Time. Take Two.

It's 7:21 in the morning. Not a creature is stirring, except for me and the cats. Time zone changes will do that to a person. Or maybe just to me. So I am sitting here on my computer waiting for everybody else (whose bodies allow them to sleep in on vacation) to get up so we can go to breakfast! I guess it just gives me more contemplation time.

I was thinking again about time today and how things change constantly, and it made me stop to think about choices and how they affect us in time. Every action we make has a consequence, it's inevitable. It's part of God's plan for us. But knowing that all choices have consequences tied to them, God gave us an escape route. Because no matter who we are presently, He makes it about who we are trying to become or will be in the future.

Looking at others, it's so easy to judge based on past facts and personal perspective. But we don't have God's perspective. Just our own point of view. To us, when someone makes a mistake that is all that is outwardly apparent. Just the mistake. We don't get to see the person was facing their own unique set of problems or mindsets. Take our friend from Les Miserables. Jean Valjean is considered a hero by my standard. He was seen by those surrounding him as a thief for stealing bread. But he stole bread in a time of depression to feed his sister's children. While the law states it's wrong, it depends who you ask if it was really a crime. Some will side with the law, others will side with Jean. To me, it seems black and white. Forgiveness comes easily for me towards Jean Valjean, he was just doing something desperate in a desperate time. It comes easiest when we think about the mercy given to us from our wrong doings through the atonement.

So Jean Valjean spends his whole life doing good and honorable things, and still some cannot see him as more then a criminal. For a time he became embittered by the things he went through, but in the end he finds compassion to be the ultimate virtue. How many people do we see through time overcome vices and turn them into virtues. Such should be the consequence of time, and the ultimate struggle of life. And to me, it should be applauded. Just something to think about.

I could go on, but I am now going to spend my precious time getting ready for breakfast. YUM!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What better way to procrastinate on all the things I need to do this week than write a blogpost? And I am laughing as I write this because I know there will be a surge of new posts to read this week because everyone else is doing the same thing. 

It's funny to look back this year and see how many things have changed. Including myself. Getting older and growing up is a strange predicament. I look back at who I was a 5 years ago, a year ago, or yesterday and sometimes I don't even recognize that person. So much changes so quickly. There is no way to freeze time, to stop that process. Every day, no matter how hard we try, we can't stop change. The world is constantly changing! Just look outside. If you happen to be in Virginia, the trees are taking their yearly slumber, but soon enough they will wake up, put on those beautiful green leaves and start their annual fashion show all over again.

I've realized I can't stop time, so this upcoming year, I've decided to try and control the changes a little better. When we know we want to go somewhere, it's easiest when we make a map. So for the new year I have decided to make a road map of a few things. Write down a few places I'd like to be in life, and then find the best routes for getting there. If my road map turns out the way I want it to in my head, I'll have to show all of you what it looks like.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas. That you each take a moment to remember the wonderful reason we celebrate Christmas, and to be grateful for the gifts we have been given from God. I hope each of you fill this upcoming year with the things that are most important, and that the roads you travel will take you where you want to be.

Sincerely,

Erica