weekdate #004

1. Today I am studying for my finals this week!  I have my two hardest--history and Spanish--tomorrow, and sociology on Thursday.  My history's actually not as hard as I thought it'd be because we're allowed to have a 4x6 index card with notes on it, front and back.  I don't think I've ever written that small!

Titus got all excited, thinking I was going to feed him. :)

2. It's been sunny and hot here lately.  I can't believe it's already May tomorrow!

3. I've been going on a Hillsong United craze over these last few days.  Here's one of my favorite songs by them.

 

4. I've also recorded a few songs this week.  I put up one yesterday, "Give Me Jesus", which is one of my favorite songs.  Yesterday I recorded "Nearer, My God, To Thee", which I just think is one of the greatest hymns ever.  It was originally written by Sarah Flower Adams, a woman who dreamed of becoming an actress.  Her health was frail, so she couldn't do this, and she took to writing hymns with her sister Eliza, who wrote the music for her.

* One day in 1841, their pastor, Rev. William Johnson Fox of London's South Place Unitarian church, paid a visit.  He was compiling a church hymnbook and he wanted to include some of their hymns. He further mentioned that he was frustrated at his inability to find a hymn to go along with the upcoming Sunday's message, which was from the story of Jacob at Bethel in Genesis 28:20-22.

   Sarah offered to write a hymn based on those verses.  For the rest of the week she poured over the passage, visualizing Jacob's sleeping with a stone for his pillow as he dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven.  The following Sunday, South Place Unitarian Church sang Sarah's "Nearer, My God, To Thee."

5. Last night was my last prayer meeting before Rachel and I go to Glorieta.  It was such a precious time.

6. I finished reading Numbers today!  I know God has a purpose in every book in His Word, but sometimes it's hard to find the purpose, especially in the first couple books with all the laws and rules.  Something I learned in Numbers, though, is that God always provides for His people.  They had to offer two lambs every day, year after year, so that there was a continual burnt offering, and God always provided enough so that they could worship Him rightly and still provide for their families.

7. I'm done with math and philosophy!

8. Ellie's play is this weekend.  I'm so excited!

9. Ellie and I also went to see a different play, "Fiddler on the Roof", on Friday night.  It was great!  I liked the movie a lot, but there's just something about seeing a play on it that's well done and with people I know.

10. On Thursday Rachel and I went to Genghis Grill for lunch.  Yum!

(sorry about the crappy cellphone pic)

* excerpt taken from "Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories" by Robert Morgan, pages 114-115

Give Me Jesus

I love the song "Give Me Jesus".  Fernando Ortega originally wrote and sang it, and I decided to do a cover of it myself.  I hope you like it!

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #38

I'm thankful for:

0741. making to do lists

0742. making packing lists

0743. I'm so glad I actually don't have as much to do for finals as I thought!

0744. index cards for my history final

0745. "A Spaceman Came Travelling" by Celtic Woman.  They just came out with a new CD, and I really like this song, even though it's kind of weird.

0746. getting to go watch Chloe's soccer game today.

0747. she scored two points!

0748. bookshelves

0749. walking to Subway with Rachel and Ellie

0750. starting to cram for my history and Spanish finals on Tuesday!

0751. finding a great new store to shop at this week!

0752. going to see a "Fiddler on the Roof" play last night; it was great!

0753. wooden bridges

0754. baked chips

0755. graduation invitations

0756. doing well (I think) on my math and philosophy finals this week

0757. looking forward to seeing Ellie's play next weekend!

0758. so excited for a bit of a break from everything after this next week

0759. childhood drawings from Ellie and Chloe

0760. great teachers this semester

* photos from weheartit.com

weekdate #003

1. This past week I've been really busy with homework, especially getting ready for finals next week.  I was supposed to have a math exam last Thursday, but my teacher graciously allowed it to be a take home.  My math final is on Thursday, and over the weekend I've been preparing study sheets for my other three weeks that will be on the 1st and the 3rd.

2. On Wednesday my family and I went to the botanic gardens.  It was so beautiful!  We're going to try and go again next month when everything's blooming and before Rachel and I...

3. go to Glorieta!  In February, Rachel and I were both hired to work at Glorieta (this is where my youth group and I went for Regeneration last summer) for the summer, from the end of May to the second week of August.  We'll be living there all summer, but it's only about an hour away from home so hopefully we'll be able to visit occasionally.  I'm really nervous about moving out for the summer, but I'm also so excited to see what God will do!  Only one more month!

4. The weather has just been so beautiful lately.  Rachel and I are trying to walk a lot more than drive at school; there are a lot of places close enough that we can walk to.  It's a lot of fun!

5. Work on Friday was CRAZY.  It's spring break around here, and it's really obvious at McDs!  I only have two more full days before quitting before Glorieta!

6. Saturday night was my church's memorization group (Living Word Initiative) meeting.  It was so great!  I feel like I'm really treasuring my church family lately since I know I won't really be seeing them over the summer.  Saturday's meeting was a huge encouragement to me.

7. I rearranged my wall where I had Djamsel's picture hanging up so I could put Majoie's up too.  I put this quote in the middle because it reminds me of how God's going to provide for me so I can provide for them, however long He sees fit.

8. Speaking of Majoie, I'm going to try and write my first letter to her tonight!  I am still just so excited that I'm able to sponsor her.  I loved having a little boy to sponsor, and now I have a little girl too! :) God is so good!

9. This week I have discovered coffee!  I'm liking a walking advertisement. :)

10. Like I said in my last Everyday's Thanksgiving post, I've been going through "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.  I really liked one of his tips in the book where it says that you should smile at people as genuinely as possible, really focusing on them and acting happy to see them.  So I've been trying to do that this week, and it's amazing what an effect it has on people!  I've really enjoyed seeing how, even with just a smile, you can really make someone's day better.

Djamsel and Majoie

This is a post I have been dying to make for a few weeks now, but I had to wait for something to come in the mail.  And today it did!  Today I received my info packet on my new Compassion child, Majoie.  And so today I'm going to post about both of my Compassion children, Djamsel and Majoie.

I'm not sure why I haven't already done a post about Djamsel.  I never really thought about it until recently.

I started sponsoring Djamsel in April 2011.  I only had enough money for one month's sponsorship, and after about two months of looking for a job I hadn't had any luck.  However, I felt God was leading me to start a sponsorship, so I went onto the Compassion website to look for a child.

I really had no idea where to start.  At any one time, there are several thousand children waiting to be sponsored through Compassion.  Thankfully, there are ways you can narrow down the search, and I decided to specifically look at the children will mental or physical handicaps.  There were only about twenty of them, and I think I clicked on Djamsel's picture first.  The second I saw him, I knew I wanted to sponsor him.  He was the child for me.

Djamsel lives in Indonesia with his family.  The sight in his left eye is defective, as you can see from his picture.  He's nine years old.

It took about six months for me to get my first letter from Djamsel.  I'd already written to him two or three times.  I was ecstatic to finally hear from him, and since then I've gotten several more letters.  He calls me "mama Sarah". ;D

I have been sponsoring Majoie for exactly one week today.  Once again, beginning her sponsorship was a matter of trusting in God to provide, and I know He will.

This time around, though I considered sponsoring another handicapped child like Djamsel, I instead decided to look at the children who had been waiting the longest for sponsors.  The first child to come up was Majoie, and I just fell in love with her.  She had been waiting for a sponsor for 257 days.

I finally got Majoie's sponsorship packet today (yay!).  She lives in Togo with her family, and she's five years old.  I can't wait to get my first letter from her!

So that pretty much sums up my sponsorship stories for now.  I hope you enjoyed reading them, and I'll continue to update on Djamsel and Majoie when anything happens.

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #37

* photos from weheartit.com

I'm thankful for:

0721. people who smile genuinely

0722. being SO close to being done with my freshman year of college!

0723. going to the botanic gardens with my family on Wednesday

0724. Reese's

0725. cubic art; it's weird, but interesting

0726. salad

0727. smores

0728. finding new, fun places to shop at

0729. a take-home math exam!

0730. this quote:

Do not regret growing older.  It is a privilege denied to many.

-- Unknown

 0731. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.  I'm going through this book right now, and I think it's just so interesting.  It's really gotten me thinking about how I treat people, and I like what I've read so far!

0731. reading other people's blogs.  I have such a great time.

0732. hashbrowns

0733. journaling

0734. duct tape roses and wallets

0735. Bill Crosby talking about dentists. ;D

0736. getting to visit with my aunt and her mom this week

0737. cleaning out and getting rid of junk

0738. Chloe's artwork...

0739. ...especially the art she makes for me

0740. laughter

botanic gardens

Today my family and I went to the botanic gardens.  It's funny--we've always called it the "botanical" gardens, but we say on the sign that it's actually "botanic". :)  Everything was starting to bloom, and it was just beautiful.  Enjoy!

* pics taken by me, Rachel, or Ellie; they're all mixed up

I think this is my favorite picture of the day--Rachel took it!

weekdate #002

1. Saturday was Chloe's first soccer game!  It was freezing and so windy, but she had a blast, and so did we!  I already posted a bunch of pictures, so I wanted to do some video now.  Chloe's the one in the green with the pigtail braids. :)

2. So often I forget what a huge blessing my church family is, but I was really reminded of it today as some of the women gathered together to pray for a woman having surgery this week.  What a blessing the body of Christ is!

3. My dad's sermon yesterday was amazing.  I always enjoy hearing him preach, but yesterday he was talking about joy (one of my favorite topics), and also about how envy and discontent can steal your joy away.  I was really convicted, but also really encouraged as I was reminded of God's sovereignty and how we find our joy in it.

4. On Tuesday Rachel and I went to see Titanic in 3D with some friends.  I personally don't like the movie--it's sad and also completely based on infatuation--but I had a good time hanging out with Morgan and Corey.

On this first pic I accidentally totally cut Morgan off, but we got it right on the second one. :)

5. Today I've been listening to Piano and Rain.  Goodness gracious, is there anything more relaxing?

6. Friday night my family and I went to the birthday party of a man at our church.  It was so much fun!  We laughed so much.

7. I've been taking Chloe on a bunch of walks because the weather's been so nice.  We get to talking about a wide range of subjects.

8. I have my first finals next week, and soon I'll be done with my first year of college!  It's honestly unbelievable.  It's gone by so fast.

These last two are killing me...can't think of anything!

9. Saturday night I went to a classical concert with Rachel for her school assignment.  I had to go to one with her before and it was awful because I almost fell asleep (classical music can be really exhausting).  However, this concert was a lot better because they didn't dim the lights and it was shorter.  I actually enjoyed some of the music!  Although I still think the best thing about classical concerts is when they're tuning their instruments; I think that sounds better than the actual songs.

10. This week I made the decision to sponsor another child through Compassion.  Her name is Majoie, and she's five years old.  I'll try to do a complete post about her and Djamsel once I get her information packet.  I'm just so excited to learn more about her!

Chloe's first soccer game!

Yesterday was Chloe's first soccer game!  It was a really cold, blustery day, but she had a great time, and so did the rest of her teammates.  Hopefully the weather will be better for the rest of her games! :)

Sorry for the bad quality of some of the pics; we forgot our camera.