Ch-ch-ch-ch-anges.

Tonight (which was actually many nights ago since I am late posting this on here) I was thinking about the thing that went around Facebook where you said twenty-five random things about yourself and if mine had changed any sense I wrote it a few months ago. A lot about life has changed, but what about facts about myself. What would I add or subtract from my list?

This is what I wrote on February 4, 2009, but now I’m going to edit it to my life as of December 15,2009.
1.) My full name is Hannah Alise Langdale, and I love it :).
This is still very true! I love my name, probably more than a person should.
2.) I have a 10 year plan, which I fully intend on living my life by and everything being perfect – even though I know it won’t!
This one makes me laugh because the past 10 months of my plan have definitely not been perfect!
3.) My favorite color is yellow, because it was my Granny’s favorite color and when she died I made it mine because for some strange reason I thought it would disappear if it wasn’t someone’s favorite! I was such a sheltered child!
I still love yellow.
4.) I don’t get attached to people very often, but when I do – I get really attached.
Once again, still very true.
5.) In all of the people in the whole entire world I only trust two of them enough to share any secret. One everyone could guess, because she is my best friend, but the other may shock people.
Still true, and I am so very thankful for my ‘secret keepers’ even though one of them doesn’t realize completely that he is.
6.) I hate change, and as selfish as it is – most change in my eyes is bad.
This is semi-true, because I have learned how to embrace and enjoy change even when I don’t like it at first.
7.) I have a thing with lists, and I make about three a day.
Oh yes, I love list! Seriously, they’re sticky notes all over my room, car and desk.
8.) I thrive off of pressure.
Definitely still true.
9.) I only like certain social settings.
This one isn’t all that true, because I have learned to enjoy just about any social setting and I am very proud of myself for it.
10.) I can’t sing well, but I really wish I could.
I am now substituting my sadness of a sucky singing voice, by playing piano and I really like it!
11.) I love a sale! I could spend hours at Belk looking through clearance racks.
Definitely, and now that I have a job, I do this much more often than I should ;).
12.) For the most part I like my new extended family better than my ‘older’ one.
This means many things, all of which are still true.
13.). I really like to dance!, but its more fun while in certain peoples company :).
Oh yes, because “Baby, you can have whatever you like” .. haha!
14.) I have a car, but no license – and I am content with that!
I now have a license and Chanel, who is my gorgeous kitty.
15.) I’ll be a lawyer one day.!
The jury is now out on this one (no pun intended) but I am still going to law school.
16.) I vent emotions by going for a walk.
I now just do this every day to waste time, but I enjoy it much more when I am stressed or worried.
17.) I like the radio better than CD’s most of the time.
Still true.
18.) Seven people that I have been close to have completely walked out of my life.
Well, that can be changed to six and a half because I am beginning to reconnect with one of those people.
19.) When I am missing people, I listen to songs that remind me of them.
Exactly what I am doing right at this very moment!
20.) I can’t wait to transfer schools, even though I have enjoyed my time at Salk.
This one makes me laugh too, because not only am I staying at Salk – but I work there!
21.) I sometimes miss the good ole' FCA days.
This is true.
22.) I went to DC for my first ‘real’ trip this past December, and I loved it!
Oh yes, and I can’t wait to go back this summer!
23.) I hated having pictures on the wall until I moved into this room.
New room .. and even more pictures on the wall! Photo frames are definitely my new thing.
24.) I am a focused person, but people who really know me could tell you that I have a fun side too.
Still true.
25.) I am a awful liar, and sometimes I wish I was a better one. Haha. (But just so you know, I didn’t lie the entire time I did this!)
Oh yes, definitely still true!

That was so intersting because large parts of my life have changed in that past ten months, but only a few things on this list. What it showss me is that I am who I am, and I have the goals that I have no matter where I am in life. If its a happy day, a sad day, a peaceful day or a stressful day -- God has me in the palm of His hand and He knows the big picture evn when it seems so unclear to me at times.

--Han

Eh, maybe tomorrow ..

I have come to realization in life that I am always saying tomorrow, but when I say tomorrow I then say that it is too late. This had been the case with not only blogging, but also with something in my personal life. I write things in Word on almost a daily basis, but often I am too lazy to edit them so they can be posted on here and then I think about how it would be lame to start posting again because its been two weeks. However, each day I say that that is just a day that eventually will make it three weeks.
Make sense?

So, as of tonight -- that is considered foolishness and if I want to write in Word for two weeks and then just post them all in one time here I am because it is NEVER too late to do something that you want to do - no matter if it's blogging or reconnecting with someone that you used to love.

Blessings.
--Han

You’re Breathing.

Ah, those two words bring back so many memories of the FCA days when Asher or Stephen would at least say them once a day. It’s an amazing thing to think about though .. you are breathing and there is nothing you can do to have constant control over your breathing patterns. Breathing is something that is so rarely thought of but it is what ultimately keeps us alive.

God breathed breath into all of our lungs, but are we using the breath that He gave us in ways that He desires us to? Are we using our breath to build people up, or tear them down? Are we using it to use language that we shouldn’t? Or maybe singing songs that are filled with vulgar and crude lyrics?

Ultimately, we need to ask ourselves multiple times a day whether or not we are using the breath that God gave us in ways that worship Him.

I do realize this is extremely short, but I don't know what else to add. I mean, just thinking about this is so powerful that I don't have words to express what I am thinking. Crazy, eh?

--Han

It's The Climb .. .

After all the times that I have been called ‘Hannah Montana’, I have finally discovered a Miley Cyrus song that I like! It’s called “The Climb”. The song has to do with how we chase our dream(s) and the stumbling blocks that can tend to get in our way.

I have felt this way about many things in my life. What I want seems so close, yet it is running faster from me than I can run to it. I have always been a bit of a ‘lets it done and over with’ type of person. I try to figure out ways to get things done, and get them done faster than they should be done. The fact of the matter is that we can just speed through life hoping that the next ‘phase’ will be better than the one that we are currently in. Life is a journey. Nothing will ever be completely perfect, and we should be thankful for every day that we are blessed to live of it. There is a line in the song that says something to the extent of how the parts of life that we struggle through to get to the good parts is what we will remember most. That is so extremely true. I will always remember the times of struggle in my life, that eventually got/will get me to where I wanted to be, or where I want to be.

I think that most of the population at some point in life either has a really high expectation of life or a low expectation of life, heck maybe even both. My goal is to find that middle ground. The place that no matter what happens I’m fine with it, even if it wasn’t part of ‘the plan’. Another part of the song is about how there will always be mountains that we will want to move, but sometimes we just have to face the fact that we are gonna lose the battle with it. Some mountains aren’t meant to be moved out of our lives. Sometimes mountains are there to make us stronger, and to help us realize who we really are. I think of all the times that I have almost settled because a mountain was in my way that I didn’t want to face. I honestly have no clue why I didn’t just let it go and settle, but I haven’t. It semi-scares me about how my life would end up if I would have settled with what I knew I didn’t want, but thought I did because it was the easy way.

I guess the point I am trying to get through is don’t ever settle, give up, or forget about your dreams. I feel like a silly little girl talking about dreams, but lets face it – we all still have them! We all want to be great things in life. We all still have the ‘little kid’ moments where we think about what we want to be “when we grow up”. Don’t let your dreams slip away for any reason!

Lastly, I want to say that I am so very thankful for the people in my life who have loved me thus far in ‘my climb’. I can’t express how much I am thankful for the ones who have been with me during the hardest and the happiest times in my life. The ones who have stuck around even when I wasn’t being the person that I should have been. I am so very thankful for those people. I love you all :).

Okay, well I guess I am done! I am going to end with my favorite quote, which I think goes perfectly with this blog.

"What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us". - Ralph Waldo Emerson

-Han

I give up!

Wow, giving up. What a low, sad, and undesirable place to be for some situations but for other situations it can be an amazing thing.
We could give up on a friendship, a marriage, ourselves, our dreams .. or we can give up on things like being content with unsucessfulness,bad habits and so on. However, giving up is all about in the way it is done and what it is done to.
As I sit here tonight, I think about the positive and negative ‘give-ups’ in my life. I think about the people who should have given up on me long ago, and yet for some unbelievable reason they did not. I also think about all the things in my life that were positive ‘give-ups’, like hoodies! : )
The one thing that keeps repeating in my mind is how many times God should have given up on me -- this young girl from a little place in the world called Walterboro who basically fails Him on a daily basis, who think she knows it all and can handle anything by herself, who takes for granted how blessed she is all the time, who doesn’t spend nearly enough time with Him as He deserves .. and yet He never does. It amazes me, because I know if I was God I would have honestly given up on us all. I mean, look at our nation and how far away we are from the truth yet He is so merciful to see us through. What an amazing love.
I don’t really have much to say, but watch this video because it inspired this post!

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

Blessings.
-Han

I'll give you a dollar if .. .

How many times have we all used (or heard) the line "If I had a dollar for every time I ______, I'd be rich!". I'm sure it is more times than could be counted with our fingers. An organization in North Carolina is taking the idea a bit further by giving girls (who are ages 12-18, in school and have a sister who gave birth before age 18) a dollar-a-day to stay in school, and be "baby-free". The group of 24 girls attend a meeting once a week and at the end of every week that they do not become pregnant, seven dollars is deposited into a special college savings account. By the time a girl has completed the entire program, she has about 3,000 dollars to help jump-start her college education.

I don't know how I feel about this whole idea of paying girls (who shouldn't be getting pregnant that their age anyway) to not get pregnant, but in some ways isn't it like paying children to do their chores? I know not everyone agrees with the idea of paying children to do chores, either -- but I do think it is a good way to build responsibility. What I know even more than all of it is that 3,000 dollars doesn't go that far when paying for college, but it sure could put a dent into it!

Anyway, I guess I should get to my point now. This idea made me think about what I would do if I got paid seven dollars a week to do it. Think of how crowded our churches would be if we paid people to be there? I'm sure they would be packed for every service and life group! How sad, but true it is that by our human nature we feel like we should be rewarded for doing things that should just be ordinary. However, in this world "doing the right thing" isn't very ordinary any more. Our nation that once was so devoted to God has seemed to stray so far from the truth, just like our teen girls who are giving themselves away without even thinking of the life changing repercussions that their actions could have.

This made me think of a song by Ken Holloway that my Dad used to listen to. It's called "The Ordinary". It is a country song that basically just talks about two guys talking after a date concerning "how far" they got with their girls. One of the guys says that "he loves this girl so much first he is going to buy her a ring". The chorus emphasizes the idea that what should be so ordinary to us, is quite the opposite of what is. The song continues on to talk about their life together.

The whole idea of what should be 'ordinary' to us has really got me thinking, so I'm sure I will write more along these lines later.

Here is the link for the paying girls thing: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529037,00.html


-Han

Yay for blogging freedom!

Should this be called take 3? I don't see why not. Doesn't the old saying say that the third time is a charm anyway?! :)

As you all can tell the chapter a day thing was a bust. I feel like what God speaks to me through reading is far too personal to share with 'the world'. However, I do still recommend that you all read a chapter a day. If you give God the opportunity to speak to you, He will. Through reading He will speak to you about fears, disappointments, regrets, dreams, victories, hopes, desires (this list could go on forever) .. in more touching ways than you could ever imagine.

Now this is a theme free blog! I've realized that it obviously doesn't work well for me to write about only certain things, when my mind is actually extremely random. So, yay for blogging freedom.

Buckle in folks, this could be an interesting ride!

-Han