay Faithful!"
In His Strength & Joy,
Ashley
October, 2003

Now the poem:

DON'T GIVE UP HOPE

Hope gives you the strength to keep going when you feel like giving up.
Don't ever quit believing in yourself.
As long as you believe you can, you will have a reason for trying. Don't let anyone hold your happiness in their hands; hold it in your own, so it will always be within your reach.
Don't measure success or failure by material wealth, but by how you feel. Our feelings determine the riches in our lives.
Don't let bad moments overcome you.
Be patient, and they will pass.
Don't hesitate to reach out for help; we all need it from time to time. Don't runaway from Love, but towards love; because it is our deepest joy.
Don't wait for what you want to come to you.
Go after it with all that you are; knowing that life will meet you half way.
Don't feel like you've lost when plans and dreams fall short of your hopes.
Anytime you learn something new about yourself, or about life, you have progressed. Don't do anything that takes away from your self-respect.
Feeling GOOD about yourself is essential to feeling GOOD about life.
Don't ever forget how to laugh or be too proud to cry. It is by doing both that we live life to the FULLEST.
~author unknown~

This is all for today. Enjoy the video! Hope you had a wonderful day.