Today was weird and also great! I didn't get out of bed until 1:30 in the afternoon which was glorious, and then I made myself a cheeseburger for lunch and had ice cream. Alas, I was forced to mow the yard today, but I did it in a bathing suit in a sad attempt to get a tan. No luck working on bikes today.
Tonight was pretty fun, though. I went to church to meet our new prospective youth pastor candidate and his wife and 2 children and that was just really great. I was so excited for them to come because we haven't a youth pastor for 2 years! Even though I'm not in youth any more, I am excited for my friends who are because after tonight I know they will be in good hands. This couple is absolutely phenomenal, and I can't wait to see how God uses them in this ministry.
After that I did a lot of nothing for 3 hours. But in the midst of doing nothing, I read a really cool devotional on praise and psalms and singing and shouting worship to the Lord! I love reading and listening to pslams and songs of praise because it's the way I connect to the Holy Spirit best and I love worshipping Jesus. It reminds me of why I'm doing what I'm doing in terms of being a musician. Do it all for the glory of God! Abandon everything I know on earth and focus my energy - my songs, my music, my worship - on Jesus and the Lord's sacrifice and love for us! Bahhhh. So much awesome.
Also, today is my future roommate's birthday! She just became a legal adult. So exciting. (:
~Psalm 33:3 - "Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy."
Friday, May 11, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Late Nights
I realize that I forgot to post last night, but I didn't get home until midnight.
Nonetheless, "today" was a pretty solid day. I got to watch my 11 mo cousin which was fun, and then I came home, made myself a hamburger, and worked on 2 bicycles. That was pretty fun, because I love using my hands to build things and fix things and all that. I want to bring a bike back with me to school next fall, so when I told my mom I wanted to get one she told me that we have to here, so I found them and tried fixing them up. It's still a work in progress, but I look forward to completing this project and feeling accomplished about something!
Last night I got to play the piano for the middle school choir in my hometown, and afterwards go to the high school to watch 2 of my best friends perform in Grease the musical as their senior show! Despite some typical opening night technical difficulties, it was a really great performance and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
The cleaning and organizing of my room is still a work in progress. And I need to do some laundry.
~Ephesians 4:32 - "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."
Nonetheless, "today" was a pretty solid day. I got to watch my 11 mo cousin which was fun, and then I came home, made myself a hamburger, and worked on 2 bicycles. That was pretty fun, because I love using my hands to build things and fix things and all that. I want to bring a bike back with me to school next fall, so when I told my mom I wanted to get one she told me that we have to here, so I found them and tried fixing them up. It's still a work in progress, but I look forward to completing this project and feeling accomplished about something!
Last night I got to play the piano for the middle school choir in my hometown, and afterwards go to the high school to watch 2 of my best friends perform in Grease the musical as their senior show! Despite some typical opening night technical difficulties, it was a really great performance and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
The cleaning and organizing of my room is still a work in progress. And I need to do some laundry.
~Ephesians 4:32 - "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Boredom
So today was interesting. I realized how bored I'm going to be being home with no job. And how much I hate "stuff". And unpacking, just to realize how much useless stuff I have. I'm getting rid of a lot of stuff.
Anyway, this morning I was supposed to go running with my dear friend Alexa at 9:00, and at 9:12 she called me and said she was on my front porch, so I woke up and we ate breakfast, AND THEN we went running. After that we did a whole lot of nothing, watched Harry Potter, drank lots and lots of coffee in several variations, and then I came home for an hour, went to church, ate ice cream with my sister and some friends, then came home and practiced piano since I'm accompanying tomorrow.
I feel so unproductive and it scares me because it's been a full day and half a day and they're both already over, with me having done absolutely nothing. Hmm.
I'm practicing the violin this summer. I will get good. Or at least be able to call myself a beginner.
Tomorrow I might paint my toenails. I'm going to the opening night of "Grease" at my high school tomorrow, where I will also be reunited with my friend Emily! Excitement.
Oh, today some of my friends took the AP Calculus exam, and I was actually kind of jealous. I was excited to take it last year, and eat lots of food afterwards and only have to be in school for one block of the day. But oh well. I'm done with school for the year. I want to motivate myself to start cleaning/dejunking my room as soon as I'm done writing this... Maybe then I'll watch TV, spend some time with Jesus, and go to bed.
Philippians 4:8
Anyway, this morning I was supposed to go running with my dear friend Alexa at 9:00, and at 9:12 she called me and said she was on my front porch, so I woke up and we ate breakfast, AND THEN we went running. After that we did a whole lot of nothing, watched Harry Potter, drank lots and lots of coffee in several variations, and then I came home for an hour, went to church, ate ice cream with my sister and some friends, then came home and practiced piano since I'm accompanying tomorrow.
I feel so unproductive and it scares me because it's been a full day and half a day and they're both already over, with me having done absolutely nothing. Hmm.
I'm practicing the violin this summer. I will get good. Or at least be able to call myself a beginner.
Tomorrow I might paint my toenails. I'm going to the opening night of "Grease" at my high school tomorrow, where I will also be reunited with my friend Emily! Excitement.
Oh, today some of my friends took the AP Calculus exam, and I was actually kind of jealous. I was excited to take it last year, and eat lots of food afterwards and only have to be in school for one block of the day. But oh well. I'm done with school for the year. I want to motivate myself to start cleaning/dejunking my room as soon as I'm done writing this... Maybe then I'll watch TV, spend some time with Jesus, and go to bed.
Philippians 4:8
Dazed (Days?)
Today was the last day of my freshman year at Virginia Tech. It's very surreal.
I left for home today without saying goodbye to many people, which was also kind of weird. It's not that I'm not going to miss them, but I was so ready to be home that all my focus was put into getting on that bus instead of my friends.
Well, I'm realizing that eventually I'm going to get homesick for Blacksburg. I'm really going to miss my friends. And quite frankly, although in my case I really do miss my friends back home, college kids are just sort of out of place in the summer when they go home. The people we go back to see are still living their lives, and we just kind of have to piddle around until we get to do something (those of us without jobs, anyway).
Part of me is just kind of like, well God will do what He wants, so there's no use stressing over anything because it's summer and it's whatever.
Enough about that.
I have had one heck of a first year. Crazy, really. But crazy awesome.
It's going to be really hard to describe the whole thing in one post, so I'll just leave it at this: God is growing me in faith, in love, in hope, in endurance, in perspective, in the Word, in community, in forgiveness, in trust, and in truth.
I never imagined that after one semester in college I would become a part of leadership at the BCM. I never imagined I would make so many friends. I never dreamed that I would become so convicted of all the wrong in my life that all I could see was that I needed to get back to God. I never understood the concept of love - of godly love. I didn't have an eternal perspective.
Fun fact: when I got to college, I was like "I'm gonna make all friends who are in my year so we can always be together so I don't have to get sad when they graduate or when I graduate."And... that worked pretty well for me until about March. Now I'm sad. But the funny thing about God, is that He completely answered my prayer to make friends, and in regards to making close friends who were my age. It's not that He said no (because God isn't really a 'yes or no' kind of god) because I made so many friends through a Freshman and Transfer program the BCM has. God gave me a friend who, even though she's graduating, has held me accountable, challenged me, loved me, grown me, more in the last 2 months than I think anybody ever has in my life. God's funny that way. And now that graduation is in like 3 days, I'm not as depressed as I was during my high school graduation with having to leave everyone.
One important thing I learned this year also about "forever friends" - they're not earthly. I've heard it defined before something like "friends like that can go years without speaking and instantly pick up where they left off." That is completely the wrong idea. A true friend should always be holding you accountable to God and the Word, directing you to Christ, and when that's the case you become "forever friends" because even if your friendship on earth is short-lived, God planned it for His purpose and His Kingdom, and you'll get to see your friend(s) again in Heaven where everyone is friends/family and you'll get to worship God together forever! Those are the kinds of "forever friends" I want to have. And by jove I do believe I have some/have made some.
College. This has been the craziest year of my life. But also the most wonderful. I'm already excited for August. After my brain and fingers rest a little.
I think this'll be a good anthem for the summer: Garden by: NEEDTOBREATHE
I left for home today without saying goodbye to many people, which was also kind of weird. It's not that I'm not going to miss them, but I was so ready to be home that all my focus was put into getting on that bus instead of my friends.
Well, I'm realizing that eventually I'm going to get homesick for Blacksburg. I'm really going to miss my friends. And quite frankly, although in my case I really do miss my friends back home, college kids are just sort of out of place in the summer when they go home. The people we go back to see are still living their lives, and we just kind of have to piddle around until we get to do something (those of us without jobs, anyway).
Part of me is just kind of like, well God will do what He wants, so there's no use stressing over anything because it's summer and it's whatever.
Enough about that.
I have had one heck of a first year. Crazy, really. But crazy awesome.
It's going to be really hard to describe the whole thing in one post, so I'll just leave it at this: God is growing me in faith, in love, in hope, in endurance, in perspective, in the Word, in community, in forgiveness, in trust, and in truth.
I never imagined that after one semester in college I would become a part of leadership at the BCM. I never imagined I would make so many friends. I never dreamed that I would become so convicted of all the wrong in my life that all I could see was that I needed to get back to God. I never understood the concept of love - of godly love. I didn't have an eternal perspective.
Fun fact: when I got to college, I was like "I'm gonna make all friends who are in my year so we can always be together so I don't have to get sad when they graduate or when I graduate."And... that worked pretty well for me until about March. Now I'm sad. But the funny thing about God, is that He completely answered my prayer to make friends, and in regards to making close friends who were my age. It's not that He said no (because God isn't really a 'yes or no' kind of god) because I made so many friends through a Freshman and Transfer program the BCM has. God gave me a friend who, even though she's graduating, has held me accountable, challenged me, loved me, grown me, more in the last 2 months than I think anybody ever has in my life. God's funny that way. And now that graduation is in like 3 days, I'm not as depressed as I was during my high school graduation with having to leave everyone.
One important thing I learned this year also about "forever friends" - they're not earthly. I've heard it defined before something like "friends like that can go years without speaking and instantly pick up where they left off." That is completely the wrong idea. A true friend should always be holding you accountable to God and the Word, directing you to Christ, and when that's the case you become "forever friends" because even if your friendship on earth is short-lived, God planned it for His purpose and His Kingdom, and you'll get to see your friend(s) again in Heaven where everyone is friends/family and you'll get to worship God together forever! Those are the kinds of "forever friends" I want to have. And by jove I do believe I have some/have made some.
College. This has been the craziest year of my life. But also the most wonderful. I'm already excited for August. After my brain and fingers rest a little.
I think this'll be a good anthem for the summer: Garden by: NEEDTOBREATHE
Monday, May 7, 2012
Summer "Vacation"
I think I decided just this very second that I'm going to make an honest attempt to blog or post something every day this summer. I've been told many a time before that journaling is really important, and can be really quite helpful in our walk with Christ. Well, I used to do it some, and then I would stop, and then I'd do it again, but I don't feel like I'm going anywhere.
So. My life is probably not going to be very interesting this summer, but it's okay because we'll just consider this my virtual journal. Maybe it won't be quite as personal as it would be if I were writing in a bound notebook, but it will be real, and it will be me.
I wanna spend some serious time with God, because right now I don't feel very much like our relationship is growing. I wanna write about it, too. I plan on spending many a day at the park, or (potentially) in my hammock, or at my best friend's house, or, God-willing, working somewhere doing something that I will be getting paid some money for.
Plus I think it'll be cool to look back in August and see what I was doing in the middle of May every day and see how much I wrote and what I wrote about and what I "sound" like when I write. I'm excited.
I want to read this summer, too. There are books which people keep recommending to me that I just want to read. Even though I don't like reading. But I think reading will convict me. And I need to be convicted. And I need to be broken down into my bare soul to become so vulnerable to everything that I let my heart absorb God and take on His persona to let Him work in my life, no resisting.
Ho, hum. It's not quite summer yet, but today I passed my piano jury with an A-, took my multivariable calculus exam at 11:05, finished around 1:10, picked up my allergy shot serum, hung out with some dear friends, and spent a few hours with my mom packing up my dorm room and eating dinner and buying orange juice, Reese's cups, and oatmeal in bulk. I am currently preparing my mind to FINALLY FINISH MY LAST ENGLISH PAPER EVER and then study for a theory exam I have in the morning. I also need to write a letter.
Tomorrow is the last day of my first year of college, and it's weird. But I could not be more excited.
There will be more to say about that tomorrow. :-)
Sayonara, friends. May this post find you well and rested and at peace with whatever God has put in your life today!
So. My life is probably not going to be very interesting this summer, but it's okay because we'll just consider this my virtual journal. Maybe it won't be quite as personal as it would be if I were writing in a bound notebook, but it will be real, and it will be me.
I wanna spend some serious time with God, because right now I don't feel very much like our relationship is growing. I wanna write about it, too. I plan on spending many a day at the park, or (potentially) in my hammock, or at my best friend's house, or, God-willing, working somewhere doing something that I will be getting paid some money for.
Plus I think it'll be cool to look back in August and see what I was doing in the middle of May every day and see how much I wrote and what I wrote about and what I "sound" like when I write. I'm excited.
I want to read this summer, too. There are books which people keep recommending to me that I just want to read. Even though I don't like reading. But I think reading will convict me. And I need to be convicted. And I need to be broken down into my bare soul to become so vulnerable to everything that I let my heart absorb God and take on His persona to let Him work in my life, no resisting.
Ho, hum. It's not quite summer yet, but today I passed my piano jury with an A-, took my multivariable calculus exam at 11:05, finished around 1:10, picked up my allergy shot serum, hung out with some dear friends, and spent a few hours with my mom packing up my dorm room and eating dinner and buying orange juice, Reese's cups, and oatmeal in bulk. I am currently preparing my mind to FINALLY FINISH MY LAST ENGLISH PAPER EVER and then study for a theory exam I have in the morning. I also need to write a letter.
Tomorrow is the last day of my first year of college, and it's weird. But I could not be more excited.
There will be more to say about that tomorrow. :-)
Sayonara, friends. May this post find you well and rested and at peace with whatever God has put in your life today!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Music and the Heart
Two songs that are speaking to me right now:
Legacy - Nichole Nordeman
A Mirror is Harder to Hold - Jon Foreman
Because I want to leave a legacy -
And because I want to learn not to be judgmental and a hypocrite when it comes to pointing out other people's shortcomings without examining my own heart. I've been convicted. Big time. -
Legacy - Nichole Nordeman
A Mirror is Harder to Hold - Jon Foreman
Because I want to leave a legacy -
"Therefore let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and praise your Father in Heaven."
Matthew 5:16
And because I want to learn not to be judgmental and a hypocrite when it comes to pointing out other people's shortcomings without examining my own heart. I've been convicted. Big time. -
"Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye."
Matthew 7:1-5
I am truly grateful for a God of love and grace and mercy. And I'm grateful for godly friends who hold me accountable. My heart seriously needs a make-over. I can't wait to see what God does with it.
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, and the new has come!"
2 Corinthians 5:17
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Parents
Today as I made my usual walk to my dorm from the Math Empo, I had a realization that I wasn't expecting. It was one that maybe any normal human being would have had 4 years ago.
Well today I realized the difficulty in having two parents who don't agree or get along. Well besides the obvious - that it's annoying and stupid - I realized that it's really hard to be obedient the way God wants us to.
I hadn't thought about it before because I've lived with my mom for 4 and a half years, without speaking to my dad much, so all I had to do was what she told me to do. It never really occurred to me that I still had to listen to my dad, because he is still my dad.
Sure I've done in-depth analyses of the severe psychological effects my bad relationship with my dad has had on me. Of course. It makes me resistant toward men; makes me skeptical of all males; makes me hesitant to call God my Heavenly Father because of the earthly connotation I subconsciously put with it. But I had never really seen the problem with having my parents not get along.
I think this is because I've always assumed my mom was right above my dad, and maybe that's true. I mean, she's the one who got to keep us, and we wanted to live with her, and I turned out pretty good so I assume she's done a good, godly job of raising me and my brother.
But today on my walk, I was thinking about something my dad (and my aunt, actually) had asked me to do if I got a chance, which I have still neglected to do, mostly due to not having any time to do anything ever. Then I remembered that my mom had called me the other day and I got a chance to talk to her for a while, and she brought it up and asked me if I'd done what my dad had asked, and I just said well no I haven't really gotten around to it and I don't really have any time and I keep forgetting and all that. Then she just said, "Well I don't really care if you do or not, I was just curious." And I kind of just brushed it off, like, well okay.
It wasn't until today that it hit me again: my mom really doesn't care what I do in regards to my dad (although she does wish I'd forgive him) and that kind of messes with the Bible. I should've obeyed my dad as soon as he asked me to do something. And I think the fact that I didn't have reinforcement from my mom asking me to do made me not care and just forget all together. Now that I think about it though, it's things like that which make this whole "differing-opinion" parents hard. I should obey both of my parents, whether or not they agree with each other, as long as one of them is not asking me to do something that would defy God.
After all, God instructs us to obey our parents. By doing this, we are obeying Him (our Heavenly Father) and our parents, both of which He tells to. But obeying Him is more important than obeying our parents. The implication to obeying our parents is that our parents are raising us the way God wants them to, so when we obey them, we obey God. That's where the whole "obey only if God would approve" thing comes in.
Anyway, that's just my little thought for the day. Family is weird. It's always weird. It's especially weird when you want nothing to do with some of it. And even harder when they don't want anything to do with Jesus.
Sayonara, friends.
Philippians 1:21
Well today I realized the difficulty in having two parents who don't agree or get along. Well besides the obvious - that it's annoying and stupid - I realized that it's really hard to be obedient the way God wants us to.
I hadn't thought about it before because I've lived with my mom for 4 and a half years, without speaking to my dad much, so all I had to do was what she told me to do. It never really occurred to me that I still had to listen to my dad, because he is still my dad.
Sure I've done in-depth analyses of the severe psychological effects my bad relationship with my dad has had on me. Of course. It makes me resistant toward men; makes me skeptical of all males; makes me hesitant to call God my Heavenly Father because of the earthly connotation I subconsciously put with it. But I had never really seen the problem with having my parents not get along.
I think this is because I've always assumed my mom was right above my dad, and maybe that's true. I mean, she's the one who got to keep us, and we wanted to live with her, and I turned out pretty good so I assume she's done a good, godly job of raising me and my brother.
But today on my walk, I was thinking about something my dad (and my aunt, actually) had asked me to do if I got a chance, which I have still neglected to do, mostly due to not having any time to do anything ever. Then I remembered that my mom had called me the other day and I got a chance to talk to her for a while, and she brought it up and asked me if I'd done what my dad had asked, and I just said well no I haven't really gotten around to it and I don't really have any time and I keep forgetting and all that. Then she just said, "Well I don't really care if you do or not, I was just curious." And I kind of just brushed it off, like, well okay.
It wasn't until today that it hit me again: my mom really doesn't care what I do in regards to my dad (although she does wish I'd forgive him) and that kind of messes with the Bible. I should've obeyed my dad as soon as he asked me to do something. And I think the fact that I didn't have reinforcement from my mom asking me to do made me not care and just forget all together. Now that I think about it though, it's things like that which make this whole "differing-opinion" parents hard. I should obey both of my parents, whether or not they agree with each other, as long as one of them is not asking me to do something that would defy God.
After all, God instructs us to obey our parents. By doing this, we are obeying Him (our Heavenly Father) and our parents, both of which He tells to. But obeying Him is more important than obeying our parents. The implication to obeying our parents is that our parents are raising us the way God wants them to, so when we obey them, we obey God. That's where the whole "obey only if God would approve" thing comes in.
Anyway, that's just my little thought for the day. Family is weird. It's always weird. It's especially weird when you want nothing to do with some of it. And even harder when they don't want anything to do with Jesus.
Sayonara, friends.
Philippians 1:21
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