noah...

What if you were the only person left on earth who was living a life pleasing to God? You, being the head of your household, also managed to lead your family in following God, but no one else on earth even gave a thought to God. They lived in total opposition to anything that God stands for. What would your life be like? No church services, no Christian fellowship, no popular hymns or worshipful choruses, no one with whom to share joy over things God has done in your life. Essentially, you and your family had been dropped in the middle of a spiritual cemetary and you were the only ones alive. This is Noah's story.

And furthermore, could you imagine working on the same task for 120 years?

survey...

Favorite...
5 letter word: super
Candy: Milky Way Midnight
Cereal: Special K with Red Berries
Chewing gum: Winterfresh
Color(s): green (all shades)
Color nail polish: depends on mood :)
Day of week: Sunday
Least fave day: Tuesday (this semester only)
Jello flavor: I HATE JELLO!!
Summer/Winter: both
Trampolines or swimming pools: pools

Person who last..
Saw you cry: if during church counts, Marti Briant. if not, I can't remember.
Made you cry: ?
Went to the movies with you: Marti
Yelled at you: ?
Sent you an email: Phyllis

Have you ever..
Said "I love you" and meant it?: not in a "relationship" sense
Gone out in public in your pajamas: the closest I can remember coming to this was the dining hall at Flagler
Kept a secret from everyone: of course!
Cried during a movie: yes (Hard Ball)
At anytime owned New Kids on the Block stuff: no
Planned your week based on the TV Guide: not the whole week! only occasional Saturday nights
Been on stage: yes
Been to New York: yes
Been to California: no
Canada: no
Europe: yes
Asia: no
South America: no
Australia: no
Africa: no
Wished you were the opposite sex: yes

What time is it now?: 9:09 am

Either Or
Apples or bananas?: generally bananas
Blue or red?: it's a toss-up
Walmart or Target?: Target
Spring or Fall?: Fall (pretty with fewer allergies)
High school or college?: definitely college

Friendship/Love
Do you believe in love at first sight?: maybe (never experienced it)
Do you want children one day & if so, how many?: YES. 1-3
Most important thing to you in a friendship is: other than a heart for God, I'd have to say it's something you can't explain... just this awesome "thing" that God gives two people that makes them click.

Other Info
Criminal record?: no. not even any tickets.
Do you speak any other languages?: yes, ASL
Name some of your favorite things in your room: red paper lantern, painted canvases, photos
What are you gonna do after you finish this?: blog it and email it. then write another post.
Last meal you ate?: breakfast (a breakfast bar and a glass of soy milk)
Are you bored?: no
Last noise you heard?: siren outside
Last smell you sniffed?: spray paint (not kidding!)
Last time you went out of state?: summer in GA

You
Nickname(s): meg, megs, meganlee (considered a nickname because of how it's said)... and others
Initials: MML
How old do you look?: I think someone else should answer this one for me... I actually often wonder
How old do you act?: 25-30 sometimes. my age at others.
Glasses/Contacts: neither
Braces: had them, yes
Do you have any pets?: Toby (Yorkshire Terrier), Kitty (guess.), and Daisy (a white dove) all at my parents' house
Get embarrassed: not too often
What makes you happy?: friends, church, being outside during nice weather, not having any homework
What upsets you?: hypocrites and fakes, children who can't get adopted, the massive numbers of poor people, when people don't fulfill their responsibilities or are not considerate of others

Finish the sentence:
I Love to... hang out with my friends.
I Miss... Allison... & sleep.
I Wish... I didn't have to take Instructional Design... & that I was more compassionate.
I Hope... I'm a good teacher.
I'm Annoyed by... dirty dishes.
I Am... analytical.
I Want to Be... a wife and mom.
I Would Never... intentionally hurt someone's feelings.
I'd Rather...
I Am Tired of... school.
I Will Always be... my own person.

joining the "21-and-over" crowd...

Just wanted to say happy birthday to my best friend in the whole wide world, Allie. Her birthday was yesterday, but we played phone tag and never actually got to speak to each other. But the fact that I sang "Happy Birthday" on her voice mail at midnight should count for something!

Anyway, Fusion went well Wednesday night. I don't think my talk was too bad, so that's cool. Chris shared his testimony, which is always encouraging to hear. And we prayed over Grace and Jonathan for the loss of their mom. I'm eager to see what awesome things God has planned for their lives in the near future. I know He's going to do something incredible.

Camping is tonight. I'm excited about it, yet it couldn't be a more inconvenient weekend. But actually, this has been on my calender the longest, so I guess it's all the other things that I have to do that are inconvenient. Like my Grammar Theory exam. It's a take-home exam, which is better than the alternative of having to do it in class, but it's definitely not an easy exam. We're allowed to work on it with other people from the class, which is such a blessing, so Laci and I are working on ours together, but we are both incredibly busy this weekend, so making time to work on it is the hard part. We have to do four essays, and she and I made it through most of the first one yesterday afternoon. Today is out of the question for working, so we'll try to get it done tomorrow and Sunday. Saturday night is church and then Lisa's birthday party. She's having a sleepover for her 25th! How fun is that! Sunday morning is Bible study. I would also like to try to go to the Lincolnville Festival some time this weekend. I've been looking forward to it since I moved back in town in August. I'll be really sad if I can't go... they have the best food! Luckily, we don't have any sign choir practice or leadership meeting this Sunday, so that gives me the majority of the day to work. I'm gonna guess that I won't be going to ultimate frisbee, too.

Anyway, now that you have all been briefed on what I have to do this weekend, I think I'll go. I think I'll check out my friend Niki's blog. Here's the link if you want to check it out yourself. I haven't verified its quality yet, so I don't promise anything! :) Later.

speaking...

I'm speaking tomorrow at Fusion. (Well, today, according to the date... it's after midnight.) Rob told me he's excited to hear what I have to say... I said "so am I." Ha. I was a little nervous about it yesterday, feeling like I really didn't have anything to say, but it came together some earlier. Hopefully, God will pull it all together because I still feel a little scattered. As long as the heart of what I'm saying is communicated, I'll be pleased. As usual, I'm excited about the music. I love singing with the team (Devon, Rob, Donnie, and/or Phil).

For those of you who are new readers of this wonderful blog ;) humor me and place your pin on the map. (Eh-hem... Rob...) Sadly, that's my entertainment. And since some of my friends don't do any real work... they may have some free time on their hands. Just kidding. Aight, that's it for tonight... got to get to bed... I'm a fan of the ellipse marks today... I'm really going now... g'night.

the fire...

Here's the post I promised. It may be short and sweet, but it's good stuff, so I hope you learn something from it. Anyway, to start off with, I got the newest Sara Groves CD over the summer and one song that I particularly like is called Jeremiah. Here are the lyrics:

Jeremiah tell me about the fire / that burns up in your bones / I want to know / I want to know more now / The burning of ambition and desire / it never could come close / to that fire / to that fire // I was looking to myself / and I forgot the power of God / I was standing with a sparkler in my hand // While I stood so proud and profound / You came and burned this whole place down / Now that's a fire //chorus// I was caught up in this vice / and its power to entice / I was dwelling on my hopelessness and doubt // With the slightest invitation / You came with total detonation / Now that's a fire //chorus// I was warming my hands by this little light of mine / but now I know it's time / to come in from the cold / Fight fire with fire, fan the flame / come stir up these coals in my soul, in my soul / till it burns out of control //chorus// Jeremiah

Last week, as I mentioned before, Kathy spoke at Fusion and read a verse from Jeremiah that clarified the meaning of this song for me. Here's the verse:

Then I said "I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name." But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.
Jeremiah 20:9

How awesome! When our own "fire" of self-ambition and desire burns out and we feel like our ministry is useless, GOD'S FIRE is still in our hearts pushing us onward! We don't do things on our own power. The fire that we think we have on our own is just a little sparkler in our hand compared to the awesome consuming fire of God. As the song says, we get caught up with ourselves and dwell on our "hopelessness and doubt" and forget that we don't need to rely on our own power. Then, along comes God "with total detonation" and just blows us away with His power to change any situation.

That's all I have to say about that. I was really encouraged by what I learned from that verse. CONTINUATION is tonight. I'm looking forward to it. Later.

coming attractions...

I have a post in mind, but I'm at my work-grant job right now, so (a.) I can't sit here and type forever, and (b.) I don't have some of the info with me that I wish to include. But to give you a heads up, it's about Jeremiah. Kathy spoke at Fusion on Wednesday, and she read a particular verse from Jeremiah which clarified the meaning of a song I really like by Sarah Groves. Anyway, I'll hopefully be able to post that soon.

I'm really excited about doing Habitat for Humanity tomorrow with all my friends from church. What an awesome opportunity to help people who aren't as fortunate.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Later.

busy...

I haven't posted in a while, it seems. Life prevents me.

Photography is going wonderfully. I really love it. I turned in my first project yesterday, and I'm looking forward to the "official" feedback from my professor. I've gotten a lot of feedback during class from him, and it seems to be really positive, so I'm feeling optimistic.

CONTINUATION is tonight. That's the prayer meeting at our house. It's becoming very important in my life. I really look forward to it.

Nothing else much to say today. Leave a comment for me. Later.

another...

There's another hurricane headed our way. Are we surprised?

again???

Yes, I am posting again! Nearly a miracle, huh? I'm at my work-study job, and there's nothing to do in the office today, so here I am. I can't wait to eat my lunch. I made a chicken salad sandwich today. I sampled a little of it while I was making it this morning, and it's pretty good.

So like I was saying earlier, my church has started a new Wednesday night service called "Lifehouse." Previously they only had a Wednesday night prayer meeting/Bible study time, which mostly only the elderly people came to. They still have that at 7:00, but they added the Lifehouse service at 6:00. I had been wanting to go to it to see how it was, but with everything else I do (including Fusion/leadership from 8:30-11:00 on Wednesdays) I just hadn't made a point to get there. Now that Bobby has asked me to sing, I will have a reason to make myself go. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm amazed at the number of services that our church holds every week. And I'm amazed that Pastor Ron isn't completely worn out after all of them! We have a Saturday night service, three Sunday morning services, a Sunday night service, a Wednesday night service, and a Wednesday night prayer meeting. Not to mention the youth service on Wednesdays and Fusion for the college group. I'm not sure that Pastor Ron does any of the Wednesday services, however. Anyway, this didn't really have anything to do with anything. Just what I was thinking about.

I have to start signing up to take my teaching exams soon. I was looking at the booklet a few minutes ago, and I think it will be three seperate days that I will have to take tests. I'll do one in January, one in April, and one in July. I'm not really looking forward to those, but I guess it'll be good to get them done. I'm not sure if I have to be done before my internship next fall, or if I have until the end of my internship. All the information about the tests is really vague. I think I have the option of doing online tests, but I think you still have to go to an actual testing place to do them, so I'd rather stick with the paper and pencil tests if that's the case. I was hoping I could just do the tests from my house or whatever, but I guess you would have the opportunity to cheat if you could do that. Anyway.

Well, I'm out of stuff to talk about right now, so I'll quit while I'm ahead. Later.

september updates...

The month of the hurricanes. We finally completed our first actual full week of classes last week. I love photography class so far. And last Thursday I turned 21!!!! I had a great birthday weekend hanging out with friends and stuff. Thursday night my roommates and I went out for dinner and drinks at Chili's. (I had a Pina Colada and a Mango Frozen Martini.) Friday night we started our home-based prayer group called "Continuation" (which will be meeting at our house two Fridays a month) and then some of us went out for Italian Ice at a cool place called Rita's, then a few friends hung out at the house with us. Saturday night we went out for dinner again at Crispers. (We went out again because we were supposed to be going to this new Japanese place because that's where I wanted to go for my "birthday dinner" but after we were dressed and ready to go, we found out it wasn't open yet, so we went out anyway, so Crispers was our cheaper yet still dilicious option.) After Crispers, Krissy bought an ice cream birthday cake from Cold Stone and we went back to the house to enjoy that. Several people hung out at the house that night, too, among which were Luis and Lisa. They demonstrated their talent of dancing the Marange for us, and then Luis taught me. Fun stuff. We tried to teach him the Electric Slide, but intrest quickly dwindled.

Fusion is going awesome. I love it. Our leadership team has grown this year, and it's cool to have some new perspectives on things. I'm so excited for what's to come this year. I've been singing with Devon at Fusion for the past several weeks to lead the praise and worship. I enjoy that. In addition, Bobby (our contemporary music minister) called me yesterday and wanted to hear me sing, so I went to the church and sang for him, and he invited me to sing with the praise team for the new Wednesday night service that the church has started. I'm starting that tonight, so that's cool. Anyway, I've got to run to class now, so I'll try to post later. Bye.

francis...

Hurricane Francis continues slowly to drag itself across the state. The worst of the weather is over, but everyone is still homebound for the most part. In other words, I'M BORED OUT OF MY MIND!!! I haven't sat around and done nothing for quite a while, especially not at my parents' house. 4 1/2 days (5 1/2 by the end of tomorrow) is a looonnnggg time. On the bright side however, I got my camera this weekend. AND I didn't have to pay for it! That was a nice surprise. It's a Nikon N75. I can't wait to start using it. I think I'm really going to like my class. Anyway, I guess I'll get back to the puzzle that I have been working on to occupy my time. Later.

got it...

Well, I've got my photography class. I'm really excited about it. My first day in it will be Thursday, so I'll try to keep you posted as to how things go.

I did a ropes course this weekend at our Fusion Leadership retreat. We went up to St. Simon's Island, GA and stayed at a Christian retreat center for the weekend. It was a really awesome time of growing and planning. The ropes course was really cool, too. I was a little surprised at myself for actually walking across this wire that was strung between two trees some 20 feet in the air. It was cool to see how encouraging everybody was to each other. I love this group of people more than I have ever loved any other group. They are all so awesome. I am so blessed to be a part of this.

i'm back!!!

I'm happily moved into my house in St. Augustine now. I love it! Posting might be sporatic for the next week or so, until we get internet up and running in the house. Might even be sporatic after that, cause I think we're going with dial-up for the sake of cost.

I think I've got the photography class I signed up for this semester. It's on my "tentative" schedule at least. I'm way excited about that.

That's all for now. Much love!

to rachelle in gainesville...

To Rachelle who signed the guest map: Are you the Rachelle from Trinity? And from first grade, for that matter? Just wondering if I had the right person in mind, or if you're a different Rachelle. If it's you, give me the link to your blog. I used to have it, but don't now.

creeds...

The present text of the Apostles Creed is dated c. 700 AD
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Amen

Present text of Nicene Creed 381 AD
I believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
all that is,
seen and unseen.
I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

*The term "catholic" in these creeds is a term that indicates the fact that there is one united church which is the Body of Christ, not necessarily connected with the term as we use it today representing one denomination.

the Father's love...

How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son and make a wretch his treasure
How great the pain of seering loss, the Father turns His face away
As wounds that mark the chosen One bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon the cross, my sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection
Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart: His wounds have been my randsom

woah...

Oh...My...Gosh! I went to the Chihuly exhibit today. It was phenominal! I have never taken so many pictures in such a short period of time... and I take a lot of pictures! I took 4 1/2 rolls of film in two hours. That's somewhere around 106 pictures. Not joking. That's one picture every 1 minute and 13 seconds. Regardless of the fact that I will now have to spend at least $20 in developing charges, I am so glad I went and had the opportunity to take those pictures. I suppose out of 106 I have a pretty good chance that some of them turned out okay! On top of the glasswork being incredible, the garden has an orchid room in their green house that took my breath away! Orchids are my absolute favorite flowers, so I spent forever in that room taking pictures. Actually, I had a lot of trouble getting my camera to focus on the orchids, so it took a little longer. There was another room that housed rainforest type plants, which was also amazing. Chihuly's main piece in that room was incredible. It was a bunch of glass balls in various colors, sizes, and designs, all strung together from the 30-foot ceiling reaching all the way to the floor. I realize as I'm telling this story that unless you were there this is totally unimpressive, but I'm writing anyway. Another cool thing was that he has "floats" in the ponds. They are also large glass balls that just float around (who would have guessed) in the pond. It sounds simple, which technically I guess it is, but it's cool because as a piece of art it is in constant change because the balls change location in the pond all the time. And they are intermixed with these enormous lilly pads. The biggest I've ever seen in my life. The large ones were probably 5 feet in diameter. They're really cool because, as I heard a man explaining, they come up from the bottom of the pond relatively small (I would guess six inches to a foot) and they're kind of wrinkly, and as they sit on top of the water they expand and all the wrinkles smoothe out. Before I left the garden (side note) I had the best Caeser salad. Then I began driving home, but aparently I was in a daze or something and missed my exit. Eventually I was like, "shouldn't I be almost home by now? I feel like I've been driving forever." Sure enough, I had been. When I figured out where I was I was WAY off track! So all in all, I drove an extra 40 miles today! But on the plus side, it gave me the opportunity to go down like the coolest road in Georgia. I drove down this crazy curvy road at like 65mph with my window down and my hair flapping and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was a great day.

holding hands with the wind...

curving Georgia asphalt. beautiful day. manual window in the down position. hair back, hat on: saves face from a battering. righ hand loosely on black wheel. left hand outstretched to the outside world, holding hands with the wind. jade wrapped around thumb, wide brown leather encasing wrist. breezy fingers intertwine with mine. palm to palm. hands twist around, in and out, with glorious interplay.

to feel God. to know His presence. to hold hands with the Creator through Creation. trees, breeze, and rays of light. the glory of God declared. behold, He comes!


This was my five-minute drive to the barn today. I live for moments like that.

baptism...

Pastor Jonny has been preaching on baptism for the last couple of services. I've enjoyed it very much and my understanding of it has been broadened. Today I was reading Scott's post called "Baptism and Salvation". I think I hold a slightly different point of view in some respect than he does, but here's what I do believe. (This is such a complex subject... I know I won't be able to say everything perfectly, but I'll try my best.) I don't believe that baptism is what brings salvation, in the sense that if you are dunked under the water you are automatically saved. That would be to say that salvation is work-based. However, I do believe that baptism is a "part" of salvation, in that if you become saved you will be baptized. Not you might be baptized, or you can be baptized, but you WILL be. As Pastor Jonny put it, "The New Testament does not even seem to entertain the idea of an unbaptized believer." (As Scott put it, salvation is more a combination of things than a single act, but more on that later.) I do not believe that it is absolutely impossible for a person to be saved and not baptized, but for the most part I believe that if your faith is real and your salvation is real, your only desire would be to obey God in every possible way, the first of which is baptism. Regardless of anything else you believe about it, baptism is commanded by God, so in order to live an obedient life, baptism is required.

artist info...

Dale Chihuly has an exhibit at the Atlanta Botanical Garden right now. It's been going on all summer and will last till the end of October. For the 98% of you who have no idea who Chihuly is, he's this awesome glass artist that I learned about in my Intro to Visual Arts class last semester. He makes these incredible pieces from colored blown glass, usually with a very interesting shape. Typically he displays his art in "odd" locations, meaning he doesn't just line the halls of an art gallery with his stuff; he puts them out in nature, or in public settings, or wherever. I really hope to be able to go see the exhibit some time this week. From the pictures I've seen, the pieces look incredible in the garden, and I really want to experience them first-hand and take some good photos. It looks like I might be able to go on Saturday to see it after Ashlee takes her driving test in my car and before Allie gets here that evening. We'll see.