I've decided I'm absolutely pitiful. "The girls" and I (Laci and others from school) have decided to make sure we have an apartment by the end of the school year so we can move in next summer. That's all well and good, but I'm acting like we're moving in a week! And I'm not alone; Laci is too. We've both done all the math to decide the cost difference between this and on-campus. I've been "shopping" this week (not actually buying, just looking, online mostly) to find all the stuff we'll need to move in, all the way down to plates and silverware. It's not all rediculous, though. My motto is "leave no stone unturned." By the time we actually have an apartment, I'll be the most knowledgable first-time rentee ever! I need to find out the cost of stuff to know how tight I should keep my budget this year... or how much tighter, since I'm already limited. I'm so excited, though... especially about the shopping part! I'd rather shop for household stuff over clothes any day. I can be a bit controlling at times, though. Hopefully I won't become too much of a shopping-natzi when it comes down to it! Anyway, not much else is going on in my life right now. Relatively dull. But that's okay, I'm sure I'll miss the dull-ness by mid-September! Later.

Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Ecclesiastes 7:10/NIV

-today's verse of the day

I bought "The Message" today. I'm really excited about it. I'll be using it just for reading purposes (like chapter by chapter), not really for devotions. Hopefully, I'll really enjoy it.

The most satisfying low-fat thing to eat is Breyers "naturally light" vanilla ice cream! Mmmm, Mmmm! It's seriously the best vanilla ice cream I've ever had. And it only has 3 grams of fat! That's a beautiful thing!

"I am only one, but still I am one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something."
-a possibly slightly missquoted quote, but the origional was from Helen Keller, who happens to be one of the most inspiring people, in my opinion.

Take a look at this about the World Trade Center cross. I never really heard the whole story before. It's pretty cool.

Several things to say tonight, so I'll just pick one to start with (logically). The guy over at truthbecomeslies, whose name I always forget, has had a lot of good things to say lately. I'm still hesitant to put up a permanent link to him since my agreeance with him waivers frequently, but he was really on it these past few weeks. One short comment that he had was "Do what you want. God's will for every person's life is that they live full lives under his Lordship." This is something I wholeheartedly agree with. This comment came in the midst of a much longer post, but it nearly sums up the point of it all. I, also, believe that if you are living your life to please God, He wants you to go after whatever it is that you desire. "You have permission to do anything you want," as Rex Briant put it. The only stipulation is that you primarily seek to live "in God's will," as we often put it. This means that you seek to please God with everything that you do. If that's what you're doing, He allows you to do whatever you want. I think this is something we all need to remember. We often look at God's will as making the right choice in a given situation. We think when there are two equally good options that God wants us to pick a certain one, when in reality, He wants us to pick the one we want! At a confrence I went to during first semester of this past year it was put this way: "You don't have to pray about which cereal to eat in the morning. Pick the one you want!" In the context of the lesson, the speaker meant that in some situations there is a definite right or wrong choice, while in others the "rightness" is simply based on preference. He gave the example of his little son having the choice to play with a toy truck or a chain saw; obviously, there is a specific one Dad wants the son to pick. But when it comes to choice of cereal, Dad really doesn't care (all nutritional considerations aside). There's not really an ending point to this topic. I simply wanted to say that I believe God gives us freedom of choice to a far greater extent than we give Him credit for. That's it.

In other news, my brother's wedding was yesterday. It was simply beautiful. I have never seen more of the "real David" than when he and Amy were saying their vows. He was absolutely sweet, for possibly the first time in his life! The reception was fun. Quite casual, in comparison to many wedding receptions. They served chicken and ribs from Country Caterers! After a long day of standing, walking, and a little dancing in my little black heels, my toes were screaming with painful blisters! And the sad part was that I knew full well that I had to get up this morning and put the same shoes back on for church. (I sang in an ensemble today, so I had to wear the black shoes to match what we wore.)

Tonight at church we had an ordination service for a man from our church that has been called to serve at another church, as youth pastor I believe it was. The service was great. The man who is entering "the ministry," Terry Ryan, is a wonderfully godly man, and every member of his family seems to share the same quality. He gave his testimony; the pastor from his new church, Long Branch Baptist, gave a charge to the church; and Bro.Keith gave a charge to the pastor. After the testimony time, the ordained men of our church laid hands on Terry and prayed for him, as we all prayed with them. The laying on of hands is one of those things mentioned in the Bible, yet often neglected in our modern church. I always enjoy when we get to take part in this wonderfully symbolic act of worship. Following the service, of course, was a fellowship, which in the Baptist church translates to "yay, we get to eat again!"

After the service, I went to pick up the key that my brother left under his door mat for me. I'm taking care of their cats this week while they're gone on their honeymoon. They're not the go-sit-and-be-romantic type; they're gonna do fun stuff this week like wakeboard in Orlando, and possibly go down to the Keys where my uncle owns a little double-wide. Not so fancy living quarters, but it sure is a cool place. We went there when I was little. Anyway, not much else to say. Take a look at the new links I put up. (I only link to blogs that I really feel are worth while, so they won't be a waste of your time!) Later.