Everyone uses the term, "Christmas Spirit" but what do you mean by that?
Is the Christmas Spirit being nice to each other, loving each other and spending time together? Because if that's it, then why not have the Christmas Spirit all year round?
Is the Christmas Spirit getting each other gifts?
Because if that's it, why not have the Christmas Spirit on your birthday?
Is the Christmas Spirit watching Santa Claus movies and drinking hot chocolate?
Because if that's it, then why not have Christmas in January blizzards instead of December?
If you don't celebrate Christmas, people call it the 'Holiday Spirit'.
Then there are the people who say Christmas is too commercial...
Then there are the people who say Christmas needs to be 'restored', by keeping 'Christ' in it...
Then there are the people who say Christmas is a time to reflect and remember...
I love spending time with my family, opening gifts, having a good time, but that has nothing to do with 'Christmas Spirit', at least in my opinion. So what is it?
Like Charlie Brown, I want to yell, "DOESN'T ANYBODY KNOW WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT??"
"Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people."
"Glory to the new born king"
"God and sinners reconciled"
As we celebrate Christ this season, I wonder why we don't celebrate this ALL the time.
I love the songs we sing and the sentiments of loving Baby Jesus - but take it a step further, recognize that he is the same king as the one who did miracles and who died for your sins. It's easy to forget that in the 'spirit' of things. So this Christmas, give Christ your gratitude.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
when a book gets boring
First, the important thing:
GO WATCH THIS AWESOME YOUTUBE VIDEO - Techno Jeep by Julian Smith (blog won't let me post the link)
And now the actual post. ;-)
Have you ever started to read a book, and in the beginning you're excited and it's fast and every thing's going well? Then you get to about the middle of the book, and more exciting things come up, and you put the book down to go read other books, watch TV, etc? Then later you find the book, perhaps with the bookmark still in the pages, and you remember, "Oh, I was reading that!" and then you have to start over, and then you start to get bored and you fall into a vicious cycle? When you decide to break out of that cycle and read through the boring part, is it worth it? I find that it's always worth it to keep reading.
Is your relationship with God like that? You start strong, but then it becomes a daily routine and you lose interest? Have you stopped to look at other idols, maybe relationships, schools, something else? If yes, God is still waiting, just like that book you let fall to the side. I'm willing to bet that if you turn that next page it's more exciting than you thought. If you've felt like God's not been doing anything exciting this week, or month, or year, pick up the 'book' again.
GO WATCH THIS AWESOME YOUTUBE VIDEO - Techno Jeep by Julian Smith (blog won't let me post the link)
And now the actual post. ;-)
Have you ever started to read a book, and in the beginning you're excited and it's fast and every thing's going well? Then you get to about the middle of the book, and more exciting things come up, and you put the book down to go read other books, watch TV, etc? Then later you find the book, perhaps with the bookmark still in the pages, and you remember, "Oh, I was reading that!" and then you have to start over, and then you start to get bored and you fall into a vicious cycle? When you decide to break out of that cycle and read through the boring part, is it worth it? I find that it's always worth it to keep reading.
Is your relationship with God like that? You start strong, but then it becomes a daily routine and you lose interest? Have you stopped to look at other idols, maybe relationships, schools, something else? If yes, God is still waiting, just like that book you let fall to the side. I'm willing to bet that if you turn that next page it's more exciting than you thought. If you've felt like God's not been doing anything exciting this week, or month, or year, pick up the 'book' again.
Friday, December 4, 2009
I cannot Juggle
A little less than a year ago I was 'taught' how to juggle. This means that I was told how to do it, given pointers, and told to practice. I practiced...and tried...and practiced...and I still can't really juggle. Which greatly disappoints me.
Then at Navs the other night we were recapping this semester and I was talking about how I'm a 'pick up the details' kind of person who feels obligated to help people carry out thier ideas, and I was saying how I just juggle everything into my schedule and end up adding talking to or listening to God to talking to or listening to my teachers, my friends, my parents, my homework, etc. Real juggling is stressful, just like my mental juggling.
Well, mentally I've taught myself to be a pretty good juggler, but even the best let balls drop eventually. All too often I let the 'God ball' drop. I don't do quite times, I don't pray, I don't read the Bible. Not because I don't 'want' to - because I refuse to make time for it.
Since our Navs retreat I've been trying to listen to God more - and with that I learned how little I pay attention to him in my daily life. If this were a human relationship, he would have broken up with me already.
Thank you, Father, for not making it based AT ALL on me.
I do not want God to just be another ball for me.
This is not a finished thought. This is something I am struggling with - it requires that I recognize that I failed, that I admit there is something underneath my willingness to let my 'God ball' be the first to drop, that I do nothing to deserve a relationship with God, and that because I've not been responding, I have missed some opportunities for growth in the Holy Spirit. And maybe more.
I cannot just juggle in spending time with God. I cannot make him just another voice I listen to.
Part of me is thinking that I should stop downing on myself - I have recognized the problem. But the other part of me is remembering other problems I recognized and didn't really address till they got ugly.
Like I said - this is not a finished thought.
Then at Navs the other night we were recapping this semester and I was talking about how I'm a 'pick up the details' kind of person who feels obligated to help people carry out thier ideas, and I was saying how I just juggle everything into my schedule and end up adding talking to or listening to God to talking to or listening to my teachers, my friends, my parents, my homework, etc. Real juggling is stressful, just like my mental juggling.
Well, mentally I've taught myself to be a pretty good juggler, but even the best let balls drop eventually. All too often I let the 'God ball' drop. I don't do quite times, I don't pray, I don't read the Bible. Not because I don't 'want' to - because I refuse to make time for it.
Since our Navs retreat I've been trying to listen to God more - and with that I learned how little I pay attention to him in my daily life. If this were a human relationship, he would have broken up with me already.
Thank you, Father, for not making it based AT ALL on me.
I do not want God to just be another ball for me.
This is not a finished thought. This is something I am struggling with - it requires that I recognize that I failed, that I admit there is something underneath my willingness to let my 'God ball' be the first to drop, that I do nothing to deserve a relationship with God, and that because I've not been responding, I have missed some opportunities for growth in the Holy Spirit. And maybe more.
I cannot just juggle in spending time with God. I cannot make him just another voice I listen to.
Part of me is thinking that I should stop downing on myself - I have recognized the problem. But the other part of me is remembering other problems I recognized and didn't really address till they got ugly.
Like I said - this is not a finished thought.
Friday, November 20, 2009
The pot and the kettle
The other day I was griping to my mother about how my friends have blogs, post on them consistently for a month or so, and then drop them, putting an unused, unvisited site on the Internet. I purposefully neglected the fact that they had busier lives than I did and weren't letting the Internet be a distraction.
And then I went most of the month of November without writing on my blog. Ever heard of the 'pot calling the kettle black'? That's me! :-)
So anyways, just some things I've been rolling around in my head:
~ missionaries are some of the most vocal about their opinions of government policies. Because they've seen poverty in other parts of the world on their own, they have no tolerance for the bureaucracy behind the paternalism.
~ people are generally different when you talk to them personally than when they feel like they're on show in front of a whole group. When they speak in front of a group, no matter how much they like you and want to talk to you, they do have a certian agenda they need to get through, so cut your teachers some slack. (I am VERY guilty of this one)
~ Have you seen the Doritios superbowl commercial contest? Everyone vote for the SKIT GUYS and their giant penguin commercial!!
~ if you haven't yet heard of Julian Smith, check out his website! www.juliansmith.tv
(adults be warned-you may not find this as funny as teenagers, but I LOVE it.)
~ Next time you see me in person, ask me what I've been learning from/about God recently - I've been telling people and it's been really cool. I want to keep it up, so ask me to remind me! But be warned - I'll probably ask you right back!
And that's the end of my random (written out of guilt for ignoring you) blog post!
Hopefully I'll be back next week with some thoughts about Thanksgiving...but I make no promises! (PS - comment on this: it motivates me to write more often when I know people are 'tuning' in)
And then I went most of the month of November without writing on my blog. Ever heard of the 'pot calling the kettle black'? That's me! :-)
So anyways, just some things I've been rolling around in my head:
~ missionaries are some of the most vocal about their opinions of government policies. Because they've seen poverty in other parts of the world on their own, they have no tolerance for the bureaucracy behind the paternalism.
~ people are generally different when you talk to them personally than when they feel like they're on show in front of a whole group. When they speak in front of a group, no matter how much they like you and want to talk to you, they do have a certian agenda they need to get through, so cut your teachers some slack. (I am VERY guilty of this one)
~ Have you seen the Doritios superbowl commercial contest? Everyone vote for the SKIT GUYS and their giant penguin commercial!!
~ if you haven't yet heard of Julian Smith, check out his website! www.juliansmith.tv
(adults be warned-you may not find this as funny as teenagers, but I LOVE it.)
~ Next time you see me in person, ask me what I've been learning from/about God recently - I've been telling people and it's been really cool. I want to keep it up, so ask me to remind me! But be warned - I'll probably ask you right back!
And that's the end of my random (written out of guilt for ignoring you) blog post!
Hopefully I'll be back next week with some thoughts about Thanksgiving...but I make no promises! (PS - comment on this: it motivates me to write more often when I know people are 'tuning' in)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
A Homework Assignment
In my Digital Electronics class we had to write a conclusion to a project so that someone who was not in our class and had no knowledge of DE could understand. Did I do alright? I'm posting my response - you tell me if it makes sense. (we were supposed to write to our Grandmas)
Dear Grandma,
You asked me to explain the project I did in my digital electronics class. Imagine the president, vice president, secretary and treasurer of you bingo club have to vote on a new member. I created a machine that would tally their votes and light up if the new member passed, assuming the president is a tie breaker.
The steps I went through to find which results would mean the new member passed:
I figured out every possible combination of votes by creating a TRUTH TABLE.
Wait, you don’t know what a truth table is? Well, according to dictionary.com, a truth table is “a table showing all possible truth-values for an expression”. That definition didn’t help much. What it means is that I take all the different combinations (All say yes, All say no, some say yes, some say no, EVERY possible outcome) and compare them by putting them in columns, one column per voter.
I figured out which of those vote combinations would equal a pass (that means I looked at how many different ways the four officers could vote and still come up with a pass by reading across the ROWS of the truth table and determining which ROWS would equal a pass. I wrote out all those combinations – each combination unique to one line in my truth table. That’s the UN-SIMPLIFIED LOGIC EXPRESSION).
Then I looked for the common patterns between the pass – the president (tie breaker) AND someone else OR the other three officers. That’s the SIMPLIFIED LOGIC EXPRESSION- where multiple combinations in my truth table can meet the requirements.
Then I figured out how to take that pattern and wire it in a circuit. That means I attached switches and wires to AND gates and OR gates to light up on a pass.
Wait, wait – you said you don’t know what gates are. Well, a gate takes in a value (like if the president said ‘yes’ the gate would take in a 1.) and compares it to another value (like if the secretary said ‘yes’). If the gate is the AND gate they both have to be ‘yes’ (aka 1) for the AND gate to be true(yes). If the gate is the OR gate only one of them has to be ‘yes’ for it to be true(yes).
I tested my pattern in the ‘Multisim’ software, which creates the wires and gates and lights virtually. That way, if I made a mistake it was easier to fix, and I could see my SCHEMATIC plan for the actual circuit. A schematic is like a blueprint – it shows all the parts you’ll need.
Then I took a BREADBOARD – not the kitchen kind, but the kind that allows for solderless wiring (that means I didn’t have to melt the wires together) and connected IC’s (tiny circuits with the gates in them), wires, switches and lights to determine if the new member passed the vote or not.
So, that was probably a much longer explanation than you wanted, but that’s what I did.
See you soon!
Emily
Dear Grandma,
You asked me to explain the project I did in my digital electronics class. Imagine the president, vice president, secretary and treasurer of you bingo club have to vote on a new member. I created a machine that would tally their votes and light up if the new member passed, assuming the president is a tie breaker.
The steps I went through to find which results would mean the new member passed:
I figured out every possible combination of votes by creating a TRUTH TABLE.
Wait, you don’t know what a truth table is? Well, according to dictionary.com, a truth table is “a table showing all possible truth-values for an expression”. That definition didn’t help much. What it means is that I take all the different combinations (All say yes, All say no, some say yes, some say no, EVERY possible outcome) and compare them by putting them in columns, one column per voter.
I figured out which of those vote combinations would equal a pass (that means I looked at how many different ways the four officers could vote and still come up with a pass by reading across the ROWS of the truth table and determining which ROWS would equal a pass. I wrote out all those combinations – each combination unique to one line in my truth table. That’s the UN-SIMPLIFIED LOGIC EXPRESSION).
Then I looked for the common patterns between the pass – the president (tie breaker) AND someone else OR the other three officers. That’s the SIMPLIFIED LOGIC EXPRESSION- where multiple combinations in my truth table can meet the requirements.
Then I figured out how to take that pattern and wire it in a circuit. That means I attached switches and wires to AND gates and OR gates to light up on a pass.
Wait, wait – you said you don’t know what gates are. Well, a gate takes in a value (like if the president said ‘yes’ the gate would take in a 1.) and compares it to another value (like if the secretary said ‘yes’). If the gate is the AND gate they both have to be ‘yes’ (aka 1) for the AND gate to be true(yes). If the gate is the OR gate only one of them has to be ‘yes’ for it to be true(yes).
I tested my pattern in the ‘Multisim’ software, which creates the wires and gates and lights virtually. That way, if I made a mistake it was easier to fix, and I could see my SCHEMATIC plan for the actual circuit. A schematic is like a blueprint – it shows all the parts you’ll need.
Then I took a BREADBOARD – not the kitchen kind, but the kind that allows for solderless wiring (that means I didn’t have to melt the wires together) and connected IC’s (tiny circuits with the gates in them), wires, switches and lights to determine if the new member passed the vote or not.
So, that was probably a much longer explanation than you wanted, but that’s what I did.
See you soon!
Emily
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The thing called College
Does this whole application process ever stop?
The schools, their scholarships, just going on and on and on.
Making sure everything about you appears to the best advantage.
who has time for life anymore?
Does this whole application process ever stop?
Honestly, with SAT scores and recommendation letters,
Class Ranks, Senior Courses and 'personal statements',
who has time for life anymore?
Does this whole application process ever stop?
More things to worry about, to write, to plan,
listening to admissions directors, reading emails, paper trails,
who has time for life anymore?
When this is all over, will I miss it?
When this all ends, will it be abrupt?
When December comes, will I be surprised?
When I move on - this will be a dream, and I won't be so stressed.
This thing called College - I can't say I've experienced it yet.
This thing called College - a fog of new experiences and opportunities.
One year left.
(original by me. sort of just rambling, sorry about that)
The schools, their scholarships, just going on and on and on.
Making sure everything about you appears to the best advantage.
who has time for life anymore?
Does this whole application process ever stop?
Honestly, with SAT scores and recommendation letters,
Class Ranks, Senior Courses and 'personal statements',
who has time for life anymore?
Does this whole application process ever stop?
More things to worry about, to write, to plan,
listening to admissions directors, reading emails, paper trails,
who has time for life anymore?
When this is all over, will I miss it?
When this all ends, will it be abrupt?
When December comes, will I be surprised?
When I move on - this will be a dream, and I won't be so stressed.
This thing called College - I can't say I've experienced it yet.
This thing called College - a fog of new experiences and opportunities.
One year left.
(original by me. sort of just rambling, sorry about that)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Things to do with your friends
So, this is a chain blog post/note thing. I hope it works. Here's the idea: All of us have friends that we like to hang out with, but, for me at least, sometimes it's hard to come up with ideas for what to do together. SO, I am starting a list with some of the more creative hang out ideas that I have seen, and if you read this you have to re-post it with 5 more ideas of your own, making my list longer. No repeats, and if you do actually do this make sure you send your list back to me! Have fun!
THE IDEAS:
1. Have a photo scavenger hunt to find the letters of the alphabet formed naturally in nature(FamilyFun magazine idea)
2. Go to the library and each person picks a book they have read/would like to read for someone else (could also be at a book store but the library is free)
3. Each person gets one item to buy from the store (Ex: meat, side dish, etc). WITHOUT talking to anyone else, buy your item and then get back together and eat what everyone picked. (this is a Lily idea)
4. toothpaste molding. My friends are sort of grossed out by this, but I think it would be fun for everyone to bring a tube of toothpaste, squeeze it all out and mold it since it's so malleable.
5. recipie night! everyone brings recipes and cook together!
THE IDEAS:
1. Have a photo scavenger hunt to find the letters of the alphabet formed naturally in nature(FamilyFun magazine idea)
2. Go to the library and each person picks a book they have read/would like to read for someone else (could also be at a book store but the library is free)
3. Each person gets one item to buy from the store (Ex: meat, side dish, etc). WITHOUT talking to anyone else, buy your item and then get back together and eat what everyone picked. (this is a Lily idea)
4. toothpaste molding. My friends are sort of grossed out by this, but I think it would be fun for everyone to bring a tube of toothpaste, squeeze it all out and mold it since it's so malleable.
5. recipie night! everyone brings recipes and cook together!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Honoring Paul Herlinger
(if you don't like AiO, don't bother to read this - it won't matter to you)
So, I'm a little behind the times here - they announced that there was going to be a new voice for Whit last August - but whatever, I only listened to the podcast about it last night.
I know that the voice of Whit has been changed once before, but I was two years old when Hal Smith died. I think most of the Odyssey audience has only ever heard Paul Herlinger's voice out of thier radios - for us, Hal Smith was only on the old recordings, and Paul Herlinger was the living, breathing, working voice of Whit. I've been listening to Odyssey for about ten years, and Paul Herlinger was always a part of that for me.
So, I'm a little behind the times here - they announced that there was going to be a new voice for Whit last August - but whatever, I only listened to the podcast about it last night.
I know that the voice of Whit has been changed once before, but I was two years old when Hal Smith died. I think most of the Odyssey audience has only ever heard Paul Herlinger's voice out of thier radios - for us, Hal Smith was only on the old recordings, and Paul Herlinger was the living, breathing, working voice of Whit. I've been listening to Odyssey for about ten years, and Paul Herlinger was always a part of that for me.
Friday, October 9, 2009
On Spanish, Yoga, and self-knowledge
Today in Spanish we had our first yoga class. We go to the atrium, lay our yoga mats out on the floor, and have a yoga class (our teacher's a certified instructor) entirely in Spanish! It's lots of fun, even if it is a little weird to be laying on the floor of the school breathing deeply. Spanish this year is really interesting - since at this point we have learned most of the grammar and vocabulary that textbooks can teach us, we've been having class based around other things - culture, literature, yoga, etc.
Our very first unit was on self-knowledge. We took several tests on our learning styles, personalities types, and emotional mindsets. None of my tests revealed anything particularly unusual to me - I already knew that I am linguistic and logical, that I am a perfectionist, that I am an independent thinker.
What was interesting was the self knowledge test that I DIDN'T take for Spanish - I took it for the Women's Sunday School Class. This test was supposed to tell you your evangelism style - I scored Interpersonal and Intellectual. While my other tests results were in line with these results, I'd never applied them to evangelism before. Here's some of the notes that came with my two styles~
Interpersonal: Warm Personality, Conversational
Caution - Avoid valuing friendship over truth-telling. Presenting the Gospel often means challenging a person's whole direction in life, and that might mean causing friction.
Intellectual: Inquisitive, Analytical
Caution - Do not substitute giving answers for giving the Gospel message, be careful of becoming argumentative.
~
They seem to be in such opposition don't they? One is prone to argument, being overly zealous, while the other is prone to silence to protect friendships, not being zealous enough. I like being in between the two - a definition defyer - but those Cautions also apply to me, letter for letter.
I don't know...I've been thinking a lot about evangelism...last night DAn had a lot to say about it, but I feel like the stuff he said was for a different situation than the ones I normally find myself in - for a poin twhen a person is further along, or when they're not in a relationship with you and you're talking to a stranger.
Just puzzling through...tell me your thoughts!
Our very first unit was on self-knowledge. We took several tests on our learning styles, personalities types, and emotional mindsets. None of my tests revealed anything particularly unusual to me - I already knew that I am linguistic and logical, that I am a perfectionist, that I am an independent thinker.
What was interesting was the self knowledge test that I DIDN'T take for Spanish - I took it for the Women's Sunday School Class. This test was supposed to tell you your evangelism style - I scored Interpersonal and Intellectual. While my other tests results were in line with these results, I'd never applied them to evangelism before. Here's some of the notes that came with my two styles~
Interpersonal: Warm Personality, Conversational
Caution - Avoid valuing friendship over truth-telling. Presenting the Gospel often means challenging a person's whole direction in life, and that might mean causing friction.
Intellectual: Inquisitive, Analytical
Caution - Do not substitute giving answers for giving the Gospel message, be careful of becoming argumentative.
~
They seem to be in such opposition don't they? One is prone to argument, being overly zealous, while the other is prone to silence to protect friendships, not being zealous enough. I like being in between the two - a definition defyer - but those Cautions also apply to me, letter for letter.
I don't know...I've been thinking a lot about evangelism...last night DAn had a lot to say about it, but I feel like the stuff he said was for a different situation than the ones I normally find myself in - for a poin twhen a person is further along, or when they're not in a relationship with you and you're talking to a stranger.
Just puzzling through...tell me your thoughts!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Numbers 13
This past weekend I went on a retreat where we talked about the first step in investigating(studying) the bible - Observation. As one of our practical exercises I got to write a paraphrase of Numbers 13 in modern day. I had so much fun with it that I want to share it with you all. The setting is a news broadcast, possibly NBC, I'm not sure. Enjoy!
Newscaster: There has been much debate over the past week about the YouTube videos posted by our undercover soldiers. TO help clear up some of the confusion, the President has agreed to a live press conference. taking you there now...
President (Moses): Our nation has come to a great turning point in the war. As you all know, a month ago I sent soldiers, one from every state, to spy out the area when terrorists are known to camp, to see if we could take over their major planning base. I also asked what kind of oil they could find there, telling them to send a sample home to be tested for productivity in science labs here. they returned and shared their news with Congress, but in had not yet been announced to the public - we had planned a disclosure for the next week. However, the soldiers published their findings on YouTube. I will now personally answer any questions about their video, their findings and my plans.
Reporter: Is it true that you plan to test oil from there?
P(M): The test have already shown a plentiful amount, there's much that can be gained from drilling in that area.
Reporter 2: What is your response to the political cartoonists who are comparing you to Communist governments? Or those who are saying we should go back to our former president?
P(M): I believe the cartoonists are making hasty assumptions, but I would like to apologize for my behavior and for that of the soldiers.
Reporter 3: Is it true that there were some spies who saw giants?
P(M): Everything in that video - the evil terrorists, the giants, the returning Nazis - is greatly overdone, but is in agreement with the official report. However, before you make any conclusions, let me introduce two important men, I greatly admire these representatives for speaking their minds, perhaps you've seen their facebook notes about the spy (espionage) mission. It is with great pleasure I introduce you to the two soldiers who believe we can take the camp, Lt. Caleb and St. Joshua.
C&J: It is our belief that we can conqueror the terrorists. Although the men there are mighty and have weapons, we will be given the power to defeat them. With God on our side, we will strike them down. We are not taking any questions at this time, thank you.
Newscaster: Well, those videos surely have brought about a lot of unrest in the nation. Politicians are unsure how to respond - tomorrow Congress is meeting to disscuss. Thank you and goodnight.
Well, that was it! Go back and read Numbers 13, compare, and then tell me what you thought!
Newscaster: There has been much debate over the past week about the YouTube videos posted by our undercover soldiers. TO help clear up some of the confusion, the President has agreed to a live press conference. taking you there now...
President (Moses): Our nation has come to a great turning point in the war. As you all know, a month ago I sent soldiers, one from every state, to spy out the area when terrorists are known to camp, to see if we could take over their major planning base. I also asked what kind of oil they could find there, telling them to send a sample home to be tested for productivity in science labs here. they returned and shared their news with Congress, but in had not yet been announced to the public - we had planned a disclosure for the next week. However, the soldiers published their findings on YouTube. I will now personally answer any questions about their video, their findings and my plans.
Reporter: Is it true that you plan to test oil from there?
P(M): The test have already shown a plentiful amount, there's much that can be gained from drilling in that area.
Reporter 2: What is your response to the political cartoonists who are comparing you to Communist governments? Or those who are saying we should go back to our former president?
P(M): I believe the cartoonists are making hasty assumptions, but I would like to apologize for my behavior and for that of the soldiers.
Reporter 3: Is it true that there were some spies who saw giants?
P(M): Everything in that video - the evil terrorists, the giants, the returning Nazis - is greatly overdone, but is in agreement with the official report. However, before you make any conclusions, let me introduce two important men, I greatly admire these representatives for speaking their minds, perhaps you've seen their facebook notes about the spy (espionage) mission. It is with great pleasure I introduce you to the two soldiers who believe we can take the camp, Lt. Caleb and St. Joshua.
C&J: It is our belief that we can conqueror the terrorists. Although the men there are mighty and have weapons, we will be given the power to defeat them. With God on our side, we will strike them down. We are not taking any questions at this time, thank you.
Newscaster: Well, those videos surely have brought about a lot of unrest in the nation. Politicians are unsure how to respond - tomorrow Congress is meeting to disscuss. Thank you and goodnight.
Well, that was it! Go back and read Numbers 13, compare, and then tell me what you thought!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tiny Talk Tuesday - sort of
Although I am not a mom, I loved reading Ms. Laurel's tiny talks so much that today I am going to post my own, but with a slightly different spin.
My three year old sister went to the dentist yesterday and camp back with a bag full of little prizes, and she showed them all to me as soon as I got home from school. She kept saying "Wait, there's one more thing! Come back!!". One of the things she showed me was a tiny adjustable cotton bracelet - excatly like the one I had recieved at the dentist when I was a kid (different dentist, FYI).
That bracelet triggered a memory for me. When I was a kid, my next sister and I always wnet to the dentist on the same day, and got the same prizes. On the day we got those bracelets, my little sister had gotten a pretty blue one, and I got an orange and black one, which reminded me of Halloween, which terrified me when I was little. Anyways, I was really mad that I'd gotten an ugly one.
Most of my childhood memories are like that - bad things that happen to you have a greater impact on your mind. For example, there was the time my aunt yelled at me for being loud. then there was the time i got lost at the store. and the time i got lost at the zoo. the time I broke one of my grandma's figurines, and the list goes on. It's sort of sad that the majority of my memories are bad. not all of my memories are bad, but bad stuff sticks more in the mind of a kid. How about you? any fun stories?
My three year old sister went to the dentist yesterday and camp back with a bag full of little prizes, and she showed them all to me as soon as I got home from school. She kept saying "Wait, there's one more thing! Come back!!". One of the things she showed me was a tiny adjustable cotton bracelet - excatly like the one I had recieved at the dentist when I was a kid (different dentist, FYI).
That bracelet triggered a memory for me. When I was a kid, my next sister and I always wnet to the dentist on the same day, and got the same prizes. On the day we got those bracelets, my little sister had gotten a pretty blue one, and I got an orange and black one, which reminded me of Halloween, which terrified me when I was little. Anyways, I was really mad that I'd gotten an ugly one.
Most of my childhood memories are like that - bad things that happen to you have a greater impact on your mind. For example, there was the time my aunt yelled at me for being loud. then there was the time i got lost at the store. and the time i got lost at the zoo. the time I broke one of my grandma's figurines, and the list goes on. It's sort of sad that the majority of my memories are bad. not all of my memories are bad, but bad stuff sticks more in the mind of a kid. How about you? any fun stories?
Saturday, September 12, 2009
My College Visit
So, everyone asked - How was my visit? Here's the highlights:
~ Introduction in the Bomberger Auditorium - 2nd largest organ in the state - pretty cool.
~ Class in Phaler(SP?) Hall - Data Structures: good class, I followed all the logic, but it was in C++, so I didn't do the language
~ Interview - They were doing 75 interviews that day!! So I think I was just one of the crowd...
~ Tour - well, that was...OK. It was rainy so the campus didn't look good
~ Lunch - that was also...OK. The food wasn't really anything special - but that's true of most schools
After Lunch there was another info session, but my dad ands I skipped it to explor the town a little and look at the Myrin Library. After that my dad had set up for us to meet the InterVarsity lady, and she had brought two Juniors with her - They were pretty neat.
That's really it. bye!
~ Introduction in the Bomberger Auditorium - 2nd largest organ in the state - pretty cool.
~ Class in Phaler(SP?) Hall - Data Structures: good class, I followed all the logic, but it was in C++, so I didn't do the language
~ Interview - They were doing 75 interviews that day!! So I think I was just one of the crowd...
~ Tour - well, that was...OK. It was rainy so the campus didn't look good
~ Lunch - that was also...OK. The food wasn't really anything special - but that's true of most schools
After Lunch there was another info session, but my dad ands I skipped it to explor the town a little and look at the Myrin Library. After that my dad had set up for us to meet the InterVarsity lady, and she had brought two Juniors with her - They were pretty neat.
That's really it. bye!
Friday, September 4, 2009
101 great things about glasses
1. you can see colors much clearer
2. you can see fine details
3. you can see without squinting
4. you actually know what time it is because you can see the clock
5. you can drive!!
6. you don't have to sit in the front at school.
7. you get the chance to remember how easy it is to lose things
8. you can play solitare on your ipod again
9. you can watch TV on the sofa instead of the floor
10. you can text without holding the phone up to your nose
101. you get to touch your nose and shove them up every ten seconds
See how I cleverly fooled you? 101 is actually 11? OK, so it's not that funny, but I really enjoy having new glasses and wanted a lighter blog post.
2. you can see fine details
3. you can see without squinting
4. you actually know what time it is because you can see the clock
5. you can drive!!
6. you don't have to sit in the front at school.
7. you get the chance to remember how easy it is to lose things
8. you can play solitare on your ipod again
9. you can watch TV on the sofa instead of the floor
10. you can text without holding the phone up to your nose
101. you get to touch your nose and shove them up every ten seconds
See how I cleverly fooled you? 101 is actually 11? OK, so it's not that funny, but I really enjoy having new glasses and wanted a lighter blog post.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Race to Witch Mountain
Race to Witch Mountain is a movie that I just finished watching, and a particular thought struck me about it. If you EVER plan on seeing the film and don't want it to be ruined, I suggest stopping reading right now.
OK. So, the movie's about these two alien kids that crash on earth and have to get back to their spaceship with the help of this cab driver, Jack Bruno. On the way they pick up a scientist who helps them to get back...yada yada yada, lots of action, government schemes, etc. Anyways, the thing that really struck me was the relationship between the alien kids and the cab driver. Instinctively, he felt the need to protect and help these kids - once they convinced him he wasn't crazy and they weren't crazy.
Anyways, the whole movie he's defending and protecting these kids from crazy government guys. Regardless of planetary differences, they were kids and he was an adult and therefore he was going to protect them and take care of them, no matter what the cost to himself.
And now as I'm writing this I start thinking about times in America's history where we were not like that...where grown-ups watched children being hurt and didn't care...like during the pre-civil war era...or the factory workers before child labor laws...or the indentured servants of the 18th century.
It's touching when Jack refuses to abandon Seth and Sara in Race to Witch Mountain, when he returns to save them and Seth realizes his gratitude and Sara shows her love. I hope that when I become an adult I can have that same compassion and general human decency that causes a grown man to protect two strange children.
OK. So, the movie's about these two alien kids that crash on earth and have to get back to their spaceship with the help of this cab driver, Jack Bruno. On the way they pick up a scientist who helps them to get back...yada yada yada, lots of action, government schemes, etc. Anyways, the thing that really struck me was the relationship between the alien kids and the cab driver. Instinctively, he felt the need to protect and help these kids - once they convinced him he wasn't crazy and they weren't crazy.
Anyways, the whole movie he's defending and protecting these kids from crazy government guys. Regardless of planetary differences, they were kids and he was an adult and therefore he was going to protect them and take care of them, no matter what the cost to himself.
And now as I'm writing this I start thinking about times in America's history where we were not like that...where grown-ups watched children being hurt and didn't care...like during the pre-civil war era...or the factory workers before child labor laws...or the indentured servants of the 18th century.
It's touching when Jack refuses to abandon Seth and Sara in Race to Witch Mountain, when he returns to save them and Seth realizes his gratitude and Sara shows her love. I hope that when I become an adult I can have that same compassion and general human decency that causes a grown man to protect two strange children.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Fortune Cookies
Hello World! After a three week leave of absence, I am now ready to wow you with wisdom!
Just Kidding. Actually, I'm gearing up for school to start as I watch people leave for college and receive my senior year schedule in the mail, along with my senior portraits. I had a wonderful time at Camp, a lot of great learning and growing experiences that I will potentially blog in the future and will be happy to tell you if you choose to ask me about it.
So, now, the title of the post. Last week my extended family and I went to a Chinese Buffet to stuff ourselves with delicious food, ending our meal with the most American of Chinese foods, fortune cookies (which I believe originated in California). Anyways, here are some of the cookie words of wisdom:
"The heart that loves you stays young"
"Now is the time to increase your repertoire of skills and knowledge"
"Never laugh at any one's dream"
"Stars are forever light - let your wisdom shine like a star"
"One should always think before speaking"
and my personal favorite:
"A good way to stay healthy is to eat more Chinese food"
Hope you enjoyed those tidbits. Eventually I will get back into a good blogging pattern, but right now it's still summer and I'm a little scatter brained. Much Love to my faithful readers! Lotus
Just Kidding. Actually, I'm gearing up for school to start as I watch people leave for college and receive my senior year schedule in the mail, along with my senior portraits. I had a wonderful time at Camp, a lot of great learning and growing experiences that I will potentially blog in the future and will be happy to tell you if you choose to ask me about it.
So, now, the title of the post. Last week my extended family and I went to a Chinese Buffet to stuff ourselves with delicious food, ending our meal with the most American of Chinese foods, fortune cookies (which I believe originated in California). Anyways, here are some of the cookie words of wisdom:
"The heart that loves you stays young"
"Now is the time to increase your repertoire of skills and knowledge"
"Never laugh at any one's dream"
"Stars are forever light - let your wisdom shine like a star"
"One should always think before speaking"
and my personal favorite:
"A good way to stay healthy is to eat more Chinese food"
Hope you enjoyed those tidbits. Eventually I will get back into a good blogging pattern, but right now it's still summer and I'm a little scatter brained. Much Love to my faithful readers! Lotus
Friday, July 24, 2009
Camp!
Sorry for the month without posts - there's really no reason why I haven't posted, I just didn't feel like it.
But anyways, tomorrow I leave for Camp Wildflowers, one of my favorite places of all time! I'm really excited about this year, because that Bible Ex's. are really cool, all about Hymns and Hymn Writers. I feel more prepared for this years Bible Ex. then ever before, which is cool, but I'm also nervous, because I'll be one of the 'more experienced' counselors. Sort of. I don't think I am, but it is my third year.
The Hymns we'll be doing:
A Mighty Fortress is Our God by Martin Luther
Come Thou Fount of every Blessing by Robert Robinson
It is Well by Horatio Spafford
Blessed Assurance by Fanny Crosby
Pray for us while we're out there - that we, as staff, make a good example for the girls and grow in our own faith, even as we help them grow in theirs.
Pray for me, as I once again test my faith by putting it up against the child-like faith of my campers.
But anyways, tomorrow I leave for Camp Wildflowers, one of my favorite places of all time! I'm really excited about this year, because that Bible Ex's. are really cool, all about Hymns and Hymn Writers. I feel more prepared for this years Bible Ex. then ever before, which is cool, but I'm also nervous, because I'll be one of the 'more experienced' counselors. Sort of. I don't think I am, but it is my third year.
The Hymns we'll be doing:
A Mighty Fortress is Our God by Martin Luther
Come Thou Fount of every Blessing by Robert Robinson
It is Well by Horatio Spafford
Blessed Assurance by Fanny Crosby
Pray for us while we're out there - that we, as staff, make a good example for the girls and grow in our own faith, even as we help them grow in theirs.
Pray for me, as I once again test my faith by putting it up against the child-like faith of my campers.
Monday, July 6, 2009
"No one laughs at God in a hospital" MUST-READ
(PS the must read heading was a gimick to get you to look at this post)
I felt that there was not enough room in my FB status for me to describe fully enough what I think, so I'm going to continue here.
First, this is my current FB status:
I find the song "No one laughs at God in a Hospital" a little disconcerting. How many times have I taken God for granted and then called on him only when I needed him? Scary, our lack of commitment to someone so wonderful. Aren't you glad it's not based on how deserving we are? Yay Grace/Mercy! (check out the Rebulution site for lyrics)
This song sends chills up and down my spine - because I think it describes me (and quite possibly lots of other Christians) to a T. I live my general life not really thinking about God. Sure, I might contemplate the message from Navs Tuesday night on Wednesday, I might remember to pray for people on my prayer list right before I fall asleep, but my daily commitment to my Jesus is sadly lacking. I am totally incapable of giving him the honor he deserves, and I do him a dishonor everyday by not remembering that he's close by and thinking of him as a more distant, judging God, by not pursuing righteousness the way I should, by laughing at those God-themed jokes in the song, etc.
So why, after hearing that song, am I not totally depressed about how horrible I am, not worried about how I don't deserve my salvation because I've forgotten God?
Because my Savior did not save me in that sort of way. He saved me knowing I was going to sin, knowing I wasn't a perfect loyal creation. knowing I'd constantly be turning back to him to apologize and then failing again. He knew I couldn't control every facet of my life. He died for me as I was - ugly in my sin.
That doesn't mean I go around sinning and just trust in his goodness. It just means that when I mess up, He's got it covered. It means that He forgives when I ask him to and He, if I ask him to, will help me, work through me, to clean up my sin. Grace (getting what you don't deserve - his help and forgiveness and original salvation) and Mercy(not getting what you do deserve - his wrath at your unloyalty, and at every other sin you've committed) in action!
So, now my part is to make that commitment to let him work with and through me to remove those sins that I have noticed from my life, to pursue holiness. I'll still make mistakes, it will still be hard, but if I commit, my God will work with me in that. And then I'll be laughing with God (last line of the song) when He's conquered again.
Are you going to take that step, make that commitment to God? Regardless of whether you've ever believed in him or not (if not, please ask my about the gospel and my story, I'd love to talk to you), if you do now or if you see new sin to work on, are you going to pursue holiness?
I've been wondering that about myself for a little over a week now. And everything I've come up against has pointed me toward making that commitment. I intend to try. I will fail. But God will help me up. What will you do?
I felt that there was not enough room in my FB status for me to describe fully enough what I think, so I'm going to continue here.
First, this is my current FB status:
I find the song "No one laughs at God in a Hospital" a little disconcerting. How many times have I taken God for granted and then called on him only when I needed him? Scary, our lack of commitment to someone so wonderful. Aren't you glad it's not based on how deserving we are? Yay Grace/Mercy! (check out the Rebulution site for lyrics)
This song sends chills up and down my spine - because I think it describes me (and quite possibly lots of other Christians) to a T. I live my general life not really thinking about God. Sure, I might contemplate the message from Navs Tuesday night on Wednesday, I might remember to pray for people on my prayer list right before I fall asleep, but my daily commitment to my Jesus is sadly lacking. I am totally incapable of giving him the honor he deserves, and I do him a dishonor everyday by not remembering that he's close by and thinking of him as a more distant, judging God, by not pursuing righteousness the way I should, by laughing at those God-themed jokes in the song, etc.
So why, after hearing that song, am I not totally depressed about how horrible I am, not worried about how I don't deserve my salvation because I've forgotten God?
Because my Savior did not save me in that sort of way. He saved me knowing I was going to sin, knowing I wasn't a perfect loyal creation. knowing I'd constantly be turning back to him to apologize and then failing again. He knew I couldn't control every facet of my life. He died for me as I was - ugly in my sin.
That doesn't mean I go around sinning and just trust in his goodness. It just means that when I mess up, He's got it covered. It means that He forgives when I ask him to and He, if I ask him to, will help me, work through me, to clean up my sin. Grace (getting what you don't deserve - his help and forgiveness and original salvation) and Mercy(not getting what you do deserve - his wrath at your unloyalty, and at every other sin you've committed) in action!
So, now my part is to make that commitment to let him work with and through me to remove those sins that I have noticed from my life, to pursue holiness. I'll still make mistakes, it will still be hard, but if I commit, my God will work with me in that. And then I'll be laughing with God (last line of the song) when He's conquered again.
Are you going to take that step, make that commitment to God? Regardless of whether you've ever believed in him or not (if not, please ask my about the gospel and my story, I'd love to talk to you), if you do now or if you see new sin to work on, are you going to pursue holiness?
I've been wondering that about myself for a little over a week now. And everything I've come up against has pointed me toward making that commitment. I intend to try. I will fail. But God will help me up. What will you do?
Monday, June 29, 2009
Our effect on the internet
Late last night I was reading wired (it's a magazine). There were lots of articles about the Internet, consumers, etc. Two of the ones that most interested me were an interview with a man who has just written a book about blogging and an article about the Google/Facebook war for Internet dominance. There was also recently an article in Time that addressed the revolutionary effect of Twitter. Those three articles got me to start thinking about how we - as "consumers" of the Internet - control the information on the Internet.
Think about it. The most popular sites are judged based on the number of views they get in a single day. That's actually part of how Google works - they show you the websites with the most hits first. Sites like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, etc, etc are all popular because we, the consumer, make them that way. The future of the Internet rests in our hands. As soon as computers were made available to the general population back in the 60's/70's we began to shape their future. When Facebook tried to change it's terms of use, everyone freaked out - so much so that they repealed their change and created a user friendly, based on user votes, constitution.
We shaped that change. We are the reason Twitter is so popular. We are the reason the word "google" now signifies a verb, why the words "facebook" and "mapquest" are verbs, verbs that imply Internet use. Have you ever said, "Go google that, I'll facebook you, can you mapquest some directions, etc"? In the same way that we shape language by accepting that 'to google' means to search for something online through a particular search engine, we shape that search engine with our demands and needs and constant use of the Internet.
While I find the amount of information the Internet has on me a little scary, I am also fascinated by it's dependance on us, the consumers. Our social decisions effect the use of the internet. As more and more information becomes avaliable, we, as internet users, become more and more dominant. Post your thoughts!
Think about it. The most popular sites are judged based on the number of views they get in a single day. That's actually part of how Google works - they show you the websites with the most hits first. Sites like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, etc, etc are all popular because we, the consumer, make them that way. The future of the Internet rests in our hands. As soon as computers were made available to the general population back in the 60's/70's we began to shape their future. When Facebook tried to change it's terms of use, everyone freaked out - so much so that they repealed their change and created a user friendly, based on user votes, constitution.
We shaped that change. We are the reason Twitter is so popular. We are the reason the word "google" now signifies a verb, why the words "facebook" and "mapquest" are verbs, verbs that imply Internet use. Have you ever said, "Go google that, I'll facebook you, can you mapquest some directions, etc"? In the same way that we shape language by accepting that 'to google' means to search for something online through a particular search engine, we shape that search engine with our demands and needs and constant use of the Internet.
While I find the amount of information the Internet has on me a little scary, I am also fascinated by it's dependance on us, the consumers. Our social decisions effect the use of the internet. As more and more information becomes avaliable, we, as internet users, become more and more dominant. Post your thoughts!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Percy Weasley and Albus Dumbledore
My apologies if you don't like Harry Potter, but that's sort of your own decision, so you should not be upset that I am writing about it. If you do not read Harry Potter, this will not make sense to you. If you have not read the 7th book, this will not make sense to you. Sorry!
I really like Percy Weasley. He is one of the better developed characters in Harry Potter - not a plain black/white character, he has gray spots. Yesterday my sisters and my friend were asking me why I like Percy so much, and I said I think he's like Dumbledore. Here's what I meant:
Percy, like Dumbledore, was young and had a desire for power when he got out of school. Like Dumbledore, he was ashamed of his family and tried to go beyond them for higher things - Dumbledore was reaching for the Hallows, Percy for the Ministry. Both betrayed their families - Percy in a more dramatic way. Dumbledore felt that he had killed his sister - just as Percy probably felt after Fred died.
I think that if we give Percy Weasley some time to learn that power is dangerous he will be just as wise as Dumbledore, and as amiable as his father. He has that potential. Maybe I like Percy because I see a bit of himself in me. Give Percy a chance, and you'll see the good in his character.
I really like Percy Weasley. He is one of the better developed characters in Harry Potter - not a plain black/white character, he has gray spots. Yesterday my sisters and my friend were asking me why I like Percy so much, and I said I think he's like Dumbledore. Here's what I meant:
Percy, like Dumbledore, was young and had a desire for power when he got out of school. Like Dumbledore, he was ashamed of his family and tried to go beyond them for higher things - Dumbledore was reaching for the Hallows, Percy for the Ministry. Both betrayed their families - Percy in a more dramatic way. Dumbledore felt that he had killed his sister - just as Percy probably felt after Fred died.
I think that if we give Percy Weasley some time to learn that power is dangerous he will be just as wise as Dumbledore, and as amiable as his father. He has that potential. Maybe I like Percy because I see a bit of himself in me. Give Percy a chance, and you'll see the good in his character.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
In the Morning
It's about 9:30 am right now. There are 4 active people on Facebook chat where there are normally 20-something. Personally, I don't consider 9 to be early in the morning, so this post is a little irrelevant. But I absolutly ADORE mornings. I love the soft feel of the grass under a sun that gives off paler, softer rays than it does later in the afternoon. I love the feeling of having my whole day ahead of me, ready to be filled with exciting moments and thoughts. I love the peace found in the mornings. And I really enjoy eating breakfast - something I don't normally do over the school year.
All you guys who sleep in till really really late miss out on some of the great beauty of the world. (now, last night I was up until 1, so it's ok to stay up late) Get up early in the morning - enjoy the quiet of your household. Spend some time reading. Maybe even reading the Bible. Wash your hair and dry it naturally in the sunlight.
Don't waste the time in the morning. Use it for a good purpose. Maybe you could make breakfast for your mother or coffee for you father. Maybe you could spend the time coloring with your little siblings, or chatting with your older siblings. You could clean your room - then you won't have to do it later when you want to have fun instead. Make use of the morning, you'll have the rest of the day to spend on your own.
Go for a run, mow the lawn, sit on the porch and read, enjoy the outdoors in the morning.
Play music and dance, do whatever you want, but don't spend your morning curled up in bed, that benefits no one - not even you, because you wasted that precious time.
I love the morning. You should try it sometime, maybe you will too!
All you guys who sleep in till really really late miss out on some of the great beauty of the world. (now, last night I was up until 1, so it's ok to stay up late) Get up early in the morning - enjoy the quiet of your household. Spend some time reading. Maybe even reading the Bible. Wash your hair and dry it naturally in the sunlight.
Don't waste the time in the morning. Use it for a good purpose. Maybe you could make breakfast for your mother or coffee for you father. Maybe you could spend the time coloring with your little siblings, or chatting with your older siblings. You could clean your room - then you won't have to do it later when you want to have fun instead. Make use of the morning, you'll have the rest of the day to spend on your own.
Go for a run, mow the lawn, sit on the porch and read, enjoy the outdoors in the morning.
Play music and dance, do whatever you want, but don't spend your morning curled up in bed, that benefits no one - not even you, because you wasted that precious time.
I love the morning. You should try it sometime, maybe you will too!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Goodbye Jr. Year...Hello Sr?
Today is my first day with out school! I'm very excited. But also nervous. This means that I'm starting my Sr. year of high school. Am I ready? Of course not. But I will do it.
I don't really have any involved thoughts today, I just feel bad for having gone so long with out posting. I've had my bloo for almost a year now, and I think I've been pretty consistent, even though some of the posts were less thought provoking than others. I've been suprised at how many people follow my blog, and comment or mention it to me in real life (as opposed to virtual comments). I hope what I've said hasn't bored you...I know that blogs can get boring sometimes.
Some reflections on this school year:
~I had possibly the best group of teachers I could have - yes, including ms. O
~I had really hard classes - but I passed them all
~I still didn't learn to drive - but I went on 2 college visits
~I really enjoyed the movie worldview lessons in Sunday School
~I maintained a blog - I am really proud of that
Anyways. My summer plan of my blog os some book reviews, since I shall be doing a lot of reading. I also have the rest of my love month notes - does anyone want those to be posted here? LMK if you do.
I don't really have any involved thoughts today, I just feel bad for having gone so long with out posting. I've had my bloo for almost a year now, and I think I've been pretty consistent, even though some of the posts were less thought provoking than others. I've been suprised at how many people follow my blog, and comment or mention it to me in real life (as opposed to virtual comments). I hope what I've said hasn't bored you...I know that blogs can get boring sometimes.
Some reflections on this school year:
~I had possibly the best group of teachers I could have - yes, including ms. O
~I had really hard classes - but I passed them all
~I still didn't learn to drive - but I went on 2 college visits
~I really enjoyed the movie worldview lessons in Sunday School
~I maintained a blog - I am really proud of that
Anyways. My summer plan of my blog os some book reviews, since I shall be doing a lot of reading. I also have the rest of my love month notes - does anyone want those to be posted here? LMK if you do.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Bride Wars - movie review
I know that most reviews of Bride Wars have been bad. To quote a few:
~ stupid movie for stupid people
~ whole plot was based on something that would never happen
~ this movie was a total waste of time and money.
Anyways, I'd like to take a slightly different view of the movie. I actually liked it. While I agree that the plot stems from an incredibly implausible mistake, I also think that the premise of true best friends who stand by you forever, and the getting back together after thier fight is a good one. While the movie, like any movie, had faults, it wasn't as awful as everyone claimed.
~ stupid movie for stupid people
~ whole plot was based on something that would never happen
~ this movie was a total waste of time and money.
Anyways, I'd like to take a slightly different view of the movie. I actually liked it. While I agree that the plot stems from an incredibly implausible mistake, I also think that the premise of true best friends who stand by you forever, and the getting back together after thier fight is a good one. While the movie, like any movie, had faults, it wasn't as awful as everyone claimed.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
a little more on P&P
My mother has informed me that I had a fact wrong on the previous post about P&P. Mr. Bennet would have been able to be a gentleman farmer. So scratch that from the objections list. She also feels that the casting in the short movie was better, while the script of the long movie was better.
A short bit on the Mr. Collins, to give some detail: I personally did not feel repulsed enough by the Mr. Collins in the shorter P&P. He actually reminded me of the father of a friend of mine. He was too friendly and I almost felt bad for him when Kiera Knightly said no. That's one of the reasons I didn't like him.
anyways, that was me ranting, I don't claim to have any wisdom what-so-ever on film making, or Jane Austen. However, considering that fact that I have read all her novels at least twice and seen several movie adaptations and read several things she wrote that you have probably never heard of and read lots of fan fic, which is never as good as the real thing, and wrote a ten page paper on the woman and her writings, I can promise you I am a DEVOTED fan of Jane.
Links:
incredibly funny post on P&P in Twitter world...
http://madhattermommy.blogspot.com/2009/05/pride-and-twitterverse.html
also hilarious, a fake FB page for Obama...
http://www.slate.com/id/2217225/
A short bit on the Mr. Collins, to give some detail: I personally did not feel repulsed enough by the Mr. Collins in the shorter P&P. He actually reminded me of the father of a friend of mine. He was too friendly and I almost felt bad for him when Kiera Knightly said no. That's one of the reasons I didn't like him.
anyways, that was me ranting, I don't claim to have any wisdom what-so-ever on film making, or Jane Austen. However, considering that fact that I have read all her novels at least twice and seen several movie adaptations and read several things she wrote that you have probably never heard of and read lots of fan fic, which is never as good as the real thing, and wrote a ten page paper on the woman and her writings, I can promise you I am a DEVOTED fan of Jane.
Links:
incredibly funny post on P&P in Twitter world...
http://madhattermommy.blogspot.com/2009/05/pride-and-twitterverse.html
also hilarious, a fake FB page for Obama...
http://www.slate.com/id/2217225/
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Pride and Prejudice
Today in Sunday School we watched Pride and Prejudice(the short one) as part of our movie worldviews series. As a Jane Austen purist, I feel the need to express my opinion of the Kiera Knightly film and why I personally HATE that last scene. Now, I have a tendancy to get overworked about pointless things, so if you don't want to hear me rant, you should stop reading. Like, Now.
In the Focus Features ever-popular film Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Bennet is shown working directly with pigs and farming and other such lowly jobs. He would not have been able to do this and still be counted among the gentlemen of the town. Hence the first reason that this version of Pride and Prejudice is faulty.
Second, the ball held at Sir William Lucas's in this film is far too large. The town around Loungbourne and the surrounding estates would not have had that many high class families, even if you are including the lower-high class like the Bennets. There simply would not have been that many people!
Skipping ahead a bit...can't complain about Mr. Collins, it would take to long...
The wet scene of Darcy's first proposal. First of all, the lines of what is perhaps the most poignant and important scene in the book are altered. Second, never would Elizabeth have allowed a man that close to her. It simply wasn't done! Also, it takes a skilled writer (like Jane Austen!) to create sexual tension between two people who are across a room, sitting far apart from each other. (Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle persent this wonderfully). It is easy to create tension between two figures who are sopping wet and ready to kiss. It's a modern movie, and I think that scene ruins an excellent piece of writing.
Skipping some more...wouldn't want to bore you...
The final sequence, the oh-so-popular "Mrs. Darcy" scene. Jane Austen would never have written nor approved of that scene. Her novels were always stopped at the wedding of her heroine. Never did she attempt to look beyond the happy bride. The final scene betrays her in that. Also, I feel that it betrays the book Darcy's true character for him to be involved in that sort of playful banter with Elizabeth. It says at the end of the novel that she had to train him to enjoy her light attitude, and that he often misinterpreted her, until they found a happy medium.
My objections are so much more than this. They go on and on and on. That is not to say that the directors did a bad job. On the contrary, they made a facinating film. But the fact that they dared to associate it with Jane Austen is, I think, an awful betrayal of her true style. I feel the same about the Narnia films and C.S. Lewis
In the Focus Features ever-popular film Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Bennet is shown working directly with pigs and farming and other such lowly jobs. He would not have been able to do this and still be counted among the gentlemen of the town. Hence the first reason that this version of Pride and Prejudice is faulty.
Second, the ball held at Sir William Lucas's in this film is far too large. The town around Loungbourne and the surrounding estates would not have had that many high class families, even if you are including the lower-high class like the Bennets. There simply would not have been that many people!
Skipping ahead a bit...can't complain about Mr. Collins, it would take to long...
The wet scene of Darcy's first proposal. First of all, the lines of what is perhaps the most poignant and important scene in the book are altered. Second, never would Elizabeth have allowed a man that close to her. It simply wasn't done! Also, it takes a skilled writer (like Jane Austen!) to create sexual tension between two people who are across a room, sitting far apart from each other. (Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle persent this wonderfully). It is easy to create tension between two figures who are sopping wet and ready to kiss. It's a modern movie, and I think that scene ruins an excellent piece of writing.
Skipping some more...wouldn't want to bore you...
The final sequence, the oh-so-popular "Mrs. Darcy" scene. Jane Austen would never have written nor approved of that scene. Her novels were always stopped at the wedding of her heroine. Never did she attempt to look beyond the happy bride. The final scene betrays her in that. Also, I feel that it betrays the book Darcy's true character for him to be involved in that sort of playful banter with Elizabeth. It says at the end of the novel that she had to train him to enjoy her light attitude, and that he often misinterpreted her, until they found a happy medium.
My objections are so much more than this. They go on and on and on. That is not to say that the directors did a bad job. On the contrary, they made a facinating film. But the fact that they dared to associate it with Jane Austen is, I think, an awful betrayal of her true style. I feel the same about the Narnia films and C.S. Lewis
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Seventeen...Struggling with Submission, Stereotypes, and Self-Image
Today is my seventeenth birthday.
last year I wrote letters to myself in one year and in ten years, So today I read a letter from myself in the past to myself now. And in ten years, I'll be reading a letter to myself from today. (I hope).
I have no idea where I'll be or what I'll do, or how my life at Twenty Seven will be different than my life at Seventeen. But I do know that a friend of mine who is Twenty Seven said "a whole lot can change/happen in ten years." (Thanks Dave!)
So I wrote a letter to myself, talking about who I am now, what I struggle with. Here's some of the thoughts I ran across:
~ The idea of female submission in a relationship is getting more and more prevalent in my mind, and more and more complicated. I personally struggle with the concept of submission, since I have natural leadership tendancies of my own, and have to reconcile that with the fact that God created woman to be a helper to man. Now, I'm no where near a relationship, and don't plan to be for a very long time (my lines are VERY high). But still, I need to get it straight in my mind sometime. I've had great thoughts about it from some people I respect a lot. (Thanks James!) However, I need to find what I think the comprimise is, and stick to that. I'd like to find the biblical back-up for what I think. If you can help, please talk to me and give me your opinion.
~ Stereotypes bother me. A lot. I've been stereotyped as Presbyterian, Homeschooled, Asian, etc. While all of those have an effect on my personality, none of those make me who I am. And being defined by the general opinion makes me mad. Great example of breaking sterotypes I just saw in a movie, Chris in "Stand by me" grows up in a criminal family outlives the stereotype of his life, and is a great friend. (I highly suggest this movie. Lots of curses, but a good film. Funnily, It's R rated, the first one I've ever seen, and I saw it on my 17th birthday!)
~ Finally, Self-Image. Last year's letter to myself revealed how much I struggled with this at 15, since I started my letter at age 16 saying something about how I should always remember that I was a beautiful, self confident young woman. I still struggle with that, and don't believe in myself, but I have some great friends who help me boost my confidence. (Thanks Ginkgo, <3) However, I think this is something I will struggle with the rest of my teenage years, possibly the rest of my life. I see such a needy person in myself, a person that, were I cloned, I would not like. So I struggle with not putting myself down, something that, in ten years, I would like to have conquered.
I also asked myself from last year if anything significant had happened. In a way, yes, because I am a year older, with a year's worth of experiences to record and consider, and I learned a lot from Navs, and High School(I had some GREAT teachers this year). But I also didn't really get hit with an amazing BOOM thought this past year. I just grew, spiritually and physically, like I do every year. Hopefully a year from now, I'll post on my blog again with thoughts from an eighteen year old. thanks for listening to me!
Oh, and today is also my friend Zach's birthday. Happy birthday Zach!
last year I wrote letters to myself in one year and in ten years, So today I read a letter from myself in the past to myself now. And in ten years, I'll be reading a letter to myself from today. (I hope).
I have no idea where I'll be or what I'll do, or how my life at Twenty Seven will be different than my life at Seventeen. But I do know that a friend of mine who is Twenty Seven said "a whole lot can change/happen in ten years." (Thanks Dave!)
So I wrote a letter to myself, talking about who I am now, what I struggle with. Here's some of the thoughts I ran across:
~ The idea of female submission in a relationship is getting more and more prevalent in my mind, and more and more complicated. I personally struggle with the concept of submission, since I have natural leadership tendancies of my own, and have to reconcile that with the fact that God created woman to be a helper to man. Now, I'm no where near a relationship, and don't plan to be for a very long time (my lines are VERY high). But still, I need to get it straight in my mind sometime. I've had great thoughts about it from some people I respect a lot. (Thanks James!) However, I need to find what I think the comprimise is, and stick to that. I'd like to find the biblical back-up for what I think. If you can help, please talk to me and give me your opinion.
~ Stereotypes bother me. A lot. I've been stereotyped as Presbyterian, Homeschooled, Asian, etc. While all of those have an effect on my personality, none of those make me who I am. And being defined by the general opinion makes me mad. Great example of breaking sterotypes I just saw in a movie, Chris in "Stand by me" grows up in a criminal family outlives the stereotype of his life, and is a great friend. (I highly suggest this movie. Lots of curses, but a good film. Funnily, It's R rated, the first one I've ever seen, and I saw it on my 17th birthday!)
~ Finally, Self-Image. Last year's letter to myself revealed how much I struggled with this at 15, since I started my letter at age 16 saying something about how I should always remember that I was a beautiful, self confident young woman. I still struggle with that, and don't believe in myself, but I have some great friends who help me boost my confidence. (Thanks Ginkgo, <3) However, I think this is something I will struggle with the rest of my teenage years, possibly the rest of my life. I see such a needy person in myself, a person that, were I cloned, I would not like. So I struggle with not putting myself down, something that, in ten years, I would like to have conquered.
I also asked myself from last year if anything significant had happened. In a way, yes, because I am a year older, with a year's worth of experiences to record and consider, and I learned a lot from Navs, and High School(I had some GREAT teachers this year). But I also didn't really get hit with an amazing BOOM thought this past year. I just grew, spiritually and physically, like I do every year. Hopefully a year from now, I'll post on my blog again with thoughts from an eighteen year old. thanks for listening to me!
Oh, and today is also my friend Zach's birthday. Happy birthday Zach!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
just some thoughts
~ Josh Harris recently had a "can you twitter the gospel?" post on his blog. I thought it was interesting, but i don't think you can fully capture the value of the gospel in a 140 word Twitter post.
~ This past week the baby has started sleeping in my room. I have been woken up every night. But I'm still getting sleep, because I get up, take her to Mom and fall back asleep. Still, it's an experience.
~ Time magazine comes to our house, and on the cover is the 100 most influential people. (see it in the side bar). My little sister (she's 3) goes "look Mommy it's the President!" When I asked her how she knew that, she said "I just know that name, the President!" congratulations President Obama, you're on the list of about 10 people(outside of our family) that my little sister can recognize!
~ This past week the baby has started sleeping in my room. I have been woken up every night. But I'm still getting sleep, because I get up, take her to Mom and fall back asleep. Still, it's an experience.
~ Time magazine comes to our house, and on the cover is the 100 most influential people. (see it in the side bar). My little sister (she's 3) goes "look Mommy it's the President!" When I asked her how she knew that, she said "I just know that name, the President!" congratulations President Obama, you're on the list of about 10 people(outside of our family) that my little sister can recognize!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Read this one! (a test)
my friend Jimmy (who, by the way, is absolutely AMAZING) says that if you title a post with "Read this!" people are more likely to read and respond. Anyways, recently I have been coming upon little jewels of wisdom on the internet from my friends. Things they don't say in normal conversation, but things that they think about. And I'm constantly amazed by it!
There are lots of people I don't know who also have some great thoughts out there. The wealth of wisdom you can glean from the internet is incredible. I suggest you try it. Go online, and read someone's facebook notes(other than mine) or someone's blog (other than mine).
You will probably have to wade through online ipod shuffle quizzes, how well do you know me quizzes, etc, but there will be some real nuggets of gold there! (in fact, if you look between the lines of the quizzes, you can find gold there also, you just have to dig harder).
The point is, there are so many people in this world, each with individual thoughts and opinions. Look into them! Not to change what you think, but to give yourself a better understanding of our society. That's one of the wonders of the internet, that everyone can be heard!
There are lots of people I don't know who also have some great thoughts out there. The wealth of wisdom you can glean from the internet is incredible. I suggest you try it. Go online, and read someone's facebook notes(other than mine) or someone's blog (other than mine).
You will probably have to wade through online ipod shuffle quizzes, how well do you know me quizzes, etc, but there will be some real nuggets of gold there! (in fact, if you look between the lines of the quizzes, you can find gold there also, you just have to dig harder).
The point is, there are so many people in this world, each with individual thoughts and opinions. Look into them! Not to change what you think, but to give yourself a better understanding of our society. That's one of the wonders of the internet, that everyone can be heard!
Friday, May 1, 2009
I am Self centered. Very Very self centered.
I think that I'm smart. But I can continually be proved how people in my environment are smarter than me.
I think I'm a good, encouraging friend. But I can continually be proved how I'm less of a loyal, good friend than others.
I think I'm a good Christian, most of the time. But I can continually be proved how there are so many stronger Christians out there than me, people who are actually learning the wisdom that I cheaply spout.
That's not to say that I'm a 'bad' person. But I'm learning that I am not the best out there. Personal example: There's this girl I know, we can call her, um, Ruth (I don't want to put anyone online who doesn't want to be online, so hence the false name). Anyways, Ruth is really smart, and beautiful, and athletic, and musical, and everything I could ever aspire to be rolled into one, inquisitive, wonderful, nice girl.
Needless to say, I'm jealous of Ruth. She's plenty nice to me, and it's not like she looks down on me, but I like to find reasons to look down on Ruth, to affirm myself and make myself feel better.
Tuesday I led Bible Study, and it was about Success, and not making success the most important thing in my life, and one of the verses in the study was Philippians 2:3, but I suggest reading verses 1-4. It's printed below:
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
I think that if statement applies to me, at least the part where I gain comfort from Christ's love, and hopefully the rest as well. So, I am to then have the same love?!? Whoa! do you realize what that really means? That means I have to love Ruth the way Christ loved me! That means I have to love the kid I absolutely can't stand in school. Consider others better than myself?!?!? UH, Impossible! There are clearly some people who are NOT better than ME.
*Ding Ding Ding*
Hello, this is the Bible! This is exactly what the passage is talking about! The conceit that I have, the feeling that I'm better than others!
So, back to my narrative (I promise I will at least try to tie this all back together, I have a plan but my mind moves faster than my typing). At Bible Study, everyone else reacted the same way I did, with the 'Uh, no, I don't want to follow that verse, it's too hard!" So we ended that night praying that God would change out hearts and make us willing to accept this mindset and accept the people that we think we are better than them.
Well, OH Boy, God listened and I can almost hear him rubbing his hands in anticipation, ready to teach me how much I put myself above others, make me eat humble pie, and use that weakness to show his grace and power elsewhere. I've been hit by the beauty and wisdom of those I previously thought poorly of!
That was God's little lesson for me this week.
I think I'm a good, encouraging friend. But I can continually be proved how I'm less of a loyal, good friend than others.
I think I'm a good Christian, most of the time. But I can continually be proved how there are so many stronger Christians out there than me, people who are actually learning the wisdom that I cheaply spout.
That's not to say that I'm a 'bad' person. But I'm learning that I am not the best out there. Personal example: There's this girl I know, we can call her, um, Ruth (I don't want to put anyone online who doesn't want to be online, so hence the false name). Anyways, Ruth is really smart, and beautiful, and athletic, and musical, and everything I could ever aspire to be rolled into one, inquisitive, wonderful, nice girl.
Needless to say, I'm jealous of Ruth. She's plenty nice to me, and it's not like she looks down on me, but I like to find reasons to look down on Ruth, to affirm myself and make myself feel better.
Tuesday I led Bible Study, and it was about Success, and not making success the most important thing in my life, and one of the verses in the study was Philippians 2:3, but I suggest reading verses 1-4. It's printed below:
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
I think that if statement applies to me, at least the part where I gain comfort from Christ's love, and hopefully the rest as well. So, I am to then have the same love?!? Whoa! do you realize what that really means? That means I have to love Ruth the way Christ loved me! That means I have to love the kid I absolutely can't stand in school. Consider others better than myself?!?!? UH, Impossible! There are clearly some people who are NOT better than ME.
*Ding Ding Ding*
Hello, this is the Bible! This is exactly what the passage is talking about! The conceit that I have, the feeling that I'm better than others!
So, back to my narrative (I promise I will at least try to tie this all back together, I have a plan but my mind moves faster than my typing). At Bible Study, everyone else reacted the same way I did, with the 'Uh, no, I don't want to follow that verse, it's too hard!" So we ended that night praying that God would change out hearts and make us willing to accept this mindset and accept the people that we think we are better than them.
Well, OH Boy, God listened and I can almost hear him rubbing his hands in anticipation, ready to teach me how much I put myself above others, make me eat humble pie, and use that weakness to show his grace and power elsewhere. I've been hit by the beauty and wisdom of those I previously thought poorly of!
That was God's little lesson for me this week.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
hodgepodge anyone?
A random assortment of my thoughts from this week.
1: Swine Flu
honestly, I haven't looked that much into it. I haven't been following any stories or anything, I only know what my teachers tell me. One of them says the numbers are LESS than statistically insignifigant, the other says that we're on pandemic level 5. Regardless of whether or not swine flu is a danger, I think we should all in general be more germ sensitive! I also really feel like it's getting more media hype than it deserves!
2: Jr/Sr Banquet
It's astonishing how much the way you look affects the rest of your mindset. Yesterday was the Jr/Sr banquet and I dressed up for it. And it felt great. I felt accomplished and pretty, a way I haven't felt before. I also got my haircut yesterday, and the feeling of confidence extended into today, because I felt stylish. Also, I painted my toenails pink and got 3 compliments for shoes that I've worn before, but that my feet looked better in after they were painted.
3. AP tests
everyone's feeling the grind right now. Pray for us and 2 very stress filled weeks!
4. LOVE MONTH
If you're interested in anything about dating relationships or anything slightly related, listen up! Love Month is beginning! All high schoolers who want to come to Navs for it, talk to me! (if you don't have any idea what I'm talking about but it sounds interesting, talk to me!)
5. Birdie -di - di!
She started a blog! I can't wait to follow it! see it on the side bar of my blog.
1: Swine Flu
honestly, I haven't looked that much into it. I haven't been following any stories or anything, I only know what my teachers tell me. One of them says the numbers are LESS than statistically insignifigant, the other says that we're on pandemic level 5. Regardless of whether or not swine flu is a danger, I think we should all in general be more germ sensitive! I also really feel like it's getting more media hype than it deserves!
2: Jr/Sr Banquet
It's astonishing how much the way you look affects the rest of your mindset. Yesterday was the Jr/Sr banquet and I dressed up for it. And it felt great. I felt accomplished and pretty, a way I haven't felt before. I also got my haircut yesterday, and the feeling of confidence extended into today, because I felt stylish. Also, I painted my toenails pink and got 3 compliments for shoes that I've worn before, but that my feet looked better in after they were painted.
3. AP tests
everyone's feeling the grind right now. Pray for us and 2 very stress filled weeks!
4. LOVE MONTH
If you're interested in anything about dating relationships or anything slightly related, listen up! Love Month is beginning! All high schoolers who want to come to Navs for it, talk to me! (if you don't have any idea what I'm talking about but it sounds interesting, talk to me!)
5. Birdie -di - di!
She started a blog! I can't wait to follow it! see it on the side bar of my blog.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Inside Jokes
In the interest of continuing my mini-series on pet peeves of mine, I'm going to express my utter disgust of inside jokes.
The phrase, 'oh, it's an inside joke'. What do you do when someone says it to you? sort of chuckle a little, say, 'oh, OK' and move away akwardly? or do you ask them to explain, which they then attempt to do, among gales of laughter, which you do not understand?
Whatever your response, an inside joke leaves the non-included person feeling left out and lonely. It is most often unintentional, but it's still mean.Often the reason an inside joke is inside is because it's not really funny when explained, and the teller is just being silly.
I'm guilty of telling inside jokes, but I think we should all try to avoid them.
The phrase, 'oh, it's an inside joke'. What do you do when someone says it to you? sort of chuckle a little, say, 'oh, OK' and move away akwardly? or do you ask them to explain, which they then attempt to do, among gales of laughter, which you do not understand?
Whatever your response, an inside joke leaves the non-included person feeling left out and lonely. It is most often unintentional, but it's still mean.Often the reason an inside joke is inside is because it's not really funny when explained, and the teller is just being silly.
I'm guilty of telling inside jokes, but I think we should all try to avoid them.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Make-Up
Today in class, the girl sitting next to me was a few minutes late, having obviously slept in past her alarm. After receiving her pass, she sat down and proceeded to unload her makeup bag on her desk. She set up a little vanity table and began to apply the make up she normally does at home during class, during another student's presentation. This has happened, with different people, in other classes, and once I saw a woman from Long Reach doing it on a school bus on the way to a field trip!
Personally, I find it rude and slightly offensive. If you don't have time to apply make-up before school, why wear it at all? I understand that it can be used to 'hide facial flaws' and 'enhance your natural assets', but I think that those sorts of things belong at home. I'm not against other people wearing make-up, but if you are going to spend time on it, wake up earlier and do it at home. It's distracting, and shows your lack of respect for the other students, the teacher, and the school to do it during class.
I don't wear make-up because I don't have the time or the patience to apply it. It bothers me that other people rely on it so much as to need to bring make-up out of bathrooms and apply it in public. Maybe it's a pet peeve, but I feel like it should be expressed.
Personally, I find it rude and slightly offensive. If you don't have time to apply make-up before school, why wear it at all? I understand that it can be used to 'hide facial flaws' and 'enhance your natural assets', but I think that those sorts of things belong at home. I'm not against other people wearing make-up, but if you are going to spend time on it, wake up earlier and do it at home. It's distracting, and shows your lack of respect for the other students, the teacher, and the school to do it during class.
I don't wear make-up because I don't have the time or the patience to apply it. It bothers me that other people rely on it so much as to need to bring make-up out of bathrooms and apply it in public. Maybe it's a pet peeve, but I feel like it should be expressed.
Monday, April 13, 2009
An easter poem, not by me
So, this is a little trite, a little cliche, but still cool. read my thought at the bottom.
Letters Of The Alphabet:
ALL are loved by God
BECAUSE He died on the cross, we have the chance to go to Heaven
CHRISTIANS can go to Heaven
DYING earthly doesn't mean you have to die spiritually
EVERYONE should believe in God
God FORGIVES our sins
GOD created the world
HEAVEN awaits if you are a Christian
I am a Chrisitan
JESUS was perfect
Jesus was KILLED on the cross
God is LOVING
MAKE Jesus what you believe in
NEVER underestimate God's power
ONLY believing in Jesus gets you to Heaven
Jesus is your PATH to Heaven
QUITTING half way there would make no sense
Jesus ROSE from the grave
Jesus is our SAVIOR
The Bible TELLS us of His love
JESUS was God's Son
Learn Bible VERSES
John 11:35, 'Jesus WEPT.' -Jesus experienced human emotions
Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven. Jesus is the map and the X on the map is Heaven
YOU need to be a Christian to go to Heaven
The last letter: hard to find. Yet, God made it so we could sleep in peace: ZZZ
****back to Me****
So, in a sense (and this might be reaching too far, but bear with me) this is an interpretation of the gospel. It contains someone's summation of the key points of the gospel, the 'alphabet' points, the basics.
There's a song we sing called the gospel song:
"Holy God in love became
Perfect man to bear my blame
On the cross he took my sin
By his death I live again"
That is also an interpretation of the gospel.
But, when you here the words "the gospel" what do you think?
I've heard that phrase all my life, but I don't really know what I think when I hear them.
So I'm curious. What do you see, or hear, or feel, or think, when you say "the gospel"?
There are no right answers, there are no wrong answers, there's just your opinion.
But I do want your thoughts. Please respond.
Letters Of The Alphabet:
ALL are loved by God
BECAUSE He died on the cross, we have the chance to go to Heaven
CHRISTIANS can go to Heaven
DYING earthly doesn't mean you have to die spiritually
EVERYONE should believe in God
God FORGIVES our sins
GOD created the world
HEAVEN awaits if you are a Christian
I am a Chrisitan
JESUS was perfect
Jesus was KILLED on the cross
God is LOVING
MAKE Jesus what you believe in
NEVER underestimate God's power
ONLY believing in Jesus gets you to Heaven
Jesus is your PATH to Heaven
QUITTING half way there would make no sense
Jesus ROSE from the grave
Jesus is our SAVIOR
The Bible TELLS us of His love
JESUS was God's Son
Learn Bible VERSES
John 11:35, 'Jesus WEPT.' -Jesus experienced human emotions
Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven. Jesus is the map and the X on the map is Heaven
YOU need to be a Christian to go to Heaven
The last letter: hard to find. Yet, God made it so we could sleep in peace: ZZZ
****back to Me****
So, in a sense (and this might be reaching too far, but bear with me) this is an interpretation of the gospel. It contains someone's summation of the key points of the gospel, the 'alphabet' points, the basics.
There's a song we sing called the gospel song:
"Holy God in love became
Perfect man to bear my blame
On the cross he took my sin
By his death I live again"
That is also an interpretation of the gospel.
But, when you here the words "the gospel" what do you think?
I've heard that phrase all my life, but I don't really know what I think when I hear them.
So I'm curious. What do you see, or hear, or feel, or think, when you say "the gospel"?
There are no right answers, there are no wrong answers, there's just your opinion.
But I do want your thoughts. Please respond.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Heroes?
I'm listening to Chris Rice's song, "Need a Hero".
This weekend, I talked to 2 girlfriends about making a list of my favorite people.
These two influences, conbined with some other stuff, has cause me to wonder:
What is a hero?
as defined by princeton.edu-
a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength;
champion: someone who fights for a cause
(classical mythology) a being of great strength and courage celebrated for bold exploits; often the offspring of a mortal and a god
So, I guess I was thinking more of role models...
someone worthy of imitation;
Who are your heroes(role models) and why?
Do your heroes (role models)change?
Are your favorite people your heroes (role models)?
Why/Why not?
Tell me your thoughts!
I was talking to some of my personal role models this weekend, and thinking about my heroes over the past couple of years. my mom is one of my heroes. The people I love and respect are my role models. how about you?
This weekend, I talked to 2 girlfriends about making a list of my favorite people.
These two influences, conbined with some other stuff, has cause me to wonder:
What is a hero?
as defined by princeton.edu-
a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength;
champion: someone who fights for a cause
(classical mythology) a being of great strength and courage celebrated for bold exploits; often the offspring of a mortal and a god
So, I guess I was thinking more of role models...
someone worthy of imitation;
Who are your heroes(role models) and why?
Do your heroes (role models)change?
Are your favorite people your heroes (role models)?
Why/Why not?
Tell me your thoughts!
I was talking to some of my personal role models this weekend, and thinking about my heroes over the past couple of years. my mom is one of my heroes. The people I love and respect are my role models. how about you?
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
How are you today?
This morning I was talking to a friend of mine before school. I asked how she was, and she said, 'tired', and proceeded to give me an explanation of why. She then asked me how I was doing. Having just heard her honest answer, I replied with an honest answer.
Simple, right? Not really. Think back on your week, how many times have people asked you, "how are you?" or "how was your day?" or even, "what's up?"
Were you honest? or did you give the non-commital, "I'm good" (which, by the way, is awful grammar), "It was fine", or "nothing much, you?".
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with these answers, occasionally there really isn't anything to say. But rather then just responding to them without thinking, try to think about what you are saying. Even if you don't realize it, you are conveying to that person that you don't really want to talk. You may even be hiding from yourself by saying that you're fine when you know that you aren't. When you think before you speak, look at what a difference it makes!
I know I am guilty of not truly answering these questions, and of asking them without truly caring. But I think that this is a societal ill, one that needs to be remedied. People will genuinely care about you, especially if you care about them.
Here's an example:
A few days ago I recieved a really bad grade. (Don't ask what it was, I won't tell) I got this test back early in the day and was dejected for the rest of my classes. Here's the silver lining - people noticed. My teachers cared that I was down, noticed when they took attendance, and asked my what was wrong. A few students asked me as well. Even though I wasn't all that excited about talking about it, I was happy that people cared and so I resonded with honesty. And they listened. They resopnded with thier own truths. I was greatly blessed by it.
Last night at Navs we talked about why people might hide thier true identity. But we didn't talk about how people hide thier true identity. I think this is one of the ways of hiding, and we have let it become a ritual.
Break the mold. Ask how someone is and REALLY WANT TO KNOW. When they ask you, give a short, but HONEST answer.
Then tell me how it turns out. I hope to be sharing more stories with you!
Simple, right? Not really. Think back on your week, how many times have people asked you, "how are you?" or "how was your day?" or even, "what's up?"
Were you honest? or did you give the non-commital, "I'm good" (which, by the way, is awful grammar), "It was fine", or "nothing much, you?".
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with these answers, occasionally there really isn't anything to say. But rather then just responding to them without thinking, try to think about what you are saying. Even if you don't realize it, you are conveying to that person that you don't really want to talk. You may even be hiding from yourself by saying that you're fine when you know that you aren't. When you think before you speak, look at what a difference it makes!
I know I am guilty of not truly answering these questions, and of asking them without truly caring. But I think that this is a societal ill, one that needs to be remedied. People will genuinely care about you, especially if you care about them.
Here's an example:
A few days ago I recieved a really bad grade. (Don't ask what it was, I won't tell) I got this test back early in the day and was dejected for the rest of my classes. Here's the silver lining - people noticed. My teachers cared that I was down, noticed when they took attendance, and asked my what was wrong. A few students asked me as well. Even though I wasn't all that excited about talking about it, I was happy that people cared and so I resonded with honesty. And they listened. They resopnded with thier own truths. I was greatly blessed by it.
Last night at Navs we talked about why people might hide thier true identity. But we didn't talk about how people hide thier true identity. I think this is one of the ways of hiding, and we have let it become a ritual.
Break the mold. Ask how someone is and REALLY WANT TO KNOW. When they ask you, give a short, but HONEST answer.
Then tell me how it turns out. I hope to be sharing more stories with you!
Friday, March 20, 2009
My cousin David
My cousin David is ....
~ sarcasticly amusing, especially when we're playing a game
~ a pianist, like all the rest of his family
~ a student at Bob Jones
~ going to be a good father some day, he's wonderful with small children
~ very deep voiced
~ currently in ICU due to blood clotting.
Yeah, you read that last one correctly. He's probably going to be OK, but pray for him.
~ sarcasticly amusing, especially when we're playing a game
~ a pianist, like all the rest of his family
~ a student at Bob Jones
~ going to be a good father some day, he's wonderful with small children
~ very deep voiced
~ currently in ICU due to blood clotting.
Yeah, you read that last one correctly. He's probably going to be OK, but pray for him.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Quotes to ponder
I found this GREAT thread on the Rebelution site with these quotes (Sorry for not posting my own thoughts this month, I've been really busy, I promise I will soon!)
"Friendship is a golden thing only if it be kept from undisciplined attachment. We are not here to enjoy each other. We are here to do the will of God."
-Amy Carmichael
"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone."
-Audrey Hepburn; she called them her "beauty tips."
Woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled underfoot; but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.’
-Unknown
"Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see."
-Corrie Ten Boom
Don't cry because it's over, laugh because it happened.
-Doctor Seuss
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen.
He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.
What about the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem; not to mention that Friday at Calvary. Face it, friend. He's crazy about you.
-Unknown
A set-apart young woman is one marked by the imprint of Christ, one italicized by a lily whiteness and punctuated by a feminine mystique that leaves the world about her astounded. Yet there is something more that characterizes her life. There is another gem that she possesses that causes her to sparkle like a princess-cut diamond amidst a world full of coal. She possesses a placid calmness. Like an oak tree in the midst of a raging storm, she remains unruffled and unmoved by life’s curveballs and cares. She possesses a confidence that is otherworldly. She smiles at trials, laughs at challenges, and is undaunted by the thought of dying. She cares not whether the world applauds her life; her ears are attuned heavenward as she listens for her Prince’s cheers.
– Leslie Ludy
Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
- unknown
"Friendship is a golden thing only if it be kept from undisciplined attachment. We are not here to enjoy each other. We are here to do the will of God."
-Amy Carmichael
"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone."
-Audrey Hepburn; she called them her "beauty tips."
Woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled underfoot; but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.’
-Unknown
"Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see."
-Corrie Ten Boom
Don't cry because it's over, laugh because it happened.
-Doctor Seuss
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen.
He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.
What about the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem; not to mention that Friday at Calvary. Face it, friend. He's crazy about you.
-Unknown
A set-apart young woman is one marked by the imprint of Christ, one italicized by a lily whiteness and punctuated by a feminine mystique that leaves the world about her astounded. Yet there is something more that characterizes her life. There is another gem that she possesses that causes her to sparkle like a princess-cut diamond amidst a world full of coal. She possesses a placid calmness. Like an oak tree in the midst of a raging storm, she remains unruffled and unmoved by life’s curveballs and cares. She possesses a confidence that is otherworldly. She smiles at trials, laughs at challenges, and is undaunted by the thought of dying. She cares not whether the world applauds her life; her ears are attuned heavenward as she listens for her Prince’s cheers.
– Leslie Ludy
Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
- unknown
Monday, March 9, 2009
Small Fundraising Project
http://thetruckproject.wordpress.com/
I'm trying to think of ways I can help this project - one of them is raising awareness!
I'm trying to think of ways I can help this project - one of them is raising awareness!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A question of ethics
(one more post to bring February up to the 4 posts a month quota)
Lately I've been feeling sort of guilty about somethings.
First, I took some songs from my friend's itunes when I plugged my ipod into her computer. She was fine with it, but I felt like I was stealing them afterwards. However, they are still on my ipod and I probably won't delete them. Apple made it very easy to 'steal' songs.
Second, we were taking a math test a few days ago and someone whispered to me "is the answer for this one 3?" I shook my head and made a bouncing motion with my finger, indicating that he should think about the fact the the graph bounced off the axis. He got it and started writing. Now that's cheating. But I didn't feel bad about it. Until later, when I thought about how it was cheating.
I feel like I'm trying to draw lines, this is OK and this is not. But I know that drawing lines is not going to get me anywhere, because I'm just going to keep trying to cross them. I know that I need to head in a direction of honesty. But that's so much easier said than done.
Also, I want things to be just and what I consider fair. For other people, I want punishment, I want guilt. But I excuse myself from doing these things.
Lately I've been feeling sort of guilty about somethings.
First, I took some songs from my friend's itunes when I plugged my ipod into her computer. She was fine with it, but I felt like I was stealing them afterwards. However, they are still on my ipod and I probably won't delete them. Apple made it very easy to 'steal' songs.
Second, we were taking a math test a few days ago and someone whispered to me "is the answer for this one 3?" I shook my head and made a bouncing motion with my finger, indicating that he should think about the fact the the graph bounced off the axis. He got it and started writing. Now that's cheating. But I didn't feel bad about it. Until later, when I thought about how it was cheating.
I feel like I'm trying to draw lines, this is OK and this is not. But I know that drawing lines is not going to get me anywhere, because I'm just going to keep trying to cross them. I know that I need to head in a direction of honesty. But that's so much easier said than done.
Also, I want things to be just and what I consider fair. For other people, I want punishment, I want guilt. But I excuse myself from doing these things.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Some random tidbits
Recently I have read lots of books, heard lots of lectures, and just had a lot of really potent quotes in my writer's notebook. (Which is a tiny notebook I carry in my purse to record writer's thoughts, an idea from Ralph Fletcher's book, A writer's notebook. I highly recommend it and will loan it to you if you ask me).
Anyways, I wanted to share some of the good stuff in there. It's not always stuff I agree with, per se, but it makes you think. Oh, and it's not all recent stuff either. Have Fun!
~ "Something is wrong when our lives make sense to non-believers"
(I believe I heard this from Navs, but I'm sure it came from a book)
~ "What if ... God took away the things we rely on so we rely only on him?" (Dave)
~ "We live in a culture that expects the basics and nothing more." (DHT)
~ "become a student of your friends, your culture, the Word ... it helps when we communicate to have the receiver in mind." (Dave)
~ "Satisfaction includes pleasure but pleasure doesn't guarantee satisfaction." (Julie)
~ "pleasure is not bad - it's just that worldly pleasure is incomplete." (Julie)
Anyways, I wanted to share some of the good stuff in there. It's not always stuff I agree with, per se, but it makes you think. Oh, and it's not all recent stuff either. Have Fun!
~ "Something is wrong when our lives make sense to non-believers"
(I believe I heard this from Navs, but I'm sure it came from a book)
~ "What if ... God took away the things we rely on so we rely only on him?" (Dave)
~ "We live in a culture that expects the basics and nothing more." (DHT)
~ "become a student of your friends, your culture, the Word ... it helps when we communicate to have the receiver in mind." (Dave)
~ "Satisfaction includes pleasure but pleasure doesn't guarantee satisfaction." (Julie)
~ "pleasure is not bad - it's just that worldly pleasure is incomplete." (Julie)
From Carrie
Hey all, I'm home alone on a Friday afternoon, finally getting a chance to post a ton of stuff that I've been thinking about but haven't been able to sit down and type out. But first, a really good thought from my friend Carrie.
"So I'm a teenager. Pretty crazy. I'm one of those notorious citizens that are known for getting on everyone's nerves and causing a ruckus being hoodlums. Time has flown by since freshman year. I'm in a constant state of unawareness because I really can't tell if I feel like a freshman or a 25 year old. I believe that teenagers are crazy, dramatic, irrational, unstable people, for the most part. But really, do we ever get over any of that? Probably not. As much as I'd like to think when I'm 24 I'll be living in a chic apartment in Miami with my marketing job, perfect finances and convenient relationship, I might not be. Despite how unaware of reality I am at the moment, I still need to cherish every moment I get to spend in this state of nonchalant relaxation- living at home, traveling, having easy classes, spending time with friends almost every day, having nice stuff, having a stable life, having unconditional love. The future doesn't scare me as much as it confuses me. I really don't understand it at all. I know I'll be fine and I don't have much to be scared of, but trying to understand this mess is a whole different story. I guess it's good I don't have to understand it. I just need to live my life in baby steps. I've been dating a guy for over 2 years. That is about 10% of my life so far. WOW.That is one area where I feel like an adult and then I realize that I'm just a kid graduating highschool. Then I realize I'm leaving high school and I feel like I should be graduating 8th grade. My emotions are all over the radar. I used to hate the cliche that said "You just need to discover who you are." I've found myself doing this lately. I'm not worried about who I am because I know that God knows me so well. But sometimes I'm at a loss for words to describe myself. It just surprises me because I've changed so much so I don't really know what I'm like. I know my tendencies, but does that mean I know my personality?I just think it's important to notice what a remarkable, unique, significant stage of life we're all at."
Which I, Emily, totally agree with. Thanks Carrie!
"So I'm a teenager. Pretty crazy. I'm one of those notorious citizens that are known for getting on everyone's nerves and causing a ruckus being hoodlums. Time has flown by since freshman year. I'm in a constant state of unawareness because I really can't tell if I feel like a freshman or a 25 year old. I believe that teenagers are crazy, dramatic, irrational, unstable people, for the most part. But really, do we ever get over any of that? Probably not. As much as I'd like to think when I'm 24 I'll be living in a chic apartment in Miami with my marketing job, perfect finances and convenient relationship, I might not be. Despite how unaware of reality I am at the moment, I still need to cherish every moment I get to spend in this state of nonchalant relaxation- living at home, traveling, having easy classes, spending time with friends almost every day, having nice stuff, having a stable life, having unconditional love. The future doesn't scare me as much as it confuses me. I really don't understand it at all. I know I'll be fine and I don't have much to be scared of, but trying to understand this mess is a whole different story. I guess it's good I don't have to understand it. I just need to live my life in baby steps. I've been dating a guy for over 2 years. That is about 10% of my life so far. WOW.That is one area where I feel like an adult and then I realize that I'm just a kid graduating highschool. Then I realize I'm leaving high school and I feel like I should be graduating 8th grade. My emotions are all over the radar. I used to hate the cliche that said "You just need to discover who you are." I've found myself doing this lately. I'm not worried about who I am because I know that God knows me so well. But sometimes I'm at a loss for words to describe myself. It just surprises me because I've changed so much so I don't really know what I'm like. I know my tendencies, but does that mean I know my personality?I just think it's important to notice what a remarkable, unique, significant stage of life we're all at."
Which I, Emily, totally agree with. Thanks Carrie!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Off for a while
Hi guys.
I normally post here during my visits to the media center. However, I have recently started to do my quiet times during these visits, and haven't found time to post at home.
My new plan is to post on Saturday mornings, that way I can still post and not be using homework times. But that's the explanation for the weeks without posts.
My thought today is about plans. I'm in the middle of my junior year. And I don't know where I'm going to be in two years.
So why do grown-ups ALWAYS ask kids where we're going to be in the next few years?
I think it's because they don't know. And they don't like not knowing. As a kid, you can sort of have a plan, because you will have to go to school. Adults, on the other hand, really have no way of knowing where they're going to go, no way to see their future. They are waiting.
I normally post here during my visits to the media center. However, I have recently started to do my quiet times during these visits, and haven't found time to post at home.
My new plan is to post on Saturday mornings, that way I can still post and not be using homework times. But that's the explanation for the weeks without posts.
My thought today is about plans. I'm in the middle of my junior year. And I don't know where I'm going to be in two years.
So why do grown-ups ALWAYS ask kids where we're going to be in the next few years?
I think it's because they don't know. And they don't like not knowing. As a kid, you can sort of have a plan, because you will have to go to school. Adults, on the other hand, really have no way of knowing where they're going to go, no way to see their future. They are waiting.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
On the Inaguration
My take on the inaguration:
It was a historical moment. and the whole nation was excited.
I don't really know enough to make a comment on policy, or any kind of politics.
But I do know this. (This is NOT a commentary on either parties political platforms.)
Whether you like Bush or not, whether you like Obama or not, both men deserve your respect. Being the President has GOT to be a very hard job. People all over the world look up to you and follow your every move. The fact that both of these men volenteered for the job of president is, frankly, amazing. And notice, these two men aren't attacking each other. Their First Ladies are friendly, and even though politically they may differ, both men still respect the other. It's a common courtesy that you own any fellow human being, respect. Paticularly the president.
I'm not saying I agree with what Bush did or what Obama plans to do. Like I said, I'm just not educated enough to know the true impact. But I'm sick and tired of people making jokes about how stupid former President Bush is, or how the world is going to end now that President Obama's in office. (I have heard both) Neither statement is true.
American citizens (well, high school students) can be so cocky, thinking they know what's best for the world. But I wouldn't be so hasty to judge until you get in that position yourself.
So, to Former President Bush, I say thanks for his time in office, it's a very tough job. And to President Obama, I wish him Good Luck, and I'm praying for him.
maybe you should think about how you respond.
It was a historical moment. and the whole nation was excited.
I don't really know enough to make a comment on policy, or any kind of politics.
But I do know this. (This is NOT a commentary on either parties political platforms.)
Whether you like Bush or not, whether you like Obama or not, both men deserve your respect. Being the President has GOT to be a very hard job. People all over the world look up to you and follow your every move. The fact that both of these men volenteered for the job of president is, frankly, amazing. And notice, these two men aren't attacking each other. Their First Ladies are friendly, and even though politically they may differ, both men still respect the other. It's a common courtesy that you own any fellow human being, respect. Paticularly the president.
I'm not saying I agree with what Bush did or what Obama plans to do. Like I said, I'm just not educated enough to know the true impact. But I'm sick and tired of people making jokes about how stupid former President Bush is, or how the world is going to end now that President Obama's in office. (I have heard both) Neither statement is true.
American citizens (well, high school students) can be so cocky, thinking they know what's best for the world. But I wouldn't be so hasty to judge until you get in that position yourself.
So, to Former President Bush, I say thanks for his time in office, it's a very tough job. And to President Obama, I wish him Good Luck, and I'm praying for him.
maybe you should think about how you respond.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Love
Hi. Maybe you know, maybe you don't, but I was in a really rough place emotionally on Thursday, the day of my new little sister's birth.
And God showed me something amazing.
he showed me how sinful I am, but also how much he has given me.
Many people showed me thier love for me that day. Love that I knew I didn't deserve.
And God, who did it all, was showing me a lesson of trust that I really needed.
Thanks God, for these amazing people who loved me so much,
And God showed me something amazing.
he showed me how sinful I am, but also how much he has given me.
Many people showed me thier love for me that day. Love that I knew I didn't deserve.
And God, who did it all, was showing me a lesson of trust that I really needed.
Thanks God, for these amazing people who loved me so much,
From Briomag.com
Four A's of a Dynamic Quiet Time by Jessica Redding
Does the following scenario sound familiar? You get comfy, grab your Bible and intend to dive into an exciting quiet time with God, but after a couple of minutes, you find yourself carried away into a world of e-mail, homework and heavy eyelids. It’s easy to be distracted. Interested in breaking the cycle?
Try implementing these four A’s into your quiet time routine:
• Awake. Spending quality time with your Savior requires you to be alert. Pick a consistent time and location to help you stay awake. Your bed at 1 a.m. isn’t the best choice if you plan on remembering anything the next morning.
• Ambitious. Try something new to keep things interesting. Pick a devotional guide that’s right for you. Consider using a journal to keep track of your prayer requests or thoughts about what God is teaching you. Try reading through the Bible in a year or memorize a few verses each day
.
• Active. Reading God’s Word is more than just glancing at a few verses every day. If you neglect to reflect on what you’ve read, you’re missing something big. Take a few minutes to figure out what God is trying to teach you through His Word. But don’t stop there; write it down. Keep track of what God is showing you. Why? Because it’ll be easier to recall what you’ve learned.
• Accountable. It’s hard to let someone else in on the secrets of your spiritual life, especially if it’s non-existent. Yet this may be the step that helps you turn a once-a-month devotion into an everyday adventure. Think of someone you trust who’s both dependable and straightforward — the type of person who’s not afraid to ask you the tough questions. Tell your friend how you’re struggling and share your goals so she’ll understand where you’re headed. Ask her to keep you on the right track to meet those goals. It’ll be easier to spend time in the Word if you know someone will be asking you what you learned that day.
Does the following scenario sound familiar? You get comfy, grab your Bible and intend to dive into an exciting quiet time with God, but after a couple of minutes, you find yourself carried away into a world of e-mail, homework and heavy eyelids. It’s easy to be distracted. Interested in breaking the cycle?
Try implementing these four A’s into your quiet time routine:
• Awake. Spending quality time with your Savior requires you to be alert. Pick a consistent time and location to help you stay awake. Your bed at 1 a.m. isn’t the best choice if you plan on remembering anything the next morning.
• Ambitious. Try something new to keep things interesting. Pick a devotional guide that’s right for you. Consider using a journal to keep track of your prayer requests or thoughts about what God is teaching you. Try reading through the Bible in a year or memorize a few verses each day
.
• Active. Reading God’s Word is more than just glancing at a few verses every day. If you neglect to reflect on what you’ve read, you’re missing something big. Take a few minutes to figure out what God is trying to teach you through His Word. But don’t stop there; write it down. Keep track of what God is showing you. Why? Because it’ll be easier to recall what you’ve learned.
• Accountable. It’s hard to let someone else in on the secrets of your spiritual life, especially if it’s non-existent. Yet this may be the step that helps you turn a once-a-month devotion into an everyday adventure. Think of someone you trust who’s both dependable and straightforward — the type of person who’s not afraid to ask you the tough questions. Tell your friend how you’re struggling and share your goals so she’ll understand where you’re headed. Ask her to keep you on the right track to meet those goals. It’ll be easier to spend time in the Word if you know someone will be asking you what you learned that day.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Precious cargo
(drumroll here)
~Isabel Wong Scheerer has officially made her apperance as the 8th Scheerer daughter! yay for baby number nine, 6 lbs 1 oz and 19 1/4 inches. Everbody's great.
~Kudos to my amazing mother and my stay-awake-all night father!
~I've had a spring in my step all day, and can't wait to see her today after school & activities! :-)
If you know me, you know I hate that period waiting between the time my parents leave and the time I get the call from my dad. This time it was OK though. Thanks for being excited with me!
~Isabel Wong Scheerer has officially made her apperance as the 8th Scheerer daughter! yay for baby number nine, 6 lbs 1 oz and 19 1/4 inches. Everbody's great.
~Kudos to my amazing mother and my stay-awake-all night father!
~I've had a spring in my step all day, and can't wait to see her today after school & activities! :-)
If you know me, you know I hate that period waiting between the time my parents leave and the time I get the call from my dad. This time it was OK though. Thanks for being excited with me!
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