Once an Okie, Always an Okie. Never been prouder.

I thought I was used to this sort of thing. "Ooooooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains" and all that jazz. But you know what? Tonight, I was scared. I watched those tornadoes rip up this beautiful place I call home and then I put on my puppy slippers and I cried. 

Even after the storm moved on, it was hard to feel grateful for my safety when I could see so many other people's lives being torn apart. I wanted to do a Wonder Woman twirl and become a firefighter or a doctor or a millionaire or a giant eraser to just get rid of the last few hours. Yeah right. So now what? What in the world can little me do in a situation that seems so helpless? Here's what: I can make sure that at least for me, things like this don't happen for nothing. I can learn the lessons staring me in the face and I can change the way I live my life. Sometimes it takes moments like this to realize you're doing it all wrong.

You guys, tonight I brushed my teeth in my own bathroom with my feet planted in their usual grooves in my own carpet. Tonight, I kissed my parents and little sister goodnight and I could feel their breath on my cheek. I tripped over that pair of shoes that I thought I needed so badly and that I complain about when they give me blisters. Tonight, I knelt by my very own bed on my bruise-less knees that bend just right and I thanked a merciful God for watching over my family, my friends, and I, and asking Him to watch over those who, starting tonight have a painfully different journey ahead of them.  

So when I wake up tomorrow, I'm going to be grateful for that obnoxious alarm beep. I'm going to look people in the eyes when I talk to them. I'm going to make sure my family and friends know how much I love them because oh my heavens, I LOVE them. I'm going to take a little bit longer to say my prayers because I know my Father in Heaven can hear me. Thank you to everyone who has gone through the pain so that I can learn the lesson. Thank you for being strong so that I don't have to be. 

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Now, I want you all to know, I felt silly for writing something as personal and...dramatic as this, but I decided it's ok to feel. That's how we grow. It's what makes us human and sharing those feelings is what helps us connect. So wherever you live, whatever you experience today or tomorrow or a year from now, know that you have people all around you who love you and who have ears that are pretttty good at listening. More importantly, remember that you have a God who loves you and who has ears that are even better at it. He's going to make everything alright in the end. So don't you worry about a thing. Everything's just gonna be great. :) 

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid." John 14: 27

Love, Kelli 

The Book of Revelation: No one ever goes in. No one ever comes out.

ROUS, fire, and darkness...um, Westley says no. At least that's what I thought until today. It turns out that what seemed like the Fire Swamp was actually Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, minus Tim Burton and the Little People.

In 10th grade, I decided I wanted to read the Bible from cover to cover. Now here I am, right in the middle of the very book I've been afraid of since the beginning and guess what? It's not so scary anymore. In fact, it may have taken six years, but now that I'm here, I've discovered my new favorite scripture:

Revelation 7:14-17

14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

I've never heard a more beautiful description of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Our Savior has the power to make us completely clean if we'll just let Him. Guys. We just have to let Him. What a great big Brother. I know there is not a thing I could ever do to thank Him for saving my life, but the very least I can do is "serve him day and night".

Ok, I'm almost done. But none of what I just said matters at all if we don't do something real about it. What does "serve him day and night" even mean? To me it means loving every person the way the Lord loves him or her. It means loving that lady who cuts me in line at the store because maybe she didn't even see me and wants to be on time for work. It means loving that annoying little boy screaming at his mom for an ice cream cone because if I could get away with that at this age, I'd probably do the same thing. It means loving my mom enough to put down my book for a second and helping make dinner. It means loving my dad enough to make my own money so he doesn't have to do all the work. It means ignoring every "I'm doing fine" and digging deeper because there's always more to it than that. It means calling Grandma, remembering someone's name, or picking up a friend's favorite candy, just because. It means loving no matter what.

Who knew that four little verses could teach so much? Yeah, The Book of Revelation was pretty intimidating. But then Charlie walked inside and now he gets chocolate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Oh and guess what? Now you're Charlie too, ya lucky duck.

Love, Kelli

What You'd Know If You Were Me

I figured now is as good a time as any to establish a little credibility. 

Second only to singing along to the radio, when I'm by myself in the car, my favorite thing to do is smack my gum as loudly as possible. I despise listening to other people do it, but there's something satisfyingly supernatural about going against social norms and having friends simultaneously. Plus I'm getting really good at it. Seriously, once I figure out what exactly the word 'decibel' means, I'll tell you the record to beat . 

Sometimes when I put on my concealer, I pretend like I'm Rafiki when he paints Simba on that tree. 

(If you try this, make sure you don't forget to rub it in. Failing to do so will result in adverse effects.)

Finally, you'd know that the phrase 'trump card' doesn't actually have anything to do with Donald Trump. Unfortunately, you wouldn't have known that if you were me, say, yesterday.

Love, Kelli

A Whole New World...

Confessions: 

-I do not sew

-I do not cook

-I am not a photographer

-I definitely am not a mom

-I do not save money

-It has taken me at least a month to figure out how a person makes a blog.

All of that aside, welcome to my new blog! I've always felt like I didn't fit into the world of blogging. There are lots of things I don't know much about yet, so what would I even talk about? A spider crawled up the toilet towards me yesterday. So what? That's when I realized something. I like to talk and I know how to type. So here I am :)

You don't have to know how to sew. You don't even have to know what a 'pot' is (for future reference, dictionary.com calls it a container of earthenware metal). You just have to like reading in the closest thing I could find to Comic Sans and we'll get along just fine.