"What is art?"

I love random deep conversations.

Today I woke up and I was STRESSED! I had not yet submitted my English add class form and therefore I was not officially in the class. I was wakened 30 minutes before my already early alarm to my mother telling me that I would to take a two hour bus ride to my college classes that I could not miss due to my procrastination. All my fault. I was discouraged with myself thinking "How will I get through this day when the morning already has me in an off mood?!" I lay in bed freaking out about all the things that were going wrong with the day already and decided that I needed a minute or two to sort out my feelings and share my frazzlement with the only one who would understand me and my ramblings. God.
I'm basically whining to Him at first. "God please make me sick so I don't have to get out of my warm bed! Please please please, I promise I'll go to school tomorrow." As I started sounding more and more pathetic I was reawakened to a larger picture. My last blog talked about nothing being ordinary in the days, hours, and moments we are blessed to live out. In the same way, nothing means nothing.

Let me explain. Not one second of this life we live means nothing. Our actions and words affect more than we know. For instance, not smiling at that stranger you pass continually on your way to class, could confirm their belief that they are worth less than an ant on this earth. Complimenting that girls sweater could make her feel more confident in herself and inspire her to tell her friend that she looks great, which could in turn cause her to smile out her car window at a stranger, and maybe that person is a teacher. A teacher at a little community college in Everett who decided instead of doing notes that day, they would have a discussion in class about defining "art," which could in turn cause a students mind to twist and turn until they have to talk about that very class discussion with a friend on the bus ride to high school. Giving that friend a chance to share God's amazing grace and beauty. The student in the art class in turn would be given a little nudge to the path that God so desperately wants everyone to find.
The possibilities are endless.

More than once my mood has changed simply by looking into the window of the car next to me and seeing to humans laughing so hard that they look... well really odd. I can only imagine how people’s moods change when they see me serenading them with Enrique Iglesias' "Do You Know."

I was so uninspired to get out of bed this morning. I was ready to fake a fever, start crying, anything... anything at all to get me out of a day at school. And then God told me that He loved me, but that I needed to put my big girl panties on and go out into the world. (He didn't make me ride the two hour bus though...) This is where my day get's even better.

I am driving to college with my mom. (Laugh here) And she starts telling me about her crazy teenage years and how she used to be in those crazy protest marches. Yeah, just think about what your parents did. I am telling her about my plans and how to go about them and where to go to college. All in all, great conversation with my mom.
I get to college a little more than an hour early so I open up Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell. (I'm in love with Rob Bell.) In it I find more amazing insight in the two chapters I read. In it, I was bonked on the head again for selfishness.

"God Bless America? God has." I was so ready to stay in my warm bed this morning because poor poor Hillary didn't get enough sleep. I felt so ashamed to be so ready to give up a day of school when I was reminded that people don't get to go to school. Think about how many people would die (theoretically) to be in our place. I'm not trying to put guilt on your plate; I'm simply reminding you of how blessed you are. YOU ARE SO BLESSED! Just look up statistics about our country vs. the world and you will be faced with the fact that despite all the things you don't own, you have a lot! Guilt does not come with possessions and it does not come from God. But greed does come from believing that you earned the right to your things and that you have no one to thank.

I believe the Bible to be one giant book of a central idea. Be thankful and trusting in the Lord God for He loves you. Yeah... YOU! He is IN LOVE WITH YOU! God is the reason you are breathing today. He is the reason I am alive today with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes. I am so incredibly blessed to have someone love me this much. Someone as awesome as Jesus Christ died for me. 1 out of 6 billion people. That is how small I am and still He did. That kind of Love has been crushing me and I never want it to stop.

I guess the point I am trying to make is be thankful. In every obstacle, blessing, and test be thankful. God loves you and wants you badly. He wants you. You.

On the bus ride home today, a friend of mine asked me what my definition of art is. I said "everything." He asked how everything could be art since no human has ever designed a tree before. I said because "The most beautiful things in this world aren't man made. There has got to be something more." I hope this blog starts some kind of uncontrollable chain of events. In the mean time. Thank God.