Let me explain... no there is too much. Let me sum up.

Ahhhhh yes, a Princess Bride quote... that isn't quite accurate because this turned into something that was way longer than I intended =P


A lot has happened in the past two days. And I can't believe that our service project&stuff was yesterday!

Sooooo Yesterday. After breakfast we went to a church to get briefed on what we were doing. Then we walked down to the Boys&Girls club to do some work there. We were split into groups and some people went outside and weeded, one group went to a middle school where they helped do some yard work (me thinks) and then some of us stayed inside and cleaned the locker rooms and helped clean out the sports closet.

I was in the cleaning brigade. And Christina, Jen, Catherine, and I cleaned the showers... Noelle mopped... and it looked goood when we were done. And we got done fairly quickly, so we went out into the gym where there were boxes of stuff everywhere! So we just kinda asked what we could do and did what they asked. We had about half an hour and a lot of stuff to sort/put in boxes/label/put back into the room. But it all got done and I'm sure it looks much better than when they started.

After our service project we went back to the dorm and ate lunch. We were planning on going to the beach afterwards, but we didn't have enough time. So we kinda just chilled out and played some games... I played Euchre with Zach, Luke, and Josh. Then we left for evangelism.
Our group went to Cape Fear Community College. We weren't really sure what it would be like. But there were a lot of people around since they were signing up for fall classes (I believe). So we were able to talk to a lot of people. We didn't pray with anyone, but we handed out a lot of fliers for Wednesday (Tom Short is speaking on campus). So that was cool. We also talked to a lot of people who were already Christians.
I also didn't really do a lot. I kind of asked the questions (we did surveys) the first few times, then Erin&Nathan took over. Nathan was a beast! He kept on talking to more&more people. And Erin talked to a lot of people. And I just kind of sat back and watched them like a proud mom :) Jon and I were the only ones who had ever done evangelism like that, and I really haven't had much experience with it, so it was super super cool to see the younger kids really stepping up to be leaders! (The Seniors were with Tom @ Unleashed)

We came back after evangelism and went to dinner. It was good. The lines were long. But we got food.

Then we headed over to the church. Tom spoke again... the topic was "My turn to walk" So it was like about walking with God. It was good. I would have to go over my notes again to remember anything =P

We came back to the dorms after that and had our "home group" (we called it "tie-down" at past LTs) and then split into guys&girls and talked and stuff. Some really good advice was given from the senior girls to the upcoming freshman girls. It was sweet to hear the older girls giving the younger girls wisdom. From their experiences. It was just cool.

Then we slept...

Annnd today: WOW! Yesterday was long. Today was probably longer!

We got up&ate breakfast in the common area outside of the girl's block of rooms.
After that we had to book it out of there to get to the church for our first session (at 9:00 am). Greg Burlile from Darby Creek spoke about loving one another. "My turn to love." It was super good.

After Pastor Greg finished speaking, we had a 5ish minute break (where they made us work&take all the chairs out of the room for tonight) and then Shea Willis (who did the Creative Evangelism breakout that I went to on Sunday) spoke about service. That was good too... (I'm having trouble remembering everything. It's so packed! But it's good to kind of decompress.)
After Shea spoke we went back to the dorms for lunch and after lunch we got ready to go to the beach for our "Church Initiative" (I think everyone went to the beach... to play frisbee or football or play music or whatever to draw people in so we can share the gospel with them). It was windy. Too windy to play frisbee. So we ended up walking up the beach and doing beach evangelism. We talked to more people... didn't really get into any deep conversations. But I'm hoping and praying that we at least got people thinking about spiritual stuff.

After the beach we rushed back to the dorms to shower and get to dinner. We ate dinner and then went back to the dorms to get stuff. And then we headed out for the famous "Tuesday night Worship night."

It was fantastic. We got there and were standing outside talking to people. It was fun. Then we went inside and everything got quiet&serious. I don't really remember what all happened. David Root, the worship leader, probably sang a couple songs... And he told the story of Jesus's ministry from John's perspective. Like, he was John and was telling us what happened. It was interesting. It was different and made you listen.
We sang a lot... I wrote some... I read Psalm 139 and Isaiah 40... I cried a lot. I prayed for people. I prayed for myself. I worshipped God. I let go of anger. I let go of fear of other people's expectations of me. And I worshipped God with all that I was. It was so amazing. I have a couple videos from tonight... One of Jesus Paid it All, a little bit of Salvation is Here, all of How He Loves by John Mark McMillan. Google that and listen to the song... or wait until I get around to posting it on YouTube&embedding it on here =P

One thing that we did tonight was write down what was keeping us from God... or whatever. And we were able to nail them to the cross. Sooo freeing. So fantastic. I loved tonight.

Ross spoke a little bit at the end. And he talked about how we have to make a conscious decision to worship God every single day. Not for it to just be a one night "this was a fantastic feeling" type deal. But to really worship God every single day in every moment.

Wow. That was probably long. I'm not going to go over it... I might run spell-check, but that's the best you're going to get at almost 1am! =P

I'm glad I typed all this out though. It's a lot less to think about. There's still a lot left to think about, but it's a lot less than there was before.

If you've read this far, you are awesome!
Also, if you've read this far, would you take a few minutes to pray for everyone at LT?
We're tired. And when people are tired tempers tend to get short. Pray that we would all be able to love one another and not get "short" with each other.
Also, my dad is talking tomorrow morning at 9ish! So pray for him too. That he'd be able to speak what the students need to hear. I know he's excited. I'm excited too! Just not for the bad jokes that I know are going to be in there ;P
Pray for the other speakers too. That God would speak clearly and effectively through them.
And feel free to add whatever other prayers you want to that! All of them are appreciated!

Thank you soooo much for reading this. You are a truely awesome person.
So I guess it's time for a "thank you and goodnight!"


P.S. This is my 200th post! Yay LT posts making the "records"! =)

NIPTO, Day 144

Hello blog readers!

Today has been a good day so far.
Hannah and I went to help Ang with the boys/twins this morning. I played "find all the 'monsters' and once we find all of them tackle them to get rid of them" with Zakk. Hannah got to hold/feed Em. It was a good time. :)

I chilled this afternoon. Read. Cleaned my room out, so that we can hopefully bunk my beds tonight. If not, I have some stuff to move back into my room ;) (It's all currently taking over Hannah's room. But she won't mind, right? She's working.)

I'm trying to figure out how on earth I'm going to do NIPTO/blog while we're at LT. (We leave next Saturday! Crazy...) I'm not sure what my computer situation will be. If I'll have to borrow Dad's... if Mom's bringing hers&I can use that... I'm just not sure! I hope it'll get done. (And I'm not sure who I'm rooming with/if the person I'm rooming with is a morning or a night person. Because I can blog either time :)

(A few hours later)
I was thinking I can blog like I'm blogging now. Whenever I have time, basically. Blog a little here, blog a little there. And it'll all come out in one big post at the end of the day. :)

Okay. Sooooo Paige came over and we watched The Princess Bride. Which has to be one of my all-time favorite movies. Pride&Prejudice is up there. But The Princess Bride might top them all. I just laugh so much when I watch it. It's almost like a workout! (Not really... *sigh* if only...)

Paige liked it. Which was good. If she hadn't liked it, I don't know if we would still be friends. She was very skeptical about it. Almost everyone is. It's like wine. Best when aged... or watched a few times ;)

I moved almost everything back from Hannah's room into mine. but it's a manageable amount of stuff to move. Only a couple trips. And with more than one person, only like, 2 trips.

YES!!!!!!!! I just found a CD that was burned and I wasn't sure what it was. I knew it was either a worship mix Brandon had made for me or a Matisyahu CD. It's the Matisyahu CD. I'm not sure if I'm spelling that right. YES! I was right. Even better.
And just because he's so awesome, here's a video :)



My room is going to be the bomb-diggity when it's done. At least I hope it is... :)
(Random. I know. I'm just in my room and visualizing:)P

Okay. I should do NIPTO.

Acts 2:14-28
14Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning!

Okay. Soo Peter's all like "these people aren't drunk!" And you might be wondering what on earth is going on. It was the "day of Pentecost" and a bunch of people were speaking in different languages. And a group of people were like "Dude. These guys are totally drunk!" But Peter came and was like "Hold up. It's only NINE in the morning. These guys aren't drunk. Like you THINK they are!"
So that's a little background. Onwards!


16No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17" 'In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

Wow. That's a lot of intense stuff. Let's start at the beginning. This was a prophecy that was spoken (and written down) by Joel. (He has his own book in the Bible. Look it up. I'm pretty sure it's a sweet story. They usually are. Hey! I might read up on Joel a little bit because I can. Booyah. =P)
Soooo this would've been a respected piece of... prophecy? (He's speaking pretty much directly to the Jews. But also to everyone who lives in Jerusalem. The Jews would've known the OT inside and out. So they would've known what kind of context this was coming from. I have no clue what context it's coming from. But I'm rolling with it.)
He's telling them that what's happening now is what's happening in the "last days." He's telling them that God is pouring out his spirit on these people. He's telling them what's going to happen. It might not necessarily happen then, but it's going to happen.
I love the last verse. "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." There's no... ambiguity. Everyone who cries out to God with true repentance on their lips will be saved. (That was a super hokey christianeese way of saying that. But it's true. Whatever =P)
22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

Peter was talking to these people. They knew that Jesus was a man who did miracles and wonders and signs. They knew that God did them through Jesus. They also knew that that man was handed over to bad people. They knew (or were finding out) that that was what God had planned. Peter's telling them that they helped put Jesus to death by nailing him to the cross. Intensity right thur.


24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

But: God raised him from the dead. (Crazy.) Because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Death couldn't hold him down. And that is wonderful, hopeful news.


25David said about him:

" 'I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
27because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
28You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.' (Psalm 16:8-11)

Wow. That is a fantastic thing to think about and to really take to heart.
The Lord is always with us. He is at our right hand and we will not be shaken. Therefore we should be glad. We should live in hope that we will not rot in our graves. That Jesus won't rot in his grave.
God has made known the paths of life. Those are the paths that lead to him. He fills us with joy just being in his presence.
Fantastic.


And I'm going to leave you all with that.
I'll blog again tomorrow! (Hopefully tomorrow morning. The Karen girls are coming in the afternoon and are spending the night until Saturday. It should be a good time :)
You, my reader(s), are awesome! You should all get hugs for reading the gibberish/nonsense I post sometimes! Maybe, if you bring it up to me that you read the gibberish/nonsense that is my blog, you'll get a good hug! I promise.
G'night!

Smiles and Laughter

That's all it took.

Paige and I were sitting outside on the driveway. I was playing guitar and we were both singing.

There's a Serbian family that lives next door. They have 4 daughters. The youngest two are probably 3 and 4...  Ana is 4, and Sophia is 3. I think.
They speak no English. But Paige, Katie and I had SOOO much fun playing with them just now!

It started with Paige playing peek-a-boo from far away with them. They would come to the edge of the driveway (on the opposite side) and then they would run away laughing and screaming.
Then they got closer... and they would strum my guitar a little bit. And then go push Paige.
Then Katie got home from soccer practice and came up and she brought bubbles with her. So we blew bubbles for quite a while. Then we got out the sidewalk chalk and drew for a while.
Then, before we knew it, it was 9 o'clock. And I had to go inside, so I took Ana up to her house. I told her sister to tell her that I had fun playing with her. She just nodded =P

It was so much fun! We couldn't talk to each other, but we could still communicate.
Thought I would tell you about it :)

NIPTO, Day 78

Good morning. It's early. I'm up. I'm half ready for the day. I'm fully ready to meet with God.

Romans 5:1-5
 ¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 We have been justified. Justification: the act of God whereby humankind is made or accounted just, or free from guilt or penalty of sin. But get this. We're only justified through faith. But, when we are justified we can have peace with God through Jesus because he died for us. Pretty sweet, huh?


²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

I like how the NASB puts this: 2Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand ; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. So because of Jesus dying on the cross for us, we have this "introduction" by faith into grace. We're able to access grace. No matter how badly we screw up, God's always going to forgive us. Ah-mazing.


³Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope.  
^{Oh. Goody. Suffering. Actually, suffering should be a Christian's favorite word. Yesterday in Pastor Mike's sermon, he was talking about suffering and grief and how those things can really help us grow closer to God. I have a quote... paraphrased by moi: "Suffering and sorrow give us a chance to connect with God because he can relate to us." You know how when you're going through something tough, you find someone who has been through that before? Jesus has been through the suffering. He can relate to you. No matter what it is, he can relate. 
I like the word 3 words before suffering: rejoice. We should rejoice in our suffering? That makes no sense! But it does if you think about it long enough in this context: When we suffer we grow closer to God. When we grow closer to God, we rejoice! So it's got a little step in the middle that leads to the rejoicing, but it's good nonetheless. 
The end of verse three and verse four make me think of James 1:2-4: 2}Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
This goes along the same lines. Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance: character, character: hope. Isn't hope something we all want? (I would say Yes. I mean, Barrack Obama had "hope" as one of his key words in his campaign, and lookie here who's president.)


⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Here's something sweet: Hope won't disappoint us. Real hope won't. If we have hope but we get our expectations too high, we'll be disappointed. Hope in God will never disappoint though! But God used the Holy Spirit to pour his love into our hearts. Because of that, God will never disappoint if we really truly go with the Holy Spirit's hope. 

I hope that made sense. (Pun intended).

Well. I should really get going. I have a busy day and I would really like to get a lot of stuff done before I have to leave for my busy day! So adios my blog readers.
Hope you have a fantastic day!

NIPTO, Day 45

WARNING: Serious stuff, and not so serious stuff, ahead.

So last night I was listening to music on my phone. (Phone=mp3 player=awesomesauce!) And I was listening to the song Yearn by Shane&Shane. I really like that song. It reminds me of LT&Colorado... but not Colorado LT. tee hee hee. I'm so clever.... But anyways. Back to my story. I was listening to the lyrics (shocker. I know.) But I was actually listening and paying attention. And one of the lines caught my attention.

Your Joy is mine

So why am I fine?

And I really started to think about it. I have the Joy of the LORD. WHY am I fine??? Why am I content to just live with it? Why do I not revel and rejoice in that joy every single day without fail? Nehemiah 8:10b says "Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." When I feel weak, I can fall back on the joy that God gives me and it will strengthen me. How awesome is that?

Acts 13:52-And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.  Huh. I wonder why this verse stuck out to me... haha. But really... These disciples were filled with joy after they had been rejected. I don't know about you, but I tend to get discouraged when I'm rejected. These men were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. It's incredible. 

Proverbs 24:29-Do not say, "I'll do to him as he has done to me; I'll pay that man back for what he did." Revenge... is said to be sweet. It is also said that it is a dish best served cold... revenge is ice cream. (ha. ha. ha. I know. I'm just full of awful jokes today. But really) Revenge is not God's way for us. First I typed "Revenge is not God's way."  But then I realized that God will get revenge for us. We shouldn't do anything about it because we will not, I repeat will not, go about revenge with the right motives. Which sounds strange. But God will give everyone their just desserts. *snickers* *... realizes that Snickers could be dessert...* *facepalms* I really need to get more sleep or something... 

Revelation 21:22-I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. I think this is interesting for the following reasons: They had temples before Jesus came that was where God lived. Now, however, we are the temples. God lives in us because Jesus died and made us holy for God. But in heaven, there will be no need for our bodies or for temples because we will be in the presence of God and Jesus eternally. Sweet. 

Who I am in Christ: I am complete in Him Who is the Head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10). I am Complete. I don't need anything other than God to complete me. No family. No boys. So often as a teenager you feel like you need to have a boyfriend or girlfriend to complete you, but all you need is God. (wah wah wah-wha wahh... all you need is God... God. God is all you need) And that is comforting ::insert cheesy smile here::

Okay. I just need to stop. Now. Toooooo many bad jokes today. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me? 

One last thing: Tonight at EncounterRemix, they're talking about worshiping God through dance. I can't go because I'll be at dance. Ironic, no?

Hope you have a good day!