Be a light to others.
"I am sorry if I come off as righteous."
Let me listen to YOU. Your thoughts. I want to hear what you think and why.
We are DIFFERENT. NOT better.
But by the GRACE of God, there goes I.
We are DIFFERENT. NOT better.
We are DIFFERENT. NOT better.
Spent: $637.58
Budget: $610.40
Status? OVER BUDGET
Boo me. Although the majority of my expenses were tied up in fuel, I went over my Health/Wellness budget by 2.3%. (Why did I have to buy that expensive conditioning treatment for my hair?!). All other category actuals were more favourable than planned. I've been so so good with not eating out or spending all my money on snacks & treats. I was able to save about 70% of my income for this month and that figure looks good to me. Car, you will be mine!
I never wrote down my prayers and I wish I did. I think the first time I realized that God was listening was in 4th year University just months before graduation when I got kicked out of my BBA program. At that moment, graduating meant so much to me and to know that I failed my goal was so disheartening (I really did not want a general arts degree). Alone, I sat on my front porch on Hazel St. one night and cried. I begged God to let me have this one thing, to graduate.
In 3rd year, my grades were low and I maxed out my number of retake courses. It seemed hopeless to pull my GPA up to stay in the program. A door opened. I just had to take two courses in the summer, but one was not offered at school. I remember panicking about that until the very last minute, Carole Litwiller told me I should try to see if Thompson River University had a similar course. I e-mailed her the description along with a Letter of Permission, and POOF! I was enrolled. I was working full time at City of Toronto and taking two difficult courses, one which I had to drive up to Waterloo every week for. I failed Taxation. That meant I needed to get an A in Accounting to stay in the program. You could probably tell I was beating myself up hard about that one.
I prayed to God. The only As I got in University up to that point were the dinky computer courses. There was no way in hell I would get an A and I didn't.
I got an A+.
Sadly, I never thanked God or attributed that success back to God. I think I just prayed and forgot about it, and He answered my prayer and I didn't even realize it. Fast forward to March where I am sitting on the porch. I prayed because I got kicked out of my program. I was already teetering at the cutoff and my grades did not cut it. This is what my unofficial transcript was:
UNCLASSFIED UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES. For that term, it still says it! But I am glad because it is a reminder of my utter fear, anxiety and sadness and in that time, I reached out to God. And did he answer?
HEEEEELLLL YEAHHH!!!
This is what my transcript looked like in the end:
And when I thank God about everything he has done in my life, I always remember the time I cried out to him and he answered. It still took a lot of hard work and perseverance, but I knew that none of this would have happened if I had not prayed that night. Guys, our life is an Unofficial Transcript with a list of things in our past that torment us. But that's just exactly what it is, Unofficial. Your slate gets wiped clean which means you have time to change, to see change and to make change in your life. You can either settle for an arts degree or aim a little higher (no offence to arts students, unless you graduated from Laurier) but all you have to do is ask.
Instead of quoting a bible scripture, I will quote myself on this blog:
I had the worst week possible. Insignificant things kept piling on, and I couldn't tell anyone. And then come yesterday, everything was so good. Complete 360... and I don't know what to say other than "Thank YOU" because I am truly blessed. The night before, I cried and I prayed and I cried and I think you heard me.
Snacks. There's a reason why I'm so fat and it's because I have the biggest sweet tooth for treats, snacks and baked goods. I can never turn down an offer for cake, nor can I get all of my studying done without a bag of goodies to keep me fuelled. Working at Kraft doesn't help either. Thinsations is the most delicious thing ever and I never would've known it. Have you tried freaking Rice Thins? I can't go back to regular chips. I need to stop snacking because half the time, I am so concentrated on doing financials that I didn't realize I just wolfed down a bag of mini eggs.
I don't get anything by endorsing products, so believe me when I say this stuff is like crack
Spending. I cannot wait to show you my February finances (I will wait until month end) because I've been very diligent with tracking my expenses. Every single one of them. I am under budget but I managed to spend around $600 this month so far and I realize every little thing adds up. Every Tim Hortons beverage, every Dairy Milk chocolate bar and all the travelling I do. Gas annihilates my wallet. I want to go bare bones into this saving mode.
My automatic Yes's. I go out with people I don't want to see or I do things that I don't want to do so I can see the people I do want to see (confusing?), and either way I end up not enjoying myself. I always tell myself, "Take a risk! Maybe the night will end up fun!" so I do and it never does. Before I automatically reply 'yes', I am going to stop and pause and think about it first. I am not going to be afraid to say 'no' in fear of letting anyone down.
Most importantly, let's think about why we are doing this. I am not Catholic and this is a Catholic sacrament that my church does not even celebrate, so that is not why I am doing this. I am doing this because I understand that you cannot achieve anything without first sacrificing something. How did I get into the CMA program? I had to sacrifice my summers in University to take extra accounting courses, I sacrificed my summer to study rigorously to pass the entrance exam and now I have to sacrifice my Sims Medieval playing time so that I could work on these comprehensive case studies every week. Just because I enjoy the library, doesn't mean I want to spend my life there. It is hard to imagine all of the sacrifices and hardships that Jesus encountered also. But if you don't sacrifice, you don't get a damn thing and that's the truth.
For me, whether it's to become more healthy, save up for a car, or to find some peace and comfort in my life... I can't do it without sacrifice. Start thinking about the changes you want to see in your life and all of the things you have to give up to see that change happen. Are you willing to take this challenge?
