ThatTimeJuls...

Are you enjoying the journey you’re on? I didn’t always enjoy the journey. There were moments in my life I was miserable. I could be surrounded by people and feel overwhelmingly lonely. There are moments in my life that were so amazing I thank God for the memory of them. When I look back at the journey of life that I have been on now for over 3 decades I am amazed at where I am. I am awestruck with what could possibly be next. I’m enjoying this journey the good, the bad, and the amazing. I was in the shower thinking (talking to God) about what happens when 2 people are supposed to connect on their journeys but one or both of them got derailed along the way. What brought about this thought was a conversation I had with my closets friend. We were catching up and discussing all the past situations we had experienced. In that moment I noticed something interesting about the differences in our journeys. While our paths took different directions, I opted for my detours and rest stops. It t...

When I was in graduate school, I used to grow crystals. Well, I attempted to grow them, but the process proved to exhaust my patience. My research advisor was over the crystal growth laboratory. There were multiple areas of research I could choose from but all of them were based on various stages of crystal development, for the most part. For the first few months or so of this program I observed every stage from crystal growth to crystal characterization. Each stage takes time, focus, and patience. Recently, I’ve met some new friends that have been such a blessing to be around. Observing them as reminded me of my experience growing crystals in graduate school. Materials for growing crystals will depend on the type of crystal you need. The crystals that were grown in the lab were not used as jewels or gems. These crystals were/are used in medical equipment, space exploration, and radiation detection, just to name a few. However, I want to discuss a little of the process. Often in li...

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15:13 (NIV) I don't remember being the kid that cried about not having friends or being sad because someone said they weren't my friend. I do remember moving in 7th grade and telling my mom I wish I had friends. My mom first asked if I was friendly? She went on to say if I found myself to be friendly I would find myself with friends. Those were very true words and soon enough I found myself with three friends that I stuck to like glue. From 7th grade through high school I had my girls and I was good. I had other friends that I was close to and this in no way is a downplay on our friendship. However, this story is about one friend in particular that in my quest to leave home was left behind.  About a year ago I wrote a blog about something silly that my friends and I did. When I wrote that blog I genuinely wanted to express a lesson about love. I thought the blog was self-explanatory...