Day 23- An Activity I Find Fun

I find fun in just about everything I do. I could say: reading, writing poetry, writing prose, teaching, talking to people, singing, dancing....this list can go on and on

But I think I'm going to say that my most fun activity is doing things for and to help other people. It leaves me the happiest. It could be almost anything really. I could be giving someone a hug. Listening to their story. Sending them medicine. Cleaning. Praying. Anything I can do that makes someone else happy or helps them, then it's fun, exciting and makes me ever so happy!

I'll give you two examples: When I worked at camp, the time I was most blessed and happy (and I know this sounds weird to some people, but it's true) was when I was in the midst of my "shirt folding ministry" Each week, our boss would wash our work shirts for us, knowing we had little time for our own laundry. Each week she would bring them up the hill, and I would search for my shirts and they'd be wrinkled so I would fold them immediately to avoid this. Well, I couldn't leave other people's shirts to wrinkle so I started folding everyone's shirts and sorting them for them. Those mornings were my favorite times. As I folded shirts I would pray for the person whose shirt I was folding. It became the way I could help each staff member and pray for them specifically. People said they appreciated it and I like to think I helped them too.

Today, I sent a package in the mail that contained cookies, medicine and a different surprise. I'd been having a bad day but when I sent that package, knowing it would make the person feel better, make them happy and give them joy, my day suddenly got much better. It made ME happy.

They (that proverbial they again) always say that when you bless someone else it comes back to you in double measure. And biblically speaking, I know that it's true. But it still always amazes me. Serving others is what is the most fun for me. Have a good night dear friends.

Day 22- A Picture That Gives Me Hope

This picture gives me hope for a lot of reasons. It gives me hope that I too can have a successful, happy, loving marriage. It gives me hope for my children having the best grandparents in the world. It gives me hope that my future husband will have in-laws who love each other and us. It gives me hope for the world that divorce isn't an option. It gives me hope for all nonbeliever couples and "Sunday Only" Christians, that marriages can grow in Christ even when they don't start on the firm foundation of Christ that they should start on, just think how much more a relationship can grow if it STARTS in Christ! And it gives me hope, because after 28 years of marriage they're more in love than ever, and I want that. To my wonderful parents: There's a reason I always wanted a marriage just like yours. You're an inspiration to me.

Day 21- A Picture of the Last Time I Was Happy

Truthfully I'm always happy...but big happy?...Well I don't have any from this last weekend...so I'll go back to Easter. I looked about the same...all the family tells me I radiate happiness and peace when I'm with him...what do you think?

Day 20- Defining Happiness n my Own Words

First of all, I want to say that I make a large distinction between happiness and joy. Happiness is based entirely on circumstances, while joy is something that we choose and that God gives us, something we can have no matter the circumstances. That being said, here is how I define happiness.

Happiness is...
Dancing to awesome worship music in church
Seeing him walk through the doors at the train station
A slice of cheesecake with chocolate involved
A huge slab of beef on the barbecue (or any other meat really)
Shooting at the range
Being in his arms, knowing I am loved
Knowing that Sunday's comin'
Watching "man" movies all day long
Going to a theatre production with good friends and knowing all the actors
Writing a perfect sonnet
Being so emotionally involved in a book that you can't stand it when it ends
Getting that phone call that lifts your spirit at just the right moment
A hug and kiss from a two year old with sticky lips and hands
Paycheck day
Being so in love with Christ and Joey. Especially knowing that Joey loves Christ as much as I do.

That and so much more ARE happiness

Day 19- Something I Found While Searching "Love" on Tumblr (or Google...)

In the first place, I'm a sucker for Precious Moments. In the second place, this verse of poetry is awesome. It's beautiful. And it's totally how I feel about the two most important men in my life: Christ and Joey. Enjoy.

Day 18- Something on my Dash that Makes Me Smile

As with Karissa, I don't have Tumblr so I'm changing it to something in my room that makes me smile. And I am telling you. I couldn't choose. So I chose a word that describes many things in my room that I love because I am obsessed with things that are described using this word. So here it is, friends. Are you ready?

FLUFFY

Fluffy socks, fluffy blankets, fluffy stuffed animals. For example:

 
I love things that are fluffy...they make me smile :)

Day 17- What Inspires Me

There are many things that inspire me, each of them things that point me back to God. Stars. Babies. Big dogs. A child understanding a new concept for the first time. Life. God has put so many wonderful things in this world that inspire me. To write. To read. To pray. I must say though that I think the thing that inspires me most is knowing godly men.

I have been blessed to know more than my fair share of godly men. Many girls feel as though there are not any good guys in the world. I feel so opposite to that. God has blessed me with knowing many many godly men. Men who are wonderful. Men who pray. Men who point me back to God. They are gentlemen. They are strong. They are protective. They are wonderful. These men inspire my poetry. They inspire my fiction. They inspire me to live my life for God. They inspire me to accept nothing less in the men in my life than the absolute best.

That to me is the most inspiring thing in the world.

Day 16- The Happiest Day of My Life

So many happy days in my life. To choose one is so difficult. Especially when, as I have said before, I didn't want to make this all about Joey. But, honestly, the happiest day of my life in recent memory was February 19, 2011. It was a day that changed my life forever, much like the day as a five year old when I started a relationship with Christ that has endured and grown from that day on. On February 19, 2011 a journey was officially begun (or continued depending on your view of events). It will be surpassed by much better days, but this one currently holds number one. This is the story of that day.

The morning started earlier than intended. I was way too excited to sleep in. Besides, the text message informing me the train had left the station woke me up more than a coffee drinker's first sip of their morning coffee. I was nervous, I was excited, I was...GIRLY. I cleaned the bathroom...again. I dusted the house...again. I got myself ready, by which I mean I changed clothes five times. (I am never indecisive with clothes.) I asked my grandma's opinion. I changed again. I asked my friend's opinion. I changed again. Then I did my hair and make up...twice. I again asked opinions. I was ready...an hour and a half early. So I sat down to try to read...only I couldn't. I mean this is me we are talking about. Samantha, who is always reading, even when she shouldn't be, and I couldn't focus for more than half a page. I lasted about forty minutes. Finally I got up and left, knowing I'd be too early and not caring.

I arrived at the station more than half an hour early. I found a spot where I didn't have to pay for parking and went inside. I marveled at the beauty of the station for a few minutes. I sat down to read. Maybe knowing I was here on time would allow me to concentrate. And it worked for about five minutes. And then some random guy sat down next to me and decided he needed to tell me his sad life story. (Mind you, this was the third time that week, is it something in my face? More on this phenomenon in later posts.) I sat there trying to be polite and listen. And all the while watching the clock and the incoming train arrival board. I'm afraid that when train 701 pulled in and passengers started walking through the door, I left him rather abruptly. It was like a string pulling me towards that door. And then he walked through the door.

Joey. I'd been waiting so long for that moment. Counting weeks, days, hours even. I hugged him and we both laughed and hugged and laughed some more, neither of us knowing what to say in that moment. We left the station and went to find lunch. I thought the place I chose would be quiet and not crowded. I'd forgotten it was a holiday weekend. So we ate lunch with small talk, not the important discussion we were waiting for. So we started driving around, looking for a park without metered parking (note to the reader, downtown Sacramento consists of mostly metered parking...good luck). I was about to give up and sit in the truck to talk anywhere without metered parking, park or no park, when there it was, a little tiny park with a fountain in the distance (We both happen to love parks AND water...can someone say perfection?) without metered parking on the streets around it. Zapata Park, the sign said.

We found a bench. I won't go into our discussion here, but it was a conversation filled with hope and sadness, joy and regret, and so many other things. It was a conversation of healing, closure, past endings and new beginnings. But what was most important was when he asked me if I would be his girlfriend...again. I said yes, of course. And then as we talked about our relationship and it's complexities (being long distance), he told me something incredibly wonderful, that he loved me. Now some of you might say to yourselves, but he just asked you out. To those of you who think that, I invite you to let me tell you our history before that day, you'll understand, I promise. I told him I loved him too, and meant it with my whole heart.

The rest of the day was wonderful, we played at the park, had dinner with Grandma, told our parents and friends. It was a full day, a full weekend, the beginning of what will be a full life. Life will never be the same. I wouldn't want it to be. It was the happiest day of my life so far.

Max on Life by Max Lucado

Hope. Hurt. Help. Boy/Girl Issues. Home. Have and Have Not. The Hereafter. Big issues that cause us big questions that need big answers from God.

Max on Life is Max Lucado's latest offering to the world of godly advice. This question and answer format gives his best answers to the questions asked most often. He takes his answers from Scripture, from personal experience and from his experiences as a pastor. This book takes issues from each part of life that causes our hearts to wonder, questions that “leave us… burdened and weary.”

This book categorizes the questions Max answers into specific topics and while reading through the whole book in a sitting can seem repetitive, for anyone seeking answers to these kinds of questions, the book is wonderfully informative and extremely helpful. The answers are scripturally based, and Mr. Lucado knows that people are in need of the answers that God can give through his Word.

I know that, though I do not struggle with many of the issues presented in this book, I have friends who struggle deeply with these questions. They hurt, they are weary, they do not know what to do next. Sometimes I do not know how to help them. The answers Max Lucado provides in this book give me more words to give to those friends. It allows me a resource to help them. It is helpful to me in this way and helpful to them at the same time. I know that I will remember this book as I go through life and work to help friends or face these issues myself. And, I know I will be able to return to these pages and the Book that they point back to, the Bible for help for so many deep, heavy questions that are contained in this book.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Day 15- A TV Show that Makes Me Happy

Okay. I love this show. Much more than I probably should. He's horrible, but deep down, I know he loves the people around him a lot. I also am a big enough dork to get excited when I know what the medical terms mean from my own experiences. Every time they say eosinophillic, I get excited. "Hey, I know that one!" So yes, this show makes me happy.

Day 14-A Conversation that Makes Me Happy ( from a movie, chat, whatever)

 We were talking on Skype one night when Joey fell SOUND asleep. It was funny. This conversation happened the next morning. It makes me happy because it was so funny! 

I kind of hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do :)

Sorry babe…after threatening to do it, I finally did…:-p

I know…I watched…I only hung up after I called you. :-) You were so out. And you only snored a little ;-)

I hope only a little…though I fear you have an accompanying hand motion for that… I’m so sorry I fell asleep on you babe. I said I wasn’t gonna… and well…

No hand motion…Really…And it was very soft snoring and onlya few minutes….And it was my fault…I saw you were tired and shouldn’t have let you get so deep before trying to get you to hang up. But you looked so cute…Well…Anyway…what finally woke you? :-)

I dunno…I Just woke up and suddenly realized I had fallen asleep, though I was grateful it was only midnight and not like 3am or something…and I wanted to see my beautiful girlfriend for as long as I could :-)

Day 13- A Movie that Makes Me Happy

It's new and it's my new favorite. For any of you who know me...I'm even saying this ALMOST beats Sleeping Beauty...not quite though. I want this movie. I want it SO MUCH. It's a perfect story, the animation is beautiful. It's simply fabulous. And considering I just cut my hair after more than seven years...I feel a special kinship with Rapunzel. This movie just makes me smile

Day 12- A Description or Picture of Someone Who Makes Me Happy

I promised myself that I wouldn't make this 30 Day Challenge all about the one person who makes me smile all day every day. But well, there is no one around who makes me more happy than this person.

Joey Rico. The name alone makes me smile. This man is an incredible source of encouragement. He has grown so much in Christ throughout the past seven years. He is the first in his family to get a college degree. He is getting his teaching credential in math (I know, crazy, right? but he loves it). He is a man of integrity and joy, peace and patience. He doesn't think he's worthy of all he has, but he deserves it all and more. He constantly brings me back to Scripture. He uplifts me and others constantly, even when he feels like the world is falling down around him. And I know that this isn't just me talking out of my love for him, because every person I talk to who knows him is amazed by him. Every person says how awesome he is and how glad they are when he is happy "because no one deserves it more." 

He knows how to be silly. He knows how to be serious. His heart breaks for the hardships of his students. He loves and takes care of his family. He is gentle with children and they love him. He is driven to succeed. He is introspective. He looks for opportunities to take care of others.

He is tall. He is handsome. He has brown hair and brown eyes. I could describe everything I love about how he looks, but you can look at the picture. I could go on to tell you about how amazing I think he is. I could go on to tell you so much about him, but well, you should get to know him yourself.


He makes me smile day in and day out. You know that old song "You are my Sunshine" that we sang as kids? He IS my sunshine, shining on me and shining Christ's love on me. He is my most wonderful friend, confidante and love. I am so thankful to God for him.

Day 11- A Story of Something that Made Me Happy Today

Ok so it's not really something huge but it made me happy nonetheless. 

So I love first graders.  A little background. We have "carpet time" and at first they were always saying "Teacher, he's touching me" "Teacher, she's crowding me" "Teacher..." Well, you get the picture. Anyway, so I took out some blue painter's tape and made squares on the carpet. "You will sit in your square and not touch anyone else and you will not touch the tape." Well, they're first graders, so you can guess how well the don't touch the tape thing went over. So lately, the tape has been disappearing rapidly.

Today one of my favorite students came up to me at the beginning of recess and hands me a roll of blue tape. For a moment I thought he'd gotten into my desk, which would be totally  out of character for him. And then he says to me "Teacher, I brought this for you to remake the squares." 

AWWWWWWW!!!! How sweet! I did make sure he'd asked permission to take it and he had, so I accepted it and thanked him. I say it again. I LOVE FIRST GRADERS!

Day 10- A YouTube Video that Makes Me Smile

This was again a difficult choice because I don't watch many youtube videos...but I found this one night trying to wake up someone who had fallen asleep mid conversation...and loved it. And it definitely made me smile!

Day 9- A Site that Makes Me Happy

I really don't have many sites to choose from since I rarely do anything online other than facebook and im. But I have to say this site has made me pretty happy recently...yes I'm a dork....because they give me books...FOR FREE! Woot Woot...All I have to do is read them and talk about what I think of them! Wow!

Day 8- Something I found while searching "Happiness" on Tumblr (or Google...)

I would just like to add that it also means letting Jesus help you move beyond the imperfections

Day 7- Something I found while searching Smile on Tumblr (or Google...)

I think this speaks for itself...and it's so cute!

Day 6- A Picture of Someone Famous Smiling

In the effort to get caught up after my enforced rest time, here goes:

Okay so he may be only recently famous, but I think this kid is great. A voice that can melt hearts, a sweet spirit that I hope Hollywood won't damage, and Southern to boot. Scotty McCreery can sing his way right into the finals if I have my way. He seems like a good kid. I know I smile when he sings, I bet you do too

Day 5- A Song Lyric or Lyrics that Make Me Smile

Despite the fact that yesterday and today I feel like an 18-wheeler ran over me, this song has the ability to make me smile at any time, and it's amazing how it comes up at the times when I'm feeling especially thankful or when I'm not feeling at all thankful and need to be reminded how much I have to be thankful for:

I come before You today
And there's just one thing that I want to say
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord

For all You've given to me
For all the blessings that I cannot see
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord

With a grateful heart
With a song of praise
With an out-stretched arm
I will bless your name

Thank You Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord

For all You've done in my life
You took my darkness and gave me Your light
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord

You took my sin and my shame,
You took my sickness and healed all my pain
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord

With a grateful heart
With a song of praise
With an out-stretched arm
I will bless Your name

Thank You Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord

Thank You Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
 

Thank You Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord

Thank You Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord

Day 4- A Picture That I Think Will Make Someone Else Smile

I don't know if those in this picture will will read this blog, but if any of you do, I thought this would make you smile. It certainly makes me smile to remember the fun we had that night. To all of you, whatever you're doing these days, I pray you're blessed and happy :)

Day 3-A Text I Kept Because It Made Me Smile

"Wait, seriously?... Let’s just say other things have been manifested besides your dreams…"

I must say, this may end up being one of the hardest ones. Choosing one text I'd kept that made me smile was hard. There are a LOT of texts I've saved because they made me smile. There are a lot of things that make me smile in general haha! I had so many to choose from, and I almost wanted to choose one completely unconnected to my boyfriend, but the only one I wanted to choose gave away information to the public that doesn't need to be public. So let me explain a wee bit about this text. I had just explained a dream about him getting to come visit and my dream was literally coming true at that moment. This moment changed my life for the better, because it was when we decided he was coming to visit, and when he came to visit he asked to court me and I said yes. And so, I had to choose this one. 

Day 2- A Quote That Makes Me Smile

"A woman's heart should be so lost in Christ, that a man has to seek Him to find her."

 I love this quote a lot. It's at the top of my written list of "husband qualities." And guess what happened to be in a list written by my fabulous boyfriend in describing me and him before he officially asked me out. God is SO cool. This quote always made me smile, and now it makes me smile even more after what God has used it to show me. It will always be a favorite. I'm going to tell my daughters someday that they should base their lives on that premise. :)

Day 1- A Picture of Me Smiling

Chasing my brand new boyfriend/old boyfriend/best friend through a park play area and then looking into his eyes...How could I not smile?

30 Days of Happiness- One of those 30 Day Challenge Things

Well Karissa did it which means it must be fun. And I AM very happy these days...so I thought what the heck. Now mind you I don't use Tumblr and don't even know anything about it, so I'm going to do this on my own blog like Karissa did. So here we go...


30 Day Challenge
A Picture of you smiling
A Quote that makes you smile
A Text that you saved because it made you smile
A Picture you think will make someone else smile
A Song or Song Lyrics that make you smile
A Picture of someone famous smiling
Something you found when searching “Smile” on Tumblr.
Something you found when searching “Happiness” on Tumblr.
A Site that makes you happy.
A Youtube Video that makes you happy.
A Story of something that made you happy this day.
A Description or Picture of someone who makes you happy.
A Movie that makes you happy.
A Convo that makes you happy (from a movie or chat or whatever)
A T.V. Show that makes you smile
Tell about the happiest day of your life.
What Inspires you?
Something on your Dash that makes you happy
Something you found when searching “Love” on Tumblr.
Define Happiness in your own words
A Picture of the last time you were happy.
A Picture that gives you hope
An Activity you find fun
Dedicate a post to someone telling them what you think about them (positive things)
Post a stickey note or sign somewhere with a nice message. (take a picture and post it)
Promote a blog that makes you happy
A Picture of a heart, smiley face, peace sign, or any other symbol of happiness.
Post something that you dream about.
Make a list of 50 reasons to be happy daily.
Reflect on the past 29 days, has your life gotten better? Do you feel any differently about things around you?

Rain in the Midst of Sunshine

This winter/spring has been a season of surprising, sometimes shocking, contrasts in the weather. One day it's cold, the next it's as warm as early summer. One day it's raining, and the next it's the brightest sunshine you've ever seen. Then again sometimes it hasn't even waited a whole day to do a complete turn around. And then there have been the days the past couple months where the sun is shining so brightly and at the same time it's pouring down rain. How is it possible to have such contrasts within a week? Within an hour? Within a moment?

I feel like God has this way of showing us examples of life through nature so that we can understand and recognize His work in our lives more. This season in nature seems to echo my life right now.

Everything is sunny and fabulous. I'm so blessed in every way right now. I mean honestly.

God has blessed me with a new/old relationship with my fabulous boyfriend, who has been a constant in my life for seven years even when we were fighting to be "just friends." He's such a blessing to me in every way, and I love him very much. We've only been officially back together for three weeks, but we've been going around the issue for the seven years we've been apart. And during that time we were each allowing God to shape us so that we'd be ready for what He had for us. If we're honest, I've loved him the whole time, even when I didn't know it.

I've also been blessed with more work in the past two weeks than I can handle. I mean, I feel like God finally said, "Okay, you've had enough time of trusting me without any seeming results, here's EVERYTHING I've prepared for you all at once." The biggest part of that work has been the class I've been working with. First grade. I was a little scared, my last experience with first grade wasn't my favorite experience. It was actually very hard. And this class has given me so much joy and more confidence. I've also been getting other jobs. I haven't had a "day off" in the last two weeks, and I love it.

I have a fabulous roommate who loves me. I have fabulous family who support me. And I've been helping at Awana in ways that are right where I want to be. Life couldn't get any better. I really do mean that. And yet...

With all this sunshine, how could there possibly be rain? (Now, I want to clarify that I actually love rain, but since most people see it as dreary and sad, it fits my analogy much better than anything else) Yet, there is rain.

I find myself, in this season, feeling more emotional. Perhaps God is using this time to heal me, especially through the support of my amazing boyfriend that I didn't have before in the same way. But as we explore the emotions that come with a new relationship, I find that other emotions which I thought were under control are re-emerging.

The pain of a broken heart from some of those who I used to respect immensely, who have hurt me and continue to do so, has shown me that I have not healed as I thought I had. I feel like the pain will never heal and it keeps finding ways to push into my happiness.

The pain of a low self-image has re-emerged as well. I've been reminded that I'm beautiful and made in God's image. And I try to believe it. And then a mere child asks me what happened to my arms and I'm sucked down into the same feelings as before, knowing that I can't change what happened to my body. I can't fix my arms or legs. They'll never be what I want them to be short of surgery. I get sucked into feeling so ugly, fat and unworthy, and it doesn't even take a malicious comment. It simply takes the curiosity of a small child. And this despite being reminded daily that I am loved and beautiful.

These pains are the rain amidst my sunshine. Everything in my life reminds me of the blessings God is giving me every day. I am so happy, so full of joy and smiles. And realizing that I still have to deal with the rain even when it's so sunny is discouraging at times. But then I remember the beauty of nature when there is rain amidst sunshine. And I remember at those moments that everything in my life is being used by God to shape me for the things he has prepared for me.

And so my friends, if you're dealing with sunshine mixed with rain, remember that the rain is needed to shape your life as much as the sunshine. And God will use all things for your good. As for me, my sunshine is helping me to get through all the rain and I thank him for being so wonderful and understanding. And I thank God that it isn't just rainy. I love you all.

Review of: In Constant Prayer by Robert Benson

In Constant Prayer, by Robert Benson is a crash course on praying the daily office. The daily office is explained in this book through examples of people who make it a way of life as well as instruction on what it is all about and how to get started in the practice. Although the author comes from a traditional standpoint, he does a good job of making the ideas accessible to people in all walks of Christianity. The daily office is a liturgical practice of praying “through the hours” in a structured way that has been passed down through the ages based on David’s words about praying seven times throughout the day. I would recommend this book to anyone who is seeking a way of prayer that helps them to structure their prayer lives more traditionally and liturgically. While I may not use this book’s instructions for the daily office at this time of my life, I am drawn to the traditional that it portrays and will most likely use it in the near future. Even the most non-traditional Christians who may have never heard of the daily office will be drawn to some form of the daily office after reading this book. The most useful part of the book is at the end of the book when the author provides an example of one daily office for the morning. It allows people unfamiliar with the liturgical aspects of the office to understand what the author means by example.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

BookSneeze

As I can't figure out how to put this in a sidebar, I'll post this in it's own blog.

Blessed Beyond Measure

This is my first official blog. I don't think I'll say much, except this. I am blessed beyond measure. God is so good to me. I have friends who bless me beyond measure. I have family who supports me and gives me unconditional love. I have a home. God is good. All the time. I know that none of it has come from me.

I was struck by something in Luke this week. If you'll permit, I'd like to share it with you without chapter and verse distinctions. In the book of Luke "'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.' Now the tax collectors and 'sinners' were gathering to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.'"

I read these verses together and it struck me that I had never put them together before even though they are concurrent verses. However, because they are in different chapters, I had never put them together before, though they are certainly and obviously connected. Those who had the ears to hear were the sinners, not those who should have recognized Jesus as the Messiah. This isn't a surprise to me, it's obvious through all of Scripture, but these three verses struck me so strongly tonight.

Well my friends, I pray that today is a day that draws you ever nearer to God, that you would have the ears to hear and that you know you are loved and blessed beyond anything you can imagine, beyond measure.