Soli Deo Gloria

Hello, everyone and happy Tuesday!

I hope you all are having a good beginning of the week. It's a rainy,chilly Tuesday here at Concordia. Classes don't start until Tuesday so it's very nice to have some down time before then. I am using this relaxing time to think about the true reason I am here at Concordia, and why I fell in love with the school this past year. Concordia is truly a place where I can be open about my faith in God. Soli Deo Gloria is Concordia's slogan, and it means: "to God alone be the glory." Concordia lets me practice my faith, discuss my faith, and so much more that this school has actually made my faith in God even stronger. I always ask myself, "how is that even possible?" But it is possible. It's difficult to explain. I have always thought my Faith was where it needed to be, but once I got to Concordia, I quickly realized that I had developed a stronger, deeper relationship with Jesus that was not there before. Concordia, the word, means "hearts together" and that just describes the community that develops at the college every single year and beyond.Our hearts are together throughout, and our hearts are in our God above. I am so excited to begin another year here at Concordia and see what else God has in store for me :) I am beyond honored that I am a Cobber. I pray that you all have a GREAT rest of the week! Soli Deo Gloria.

Love,

Sarah Allison

Back to School

Hey, everyone!
I'm just taking a little break from this hectic Saturday. Yes, tomorrow I leave to go back to school, so it's that day of packing, organizing, cleaning, and etc. I hope you are just as excited about the school year as I am! New year, new friends, and new experiences await. However, as a nursing student, I, for one, can tell you that school can also get pretty stressful. I'm sure every other college student can agree with me. I've learned that being stressed out is part of life. So, I like to handle being stressed out by defeating it. I get through it by staying strong, staying optimistic, and reminding myself that God is always on my side. Praying to God is something that is a huge part if my life and I can say that He always answers them. Besides, once your stresses pass, you feel so much better :) I better get back to work; I'm going to try to be done by 5 so I have the chance to worship at my home church for the last time in quite a while! I hope everyone has a great first day of school! Remember to have fun :)
Love, Sarah Allison

Luke 18: Why I Love Children

Good afternoon everyone, and happy Saturday!
I hope that you all had a good week! This morning, I was doing some reading in my bible and I stumbled upon this verse that I thought I would share with you. Luke 18: 15-17 is about Jesus talking to little children, and having his disciples rebuke them.
 "People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 'I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
This is why I so deeply care for children. Every child is a child of God, and every child is perfect in their own way. I find joy in their smiles and their imaginations. When they laugh, I laugh also. I work with children now, and I will continue to work with children in the future; when I become a pediatric nurse. I love children because they find joy in things that us adults usually take fr granted. By working with toddlers, I have learned to appreciate the little things: birds, squirrels, flowers, airplanes, and sunshine. Children highlight God's creations such as these that we just look at without even appreciating. Children are everything to me, and I thank God everyday how lucky I am to be able to work with them.
Love, Sarah Allison  

Jim Thome

Hey, everyone!
I finally have time to blog; hooray! It's been a busy week so far. I'm wrapping up my last full week of work before I go back to school. I'm excited to get back in the swing of things at Concordia, but I'm also very sad that I have to leave my wonderful toddler class behind.

Anyway, the topic I was going to talk about today was Jim Thome. If you're a baseball fan, no matter what team, you should be familiar with the name of Jim Thome. He's played for 5 different major league teams in his long career (Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, LA Dodgers, and the Twins) and, two days ago, he accomplished the long-awaited feat of hitting his 600th homerun. And, here's the most interesting thing: When he hit that homerun, he and the Twins were in Detroit. The whole crowd gave him a standing ovation as the entire team and his family came out to congratulate him and give him a hug. For the Detroit crowd to recognize him like they did, it just shows how great of a person Thome is. I may be over-exaggerating here, but I believe that he is one of the greatest athletes to ever play the game of baseball. Not only because of his skill, but because of his character. He is confident in what he does, he keeps a great attitude no matter the circumstance, and he just enjoys what he does. There are so many athletes out there that play the game just because they're good. And that's great. However, you will not succeed on just talent alone. You need to have passion, and that's what Thome has always had.
Thome is a great example to me of how you should live you life: Have passion for all you do, be happy, and you will be successful. Even if Jim retires after this season as a Twin, he will always be remembered in the baseball world. I can guarantee that. :)
Love, Sarah Allison

Life-It's a Story Worth Telling

Good evening everyone, and happy friday!
I am so, so glad it's Friday! I am lacking lots of sleep from this chaotic week and I am looking forward to not setting my alarm tomorrow morning :)

 I am spending my Friday night in my room just relaxing and listening to music, and I put my iTunes on shuffle and the song "Story of Your Life" by Matthew West came on. Immediately I turned it up. This song, like every other song, tells a story. But the story is not about love or break ups or getting back together or any other cliche Taylor Swift-like song. The song is about finding yourself, and thinking about what kind of legacy you want to leave of yourself. The beginning says: "This is the story of your life. You decide how the rest is gonna read. This is your chance between the lines to redefine what kind of legacy you leave.This is the story of your life and it's worth telling." Matthew West is right on on the fact that your life is a story worth telling. You should be proud of your life and all you accomplish in it. It's a journey of ups and downs, obstacles and accomplishments. The song also is saying that if you have made some mistakes you regret, it's never too late to start over. God's love is never ending and never failing, and he loves you no matter what paths you chose to go down. No matter what, live your life. Have no regrets. Fall in love. Dance in the Rain. It's your life. It's a story worth telling.
Love, Sarah Allison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR7KfFfse3k

Take Joy in the Little Things

Hello everyone!
Sorry I haven't been able to write since Sunday; it's been a crazy week so far. I've been balancing my work schedule with being on staff for my high school's marching band.
Anyway, I wanted to tell you a little story that happened at work today. As most of you know, I work with kids at my church's childcare center, and today (field trip Wednesday) we took the school-agers to a water park for a few hours. I was playing with a kindergartner most of the time we were there, and I had asked her if she wanted to go on the tube slide. She was skeptic at first, and told me she was scared. But, after a few minutes of thinking, she agreed to go with me. We waited in line with our double-tube and when it was our turn, she squealed with delight all the way to the bottom. "Again, Ms. Sarah, again!" she told me over and over again. So we spent the next hour (no, I'm not kidding :) going down the tube slide, screaming and laughing each time we went down.
On the bus ride back, I couldn't help but stop and think about the joys little things such as water slides bring into our daily lives. Children bring joy into my life everyday, and I thank God every night how blessed I am to work with such amazing kids. Everyone should take joy in the little things in life, whether it's going down a water slide, hearing a baby's laugh, or even just seeing the sun on a gorgeous summer day. The little things may seem small, but they will make a big impact on our daily lives. Have a great rest of the week! Smile, love, and be happy :)
Love, Sarah Allison
 

Weekend recap

Hi, everyone!
I have to much to say and only so much space to say it! I just got back from the most wonderful weekend I've had all summer. (Despite the dumb construction and the extra hour it took us to get there and back...) My Duluth weekend was filled with laughter, fun, and late nights of playing card games in the hotel lobby, and so much more. :) This weekend was just what I needed to relax and forget all of the stressful things I have to do before I go back to school...like rehearse for my clarinet audition at Concordia, finish my school shopping, go to a zillion appointments, and focus on my kids at work Yikes!
But, as promised, here are some pictures of my amazing weekend in Duluth! I hope everyone has a GREAT start to their week!
Love, Sarah Allison

The kids playing cards until midnight :)

Hiking at Gooseberry Falls National Park. God is so good!

Sitting by Lake Superior on a gorgeous Friday afternoon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Duluth!

Good morning!

I was blessed to get the day off work to go up to Duluth for the weekend. I am really looking forward to this weekend spent with family and friends! This weekend is also special because it's my only vacation this summer. I've been so busy with work and other things that I haven't gotten the chance to just relax and not do anything yet. Everyone should get the opportunity to have at least on of these times each summer, despite your busy schedules. Take time to relax, unwind, and enjoy God's beautiful life designed for you. You only get to life it once, so live it up! Have a joyous weekend, and I'll be back on Sunday with pictures :)

Love, Sarah Allison

Welcome!

Hello all.

Welcome to my blog, "I Am Me." I've always been wanting to start a blog, but have never been able to come up with a good name for it until just now. So, I came up with the title when  thought of this: God created me to be me. Makes sense, right? Why not be all you can be when God created such wonderful people on this Earth? I am choosing to live my life the way I've always wanted to, and that is by making a difference in this world. I LOVE doing whatever I can to put a smile on people's faces; whether it's by making them laugh or doing a small deed that, to them, makes them feel loved.
If you take away one thing from this blog it's this: You are loved. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
I am Me, and I WILL make a difference; even if it's in the smallest of ways. I hope you will follow me along on this journey and that you will realize that you, too, can be you.