It's payback. Literally.

We've all been there. With a group of friends, talking, laughing, telling funny stories and getting a kick out of each other's lives......when all of the sudden *duhduhduhhhhhhhhh* the focus is on you and your closest friends are publicly telling everyone you know about that time you started drooling at the hardware store because the cashier was so dreamy you couldn't focus on typing in your debit card pin number. ***

Three words:

UNDER. THE. BUS.

It's not that we're malicious people. Or that we don't care about our friend's feelings. It's just that sometimes, the stories we know about our closest friends are so funny we can't keep them to ourselves. These stories are simply told out of a mutual desire to laugh out loud and draw closer together in friendship and fellowship.

You shouldn't be able to get away with it at no personal cost, though. Thus, the idea of the 'under the bus' jar was born. It's payback. Literally.

Rules, disclaimers, and the importance of Proverbs 17:17:

• Person thrown under the bus shall decide amount of money owed (within reason and limited college student budget). Probably anywhere from $00.01 - $5.00.
• Bus thrower underer shall have approximately 24 hours to place cash amount owed into jar.
• If the story is NOT funny or, more importantly, if the person the story is about doesn't find it the least bit funny, you should definitely NOT throw them under the bus.
• Bus thrower underer shall not be liable for the possible chain reaction of friends that embellish, exaggerate, or pass on information expressed in the original story
• Remember, "a friend loves at all times". If you get thrown, or you're the one throwing, know that all is said out of "love and friendship". In other words, if you're willing to throw someone else under the bus, don't throw a hissy fit when they call you out or throw you under an equally embarrassing/funny bus. Love and friendship, love and friendship, love and friendship.

When this jar is full of money ------ we'll probably use it to pay our electric bill? I really don't know. If you have any suggestions, we would love to hear 'em. Other possible options we've thought of include: chocolate, board games, or new shoes.

under the bus jar - for when your friends throw you under the bus

In other news, this awesome looking jar was created using a technique found on Pinterest! Take clean glass vase or jar, mix acrylic paint with a tidge of water and pour in glass vase! Roll it around inside until inside surface is completely covered. Voilà! Beautifully custom colored vase!

***not based on true events AT ALL.

The night we flew kites...

and couldn't get them out of the sky.

Flying a kite in Kansas can be difficult thing to master. We don't generally have light breezes in Kansas, just 60 mph winds. On the chance you do have a still day, or a light breeze flowing over the plains, you're probably going to be running that kite up and down the field all day to keep it in the air. Some say I'm a 'negative Nancy', 'sensible Suzy', you name it. I'm not a believer in kite flying success.

Until now.

extreme kite flying

I arrived home one Sunday evening, from an exhausting weekend of driving all over the great state of Kansas, to find my roommates blowing bubbles in the driveway. I'd just driven 200 miles in the craziest wind ever, working the entire time just to keep my little Vibe on the road, and the first thing the girls were yelling in my face when I got out of my car? "We're going to go fly kites! AHHHHHH!"

After telling Allie, Katherine, and Jed that the venture would ultimately be a complete failure, they convinced me to join them and we all piled in the car, picked up Weston on the way, and drove over to the park. They'd purchased several $3 kites from the dollar store, and after about 25 seconds of putting them together, we threw them up in the sky. Instantly, the kites took flight and we began to see how high they would go........which ended up being almost as high as the string was long.

And it wasn't just that the kites flew really well, it was that they flew SO well we had to hang on tightly just so we wouldn't lose them! We didn't even have to run with them to keep them in the air. Basically, if you held the kite above your head, the wind would catch it up into the sky. I have NEVER had a better kite flying experience in my life. I don't know if it was the style of the kites, the extreme levels of wind speed, or some miraculously divine act of God, but when you can't get the kites to come down out of the sky, you know you've reached a higher level of kite flying.

I remember the moment, after the sun set and we were all just standing there in the dark trying to pick our kites out of the night sky by dim street lamps and moonlight, when we couldn't see them at all, but we could feel them tugging in our hands. It was such a crazy feeling, surreal almost, to be pulling a thin little string as hard as you could, knowing it was attached to a kite somewhere in the sky, trusting the string wouldn't break or come loose from the flimsy plastic and stick contraption called a kite.

I try really hard not to be a pessimistic person. Oftentimes my 'sensible Suzy' nature shines through, but I refuse to say that's a bad thing. Believe me, the ability to think things through is a gift from GOD. At the same time, it's always when I realize I'm not in control that God chooses to reveal Himself in the biggest ways to me. Like, there's no way kite flying would be a success on the windiest day of my life --- annnnnnnd it turns out to be perfect kite flying weather. Or I can't get a job and I'm wondering how I'll pay rent next month --- annnnnnd God blesses me with the perfect job, better than I could have asked for. Or how can God possibly think that this heartbreaking event will help my friend see how amazing God is --- annnnnnd it's exactly what that person needed to walk through to grow closer to the Lord. Or (any experience in my life) --- annnnnnd (how much more perfect God's idea about life is than my own).

It can be difficult to trust Him. The way the world makes sense of things can seem much more rational (when you live in the world) than believing that God can make all things work together. The Bible speaks of God's character, beginning with creation, and throughout all of history we read of who He is. His big picture story. If we trust His word to be true, and we can look at our personal pasts and see how He has been faithful, how can we not look at our own futures through the same lens.

I don't want to live a past tense, hindsight focused, life of faith. I want to live a life of faith in what God IS doing, what He WILL do, what He promises to ALWAYS do. I want to ask in faith for healings, salvations, miracles, and abundant provision. To give God glory for his eternal faithfulness, not just for what he has already done and what my blind eyes and human mind have seen and comprehended. Don't get me wrong, it is a very right thing to look back at situations, recognize what God has done, and glorify Him for it. Never stop doing that! But personally, I want to live a life that looks for what God is doing along the way, and to expect and experience it in its fullness.

We serve a God who can make kites fly. He can reunite families. He can bring peace to the most troubled hearts. He can gather the nations of the world in the palm of His hand and bless His people who face persecution and heartache. He can heal wounds buried deep inside of you, when nothing else of this world could ever cure your pain.

May you come to expect Him to work in your life. May you learn to lift everything up to Him, and allow His Holy Spirit to guide, correct, and form your life to His perfect and holy will.