Tag Archives: kristi burden

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Every once in a while I come across something revolutionary; like E6000.  -Or those Magic Erasers that miraculously remove stains. Let me not forget those Ghirardhelli Sea Salt Soiree squares.  They're life changing.  Anyway, when I bump into simple goodness, I find myself wondering why no one ever took the small trouble to introduce us.  So I'm going to start with me.  I'm going to start sharing things like Burt's Bees lip balm. I'm never without two tubes of it; one in my makeup case and one in my purse. And I'm hoping you'll start sharing those gems you find that make your day a little brighter.

Listening to Pandora gets me through hairy Sunday mornings and kitchen disaster clean ups. (See.  I'm just sharing away here.  If you haven't tried Pandora, you must.  I even knocked my dad's socks off with it.  You can find any artist under the sun on it.  And for free.  On second thought, if my dad knows about it, you probably do too.  He just discovered Facebook.)   I just type in the name of my favorite artists, and then I get to hear songs by that and other similar artists.301631

Saturday, I think, I was putting my folded clothes away so I'd have a basket to use so I could gather and wash more dirty clothes.  I don't even remember what artist I was listening to, but a song came on by JJ Heller.  I instantly loved it; loved her.  I Googled her and found that the song I was listening to was from 2009.  Rylie still had all of her baby teeth then, makeup was the farthest thing from Hallie's mind and Hayden driving was the farthest thing from mine.  Four years is a ways back.  So how is it that nobody ever told me about JJ Heller?

I have an excuse for not being up on the latest music.  You see, about five years ago, Rylie was sitting rather quiet in the back seat of the Armada.  She decided that the antenna that lined the back window looked much like a sticker.  If you don't get to put stickers on the window, which she was also fond of, I guess you take them off.  That simple act ruined our car riding listening pleasure.  All we get to listen to in the car now are CD's, and each other which isn't all that bad.

JJ Heller is described on her bio as "eclectic and down to earth".  Her music is roller skates to my soul. Just read the lyrics In the picture up top from her song "His Hands".  She has super cool hair too.

I discovered her music on "messy house Saturday".  Ironically, the house is messy again today, so I'm sounding off.  But I'll be saying Good Morning to Pandora, my dishes and some JJ Heller.

If you have a "Why didn't anybody tell me" thing to share, please do in comments or write a post and send it to me at:

kristiburden@gmail.com

...because sharing is something friends do!

Here's a song by JJ Heller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8jilr8qsYU

How about another one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0D1P8k9mWM

2-Craftoween_

 

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I was able to work out this morning.  It has been so gorgeous outside lately that I've ditched the gym treadmill (complete with my own TV screen for my viewing pleasure) for a walk outdoors. There's a nice little track for me to make my rounds.  And it's so quiet.  I pray for friends with struggles and I ask questions.  And then I try to cease to be; listening and watching for what God might want to show me.

It's quite a challenge.  As nice as it has been outside, the track looks pretty much the same every time I walk it.  The sounds of zizzing cars rushing down Nederland Avenue can always be heard. But I try.  Last week I saw a single leave that had changed into its fall wardrobe.  It was the perfect shade of fiery red.  It was under a small group of trees around the 100th yard of my 400 yard lap.  I looked forward to that leaf each lap; a reminder of the importance of color- the kind that stands out.

This morning all I noticed was the orange mesh attached to the metal fence that divides the track from the rest of the world.  The morning sky wasn't particularly outstanding, but I looked and I listened.

One stretch of the track butts up to a row of houses. Instead of orange mesh and metal fence, there is a nice wooden fence.  I noticed this morning when I rounded the track how the grass in my view was blotchy and unremarkable. The sun was shining, but the grass patch in front of the wooden fence couldn't decide if it wanted to beam, or just cast a dull shade of gray. It was the kind of gray I feel when friends struggle and I have more questions in my own life than I have answers.

Steps later the grass transformed.  I saw strips of bleak ground broken up by perfect rays of light; the befuddled patch gone. I only had to be in the right place to see light for light.

I remember going to my Meme's as a kid.  All six of my family would pack into the van.  We'd head toward Brownwood.  Sometimes we'd stop and get powdered donuts or some other sugary treat on the way.  When we were almost there we'd peel our eyes searching for the houses and buildings dotted just over the hill so we could shout "I see Brownwood first!".

But I also distinctly remember the middle of the trip.  Somewhere in between Dublin and Comanche, around Proctor, there was a grove of Pecan trees.  Approaching, it just looked like a mess of trees.  But I always knew that if I kept watching, when we got to the right place, I'd see trees lined up perfectly diagonal. For seconds they'd be unarranged again, and then in moments, I'd see them in perfect vertical rows. I looked for those trees on Brownwood trips.

They remind me of life. It seems so blurry, sometimes.  So chaotic. In life, the light seems diffused; mixed in with the dark, creating dull, somber shades. There are times that we do have more questions than answers; more disarray than order.  The problem may well be that as we grow, we often forget to focus.  Like the blotched grass in my path this morning, our hope fades and we get discouraged.  Sometimes we're just downright tired.  We forget to be the girl who watches until the trees line up in perfect order.

…13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

 

14 Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:13,14

The situation we see as a hopeless mess is in His hands.  We need not worry.  We need not sink down in the gray.  We just have to keep our eyes focused, knowing the one who sends forth the rays of the sun is a God of order.  He's a God of peace.  And he's a God of victory.  Just wait for it!

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It's ten days before your seventeenth birthday.  I find myself eating up bits of time we get to spend together and letting go things I once thought important like whether or not there are dirty socks under your bed.  I've always hoped I'd be able to teach you everything you need to know, and that you'd learn and practice everything I'd taught you.  Funny though,  the years have passed quickly and you still have a world of learning before you.  However, you left and will continue to leave, an indelible mark on my heart.  Oh how I've learned from you; I could tell you a hundred life-impacting ways.  But I think I'll keep it light.

Ten Things I've Learned From You:

dresser

10. I've learned that it's ok to not be in a hurry.  Sometimes we need to make time to slow it down, so as to glory in our surroundings. We don't always have to move "like a cheetah" even though that's all I told you when you were a preschooler stopping for every bug and rock.

9. If dessert is good enough, it's totally acceptable to lick your plate.... or your fingers.  It might make the person who made it feel good knowing that you enjoyed it so much.

8. I've come to know that even the most blunt and innocent objects (like a glass of water) can be turned into weapons of sibling torture

and that chair railing is the perfect spot to stick that wad of gum you may want to chew again tomorrow.

Taken somewhere between broken arm #1 and broken arm #2
Taken somewhere between broken arm #1 and broken arm #2

7. I've learned what a broken arm looks like, without needing an x-ray

6. It's never too early to have a love for philosophy/psychology; things like what makes people tick and who makes the world go round.

Dr. Phil Birthday Party Age 8
Dr. Phil Birthday Party Age 8

5. Nothing good happens after midnight, except for mother/son conversations about life.....just because.

4. You can never have too many pocketknives

or jugs of milk.

3. I've learned that homemade gifts crafted from ordinary things, like a BB gun and an empty can of Dr. Pepper are the best gifts a mom can get. The flattened framed piece of aluminum bearing the word "Mom" in BB enforced holes is the most delightful piece of art I own.hug

2. A hug is truly a healing agent.

1. You can fit a bed, dresser drawers, a loveseat, a small entertainment center with a sizeable flat screen and a recliner in a bedroom, but you couldn't fit more love in this mom's heart.

Happy last ten days of being sixteen!

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I'm impatient.  So I got you to come on over here even though I really haven't written anything new.  I spent four hours (I'm lying.  It was much longer than that) working on here last night.  Noticing yesterday how bright and cheery the classrooms are at Rylie's school geared me up.  Each room is painted in some nice rich hue.  Almost made me want to learn.  And paint........ not really. So since I don't want to paint I decided to spiffy up this site. For some reason my other theme has given me some trouble.  You may have noticed the site has been slow-running.  I'm hoping this will be better.  Below I've reposted a renewed invitation for you to come on over and write something.  I'd like you to be my guest.  It's the least you could do since I spent all this time sprucing the place up.

Thursday Thoughts Wanted

Guest writers, I've Missed You.

It's been a few weeks since we've had someone share "A Thursday for Your Thoughts"; that's the bad news.  The good news is, there are still nine Thursdays left in 2013.  That means nine on-line opportunities to encourage someone(s)

Here's your opportunity to tell your story

or share your super-easy five ingredient/five-star meatloaf.

We'd love to hear your testimony

or your thoughts on life.

Tell us how you got your toddler potty-trained, your first grader to keep his room clean

or how you keep your pre-teen drama-free

Suggestions and  solutions welcome, but not required.

-Sometimes knowing there other parents out there who are clueless, but trying-

frustrated, but sticking to it-helps us know we're not alone.

  Or maybe you've been there and done that; a sage with wisdom-please share!

We'd love to hear from you youngsters too.  Tell us how to twitter,  I mean tweet, or tell us what the perfect parent looks like to you.

Pictures wanted;  we love pictures.

No minimum/ maximum word count or  writing experience required.

Just write.

Send your contribution or questions to kristiburden@gmail.com

Here are a few previous contributions to

 "A Thursday for Your Thoughts":

A poem by Alison Howell- http://kristiburden.com/?p=4149

On loss by Cindy Huff- http://kristiburden.com/?p=2374

Waiting for God's plan by Jane Crain-http://kristiburden.com/?p=2608

Beauty tips by Mikala DeVillier-http://kristiburden.com/?cat=316

Or read them all by clicking on "A Thursday for Your Thoughts" under the categories heading to the right.

Can't wait to hear from you.

My Dearest Daughter,

I snapped this picture of you yesterday knowing that it would be a busy day and photo (46)I might not get the chance later.  Yesterday was your first time to march in the parade with the band.  It was also your first time to get a Homecoming mum, so it was kind of a special day.  I know you weren't thrilled about having your picture made; selfies seem to be the only pictures you like to take lately.

I'm thinking that you subjected yourself to having your picture made because you had grace for your loving, overly excited mother who still wants to document your "firsts".  -Either that, or you knew I was about to find out what happened to my iPod and you were hoping I would remember this small kindness you showed me;  a sort of I'll grin and bear it, won't you too?

A little past 8:00 AM yesterday I read the letter you specified I read at that time.  So.  You spilled finger nail polish remover on my iPod and ruined it? And you let me know in a two page apology letter scheduled to be read while you were safe at school.  Well-played. A little sneaky, but well-played.

I will say that I'm proud of the way you're taking responsibility for the effect of your accident.  It's so easy to make a list of excuses of why it wasn't your fault.  Or you could just convince me that it was an accident that should go unpunished. It was, after all,  an accident.

It was unintentional like tripping, or spilling a drink, or forgetting an appointment, or locking your keys in your car.  Accidents don't require an apology, but I'm glad you're mindful that they go a long way in reaching out to the person affected by your accident.  Apologizing shows regret and concern. It doesn't insinuate intentionality.  I know my iPod is ruined, but not due to some act of disobedience or disrespect.

Shocked at my handling this so well? I'm pretty shocked myself.  I kept my cool, at least one other time, when your brother was about three. I'd just bought a dragonfly sun catcher.  Hayden picked it up, dropped it, and it broke, just like that!  From some well of wisdom, much deeper than my fickle but powerful emotions, I said, "It was just a thing; people are more important than things."  I think you've heard me say that very phrase a number of times.  Of course I'm probably saying it to you or your brother or sister. I forget to say it to myself sometimes.

Still we do best to take a good look at our blunders; thinking on how we might avoid them in the future-

like, say.... don't have an open container of nail polish remover near anything you don't want ruined

or always acknowledge that your keys are in your hands before you hit the lock button

Blunders are teachers.

Your letter showed me that you learned

that some messes can't be fixed

and that accidents can have effect on others; not just the one who made the mess.

You said you learned that you shouldn't "mistreat the privileges you're given" (by leaving the iPod by your bed).

and that offering to attempt to correct your mistake is always the right thing to do (even when the recipient of your offer seems unkind or unforgiving).

This was just an accident.  And all this learning you've done leaves me with little to do in this situation.  I think in the future, I'll just focus more on higher matters.

I'm putting in writing that I devote myself to attitudes and intentions (or lack thereof).  I am telling myself that things are things; that messes and mistakes happen.  And I'm reminding myself that even if a mess happens as a result of disobedience, I do best to focus on the attitude and not the mess.

God looks at the heart, and so should I.

Keep Marching Forward
Keep Marching Forward

 

Beauty is as Beauty Does
Beauty is as Beauty Does

Yesterday I'd lost an ipod.  But I watched my daughter growing in maturity and beauty. I'd say I gained.

Thanks for giving me permission to share this.  It's nice to learn from each other.

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I woke up extra early this morning thinking about trees. Don't ask me why.  And then my thinking about trees reminded me of a time without trees.

I attended West Texas A&M for a year of college. I was baffled at its flat, treeless landscape. I felt vulnerable there, out in the unprotected open.

I remember arriving with my parents,  and unloading our suburban. We carried my clothes and other belongings up echoing flights of stairs.  A tornado came through while my parents were there to move me in. We were caught unaware and had to park under an overpass while the sirens blared. But pass it did. And then they left.

That was a scary time.
Yes, the tornado, but also that entire year being subject to frightening new stuff. There were scary knowns and unknowns, like the unsupervised snake in the dorm hallway and the smell of incense used to cover up things I'd never been exposed to before. Then there was the girl who tried to shoplift at Gadzooks while I was with her at the mall until I promised her that I would tell the clerk.  Let's not forget the first few fire alarms in the middle of the night that suggested there was a real fire (before I figured out they were pulled "for fun").

Jason was attending the same school, but football and my classes and job schedule kept us both busy.  Still we traveled the grueling four-hundred miles home, dirty clothes in tow, every time we could. Because being home felt secure.  It still feels that way.

Safe and inviting; it's a place where oak trees stand taller than my problems.   It's a place I can always go to; a place where my father is.

photo (45)

I've lived on both sides of this vast state; and both places are far from the oak trees that overhang the place where I grew.  It's hard to get back to that place I love so dearly; that safe and sound place I know.  But it's at that home where I learned of a place I can always run to; a place to abide in fearful times and when danger is near. This place isn't identified through geographic coordinates.  It can be ran to, by simply being small and still.

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe. Proverbs 18:10

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From Hallie's point of view:

Grace Unplugged was an amazing movie. From my point of view, it was about a girl who was tempted with everything in the world that seemed great. And she found out it wasn't all it seemed to be. It reminded me to keep thinking, that the world will try to show you what is good and convince you to do it. It also shows you that what God has in mind is always best for you.

A Mom and Daughter Review
A Mom and Daughter Review

From a Mom: 

I can't think of a better way I could have spent last night.  A friend had the great idea for a Mom/Daughter Girls' Night Out that consisted of Mexican food, laughter and tears.  We even scored this life-size souvenir at the theater. I'm seeing a major Movie Night in the future.

Best Date Souvenir Ever
Best Date Souvenir Ever

Grace Unplugged

I saw the preview for this movie a couple of weeks ago.  The movie is based on a true story of a pastor's family. This film is for any family with parents who want the best for their children and for children who are determined to find their way, their own way.

Grace is a good girl with unimaginable talent and a bright future.  Her Dad,  painfully similar to myself, tries to hem her in to the point of suffocation.  It's clear that his intentions are from deep seeded love.  He wants to preserve her innocence; to shield her from the world and from the consequences of wrong choices. What parent doesn't want to do that?

She's ready to bloom.  She knows she has musical talent but feels her creativity is being squashed and unrecognized.  She has a firm knowledge of right and wrong if only she had the opportunity to make her own choices. The spreading of her wings leads to a quick rise in fame.  But the world is asking for more of her than her God-given talent.  Rather than being filled to overflowing having more than she ever dreamed of, she finds herself empty and broken.

I love how this movie effectively shows the perspective of parents, who in undying love, work tirelessly to guide their children. It reminds us that children have to grow up. And as painful as it may be; part of that growing may just be outside our control.  This movie is a great reminder that both parents and children have the same need; we just can't do without God's grace.

The music appealed to Hallie and I both which doesn't always happen.  It was a "clap at the end" kind of movie; one where no one got out of their seats as the credits rolled because they knew they had seen the kind of movie that could impact conversation and relationships.  Go see it! photo (44)

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We look in the mirror not believing what we've become

As a child we'd thought we be someone

We sell our dreams and potential so we can

live the life that "they" call grand

-Words of a twelve-year-old scholar who wears too much eye makeup, my own Hallie Burden.  This is an excerpt from a poem she wrote the other night. Her words strike me with unfathomable force.  "This" is what I've been trying to tell her.....And "this" is what I'm still trying to tell myself.

With big brown eyes and wild hair, Hallie at age six, was a mustang in spirit. She even tried to convince us that she was turning into a horse because she was starting to notice hair on her legs and arms and she "thought her neck was growing longer".

Her dreams of the future didn't include the words "trained" or "tamed" or becoming the best work horse.Me and Mustang Hallie

But the "ideal" girl is what we all somehow become sold on.  Too often we unwittingly pack up our simple enjoyment of life along with the Barbies and white drawing paper.  We're told a grand life means trading in our individuality for a canned version of lady-ness.   We drive our SUV's at dizzying speed to make the next appointment or practice.  Our girls see us fret in front of the mirror when we view our slightly more plump figures or the small lines that have invited themselves underneath our tired eyes. Jills of all trades, we try to do it all, be it all, while the "us" God intended lies buried beneath the busy effort.

Just the other day, I looked at one of the pair of earrings I wear.  And I saw irony at its best.  The earrings are broken; both of them.  Of course they didn't start out that way.  A couple of weeks ago, at church I think, one of the silver scrolled circles went missing off of the earring in my right ear.  Instead of trying to find the missing piece, I had Jason take the complete earring and break it to match the other.  So now I have two broken earrings.  And I wear them just as if being broken is fine and dandy.

I see women who are worn out and defeated; but still accepting of the heavy load society lays squarely on their shoulders.  Already worn as I am, I tell myself that if they're ably and somewhat nobly spinning their physical and literal wheels, what am I but an incapable woman if I'm not doing the same.  It doesn't seem to matter if I'm not designed to cook like they are or sing like they do.  I don't seem to care if its purposeful and necessary to emulate their load.   The world needs one more PTA mom, right? Regardless of the plans God has for me, I'm attracted to the "all women invited/losers need not apply" Rat Race and Super Woman contest that I hate.

And all the while I root for young girls; that they will be who God created them to be.  I expect them to listen to the voices that tell them that they are enough. It's not all about making the grade, I expect my twelve and eight year old to know. I pray that my son chooses a girl that is all wrapped up in who God wants her to be. I want Hallie and Rylie to trust me when I tell them they don't need to be, or dress, or dance like someone else.

You're whole and loved as you, I tell them.  And I smile.... wearing my broken earrings.

I feel it in my tired old bones and my made up face.

This is the assigned moment for Him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.  John 3:30

Me, or "another her" isn't who my girls need to see.  I want them to see Him and the over the top, unique, and fabulous plan he has for me, and for them.

 

 

 

 

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Rylie has joined the likes of women from all over who adore the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  She comes on at the exact time that Rylie gets her shots on Mondays and Thursdays.  Rylie has forgotten her fish tank friends at the clinic: T-Bob, Bob, Camo, Didi and then Bibi (Didi's love interest ). Since discovering the Pioneer Woman, she hasn't picked up the worn out copy of Green Eggs and Ham or tried to stick her good patient stickers on random strangers.  She thinks we should try every recipe we see that the Pioneer Woman makes but this week's fruit pizza recipe, she says, had her drooling.

So today we tried it. And bonus!  We made it wheat and gluten-free and it was still "eat every crumb" good.

Everybody was pleased, even Hayden who is in strong opposition to any altered form of bread/pastry product.

Here are a few non-fabulous iPhone pictures.

We've used Betty Crocker Gluten-Free products a few times.  The chocolate cake mix (we made cupcakes) are awesome.  But how could they not be slathered with chocolate icing. I used two boxes of sugar cookie mix.

photo (38)

It made nine huge cookies. I could have eaten the cookies just fine by themselves.  Well, with a tall glass of milk.photo (37)

 

Here is the recipe I used for the icing.  It's only the three ingredients that I have bordered in pink so neatly for you.  I couldn't find the Pioneer Woman's.  I was impatient and snapped this screenshot of the first fruit pizza icing I could find.  Then I strayed from the recipe anyway.  I used powder sugar instead of sugar, because I wanted to.

 photo (35)

I didn't realize until I started cutting fruit that I got a lot of red fruit.  I don't think it mattered a whole lot except for visual purposes and I'm not usually too worried about that.photo (36)

 

Here's the happy camper.  I was going to take a picture of the other two, but one had food on their face, and the other was still in pajamas (at 4:30 in the afternoon).

photo (34)

Until next time. The dishes.....and the laundry are calling.

If you have a good wheat free recipe, share it please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I have been overwhelmed with grief for what I have seen in the news in the past month.  1-thThree young people across the nation, the youngest being a twelve-year-old girl, have ended their lives feeling that they couldn't suffer being bullied any longer.  I know that these cases are of an extreme nature, but intimidation and tormenting abound. I feel the utmost urge, if nothing else to teach our children the value of kindness.  I want them to be equipped with the knowledge of what God has to say about how we treat others.  I want them to be reminded that showing God's love is a big deal, much more so than anything else we do.  The following is a devotion that will be done with our pre-teen girls at our God's Girlies Event tomorrow.  Read it, or don't, but please pray for the event.  Pray that the girls would be open to hearing from God and that they would be willing to be agents of change.

Banishing Bullying

Do you know the lingo?

WORD BANK:

getting help          victim          bullying

bystander             getting directly involved

upstander

-an aggressive intentional act or behavior that is carried out by an individual or group repeatedly over time against a victim who cannot easily defend themself ____________

-the target of bullying ____________

-everyone (in addition to the victim and bully) who is present during a bullying incident or is aware of an incident ____________

-goes against the tide to protect a victim from injustice____________

Bystanders can become upstanders by ____________ or ____________

 

Chances are you have played more than one of these roles through time.  Maybe you have been a victim, bystander and upstander on different occasions.  It could be that you have even participated in bullying.  It's a good thing that God has something he lovingly says to each of us.

What God has to say to us about bullying

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Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up...... Ephesians 4:29

Bambi's bud Thumper learned right from his mama, "If you can't say sumpthin' nice, don't say...... nuthin' at all.

 

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Psalm 34:13

Not only should you keep yourself from saying mean and untrue things, STAY AWAY from others who speak evil and untruth.

 

Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers,  But they delight in the law of the LORD meditating on it day and night. Psalm 1:1-2

Like our parents, He tells us more than once not to be a part, even as a bystander, of bad behavior. He tells us that our attention is better spent reading, thinking about and practicing what he tells us in His word.

 

Proverbs lists out "6 things God hates and seven things that are detestable.  I know I don't want to be a part of anything like that.

haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Proverbs 6:16-19

You're probably thinking I've never busted somebody up to bleeding, but God puts blood-spilling right in the middle of lies, general trouble-making and a mean-spirited plan-making heart.  You don't have to physically hurt someone to really hurt them.

 

And the King will answer them, Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Matthew 25:40

Standing up for someone because you know it's what God wants you to do is an act of service to Him.  It's a two-fer!  You've come to the aid of the person being bullied and you've served God.

 

Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 11:14

If you are safe to stand up to someone who is bullying, do so, but remember that there are adults that are nearby who want to help.  Be a counselor or go get one.

 

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. Luke 6:31

I can't think of a single sane person who would want to be bullied or a person who would want to be laughed at or have a crowd staring at them while they are being purposely humiliated.  You'd want to be defended if it were you, so help out; be the person you'd want on your side in time of trouble.

 

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another... Colossians 3:12

"Putting on" those characteristics my friends, I PROMISE YOU, is far more important than putting on your favorite jeans.

 

In all of these tribulations we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:35

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.  Proverbs 18:10

So do not fear for I am with you.  Do not be dismayed for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart, I have overcome the world.  John 16:33

Life isn't always easy.  Sometimes we find ourselves in a place where it never seems easy. This world is by no means a perfect place.  That's why we do best to remember that God is our guide.  He's our salvation; our protector, the one who forever and completely loves us.  He will get us through the bad times if we trust in Him.  Don't forget that he put people in your life, like your mom and dad and your grandparents or that special aunt or teacher.  They're there to help you.  But unlike God who knows all, sometimes you have to let them know what you're going through.

You're being prayed for. For the one who has behaved badly time and time again towards another person, Stop!  Ask for God's forgiveness and for his help in being more kind.  For the ones who stand by and laugh or do nothing at all, be mindful that it's always right to stand up.  And for the one who suffers at the hand of people who have no understanding or concern for their actions, hang in there.  Hang on to prayer and the words of God. You are loved more than you feel. God will help you through.