Sunday, October 31, 2010

NIPTO, Day 266

Hey-o!

Today was... decent!
Got up. Went to Sunday School. Then church. Then talked to some people after. Went home. Ate lunch. Read Uncle Tom's Cabin. Went on a walk and read. Read some more. Played the piano for a while. got ready for youth group. Went to youth group. Vacuumed. Ate some pizza. Drew on the wall a little bit (which is totally okay! haha). Played Euchre with Erin, Brandon, and Ricardo. Brandon and I beasted and won. Because we're awesome. Annnnd then I'm not sure what I did. I think I sat and talked to Meg, Spencer, and Ricky? Yeah. Thennn we all got toilet paper (Brandon was thinking of a number and we had to take the number of squares that we thought he was thinking of). I took 8 squares. I had to say 8 things about myself. You had to say at least 3 things (like if you took 1 or 2 squares) about yourself. So that was fun. I'll try to remember my 8 things.
1) I wear my slippers almost everywhere
2) I have two sisters
3) I have a dog
4) I'm homeschooled
5) I've never been to public school
6) Kaytee is my best friend and has been for 8 years
7) I was a Nerd Herder from Chuck for Halloween.
8) I wear glasses but I'm not wearing them now because I'm wearing contacts right now.

So yeah. :) That's it.

After that, we had some worship time and prayer time. That was great. Annnnd then we had a brief leadership team meeting and then chillaxed. It was a good night!
Now I'm home. And should finish this and then finish my homework. I just need to type up questions, so that's not bad.
So. NIPTO.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
1 There is a time for everything,
       and a season for every activity under heaven:



This is such an important thing to remember. There is a time for everything. Everything


 2 a time to be born and a time to die,
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

There's a time for every person to be born. A time for every person to die. 
A time to plant and a time to uproot. 


 3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
       a time to tear down and a time to build,

There's a time to kill. There's a time to heal and bring to life. There's a time to tear things down. A time to build things up.


 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

A time to weep and a time to laugh until your stomach hurts. A time to mourn and a time to dance. (I like the laughing and dancing better, but there's a time and a place for the first of the sets.)


 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

There's a time to scatter and a time to gather. 
Then. One thing that's interesting to me: a time to embrace and a time to refrain. Innnteresting. 


 6 a time to search and a time to give up,
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

There's a time to search and a time to give up (it's okay to give up sometimes! It might be the time for it.)
There's a time to keep and a time to throw away. 
I'm a little bit of a pack rat. It's hard for me to throw some stuff away. 


 7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
       a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
       a time for war and a time for peace

There's a time to tear and a time to mend. I like tearing things (like paper). But fixing things is awesome too. There's a time to shut yo mouth and a time to speak up! A time to love. A time to hate. A time for war. A time for peace. Annnd now I'm going to post the song that you think I'm going to post...







Now I'm going to go finish my homework. And then go to bed. G'night all!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

NIPTO, Day 265

Hey allll.

Today was a fantastic day!

I slept in. Laid in bed for a longg time and read. Ate breakfast. Sat on "my chair" and read. For a long long long time. Until about 1 o'clock. Then I took a shower and finally got ready for the day. The Karen girls came annnnd they looked through coats and got costumes sorted out. Then they watched Twitches Two annnd erm.... uh... I think Dad and I worked on our pumpkins some. And then we printed out our Nerd Herd badges... annnd ate dinner. I got ready/dressed and finished up my pumpkin. Then we headed out to go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood! 'Twas fun! Here are some pictures :)

Me as a Nerd Herder

Our group

Me&My Nerd Herd Pumpkin

The pumpkins at night. Kinda.

Nerd Herd Logo!

Me. Kinda creepy! haha

Me&my pumpkin again

Think this picture is "nerdy" enough? =P
So that was my night. Came home. Mom&Dad took the Karen girls home. I sat and did whatever on the computer. Then Mom&Dad came home and we watched an episode of Pushing Daisies. And here I am.
Soooooo NIPTO? Yeah.

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
 17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.


I feel like this is all pretty self explanatory. Is it? I don't even know. But he has a point. What are we doing that has legit lasting value? Who knows who will have our material possessions and what they'll do with them.




20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.


He got depressed. You can work and work and put your all into something and then it can be left to someone who doesn't give a dime about what you did. That, my dear readers, is depressing.




22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.


What do you get from working hard and being anxious? A whole lot of nothing. Or pain and grief. Uhg. That sounds awful. Meaningless!


 24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Ahhhhhhhh meaning! Something that has meaning! All you can do is eat, drink, and be satisfied with what you do. But you have to have God, otherwise it's... you guessed it! Meaningless. Because God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness. But the sinners (which is us, most of the time) get the task of gathering material wealth that's meaningless. Great. Glad we have Jesus to make our lives worthwhile! Yay!


So. I'm leaving it there. But. I'm giving you a video to an awesome song. Brielle by Sky Sailing. Sky Sailing is a baby project of Adam Young (Owl City)'s. He's amazing. Take a listen!



Goodnight!

Friday, October 29, 2010

NIPTO, Day 264

Hey y'aaaaaall.

I'm in a good mood right now. I'm listening to the music from the end of Monk.... glorious music that I haven't heard for a longg time. And I just edited some pictures and am working on a project a little bit... :) I love editing.

Alrighty. My day today. It was... crazy. Just a litle bit. Got up early. Did school. Babysat Zakk, Derek, Emily, and Hailey. They're adorable. I got to sit with Hailey on my lap and read for about an hour. She was asleep. It was very peaceful.

Then I came home and checked facebook a bit and then babysat for Nate. We played football. I'm actually getting to be decent at throwing a football. Even if my arm hurts a little bit the next day. (Yes, I am a wimp!)

Then I came home and... did I don't know what. We ate dinner... I helped Mom clean up, and then we watched Nancy Drew and I edited some pictures... and now we're watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Definitely a good movie! :) (Even if both of my parents fell asleep. Awwww they're cute... awwww they just woke up. hahaha)

I worked on a little bit of a project that I was just "issued." It was fun. I think it turned out well. (It was a banner for a website that a friend is working on.)

So now I finish watching Cloudy W/ a Chance of Meatballs annd then do NIPTO.
That was a cute movie! And I got my initial project done and sent back to issuer. (I'll get comments back tomorrow/what he wants tweaked, etc.)
NIPTO!
Ecclesiastes 2:12-16
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
       and also madness and folly.
       What more can the king's successor do
       than what has already been done?



So this king has everything he could ever want. But he's still realizing that it's worth nothing. So he starts to think about wisdom. And madness. And folly. He asks what the king's successor can do that hasn't already been done.


 13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
       just as light is better than darkness.
 


He saw something somewhat profound, yet incredibly simple. Wisdom is better than folly. Just like light is better than darkness. 
Light is associated with good, dark with bad. Wisdom=light=good, folly=dark=bad.
Simple as that! haha


 14 The wise man has eyes in his head,
       while the fool walks in the darkness;
       but I came to realize
       that the same fate overtakes them both.



A wise person has eyes and uses them. A fool has eyes but doesn't use them. Keeps them shut, actually. But then the author realized that the same thing happens to both of them... hm. I wonder what that is...


 15 Then I thought in my heart,
       "The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
       What then do I gain by being wise?"
       I said in my heart,
       "This too is meaningless."
 
16 For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
       in days to come both will be forgotten.
       Like the fool, the wise man too must die!



The author thought "Huh. I'm going to become a fool. What am I gaining by being wise? Nothing. This too is meaningless." 
Mannnnnn. This person is depressed! 
But: the wise person and the fool will both be forgotten. Both people will die. And one might have a slightly longer legacy than the other, but in the end, they're both forgotten.
Bummer.




I feel like I keep ending these with "bummer." That's a bummer.
Because once again, ladies and gentlemen, it's late and I need to go to bed.
I get to sleep in tomorrow.... lovely.
And I get to dress up for Halloween! YAY! (Nerd Herder, here I come! (
Here is my Nerd Herd badge!) (Sorry, Kate. I'm not going to be a M&M with whipped cream on top. Even if you offered me $5. Susan agreed that you should give me at least $10. HAH!) Sorry 'bout that. Insideish joke. :)
A'ight. I'm done here.
Goooooodnight people who read my blog!


Thursday, October 28, 2010

NIPTO, Day 263

Hey all.
Today has been a long day.
I did school. Lots and lots of school. Watched Glee during lunch (The Rocky Horror Glee Show =P). Listened to a lot of Taylor Swift and The Avett Brothers. Good stuff. I want to listen to Taylor Swift's new album... I've heard from other people/Facebook that it's really good. Sooo yeah.
I talked to both of my sisters for a while. Babysat... that was a frustrating saga that I'm not going to make any of you suffer through. Annnd then I came home and ate dinner. Looked over my physics stuff. Didn't do as horribly as I thought I did. And now I'm listening to more Taylor Swift and blogging! Yay! I'm thinking about watching some Pushing Daisies... I like that show.

Soo yeah. I think I'll do NIPTO and then watch Pushing Daisies. :)

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
1 I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless.


The author thought he'd try some things to find out what was really good. If pleasure was good. But it proved to be meaningless. (Pleasure is something that is "proved good" in our society. Lame.)




2 "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.


Laughter is foolish. Bold statement. I think laugher means... joy. But pleasure doesn't accomplish much. The author tried drinking and embracing the folly, but all while still being guided by his mind & wisdom. He wanted to see what was actually worthwhile. 


 4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
He did lots of great things: built houses, planted things, made gardens and parks, made reservoirs, bought slaves, owned masses of flocks/herds. He had money and treasure. He had everything he could have ever wanted. He was greater than anyone in Jerusalem and he still had his wisdom. What more could you want? 


 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
       I refused my heart no pleasure.
       My heart took delight in all my work,
       and this was the reward for all my labor.
 
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
       and what I had toiled to achieve,
       everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
       nothing was gained under the sun.

He had everything he wanted. He didn't deny himself anything. His heart took delight in what he did and that was the reward for his work. But when he saw everything that he had done and what he had worked so hard on, he realized that everything was meaningless. Nothing was gained from his work. Bummer.




This isn't exactly a
happy book. So far. It gets there... kind of. Hah.

OOH! I forgot to mention that I got my ring today! The store called and said that it was in, and Mom and Dad happened to be down by the mall, so they picked it up for me :) I love it!



Isn't it pretty?
It's my 16th birthday ring, if you missed that! :)
I'm going to go watch some Pushing Daisies now, kay? Kay. Have a good evening!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

NIPTO, Day 262

Hey y'all!

Today was a good day. Got up (with a little bit of difficulty) and got ready. Went to Spanish class. Laughed. I love that class. Then I was in study hall with Joy and Julia. That was fun too... I got a little bit of stuff done. Then Philip and Sean came in and Philip, Julia, and Joy started to do Hebrew and I got my Geometry stuff mostly done. Then we ate lunch (outside because it was nice!) and then I sat in on Mom's  science class and tried to get stuff done and kind of failed. Then I went to the Library while Mom went to the grocery store. I got Physics done and got some books. Thennn I came home and caught up on blogs and did lit and then went to Alpha!

Alpha was good. We had lasagna for dinner (yum!) annd talked about "evangelism" per se. He never actually used the word "evangelism" which was interesting.

Now I'm home. And I watched Survivor. Annnnnd am now watching Chuck from Monday.

So now I watch Chuck and chill until it's over and then I do NIPTO.

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.


A'ight. The person writing this was the king of Jerusalem. At some point. This person was devoted to studying and exploring and learning. Gaining wisdom. Then he says something that I find somewhat peculiar. "What a heavy burden God has laid on men!" Jesus said "My yolk is easy and my burden is light" Matthew 11:30. Hm. 
But the author goes on to point out that everything that they've seen is meaningless. Like chasing the wind. Which is pretty pointless.


 15 What is twisted cannot be straightened;
       what is lacking cannot be counted.

Things that are twisted (people, for instance, maybe?) can't be made straight. You can't count what you don't have. Interesting. 



 16 I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge." 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
This person thought, "I've gained more wisdom than anyone who has ever ruled over Jerusalem before me! I've experienced so much wisdom and knowledge."
Then the applied themself to their understanding and realized that even their wisdom was like chasing after the wind. Lots of wind chasing going on here!


 18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
       the more knowledge, the more grief.





With much wisdom comes much sorrow. The more knowledge you have, the more grief.

I'll call that a true story. Tonight at Alpha, Nicky Gumbel who does the videos was saying that 15 million people will die this year because of preventable diseases. That knowledge brings me grief. Knowing that so many people will die needlessly. Sad stuff.


This verse also reminds me of "With great power comes great responsibility." NO clue who said it. Could probably Google it and find about 10 different answers. But I'll do it anyways, just for grins. If you really want to find it out, read this. I don't feel like actually reading it because it's kind of late, but if you really want to know the origin of that quote, go right ahead and read it! haha (I didn't actually realize that that quote is from Spider-Man! Yay me for being "uncultured" or something like that!)





Alrighty. Sooo I think I've established that Ecclesiastes is interesting. And now is the part where I go to bed. 
So goodnight my readers. Y'all are awesome. Don't forget it!

Much internet love&hugs,



Tuesday, October 26, 2010

NIPTO, Day 261

Hi everyone.

Today has been a very long day. 
Got up (with much... trepidation? not really. Just didn't feel like getting up.), got ready, did a tiny bit of school, went to the dentist, did some school in the waiting area, went home, did more school, ate lunch and watched Pushing Daises, and then did more school. Then we went to Urban Vision (after a lot of hemming and hawing about whether we should go or not because the weather wasn't looking so great. Big storm went through... sometime today. We were at Urban Vision in their large brick building and I didn't hear or see a thing.). I was in the Gym for the entire time, except for dinner and homework. Dinner was super yum. Rice and sloppy joes, applesauce and a cupcake. Pumpkin cupcake. YUM.
I got ready for ballet and went upstairs... I'll have to take some pictures of the "studio" eventually to put  up here. Annnd we did ballet. And then I went to dance for two hours. I got my jazz shoes (exciting! Now I don't fall when I spin! And I can actually do decent turns!). Annd yeah. I drove home with Dad... I was talking to him in the car... There are two girls who are in jazz who aren't in modern. E and K. As soon as they left, almost everyone started making fun of K. It was so sad. Like, it wasn't even anything... super serious, but it was still mean. They are mean girls. I sat back and didn't really do anything, but if they do anything next week, something's gonna go down. It's saddening and disappointing to see five or six girls who are nice people get so mean about something little. It's rude and hurtful. It makes you wonder what they say about you behind your back. I know I shot up a prayer during that. I just didn't know what to do. I wanted to say something and stick up for her, but I wasn't sure what to say. One of the girls even asked me, "Are you friends with her?" and I was like, "Well... kinda? We talk a little bit." And she was like, "Oh. Okay." and then started/kept talking about her. 
It makes you realize how shallow people are. And how immature and stupid high school girls are/can be. 
I guess that right now all I can do is pray and do something if they do anything next week. I'm not going to let this go. K is a nice person and doesn't deserve to be treated like that behind her back. 

*Deep breath*
Moving on. To NIPTO.

I think I'm going to start Ecclesiastes. Here is some great background information on Ecclesiastes! (It's a PDF, just so you know.)

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
 2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
       says the Teacher.
       "Utterly meaningless!
       Everything is meaningless."

In the words of the Teacher, a son of David, the king of Jerusalem: Meaningless. Everything is utterly meaningless. Hm. I wonder why. Let's keep reading.


 3 What does man gain from all his labor
       at which he toils under the sun?
 4 Generations come and generations go,
       but the earth remains forever.
 5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
       and hurries back to where it rises.

What do we get from working under the sun? People come, people go. The earth is here forever. The sun rises, the sun sets, the sun rises again.
I'm sensing... a little bit of monotony. 


 6 The wind blows to the south
       and turns to the north;
       round and round it goes,
       ever returning on its course.
 7 All streams flow into the sea,
       yet the sea is never full.
       To the place the streams come from,
       there they return again.

The wind blows in circles. All streams go to the sea, but the sea is never full. Where the streams come from, they go back to.


 8 All things are wearisome,
       more than one can say.
       The eye never has enough of seeing,
       nor the ear its fill of hearing.
 9 What has been will be again,
       what has been done will be done again;
       there is nothing new under the sun.

All things are wearisome. Everything that you do is going to get tiring. The eye never has enough seeing and the ear never has enough hearing. That could go on forever. 
What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again
The author makes a bold statement. "there is nothing new under the sun."
Wow. Uh... okay. Keep reading. (The author is kind of a Debbie Downer. (or Negative Nancy, if you will.))


 10 Is there anything of which one can say,
       "Look! This is something new"?
       It was here already, long ago;
       it was here before our time.

Is there anything that we can really claim newness for? Well. Not really. Pretty much everything has been here. That's something interesting to think about. Because people are making "new" things every day. But how new are they really?


 11 There is no remembrance of men of old,
       and even those who are yet to come
       will not be remembered
       by those who follow.

There is no remembrance of the people of the past. The people who are yet to come won't even be remembered by the people who follow them.
All depressing. Huh.
Debbie Downer. 

Annnnd moving on again. I know six people who have birthdays today.
Kaytee, Connie, Josh, Christine, Janaya, and Ye Shen.
So Happy birthday to all of them! Even though I don't think any of them read my blog... haha

I'm going to go to bed now. Spanish class tomorrow! Ole! haha 
Hope you all had a fantastic day :)

To my best friend...

of 8 (is that right? I think so!) years. Happy Birthday.
You are a beautiful person. And I love you very much.
Today I started to reminisce... playing "indians," the tree house, the creek, catching fish, walks around the neighborhood, sitting on your front porch even when we have other things we should be doing, Tarbucks runs and walking around Target even when we don't need anything, youth group, football games, me coming to your soccer games and screaming "I LOVE THE KEEPERRRRR!" as loud as I can and then attacking you after the game. Laughter, tears, good times, and bad. You've been there through it all.

People. You don't understand. This girl is amazing.  She's the girl who will ask me how I'm doing and get a real answer out of me. She'll let me cry on her shoulder and she'll whisper in my ear that school is stupid. She's the one who knows the most about me. I'm probably in the top 2 of people who know the most about her. She's amazing. She's my best friend. And I love her very much.

Happy 17th birthday, Katie. You're a special person. Don't ever forget it.


Much love,

Monday, October 25, 2010

NIPTO, Day 260

Yesterday marked the 37th week that  I've been blogging.
Amazing.

I'm sitting at school. I don't really have anything to do (except Geometry, and I want to do that with mom and she's still teaching for another 20 minutes) so I thought I'd get started on this.
It smells SOOO GOOD in here today. They made applesauce in cooking/bible class this morning. And right now I smell ozone. (Bread baking haha)
I could totally be making up the fact that they're making bread because I can't smell anything. <-- that was  false statement, because I can obviously smell. But I can't smell very well.
Better.

So... not a lot has happened since I blogged last.
Although I was an emotional wreck yesterday. The paper that I was revising for lit was stressing me out a whole lot. I have multiple people who can attest to this. I just felt like I couldn't stop crying. And in some ways it felt good to just cry, and in others, it was horrible because I just couldn't stop crying!
But I'm a little better today. Although I'm still semi-volatile. Except for the fact that that doesn't really make sense. Because I'm not violent. Just emotional.
Little things have been making me cry and I have noooo idea why. It's weird.

And on that note, I'm going to do NIPTO.
This is the last day of Hosea! It's been interesting. Not exactly what I thought it would be, but it's still good. I think I'm going to do Ecclesiastes next. I think that'll be interesting too.
So... onward-ho?

Hosea 14:1-9
1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God.
       Your sins have been your downfall!



God calls Israel to return to him. Their sins have brought them down. It's their downfall. And our downfall too.


 2 Take words with you
       and return to the LORD.
       Say to him:
       "Forgive all our sins
       and receive us graciously,
       that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
 
3 Assyria cannot save us;
       we will not mount war-horses.
       We will never again say 'Our gods'
       to what our own hands have made,
       for in you the fatherless find compassion."

God told them to go and ask God for forgiveness. "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips."
That is a beautiful prayer for forgiveness. 
"Assyria cannot save us" -the people around us can't save us.
"we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion." -War is not a substitute for anything. What we make with our hands isn't anything to be praised or worshiped because God is too great for that. 
I love the last line of this though. "for in you the fatherless find compassion."
It makes me think of Compassion International. The fatherless, the poor find compassion through God and his people. 


 4 "I will heal their waywardness
       and love them freely,
       for my anger has turned away from them.

If and when they repented, God would heal them in their waywardness. He would love them freely because he wasn't angry with them. (Repentance is a wonderful thing!)


 5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
       he will blossom like a lily.
       Like a cedar of Lebanon
       he will send down his roots;
 
6 his young shoots will grow.
       His splendor will be like an olive tree,
       his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
 
7 Men will dwell again in his shade.
       He will flourish like the grain.
       He will blossom like a vine,
       and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

When Israel asked for forgiveness and repented, beautiful things would happen. Israel would blossom and flourish. They would put roots down like the ginormous cedar trees of Lebanon. They would be splendid like the olive trees and fragrant like the cedar trees. They would grow to be so big that people could rest in their shade. They would flourish and blossom. They would be famous because of their love for and from God.


 8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
       I will answer him and care for him.
       I am like a green pine tree;
       your fruitfulness comes from me."






God told Ephraim that he would care for them. Idols would not care for them. But in God's care, they would become fruitful. "Your fruitfulness comes from me."





 9 Who is wise? He will realize these things.
       Who is discerning? He will understand them.
       The ways of the LORD are right;
       the righteous walk in them,
       but the rebellious stumble in them

Then God questions them. "Who is wise?" Whoever is wise will realize what he just told them. Whoever is discerning will understand the things.
They way of the Lord is right. The righteous walk in the way of the Lord. The rebellious stumble in the way of the Lord. Interesting. 
An interesting note to end Hosea on...



Before I go, there is something you have to see. Or listen to. Read. Go here. And listen and read. Adam Young (Owl City) is an amazing guy. And I would really like to marry him. =P 


Adios my blog reading friends! Onto the next thing...
 




Sunday, October 24, 2010

NIPTO, Day 259

Just another whirlwind day...
and another day that I CAN'T SPELL! Urg. Or breathe. Yay. Being sick kinda sucks. But I'm getting over myself. And my sickness haha.

Today... we did music at church... I played piano which was different for me. And we went to lunch with some old friends which was fun!
Then we came home and went on a walk. It was GORGEOUS out today!
Thennnnnn I talked to Kayt for a long while. She wins. It's awesome. haha
And after that, Mom and I worked on my paper. And then I went to youth group (which was awesome!) and then came home and checked facebook and whatnot and then finished my paper. Which now needs to be printed. But that'll get done. Ya know.

And now I'm pretty exhaustified. And hungry. I had a piece of chocolate cake for dinner... not my healthiest choice. But I made that choice. And it made me happy. So I'll call it a good choice. haha

NIPTO time, I guess.
Hosea 13:9-16

9 "You are destroyed, O Israel,
       because you are against me, against your helper.
 
10 Where is your king, that he may save you?
       Where are your rulers in all your towns,
       of whom you said,
       'Give me a king and princes'?
 
11 So in my anger I gave you a king,
       and in my wrath I took him away.

Israel was going to be destroyed because they were against God. Their helper
God asks them where their king is so he can save them. Israel wanted a king, so in his anger God gave them a king. And in his anger he took their king away.




 12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
       his sins are kept on record.
 
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him,
       but he is a child without wisdom;
       when the time arrives,
       he does not come to the opening of the womb.

Ephraim's guilt was stored up. 
And I'm not sure how to describe there rest of that. 


 14 "I will ransom them from the power of the grave;
       I will redeem them from death.
       Where, O death, are your plagues?
       Where, O grave, is your destruction?

God would save them, ransom them, from the power of the grave. He would redeem them from death.
Then God questions death's destruction&plagues. Awesome.



       "I will have no compassion,
 
15 even though he thrives among his brothers.
       An east wind from the LORD will come,
       blowing in from the desert;
       his spring will fail
       and his well dry up.
       His storehouse will be plundered
       of all its treasures.
 
16 The people of Samaria must bear their guilt,
       because they have rebelled against their God.
       They will fall by the sword;
       their little ones will be dashed to the ground,
       their pregnant women ripped open."

God wouldn't have any kind of compassion on his people even though they were doing well. God would send a wind that would bring them down. 
The Samarians would just have to bear their guilt because they rebelled against their God. They would die by the sword. Bad thing would happen. 


And that seems like a terrible place to end, but that's where the chapter ends. And that's where my brain power ends.
It's been a long day and my brain is about fried.
(But, just because I'm a little bit in a paper writing mode, I wonder how many words I've typed over the past 259 days... A lot, I'm sure!)
And now I print my paper and go to sleep.
G'night alllllll.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

NIPTO, Day 258

I am super tired today.

Yesterday after I babysat I ate dinner and then went to the football game with Kaytee and Jason. Green severely whooped Revere. (43-0) Yup. It was great.
Annnd I hung out at Kayt's house for a little bit after the game... came home and finished blogging... got ready for bed... read some. Went to sleep. Woke up to a phone call at 8:15, got ready for the day, went to BK's bachelor pad for a youth leadership team meeting (awesomesauce), then went to Summit Mall with Mom to look for a ring for me! (For our 16th birthday, all three of us girls get a ring. We were a little late on the shopping for mine, so it ended up being more of a 16 1/2 birthday present =P)
I found a ring! So that was exciting. It was one of the first rings I looked at, but it's technically a men's ring, so I had to order it to get it in the right size. (And we ended up going to Belden Village because they had to order it. Fairlawn is just a little far away to go pick up a ring.) They had the ring I wanted at every single store that we went to, which was kind of funny. But we went to Auntie Anne's after and got pretzels and ate them and then went to Forever21 and shopped for a little bit. I got a sweet pair of gloves... and yeah. It was a good day.
I am exhausted now, though. I'm still sick. I don't know if I even mentioned on here that I am sick... well. I am sick. Cold. Stuffy nose, cough, and whatever.
I'm hoping to go to bed early tonight... watch a movie with Mom&Dad and then go to bed. Maybe read for a little bit. Just keep it chill. I would like to go to Unseen Masterpiece's show tonight, but I'm just too tired. (I would highly recommend clicking on that link and listening to "Supa-Dupa." It will make you smile!)

NIPTO!
Hosea 13:1-8
1 When Ephraim spoke, men trembled;
       he was exalted in Israel.
       But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.




Alrighty. This is "The Lord's Anger Against Israel."
So Ephraim was this big powerful... force. Voice. Whatever. A good speaker. When Ephraim spoke, people listened. And trembled. Ephraim was exalted in Israel. He (they?) were high up. (But he/they obviously didn't have good leadership skillz like we learned today: you can't just be a good speaker, you have to practice what you preach. And you have to believe what you preach.)
Ephraim didn't practice what t(he)y preached.
He started worshiping Baal and died. WOO fun story. 


 2 Now they sin more and more;
       they make idols for themselves from their silver,
       cleverly fashioned images,
       all of them the work of craftsmen.
       It is said of these people,
       "They offer human sacrifice
       and kiss the calf-idols."

Ephraim started sinning more. They made themselves idols. And they offered human sacrifices. Wrong. Just... just wrong. 


 3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
       like the early dew that disappears,
       like chaff swirling from a threshing floor,
       like smoke escaping through a window.

B
ecause they did that, they would get burned off like the morning mist. (I love watching morning mist being burned off, however, I believe that this wouldn't be as pleasant to watch!) They would be like smoke going out a window... (also fun to watch). 


 4 "But I am the LORD your God,
       who brought you out of Egypt.
       You shall acknowledge no God but me,
       no Savior except me.

God is, well, God. He was the one who brought them out of Egypt. And he was the one that they would acknowledge. 


 5 I cared for you in the desert,
       in the land of burning heat.
 
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
       when they were satisfied, they became proud;
       then they forgot me.

God cared for them in the desert. When he fed them, they were full and happy. But once they became full and happy, they got proud and forgot God. =/ 
We, as Americans, tend to get full and happy on... life. Our jobs/careers, school, whatever. We're doing well at something. Things are going well. And we get proud thinking that we're doing it on our own, when really God is involved a whole lot. But we get proud anyways and forget God. Sad day. 


 7 So I will come upon them like a lion,
       like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
 
8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs,
       I will attack them and rip them open.
       Like a lion I will devour them;
       a wild animal will tear them apart.

So, because they forgot God, he would attack them. Like a Lion. He would lurk like leopard. (Hosea had some great alliteration! haha)
He would attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs. Feirce. And I'm not talking about God's outfit, although I'm sure it's killer =P
He was basically going to rip them apart/up because they forgot him. 
I'd really rather not be on the receiving end of that!




And, although that's quite a morbid note to end on, I'm going to end there.
Because I'm
awesome like that. Yeahhhhh! haha
Adios my blog readers. Y'all are awesome.

Friday, October 22, 2010

NIPTO, Day 257

Hey alllll!

Not a whole lot has happened in the last 24 hours.
I babysat. Came home. Did random junk. Painted my nails. Ate dinner. Helped with the dishes. Chilled for a bit. Went down to Kayt's for about half an hour. Watched Pushing Daisies. Finished painting my nails. Watched The Office. Finished an episode of Pushing Daises. Got ready for bed. Sat in bed and read It's Kind of a Funny Story. Went to sleep. Woke up. Got ready. Did school. Ate lunch. Did more school. And here I am listening to Dave Ramsey like I usually am. (He's awesome. Have I ever mentioned that?) If you ever want to listen to Dave, you can go here!

HAAAAH. I just realized that I've been trying to log onto Facebook for about 5 minutes straight. Maybe I shouldn't be on Facebook right now! Wow. Novel idea! haha

NIPTO!
Hosea 11:12-12:14
12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, 
       the house of Israel with deceit. 
       And Judah is unruly against God, 
       even against the faithful Holy One.
Hosea 12
 1 Ephraim feeds on the wind; 
       he pursues the east wind all day 
       and multiplies lies and violence.
       He makes a treaty with Assyria
       and sends olive oil to Egypt.

This is Israel's sin. They lied and were unruly. They didn't pursue God, they pursued worldly thing. They made treaties with other countries.


 2 The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah;
       he will punish Jacob according to his ways
       and repay him according to his deeds.

God had a score to settle with Judah and he would punish Jacob how he wanted to punish Jacob.


 3 In the womb he grasped his brother's heel;
       as a man he struggled with God.
 4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
       he wept and begged for his favor.
       He found him at Bethel
       and talked with him there-
 5 the LORD God Almighty,
       the LORD is his name of renown!

Jacob, when he was born, grabbed his brother's heel. He struggled with God. Literally. Wrestled an angel. The angel beat him up and then Jacob begged for God's forgiveness. God found him at Bethel and talked to him. God talked to Jacob. God. Talked. To Jacob. A person. CRAZAY. 


 6 But you must return to your God;
       maintain love and justice,
       and wait for your God always.
 7 The merchant uses dishonest scales;
       he loves to defraud.

I like verse 6. You must return to your God, not someone else's God.
Keep up the love and justice and always wait for your God. There's never a time that waiting on God won't be good. It's always good. You should always wait on God. 
And the merchant likes to be dishonest. Don't do that. It doesn't turn out well. 




8 Ephraim boasts,
       "I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
       With all my wealth they will not find in me
       any iniquity or sin."
 9 "I am the LORD your God,
       who brought you out of Egypt;
       I will make you live in tents again,
       as in the days of your appointed feasts.
 10 I spoke to the prophets,
       gave them many visions
       and told parables through them."

Ephraim had a big ego. HA. (It's late. I'm tired. Excuse any bad puns.) They believed that because they were so wealthy, they had no sin. Erm... yeah. no.
God was the one who brought them out of Egypt. He said that he would make them live in tents again, not in cities, like when they had their feasts.
God spoke to the prophets and gave them visions and told parables through them to teach the people.


 11 Is Gilead wicked?
       Its people are worthless!
       Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
       Their altars will be like piles of stones
       on a plowed field.

Ah the questions... is Gilead wicked? They're worthless. Do they sacrifice bulls? Apparently, seeing as their alters will be like stones in a plowed field. 


 12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram ;
       Israel served to get a wife,
       and to pay for her he tended sheep.
 13 The LORD used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,
       by a prophet he cared for him.
 14 But Ephraim has bitterly provoked him to anger;
       his Lord will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed 
       and will repay him for his contempt.


Jacob fled. Israel served to get a wife and he tended sheep for his wife.
God used a prophet (Moses) to bring Israel out of Egypt. God cared for them via prophet.
But Ephraim provoked God to anger and God would leave the guilt of his bloodshed on them. God would repay Ephraim for his contempt.

Sounds... violent.
And I'm going to end there.
Because time has passed and now it is very late.
I need sleep because I'm becoming incoherent. And that's not a good thing.
Gooooodnight my blogger-roos.