Can't beat a Michigan sunset

Tonight I ran down to the beach because I noticed how beautiful the sky was. Sure enough, the sunset was breathtaking. The freezing cold was semi-breathtaking as well, but not in the good way. It's times like these that I honestly can't help but belt out the song "How Great is our God". He's the greatest artist, creator, and our "divine cardiologist". He works on hearts. I love how the Lord reveals himself to people through general revelation- through nature in itself.

Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands!"

Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

Thankful

Went home Monday night and was home for a solid 6 days. Nothing beats going home. I didn't want to come back to school. At all. These text 3 weeks are going to be brutal, but once they're done, i will have successfully (hopefully) accomplished 26 credits. Can't stinkin wait. However, it's going to take a LOT of work.

Had thanksgiving over at Grandma's just with her, Jami, Matt, Sawyer, Dad, and Nugget. So many things to be thankful for. It would be absurd to even try to list them. God is so good. And I deserve nothing. Every good and perfect gift is from above, and i have so many good and perfect gifts.

what i love to do.

I like to be creative, probably more than anything.

Love?

"Love is a many splendid things, love lifts us up where we belong- all you need is love."

-Moulin Rouge

"Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it...It really is worth fighting for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk everything, you risk even more."

- Erica Jong

"Love is more than three words mumbled before bedtime. Love is sustained by action, a pattern of devotion in the things we do for each other every day."

-Nicholas Sparks

"Love is a choice."

"Love is temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love", which any of us can convince we are. Love itself is what's left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other under ground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."

-St. Augustine

You've won my heart.

Isn't it just mind boggling to think about how BIG our God is, yet he chooses to love and care for each one of his children individually and at such a personal level? It honestly blows my mind sometimes.

It's hard for me to put myself in the shoes of someone who doesn't know the Lord. Why get up in the morning? What is there to look forward to? There is so much unknown when a life isn't surrendered and fully entrusted to Christ.

But how blessed are we to be chosen and loved by the Creator of existence?!?!?! We can rest at peace with the fact that we get up in the morning to joyfully serve, glorify, and honor the Lord through our relationships, friendships, and interactions with people. We have REASON to live. We have eternal life with Christ to look forward to. We don't have to sit and twiddle our thumbs waiting for the next big thing to come along which will lead us to the next unfulfilling and unsatisfactory thing. We can just wait upon the Lord knowing that He is bigger than this life, and that His will is going to ultimately glorify Him more.

I think I would literally drive myself crazy with the insecurity of "I don't know how my life is going to turn out down the road- what if i don't ever get a job? what if i don't ever find someone to marry? what if i don't have anywhere to live?" But as followers of Christ, if we continue to surrender our lives and devote ourselves to Christ, we know that He will take care of us, and meet our needs, and provide for us. What a blessing. God is ENOUGH, and He's won my heart.

different

My hair is messy 90% of the time.

I tend to struggle with being on time to places.

I like to goof around.

Sometimes I speak before I think.

I don’t get stressed out very easily.

I don’t dress very fashionably.

I wear sweatpants more often than not.

Sometimes I unintentionally forget important things.

I fear a lot of things, particularly the future.

I'm people-oriented; not task-oriented at all.

Sometimes I speak in accents.

I wear whatever I want.

I like to paint trees anywhere and everywhere…like on walls.

I love my family more than anything in the world.

I get attached to animals dreadfully quick.

I like taking pictures

I like to pick flowers, even if they’re in a place where I’m not supposed to pick them.

I like to sleep with sand in my bed.

I like playing with kids, on occasion I act like one.

I have a fascination for “good cameras”.

I pick the nail polish off of my fingers rather than use remover.

I lose things easily.

I break things more often than I lose things.

I like doing things that give me a rush.

I’m shy around people I don’t know.

I’m wild and honest with people I’m comfortable with.

When I get hurt, I shut down on the inside.

I don’t like wearing shoes in the summer.

Sometimes I think in Spanish.

Sometimes I cry and get emotional for reasons I don’t even know.

I often leave messes.

Some say I dress like a hippie.

I have a best friend named Kelsey that brings out the best in me.

I’m stubborn at times, and think I’m right most of the time.

I’m convinced that I need daily naps to survive.

It’s hard for me to admit when I’m wrong- but I try my best to fight my flesh and show humility.

I’ve been made known over and over again of my desperation and dependence on the Lord.

I’m in love with a 22 year old guy named Jeff Bodtke who has big beautiful eyes, a contagious laugh, facial hair, and who is borderline opposite of me in many ways.

I can be difficult, stubborn, hard to deal with, overwhelming, and energetic.

I don’t mean to make life harder for anyone, but inevitably I do.

I send follow up emails.

I like texting.

I feel like I need to explain myself even if the person already understands.

This is me. The only Jodi Lyn Grandholm there is out there.

un poco sobre mi...

"Those three words [I love you] are said too much, but not enough."- Snowpatrol.

Love is an overused word. Our culture has desensitized the word completely. People will go ahead and say that they love just about anything and everything. Therefore, I try not to say it as much. With that said, this is what I LOVE:

1. My Savior

2. My family: Dad, Mom, Jami, Matt, Sawyer (the pup).

- also my extended family, of course.

3. My friends: those that have stuck by my side through it all.

Now, I wouldn't necessarily say that I truly love these things, but i do thoroughly enjoy them:

1. picking flowers

2. sports -playing them rather than watching-

3. taking naps

4. the sun

5. sand in my bed sheets

6. swimming

7. painting, doodling, drawing, and creating things

8. connecting through relationships

9. music

10. sleeping on the beach

11. looking for shooting stars, and the thrill i get when i see one

12. animals- all of them but opossums, skunks, spiders, and monkeys

13. color

14. painting my nails

15. electronics- cameras, video cameras, ipods, phones, etc.

16. snow

17. wild berry zinger hot tea

18. vintage-looking things

19. figuring things out for myself

20. fruit

21. guacamole

22. kids

23. spanish

24. sunsets

25. looking at wedding pictures

26. daydreaming

27. chinese food

28. skip-bo

29. puzzles (only for a short amount of time)