Sandy Elementary Poem

I just saw this post from someone on Facebook, and I thought it'd be nice to share. Enjoy!

Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38
when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.
their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.

they could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.
they were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.
they remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.
"where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.
"this is heaven." declared a small boy. "we're spending Christmas at God's house."
when what to their wondering eyes did appear,
but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.
He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.
then He opened His arms and He called them by name.
and in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring
those children all flew into the arms of their King
and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,
one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.
and as if He could read all the questions she had
He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of mom and dad."
then He looked down on earth, the world far below
He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe
then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,
"Let My power and presence re-enter this land!"
"may this country be delivered from the hands of fools"
"I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!"
then He and the children stood up without a sound.
"come now my children, let me show you around."
excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran.
all displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.
and i heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,
"in the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

So Excited!!

Can I just say I am so grateful for my family?! Well, I sure am!
For a little while I was really sad, because I thought that Erik and I were going to be spending Christmas alone. What is more sad than being alone on Christmas? Well, of course we'd have each other, but I'm still so young! I'm used to being around my family!
We had originally planned to go down to Idaho, but then my family was planning on going away for Christmas...so that wasn't going to happen! Then, Erik's family is planning on going down to Utah....and we couldn't do much about it, because we both had to work the day after Christmas! So sad. :(
Well anyhow, to cut to the chase--we are now able to go down to Idaho after all! We both were able to maneuver our schedule in that we will have a few days off, and also my fam isn't leaving til the day after to go wherever they were planning on going!
All is well in Zion!!
I am so stoked, and I plan on cherishing this year--especially not knowing whether or not we will be around family next Christmas. Erik is still job searching, but we are starting to reach farther out as we are having no luck locally. Cross your fingers for us!!
Love you all!

"Thankful fors"...

You know how everyone is doing those "I'm thankful fors" on facebook and blogs every day this month?? Well, I think it's really cool. Really, I do. I wish I had enough discipline to do the same, but I'm seriously not good enough at committing myself to write every. single. day. As you can see here, I haven't posted in Oh...almost a month now?! Yeah, enough said. So, kudos to all of you that can do that. I guess I just need to get my priorities straight.

Anyways, while on this topic, I thought I'd at least post one right now. And if I get to it, maybe another sometime this month. Maybe. ;)

So today, I would like to announce that I'm grateful for Rexburg. Yes, Rexburg. You see, even though I love being up here in Washington and all, we don't have many friends our own age. It's sad, really. I think I took it for granted exactly how many people I had surrounding me on all sides in Rexburg, and how many people I could call/text/email at the push of a button and say, "Hey! Wanna hang out?" I wish I still had that right about now. It gets kinda lonely day-in and day-out hanging out at home, going to work, hanging out at home, going to work...etc.

So here's to all my friends in Rexburg and everywhere else: WE MISS YOU!!! And I'm thankful for YOU today. :)