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.

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.

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.

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.