5. Under the Sycamore. I've loved reading about this family's adoption, especially because it's a dream of mine someday to adopt.
March 20: What do you collect? I used to be an insane collector--rocks, dolls, books, etc. I've definitely toned it down. Right now I'd have to say I halfheartedly collect scarves, teacups, and potted plants.
March 21: What's your biggest fear?
My biggest fear used to be that my dreams wouldn't work out, but over this past year I feel like God's really been teaching me the importance of being open for whatever He has for me, not what I want for myself. My biggest thing is probably something happening to my family, or getting in a serious car crash. I've only ever been rear ended, and that was scary enough!
March 22: What do you do when you're home alone? When I'm home alone (it happens very rarely) I love to play my guitar in the living room and sing really loudly because it echoes a lot and I think I sound a lot better when I'm playing out there. Probably couldn't hear well enough to know a bad guy was coming up behind me to kill me, but...eh.
Well, friends, I've almost completed my first week back at school. Praise the Lord! I feel like I've done a lot of new things this week. This semester I'm taking computers in schools, physical science for teachers, math for teachers 2, U.S. history, and NM history. I only have to go to school for science and math; the rest are online. I really like my teachers so far! My science teacher is kinda wack, but I think it'll be a fun class. Also this semester I'm attending a different campus for two days a week. My college has several different campuses, and this semester I'm getting to visit a new one! Admittedly, I don't really care for this one--there are so many more people here!--but it's nice to have a new experience. Another new thing is that I'm actually trying to follow up on my new year's resolution to treat my body in a way that honors the Lord. This morning Rachel and I went to Planet Fitness for the first time, and it was actually a lot of fun! Sure, the treadmill I was on seemed determined to electrocute me everytime I accidentally brushed up against one of the handles, but that's insignificant. :) I think it'll be fun to keep going there. I found this awesome new song today, and I really like it. I hope you all are doing well! For any college students, remember--the first week's the hardest. After that it's smoother sailing! :)
Today I am... temporarily kicked out of my bedroom. Rachel and I share a room, and right now she's taking a nap. I like to listen to music most of the time, and I either hum along or sing to it, and she hates that when she's trying to sleep, so I'm having to relocate for a little while. so happy that I'm finally done with my anthropology class! I took my final yesterday, and I think it went really well! I felt like I should have been more nervous than I was, but it turned out that it was fine. Though it was an incredibly difficult class, I feel like I learned a lot of interesting things. The stuff I was actually supposed to remember didn't seem to really stick with me, but I'm retaining a lot of useless, albeit fascinating, information. For instance: - did you know that the language you grow up speaking can influence the way your brain works? It's called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. We watched a film about a tribe in Africa focusing on the different words for color in their language, versus in English. This group only had about five words for color, while we have nine(?). When showed a circle of squares with nine green squares and one blue, the people in this tribe couldn't really see the difference because, in their language, they use the same word for blue and green. However, they have two words for different shades of green. Our teacher showed us the example that they gave to these people of nine squares of green, and then another square that was a different shade. For the life of me, I couldn't tell which one was different, but these people could because of the language they spoke! - did you know they used to actually put cocaine in Coca-Cola? We were learning about coca, the plant that cocaine is made from. But I kind of feel like the ship had already sailed by the time I learned this since everyone else seemed to know about it already. But better late than never! almost done with all my classes. I just have two more online finals to take, and then I'm done! Then I have a break for about a month, and it'll start all over again. I feel like this was such a great semester in terms of learning about things pertaining to my degree--education. I loved going and observing at schools, I loved my intro to teaching class, and I just had so many opportunities to learn this semester! God is so good.
looking forward to going tomorrow and visiting the new Bible club that my mom started at a new school a few months ago! Look at all those Christmas cards to hand out to the kids! They have about 90 kids from kindergarten to 10th grade, making them the biggest club in this area by far. God has been working so miraculously there! Now that I'm done with my classes on Wednesdays, I can actually visit the club. :)
a bit angry at these little guys, who woke me up way too early this morning.
trying to remember to water Ferdinand. It just slips my mind, but so far he's still alive.
worrying over Jonah. It's getting socold here, and since my room is the coldest in the house, I'm kind of worried that he'll get too cold. But so far he seems to be doing okay--just eating all the time! He's going to be chunky pretty soon if he keeps this up.
excited about going through this book in our women's Bible study at my church! My mom really loves this book, so I've been hoping to read it, and I'm so happy that we'll be going through it as a group starting next month!
learning to play this song on the guitar, as well as this one. This song is why I was kicked out of my room. I just love it--I've probably heard it twenty times already today! Rachel was not having that. :)
I found this album yesterday, and I love it! Phillips, Craig, and Dean isn't one of my favorite artists, but I certainly love some of their songs. Check out the links below for some more great ones!
Since Thanksgiving is this week, I thought I'd make a post about my board of gratefulness. I found this idea in this video and put it into practice a month or two ago. Basically, I bought a big white board/cork board and put it right next to my bed. I also bought some small sticky notes; I think it was about 200 for $1. Every day I write down something that I'm thankful for and put it on the board. It's really helped me to cultivate more of an attitude of gratefulness in my day to day life as I actively realize all that I have to be thankful for. I apologize ahead of time for the quality of the pictures; I was in a hurry.
This is number 10 in my 20 random posts series. I've been looking forward to this one; I have so many favorite songs that I love to share! I do share a lot of them on here, so for some of these I've just put in the link for where I've posted the song before. It was easier on me that way. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this music, and that it leads you to worship! I just listed them randomly; they're not necessarily in order of my least to greatest favorites. I have a whole page with tons of my favorite music over here to the right: great music. Go check it out! 1. Barlowgirl - Hope Will Lead Us On. I posted this song very recently, and I really like it! 2. JJ Heller - What Love Really Means. I discovered JJ Heller a few weeks ago, and I really like her style of music and her passion.
3. Kristian Stanfill - One Thing Remains. I first heard this song at the study with the BSU that I've been going to on Tuesday nights, and I really like it.
4. New Life Worship - Great I AM. Still can't get over how amazing this song is! 5. Third Day - I Need a Miracle. I think I prefer this live version over the radio version.
6. Group 1 Crew - His Kind of Love. Reckless for us!
7. Matt Redman - 10,000 Reasons. 8. Jason Gray - Remind Me Who I Am. This song does just what it says--reminds me who I am.
9. Bebo Norman - I Will Lift My Eyes. I found this song several years ago, and it is one of the few songs I've found that I never get tired of. It's just beautiful.
I have enjoyed this past week so immensely. There have been times of great worship through fellowship and coming together with the church, and times of laughter and fun.
One of the times of laughter was on Wednesday. Every Wednesday morning I go to observe a class for my intro to teaching class. This particular Wednesday, my dad was having a young man in our acquaintance assist him at his job. The man had left his truck at our house and unintentionally blocked my car in the driveway. But that wasn't going to stop me. I just slammed on the gas and went backwards over this little hill, shattering some white pole sticking out of the ground in the process. I hope it wasn't too important. Anyway, I got out to make sure the car was alright, and didn't pay attention to what was behind me when I got back in. I mowed our trashcan down before I'd even realized that I hit it. So that was fun.
This weekend and into the next week, Mark, Luke, and Sara-Grace are visiting. My family and I had such a good time with them this morning as we visited Heritage Christian Fellowship, where my dad was guest preaching, and Mark was speaking on how his parents and siblings are serving as missionaries in Cameroon. This evening we had the Bible memorization meeting at the church and we were able to hear some of Mark, Luke, and Sara's songs. It was such a wonderful time of fellowship.
All throughout this week, I have been filled with such immense joy in the Lord. I have been struggling for several months now, ever since I got back from Glorieta, with having joy in the Lord. My biggest regret of my time in Glorieta was my lack of persistence in attending church, and not actively trying to engage in godly fellowship with those around me. I don't necessarily regret my decision in going to Glorieta. I had a fantastic summer of meeting new people and experiencing new challenges and blessings. But the damage to my faith was so great, I would never return to work there. I feel that I fell so far back in my faith over the summer, and I'm only just now beginning to gain some ground forward again.
God has been so patient and good to me. He is so kind. Honestly, His mercy and grace have just been consuming me over the past weeks, and I am overwhelmed.
At the memorization meeting tonight, Mark shared a passage from Isaiah that I was really encouraged by. For the discouraged, doubting believer:
Isaiah 43:1-7
But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.
"Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made."
Hi everyone! I wanted to kind of deviate from my regular posts and just bring up some things that I think we can all be praying for.
Obviously, the priority on everyone's mind right now is Hurricane Sandy and those affected by it. Specifically, let's pray for the families of the people who have died, and also for the continued safety of everyone in harm's way because of limited electricity, flooding, high winds, etc.
I also wanted to bring up the deaths of two preschool children who were killed when their school bus crashed yesterday. I can't imagine the grief that their families are feeling right now! Also continue to pray for four other children who are in the hospital, as well as the driver of the bus, who must be dealing with some incredible guilt and grief right now.
I also wanted to post this video, which is Barlowgirl's last song ever as they have chosen to go in a different direction apart from the music industry. I've loved listening to their music over the years, but I was so glad they put out one last song.
God is so good in how He always sovereignly works in our lives so perfectly. I feel like He's really been teaching me to hope. On the last day of 2010, I posted about how my "word" for 2011 was going to be "hope". You can go there to read about why exactly I chose that, but I've continued to feel that God is teaching me to hope in Him, and not be afraid to have hopes and dreams for the future, because He'll do whatever's best. Even if it sometimes doesn't feel like the best at the time, it will be the best. Over this past week, the Lord has been bringing this thought to my mind again, and I just loved how perfectly this song fit in with what He's been teaching me. His timing is amazing! Anyway, I hope that this song encourages you and that you'll pray for those things which I've brought up in this post. I'll be posting another 20 random posts "post" soon; talk to you then!
1. On Tuesday of last week, I went to do my classroom observation. They had a fire demonstration--fire trucks, lights, the works--so that was a lot of fun.
2. Also on Tuesday, I found an incredible song that I just can't stop listening to. We sang it at the BSU meeting that night, and I went home to look it up. Here it is--worship!!!
4. Also on Wednesday I found out that I got a 97 on my anthropology midterm!!! Yay!!!!!
5. On Saturday my family and I left to go visit my other set of grandparents, as well as some of my aunts and uncles, for the weekend. We had such a great time seeing everyone! We got back this afternoon.
6. I found another really good song this week too--"Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher. Enjoy. :)
1. This week was pretty exciting! First off, on Wednesday I had my first day of classroom observation! I'm going to an elementary school just a few minutes away from my house, and am with a second grade class. I had such a great time! The teacher I'm with is amazing, and not only was I able to watch, I was also able to help some of the kids with a reading assignment. It was such a blessing; I can't wait to see what happens over the rest of the semester! 2. Also for my intro to teaching class, this week I had to write a paper about my experiences in school: the good, the bad, etc. I only had three years to glean from--first through third grade--but I really enjoyed writing the paper. I wrote about a lot of memories from those years that I want to remember for years to come, and it's nice to have that preserved now. 3. On Friday, I left for Inlow with Rachel, Morgan, and the rest of the BSU group I've been attending for my first BSU conference and retreat! The speaker was Jeff Lewis, and I so enjoyed hearing from him. Through his teaching he reminded me of my identity in Christ, and how precious that is!
4. While on the retreat, I was introduced to this song by the David Crowder Band. It's called "After All (Holy)", and I absolutely love it. I've been playing it on my guitar ever since we got home. :) 5. Today and tomorrow I am in midterm mode! Huge, nasty, wretched anthropology midterm, here I come! :D
6. I can't believe it's already October! I love it though--autumn's my favorite season. :)
So this is number 5 in my 20 random posts series: my greatest challenge. I lead such a difficult, persecuted and suffering life, it was hard to narrow it down... Ha! God is so incredibly good for me.
" far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think"
Ephesians 3:20
I would have to say that my greatest challenge right now would be in being content with where God has me. As I go through my classes and look for a job, I have to admit, I want to be out of here! I want to be in India already, teaching kids at an orphanage and ministering to people in true need! My desire is to be a few years down the road, finished with my degree, on the mission field. But I guess I'll always struggle with that: once I'm in India, I'll want to get married, and then I'll want children, and then I'll want grandchildren! I'll always struggle with trusting God's purpose with my placement in the world. To combat this sort of thing, I usually try to figure out why God has me where I am now, and what I can do here and now that will minister to people. For example, I think one of the reasons He has me here, going to school and working and living with my family, is so I can grow up and gain some life experience before I just go off on my own. I mean, I'm only 19--I haven't really done much with my life yet! I need time to grow in the Lord, to establish myself and solidify my faith, and to just prepare myself for what He'll have for me.
Sorry for the terrible quality!
In terms of ministering to people here and now, I have my Compassion kids: Djamsel, Majoie, and Cristian. The three of them are such incredible blessings in my life; everytime I look at their pictures on my wall, I'm just blown away that the Lord of the universe, who created these kids and can speak to them so much better than I can, has allowed me to reach out to them, even if in just some small way. Overall, in struggling with contentment in God's plan, I just have to remind myself that He is God, I'm not, and He's in control. I am learning to rest in Him
May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way.
2 Thessalonians 3:16
I wanted to share some of the music I've been worshipping to lately. Enjoy!
I found this song a long time ago and just recently discovered it again. It is so beautiful!
I had heard this song before, but I guess they did a new recording of it recently, and I like it a lot more. I know I haven't done an Everyday's Thanksgiving post in ages, but this song reminds me anew of how much I have to be thankful for; 10,000 things to thank Him for shouldn't be difficult, let alone 1000!
I was debating whether or not to add a weekdate to this post, but I just decided to forego that this week. My life is very boring lately, and absolutely nothing exciting has happened since last Tuesday. So, without further ado...
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 I had just turned eight, and was starting third grade. I was at school with Rachel (we were in the same class). My school went on lockdown, and I didn't think much of it because we had practice lockdowns and fire drills pretty often. But then over the loudspeakers Rachel and I were asked to come to the office. Our teacher got us ready to go and we went out into the hall. I remember it was really creepy because all the classroom doors were shut and locked and we were by ourselves walking to the office. My mom had come to pick us up early, just to make sure we were okay, and we went home. That was when I found out what was going on because my mom left the news on all day. They played the clip over and over of the planes flying into the towers, and then the towers falling. I still didn't really understand it, though. The next day I went to school and one of the girls in my class was crying because she thought her dad was on one of the planes. I thought she was silly for crying. I didn't know how many people had died. It took several years for me to grasp the magnitude of the event.
I love this poem by Thomas Kelly, but I couldn't find the actual tune for it, so I just made up my own and put music to it. I hope you enjoy it! Leave a comment!
0702. learning about God's goodness in the ladies' Bible study. I'm going to try and do a post similar to this one about it.
0703. Sonic's Happy Hour special
0704. actually making friends in my classes this semester, especially my history class. It's nice to actually talk to people from week to week, not just one time only!
0705. all the snow's melted!
0706. "Flower, Flower" by The Vespers. I got a free download of this band's music this week, and I love it! My favorite song by them is actually "Better Now", but I couldn't find a good video of it.
0707. getting a tip today at work from a kind lady I know from Bible club!
0708. building up my strength
0709. layering
0710. remembering art techniques from last semester, like atmospheric perspective. It's where, as you look farther back into the picture or painting, it gets lighter and bluer.
0711. only a few more weeks of school, and then I'll be done with my first year of college!
0712. fish in a pond
0713. lightbulbs
0714. being able to read "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. It's really interesting.
0715. getting off of work on time today
0716. my ever-faithful alarm clock. I hate it sometimes, but it presses on. :)
0717. velvet boxes
0718. BACON!!!! :D
0719. bronze hoop earrings
0720. doing really well on my Spanish exam yesterday!
I posted this song last week, and today I finally got around to actually looking up a lyrical version of the song. I found this one, and I just love it, so I wanted to share it here.
0661. my own cell phone! I love my phone, even if I don't often have opportunity to use it. I hardly ever have to charge it, either; it's been at two bars for about three days now.
0662. how even Chloe encourages me to witness to people
0663. and how she talks about Daddy's sermons. It's amazing how much she remembers.
0664. this music video. I love the creativity of this band, Walk Off the Earth.
0665. it's been so nice and warm here lately
0666. my second exam in my math class was a take-home! Hurray!
0667. meeting awesome Christian people at the most random places
0668. walking to the mailbox with Chloe
0669. that my best friend hasn't spoken to me for a few days because she's getting to spend some time with her sister. :)
