yet another week...
Yes, yet again it has been a week between posts. Sorry, life got in the way. But life has been good, I am happy to report. Christina and I have completed our first week of Quiet Times together. I'm really enjoying that. I'm glad she asked me about that because it sort of forced me to get back on track. God always knows just what I need. And we've been able to have some really good discussions together about what we're reading. Those discussions typically lead to others, which is good because I have a specific person who I can share important stuff with that I can count on to keep me accountable on a daily basis. And she's been such an encouragement to me, as well.
This week has been good. I don't specifically remember why, though. Nothing really stands out too much. I guess it was just a good week in general. My Thursday practicum stands out though. I walked in the door to my first grade class to find a substitute in place of the regular classroom teacher. The thought that immediately ran through my head was "I hate substitutes." No offense to them as people, but substitutes typically have NO IDEA what they're doing in the classroom. And this one was like a hundred years old to top it off. "Well, grin and bear it," I thought. I went in and introduced myself, and a look of sheer joy came over her face. She walked me to the desk where she proceeded to hand me the notes the teacher had jotted down for her. "This is what they're doing today," she said to me as she handed over the two little white slips of paper. "They have to go at the right time for lunch... can't be early or the other teachers will get mad," she said to me. She obviously was unaware I would only be there for a few hours. "I'm just here for the morning," I informed her. With a simple agreement, she stepped away, and it became clear to me that I was to take over. A quick surge of panic zipped through me for a split second. Then it was over. "I can do this," I reassured myself. I was comforted by the fact that I had observed the class before to know how they do things. After examining in detail the contents of the hand-scrawled schedule and realizing that absolutely nothing had been accomplished in the time before I entered the room, I assumed my position as "teacher." We went through the usual procedures of the morning calendar and the reading chart; we did multiple pages in the reading workbook, followed by several pages in the math workbook. I was quite encouraged and put at ease when the co-teacher entered the room (from working with a few kids on speech): she realized what page we were on in the reading workbook and said, "oh! you've gotten quite a lot accomplished! that's great!" "I told you it would be fine," I said to myself. Half-way through the math pages, I had to leave because my time was up. We had gotten a lot accomplished, though, and no one had any traumatic "substitute-day-breakdowns!" (For those who don't know, having a substitute is a very traumatic and disturbing experience for some young elementary school kids! No joke.) I informed the "real" sub where I left off and turned the class back over to her. The morning had gone very well, I thought. "She has no idea what she's doing," I reasserted as I closed the door behind myself.
Like I said, nothing else about my week particularly stands out. But tonight I'm going on the "First Friday Art Walk" which I'm quite excited about. After that, I think I'm going to a cookout at Larry's house, which should be fun. Tomorrow night is The Edge, and Watermark is going to be in concert. That's all my fun and exciting news. Maybe there will be more by the end of the weekend! Peace out!
Feb 6, 2004
Jan 30, 2004
ages...
Monday feels like ages ago! This has been such a great week! So many things have gone well. Hmmm.... where to begin? Well, first off, Christina decided to start doing a time of daily Bible reading for Lent (which is still some time off) and came to me for some guidance and suggestions. I was completely flattered and humbled that she came to me for something so important. I felt a little... umm... well, hypocritical telling her what she should do, though, since my daily devotions have been less than consistant lately. I told her I would think it over and see what suggestions I came up with for her. Today we went to The Wonder of Truth (which is a fabulous Christian bookstore here in St. Augustine) and I found a book called The Quiet Time Companion. She and I both got a copy of it, and we're going to go through it together. It's actually a two-year book, so it'll last a while, which is cool. We're both pretty excited about it. And it will be a good source for me for some things that are coming up that I will need a few ideas for.
Secondly, Christina also came to me and said that there's a good possibility she may be staying in St. Augustine after she graduates in April, so she was asking if some of us girls would want to live off campus with her. So this week has been spent looking at houses, and there are several potential ones! At this point, we're pretty much planning on living off campus with or without her... but we really hope she stays. So hopefully in the near future there will be some definite news about a house. Stay tuned!
That's all for now. Going to "Potbelly's" to watch a movie... there's safety in numbers, that's what I always say!
Monday feels like ages ago! This has been such a great week! So many things have gone well. Hmmm.... where to begin? Well, first off, Christina decided to start doing a time of daily Bible reading for Lent (which is still some time off) and came to me for some guidance and suggestions. I was completely flattered and humbled that she came to me for something so important. I felt a little... umm... well, hypocritical telling her what she should do, though, since my daily devotions have been less than consistant lately. I told her I would think it over and see what suggestions I came up with for her. Today we went to The Wonder of Truth (which is a fabulous Christian bookstore here in St. Augustine) and I found a book called The Quiet Time Companion. She and I both got a copy of it, and we're going to go through it together. It's actually a two-year book, so it'll last a while, which is cool. We're both pretty excited about it. And it will be a good source for me for some things that are coming up that I will need a few ideas for.
Secondly, Christina also came to me and said that there's a good possibility she may be staying in St. Augustine after she graduates in April, so she was asking if some of us girls would want to live off campus with her. So this week has been spent looking at houses, and there are several potential ones! At this point, we're pretty much planning on living off campus with or without her... but we really hope she stays. So hopefully in the near future there will be some definite news about a house. Stay tuned!
That's all for now. Going to "Potbelly's" to watch a movie... there's safety in numbers, that's what I always say!
Jan 26, 2004
SUPER!!!!
I had such an incredibly awesome day today! I just got finished writing two long e-mails about it, so I can't really afford the time to write about it again here, but maybe I'll post details in a day or so. The basics though are that God is doing awesome things in my life. It's absolutely incredible.
Today I'm thankful for...
-Christina
-ladies' Bible study
-journaling
-God's Word to us
-God's provisions for us
-God's perfect timing!
-the impact people have on other people
-the fact that God chooses to use us!
I had such an incredibly awesome day today! I just got finished writing two long e-mails about it, so I can't really afford the time to write about it again here, but maybe I'll post details in a day or so. The basics though are that God is doing awesome things in my life. It's absolutely incredible.
Today I'm thankful for...
-Christina
-ladies' Bible study
-journaling
-God's Word to us
-God's provisions for us
-God's perfect timing!
-the impact people have on other people
-the fact that God chooses to use us!
Jan 22, 2004
feeling used, but in a good way...
I went through a time last year when I really felt like I wasn't being used by God in any significant way. I was a little torn between churches, so I wasn't really plugged into a specific ministry. On top of that, I really wasn't building personal relationships to the degree that I should have. This year I feel like that has all turned around completely. I'm plugged in at Anastasia, especially in Fusion, and I love it. People talk about how much they appreciate me/us making such sacrifices to lead Fusion, but to me it's no sacrifice at all. It's what I enjoy doing for the sake of God's ministry. Secondly, I feel like God has blessed and provided me with so many meaningful friendships this year. I don't just feel like I've made a lot of new friends this year (although I do feel that way); I feel like the friendships that have emerged have been so important to my spiritual development. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least four friends that I have made this year that are Christians who are incredibly encouraging to me. I know all of us are glad we were able to meet one another because we have all become so important in each others' lives. In addition, I have had the opportunity this year to become friends and acquaintances with several people who are not Christians. I don't know exactly how God is using me in those relationships, but I'm certain He's doing something, whether I can see it or not. Anyway, it's a good feeling to know that God is working in and through me. I'm quite encouraged.
I went through a time last year when I really felt like I wasn't being used by God in any significant way. I was a little torn between churches, so I wasn't really plugged into a specific ministry. On top of that, I really wasn't building personal relationships to the degree that I should have. This year I feel like that has all turned around completely. I'm plugged in at Anastasia, especially in Fusion, and I love it. People talk about how much they appreciate me/us making such sacrifices to lead Fusion, but to me it's no sacrifice at all. It's what I enjoy doing for the sake of God's ministry. Secondly, I feel like God has blessed and provided me with so many meaningful friendships this year. I don't just feel like I've made a lot of new friends this year (although I do feel that way); I feel like the friendships that have emerged have been so important to my spiritual development. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least four friends that I have made this year that are Christians who are incredibly encouraging to me. I know all of us are glad we were able to meet one another because we have all become so important in each others' lives. In addition, I have had the opportunity this year to become friends and acquaintances with several people who are not Christians. I don't know exactly how God is using me in those relationships, but I'm certain He's doing something, whether I can see it or not. Anyway, it's a good feeling to know that God is working in and through me. I'm quite encouraged.
Jan 19, 2004
good day...
Today has been surprisingly good, despite the fact that it's a Monday and I had FIVE classes. My middle class of the day is Applied Linguistics, which I am totally loving. I'm one of those weird people who actually enjoys grammar, and I'm fascinated by language, so this class is right up my alley. It also has me thinking again about what I want to do when I graduate. I'm studying to be an elementary teacher, but I'm not sure if that's really my ultimate goal, or just an intermediate goal. Since I started this class, I have also started thinking about the possibility of doing something in speech pathology or speech therapy or something like that. I'm not totally sure what those careers actually entail, but I'm looking into it.
Not too much else to say today. I'm going to IV's first meeting of the semester in just a few minutes, so hopefully it will be great. I'm looking forward to it.
~have a lovely evening!~
Today has been surprisingly good, despite the fact that it's a Monday and I had FIVE classes. My middle class of the day is Applied Linguistics, which I am totally loving. I'm one of those weird people who actually enjoys grammar, and I'm fascinated by language, so this class is right up my alley. It also has me thinking again about what I want to do when I graduate. I'm studying to be an elementary teacher, but I'm not sure if that's really my ultimate goal, or just an intermediate goal. Since I started this class, I have also started thinking about the possibility of doing something in speech pathology or speech therapy or something like that. I'm not totally sure what those careers actually entail, but I'm looking into it.
Not too much else to say today. I'm going to IV's first meeting of the semester in just a few minutes, so hopefully it will be great. I'm looking forward to it.
~have a lovely evening!~
glad it happened anyway...
Holding you, I held everything. For a moment, wasn't I a king? If I'd only known how this king would fall, now who's to say that i'd have changed it all. I'm glad i didn't know the way it all would end, the way it all would go. For our lives are better left to chance. I could have missed the pain, but i'd of had to miss the dance.
-from Rob's away message
Holding you, I held everything. For a moment, wasn't I a king? If I'd only known how this king would fall, now who's to say that i'd have changed it all. I'm glad i didn't know the way it all would end, the way it all would go. For our lives are better left to chance. I could have missed the pain, but i'd of had to miss the dance.
-from Rob's away message
Here's a quote from a new blog I started reading. I'm linking to him on the side of the page, also. Give it a look sometime.
God accepts us in who we are and where we are at in our lives. This does not mean he does not want us to change... but he invites us to sit down at his table no matter if we are a pope or a prostitute. This means we too must also sit down with people as Christ did. Because in God's eyes, we are all broken but it will never stop him from loving us.
God accepts us in who we are and where we are at in our lives. This does not mean he does not want us to change... but he invites us to sit down at his table no matter if we are a pope or a prostitute. This means we too must also sit down with people as Christ did. Because in God's eyes, we are all broken but it will never stop him from loving us.
Jan 18, 2004
God's so perfect...
Funny how God works everything out perfectly. At Fusion Leadership meeting tonight we had a specific time of sharing with each other that turned out to be really sort of cleansing. We shared with each other an aspect about ourselves that we knew we struggled with, or that we knew we needed to work on. It especially helped me see some things more clearly about situations going on right now in my life. I finally verbalized some things that I have been aware of in my head, and somehow speaking them out-loud helped me make them true in my heart, as well. One thing I acknowledged was that I often pray for God's will to be done above my own and for God to do whatever He sees fit in a given situation, yet when God actually starts to answer a prayer request by doing His will and doing whatever He sees fit, I get all upset because things aren't happening the way I thought they should. When I pray the prayer, I mean it, but when it actually happens, it's a lot harder to accept. I said it's almost like lying to myself by first saying that I do want God's will yet not accepting it when it's offered. As I mentioned, verbalizing these facts seemed to help me so much. In my present "situation" I had already determined earlier this week that I was okay with whatever the outcome would be, but tonight I really came to understand that this indeed was God answering my prayer... in His own way rather than mine. I dealt with the situation, and now I feel infinitely better. I'm so glad God takes such good care of me! And I am finally starting to realize that things work out better when I don't try to fight the answers God gives me! Anyway, that's all. It was a good night.
Funny how God works everything out perfectly. At Fusion Leadership meeting tonight we had a specific time of sharing with each other that turned out to be really sort of cleansing. We shared with each other an aspect about ourselves that we knew we struggled with, or that we knew we needed to work on. It especially helped me see some things more clearly about situations going on right now in my life. I finally verbalized some things that I have been aware of in my head, and somehow speaking them out-loud helped me make them true in my heart, as well. One thing I acknowledged was that I often pray for God's will to be done above my own and for God to do whatever He sees fit in a given situation, yet when God actually starts to answer a prayer request by doing His will and doing whatever He sees fit, I get all upset because things aren't happening the way I thought they should. When I pray the prayer, I mean it, but when it actually happens, it's a lot harder to accept. I said it's almost like lying to myself by first saying that I do want God's will yet not accepting it when it's offered. As I mentioned, verbalizing these facts seemed to help me so much. In my present "situation" I had already determined earlier this week that I was okay with whatever the outcome would be, but tonight I really came to understand that this indeed was God answering my prayer... in His own way rather than mine. I dealt with the situation, and now I feel infinitely better. I'm so glad God takes such good care of me! And I am finally starting to realize that things work out better when I don't try to fight the answers God gives me! Anyway, that's all. It was a good night.
Jan 17, 2004
If you're not the one then why does my soul feel glad today?
If you're not the one then why does my hand fit yours this way?
If you are not mine then why does your heart return my call
If you are not mine would I have the strength to stand at all
I never know what the future brings
but I know you are here with me now
We'll make it through
and I hope you are the one I share my life with
I don't wanna run away but I can't take it, I don't understand
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am?
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?
-from Kim's away message
If you're not the one then why does my hand fit yours this way?
If you are not mine then why does your heart return my call
If you are not mine would I have the strength to stand at all
I never know what the future brings
but I know you are here with me now
We'll make it through
and I hope you are the one I share my life with
I don't wanna run away but I can't take it, I don't understand
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am?
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?
-from Kim's away message
Jan 15, 2004
"I Belong to You" by Superchic[k]
everybody needs to belong somewhere
life can feel so alone without someone who cares
and when life becomes something just to get through
that's when i'm glad that i belong to You
i belong to You
i belong to You
You're the One who will never let me down
won't let me down
i belong to You
sometimes life brings more pain than we can bear alone
when hope is gone and i have no strength to stand on my own
when nothing helps, there's nothing that i can do
You surround me and show me i belong to You
i belong to You
i belong to You
You're the One who will never let me down
won't let me down
i belong to You
when love is gone, there's no arms to run to anymore
i'm all alone, there's no one for me to live for
letting go of the things i've always clung to
that's when i need to feel that i belong to You
i belong to You
i belong to You
You're the One who will never let me down
won't let me down
i belong to You
everybody needs to belong somewhere
life can feel so alone without someone who cares
and when life becomes something just to get through
that's when i'm glad that i belong to You
i belong to You
i belong to You
You're the One who will never let me down
won't let me down
i belong to You
sometimes life brings more pain than we can bear alone
when hope is gone and i have no strength to stand on my own
when nothing helps, there's nothing that i can do
You surround me and show me i belong to You
i belong to You
i belong to You
You're the One who will never let me down
won't let me down
i belong to You
when love is gone, there's no arms to run to anymore
i'm all alone, there's no one for me to live for
letting go of the things i've always clung to
that's when i need to feel that i belong to You
i belong to You
i belong to You
You're the One who will never let me down
won't let me down
i belong to You
He's everything I need...
Last night at Fusion was incredible! Everything was good, but particularly the last two songs. We did "You are beautiful, my sweet, sweet song...", which is my favorite, and then we did "Give me one pure and holy passion...", which is exactly what I needed to hear yesterday. It's funny how God points things directly at you sometimes. I couldn't have asked for more appropriate songs yesterday.
I'm really glad to be back in St. Augustine. I love it here. This week has been a little awkward, though. I think everyone's just a little weird around each other after not seeing each other for a while. Hopefully that will all pass in the next few days and everything will be back to normal.
Anyway, that's about all for now. I'll try to post again when there's some new information to be had. Later.
Last night at Fusion was incredible! Everything was good, but particularly the last two songs. We did "You are beautiful, my sweet, sweet song...", which is my favorite, and then we did "Give me one pure and holy passion...", which is exactly what I needed to hear yesterday. It's funny how God points things directly at you sometimes. I couldn't have asked for more appropriate songs yesterday.
I'm really glad to be back in St. Augustine. I love it here. This week has been a little awkward, though. I think everyone's just a little weird around each other after not seeing each other for a while. Hopefully that will all pass in the next few days and everything will be back to normal.
Anyway, that's about all for now. I'll try to post again when there's some new information to be had. Later.
Jan 11, 2004
a good day, despite the facts...
It's cool when you read a Bible verse that you've heard a million times before but this time God decides to reveal something new to you about it. That happened to me today. Actually, I guess I didn't read the verse; Bro.Keith mentioned it tonight during the service. But at any rate, it was cool.
On another note, I was reminded tonight how important passion is to a meaningful Christian life. Some close friends of mine are quite discouraged right now about the lack of passion in those around them because it is affecting their ministry. One of them asked me for advice tonight and it was hard to come up with anything to tell them, but we had a good conversation about it and talked about a few ideas. I'm praying that things look up for them soon. Starting Tuesday, I'll be away again, so there's not much I can do to help them except pray for them and keep suggesting whatever I can think of.
"The facts" about today, for those who need to know, is that my grandad died this morning. So here's the story. He got put in the hospital the Monday before Christmas because he had a stroke. They did an MRI and found that he had a tumor on his brain, which caused the stroke. Tuesday they did surgery to remove the tumor. Surprisingly, he made it through the surgery. Since then, he was recovering pretty well. They moved him from the hospital to a rehab center this past week. Saturday morning, however, he choked, and apparently that put him in a far worse state. His heart was beating on its own, but everything else was being run by machines. Mom and her family were going to have to make a decision today of whether or not to keep the machines going, because that's not what my grandad wanted. This morning my mom got the call saying he passed away though, so in a way they were relieved not to have to make that decision. The family's all doing pretty well, but it's emotionally exhausting to have everyone and their brother ask about it, or call the house, or come by to visit, or say "I'm sorry about your grandad." I know it's all in good heart, and I would do exactly the same, but it does get tiring. And it's not even like it makes us upset to talk about it; it's just that it's the same thing over and over again all day long. It could be happy news and I'd be sick of it! But that will all pass soon, so I guess I should just be thankful that so many people care about us enough to mention it. Anyway, that's all. Thought you should know.
I'm ready to be in St. Augustine again!!! Can't wait till Tuesday! Until then, haircut and pictures and Erica tomorrow. Later.
It's cool when you read a Bible verse that you've heard a million times before but this time God decides to reveal something new to you about it. That happened to me today. Actually, I guess I didn't read the verse; Bro.Keith mentioned it tonight during the service. But at any rate, it was cool.
On another note, I was reminded tonight how important passion is to a meaningful Christian life. Some close friends of mine are quite discouraged right now about the lack of passion in those around them because it is affecting their ministry. One of them asked me for advice tonight and it was hard to come up with anything to tell them, but we had a good conversation about it and talked about a few ideas. I'm praying that things look up for them soon. Starting Tuesday, I'll be away again, so there's not much I can do to help them except pray for them and keep suggesting whatever I can think of.
"The facts" about today, for those who need to know, is that my grandad died this morning. So here's the story. He got put in the hospital the Monday before Christmas because he had a stroke. They did an MRI and found that he had a tumor on his brain, which caused the stroke. Tuesday they did surgery to remove the tumor. Surprisingly, he made it through the surgery. Since then, he was recovering pretty well. They moved him from the hospital to a rehab center this past week. Saturday morning, however, he choked, and apparently that put him in a far worse state. His heart was beating on its own, but everything else was being run by machines. Mom and her family were going to have to make a decision today of whether or not to keep the machines going, because that's not what my grandad wanted. This morning my mom got the call saying he passed away though, so in a way they were relieved not to have to make that decision. The family's all doing pretty well, but it's emotionally exhausting to have everyone and their brother ask about it, or call the house, or come by to visit, or say "I'm sorry about your grandad." I know it's all in good heart, and I would do exactly the same, but it does get tiring. And it's not even like it makes us upset to talk about it; it's just that it's the same thing over and over again all day long. It could be happy news and I'd be sick of it! But that will all pass soon, so I guess I should just be thankful that so many people care about us enough to mention it. Anyway, that's all. Thought you should know.
I'm ready to be in St. Augustine again!!! Can't wait till Tuesday! Until then, haircut and pictures and Erica tomorrow. Later.
Jan 10, 2004
the end...
I have worked my last day for Old Navy. It's been good, but I'm pretty glad I'm done. Retail is tough! I don't plan on having any future jobs in the industry. Speaking of future jobs, I was talking with my mom yesterday and I was like "How in the world do people ever decide what they want to do with their lives?" and the basic conclusion that I got from her was that people just do what makes money, and nobody ever really gets a job they love or even one they have dreamed about. That's depressing. It's my goal to enter into a career that I love that can also support me, but I haven't quite decided what that is yet. I have come upon one pretty cool opportunity, however. I'm probably going to stay the summer in Atlanta and work with Rex and Marti in their furniture shop! I'm really excited about that. We haven't worked out all the little details yet, but it is looking more and more like a definite possibility. I'll most likely be working on the "finishing" portion of the furniture-making, like staining and varnishing the wood and checking over last-minute details. Maybe that sounds boring to some people, but I really think I'll enjoy it. I've always been into stuff like that anyway.
Summer's still a while away. Current plans are to pack up this weekend to get ready to move back to school on Tuesday. I'm so ready to be back! According to my tentative schedule, I should have all the classes I signed up for, which is good. I'm to the point now that if I don't get exactly what I signed up for, it could possibly throw everything off. I've got a little extra space in my final semester of classes though, so hopefully that will be like a buffer if anything gets thrown off. I have the feeling I'll be INCREDIBLY busy this semester with my 18 credit hours and two seperate practicums. If you don't hear from me often, that's probably why! Anyway, for now I need to get to bed for church in the morning. Sweet dreams!
I have worked my last day for Old Navy. It's been good, but I'm pretty glad I'm done. Retail is tough! I don't plan on having any future jobs in the industry. Speaking of future jobs, I was talking with my mom yesterday and I was like "How in the world do people ever decide what they want to do with their lives?" and the basic conclusion that I got from her was that people just do what makes money, and nobody ever really gets a job they love or even one they have dreamed about. That's depressing. It's my goal to enter into a career that I love that can also support me, but I haven't quite decided what that is yet. I have come upon one pretty cool opportunity, however. I'm probably going to stay the summer in Atlanta and work with Rex and Marti in their furniture shop! I'm really excited about that. We haven't worked out all the little details yet, but it is looking more and more like a definite possibility. I'll most likely be working on the "finishing" portion of the furniture-making, like staining and varnishing the wood and checking over last-minute details. Maybe that sounds boring to some people, but I really think I'll enjoy it. I've always been into stuff like that anyway.
Summer's still a while away. Current plans are to pack up this weekend to get ready to move back to school on Tuesday. I'm so ready to be back! According to my tentative schedule, I should have all the classes I signed up for, which is good. I'm to the point now that if I don't get exactly what I signed up for, it could possibly throw everything off. I've got a little extra space in my final semester of classes though, so hopefully that will be like a buffer if anything gets thrown off. I have the feeling I'll be INCREDIBLY busy this semester with my 18 credit hours and two seperate practicums. If you don't hear from me often, that's probably why! Anyway, for now I need to get to bed for church in the morning. Sweet dreams!
Jan 7, 2004
so here's the story of New York... this will be long!
Monday, December 29: Andrew's train was four hours late!
Tuesday, December 30: Our train was basically on time. The train ride was LONG. Through the night none of us could sleep. We would all lay there with our eyes closed for 30 minutes or so, and then we would turn to each other and we were like "did you sleep any?" "no, did you?" "no." During the day though we dozed off here and there. We got into Philly on Tuesday around 6:00pm. Erica and her mom met us at the station and drove us back to her house in Atlantic City, NJ, which is about an hour and a half away. We stayed there for the night.
Wednesday, December 31: We got up and headed to the bus station. We planned on taking the 7:00am New Jersey Transit bus, but we missed it by like 2 minutes, so we took the 8:00 Greyhound. The ride to NY City is about 2 1/2 hours. When we got there, we took the subway to Erica's cousin's house. (Her cousin's name is Jackie, and she and her fiance Neil live together in an apartment on 71st just off Broadway.) We dropped all our stuff off at the apartment and went to Central Park and just wandered around a bit. We came back to the apartment and ordered a "real New York pizza" for lunch. I'm not personally very impressed by them. We hung out around the apartment for a while until it was time to go set up camp in Times Square for the big event. We got settled in at Times Square around 6:00. After a little confusion of where to go when we first got there, it wasn't too chaotic for the rest of the evening. Every hour there is a countdown, which is like a short-term goal to look forward to while you're out there freezing in the middle of the street. The five of us eventually decided to make a theme for each hour, among which were "20 questions" and "the group hug"... meaning we played 20 questions for a straight hour, and then stood in a group hug to conserve body heat for a straight hour. Finally midnight rolled around. Music played, confetti flew, the ball dropped, and fireworks went off. It was terrific. We all tried to call the people we had promised to call, but cell phone service was apparently overloaded because most of our calls wouldn't go through. So for those of you who didn't get a call, or got one an hour later, that's why, and we apologize. After it was over, we headed back to the apartment for the night.
Thursday, January 1: We took the opportunity to sleep in a little late. Jackie (who is incredibly awesome) cooked breakfast for us. We left and went down 5th Avenue to see a few shop windows. We made a quick stop in Sacks, only to be completely astonished by the price tags, and continued on to Rockefeller Center where we saw the famous Christmas tree and the ice skating rink. From there we went to the Empire State Building. From start to finish, that alone was a four hour ordeal. Needless to say, we were hungry by the time we exited the building. We subwayed back to the end of Jackie's street and called to find out the location of a nearby Chinese place she had suggested. She told us it was called Ollie's and we headed in its direction. The food was terrific. After dinner, we were completely beat, so we just went back to the apartment and watched a movie and a few tv shows and went to bed.
Friday, January 2: We woke up early (reasonably) and got ready. Jessica and her family live in Orange County, New York, and they came into the City and met up with us. We loaded our stuff into their cars that morning to get out of Jackie's way, and spent the rest of the day doing stuff around the City. We went to Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, The Pier mall (near the fish market), and made another stop in Times Square. Erica had to leave half-way through the day to go back home for a retreat. At the end of the evening the rest of us drove back to Jessica's house, which is about an hour and a half away. They live in a really cool log cabin style house. We watched a movie and then spent a little time in the hot tub. When we finally came back inside, we put in another movie, but three of the five of us were out in seconds, so we decided not to finish it. Christina and I woke up the other three and we all headed down to the basement room where we were staying for the night. We all got to sleep in beds! That was nice!
Saturday, January 3: We bummed out around Jessica's house for a while, and then caught the 3:30 train back to the City. This is where the story really begins. We arrived into Penn station and we had to find a place to keep our luggage because we had reservations at a comedy club that night. We weren't staying in the City that night, so we couldn't just leave our luggage where we would be staying. We needed somewhere to keep it until after the show when we would be catching the bus back to Atlantic City. None of the bus or train stations in NYC have lockers anymore since 9-11, so we left Penn station and went up to the Penn Hotel which is on the street above it. We asked one of the bell hop guys if we could store luggage at the front desk and he told us that it cost $4 a bag, but that we could. So we got in line and waited for like 15 or 20 minutes. When we got to the desk, they informed us that we could not keep our luggage there since we were not hotel guests. We were really ticked at the bell hop guy. Andrew and I sat with the luggage on a bench over to the side while Krissy and Christina ran around trying to find somewhere for us to keep our stuff. Finally they found out that we could check it at Penn station, so we took it back down there. We checked a map to figure out where we were going for the show. It looked really close, so we decided not to take the subway but to walk instead. We had about 30 minutes till we were supposed to be there at this point. We started walking, and within a short time we realized it was a lot further than we thought but it was too late to turn back and take the subway, so we continued on a frantic power-walk through the heart of New York City. We finally got to Caroline's (the comedy club) and all was well. The comedian was great, and the food and drinks were good, too. Afterward, we walked back to Penn station (which is not nearly as far when you're not in a hurry and sorta know where you're going!). We got our luggage and took the subway to the bus station. We got on the 11:30 bus to Atlantic City. You would think the story ends there, but alas, it has only just begun. We were on the highway and passed two other Greyhounds on the side of the road. Our driver pulled over and informed us that it is company policy that if she passes two other buses she has to pull over to make sure they're okay. (Not that there's anything she could have done for them, but it's their policy.) So she got back on the bus after checking on them, and within 5 minutes our bus died and we were the ones on the side of the road. What luck. The Jamacian woman in front of me saw the water in the grass on the side of the road and insisted that we were in the swamp and were going to be eaten by snakes. I thought to myself, "We're from Florida. That's no swamp. That's a puddle." The driver called the head office and they instructed her to pull off the highway, so she did. They told her a mechanic and another bus were coming. So we waited. The other passengers started getting really worked up. They were all tourists on their way to the casinos in Atlantic City, so they weren't happy about a broken bus taking up their gambling time. Among other things, one woman demanded that the driver call the police. What did she think the police would have done for us?! Another woman complained about how she was tired and hungry. The driver offered her ham sandwich to her, but the woman said she didn't eat ham. Several irate men from the back wanted phone numbers and addresses for the Greyhound offices, apparently so they could call and complain about the driver, as if it was her fault the bus broke down. Eventually a second bus came for us. It was 4:30am by the time we reached Atlantic City. Erica's mom graciously met us at the bus station and drove us back to her house. What a day.
Sunday, January 4: We slept. Obviously. Erica was back by the time we woke up, which was well after noon. We spent the remainder of the day watching movies and eating. Then we went back to bed!
Monday, January 5: Not much more exciting than Sunday. We got up, packed, stopped by the store for some snacks, and drove to Philly to catch the train. Luckily it was on time. 18 hours later, we were in Jacksonville.
Tuesday, January 6: Our train got into Jacksonville around 8:00am. Christina stayed on to go to Orlando. The remaining three of us got off. Krissy's dad dropped Andrew and I off at my house where we sat on the couch and watched tv and napped (well, I napped) for most of the day. Around 5:00 I drove him back to the train station yet again. Luckily, this time his train was on time. He got in line to board the train, and that concludes our events of the week. I went home, ate dinner, and crawled into bed by 7:00. A well-deserved full night's rest.
Random notes: When in NYC, be advised, Penn Station is much further from Times Square than it seems on the subway maps. Take the subway. Don't walk. If you plan on moving to the City, I hope you're rich. The apartment we stayed in had one bedroom, a combination living/dining room, a kitchen where you could touch all three walls at the same time, and a small bathroom, and it cost $2,000 a month. When on a trip, be sure to DOUBLE CHECK if you're leaving anything behind. Andrew successfully forgot something at every place we stayed. I also forgot my cell phone at Erica's and therefore didn't have it for most of the week. It's funny how dependent we are on those things! And a final note: if you're thinking about taking the train from Florida to New York, don't. Fly. It's worth the extra money. 18 hours is a long time.
Monday, December 29: Andrew's train was four hours late!
Tuesday, December 30: Our train was basically on time. The train ride was LONG. Through the night none of us could sleep. We would all lay there with our eyes closed for 30 minutes or so, and then we would turn to each other and we were like "did you sleep any?" "no, did you?" "no." During the day though we dozed off here and there. We got into Philly on Tuesday around 6:00pm. Erica and her mom met us at the station and drove us back to her house in Atlantic City, NJ, which is about an hour and a half away. We stayed there for the night.
Wednesday, December 31: We got up and headed to the bus station. We planned on taking the 7:00am New Jersey Transit bus, but we missed it by like 2 minutes, so we took the 8:00 Greyhound. The ride to NY City is about 2 1/2 hours. When we got there, we took the subway to Erica's cousin's house. (Her cousin's name is Jackie, and she and her fiance Neil live together in an apartment on 71st just off Broadway.) We dropped all our stuff off at the apartment and went to Central Park and just wandered around a bit. We came back to the apartment and ordered a "real New York pizza" for lunch. I'm not personally very impressed by them. We hung out around the apartment for a while until it was time to go set up camp in Times Square for the big event. We got settled in at Times Square around 6:00. After a little confusion of where to go when we first got there, it wasn't too chaotic for the rest of the evening. Every hour there is a countdown, which is like a short-term goal to look forward to while you're out there freezing in the middle of the street. The five of us eventually decided to make a theme for each hour, among which were "20 questions" and "the group hug"... meaning we played 20 questions for a straight hour, and then stood in a group hug to conserve body heat for a straight hour. Finally midnight rolled around. Music played, confetti flew, the ball dropped, and fireworks went off. It was terrific. We all tried to call the people we had promised to call, but cell phone service was apparently overloaded because most of our calls wouldn't go through. So for those of you who didn't get a call, or got one an hour later, that's why, and we apologize. After it was over, we headed back to the apartment for the night.
Thursday, January 1: We took the opportunity to sleep in a little late. Jackie (who is incredibly awesome) cooked breakfast for us. We left and went down 5th Avenue to see a few shop windows. We made a quick stop in Sacks, only to be completely astonished by the price tags, and continued on to Rockefeller Center where we saw the famous Christmas tree and the ice skating rink. From there we went to the Empire State Building. From start to finish, that alone was a four hour ordeal. Needless to say, we were hungry by the time we exited the building. We subwayed back to the end of Jackie's street and called to find out the location of a nearby Chinese place she had suggested. She told us it was called Ollie's and we headed in its direction. The food was terrific. After dinner, we were completely beat, so we just went back to the apartment and watched a movie and a few tv shows and went to bed.
Friday, January 2: We woke up early (reasonably) and got ready. Jessica and her family live in Orange County, New York, and they came into the City and met up with us. We loaded our stuff into their cars that morning to get out of Jackie's way, and spent the rest of the day doing stuff around the City. We went to Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, The Pier mall (near the fish market), and made another stop in Times Square. Erica had to leave half-way through the day to go back home for a retreat. At the end of the evening the rest of us drove back to Jessica's house, which is about an hour and a half away. They live in a really cool log cabin style house. We watched a movie and then spent a little time in the hot tub. When we finally came back inside, we put in another movie, but three of the five of us were out in seconds, so we decided not to finish it. Christina and I woke up the other three and we all headed down to the basement room where we were staying for the night. We all got to sleep in beds! That was nice!
Saturday, January 3: We bummed out around Jessica's house for a while, and then caught the 3:30 train back to the City. This is where the story really begins. We arrived into Penn station and we had to find a place to keep our luggage because we had reservations at a comedy club that night. We weren't staying in the City that night, so we couldn't just leave our luggage where we would be staying. We needed somewhere to keep it until after the show when we would be catching the bus back to Atlantic City. None of the bus or train stations in NYC have lockers anymore since 9-11, so we left Penn station and went up to the Penn Hotel which is on the street above it. We asked one of the bell hop guys if we could store luggage at the front desk and he told us that it cost $4 a bag, but that we could. So we got in line and waited for like 15 or 20 minutes. When we got to the desk, they informed us that we could not keep our luggage there since we were not hotel guests. We were really ticked at the bell hop guy. Andrew and I sat with the luggage on a bench over to the side while Krissy and Christina ran around trying to find somewhere for us to keep our stuff. Finally they found out that we could check it at Penn station, so we took it back down there. We checked a map to figure out where we were going for the show. It looked really close, so we decided not to take the subway but to walk instead. We had about 30 minutes till we were supposed to be there at this point. We started walking, and within a short time we realized it was a lot further than we thought but it was too late to turn back and take the subway, so we continued on a frantic power-walk through the heart of New York City. We finally got to Caroline's (the comedy club) and all was well. The comedian was great, and the food and drinks were good, too. Afterward, we walked back to Penn station (which is not nearly as far when you're not in a hurry and sorta know where you're going!). We got our luggage and took the subway to the bus station. We got on the 11:30 bus to Atlantic City. You would think the story ends there, but alas, it has only just begun. We were on the highway and passed two other Greyhounds on the side of the road. Our driver pulled over and informed us that it is company policy that if she passes two other buses she has to pull over to make sure they're okay. (Not that there's anything she could have done for them, but it's their policy.) So she got back on the bus after checking on them, and within 5 minutes our bus died and we were the ones on the side of the road. What luck. The Jamacian woman in front of me saw the water in the grass on the side of the road and insisted that we were in the swamp and were going to be eaten by snakes. I thought to myself, "We're from Florida. That's no swamp. That's a puddle." The driver called the head office and they instructed her to pull off the highway, so she did. They told her a mechanic and another bus were coming. So we waited. The other passengers started getting really worked up. They were all tourists on their way to the casinos in Atlantic City, so they weren't happy about a broken bus taking up their gambling time. Among other things, one woman demanded that the driver call the police. What did she think the police would have done for us?! Another woman complained about how she was tired and hungry. The driver offered her ham sandwich to her, but the woman said she didn't eat ham. Several irate men from the back wanted phone numbers and addresses for the Greyhound offices, apparently so they could call and complain about the driver, as if it was her fault the bus broke down. Eventually a second bus came for us. It was 4:30am by the time we reached Atlantic City. Erica's mom graciously met us at the bus station and drove us back to her house. What a day.
Sunday, January 4: We slept. Obviously. Erica was back by the time we woke up, which was well after noon. We spent the remainder of the day watching movies and eating. Then we went back to bed!
Monday, January 5: Not much more exciting than Sunday. We got up, packed, stopped by the store for some snacks, and drove to Philly to catch the train. Luckily it was on time. 18 hours later, we were in Jacksonville.
Tuesday, January 6: Our train got into Jacksonville around 8:00am. Christina stayed on to go to Orlando. The remaining three of us got off. Krissy's dad dropped Andrew and I off at my house where we sat on the couch and watched tv and napped (well, I napped) for most of the day. Around 5:00 I drove him back to the train station yet again. Luckily, this time his train was on time. He got in line to board the train, and that concludes our events of the week. I went home, ate dinner, and crawled into bed by 7:00. A well-deserved full night's rest.
Random notes: When in NYC, be advised, Penn Station is much further from Times Square than it seems on the subway maps. Take the subway. Don't walk. If you plan on moving to the City, I hope you're rich. The apartment we stayed in had one bedroom, a combination living/dining room, a kitchen where you could touch all three walls at the same time, and a small bathroom, and it cost $2,000 a month. When on a trip, be sure to DOUBLE CHECK if you're leaving anything behind. Andrew successfully forgot something at every place we stayed. I also forgot my cell phone at Erica's and therefore didn't have it for most of the week. It's funny how dependent we are on those things! And a final note: if you're thinking about taking the train from Florida to New York, don't. Fly. It's worth the extra money. 18 hours is a long time.
Dec 28, 2003
I'M EXCITED!!!
Tomorrow's the big day!! Andrew's coming into Jax in the afternoon, and then we'll all meet up at the train station around midnight for our 1:00am train ride. Hopefully we'll all be able to sleep some on the train because that is going to be a LONG ride! Anyway, we'll get into Philly later in the day on Tuesday and Erica will meet us at the station. We'll head back to her house in Atlantic City for the night. Then Wednesday is the big day... NEW YEARS EVE!!!! We'll get up early in the morning and take the bus into New York City, drop our stuff at Erica's cousin's apartment, be tourists for a little bit, then park our butts out in Times Square for the looooooooong wait for the big event. WE'RE GOING TO FREEZE!!!! Toni was in New York last December and she said it's the coldest she's ever been in her life! Layers, layers, layers.... that's all I have to say. After we get out of Times Square, we'll spend the night at the apartment, and I guess the next day will be our official day of tourist stuff. After that, however, our plans are a little foggy. I'm not sure exactly where we're staying or what we're doing!!! But we'll figure it all out, and it'll be a blast no matter what, so I'm not concerned.
Can't wait till tomorrow!!!
Tomorrow's the big day!! Andrew's coming into Jax in the afternoon, and then we'll all meet up at the train station around midnight for our 1:00am train ride. Hopefully we'll all be able to sleep some on the train because that is going to be a LONG ride! Anyway, we'll get into Philly later in the day on Tuesday and Erica will meet us at the station. We'll head back to her house in Atlantic City for the night. Then Wednesday is the big day... NEW YEARS EVE!!!! We'll get up early in the morning and take the bus into New York City, drop our stuff at Erica's cousin's apartment, be tourists for a little bit, then park our butts out in Times Square for the looooooooong wait for the big event. WE'RE GOING TO FREEZE!!!! Toni was in New York last December and she said it's the coldest she's ever been in her life! Layers, layers, layers.... that's all I have to say. After we get out of Times Square, we'll spend the night at the apartment, and I guess the next day will be our official day of tourist stuff. After that, however, our plans are a little foggy. I'm not sure exactly where we're staying or what we're doing!!! But we'll figure it all out, and it'll be a blast no matter what, so I'm not concerned.
Can't wait till tomorrow!!!
Dec 25, 2003
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I hope everyone had a terrific Christmas today. Mine was great. Mom cooked some wonderful food, and the brothers and respective families came over for a while. Grandaddy's still recovering in the hospital, so obviously he and Granny didn't come over today like they usually do. As for his condition, he's making progress, but they still won't know for a while how he's going to be. He's still pretty out of it from medication, but the more he wakes up the more he fights to get out of the bed. He's never liked doctors, hospitals, medicine, or anything else, so the more aware he is of where he is, the more he gets agitated. I guess that's good in a way, because it shows that he is responsive and aware, but I'm sure it makes him a little hard to deal with at times for the nurses. My personal, un-scientific and non-medical opinion is that he is going to recover quite well. I'm not sure why I'm so confident of this, but I'm frequently right about other things, so maybe I'll be right about this, as well. As for other things, I have two days of work, a day of church, and a day of hanging out before we get on the train for Philly! At the beginning of my 18 day countdown, I thought it would never get here. Now it seems so close!!! I'm unbelievably excited! I'm going to go get a few things done before bed time. Later.
4 days...
I hope everyone had a terrific Christmas today. Mine was great. Mom cooked some wonderful food, and the brothers and respective families came over for a while. Grandaddy's still recovering in the hospital, so obviously he and Granny didn't come over today like they usually do. As for his condition, he's making progress, but they still won't know for a while how he's going to be. He's still pretty out of it from medication, but the more he wakes up the more he fights to get out of the bed. He's never liked doctors, hospitals, medicine, or anything else, so the more aware he is of where he is, the more he gets agitated. I guess that's good in a way, because it shows that he is responsive and aware, but I'm sure it makes him a little hard to deal with at times for the nurses. My personal, un-scientific and non-medical opinion is that he is going to recover quite well. I'm not sure why I'm so confident of this, but I'm frequently right about other things, so maybe I'll be right about this, as well. As for other things, I have two days of work, a day of church, and a day of hanging out before we get on the train for Philly! At the beginning of my 18 day countdown, I thought it would never get here. Now it seems so close!!! I'm unbelievably excited! I'm going to go get a few things done before bed time. Later.
4 days...
Dec 23, 2003
6 days, 5 1/2 hours...
Then I'll be on the train headed to Philly. When we get to Philly, we'll take a bus to Atlantic City. We'll chill out for the night, and then we'll take a bus to New York City. I'M SOOOOO EXCITED!!!! I pulled out my suitcase yesterday so I could just casually start chunking articles of clothing into it throughout the week, and I quickly realized how much space sweaters take up! I'm used to traveling during the spring and summer... in Florida. Tank tops and shorts are a lot more compact! I even proudly went to Europe for eight days in the spring time with only one small suitcase and a carry-on bag. I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have twice that for this trip! Or at least the luggage size may increase. Hopefully I'll be able to find a way to keep it reasonable.
Please pray for my grandad (Mom's dad) and my family. He was put in the hospital yesterday with symptoms similar to a stroke. When they did the MRI they found that he had a tumor on his brain. They took him in for surgery to remove the tumor about an hour ago. No one is sure how long he'll make it after the surgery or even if he'll make it through at all. He's quite old. Along with that, we got a call yesterday saying that my dad's uncle passed away. That one was a little more expected, but with the two things put together, it'll make for a less than cheery Christmas around here. I guess I'm feeling the least impact because I wasn't particularly close to either of them, but it's still a lot for the family to deal with during the week of Christmas. Just keep us in your prayers if you would.
On a lighter note, I had a pretty good day at work today, which says a lot since I was there at 7AM again and I worked for 8 hours when I had the slight possibility of working only 4. I got a break from the register today, which normally would NOT be a good thing because I hate working the floor, but today I did markdowns. Markdowns are fun for me because I get to work basically alone with my own little project (not really so little) and I'm pretty much in the same spot for a while rather than running around the store like everybody else. The only annoying part is that customers don't seem to notice when you're busy on a project; they want you to drop what you're doing in the men's department to come help them find something in the kids department even though there are 5 other employees standing in the kids department already! Ugh! It's not so bad, though. When the store is as busy as it has been lately, it should be expected that you'll get interruped more than you'd like. And it beats the heck out of dealing with the impatient customers who are checking out!
Anyway, that's about all for tonight. I'm gonna go get some stuff done and hopefully get to bed at a decent hour. But then again, I get to sleep in in the morning (YAY!) so getting to bed is not as much of a priority today. We'll see what happens...
(6 days, 5 hours!)
Then I'll be on the train headed to Philly. When we get to Philly, we'll take a bus to Atlantic City. We'll chill out for the night, and then we'll take a bus to New York City. I'M SOOOOO EXCITED!!!! I pulled out my suitcase yesterday so I could just casually start chunking articles of clothing into it throughout the week, and I quickly realized how much space sweaters take up! I'm used to traveling during the spring and summer... in Florida. Tank tops and shorts are a lot more compact! I even proudly went to Europe for eight days in the spring time with only one small suitcase and a carry-on bag. I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have twice that for this trip! Or at least the luggage size may increase. Hopefully I'll be able to find a way to keep it reasonable.
Please pray for my grandad (Mom's dad) and my family. He was put in the hospital yesterday with symptoms similar to a stroke. When they did the MRI they found that he had a tumor on his brain. They took him in for surgery to remove the tumor about an hour ago. No one is sure how long he'll make it after the surgery or even if he'll make it through at all. He's quite old. Along with that, we got a call yesterday saying that my dad's uncle passed away. That one was a little more expected, but with the two things put together, it'll make for a less than cheery Christmas around here. I guess I'm feeling the least impact because I wasn't particularly close to either of them, but it's still a lot for the family to deal with during the week of Christmas. Just keep us in your prayers if you would.
On a lighter note, I had a pretty good day at work today, which says a lot since I was there at 7AM again and I worked for 8 hours when I had the slight possibility of working only 4. I got a break from the register today, which normally would NOT be a good thing because I hate working the floor, but today I did markdowns. Markdowns are fun for me because I get to work basically alone with my own little project (not really so little) and I'm pretty much in the same spot for a while rather than running around the store like everybody else. The only annoying part is that customers don't seem to notice when you're busy on a project; they want you to drop what you're doing in the men's department to come help them find something in the kids department even though there are 5 other employees standing in the kids department already! Ugh! It's not so bad, though. When the store is as busy as it has been lately, it should be expected that you'll get interruped more than you'd like. And it beats the heck out of dealing with the impatient customers who are checking out!
Anyway, that's about all for tonight. I'm gonna go get some stuff done and hopefully get to bed at a decent hour. But then again, I get to sleep in in the morning (YAY!) so getting to bed is not as much of a priority today. We'll see what happens...
(6 days, 5 hours!)
Dec 22, 2003
Dec 21, 2003
forgot about this...
I had forgotten all about this until I was talking to Krissy. I'm too tired to re-type it, so I'll copy and paste our conversation.
K: telllllllll me a story
m: just a sec....
m: hmmm....
m: a story...
m: oh here's one...
K: hehe
m: i was at work today, and there were like 5 million people in our store... so i'm ringing up a customer as quickly as possible b/c there's like 25 people in line behind her... and the phone rings...
m: i usually give it two or three rings to see if someone else picks up b/c i hate answering the phone while i'm ringing someone up...
m: but no one else could answer, so i picked up...
K: uh huh
m: the lady on the phone was like "what is the name of the dog in the truck?"... and I paused for a second to think about what she said and to figure out if I heard her right... and I said "Magic"... and she was like "pardon me?"... and I said "Magic".... and she said "Magic?".... and I said "yes ma'am"..... and she was like "M-A-G-I-C?".... and i was like "yes ma'am".....
m: and she said thank you and hung up...
m: i was like, i cannot believe she had the nerve to call on the busiest day of the year to ask the name of the Old Navy dog
I had forgotten all about this until I was talking to Krissy. I'm too tired to re-type it, so I'll copy and paste our conversation.
K: telllllllll me a story
m: just a sec....
m: hmmm....
m: a story...
m: oh here's one...
K: hehe
m: i was at work today, and there were like 5 million people in our store... so i'm ringing up a customer as quickly as possible b/c there's like 25 people in line behind her... and the phone rings...
m: i usually give it two or three rings to see if someone else picks up b/c i hate answering the phone while i'm ringing someone up...
m: but no one else could answer, so i picked up...
K: uh huh
m: the lady on the phone was like "what is the name of the dog in the truck?"... and I paused for a second to think about what she said and to figure out if I heard her right... and I said "Magic"... and she was like "pardon me?"... and I said "Magic".... and she said "Magic?".... and I said "yes ma'am"..... and she was like "M-A-G-I-C?".... and i was like "yes ma'am".....
m: and she said thank you and hung up...
m: i was like, i cannot believe she had the nerve to call on the busiest day of the year to ask the name of the Old Navy dog
Dec 20, 2003
beautiful...
Erin and Phillip's wedding was this afternoon. It was beautiful. Beautiful and perfect. Erin was radient. And Phillip was by far the sweetest groom ever! During the last song, which was called "The Prayer," he and Erin stood at the alter facing each other, and he whispered a prayer in her ear. If it wasn't for Ashlee (the flower girl) goofing off in the background, it would have been a really emotional moment for all of us! Anyway, it was very sweet. The reception afterward was very fun, also. It's cool that most of us who were there are friends, so we all had a great time hanging out and partying. Anyway, that's about all the news for today. Work was LONG, being the last Saturday before Christmas and all. I'm sure next week will be out of control! But then after it's over, it's off to New York we go!!!! I am SO excited!
9 days...
Erin and Phillip's wedding was this afternoon. It was beautiful. Beautiful and perfect. Erin was radient. And Phillip was by far the sweetest groom ever! During the last song, which was called "The Prayer," he and Erin stood at the alter facing each other, and he whispered a prayer in her ear. If it wasn't for Ashlee (the flower girl) goofing off in the background, it would have been a really emotional moment for all of us! Anyway, it was very sweet. The reception afterward was very fun, also. It's cool that most of us who were there are friends, so we all had a great time hanging out and partying. Anyway, that's about all the news for today. Work was LONG, being the last Saturday before Christmas and all. I'm sure next week will be out of control! But then after it's over, it's off to New York we go!!!! I am SO excited!
9 days...
continuing...
The morning road air was like a new dress. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road and walked on, picking flowers and making a bouquet. After that she came to where Joe Starks was waiting for her with a hired rig. He was very solemn and helped her to the seat beside him. With him on it, it sat like some high, ruling chair. From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom. Her old thoughts were going to come in handy now, but new words would have to be made and said to fit them.
"Green Cove Springs," he told the driver. So they were married there before sundown, just like Joe had said. With new clothes of silk and wool.
They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged.
-Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The morning road air was like a new dress. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road and walked on, picking flowers and making a bouquet. After that she came to where Joe Starks was waiting for her with a hired rig. He was very solemn and helped her to the seat beside him. With him on it, it sat like some high, ruling chair. From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom. Her old thoughts were going to come in handy now, but new words would have to be made and said to fit them.
"Green Cove Springs," he told the driver. So they were married there before sundown, just like Joe had said. With new clothes of silk and wool.
They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged.
-Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Dec 19, 2003
another quote or two...
There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words, and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought.
-Zora Neale Hurston
We always believe our first love is our last, and our last love our first.
-curtesy of Amber Jolly's profile
There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words, and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought.
-Zora Neale Hurston
We always believe our first love is our last, and our last love our first.
-curtesy of Amber Jolly's profile
a great quote...
It was a spring afternoon in West Florida. Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back-yard. She had been spending every minute that she could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days. That was to say, ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery. From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom. It stirred her tremendously. How? Why? It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again. What? How? Why? This singing she heard that had nothing to do with her ears. The rose of the world was breathing out smell. It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep. It connected itself with other vaguely felt matters that had struck her outside observation and buried themselves in her flesh. Now they emerged and quested about her consciousness.
She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid.
After a while she got up from where she was and went over the little garden field entire. She was seeking confirmation of the voice and vision, and everywhere she found and ackknowledged answers. A personal answer for all other creations except herself. She felt an answer seeking her, but where? When? How? She found herself at the kitchen door and stumbled inside. In the air of the room where flies tumbling and singing, marrying and giving in marriage. When she reached the narrow hallway she was reminded that her grandmother was home with a sick headache. She was lying across the bed asleep so Janie tipped on out of the front door. Oh to be a pear tree--any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the begining of the world! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her? Nothing on the place nor in her grandma's house answered her. She searched as much of the world as she could from the top of the front steps and then went on down to the front gate and leaned over to gaze up and down the road. Looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made.
Through pollinated air she saw a glorious being coming up the road. In her former blindness she had known him as shiftless Johnny Taylor, tall and lean. That was before the golden dust of pollen had beglamored his rags and her eyes.
In the last stages of Nanny's sleep, she dreamed of voices. Voices far-off but persistent, and gradually coming nearer. Janie's voice. Janie talking in whispery snatches with a male voice she couldn't quite place. That brought her wide awake. She bolted upright and peered out of the window and saw Johnny Taylor lacerating her Janie with a kiss.
excerpt from Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
It was a spring afternoon in West Florida. Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back-yard. She had been spending every minute that she could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days. That was to say, ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery. From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom. It stirred her tremendously. How? Why? It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again. What? How? Why? This singing she heard that had nothing to do with her ears. The rose of the world was breathing out smell. It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep. It connected itself with other vaguely felt matters that had struck her outside observation and buried themselves in her flesh. Now they emerged and quested about her consciousness.
She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid.
After a while she got up from where she was and went over the little garden field entire. She was seeking confirmation of the voice and vision, and everywhere she found and ackknowledged answers. A personal answer for all other creations except herself. She felt an answer seeking her, but where? When? How? She found herself at the kitchen door and stumbled inside. In the air of the room where flies tumbling and singing, marrying and giving in marriage. When she reached the narrow hallway she was reminded that her grandmother was home with a sick headache. She was lying across the bed asleep so Janie tipped on out of the front door. Oh to be a pear tree--any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the begining of the world! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her? Nothing on the place nor in her grandma's house answered her. She searched as much of the world as she could from the top of the front steps and then went on down to the front gate and leaned over to gaze up and down the road. Looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made.
Through pollinated air she saw a glorious being coming up the road. In her former blindness she had known him as shiftless Johnny Taylor, tall and lean. That was before the golden dust of pollen had beglamored his rags and her eyes.
In the last stages of Nanny's sleep, she dreamed of voices. Voices far-off but persistent, and gradually coming nearer. Janie's voice. Janie talking in whispery snatches with a male voice she couldn't quite place. That brought her wide awake. She bolted upright and peered out of the window and saw Johnny Taylor lacerating her Janie with a kiss.
excerpt from Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
on Catholicism...
PART THREE
Regarding salvation: "Catholics claim that salvation is secured by faith in Christ plus good works." John 3:16 teaches that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will be saved. It doesn't say anyone who believes in Jesus AND does all the right things. Salvation is a free gift to us. To say that we must do good works -- or works of any kind -- to secure our salvation is to say that we must earn it, and therefore it is not a free gift. Furthermore, the concept that I could ever earn the right to be saved is beyond my comprehension. I am incapable of being worthy of anything in the presence of a perfectly holy God. I will never, ever deserve anything from Him: not salvation, not heaven, not even for good things to happen in my life. In comparison to God's perfect standard, I am completely and totally unworthy. The Bible describes our good works as filthy rags. That's how much value they have in comparison to God's perfection. Many times I have heard "filthy rags" described in more accurate detail. The phrase literally describes the rags that leapers used to clean their sores. After use, the rags were thrown into the fire to be burned so as not to spread disease. Gee, sounds like our good works are really worth something, doesn't it! Aside from the fact that our good works really are worthless, to say that they are required for salvation is to say that Christ's sacrifice was not enough. Not enough?! The God of heaven put on dirty flesh and lived in a sinful world for over 30 years, was brutally beaten and killed by His creation, and still chose to ressurrect so that we could have salvation and a relationship with Him. To call this anything less than enough seems like a huge slap in the face of God to me.
"Catholics blend justification and sanctification into one process as the believer must work to merit eternal life; Protestants believe God justifies the believer by declaring him or her righteous, and that sanctification is a lifelong process of becoming holy as God works within." At the moment we believe in Christ's sacrifice as the means of our salvation, God declares us righteous. He no longer sees us for the sinful people we really are; He now sees Jesus Christ in us, and therefore views us as righteous. That is justification. Justification is often described as "just as if I never sinned." God erases our sins and His memory of them. Sanctification, on the other hand, is basically this: when God enters your life you begin to desire the things of God. From the point of salvation onward, the Christian begins to grow in Christ which is to grow more like Christ. By no means will we ever be perfect as Christ is, but we do begin to take on His characteristics.
Not only do Catholics believe that good works are a necessary element of salvation, they also "believe they cannot pay for all their sins in this life, and at death they go to purgatory for an undetermined time to be made totally fit for heaven." During the life of a Catholic, penances are done as payment for sins. When they die, they go to purgatory for the sins they did not get a chance to do penance for. So basically, not only is Christ's sacrifice not enough, His sacrifice plus their good works is also not enough. While in purgatory, it is believed that individuals cannot help themselves any more. They either complete their entire "sentence" or are helped by other Catholics on earth. The Catholics on earth can gain indulgences for those in purgatory. "When we speak of indulgences we are speaking of God 'indulging' (being kind to) a believer by giving to the believer from an inexhaustible supply of spiritual merits that have accumulated in the Church's treasury through the work of Christ and the prayers and good works of the Virgin Mary and the saints." So the way I see it, this says a person's salvation depends on the work of Christ, Mary, the saints, the individual, and the other Catholics left on earth after the individual's death. This method of salvation seems to depend on an aweful lot.
An additional note: This didn't fit into my two-point outline, so I'll just throw it in here. I'm not comfortable with the high level of focus and attention given to Mary in the Catholic church. Many beliefs about Mary grew from the traditions of the church, but as stated before, the Catholic church holds those traditions to be equally as important as the Scriptures themselves. First, tradition taught "that Mary's virginity continued after the birth of Jesus and that she never had any more children." To begin with, this is very false because the Bible mentions the literal brothers and sisters of Jesus. [Furthermore, some would argue the point that for Mary to remain a virgin after her marriage to Joseph would have been wrong or "sinful" based on the scripture that says a man and woman become one flesh in marriage. I'll save this argument for someone else though!] Regardless, I do believe Mary and Joseph went on to have a "normal" marriage and that they had other children. The Catholic tradition also teaches the Immaculate Conception, which says that Mary "was conceived without sin and lived a sinless life." This would basically put her on an equal level with Christ Himself. Based on the teachings of the Bible, I am convinced that Jesus was the only person ever to live a sinless life. Catholic tradition also teaches the Assumption, meaning that Mary did not die but "was taken up body and soul directly to heaven." While this is possible, the Bible does not mention it. I cannot say that it did not happen; I am just curious where the Catholic church found this information or evidence for it. Here comes the big problem I have with the focus on Mary. The Catholic church views her as a "co-mediator with Christ between God and man." The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ alone is our High Priest through whom we have access to God. It teaches that no man can approach the Father except through the Son. The Catholic church added the phrase "no man goeth to Christ but by His mother." This is never taught in the Bible. The Bible teaches that we have access to God by Jesus, not by Mary first, then Jesus.
In conclusion: I'm not really sure how to wrap this all up, but I think I'll just restate what I believe is my key point. I believe the message of the Bible is simple: faith in Christ alone brings salvation. The Catholic church tries to add things to this message to make it more feasable and comprehensible for us humans. The idea that people who do good works will be the ones who are saved makes sense to us; we like it. But God doesn't work that way. He says anyone who wants salvation can have it; it is equally free to all, regardless of behavior. The receiving of salvation should compell us to be better people for the sake of Christ's name, but our salvation is not contingent upon us actually becoming better people. Nor is it contingent upon any act or deed or accumulation of such that we or any other human (saint or otherwise) could ever do or have ever done. My point in all this research, and in these three lenghty posts, was to help myself determine my thoughts on Catholicism and its doctrine. I believe what I have discovered boils down to this: I am fine with any church that teaches that salvation is through faith in Christ alone and nothing else. I understand that individual churches vary from one another in many cases, therefore this is the standard. I also understand that even in churches that teach a works-based salvation there may be individuals who disagree with the teachings, and chose to believe in salvation through faith alone. I can't understand why these individuals would chose to go to these churches, but that's not my problem. As for those who believe in Christ plus works for salvation, I am in no position to say what their true spiritual standing is. While I do believe they have some things wrong with their faith, to God those things may be no bigger than the things I have wrong with my faith... because I obviously don't believe that I have everything exactly right all the time. All I know is that faith in God is a condition of the heart which other people are not capable of judging. This faith is usually displayed through a person's life, and is therefore often obvious to others, but a person's true standing with God is between the individual and God and no one else. These are my thoughts. Do with them what you like.
PART THREE
Regarding salvation: "Catholics claim that salvation is secured by faith in Christ plus good works." John 3:16 teaches that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will be saved. It doesn't say anyone who believes in Jesus AND does all the right things. Salvation is a free gift to us. To say that we must do good works -- or works of any kind -- to secure our salvation is to say that we must earn it, and therefore it is not a free gift. Furthermore, the concept that I could ever earn the right to be saved is beyond my comprehension. I am incapable of being worthy of anything in the presence of a perfectly holy God. I will never, ever deserve anything from Him: not salvation, not heaven, not even for good things to happen in my life. In comparison to God's perfect standard, I am completely and totally unworthy. The Bible describes our good works as filthy rags. That's how much value they have in comparison to God's perfection. Many times I have heard "filthy rags" described in more accurate detail. The phrase literally describes the rags that leapers used to clean their sores. After use, the rags were thrown into the fire to be burned so as not to spread disease. Gee, sounds like our good works are really worth something, doesn't it! Aside from the fact that our good works really are worthless, to say that they are required for salvation is to say that Christ's sacrifice was not enough. Not enough?! The God of heaven put on dirty flesh and lived in a sinful world for over 30 years, was brutally beaten and killed by His creation, and still chose to ressurrect so that we could have salvation and a relationship with Him. To call this anything less than enough seems like a huge slap in the face of God to me.
"Catholics blend justification and sanctification into one process as the believer must work to merit eternal life; Protestants believe God justifies the believer by declaring him or her righteous, and that sanctification is a lifelong process of becoming holy as God works within." At the moment we believe in Christ's sacrifice as the means of our salvation, God declares us righteous. He no longer sees us for the sinful people we really are; He now sees Jesus Christ in us, and therefore views us as righteous. That is justification. Justification is often described as "just as if I never sinned." God erases our sins and His memory of them. Sanctification, on the other hand, is basically this: when God enters your life you begin to desire the things of God. From the point of salvation onward, the Christian begins to grow in Christ which is to grow more like Christ. By no means will we ever be perfect as Christ is, but we do begin to take on His characteristics.
Not only do Catholics believe that good works are a necessary element of salvation, they also "believe they cannot pay for all their sins in this life, and at death they go to purgatory for an undetermined time to be made totally fit for heaven." During the life of a Catholic, penances are done as payment for sins. When they die, they go to purgatory for the sins they did not get a chance to do penance for. So basically, not only is Christ's sacrifice not enough, His sacrifice plus their good works is also not enough. While in purgatory, it is believed that individuals cannot help themselves any more. They either complete their entire "sentence" or are helped by other Catholics on earth. The Catholics on earth can gain indulgences for those in purgatory. "When we speak of indulgences we are speaking of God 'indulging' (being kind to) a believer by giving to the believer from an inexhaustible supply of spiritual merits that have accumulated in the Church's treasury through the work of Christ and the prayers and good works of the Virgin Mary and the saints." So the way I see it, this says a person's salvation depends on the work of Christ, Mary, the saints, the individual, and the other Catholics left on earth after the individual's death. This method of salvation seems to depend on an aweful lot.
An additional note: This didn't fit into my two-point outline, so I'll just throw it in here. I'm not comfortable with the high level of focus and attention given to Mary in the Catholic church. Many beliefs about Mary grew from the traditions of the church, but as stated before, the Catholic church holds those traditions to be equally as important as the Scriptures themselves. First, tradition taught "that Mary's virginity continued after the birth of Jesus and that she never had any more children." To begin with, this is very false because the Bible mentions the literal brothers and sisters of Jesus. [Furthermore, some would argue the point that for Mary to remain a virgin after her marriage to Joseph would have been wrong or "sinful" based on the scripture that says a man and woman become one flesh in marriage. I'll save this argument for someone else though!] Regardless, I do believe Mary and Joseph went on to have a "normal" marriage and that they had other children. The Catholic tradition also teaches the Immaculate Conception, which says that Mary "was conceived without sin and lived a sinless life." This would basically put her on an equal level with Christ Himself. Based on the teachings of the Bible, I am convinced that Jesus was the only person ever to live a sinless life. Catholic tradition also teaches the Assumption, meaning that Mary did not die but "was taken up body and soul directly to heaven." While this is possible, the Bible does not mention it. I cannot say that it did not happen; I am just curious where the Catholic church found this information or evidence for it. Here comes the big problem I have with the focus on Mary. The Catholic church views her as a "co-mediator with Christ between God and man." The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ alone is our High Priest through whom we have access to God. It teaches that no man can approach the Father except through the Son. The Catholic church added the phrase "no man goeth to Christ but by His mother." This is never taught in the Bible. The Bible teaches that we have access to God by Jesus, not by Mary first, then Jesus.
In conclusion: I'm not really sure how to wrap this all up, but I think I'll just restate what I believe is my key point. I believe the message of the Bible is simple: faith in Christ alone brings salvation. The Catholic church tries to add things to this message to make it more feasable and comprehensible for us humans. The idea that people who do good works will be the ones who are saved makes sense to us; we like it. But God doesn't work that way. He says anyone who wants salvation can have it; it is equally free to all, regardless of behavior. The receiving of salvation should compell us to be better people for the sake of Christ's name, but our salvation is not contingent upon us actually becoming better people. Nor is it contingent upon any act or deed or accumulation of such that we or any other human (saint or otherwise) could ever do or have ever done. My point in all this research, and in these three lenghty posts, was to help myself determine my thoughts on Catholicism and its doctrine. I believe what I have discovered boils down to this: I am fine with any church that teaches that salvation is through faith in Christ alone and nothing else. I understand that individual churches vary from one another in many cases, therefore this is the standard. I also understand that even in churches that teach a works-based salvation there may be individuals who disagree with the teachings, and chose to believe in salvation through faith alone. I can't understand why these individuals would chose to go to these churches, but that's not my problem. As for those who believe in Christ plus works for salvation, I am in no position to say what their true spiritual standing is. While I do believe they have some things wrong with their faith, to God those things may be no bigger than the things I have wrong with my faith... because I obviously don't believe that I have everything exactly right all the time. All I know is that faith in God is a condition of the heart which other people are not capable of judging. This faith is usually displayed through a person's life, and is therefore often obvious to others, but a person's true standing with God is between the individual and God and no one else. These are my thoughts. Do with them what you like.
Dec 18, 2003
so tired...
I just got home about 15 minutes ago. I've been gone since 8:30 this morning. That's a long day for me. I worked 9-6 and then I met the girls at Olive Garden for Erin's "girls' night out." I had all intentions of going straight home from there, but they convinced me to come over to Toni's house to learn "the dance" for the reception on Saturday. So I went, and it was fun, but I had to leave pretty early since I'll be at work at 7:00AM tomorrow. Anyway, my posts haven't been showing up on my site lately, so maybe when I post this one the rest will show up. I can always hope. I'll try to finish up my series of posts tomorrow. G'night.
11 days...
I just got home about 15 minutes ago. I've been gone since 8:30 this morning. That's a long day for me. I worked 9-6 and then I met the girls at Olive Garden for Erin's "girls' night out." I had all intentions of going straight home from there, but they convinced me to come over to Toni's house to learn "the dance" for the reception on Saturday. So I went, and it was fun, but I had to leave pretty early since I'll be at work at 7:00AM tomorrow. Anyway, my posts haven't been showing up on my site lately, so maybe when I post this one the rest will show up. I can always hope. I'll try to finish up my series of posts tomorrow. G'night.
11 days...
Dec 17, 2003
on Catholicism...
PART TWO:
The statements to follow are strictly my opinion on things. I apologize for any toes that are stepped on. As I form and explain my opinion on the things to follow, I will do my absolute best to base those opinions on Scripture and to avoid allowing my Protestant upbringing to give me a predisposed negative outlook on Catholicism. As always, I attempt to form and justify opinions on my own rather than simply believing what I'm told. As a further note, there are also things within the Protestant church with which I disagree. Future rants will surely be posted on such topics!
Regarding authority: As stated in the previous post, Catholics believe Scripture and "Sacred Tradition" hold equal authority. I have no problem with traditions in and of themselves, but I do not feel comfortable saying that they have a position of authority in the Christian life. To say this would be exactly like the Pharisees and Sadducees that Christ so often reprimanded. Christ scolded them for holding their traditions and teachings on the same level as the commands of God. In the book of Matthew, Jesus quotes Isaiah saying "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt. 15:8,9). ["Me" refers to God.] I will say, however, that oftentimes in Protestant churches the same thing happens. We begin to value our traditions as though they were "God-ordained." We would never say that this is the case, but indeed it is at times. At least in the Catholic church, in this case their words and actions match up!
Secondly, Catholicism teaches that the church "has been entrusted to interpret the Bible for Catholics, who are not to interpret it for themselves." The book sums up pretty well what I believe: "Protestants say that individual Christians can trust the Holy Spirit for guidance as they read and interpret the Bible for themselves." This is not to say that each person will have a different "interpretation" of what the Bible says; it just means that as individuals read a passage of Scripture, the Holy Spirit may use that passage in different ways for different people. Verses and passages can have various areas of application, especially dependant upon what situations an individual is going through. These various applications are not something the church is able to tell you or teach you; they are simply things that the Holy Spirit must speak to the hearts of the individuals as they read the Scriptures.
"Catholicism teaches that Peter was the first pope...." So far, I have no problem with that. Pope, priest, head pastor, head minister, whatever you want to call it... I believe it is biblical for a body of believers to have some type of human leader. Whether or not there should be one worldwide head leader or not may be up for debate, but I'll skip that part of the discussion for now. The problem I have with the concept of the pope is what the book mentions: "Catholics teach that the pope is infallible...; Protestants reply that no human being is infallible...." All humans are fallible. We all sin. We all make mistakes. We all mess up sometimes. To say that a particular person (other than Christ, who is God in the flesh), even for a particular time, is infallible is completely contrary to the teachings of the Bible.
to be continued...
PART TWO:
The statements to follow are strictly my opinion on things. I apologize for any toes that are stepped on. As I form and explain my opinion on the things to follow, I will do my absolute best to base those opinions on Scripture and to avoid allowing my Protestant upbringing to give me a predisposed negative outlook on Catholicism. As always, I attempt to form and justify opinions on my own rather than simply believing what I'm told. As a further note, there are also things within the Protestant church with which I disagree. Future rants will surely be posted on such topics!
Regarding authority: As stated in the previous post, Catholics believe Scripture and "Sacred Tradition" hold equal authority. I have no problem with traditions in and of themselves, but I do not feel comfortable saying that they have a position of authority in the Christian life. To say this would be exactly like the Pharisees and Sadducees that Christ so often reprimanded. Christ scolded them for holding their traditions and teachings on the same level as the commands of God. In the book of Matthew, Jesus quotes Isaiah saying "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt. 15:8,9). ["Me" refers to God.] I will say, however, that oftentimes in Protestant churches the same thing happens. We begin to value our traditions as though they were "God-ordained." We would never say that this is the case, but indeed it is at times. At least in the Catholic church, in this case their words and actions match up!
Secondly, Catholicism teaches that the church "has been entrusted to interpret the Bible for Catholics, who are not to interpret it for themselves." The book sums up pretty well what I believe: "Protestants say that individual Christians can trust the Holy Spirit for guidance as they read and interpret the Bible for themselves." This is not to say that each person will have a different "interpretation" of what the Bible says; it just means that as individuals read a passage of Scripture, the Holy Spirit may use that passage in different ways for different people. Verses and passages can have various areas of application, especially dependant upon what situations an individual is going through. These various applications are not something the church is able to tell you or teach you; they are simply things that the Holy Spirit must speak to the hearts of the individuals as they read the Scriptures.
"Catholicism teaches that Peter was the first pope...." So far, I have no problem with that. Pope, priest, head pastor, head minister, whatever you want to call it... I believe it is biblical for a body of believers to have some type of human leader. Whether or not there should be one worldwide head leader or not may be up for debate, but I'll skip that part of the discussion for now. The problem I have with the concept of the pope is what the book mentions: "Catholics teach that the pope is infallible...; Protestants reply that no human being is infallible...." All humans are fallible. We all sin. We all make mistakes. We all mess up sometimes. To say that a particular person (other than Christ, who is God in the flesh), even for a particular time, is infallible is completely contrary to the teachings of the Bible.
to be continued...
on Catholicism...
PART ONE:
To begin with, I'm going to quote straight from one of the books I have been reading, which touches on some of the key issues.
SUMMING UP MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ROMAN CATHOLICS AND EVANGELICAL PROTESTANTS
Regarding authority: Catholics claim that Scripture and "Sacred Tradition" are equal in authority. Protestants say the Bible is the sole guide for faith and practice (see 2 Tim. 3:16,17; 1 John 5:13). Rome says the magisterium (teaching authority of the Roman Church) has been entrusted to interpret the Bible for Catholics, who are not to interpret it for themselves. Protestants say that individual Christians can trust the Holy Spirit for guidance as they read and interpret the Bible for themselves (see John 5:39; 14:26). Catholicism teaches that Peter was the first pope, and that through apostolic succession other popes have succeeded him, each serving as "vicar of Christ"; Protestants insist the apostles had equal authority and there was no "pope"... (see Matt. 18:18; John 20:23). Catholics teach that the pope is infallible when he speaks "ex cathedra" (lit. "from the chair" or with authority) on matters of faith and morals; Protestants reply that no human being is infallible, and only Christ is head of the Church (see Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18).
Regarding salvation: Catholics claim that salvation is secured by faith in Christ plus good works and grace conferred through the seven sacraments of the Church; Protestants reply that salvation is secured through sola fide (faith alone) in Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross (see Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:8,9). Catholics blend justification and sanctification into one process as the believer must work to merit eternal life; Protestants believe God justifies the believer by declaring him or her righteous, and that sanctification is a lifelong process of becoming holy as God works within (see John 17:15-19; Phil. 2:12,13). Catholics believe they cannot pay for all their sins in this life, and at death they go to purgatory for an undetermined time to be made totally fit for heaven; Protestants, believing they are justified by faith in Christ and nothing else, trust that they will go straight to heaven where sanctification is completed in Christ's presence (see 2 Cor. 5:6-10; 1 John 2:28-3:2).
This was the summary at the end of a chapter in the book So What's the Difference? by Fritz Ridenour. [If anyone who is Catholic reads this and disagrees with the information it provides about Catholicism, please leave a comment.]
PART ONE:
To begin with, I'm going to quote straight from one of the books I have been reading, which touches on some of the key issues.
SUMMING UP MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ROMAN CATHOLICS AND EVANGELICAL PROTESTANTS
Regarding authority: Catholics claim that Scripture and "Sacred Tradition" are equal in authority. Protestants say the Bible is the sole guide for faith and practice (see 2 Tim. 3:16,17; 1 John 5:13). Rome says the magisterium (teaching authority of the Roman Church) has been entrusted to interpret the Bible for Catholics, who are not to interpret it for themselves. Protestants say that individual Christians can trust the Holy Spirit for guidance as they read and interpret the Bible for themselves (see John 5:39; 14:26). Catholicism teaches that Peter was the first pope, and that through apostolic succession other popes have succeeded him, each serving as "vicar of Christ"; Protestants insist the apostles had equal authority and there was no "pope"... (see Matt. 18:18; John 20:23). Catholics teach that the pope is infallible when he speaks "ex cathedra" (lit. "from the chair" or with authority) on matters of faith and morals; Protestants reply that no human being is infallible, and only Christ is head of the Church (see Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18).
Regarding salvation: Catholics claim that salvation is secured by faith in Christ plus good works and grace conferred through the seven sacraments of the Church; Protestants reply that salvation is secured through sola fide (faith alone) in Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross (see Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:8,9). Catholics blend justification and sanctification into one process as the believer must work to merit eternal life; Protestants believe God justifies the believer by declaring him or her righteous, and that sanctification is a lifelong process of becoming holy as God works within (see John 17:15-19; Phil. 2:12,13). Catholics believe they cannot pay for all their sins in this life, and at death they go to purgatory for an undetermined time to be made totally fit for heaven; Protestants, believing they are justified by faith in Christ and nothing else, trust that they will go straight to heaven where sanctification is completed in Christ's presence (see 2 Cor. 5:6-10; 1 John 2:28-3:2).
This was the summary at the end of a chapter in the book So What's the Difference? by Fritz Ridenour. [If anyone who is Catholic reads this and disagrees with the information it provides about Catholicism, please leave a comment.]
Katie-Gail has a blog! I'm excited! Give it a look sometime. She's a way-cool girl, so I'm sure she'll have some good stuff to say at times.
Dec 16, 2003
been doing my research...
I was reading up on Scott's posts the other day cause I've been lagging behind a little lately. One in particular got my attention. It mentioned a few things about the Catholic church and some different points of view concerning it. As I read the post, I was reminded that I am not totally sure how I feel about Catholicism. Today I decided to do something about that. After my devotions this evening, I pulled out the two books I have about various denominations and started "doing my research." It has been very informative and thought-provoking for me. I don't want to get started on it tonight for fear that I may stay up far too late writing, so I will share the details of my search tomorrow. Until then, sweet dreams.
I was reading up on Scott's posts the other day cause I've been lagging behind a little lately. One in particular got my attention. It mentioned a few things about the Catholic church and some different points of view concerning it. As I read the post, I was reminded that I am not totally sure how I feel about Catholicism. Today I decided to do something about that. After my devotions this evening, I pulled out the two books I have about various denominations and started "doing my research." It has been very informative and thought-provoking for me. I don't want to get started on it tonight for fear that I may stay up far too late writing, so I will share the details of my search tomorrow. Until then, sweet dreams.
sitting down...
Today was my first day back at work. It was good, but seven and a half hours of standing on your feet takes some getting used to. All went well, though. I remembered all my necessary cashieer skills! I'm glad I'm off tomorrow because that ensures that I can go to church tomorrow night to hear Danny speak. Thursday night the girls are supposed to be taking Erin out for her "bachelorette" night. Then the wedding's on Saturday. I'm really excited about that. I know it's going to be beautiful, and the reception should be a blast! That's about all the new news for now.
THIS is what I will be seeing in a little over two weeks! I can't wait!
13 days...
Today was my first day back at work. It was good, but seven and a half hours of standing on your feet takes some getting used to. All went well, though. I remembered all my necessary cashieer skills! I'm glad I'm off tomorrow because that ensures that I can go to church tomorrow night to hear Danny speak. Thursday night the girls are supposed to be taking Erin out for her "bachelorette" night. Then the wedding's on Saturday. I'm really excited about that. I know it's going to be beautiful, and the reception should be a blast! That's about all the new news for now.
THIS is what I will be seeing in a little over two weeks! I can't wait!
13 days...
Dec 15, 2003
"Come away with me" by Norah Jones
Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song
Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can't tempt us
With their lies
I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows
knee high
So won't you try to come
Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountain top
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you
And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me
14 days...
Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song
Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can't tempt us
With their lies
I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows
knee high
So won't you try to come
Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountain top
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you
And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me
14 days...
Dec 13, 2003
i'm getting bored...
I've been home a little more than 48 hours and I'm bored! I know that's about to change though, because church is tomorrow and then I start work. I don't work on Monday, but I've got to go in and fill out paperwork. Since I'll be at the mall anyway, I might do a little shopping. Work officially starts for me on Tuesday. I actually shouldn't be as bored as I am; I hung out at Allison's on Thursday night, and she and I went to the Nutcracker on Friday night with Eric and Andy. Between those two events, I did some running around with Mom, which included a trip to Target where I got a way-cool sweater and a pair of track pants. Today I went to Wal-Mart with Mom, which is nice, cause I just throw stuff in the cart that I want to get and she winds up paying for it! That's always nice. I got this awesome 8-hour lipstick... it's INCREDIBLE!! Seriously, I put it on in the car on the way home from the store, which was at like 1:00, and it still looks fresh at 10:00! I'm so excited! Smudge-proof lipstick... possibly the best purchase of my life! Andrew, you should be happy, too! (Whoa... that comment was a little out of line for me! LOL!) Anyway, the Christmas program is going on at church this weekend. I'm sad that I'm not able to be in it this year, but it just was not possible for me to learn all the music ahead of time and then make it to the last rehearsal before the performance. But I am really anxious to see it tomorrow night. I'm sure it'll be awesome. That's about all the exciting news in my life for now. Updates to come.
16 days till NY trip!!
I've been home a little more than 48 hours and I'm bored! I know that's about to change though, because church is tomorrow and then I start work. I don't work on Monday, but I've got to go in and fill out paperwork. Since I'll be at the mall anyway, I might do a little shopping. Work officially starts for me on Tuesday. I actually shouldn't be as bored as I am; I hung out at Allison's on Thursday night, and she and I went to the Nutcracker on Friday night with Eric and Andy. Between those two events, I did some running around with Mom, which included a trip to Target where I got a way-cool sweater and a pair of track pants. Today I went to Wal-Mart with Mom, which is nice, cause I just throw stuff in the cart that I want to get and she winds up paying for it! That's always nice. I got this awesome 8-hour lipstick... it's INCREDIBLE!! Seriously, I put it on in the car on the way home from the store, which was at like 1:00, and it still looks fresh at 10:00! I'm so excited! Smudge-proof lipstick... possibly the best purchase of my life! Andrew, you should be happy, too! (Whoa... that comment was a little out of line for me! LOL!) Anyway, the Christmas program is going on at church this weekend. I'm sad that I'm not able to be in it this year, but it just was not possible for me to learn all the music ahead of time and then make it to the last rehearsal before the performance. But I am really anxious to see it tomorrow night. I'm sure it'll be awesome. That's about all the exciting news in my life for now. Updates to come.
16 days till NY trip!!
Dec 11, 2003
home...
I've been at home for less than four hours and I already miss everybody. It's not the four hours, it's the month that lies ahead. But luckily (if that's what you want to call it) I'll be working for most of the break, and being that I work in retail and this is the holiday season, I'm sure I'll be staying busy. That, at least, should make the time pass a little quicker. And on the bright side, it's 18 days till our trip to New York!! YAY!! I am so incredibly excited! Anyway, I'm going in to meet with my manager tomorrow, and I should be starting work on Monday. And once again, work will be the story of my life for a while.
To all a good night!
PS I forgot to mention that I just got done watching the saddest movie ever made: "Riding in Cars with Boys." It's honestly heart-wrenching. If you've never seen it, watch it and then vow not to let yourself ever become like the characters in it.
I've been at home for less than four hours and I already miss everybody. It's not the four hours, it's the month that lies ahead. But luckily (if that's what you want to call it) I'll be working for most of the break, and being that I work in retail and this is the holiday season, I'm sure I'll be staying busy. That, at least, should make the time pass a little quicker. And on the bright side, it's 18 days till our trip to New York!! YAY!! I am so incredibly excited! Anyway, I'm going in to meet with my manager tomorrow, and I should be starting work on Monday. And once again, work will be the story of my life for a while.
To all a good night!
PS I forgot to mention that I just got done watching the saddest movie ever made: "Riding in Cars with Boys." It's honestly heart-wrenching. If you've never seen it, watch it and then vow not to let yourself ever become like the characters in it.
Dec 8, 2003
a week has elapsed...
Yeah, the semester's flying by (or should I say flew by) and posting has not been top on the list lately. So for those who care, I'll start with the latest updates. Hmmm... where to begin... Well, for starters, life is crazy at times. There has been immeasurable amounts of drama at points here on campus and elsewhere. Most of it hasn't directly involved me, but I definitely heard about ALL of it. On a better note, Laci and Greg are dating, and Andrew and I are dating. We all went out for a double date on Friday and had a really good time. The weather's finally decided to turn cool here. I'm enjoying that so far. Oh, and the best news EVER... I get to go to New York City for New Year's Eve!!! I'm soooo excited! Krissy, Christina, Andrew, and I are taking a TRAIN up there and meeting Erica (cause she lives in Jersey) and we're staying at her house. I can't wait! Other than that, finals are this week and then I'm going home on Thursday. I'll work most of the break, other than the week of our trip. That's about all my news for now. If I think of anything else to write about I'll try to get a chance to post this week. Bye for now.
Yeah, the semester's flying by (or should I say flew by) and posting has not been top on the list lately. So for those who care, I'll start with the latest updates. Hmmm... where to begin... Well, for starters, life is crazy at times. There has been immeasurable amounts of drama at points here on campus and elsewhere. Most of it hasn't directly involved me, but I definitely heard about ALL of it. On a better note, Laci and Greg are dating, and Andrew and I are dating. We all went out for a double date on Friday and had a really good time. The weather's finally decided to turn cool here. I'm enjoying that so far. Oh, and the best news EVER... I get to go to New York City for New Year's Eve!!! I'm soooo excited! Krissy, Christina, Andrew, and I are taking a TRAIN up there and meeting Erica (cause she lives in Jersey) and we're staying at her house. I can't wait! Other than that, finals are this week and then I'm going home on Thursday. I'll work most of the break, other than the week of our trip. That's about all my news for now. If I think of anything else to write about I'll try to get a chance to post this week. Bye for now.
Nov 30, 2003
random quotes...
A mistake is evidence that someone has tried to do something.
You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.
Better to let 'em wonder why you didn't talk than why you did.
Tact is the ability to close your mouth before someone else wants to.
I didn't intend for there to be a common theme among these quotes... they were just all from the same section of a book!
A mistake is evidence that someone has tried to do something.
You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.
Better to let 'em wonder why you didn't talk than why you did.
Tact is the ability to close your mouth before someone else wants to.
I didn't intend for there to be a common theme among these quotes... they were just all from the same section of a book!
Nov 26, 2003
good times...
It has turned out to be a good week! Mostly everything has been wonderful. Today I only have one class, and after lunch I'm headed home for Thanksgiving break. That should be nice. Anyway, not much else to say today, except that I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. Later.
It has turned out to be a good week! Mostly everything has been wonderful. Today I only have one class, and after lunch I'm headed home for Thanksgiving break. That should be nice. Anyway, not much else to say today, except that I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. Later.
Nov 23, 2003
Torment. Excitement. A mixture. Anticipation. Fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of messing up. Excitement about the possibilities. Nervous about whether or not it's "right." Nervous about whether or not it's real. What if it's not real? What if it's an illusion? What if it is real? What then? What if I'm not making it up, not imagining? Then we have the real issue. Then I have to come face to face with a million other things. Maybe not a million. Maybe two or three. But they're huge. Huge like a million. Huge "other things." Are they worth the fear? I'm not sure. But until I have to face them or until they go away, the fear will remain. Patience. My advice to anyone else would be "have patience." I wish they would tell me that. "What are you going to do?" they ask. Do? I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to be me. I'm going to let life happen. I'm going to let things happen as long as I'm comfortable with them happening. When I become uncomfortable with things that are happening, I will take the necessary steps to alter the situation. It's not my place to "do" anything right now. It's my place to have patience. Patience to wait. So, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to wait. I'm going to be me and I'm going to wait and I'm going to do what I think is right at the right times.
And waiting is far harder than anything I could ever "do."
And waiting is far harder than anything I could ever "do."
Nov 20, 2003
yay!!!
I'm having a particularly good day and just thought I'd share that. I usually have one class on Thursdays, but it was cancelled for today, so I got to sleep late. I got up, took a shower and stuff, and went to lunch. I hung out in the room for a little bit, and then went outside to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather and read my Bible a little. Brenna called me to find out where I was, and then she came and kidnapped me and we got smoothies and sat by the fort. It was wonderful... I haven't gotten to have a real conversation with her in FOREVER. I'm about to go lift weights with Krissy and Christina which I'm really excited about. Then, it's off to the Intramural soccer game to watch Andrew and his buddies. I like soccer games. I used to go during high school and shiver in the cold... good times. I've only been to one of the "real" soccer games here... it was pretty good. Tonight will be "just like old times" though because the weather's nice and cool. Okay, gotta go now. Later.
I'm having a particularly good day and just thought I'd share that. I usually have one class on Thursdays, but it was cancelled for today, so I got to sleep late. I got up, took a shower and stuff, and went to lunch. I hung out in the room for a little bit, and then went outside to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather and read my Bible a little. Brenna called me to find out where I was, and then she came and kidnapped me and we got smoothies and sat by the fort. It was wonderful... I haven't gotten to have a real conversation with her in FOREVER. I'm about to go lift weights with Krissy and Christina which I'm really excited about. Then, it's off to the Intramural soccer game to watch Andrew and his buddies. I like soccer games. I used to go during high school and shiver in the cold... good times. I've only been to one of the "real" soccer games here... it was pretty good. Tonight will be "just like old times" though because the weather's nice and cool. Okay, gotta go now. Later.
Nov 18, 2003
other quotes...
Let us realize that what happens round us is largely outside our control, but that the way we choose to react to it is inside our control.
The really happy man is the one who can enjoy the scenery when he has to take a detour.
Blessed is the man who digs a well from which another may draw faith.
Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
All sunshine makes a desert.
Let us realize that what happens round us is largely outside our control, but that the way we choose to react to it is inside our control.
The really happy man is the one who can enjoy the scenery when he has to take a detour.
Blessed is the man who digs a well from which another may draw faith.
Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
All sunshine makes a desert.
quotes on love...
Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.
-James Baldwin
Restraint without love is barbarity.
Love without restraint commits suicide.
It is as absurd to pretend that one cannot love the same woman [person] always as to pretend that a good artist needs several violins to play a piece of music.
We like someone because. We love someone although.
Love is the passionate and abiding desire on the part of two or more people to produce together conditions under which each can be, and spontaneously express, his real self; to produce together an intellectual soil and an emotional climate in which each can flourish, far superior to what either could achieve alone.
Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.
-James Baldwin
Restraint without love is barbarity.
Love without restraint commits suicide.
It is as absurd to pretend that one cannot love the same woman [person] always as to pretend that a good artist needs several violins to play a piece of music.
We like someone because. We love someone although.
Love is the passionate and abiding desire on the part of two or more people to produce together conditions under which each can be, and spontaneously express, his real self; to produce together an intellectual soil and an emotional climate in which each can flourish, far superior to what either could achieve alone.
Nov 16, 2003
second random post of the night...
I was just thinking about how in college you wind up becoming friends with the most random people. Not that the people in particular are random, it's just that you have no specific "reason" that you became friends with them. In high school, you are friends with the people who have the same interests/activities as you, but in college you meet people who live on your hall or eat lunch at the same time as you. It's rare that you actually are involved or interested in the same things, yet you become friends anyway. And it's a blast! How does that work? I'm not sure. But I'm glad it happens.
I was just thinking about how in college you wind up becoming friends with the most random people. Not that the people in particular are random, it's just that you have no specific "reason" that you became friends with them. In high school, you are friends with the people who have the same interests/activities as you, but in college you meet people who live on your hall or eat lunch at the same time as you. It's rare that you actually are involved or interested in the same things, yet you become friends anyway. And it's a blast! How does that work? I'm not sure. But I'm glad it happens.
Nov 15, 2003
a little random and not thought out...
Okay, so I was thinking at the concert the other night about what non-Christians think of Christians. The typical stereotype is that we have no fun at all and we're quiet and reserved all the time. YEAH RIGHT!! And if asked to make an analogy of the Christian life, most non-Christians would liken it to something similar to a monastery. Honestly, however, I think my Christian life is a lot more like a rock concert! "Rock Concert Christianity".... that's what I'm gonna call it from now on! Seriously, though... if you think about it, true Christians who honestly believe what they say they believe are going to be excited/passionate about their faith. That doesn't mean we're going to bash people over the head with it; it just means it's the central aspect of who we are and we're going to be excited and passionate about it and enjoy it. Just like somebody's favorite rock band. If your favorite band is coming to town in a month, you basically count down the days till the concert and get more and more excited about it as it gets closer. Then, when you're actually at the concert, you're the most obnoxious you've ever been in your whole life 'cause being there is the most exciting thing you could possibly think of. You're passionate and excited about your favorite band because you (obviously) believe they are THE BEST in the world. And when you hear that someone else doesn't like them, you can't comprehend why not! Okay, I'm not going to try to connect every point of this to my analogy, but the basic point might be summed up in the last two sentences of it: you're passionate and excited about it because you believe it's the best and you can't understand why someone else wouldn't be. Furthermore, you want to expose them to it in hopes that they might gain the same level of excitement as you have.
I don't know if this made any sense to anyone, but it was in my head, so I wrote about it. As usual, it may only make sense to me, but I'm okay with that! Later.
Okay, so I was thinking at the concert the other night about what non-Christians think of Christians. The typical stereotype is that we have no fun at all and we're quiet and reserved all the time. YEAH RIGHT!! And if asked to make an analogy of the Christian life, most non-Christians would liken it to something similar to a monastery. Honestly, however, I think my Christian life is a lot more like a rock concert! "Rock Concert Christianity".... that's what I'm gonna call it from now on! Seriously, though... if you think about it, true Christians who honestly believe what they say they believe are going to be excited/passionate about their faith. That doesn't mean we're going to bash people over the head with it; it just means it's the central aspect of who we are and we're going to be excited and passionate about it and enjoy it. Just like somebody's favorite rock band. If your favorite band is coming to town in a month, you basically count down the days till the concert and get more and more excited about it as it gets closer. Then, when you're actually at the concert, you're the most obnoxious you've ever been in your whole life 'cause being there is the most exciting thing you could possibly think of. You're passionate and excited about your favorite band because you (obviously) believe they are THE BEST in the world. And when you hear that someone else doesn't like them, you can't comprehend why not! Okay, I'm not going to try to connect every point of this to my analogy, but the basic point might be summed up in the last two sentences of it: you're passionate and excited about it because you believe it's the best and you can't understand why someone else wouldn't be. Furthermore, you want to expose them to it in hopes that they might gain the same level of excitement as you have.
I don't know if this made any sense to anyone, but it was in my head, so I wrote about it. As usual, it may only make sense to me, but I'm okay with that! Later.
Nov 13, 2003
WOO HOO!!!!
Guess what today is........ THE DAVID CROWDER CONCERT!!!!! It's the Passion concert with David Crowder and Chris Tomlin. I'm soooo excited!!! It's going to be incredible! It'll be a little different because I'll be with St. Augustine people and Jacksonville people at the same time, which doesn't usually happen too much. It'll be cool though. I'M SOOOO EXCITED!!! Did I say that already?!
Anyway, the first part of my week was a little hectic. My big case study paper was due on Monday and my huge classroom management plan was due on Tuesday. I was up till 2:30am Monday night. But the rest of the week has been particularly good. Wednesday most classes were cancelled for registration. I still had ASL at 4:00, but it was even a short class because we got to leave after our test. Speaking of registration, I got all my classes perfectly organized for the rest of my time here at Flagler. I just hope I actually get all the ones I signed up for because if I don't, that'll throw everything off. AND (this will mean absolutely nothing to most of you) Grammar Theory will count for a Social Science! That's exciting news! Fusion was awesome last night. Jill spoke. She's so good. Very powerful message. I hope she speaks again this semester. Today was a good day because I got to wear Krissy's cool pin-striped pants to my classroom observation. Then, when I came back I actually found a parking spot! A decent one! At Flagler, that is cause for excitement. For those who don't know, we get very creative with our parking here. A common statement is that if you don't feel like a contortionist when you get out of your car, get back in and try the parking again... you've got to get closer. Literally, you are only allowed to use 75% of a parking space here. If there are not 4 cars to every 3 spaces, something is wrong! Anyway, enough about Flagler's parking problems. I'm back to thinking about the concert tonight and how awesome it's going to be!!! And then, tomorrow Krissy, Erica, and Andrew are coming to my house! Yay! It'll be a fun weekend. That's about all for now. Tune in later!
Guess what today is........ THE DAVID CROWDER CONCERT!!!!! It's the Passion concert with David Crowder and Chris Tomlin. I'm soooo excited!!! It's going to be incredible! It'll be a little different because I'll be with St. Augustine people and Jacksonville people at the same time, which doesn't usually happen too much. It'll be cool though. I'M SOOOO EXCITED!!! Did I say that already?!
Anyway, the first part of my week was a little hectic. My big case study paper was due on Monday and my huge classroom management plan was due on Tuesday. I was up till 2:30am Monday night. But the rest of the week has been particularly good. Wednesday most classes were cancelled for registration. I still had ASL at 4:00, but it was even a short class because we got to leave after our test. Speaking of registration, I got all my classes perfectly organized for the rest of my time here at Flagler. I just hope I actually get all the ones I signed up for because if I don't, that'll throw everything off. AND (this will mean absolutely nothing to most of you) Grammar Theory will count for a Social Science! That's exciting news! Fusion was awesome last night. Jill spoke. She's so good. Very powerful message. I hope she speaks again this semester. Today was a good day because I got to wear Krissy's cool pin-striped pants to my classroom observation. Then, when I came back I actually found a parking spot! A decent one! At Flagler, that is cause for excitement. For those who don't know, we get very creative with our parking here. A common statement is that if you don't feel like a contortionist when you get out of your car, get back in and try the parking again... you've got to get closer. Literally, you are only allowed to use 75% of a parking space here. If there are not 4 cars to every 3 spaces, something is wrong! Anyway, enough about Flagler's parking problems. I'm back to thinking about the concert tonight and how awesome it's going to be!!! And then, tomorrow Krissy, Erica, and Andrew are coming to my house! Yay! It'll be a fun weekend. That's about all for now. Tune in later!
Nov 6, 2003
Two songs...
"DELIVER ME" by David Crowder Band (words and music by John & Helena Marsh)
Deliver me out of the sadness
Deliver me from all of the madness
Deliver me courage to guide me
Deliver me Your strength inside me
All of my life
I've been in hiding
Wishing there was someone just like You
Now that You're here
Now that I've found You
I know that You're the One to pull me through
Deliver me loving and caring
Deliver me giving and sharing
Deliver me this cross that I'm bearing
(chorus)
Oh, deliver me
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust You
How I've proved You o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus
Deliver me
"NO ONE LIKE YOU" by David Crowder Band
You are more beautiful
Than anyone ever
Everyday You're the same
You never change, no never
And how could I ever deny
The love of my Savior
You are to me everything
All I need forever
How could You be so good?
(chorus:)
There is no one like You
There has never ever been anyone like You
Everywhere You are there
Earth or air surrounding
I'm not alone, the heavens sing along
My God You're so astounding
How could You be so good to me
Eternally I believe
(chorus)
"DELIVER ME" by David Crowder Band (words and music by John & Helena Marsh)
Deliver me out of the sadness
Deliver me from all of the madness
Deliver me courage to guide me
Deliver me Your strength inside me
All of my life
I've been in hiding
Wishing there was someone just like You
Now that You're here
Now that I've found You
I know that You're the One to pull me through
Deliver me loving and caring
Deliver me giving and sharing
Deliver me this cross that I'm bearing
(chorus)
Oh, deliver me
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust You
How I've proved You o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus
Deliver me
"NO ONE LIKE YOU" by David Crowder Band
You are more beautiful
Than anyone ever
Everyday You're the same
You never change, no never
And how could I ever deny
The love of my Savior
You are to me everything
All I need forever
How could You be so good?
(chorus:)
There is no one like You
There has never ever been anyone like You
Everywhere You are there
Earth or air surrounding
I'm not alone, the heavens sing along
My God You're so astounding
How could You be so good to me
Eternally I believe
(chorus)
Nov 4, 2003
A funny story...
Allie e-mailed me the other day telling me about her week and this was the concluding story. I laughed very, very hard. (Hope ya don't mind me sharing it, Al!)
the weekend was good. friday night i ended up going to the fall festival and helping out with the college "booth" which mind you, it turned out to be this 20 ft. blow up slide which ran by a generator. well i was at the top yelling "go" for the kids to go one at a time and jamie was at the bottom of the slide helping the kids off. all of a sudden - i look over and the blown up stairwell that all the kids are climbing up starts deflating ! megan, it felt like a Titanic experience... we started sinking ! the sides the of the slide starting folding over the kids so i was literally picking the kids up and throwing them down the slide that was not yet deflating. the next thing i know. the only thing between me and jamie and the parking lot is the deflated slide. megan- it was SO scary- hahaha but now that i look back it was hilarious ! the generator had went out and WABAM - there we all went.
Thanks for the laugh Allie! I hope the rest of you enjoyed the story as well.
Allie e-mailed me the other day telling me about her week and this was the concluding story. I laughed very, very hard. (Hope ya don't mind me sharing it, Al!)
the weekend was good. friday night i ended up going to the fall festival and helping out with the college "booth" which mind you, it turned out to be this 20 ft. blow up slide which ran by a generator. well i was at the top yelling "go" for the kids to go one at a time and jamie was at the bottom of the slide helping the kids off. all of a sudden - i look over and the blown up stairwell that all the kids are climbing up starts deflating ! megan, it felt like a Titanic experience... we started sinking ! the sides the of the slide starting folding over the kids so i was literally picking the kids up and throwing them down the slide that was not yet deflating. the next thing i know. the only thing between me and jamie and the parking lot is the deflated slide. megan- it was SO scary- hahaha but now that i look back it was hilarious ! the generator had went out and WABAM - there we all went.
Thanks for the laugh Allie! I hope the rest of you enjoyed the story as well.
Nov 2, 2003
Wow! It's been a whole week since I posted last! Where does the time go? This week has been VERY busy and long. Stuff that happened on Wednesday seems like forever ago. I'm playing in the orchestra for the theater production that's going on currently here at Flagler. It's been fun but time-consuming. It occupied EVERY night of the past week for me... practices Monday through Wednesday and shows Thursday through Saturday with a matinee show this afternoon. Actually, I skipped out on rehearsal on Wednesday so I could go to Fusion. And I'm glad I did 'cause we had game night and it was way fun! Thursday was a rough day for me, but Thursday night after the show it was all better and I went to the Halloween "Midnight Breakfast" which was pretty good. There were three or four movies on the lawn this week that I missed out on, which I'm a little sad about, but that's okay. Friday night (Halloween) Krissy, Erica, Christina, and I went to All-Stars for a little bit: Erica & I as cowgirls and Krissy & Christina as... well, that's not really important! (haha!) All-Stars was a little to hectic for me though... Halloween's probably a bad night to go anyway, especially at midnight. So we left there and went to Steak-n-Shake, where there was a group of obnoxiously drunk people. But the food was good, so we were happy. Saturday was wonderful because I got to catch up on my sleep! Then Krissy and I took a trip to Wal-Mart and then to the Lincolnville Festival where we were told we looked like sisters...?... and we bought cool beaded bracelets. Then I colored her hair. Then we went back to the festival to get some yummy food. Of course I had to leave earlier than everybody else to go to the show. Church today was really great. I enjoy it there so much. So that's a recap of my week.
In an effort to say something that might be somewhat worth reading, I'll try to sum up some of the things that have been on my mind lately. It is vitally important to be REAL with people. Nobody needs a fake. No one profits anything from us being fake with them. And as far as Christian/non-Christian friendships, if we want the non-Christians to come to understand the importance of the things we say we believe, we HAVE TO live out our faith. In fact, I would almost go so far as to say that it's NOT faith UNTIL you live it out. "Faith without works is dead." To say you believe one thing and live something different from that is not true faith or even true belief. Non-Christians are often searching for something to fill "the void" in their lives -- whether or not they will admit that -- but preaching your faith to your lost friends often will not cause them to come to accept it; it must be lived out on your part. They honestly just need somebody to love them with a real love... real, unmotivated, Christ-like love... and somebody who will accept them just as they are. I mean, that's what Christ does for us, so we should be willing to do that to others. Just a thought.
In an effort to say something that might be somewhat worth reading, I'll try to sum up some of the things that have been on my mind lately. It is vitally important to be REAL with people. Nobody needs a fake. No one profits anything from us being fake with them. And as far as Christian/non-Christian friendships, if we want the non-Christians to come to understand the importance of the things we say we believe, we HAVE TO live out our faith. In fact, I would almost go so far as to say that it's NOT faith UNTIL you live it out. "Faith without works is dead." To say you believe one thing and live something different from that is not true faith or even true belief. Non-Christians are often searching for something to fill "the void" in their lives -- whether or not they will admit that -- but preaching your faith to your lost friends often will not cause them to come to accept it; it must be lived out on your part. They honestly just need somebody to love them with a real love... real, unmotivated, Christ-like love... and somebody who will accept them just as they are. I mean, that's what Christ does for us, so we should be willing to do that to others. Just a thought.
Oct 26, 2003
Moons...
I was thinking about the words to the song I posted yesterday (stars) and I really like the message it has. We are like the moon. (Allie, I'm sure that excites you!) The second verse of the song talks about how the moon reflects the sunlight. Later in the song it says And how could such a King shine His light on me... And I want to shine, I want to be light... 'Cause I've got nothing of my own to give to you but this light that shines on me shines on you. All we are are reflectors of God's glorious light. It's funny how God makes everything work together because this morning at church Pastor Ron preached on being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. One of his main points was that we are reflections of God's light and not our own light. When people look at us they will see the light of God rather than seeing our light (for like the moon, we have no light of our own, even if we think we do). That's exactly what this song is talking about. So that's all I wanted to say tonight. We're moons! Go out and reflect God this week.
I was thinking about the words to the song I posted yesterday (stars) and I really like the message it has. We are like the moon. (Allie, I'm sure that excites you!) The second verse of the song talks about how the moon reflects the sunlight. Later in the song it says And how could such a King shine His light on me... And I want to shine, I want to be light... 'Cause I've got nothing of my own to give to you but this light that shines on me shines on you. All we are are reflectors of God's glorious light. It's funny how God makes everything work together because this morning at church Pastor Ron preached on being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. One of his main points was that we are reflections of God's light and not our own light. When people look at us they will see the light of God rather than seeing our light (for like the moon, we have no light of our own, even if we think we do). That's exactly what this song is talking about. So that's all I wanted to say tonight. We're moons! Go out and reflect God this week.
Oct 25, 2003
"Stars" by David Crowder Band (from "Illuminate")
You should see the stars tonight
How they shimmer shine so bright
Against the black they look so white
Coming down from such a height
To reach me now
You reach me now
You should see the moon in flight
Cutting 'cross the misty night
Softly dancing in sunshine
Reflections of its light
Reach me now
You reach me now
And how could such a thing
Shine its light on me and make everything
Beautiful again
And you should feel the sun in spring
Coming out after a rain
Suddenly all is green
Sunshine on everything
I can feel it now
I feel You now
And you should hear the angels sing
All gathered 'round their King
More beautiful than you could dream
I've been quietly listening
You can hear 'em now
I hear them now
And how could such a King
Shine His light on me
And make everything
Beautiful
And I want to shine
I want to be light
I want to tell you
It'll be alright
Yeah, I want to shine
And I want to fly
Just to tell you now
It'll be alright
It'll be alright, yeah
It'll be alright
'Cause I've got nothing of my own
To give to you
But this light that shines on me
Shines on you
And makes everything
Beautiful, again
It'll be alright
It'll be alright
I went camping last night at Anastasia campground with a bunch of people from church. It was so fun. More than just fun, it was incredible to sit back and take in God's creation more than I usually do. We sat around the campfire and sang as many worship songs as we could come up with, accompanied by Jill on the guitar. In the middle of that, we shared times when we've seen something awesome about God's creation and what that has meant to us. We sat around singing till very late into the night. Afterwards, most everybody headed to bed. Erica, Chris, Forrest, and I chose to go out to the beach to see the stars. It was amazing. We laid out on the sand in the pitch black and stared up into the vast expanse, naming constellations and pointing out interesting stars (and flickering green asteroids that were surely headed for our destruction!). God is amazing. Just to think that He made all of creation for us to enjoy blows me away. We headed back to camp around 2:00 am. This morning Erica, Phyllis, Billy, and I woke up early and went back out to the beach to watch the sunrise and pray together. Talk about incredible! It was completely amazing to watch the transformation of the sky as the sun crept up over the horizon. The gray rain clouds that were off in the distance changed from gray to purple to red to orange, with ever changing shadows and reflections. The waves and ripples in the water relfected the sky from every direction, making part of a wave dark and part of it red and part of it white. It was a sea of colors. I guess I haven't watched the sun actually rise in a long time because it amazed me how fast the sun moves once it breaks over the horizon a little. I'd say it took from 30 to 45 seconds to go from not seeing the sun at all to seeing it in its entirety. It was awesome. The rest of our time at the campground today went well, also. It was fun just to have a day/night to get away from the "daily grind" of school and everything else. God is completely amazing and I'm so glad I got a chance to admire His creation a little this weekend.
Take time to look around.
You should see the stars tonight
How they shimmer shine so bright
Against the black they look so white
Coming down from such a height
To reach me now
You reach me now
You should see the moon in flight
Cutting 'cross the misty night
Softly dancing in sunshine
Reflections of its light
Reach me now
You reach me now
And how could such a thing
Shine its light on me and make everything
Beautiful again
And you should feel the sun in spring
Coming out after a rain
Suddenly all is green
Sunshine on everything
I can feel it now
I feel You now
And you should hear the angels sing
All gathered 'round their King
More beautiful than you could dream
I've been quietly listening
You can hear 'em now
I hear them now
And how could such a King
Shine His light on me
And make everything
Beautiful
And I want to shine
I want to be light
I want to tell you
It'll be alright
Yeah, I want to shine
And I want to fly
Just to tell you now
It'll be alright
It'll be alright, yeah
It'll be alright
'Cause I've got nothing of my own
To give to you
But this light that shines on me
Shines on you
And makes everything
Beautiful, again
It'll be alright
It'll be alright
I went camping last night at Anastasia campground with a bunch of people from church. It was so fun. More than just fun, it was incredible to sit back and take in God's creation more than I usually do. We sat around the campfire and sang as many worship songs as we could come up with, accompanied by Jill on the guitar. In the middle of that, we shared times when we've seen something awesome about God's creation and what that has meant to us. We sat around singing till very late into the night. Afterwards, most everybody headed to bed. Erica, Chris, Forrest, and I chose to go out to the beach to see the stars. It was amazing. We laid out on the sand in the pitch black and stared up into the vast expanse, naming constellations and pointing out interesting stars (and flickering green asteroids that were surely headed for our destruction!). God is amazing. Just to think that He made all of creation for us to enjoy blows me away. We headed back to camp around 2:00 am. This morning Erica, Phyllis, Billy, and I woke up early and went back out to the beach to watch the sunrise and pray together. Talk about incredible! It was completely amazing to watch the transformation of the sky as the sun crept up over the horizon. The gray rain clouds that were off in the distance changed from gray to purple to red to orange, with ever changing shadows and reflections. The waves and ripples in the water relfected the sky from every direction, making part of a wave dark and part of it red and part of it white. It was a sea of colors. I guess I haven't watched the sun actually rise in a long time because it amazed me how fast the sun moves once it breaks over the horizon a little. I'd say it took from 30 to 45 seconds to go from not seeing the sun at all to seeing it in its entirety. It was awesome. The rest of our time at the campground today went well, also. It was fun just to have a day/night to get away from the "daily grind" of school and everything else. God is completely amazing and I'm so glad I got a chance to admire His creation a little this weekend.
Take time to look around.
Oct 22, 2003
Oct 17, 2003
A shining light, a beacon of hope...
Yes, yes, I know my posts have been few and far between lately. I'm sorry. But life gets a little crazy at times! Today I think I may have quite a lot to say, though, so be prepared!
I just had a meeting with Paul Carpino, the career counselor here at Flagler. As I told Erica earlier, I didn't really know what to expect, but I did expect and fear that he would sit down, look at me, and say, "so what do you want to do with your life?" And essentially, he did just that. Anybody who's been keeping up with me in the past few weeks knows that this is the exact question that I have been struggling to answer for myself, so I sure as heck didn't want somebody else to ask me! But he asked. And I told him what I've come up with so far. I hesitantly began by informing him that I'm not totally sure that I even want to teach. [*gasp!* are education majors allowed to say that???] I proceeded to explain that the reason I am unsure of what I want to do is that I have so many interests in so many different areas (art, language, music, etc.) that I'm having trouble focusing on one thing that I "want to do." I expected him to give me the typical "hmmm.... I see" like a doctor after receiving the list of symptoms from the patient and then to spout off a cliche solution to my "problem," but that wasn't what he did at all. In fact, he seemed almost pleased with my answer. He mentioned that we all have to have a job that "pays the rent" but we should also continue to pursue what we love even if it doesn't make the money, and sometimes what we love will start making money and we can dump the other job. He began by telling me that he had corresponded with Jim Davis, the writer of Garfield, over the summer. (I thought to myself "Does this really have to do with me, or is it just a story he likes to tell?") The story actually had quite a good point. Long story short, Jim Davis never had any idea that people would even like Garfield, let alone that it would explode into the multi-million dollar thing that it is today. The reason Jim got to where he is today is because of his philosophy on life. He says, "Do what makes you happy, whether it is gardening, selling, or writing.... If you do something constructive that makes you happy, you'll work harder. The harder you work, the better you get. The better you get, the better you'll do. Success is bound to accompany the happiness." Mr. Carpino told me that it's all about having a vision or a plan. He said that when he was in graduate school he sat down and wrote out a plan of all the things he wanted to do. He got a little crazy on the details, even down to what kind of office he would have and what the view from his window would be! I don't think I'll take it that far, but the idea is really good. He said that writing out a plan makes it a lot easier to accomplish what you want. He said that years later he looked back at what he had written and like 95% of it was accurate to what actually happened. "So I would advise you to make a plan" he said. I told him that I've been messing around with some ideas lately, and he asked what they were. So I told him about Rex and Marti and their furniture shop, and how Marti and I have talked about me possibly working for them over the summer. I told him that I could totally see myself in that kind of job because I would absolutely love it. I could see myself having a job like that (maybe not that exact job, but a similar one) full time because I would enjoy it and it would make the necessary money, and then I could do other things on the side like photography and sing in a choir or work with a kids choir and maybe even teach a class here and there. Most teachers and professors, I think, would find my ideas a little random and lacking focus, but he seemed to think I was right on track. He called me an "aligned" person, which to him is a great thing to be. He said it's a great quality to have and there aren't many people who are truly aligned. That definitely boosted my confidence a little! So I'm starting to sort through things a little better now, and I'm really glad I didn't come away feeling like I'm wasting my time being here or being in Education. In not so many words, Mr. Carpino implied that it was fine if I never "used" my major. That makes me happy. He told me "Don't let the nay-sayers discourage you from doing what you want to do." I was like, "yeah, they're the ones who hate their jobs anyway!" So I am greatly encouraged today. I am convinced that I will have a wonderful life with a job that I enjoy, or at least a job that makes money and hobbies I enjoy! It's a good day.
Yes, yes, I know my posts have been few and far between lately. I'm sorry. But life gets a little crazy at times! Today I think I may have quite a lot to say, though, so be prepared!
I just had a meeting with Paul Carpino, the career counselor here at Flagler. As I told Erica earlier, I didn't really know what to expect, but I did expect and fear that he would sit down, look at me, and say, "so what do you want to do with your life?" And essentially, he did just that. Anybody who's been keeping up with me in the past few weeks knows that this is the exact question that I have been struggling to answer for myself, so I sure as heck didn't want somebody else to ask me! But he asked. And I told him what I've come up with so far. I hesitantly began by informing him that I'm not totally sure that I even want to teach. [*gasp!* are education majors allowed to say that???] I proceeded to explain that the reason I am unsure of what I want to do is that I have so many interests in so many different areas (art, language, music, etc.) that I'm having trouble focusing on one thing that I "want to do." I expected him to give me the typical "hmmm.... I see" like a doctor after receiving the list of symptoms from the patient and then to spout off a cliche solution to my "problem," but that wasn't what he did at all. In fact, he seemed almost pleased with my answer. He mentioned that we all have to have a job that "pays the rent" but we should also continue to pursue what we love even if it doesn't make the money, and sometimes what we love will start making money and we can dump the other job. He began by telling me that he had corresponded with Jim Davis, the writer of Garfield, over the summer. (I thought to myself "Does this really have to do with me, or is it just a story he likes to tell?") The story actually had quite a good point. Long story short, Jim Davis never had any idea that people would even like Garfield, let alone that it would explode into the multi-million dollar thing that it is today. The reason Jim got to where he is today is because of his philosophy on life. He says, "Do what makes you happy, whether it is gardening, selling, or writing.... If you do something constructive that makes you happy, you'll work harder. The harder you work, the better you get. The better you get, the better you'll do. Success is bound to accompany the happiness." Mr. Carpino told me that it's all about having a vision or a plan. He said that when he was in graduate school he sat down and wrote out a plan of all the things he wanted to do. He got a little crazy on the details, even down to what kind of office he would have and what the view from his window would be! I don't think I'll take it that far, but the idea is really good. He said that writing out a plan makes it a lot easier to accomplish what you want. He said that years later he looked back at what he had written and like 95% of it was accurate to what actually happened. "So I would advise you to make a plan" he said. I told him that I've been messing around with some ideas lately, and he asked what they were. So I told him about Rex and Marti and their furniture shop, and how Marti and I have talked about me possibly working for them over the summer. I told him that I could totally see myself in that kind of job because I would absolutely love it. I could see myself having a job like that (maybe not that exact job, but a similar one) full time because I would enjoy it and it would make the necessary money, and then I could do other things on the side like photography and sing in a choir or work with a kids choir and maybe even teach a class here and there. Most teachers and professors, I think, would find my ideas a little random and lacking focus, but he seemed to think I was right on track. He called me an "aligned" person, which to him is a great thing to be. He said it's a great quality to have and there aren't many people who are truly aligned. That definitely boosted my confidence a little! So I'm starting to sort through things a little better now, and I'm really glad I didn't come away feeling like I'm wasting my time being here or being in Education. In not so many words, Mr. Carpino implied that it was fine if I never "used" my major. That makes me happy. He told me "Don't let the nay-sayers discourage you from doing what you want to do." I was like, "yeah, they're the ones who hate their jobs anyway!" So I am greatly encouraged today. I am convinced that I will have a wonderful life with a job that I enjoy, or at least a job that makes money and hobbies I enjoy! It's a good day.
Oct 14, 2003
At long last...
I'm just now getting a chance to post. And I don't even really have time to say much. I will say that Sonburst was great once again. Here are the words to one of the songs we did that I really liked.
We lift our hands in the sanctuary
We lift our hands to give You the glory
We lift our hands to give You the praise
And we will praise You for the rest of our days
We will praise You for the rest of our days
Jesus, we give You the praise
Emanuel, we lift up Your name
Risen Savior, coming Messiah
We will praise You for the rest of our days
We will praise You for the rest of our days
[We clap our hands]
[We sing our songs]
Yes
Yes, Lord, for the rest of our days
I'm just now getting a chance to post. And I don't even really have time to say much. I will say that Sonburst was great once again. Here are the words to one of the songs we did that I really liked.
We lift our hands in the sanctuary
We lift our hands to give You the glory
We lift our hands to give You the praise
And we will praise You for the rest of our days
We will praise You for the rest of our days
Jesus, we give You the praise
Emanuel, we lift up Your name
Risen Savior, coming Messiah
We will praise You for the rest of our days
We will praise You for the rest of our days
[We clap our hands]
[We sing our songs]
Yes
Yes, Lord, for the rest of our days
Oct 9, 2003
Last post of the week...
Yeah, I won't get a chance to post again because I'm going on a retreat with InterVarsity called Sonburst. I went last year and it was like the best thing I've ever done. We're leaving tomorrow after classes. I'm SOOO excited! It will be great to have a weekend with no homework and total focus on things of God. I'm sure there will be some good stuff to post about when I get back. So that's all for now. Later.
Yeah, I won't get a chance to post again because I'm going on a retreat with InterVarsity called Sonburst. I went last year and it was like the best thing I've ever done. We're leaving tomorrow after classes. I'm SOOO excited! It will be great to have a weekend with no homework and total focus on things of God. I'm sure there will be some good stuff to post about when I get back. So that's all for now. Later.
Oct 8, 2003
"this is a [post] about the two loves of my life..."
In order of affection: Tazo Chai Tea Latte and Tazo Chai Tea Cream Frappachino. Yumm! Monday night was our much-anticipated first trip of the semester to Barnes and Noble. It was then that I discovered the latte. Today I had a craving for another one, so on my way to my elementary school I stopped in again. I decided to try the frappachino. It was different but quite good.
Monday was a weird day. One of those where everything feels as though it's going wrong, yet God spoke in very clear ways in the midst of it all. I was struggling with thoughts of my future... where I'm going, what I'm doing, etc. At InterVarsity we sang "No Sacrifice," the words of which I have posted here on more than one occasion. I needed that song so badly. Here go the lyrics once more...
to You I give my life
not just the parts I want to.
to You I sacrifice
these dreams that I hold on to.
Your thoughts are higher than mine,
Your words are deeper than mine,
Your love is stronger than mine.
This is no sacrifice, here's my life.
to You I give the gifts
Your love has given me.
how can I hoard the treasure
that You designed for free? (chorus)
to You I give my future
as long as it may last.
to You I give my present.
to You I give my past.
The speaker on Monday said something to the effect of "if you're comfortable, you're missing out on something." I thought to myself, "well, I must not be missing out cause I'm really uncomfortable right now!" Honestly, Monday was a really rough day. But I really needed to hear what the speaker had to say. He talked about having faith to take a risk and just trust God. He mentioned how we sing the words to the song I just posted, yet we just want to sit in the boat instead of stepping out on the water.
Good things have happened in the last 24 hours. God is starting to show me the answers to the prayers I prayed on Monday. I've been able to get a lot of my thoughts together. I know He's in control. I know something incredible is going to take place in my life in the next few years. I'm excited.
In order of affection: Tazo Chai Tea Latte and Tazo Chai Tea Cream Frappachino. Yumm! Monday night was our much-anticipated first trip of the semester to Barnes and Noble. It was then that I discovered the latte. Today I had a craving for another one, so on my way to my elementary school I stopped in again. I decided to try the frappachino. It was different but quite good.
Monday was a weird day. One of those where everything feels as though it's going wrong, yet God spoke in very clear ways in the midst of it all. I was struggling with thoughts of my future... where I'm going, what I'm doing, etc. At InterVarsity we sang "No Sacrifice," the words of which I have posted here on more than one occasion. I needed that song so badly. Here go the lyrics once more...
to You I give my life
not just the parts I want to.
to You I sacrifice
these dreams that I hold on to.
Your thoughts are higher than mine,
Your words are deeper than mine,
Your love is stronger than mine.
This is no sacrifice, here's my life.
to You I give the gifts
Your love has given me.
how can I hoard the treasure
that You designed for free? (chorus)
to You I give my future
as long as it may last.
to You I give my present.
to You I give my past.
The speaker on Monday said something to the effect of "if you're comfortable, you're missing out on something." I thought to myself, "well, I must not be missing out cause I'm really uncomfortable right now!" Honestly, Monday was a really rough day. But I really needed to hear what the speaker had to say. He talked about having faith to take a risk and just trust God. He mentioned how we sing the words to the song I just posted, yet we just want to sit in the boat instead of stepping out on the water.
Good things have happened in the last 24 hours. God is starting to show me the answers to the prayers I prayed on Monday. I've been able to get a lot of my thoughts together. I know He's in control. I know something incredible is going to take place in my life in the next few years. I'm excited.
Oct 7, 2003
Oct 4, 2003
Oct 3, 2003
Boy, what an exciting day... just kidding. So I woke up for class this morning (and I actually went to breakfast today) and in my psychology class there was this professor dude who wasn't our usual teacher. He was like, "Dr. Noboloff is unable to be here today, so I'm supposed to put in this video for you and you're supposed to stay till it's over." So we had to watch a 20 minute ANIMATED video about the effects of drugs on the human brain. It was honestly the worst thing I've ever had to sit through. I was really shocked that only one person left class since there was no professor and we didn't take roll. My second (and last) class of the day was fine. After that, I went to the 95 Cordova cafe and sat out on the patio balcony thingy and read some Plato. Lost focus after a while and started sketching random things on my paper. Got a phone call from Brenna. Read a little more. Walked down St. George Street a bit. Walked back to school. Read some more out in the gazebo, where some of the philosophy majors were sitting around with one of those Aborigonal Austrailian instrument thingies... you know, those long wood tube things that really only have one pitch, therefore I find them very boring... yeah, that was a little weird. Couldn't take Plato any more, so I finally came inside. Did a few random things for a while in the room. Took a much needed nap and slept through dinner. Krissy and I had Tang and pickles later! Yumm! Watched Krissy get ready for her date. Cooked some Romen and watched "Maid in Manhattan." That was my day.
Oct 2, 2003
Thinking...
I wonder how many times we misinterpret people's actions to mean something other than what they truely mean. I know I do it a lot. There's innumerable situations right now even where I wonder if a friend or I have misinterpreted things completely. Maybe we see a conversation taking place between other people and we try to make up what was being said and we somehow convince ourselves that that indeed was the actual conversation. Or maybe we hear a comment and make the false assumption that it was about ourselves. Or we simply misread people's reactions. Maybe they're just tired, but we assume something is wrong because they don't seem to be themselves. The list goes on and on. I guess I'm being taught that you shouldn't make assumptions about people's actions. You should gather the facts before forming your opinion. Know what's going on instead of just thinking you know. As Socrates would say, the wise man is not the one who says he knows, but the one who says he does not know.
I wonder how many times we misinterpret people's actions to mean something other than what they truely mean. I know I do it a lot. There's innumerable situations right now even where I wonder if a friend or I have misinterpreted things completely. Maybe we see a conversation taking place between other people and we try to make up what was being said and we somehow convince ourselves that that indeed was the actual conversation. Or maybe we hear a comment and make the false assumption that it was about ourselves. Or we simply misread people's reactions. Maybe they're just tired, but we assume something is wrong because they don't seem to be themselves. The list goes on and on. I guess I'm being taught that you shouldn't make assumptions about people's actions. You should gather the facts before forming your opinion. Know what's going on instead of just thinking you know. As Socrates would say, the wise man is not the one who says he knows, but the one who says he does not know.
One of my many favorite songs...
I lift my eyes up to the mountains, where does my help come from?
My help comes from You, Maker of heaven, Creator of the earth.
Oh how I need You, Lord, You are my only hope, You are my only friend
So I will wait for You to come and rescue me, come and give me life... give me life.
I lift my eyes up to the mountains, where does my help come from?
My help comes from You, Maker of heaven, Creator of the earth.
Oh how I need You, Lord, You are my only hope, You are my only friend
So I will wait for You to come and rescue me, come and give me life... give me life.
Oct 1, 2003
Signs...
Neon signs. Big, flashing neon signs. That's what we should have. They should be above every person's head, telling us things we need to know about them. Like "Sincere" or "Jerk" or "Fake" or "Honest." So often we're left to wonder and figure these things out on our own. So often this becomes a very difficult task. It would be so much simpler if we just knew. If it were just told to us. Then we could skip the figuring out stage and get right into getting to know the people we want to get to know. In a perfect world, we would just know. But alas, ours is not a world of perfection, so we are left to figure it all out.
Neon signs. Big, flashing neon signs. That's what we should have. They should be above every person's head, telling us things we need to know about them. Like "Sincere" or "Jerk" or "Fake" or "Honest." So often we're left to wonder and figure these things out on our own. So often this becomes a very difficult task. It would be so much simpler if we just knew. If it were just told to us. Then we could skip the figuring out stage and get right into getting to know the people we want to get to know. In a perfect world, we would just know. But alas, ours is not a world of perfection, so we are left to figure it all out.
Sep 30, 2003
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:8-9/NIV
Verseoftheday.com
1 Peter 1:8-9/NIV
Verseoftheday.com
Sep 29, 2003
Why...
Why am I so stubborn? Why don't I get it? God has told me -- has promised me -- that if I seek Him, everything else will just fall into place. Yet I seek my own desires instead of His, and nothing really works out! Tonight He reminded me that if I would just leave things up to Him, the things I want will fall into my lap before I even notice. "Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day" (Rainer Maria Rilke).
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you."
Why am I so stubborn? Why don't I get it? God has told me -- has promised me -- that if I seek Him, everything else will just fall into place. Yet I seek my own desires instead of His, and nothing really works out! Tonight He reminded me that if I would just leave things up to Him, the things I want will fall into my lap before I even notice. "Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day" (Rainer Maria Rilke).
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you."
Reach down, please touch my soul... I've given away pieces and it needs to be made whole... purge me in your healing flood... wash away the emptiness, fill me with your love... I want to taste of your mercy... I want to drink in your life... I want rest in your fullness... I want to run in your light... oh breathe in me... oh breathe in me... breath of life
-- "Breath of Life" by Among Thorns
-- "Breath of Life" by Among Thorns
Sep 28, 2003
"Painting Pictures of Egypt" by Sara Groves
I don't want to leave here;
I don't want to stay.
It feels like pinching to me either way.
And the places I long for the most
Are the places where I've been.
They are calling out to me like a long lost friend.
It's not about losing faith;
It's not about trust.
It's all about comfortable
When you move so much.
And the place I was wasn't perfect
But I had found a way to live.
And it wasn't milk or honey
But then neither is this.
I've been painting pictures of Egypt,
Leaving out what it lacked.
The future feels so hard
And I want to go back.
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I've learned.
And those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned.
The past is so tangible;
I know it by heart.
Familiar things are never easy to discard.
I was dying for some freedom,
But now I hesitate to go,
I am caught between the promise
And the things I know. (chorus)
If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it.
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
If it comes too quick
I may not recognize it.
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
I don't want to leave here;
I don't want to stay.
It feels like pinching to me either way.
And the places I long for the most
Are the places where I've been.
They are calling out to me like a long lost friend.
It's not about losing faith;
It's not about trust.
It's all about comfortable
When you move so much.
And the place I was wasn't perfect
But I had found a way to live.
And it wasn't milk or honey
But then neither is this.
I've been painting pictures of Egypt,
Leaving out what it lacked.
The future feels so hard
And I want to go back.
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I've learned.
And those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned.
The past is so tangible;
I know it by heart.
Familiar things are never easy to discard.
I was dying for some freedom,
But now I hesitate to go,
I am caught between the promise
And the things I know. (chorus)
If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it.
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
If it comes too quick
I may not recognize it.
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
