the seal that will never break

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Ephesians 1:13

family day

Yesterday my family and I went to the aquarium and the botanical gardens.  It was really fun!  I LOVE the aquarium, especially.  Be forewarned--there's a bunch of pictures of jellyfish.  They're my favorite.  I think it's just so amazing how God made them.

* pictures taken either by me, Rachel, or Ellie

See those little swirly things?  Those are baby seahorses!

Ellie likes the jellyfish too. :)

Behold, this are the fringes of His ways.

Job 26:14

what I'm learning

I really enjoy reading blog posts about what exactly is going on in people's lives: what they're learning from the Lord, what they're learning from their classes, etc.  So, I thought I'd make a post like that tonight.

In work: 

- It's actually been a really stressful couple of weeks as far as work goes because there's a big inspection on Monday and Tuesday that we were getting ready for.  Thankfully, I have Monday and Tuesday off. :)
- Otherwise, though, I'm just so thankful that I have this job.  I know there are many others who can't get a job anywhere.

In school:
- As I said in a previous blog post, this semester I'm taking five classes: Math for Teachers 1, Spanish 1, Sociology, Philosophy, and Western Civilization 1.  I'm actually enjoying all of these classes a lot more than I previously expected.

- My hardest classes are probably math and Spanish so far, although philosophy is a close third.  There is so much homework for my math class.  So far I've spent approximately a day and a half per week doing the work for the next week.  We're basically learning how to explain math, rather than just doing it; for instance, how do you explain to a child that when he counts one, two, three, four, five items, there's really five items total?  Sometimes it can be really hard to figure out the right explanation.  As for Spanish, it's just a lot of memorizing.  Philosophy is difficult in that there's a lot of reading, as well as twisted concepts I have to sort through as a believer.

- My Western civ class shouldn't be too hard; a good bit of reading and a couple papers to write, but not too bad.  I really like my sociology teacher.  We only have a midterm and a final, and she lets us have cheat sheets for those.  Plus, we get to watch three movies throughout the semester and then write a paper on each of them.  It should be fun!  That's definitely my easiest class.
- This week is week #3, and I already have three papers due and two exams on Thursday!

In family:

- After an awesome, long Christmas break from everything, our lives are picking up in pace again.  Ellie is again beginning rehearsals for a new play with her drama group, ABC (A Bunch of Characters).  She also has Varsity, Bible club, and youth group.
- My mom is also involved with Bible club this year.  I think she likes it.
- Rachel's life schedule is basically the same as mine.  We have the same job, go to the same school, and even have three classes together (one's online).  This semester I think my school load is harder than hers, though.  She got a new cat this week!

In faith:

- I feel like I'm learning a lot about working for your faith.  With all the things to do every day, I have to make specific times to spend communing with the Lord.  This time is usually in the mornings, and is fairly easy to keep up with.
- I really enjoyed my dad's sermon yesterday on John 1:43-51, especially in his pointing out the simplicity of the gospel in that passage.  Come and see Jesus!  It doesn't have to be more complicated than that.  That's a comfort to me in my day to day life.  When I'm stressed or worried or anything like that, I can just come and see Jesus.  What a blessing.

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #28

I'm thankful for:

0541. the new movie "Courageous".  So powerful!

0542. the police force

0543. "You Are On Our Side" by Bethany Dillon

0544. all my college classes!  I'm enjoying them all so much more than I thought I would!

0545. being able to get a room "makeover". :)

0546. little kids' art

0547. carnations

0548. hoop earrings

0549. that purple dye from the town where Lydia lived

0550. how my history class is teaching me more about the places where a lot of biblical things took place

0551. being able to learn Spanish.  It's really interesting!

0552. a warm house

0553. double mocha coffee mix

0554. unique guitars

0555. a new fish tank that Rachel got for our room!

0556. marathons

0557. Chloe starting to lose her teeth!

0558. honesty

0559. solitaire

0560. mud that's finally starting to dry up!

* last two pics taken from weheartit.com

the power of the Cross