I'm Losing It.....Losing It All for Christ!

Over the past year or so, I have found myself referring to myself as crazy. Typically that's nothing new, but now there was a different meaning to it. I wasn't afraid to be called crazy. I was going out of my way to be called crazy.

Why?

Here is my explanation:
Society has deemed what is normal. I am 25. This is the time to start building a career or continue towards obtaining higher education, begin a family of my own, have a stable job, have my own place or save for one, and so on. But....over the past 3 years, I have lived in 3 radically different places. I have had at least 3 different 'somewhat stable' jobs. I have attended 3 different Bible colleges. I've been to over 8 different churches as a regular attender. From all points of view, this seems a little unstable. Most people would say that I can't commit or that I am flaky.

Isn't faith about believing what one cannot see? I myself haven't been unstable. I just had one commitment that was more important than all the things by which society measures stability. I had my eyes on the One who hasn't left my side and continues to lead me each day on a path towards my calling. All the steps I've taken have brought me just a bit closer to where God wants me to be. They have helped mold and shape me into the woman of God that I am today. I still have a long journey ahead of me. I still have faults and flaws that I am working on with God to change in my life. God is the author of my story! He wrote the beginning. Together, we will complete this work, which He has begun in me.

A couple days ago, I told someone, "I would rather be remembered as being crazy than being stable, because that means that I am continuing to follow Jesus." Then this past Sunday, the Pastor had an amazing sermon about the 'crazy' people who were just following God's plan for their lives.

Noah: He was building a huge ark. On land. Not only for his family, but 2 of every animal. These animals came on their own (called by God) to Noah.
Abraham: He was asked to sacrifice his son. Thankfully, there weren't any witnesses. Otherwise, who knows how this story would have gone, especially if Sarah had found out.
Moses: The Egyptian army was chasing them. They had nowhere to go. He walked up to the Red Sea and held his staff over it. If you recall, he was actually considered crazy just for asking the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.
Joshua: Marched around the walls of Jericho (a big city). 7 days. On the 7th day, 7 times. Signing praises to God.

In each case, God did wonderful and miraculous things. He blessed His people for following Him.

Noah: His family was delivered from a terrible fate.
Abraham: He was promised to have as many sons as there are stars in the sky.
Moses: Delivered God's people out of slavery.
Joshua: The city walls fell, and Jericho was won back to the Israelites.

I'm not nearly as crazy as these believers, but these testimonies dare me to only get crazier for God!
Amen!

It's the Law

You may or may have not see this sign on the road. If you haven't, you shouldn't be on the road in the first place because you must be blind (they appear often on all highways), but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say you aren't blind, just ignorant. Ignorance is not bliss, especially when other people's lives are at stake! Normally, I would put Florida drivers on the spot. If anyone has ever been to Florida, you know what I'm talking about.
Now I live in Maryland and I have just had enough of the crazy. I commute daily from Baltimore to DC. That's anywhere between 1 and 2 hour(s) drive one way. Double it for there and back. Here we have some control freaks. We have anywhere between 3 or 4 lanes and all the slow people sit in the left lane. Everyone (whose anyone) knows to go to the right when traffic gets bad because everyone else just sits in the left lane, the slowest lane.

Why can't people just follow the laws of the road?
Here is a link that you can read about why there is this law in place and it's benefits.
http://slowertraffickeepright.com/

A Message (cont'd)

You thought I forgot. No, I didn't. I warned you in the beginning. My thoughts jump from one idea to the next without stopping. I must provide you with a conclusion to my original thought.
"You of little faith."
The reason I went on to talk about Peter was to show you that Peter was right there. Jesus was right there. Peter could touch Jesus. Peter could see the miracles. He was enveloped in the presence of God and still it was hard for Him to have faith. When I think, "You of little faith," I think it's how Jesus thought. He regarded His followers as little children. Sometimes it takes a child more than once to go through a lesson, the same lesson, before they understand the true meaning behind what is being taught. Well, that's the case for adults sometimes as well. Jesus was frustrated, but He never gave up teaching. The same goes for me. When I notice that someone is faltering, wavering in his/her beliefs for an answer to a prayer, I just pick up the s(lack) and have enough faith for the both of us! Miracles will happen. Healing will come! Restoration will come! Matter of fact, it is already promised. State it as fact based on the Word and declare it yours in the name of Jesus. Amen!
Here is scripture in accordance with what I've stated.
Isaiah 53:5
Acts 4:22
Acts 3:21
Romans 12:3
Romans 12:6
Actually, the whole Book of Romans is a great booster for our faith.

A Message

I was going to apologize for being MIA for a bit, but why apologize for life happening. I had some very interesting turns take place in my life over this past weekend, and no, I don't believe that I will be sharing them at this time. For this, I will apologize. There will be one story, but....I'll get to it later.
Anyway, I was on my way to work today and I did a really scary thing. I decided to think. I know, I know. I'll try to keep from thinking in the future. No promises though. Okay? Okay. Here is what I thought.

It all starts with one of my favorite quotes. Jesus would say this quite often to His disciples when He was aggravated by their confusion and misunderstanding. Know which one I'm talking about? No?
"You of little faith?"
It's one I like to quote in my head from time to time. It usually happens when someone comes to me for prayer. Now, you're probably trying to get the connection. Let me explain. I am often asked to pray for a specific situation in someone's life. I am glad to help and believe in an answer from God on their behalf. When the answer doesn't come right away, I begin to hear the following words from the individual: "If; What if; It's okay; Thanks anyway." My insides turn when I hear these words. WHAT?! I want to scream at the top of my lungs, "You of little faith!" Here I am praying, and my prayers are being cancelled out due to his/her lack of faith. I now understand how frustrated Jesus was back in the day. He would heal the sick, open blind eyes, feed thousands with what could only feed 3-4 people, calm storms, walk on water, and yet he still said to those who witnessed these miracles, "You of little faith." because they still didn't believe.

This brings me to a great topic. I was recently reading the New Testament, specifically the book of Mark. I began to make connections that I didn't quite put into one story line before. Peter. A disciple. One day Peter, James, and John were given a rare opportunity. While still on earth, they ascended a mountain with Jesus. There they saw Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. Then, God came and enveloped them in a cloud and spoke to them. Aside from the everyday miracles, Peter witnessed this amazingly glorious event. Yet when the time came for Jesus to be nailed on the cross, three times, Peter denied any connection to Him or even knowing Him. Huh?! What in the world? What kind of person drops his family, sells his business, and leaves all his possessions to devote his life to following Jesus and then pretend that He has no idea who this "Jesus" is.

Let me paint you a picture closer to home. You have a good friend of 3 years. You work together. You live together. You eat together. You travel together. You moved far from your parents. You don't really have many of your own possessions because both of you travel a lot for work. You went from being your own boss in a major corporation to working for a non-profit where you make just enough to eat and put a roof over your head. Now, your friend is appearing in court because he/she is being wrongly accused of a crime he/she didn't commit. You attend all the hearings and trials. You witness your friend being charged by the jury and judge as guilty. Your friend will be serving a death sentence. Now, you see your friend being taken away in handcuffs. You begin to leave the court room. The people around you begin to question you about your friend and so do the press outside. Each time, you deny ever being friends with this person or even knowing who he/she is. Your friend hears about all these.

Here is the question: "If you were the friend who is now waiting to be executed, would you forgive the friend who denied knowing you and didn't stand by your side during the trials and sentencing?" Take a minute to ponder this question based on the entirety of the story, even though I'm not really looking for an answer here. I just want you to know what happened next in the story. Jesus was hung on the cross. He was dead for 3 days and then rose to life. Hallelujah! Once alive, one of the very first things He did was look for Peter. When he found him, He called him from work and prepared him breakfast. Jesus forgave Peter. This melts my heart every time I hear the story. God is so good! I love how much He loves us. I love the grace and mercy He shows us everyday. I want to be more and more like Jesus and walk in forgiveness to others always.

You know that He forgives us for all our sins, if we just seek Him and ask Him to come into our hearts. If you want that forgiveness, and would like to pray the prayer of salvation or have other prayer needs or questions. You can always e-mail me: lisavikprik@gmail.com

Quotes taken from the Gospels.
More specific ones from the following.
Mark 9:2-10
John 21:1-19
Matthew 8:26

Just Another Day in the Neighborhood

I should have stayed home today. Seriously. It all started when I decided to go on a walk with the dog that I watch. We left the house to go on our regular walk. Depending on the route we take, it's about a 4-5 mile walk. Today I had a little more time so we were going to go the longer route. First, we forgot to get a baggie for his #2. Once we made sure to grab one from the house, we were ready for the trek. At this point the cat decided he was going to join us on our walk. He tends to do this but usually only when we circle the block. This time he began to follow us to the busy intersections. Knowing it would be dangerous for him, I began trying to dissuade him. After many failed attempts, he finally turned around and headed back towards the house. The dog and I were finally on our way. I decided to take a slightly different route in order to add to our mileage, which it did because it took us in a weirdly shaped circle that brought us back to the starting point. We then resumed our normal route. Now, the dog had done his business. I knew we were about to approach a park that had trash cans for these types of situations. In the park in order to reach the trash can, you had to step on dirt. Due to the recent rain and snow, the ground was muddy and therefore wet and slippery. The dog was excited to see..."Squirrel!"* He pulled on the leash, which pulled me. My feet began to slip out from under me. I was going down. I had a decision to make. Fall down on my buttocks, or try to keep from going down on it. I first used my hands. When I realized I was still going down, I decided to sacrifice my knee instead. I made the landing, but I'd give the performance a 6 out of 10. No more. I had a predicament. Do I go home or continue my walk while I'm caked in mud? I decided to continue to my walk. Soon after, I found some snow and decided to clean my hands with it. As I reached down to pick up the snow, the dog walked over to me and decided to use this moment to go to the bathroom (#1) on the snow I was picking up. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. That means the dog peed on my hands. I wasn't angry. The situation was too hilarious not to laugh, but it was time to head home. Once I washed the dirt and pee off my hands, I found out that I had cut my hand in two places when I fell. The other issue is that the stain from the mud won't come out of my favorite pants. Anyone know how to get a mud stain out of Rayon? I tried detergent and baking soda with salt. I still have a faint orange tint to my white and black pants.
Until my next crazy incident,
Peace out.

"Squirrel!" - Doug the dog from the movie Up

Let's Get Serious

My Current Top 5 Addictions:
1. Netflix
2. Chai Tea Latte
3. Need for Speed & Lego
4. Sushi Rolls
5. Subway Surfers

Occasionally, I try to cleanse myself of these by cutting them out completely, but they wouldn't be addictions if I actually succeeded. Addictions are like that. Sometimes you can't even admit it's an addiction. You think that it's just something you like to do or something you like to eat/drink. The problem is when you begin to crave it. When you don't have it, it overwhelms your senses, your thoughts. Addiction. It's a powerful thing that can hold us back from reaching our full potential in life. It hinders us. It becomes a limitation. An addiction is an addiction. Whether it be as serious as an addiction to alcohol or something less scary like Netflix, either one stands in the way. As you can see based on my addictions listed above, my limitations have to do with time and health. In order to overcome these barriers, I must focus on managing my time wisely and making better health choices. It's hard, but if you don't learn to limit it or do away with it entirely, you will only be hurting yourself. In order to move forward, we must learn to have control over the addiction(s) that stand in our way. Warning: Many times we substitute one addiction for another. This is not a solution. The pattern is just repeating. The point is to get to the root of the problem. What is feeding the addiction? Hurt? Pain? Fear? I'll be honest. For me it's fear. Fear of failure. What do I do? I do whatever helps me to avoid failing. Not doing it in the beginning. How do I battle this? I find things to motivate me, to inspire me. I pray. I read the Bible. I look up quotes.

Scripture:
- For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)
- When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3)
- He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)
- Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:36)

Quotes:
- The greatest failure is the failure to try.
- The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.
- Let your fear of failure be your motivation to succeed.
- Your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
- There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: The fear of failure.
- Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.
- What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn't fail?

These are ways that help me overcome. I am an Overcomer!
If you ever need to talk and need someone to listen to your story, you can e-mail me at lisavikprik@gmail.com

Selfish vs. Selfless

Everyday before I get on the road for my long commute into work I pray. Why you ask? Aside from the usual, asking God to protect me on the road from all the crazies out there who don't know how to drive, I pray that God protects everyone on the road from getting into accidents. At this point you might be thinking "How thoughtful," but I haven't told you my motive behind the prayer. Yes, I don't want people dying, but my main concern is traffic. More accidents = more traffic = longer commute. Now, let's hear the arguments. On the one hand, I could be praying for no traffic which would make me Selfish. On the other hand, I choose to pray for the well being of others instead. This would mean that I'm Selfless. The question is whether the motive or the action wins out. So...Selfish or Selfless? I think that you the audience should decide.
(You can let me know in the comments section.)

Billy

Story time! This happened not too long ago. 5 or 6 years* ago. I have this friend. Let's call her Belle. Yes, I'm still friends with Belle. No pointing fingers please. Once upon a time...we were hanging out. Belle began to tell me a story about a guy (my definition of guy: not a boy, not yet a man**) named Billy. The second she mentioned his name my brain pulled out a quote from a movie right away. Belle is just beginning her second sentence when I interrupt her and state, "And did you say, 'Billy, I love you.'" Of course I said this with a Hugh Grant accent and all. Or so my brain thinks I did. I hate to admit it, but I suck at accents. Anyway, back to the story. As I finished my quote and was waiting for Belle to erupt with laughter, she just gave me an awkward stare like I must have lost my mind. I stared back for what felt like forever, but then I gave in. Another thing I suck at is staring contests. I always give in. (Shaking my head.)
Me: "It's a quote."
Belle: "Oh..." (trying to remember)
Me: "Two Weeks Notice."
Belle: "Oh..." (acts like she remembers)
Me: "When they were in the car following tennis practice." (hoping she remembers)
Belle: "Oh, yeah..." (fake)
Such a liar. She never saw the film! WHAT?!?! She's a girl and never watched Two Weeks Notice. Oh. Ok. Just because you're a girl doesn't necessarily mean you watch all chick flicks, but come on. Even guys watched this movie, whether they admit it or not, because SANDRA BULLOCK starred in it. Seriously. This was a great romantic comedy. At this point, I'm the one giving her the awkward stare. This one (and only) time I won the staring contest. She conceded and continued to tell me about Billy. I only half listened because I was still wondering why in the world she hadn't seen this movie yet. 7 or 8 years had passed since it's release. She had plenty of time.

Were you paying attention? Did you notice the asterisks I squeezed into the story? I did tell you that I would do my best to let you know when I quote something. I also did state that it would usually be things that most others don't really notice because they aren't the parts the movie is known for. What I didn't tell you is sometimes I also make my own interpretation of a quote. That's when you'll see 2 asterisks side by side.
5 or 6 years - Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Brad Pitt says this when they are in counseling.
not a boy, not yet a man - Crossroads: Britney Spears (original: I'm not a girl, not yet a woman.)

Stay tuned for more craziness.

And so it begins.

Before I go into all the ins and outs of what's going to go down in this blog, I thought I should inform you of some things that are bound to happen in my writing. First of all, I absolutely love to quote movies. No, not the tag line that everyone knows. I love to quote the parts that most people would never know I was quoting unless I told them I was quoting it. Over the years, I have encountered many blank stares when I tried to make a joke by referencing a movie. I'm positive that people thought I was loca. That's okay. I can live with it. I have some interesting stories to share about those experiences, but I'll get to them later. From this point on I will do my best to reference the quotes in my writing, but there are no guarantees it will happen. Secondly, I love NEED FOR SPEED. Hence the title of my blog. No, I won't be sharing only stories of my trips on the road. Don't get me wrong there will be plenty to share. Over 150,000 miles in 6 years + 4 major accidents + lots of crazy drivers = lots of crazy stories. Period.
This brings me to explain what I will be writing about. Aside from actual road rage, I will be doing some venting on here about my life experiences. Hopefully, I can provide you, the reader, with some insight to living life. From not always making the right choices to living under pressure and stress to enjoying life to the fullest. A little bit of everything. At first I thought to make this blog anonymous because I might cover some things that even I won't like to admit to sometimes, but what's the fun in that. Also, I would like to get this out of the way right away. Anything written in this blog cannot be used against me in a court of law without any proof/evidence of said action. To the law, this is a work of fiction. To my readers, this is the truth. Whether you choose to believe it or not is up to you. Got it. Good.
There's another thing to look out for in my writing. If you get confused while reading, don't worry. By the time you finish reading the full post your questions should be answered. I think. I write like I take notes in class. I catch one sentence, I skip one, and then I write the next one. When I look back at my notes, I have no idea what the teacher was talking about. Let me give you an example in case you don't understand. I think the following: "It's snowing today. I love snow. Remember that snow storm back in Ukraine when I was 5 and being home schooled. That was fun. Oh, I miss Ukraine. I wonder how the children at the orphanage are doing. Need to think of new fundraising ideas." I write the following: "It's snowing today. I miss Ukraine. Fundraising ideas." Basically, I might lose you for a while because my mind skips from thought to thought faster than I type, but hopefully I'll clarify sooner or later. Fingers-crossed.
Now, I will reveal a little bit of news in this post if only to keep myself accountable. I am in the process of writing a novel. My goal is to have the 1st draft completed before the end of this year. I will not be giving out any details about it at this time. All I can say is that it's going to be amazing and not because I'm biased. One of my best friends has known about this for a while now and has been encouraging me along in the process. I think she will be mad to find out that I have found time to start a blog but have yet to get past page one in the novel. Side note to said friend: I am sorry. This blog will help me to clear my mind and pick up a few new ideas along the way. Hopefully.
Now that the initial introductions have been made, I shall bid you adieu.
Tomorrow is another day. (Scarlett O'Hara - Gone With the Wind)