I got up and got ready. I was running a leetle beet later than I wanted to be.
I was planning on going to McDonald's at 9 am for their hiring day. I was also planning on checking back at Panera before I went to McD's. It was about 9:15 by the time I left the house. I was all dressed in my interview clothing, ready to interview at McDonald's. I went into Panera and asked to talk to the hiring manager, who I knew was working yesterday because I checked to see when he was working on Monday. I asked him if he had had time to look at my application. He asked what my name was, I told him, and he was kinda like "oh..." and told me to wait a minute. He came back and we sat down in the restaurant area and he asked me a few questions (if I was related to Hannah, what I did when I worked for Mr. H, if I had a car, where I'd want to work, etc). He told me that he had like, 5 other interviews that day, but he'd "probably hire [me]," but he had to interview the other people. His last interview was at 3:15, so he'd call me after that.
I went to the car and called Mom&Kaite and told them what he said. They said to come home and we'd wait for his call and if it was negative, I could still go to McDonald's and get an interview there.
SO. I came home and Katie and I got started on dipping stuff in chocolate. There is way tooo much stuff to list. If you're seriously interested, I'll make Katie do a "guest post" about the chocolate. :)
I went to lunch with BK @ Chipotle, which was delicious. We shot a video after lunch which involved multiple places and me in a body bag. I will post the link to the video once it's done :) It was fun. Despite the fact that I had to get in and out of a body bag about 7 times. In multiple public places. It'll be a good video. (You'll never see me, but you'll know that I'm there. Ha!)
After all that, we dipped more chocolate... I was on facebook for a while.
And then the phone rang.
The caller ID didn't say that it was Panera, but I answered it. It was indeed Panera.
B, the manager, never straight up said "you got the job," but he asked if I could come to orientation and Planet Bread (their training program) on Saturday. UH YEAHHH.
SO that was exciting!
I called Dad and told him... and then Meme and told her... and then Hannah and told her. Hannah definitely had the best reaction! She screamed and (by her description) ran across the street in glee and jumped in a puddle for good measure! So funny!
But we'll be co-workers this summer. And it'll be suuuuper awesome. :)
After all that shtuff.... I got ready for dance. Ate dinner (leftover Chipotle). Went to Urban Vision for ballet from 5:30-7, and then jazz and modern. I came home and crashed. I was exhausted.
And all of that activity yesterday made me suuuper tired today.
This lovely, crazy, hopefully-well-written post sums up my crazy getting-hired-getting-shot-in-a-body-bag-with-a-camera Tuesday.
I'll give you a brief rundown of what's happened so far today and what will happen today. And then I'm going to post an excerpt from the Christmas story in the Bible.
So. Today. Got up, ate breakfast, got ready for the day, hung out and talked... chopped some onions. Went to lunch at Panera Bread (like we've done every year for the past 3 years!), went to Target to get eggs. Came home. The rest of the day will consist of baking and cooking. I'm speaking at GVUMC's Christmas Eve service at 4 o'clock. Just for about 2 minutes about Alpha. Then I'll come home... we'll probably eat dinner. Then head to the Christmas Eve service at our church. Then we'll come home, eat some shrimp cocktail and cookies/sweets, then we'll go to bed uncharacteristically early. So that's Christmas Eve in a nutshell.
I just read this story. And it's so awesome. I'll post the actual birth of Christ tomorrow. But this is today's section. Take the time to read it. It's completely worth it. Think about it too!
Luke 1:26-56 26In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Mary’s Song
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
Today was good. Fun. Busy. Fun.
Got up. Did school. Went to LUNCH with my sisters and mom and grandma. Panera is fantastic. (Sierra Turkey sandwich with Broccoli Cheese soup. YUM.)
I like my sisters a whole lot. They make me laugh. :)
I did physics on the way home and then had to leave to babysit... did more physics. Read a photography book for a bit... made Nate a sandwich, watched a little bit of Good Luck Charley... I think. I'm not completely up on my Disney shows haha.
Came home... did I don't know what. OH! I mostly caught up on The LXD on Hulu and watched a little more Survivor (I'm almost caught up! haha)
Ate dinner. Talked to Paige for a little bit. Watched 2 episodes of Psych, a little bit of the Latin Grammys, and now The Office. They're watching Glee on The Office. Soooo weird. Kinda.
Yup yup. So that was my day.
Ecclesiastes 9:1-12 1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.
This person reflected on everything that's been discussed in the past 8 chapters and came to the conclusion that the righteous and wise people, and what they do and say, are in God's hands. But no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. Hm. Well I know that love awaits me :) Everyone shares a common destiny. Righteous, wicked, good, bad, clean, unclean, everyone. Things with the good are the same with the sinful. Everything's kinda the same. We're all in the same boat.
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
The evil on earth is that we all have the same destiny. But we don't. That changed when Jesus came to earth and died for us. Now we have different destinies. Although to begin with, we all have the same destiny. The hearts of people are full of evil. If they're not cleansed by Jesus's (Jesus'?) blood. But eventually, we die. But while we're living, we have hope. A live dog (pitiful) is better than a dead lion (powerful, but all power is lost). Good reasoning, eh? haha
5 For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even their name is forgotten. 6 Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.
People who are living know that they'll die eventually. Dead people don't know anything. (Dead men tell no tales.) Dead people don't get anything. They're eventually forgotten. Their emotions have disappeared and they're not going to participate in anything that happens on earth.
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.8Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Go. Go do things that you want to do with gladness. God has approved of what we do... except not. The author tells us to "be clothed in white." Be pure? Sure. Enjoy life with the people you love. Every single meaningless day. Hah. Our lot in life is to enjoy what we do. Because where we're going (where we were going before we had a decision to make) there's not working, planning, knowledge, or wisdom. Enjoy what you have now.
11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all. 12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.
The race of life isn't a fast one. As Jonathan Acuff once said, it's a marathon, not a sprint. It's not a battle of the strong. Food doesn't come to the people who are smart. Wealth doesn't come to the brilliant, or favor to the learned. Time and chance happen to them all. No one knows when they're going to die. Fish are caught in a net, birds in a snare, people in evil times. Traps happen unexpectedly. Expect the unexpected. Or something.
And now I go to bed. Yay.
Tomorrow is school and maybe babysitting. I might not have to babysit. Which is slightly exciting! :)
G'night all!
Hey-o! I'm going to have to work quickly if I want to publish this NOW. Because I'm at Panera, and the internet is limited to a half hour between 10 and 1... So everyone can get a connection. So I'm going to do NIPTO and then say anything else I need to say if I have time :)
Acts 18:18-28 18Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken.
Paul stayed in Corinth for a while. And then he wen tot Syria with Priscilla&Aquila. The people he had met earlier... they were tent-makers like Paul. But before he left, he got his hair cut. OFF. (I'm getting my hair cut off on Friday!) But he had his cut off because of an oath that he had taken. Oath, vow, same diff...
19They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21But as he left, he promised, "I will come back if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.
They went to Ephesus... and Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. I'm not sure if it was because they weren't allowed to go into the synagogue or for other reasons, but he left them. And went into the synagogue. And talked and reasoned with the Jews there. They asked him to spend more time with them, to stay a while, if you will. But he said no. When he left he promised that he would come back if it is God's will. And then he went to Caesarea and went to the church there and then went to Antioch.
23After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
He was in Antioch for a while and then kind of... "region hopped" or "church hopped" or something. And he went to the churches and encouraged and strengthened the disciples there.
24Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
There was a guy in who came to Ephesus from Alexandra. He was smart and knew a lot about the Bible. He was passionate about God and taught people about Jesus accurately. But he only knew about John's baptism. He started to talk in the synagogue one day and Priscilla and Aquila hear him and invited them to come to their house and he did and they explained things a little more accurately to him. Or more adequately. Whichever. =P
27When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Apollos (the guy from the section above) wanted to go to a different city. The brothers&sisters encouraged him and wrote to the people there for him so they knew he was coming. When he got there, he helped them. He helped the people who, by grace, had believed. To the Jews there, he refuted them. He proved them wrong. He made sure they knew what was true according to the Scriptures. So yeah. He seems like a cool guy.
The end for that.
Today I am at Panera with my sisters (kind of) having God Time. And drinking a mocha! :)
Here's my picture... artsy. I know =P
Yum!
A'ight. I'm going to read my bible. And probably journal. On paper. And if I finish that I'll probably steal Walking with God from Katie... :)
Hope you have a good Wednesday!
I am home from Day 1 of Urban Vision. I'm tired. But it was very fun!
When we got there Mom went over her reading stuff and got set up and stuff and Hannah and I went to the cafeteria to help with breakfast.
After that, I went upstairs to help with piano. For 4 periods. That's 100 minutes of piano! I helped Jayla and Heh Gay Moo and Too Dan Paw. All adorable :) And then I went upstairs (third floor!) to help Lauren with ballet!! It's so much fun! We get in a circle and stretch. Then we did review (positions, pliés, tendus, relevés) and then we practiced bourre´e.
And then we had a relevé contest to see who could stay in relevé the longest. I did NOT win. My calves were killing me. Crazy. I'm out of dance for a week and I feel so "out of shape" dance wise!
After ballet, we went down to lunch. Ate lunch. Went to the reading room and helped Mom set up for the next class. Had the next two classes and then we were DONE. Crazy. It was a fun day! I hope my schedule is the same next week. :)
Please tell me you're in the mood for some hip-hop music. Because I am. Group 1 Crew. Amazing. Christian hip-hop. FANtastic! You just want to danceeee! They sound like the Christian version of The Black Eyed Peas! It's great! I give you permission (unless you're my father ;) to dance!
Good music, eh? (Katie. HAH. I saw a moose today. Just kidding. Eh. =P)
Okay. NIPTO :)
Ephesians 3:7-13
7I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power.
Interesting. Paul didn't become a servant by his own strength. He had the grace of God. I think that that's something that we possess that we forget about. I mean, sometimes we definitely don't forget about it, but sometimes we do.
8Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
Man. Paul is humble. "I am less than the least of all God's people." Uhm. Crazy humble. But he was given grace to be able to teach to the Gentiles about God's kingdom and riches. And to be able to make it clear to people that it wasn't him who was telling them this mystery. That it was God.
10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God's intent was that his wisdom would be made known to those in charge of the "heavenly realms" which is in accordance with his eternal purposed that he accomplished in Jesus.
12In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
In and through Jesus, with faith, we can approach God freely. And with confidence. We don't have to be scared. Amazing...
13I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
And now he's telling them to not be discouraged that he was suffering. His suffering was their glory.
And now I'm going to go get really nervous. I'm going to call Panera to talk to one of the managers and see if there's any chance that I'll get a job soon. *faints* Okay. Well, I'm not that nervous. But I'm still nervous. I get jumpy. And I don't like talking to people on the phone. MEH.
Okay. I might post something about VBS tonight when I get home. Or tomorrow morning. We'll see.
Hope you're having a good day!
Also, happy birthday to my DAD! He's wonderful. He's golfing right now. Maybe at Firestone Park. I'm not sure. But I'm sure he's having a blast :) Love you, daddy!
HALLELUJAH! Blogger is working again! It's been down for over 19 hours I'm guessing. CRAZY. Here is "today's" post!
(It's actually at about 5:30 on Monday. Heh. NOT my fault =P)
AHHHHHHHHHH Blogger's down right now. So I'm writing this in an OpenOffice document. Boo hiss blogger for being down when I want to BLOG! * sigh* oh well.
It's really late. But here's a brief recap of my day:
Get up in the morning... take my sweet time getting ready for church because we only have to go to the 11 o'clock service (SCORE)
Go to church. (This seems like it was about a week ago!)
Come home. Eat lunch. Go on a walk? Yeah.
Go to Panera to check on my application status.
DRIVE to Giant Eagle to get something Mom needed for dinner.
Shower/get ready for the recital.
Leave&pick up Eh Dah Doe, Eh Ler Tha, Ehne Thau, and Hser Ler Moo. Put makeup on in the car. Get to the high school. Find the dressing room&get the presents for Nancy, Amy, and Jackie (we got 3 new stools for the studio) into the dressing room. Then we chilled. Practiced dances. Helped other people get ready for their dances.
Then we danced. The first one was Standing Still. I don't have video of it on me right now. I'll have to cut some of the video that Dad took and post it or something. Standing still went OK. I messed up a little bit, but it wasn't that noticeable. It was just annoying because I was in the front. Oh well. Nothing I can do about it now.
Then the seniors did their dance. I have it video taped from back stage. Which isn't great. But it's okay. I'll probably post it sometime. It's way too late to think about that right now.
Then intermission. And people scrambling. One of the girls forgot a couple of her costumes at home. So intermission was a little bit longer than planned. But it was okay. Annnnd then we danced again. Just for Now this time. Hannah is the outcast in the dance. She did a fantaaaastic job being upset and stuff. Then we rushed off stage to help a couple of the girls change because they had 2 dances to change before their next song. And one of the girls had to be over on the other side. She started the dance. And was freaking out a little bit. But she got there in plenty of time! So all was well.
Then we did bows and whatnot. And then we did Pants on the Ground. A fantastic finale dance. Annd then they brought out the presents and stuff. And a lot of people cried. And lots and lots of hugs went around. And lots of pictures were taken. It was great. And sad. And I saw a friend that I hadn't seen in 2 years! So that was exciting. She might be dancing next year and I really hope she does! I missed her :)
Then we dropped the Karen girls off at their respective houses. And then we went to Arby's and got Jamoca shakes. They were delicious. And then we came home and watched the dances that we wanted to watch. And now it's now. And I'm using the words “and” and “then” a lot. But it's late. Excuse my poor writing quality =P
Quick story about Panera and then I'm done. Driving with Abby goes up tomorrow.
So I go into Panera and wait in line. I ask for “Big Ben” because that's the manager who hires people. I talked to “Little Ben” who doesn't hire people. Here's kind of how it went:
Me: Hey, can I talk to Big Ben?
Little Ben: Today was his last day...
Me: ooookay... uhm... I turned in an application about a month ago, and I know he said you guys weren't hiring then, but I was wondering if there would be an opening soon or what...
LB: Well, Lenny is the guy you would want to talk to... You're Hannah's sister right?
Me: Yeah. I am. Do you know when Lenny is working next?
LB: I should know... but I don't. Let me check. … comes back Tomorrow from 5-1. You could call around 9 because we're not very busy around then usually
Me: would it be better for me to come in or call?
LB: Probably to call. Then Lenny can pull your application out and put it in the short stack. But your best bet might be for Hannah to listen for if anyone gets fired. If you call on the day that someone gets fired, 9 out of 10 times you'll get an interview. We can always give you an interview, but once you're there it's about selling yourself to Lenny.
Me: Thanks :)
And that's kind of how it went. I'm going to go to bed now. This probably isn't going to get published until tomorrow. Sorry about that. Stupid blogger... =P
No NIPTO today, actually. There was a talent show at the church and that was at 7. And we had the recital at 7. So we were both kind of busy beforehand. But there will be NIPTO tomorrow :)
I'm tired. I feel like the makeup that's caked on my face is sinking into my pores. It's kinda gross. =P
Hello my minions readers!
Today has been a fabulously lazy day. So far. Maybe I'll clean my room. We'll see.
I went on a walk this morning. It was kind of muggy. But still nice.
Today is the lassst day of school for the school district here. So people are excited about that. As in a school bus just drove by and there was excessive yelling and honking =P
Caleb's graduation party is tonight... should be fun! Maybe I'll get to drive a little bit tonight too. Not to the party though. That would involve highways. I'm not fond of regular streets yet, let alone highways.
I went to Panera to check in about my application. The manager that I wanted to talk to had already left. Booooo. I'll check back on Sunday when he's working again. Yippe. I applied at Target sometime last week. I got an e-mail saying that there weren't any openings. I might just apply again. Just to be sure.
WE JUST GOT A POSTCARD FROM KATIE! Awesome. All the way from Germany. =D
I guess I'm going to do NIPTO now. And then I think I'll start cleaning my room. EEK.
Romans 16:1-16 1I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. 2I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.
Basically: This girl is AWESOME. So help her if she needs it. Because she totally deserves it. She helped me out a lot.
3Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 4They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 5Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
Priscilla and Aquila apparently risked their lives for Paul. Paul and all of the Gentile churches were extremely grateful to them. Apparently these two people also had a church that met at their house. I think it's cool that Paul took the time to greet so many people by name. Not just in a generalized group. Some of them were in generalized groups, but they weren't big groups. I'm guessing.
6Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. 7Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
He greets people who have worked hard for the church. He greets people who have been in prison with him. People who were Christians before he was!
8Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord. 9Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
People he loves. People who are fellow workers. Friends. All by name. It's so cool!
10Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. 11Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. 12Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
Apelles was a person who was tested. Which generally means hard times. But he was approved in Christ. Which is sweet. Relatives, households, hard working women, another hard working woman. You don't really hear much about Christian women in the New Testament. They're there, but they don't get talked about much. I just wonder who these women were and what they did and how they acted. They had to be amazing people.
13Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. 14Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them. 15Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them.
Rufus and his mom must be pretty amazing people. His mother was a motherly figure to Paul which is sweet. Again, more people by name! These people don't really have anything associated with them besides "the brothers with them" which would just be another church maybe? And then more people.
16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
Or, ya know, a bro hug is fine too. ;)
Our Secret Screen came yesterday. I don't remember if I talked about this at all. So I'll take a picture and let you see how it works :)
This is what it looks likes from the garage
There's this bar at the bottom that you lift up...
you lift it down&out
And it rolls up into...
its secret place at the top of the door frame
Then you just pull it back down and make sure it latches!
Voila! We have a screen for our garage door!!
I promised Katie that I would upload some pictures of our ROSES that actually BLOOMED this year. They didn't bloom at alllll last year! So there are a TON this year.
There are lots of them! (These were taken a couple weeks ago)
And they're pretty!
I like these ones :)
It seems like there are more of them! (These were taken this morning after my walk :)
SPIDER. Had to post. It was cool!
Aren't there about 50 bajillion of them?!? (see that circle thing in the upper right hand corner? There are birds living in that!)
I had this song stuck in my head after listening to it ONCE. So listen at your own risk. It's like the theme song for the World Cup. Which starts in 6 days.
Alrighty! I've gotta go. Caleb's graduation party, you know :) Hope you enjoyed the pictures and video!
Adios!
NIPTO and Encounter were very interesting tonight.
I'm sitting in Panera right now. They're closed. They're having a staff meeting. I'm listening, b'cause I'm really cool like that. Either that, or my sister didn't have time to drive me home before it started. :P
You decide what happened.
(I feel like I can't look at them! Because I feel like it would be creeeepy. But it wouldn't be. But I don't want to attract attention. EEK! haha... I am hoping to get hired here... hm...) It's really interesting to listen to what's goin' on.
They're done. Kinda. I looked over. I don't feel creepy. But I do feel like I attracted a little bit of attention. Wow. I'm over analyzing this. A lot. I don't think it really matters.
So I took electronic notes tonight (aka I brought my laptop and typed. WOOHOO) so it should be slightly easier to work on this tonight. Not as much actual remembering as referencing. (Someone *cough*Brandon*cough* was impressed that I could look elsewhere when I type. I stated the fact that I type a lot. And he pointed out that I blog every single day. Massive amounts. "One post is about how much I blog in an entire YEAR!" Yup.)
Okay. I'm home now. The day's stories have been mostly told. I'm sure they will be told over and over again. I love youth group stories. And I'll tell you one right now.
Tonight, for our game, we had a Karaoke-off. Team 1 (Hannah, Katie, and Jessica) sang "In The Jungle", Team 2 (Sam, Matt, and Ashley) sang Leave (Get out) by Jojo... no one knew it well besides Brandon, and Team 3 (Me, Meg, and Connie) sang "A Whole New World."
Team 1 won, probably because of Hannah's harmonizing. But I think I had the most fun singing "A Whole New World" because it has to be one of my favorite Disney songs. In fact, because I love it so much, it's going to be a YouTube video today! BOOYAHHHHH. You might have to turn it up a little bit. But that's okay. It's sooooo worth it!
Did you watch it? If you didn't. CLICK ON PLAY! haha.
Today is Day 21 (beginning of week 3!) of 100 Days of Holiness! Woot! This was a good devotional.Go read it. It's good. (I'm going to demand that you do a lot of reading tonight. It's a long'un. So be prepared)
Okay. So for NIPTO tonight, we read through Revelation 2:18-29 18"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. 20Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. 24Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): 25Only hold on to what you have until I come. 26To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27'He will rule them with an iron scepter;
he will dash them to pieces like pottery'— just as I have received authority from my Father. 28I will also give him the morning star. 29He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Okay. So I didn't write anything. You should've just read that through straight. Okay? Now, I'm going to go back through it and interject Brandon's, Erin's, Hannah's, and my thoughts into this. (It is taking me forever to write this! I feel like I'm having an intense bout of ADD... not to mention that it feels like it's about 50 bazillion degrees in here b/c I'm sitting on my bed (warm) with my laptop (REALLY HOT) on my lap. I'm going to go get a fan. Maybe it'll help.(elapse about 2 minutes) Oh my goodness. It got cooler&cooler with every step going down... and hotter and hotter with every step coming up. But now I have a nice breeze from the fan blowing on me. And I don't have my laptop on my lap any more. But my eyeballs feel like they're about to fall out after having contacts in all day... and wearing mascara. And now there's dry air blowing on my face. I'll survive I guess. =P OKAY. Done rambling!)
Revelation 2:18-29 18"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
I'm coming back to this. Meet me at the bottom after you've finished reading this. (Yes. that was a super-secret-spy-mission like Morgan gets on Chuck! ha! (Lost finale tonight is nothing. Well, maybe it is. I mean, it is the series finale. But there is a 2 hour Chuck finale tomorrow night that I am STOKED for!) Back to your spy mission: read the rest of this, and we'll talkI'll talk I'll type more at the bottom. You read. Get it? [got it] Good! (Court Jester! Good movie! haha)
19I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
Okay. Just in case you've forgotten how the "Revelation structure/outline" goes, here's a brief rundown: Intro/who Jesus is, where the church currently is, overcomer statement. (That's basically it.) This was one of the verses that stuck out to me. God knows what's goin' on. He knows when we're going through tough things and we stay faithful. Which is amazing. He knows when we're trying and when we're not. He knows when we're not being challenged enough, and he'll give us something that might seem like too much. But it never is! Crazy.
20Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.21I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.
Something that was a pattern in every single letter that Jesus is writing through John was a call to repentance. Repentance was something that we talked about a lot tonight. If the people reading these letters hadn't realized that this was about repentance, they probably would've gotten it then. Because this was crazzzzy. Like. Seriously. Keep reading. It gets crazier.
23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
Are you serious, John?!?! Striking children dead?!?! Yes. Striking the children of the one who didn't repent dead. Notice verse 21. That's not in this section. But scroll up. Read it. Go. Now. Okay, are you back? yeah. okay. good. It says that he gave her time to repent. But she didn't. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds. UHM. RIDICULOUS! God is crazy ridiculous. He searches hearts and minds. "... and I will repay each of you according to your deeds." That, my dear readers, is called judgment. Earlier tonight, I wrote this: God is judging by proving that he saw hearts and minds. He wasn't messing around. God doesn't play games. He was serious. And it's true. It's important to remember that one day we will stand accountable for our actions. And if we haven't accepted the fact that Jesus died to save us, we will be punished for our actions. But if we believe that Jesus died for us, he'll step in between and take our punishment. He already took our punishment while he was hanging on the cross. He died so we wouldn't have to. Ridiculous.
24Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): 25Only hold on to what you have until I come.
He's basically saying "Keep on keepin' on!" You're doing well so far. Just keep doing what you're doing. Hold on to what you have. Hold on until I come. I'm coming. [As surely as the sun will rise, you'll come for us. Certain as the dawn appears]
26To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27'He will rule them with an iron scepter;
he will dash them to pieces like pottery'— just as I have received authority from my Father. 28I will also give him the morning star.
OVERCOMER STATEMENT! These tend to be a favorite point of discussion during NIPTO. This one especially. Brandon had Hannah read it. She read verse 26. And then he made her stop. Authority. Over the NATIONS. Okay. Keep reading: Verse 27. SCEPTER! OH SNAP! We get scepters! I'm sitting here laughing. Because it was funny. I love NIPTO/Encounter/youth group. It's always really encouraging. Then there's this mysterious "morning star" thing. Hannah is supposed to be googling/reading up/researching that this week. I'll let you know if she finds anything interesting. As Brandon said "if it's something we're getting, we might want to know what it is!" Amen to that! haha
29He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Do you have ears? Yeah. Okay. Then you have no excuse to not hear what the Spirit said to the churches. Because it's there. All you have to do is listen.
Oh, hey! Remember your super-secret-spy-mission? Yeah. I almost forgot about it! OOPS. But I didn't, so I guess that's all that matters =P 18"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. Okay. So the picture of Jesus that is presented to this church has eyes like blazing fire. We were talking about how this really kind of corresponds to verse 23. His eyes that are like blazing fire search our hearts and minds. I think it's a crazy kind of picture to imagine. But does that make sense? Would you agree with that?
One of the heavily discussed points tonight was Forgiveness vs. Repentance. Is God's forgiveness conditional based on repentance? What's your opinion? I have a few answers that I'll probably throw into tomorrow's post, or next week's post. (I think I might start a tag that's something along the lines of NIPTO Sundays or something like that so all of these Revelation posts go together for easy referencing.)
That's all for tonight. The talk at Encounter was interesting. We're going through the Summer Lovin' series. It's about sex and relationships and whatnot. Tonight was about homosexuality. There were some interesting points brought up. I'm not going to address anything right now. Because it's late and I want to sleep. But if you're really curious, e-mail me or facebook me, or comment on this and I'll give you a rundown of what went down :)
(Speaking of Summer Lovin', last year we did a "Late Night Encounter" where we watched a movie and discussed the theme of love throughout it. This movie just happened to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Do you know what it is?
The Princess Bride. And I was reminded of it because I have this gorgeous black&white photograph of Westley and Buttercup standing together before Westley leaves to sail the ocean blue. And it's so cute. And it reminds me of love. (Is this a Kissing Book?) And that's all. Well. Not quite. If you've never seen The Princess Bride, GO GET IT. Or ask me to borrow it. We have the VHS and DVD. Soooo you can borrow one or the other :) Okay. Now I'm done with that)
Today, when we drove to church, it was SUPER foggy. Like, when we drove over the bridge in Akron, you couldn't see anything. It was like driving through a white tunnel! It was crazy! I wish I had gotten my camera out to take pictures, but I didn't. Speaking of pictures, I'll try to put the grad party pictures up on facebook tomorrow. I'll link them here. It takes too much time to upload them all on here. But I'll try to write a post about the party. Because it was awesome!
Goodnight lovely blog readers. Let me know if I forgot anything important. I'm tired. It's late. I'm getting kinda bug eyed... HEH. Love you all!
There was a thunderstorm last night. It was gorgeous. There was a ton of lightning. I think there were a few tornadoes in areas surrounding us. None near us. It was too far north for us. But I'm okay with that. We just got the rain, thunder, and lightning.
Oh, did I mention that we had to finish mulching before all this happened?
If you saw my post yesterday then you know that we mulched. If you didn't, you can click on that and read it.
I'm so sore this morning. Arms. Legs. Neck. Back. But I kept Jesus with me. On my wrist. In a little blue strip of cloth. My 100 Days of Holiness reminder. Today is Day 6. Just so you know.
Onwards to NIPTO.
Romans 8:28-39 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Ahhhh what a famous verse. What a good verse. So we've been adopted. That's what yesterday's post was about. Annd now we're given a promise of sorts. A promise that God works for the good of those who love him. Who are called to follow his purpose for their lives. That's. Us. Christians. People who are like Jesus. I really like this verse for a couple reasons. One reason is that I love a good promise. The second reason is that it doesn't promise that things will be easy or that everything that happens will seem good. It just says that God works for the good of us. Things might seem bad to us, but God knows what's good and he works towards that for our sake.
29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers
Aka God made us like Jesus so that Jesus could be a fantastic example to us. Like a big brother.
30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified
God chose us beforehand. He called us to him. He called us and then he justified us. He made us holy. And then, to top it off, he glorified us. That hasn't exactly happened yet. It'll happen in heaven though. shweeeet.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
There is a Chris Tomlin song called "Our God." We've sung it a couple times at Encounter62. The lyrics in the bridge go something like "and if our God is with us, then what could ever stop us? And if our God is for us, then what could stand against?" I like it. This is another awesome verse. If we've got God on our side, we don't (really) have to be worried about people being against us. Kinda cool.
32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
God gave up his only son. And he gave him up for us. As a gift. If he gave up his only son for us, won't he give us the things that we ask for? (within reason)
33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
Paul's throwin' down a challenge. Does anyone want to accuse God's chosen child? Just a reminder: God is the one who justifies.
34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Who condemns people? Jesus. Just a guy who died... and OH YEAH was raised from the dead. And sits next to God. And kinda jumps in for us. BOO YAHHHH Jesus is awesome.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
A continuation of the challenge: Who's gonna separate us?
36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
I'm not quite sure who "we" is in verse 26... But verse 37 is kinda cool. We're not just conquerors. We're more thana conquerors through God. It's cool. It's kind of empowering too. Like, there are all these things that we arein God. (Who I Am in Christ statements anyone?)
38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
These verses are amazing. NOTHING in the ENTIRE world can separate us from God's love. No matter where we are, what circumstances we are in, who we're with, God loves us. And nothing can stop that. Amazing. It's almost too much to comprehend. Love it.
Just got word in that we're not cleaning out the garage today! HURRAY! Too windy. But the Karen girls are coming over. And I think we're going to make Mother's Day cards and whatnot. Should be fun.
I love the fact that my sister works at Panera Bread. Last night, she brought home a bunnnnch of Cinnamon Crunch samples that couldn't be donated and were going to be thrown away. So I basically ate a cinnacrunch bagel for breakfast. But it was in samples. But it still tasted amazing. Hannah, I love you! haha
Time to clean up my "area" in the living room.... It's basically where I dump all of my school stuff and whatnot. My laptop (that I share with my mom... I'm sure my dad would cough and protest if he saw that I called it "my" without including my mom =P) is here and all the remotes and stuff. Just right now. The remotes aren't usually here =P
I have homework laying around and food stuff... Time to clean up! (clean up everybody everywhere, clean up clean up everybody do your share)
Here's that Chris Tomlin song I was talking about. Enjoy!
Today, we mulched. We didn't finish mulching, but we mulched. Now the word "mulch" looks funny. I'm tired. And kinda sore. But I feel somewhat accomplished. I mean, we had this big pile of mulch this morning. And it's less than half of what it was. (I think. I could be really off... wishful thinking at any rate!)
But I'm sore. My fingernails hurt. My toenails hurt. Crazy, huh?
I just saw the pile again. It's definitely less than half of what it was. YAY!
Less to do tomorrow... except we'll probably start on cleaning out the garage...
Deep breaths.
Enjoy Panera.
Get a mocha.
Live.
Love.
Be happy.
Get warm.
Listen to Disney on Pandora.
Listen to the jazzy music playing at Panera when your computer is slow and won't load Pandora.
Look at pictures.
Stop writing pointless things so you can actually finish that post about Encounter...
I think I'll stop now. I guess. haha.
Erwin McManus writes fantastic books. I would recommend them. Especially The Barbarian Way and Chasing Daylight. Seeing as those are the only two books I've read... and I haven't even finished Chasing Daylight. But I really like it. It's a great reminder that we encounter moments every day that could be life changing... depending on whether we take the moment and use it for all it's worth or whether we let it go by.
At the moment I'm listening to Walt Disney (Children's) Radio (http://bit.ly/cE3xOY) and it is FANTASTIC. Listening music from the Princess and the Frog right now. I haven't seen it, but I like the music already. Hakuna Matata (Original Broadway Cast) now... LOVE LOVE LOVE Pandora... *sigh*
Oh. Yeah. I'm sitting in Panera mouthing the words to the songs I know. hahaha.
This station basically plays music from every classic Disney movie EVER. Plus some! WOOT. Love love. (Somewhere Over the Rainbow Ukulele version? YEAH)
Sorry. I'm getting a little carried away. I just LOVE Disney. I did restrain myself from bringing crayons and one of my coloring books to Panera... I am trying to get a job here... so it might be good if I maintained a "professional" look. Hah. Me. Professional. I guess I'll just have to fake it until it's real. Hm. Do you think that can happen? Can you fake something so much that it actually become who you are?? That's almost frightening if it can happen. Hm. What do you think?
I posted a couple quotes from Chasing Daylight a couple days ago here (it's near the end of the post... I think). I'm going to continue this a little bit here.
The odds are irrelevant to God.
BOOYAH! God doesn't care bout odds. He's got it all figured out anyways. Comforting innit?
If everything else remains uncertain, be clear on this point: there is a calling on your life.
Again BOOYAH! You can be unsure about everything. But there's a calling on your life. There always has been. There always will be.
WOW. Just got super sidetracked. Decided to check twitter... saw that my friend had posted a link to StuffChristiansLike.net. Decided to check it out. I just spent the last hour or so reading this website. SO FUNNY. So true... unfortunately =P
You should check it out. Funny funny site. Here. I'll make it easy for you. CLICK HERE!
My mocha is really good. If I had my camera cable, I'd take a picture of my cup and put it up... but I don't have my camera cable. (Lucky you!)
Oooo I can stalk my sister in the door. I can see her reflection when she's in a certain spot... ooo. =P Imma creep. (I really am. My friends have conversations about how I'm a stalker. I just listen and agree. HAHA)
Man. I should've brought my camera cable... cuz then I could put up pictures from Enter Laughing last night. Bummah. I guess I'll have to do that tomorrow if we watch a movie or something.
I might go driving tomorrow! Scary thought, eh? So get in your houses and maybe go to the basement. It would probably be wise. Actually, don't drive around in the parkinglot behind Target. HAH. HTat's where I'll probalby be driving. YAY. (yeah. I'm still not confident enough to actually drive on a road. I mean that would involve other cars on the road... EEK. Going the speed limit? SCARY SCARY!)
There is a cute family sitting in my field of vision... there was a Dad and a Daughter sitting there earlier... they were cute too. :)
I wanna be a girl worth fighting for... (Mulan... :D YAY!)
I feel very enthusiastic tonight... Lots of YAY's and HAH's and CAPS in general...
Just spent about 3 more hours on stuffchristianslike.net annnnd I'm home now. So I think I'm going to go to bed. I get to sleep in in the morning..... AHHHHHHHHHH. Exciting man.
Yeah. I'm going to bed.
Hope you aren't exhausted by my rambling thoughts!
Whew. Day 25. I'm actually doing this. Crazy. It kind of feels like it's been years since I last posted, since the last time I did post was yesterday morning. Oh my. Today has been a busy day.
If you remember my post from last Thursday, then you will know that I went to do some assistant work for a photographer friend. We were supposed to go again last Friday, but it snowed. Welcome to Ohio. They rescheduled the shoot for today, so I got to go and help wrangle/shoot some bunnies/kids. It went well, but it was CRAZY. We had toddlers. Toddlers have allll of the power. And they know it. If they make up their mind to not smile, they won't. And there's not really anything you can do about it. You can try and try and try and try to get them to smile, but they won't. So you just have to deal with it. =)
John 14:24- He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. The second part of this verse strikes me because it brings evangelism to mind. When we are trying to share the gospel with someone, we often try to do it in our own power, but the words that we share are not our own. They belong to God. He's the one who puts the words in our mouths so that we can share his love with other people. I try to do so so so many things in my own strength that just aren't possible with out God's help. Like getting through every day sane. haha. Oh dear shmee (to quote James.)
Proverbs 4:18, 23-18The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. I love sunrise. It's so cool. One of the things I regret not doing is getting up to see a sunrise this summer when we were at Virginia Beach. One of the problems was that we didn't stay IN in VA Beach... and no one wanted to drive me to the beach at 5 am... =P... but any ways.
Sunrise is such a breathtaking time of day. It's a new beginning. It sheds new light on that new beginning of that new day. I love it. I really want to watch sunrises this summer! I want to get up... once a week? and go watch the sun rise. I like that idea.
23Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. I'm not sure what I want to say about this. But I know that I like it. That's about it. haha.
Bwahhh. I'm distracted. It's awesome. NOT. Crazy teenagers hanging out in Panera making too much noise... I don't want to hear everything you say! REALLY! *sigh*
Revelation 4:2-At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. How COOL would that be. To suddenly be IN the SPIRIT. Woah. Crazy. John was one lucky dude. That's all I have to say on that matter haha.
Psalm 119:73, 96- 73Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands. This is super great. God's hands made you and me. Annnd that's sweet. And understanding is cool too. Especially when God's giving it and it's to learn his commands. Sweet.
93To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless. It's true. In all earthly "perfection" there's a limit. Nothing can be truly perfect. But God's commands are boundless. .
Boundless–adjective
having no bounds; infinite or vast; unlimited
How cool is that. His commands and really his wants/wishes for us are unending. There is nothing that God can't do through us which is almost impossible to comprehend. Love love love it.
Okay. It's time for me to leave, go home, and go to bed! Lots to do tomorrow including going to the Chipotle service! Should be sweet. Always is. =D
Hope you have a great FRIDAY! (Woah. Tomorrow's Friday. YIPEEEEE)
So I'm chilling at Panera right now! Woot. Love this place. Great atmosphere for just hanging out! I'm here for my date with God, so this might be a "random thoughts" post along with NIPTO.
I've been thinking about what Brandon said in the Mid-week YouTube service video. Thinking about thinking. It's not really something we do very often because we just think... without thinking about it? If that makes any sense at all. It does, but it doesn't. Thinking isn't something we would normally think that we need to think about.
This is the point that I go get a hot drink.
Okay. Hot drink: Check (DELICIOUS byy the way). Music: Check. Bible: Check. encounter62.blogspot.com up so I can see what the reading is for today: Check.
I feel like it's been forever since I've posted... and it has been a good 36 hours... which is too long if you ask me =P
Today I went with a friend from church to do a photo shoot at a day care. It was awesome. I'm not completely sure, but I think that might be what my calling is. I LOVE photography and working with kids. It was a lot of fun and it was good to see what it's really like to "work" as a photographer. I put quotes around "work" because it didn't SEEM like work. It was just fun for me! And to get paid to do what you love is just an extra bonus. I think it's great to do what you love without getting paid, but just to be able to do it for the glory of God. But getting paid? That's a sweet bonus. =D
We're doing another shoot at the same day care tomorrow, just different kids. I'm looking forward to it. I think it'll be super. I get to be a BUNNY wrangler. tee hee hee. I basically put the bunnies back in place when they move. It's actually kind of humorous. But not when they don't stay put AT ALL. Then it gets annoying. But it's still fun to work with the bunnies because they're soft and fuzzy... :) So tomorrow is another day of shooting kids and bunny wrangling. Should be good. The only bad thing about it is I have to get up like... wayyyy too early. My thinking on that is that no one should have to be awake before... 6:45 (because that's when I normally get up.) Having to get up before 6 is basically torture... especially since NO ONE in my house EVER gets up before 6. It's basically unheard of. (My dad might break that rule every once in a while, but that's my dad. He's insane... so it all makes sense.) But on these days that I do the photo shoots I have to get up EARLY. Like, 5:55. Yes. I set my alarm for 5:55 so I can hit snooze once... (or twice) and still have enough time to get ready. It's insane, but worth it. But I should really go to bed earlier if I have to get up that early... but I think I might just stay here at Panera until my sister is done working/closing and I might just go home with her... but she's not usually done until almost 10... so It's kind of a tricky situation... but then again, it is nice to just sit here and type. I'm enjoying this... if you hadn't noticed. I've written a tonnn more than I usually write. And I still haven't gotten to the NIPTO stuff yet... I'm wondering if I should make that a different post for that... Eh. No. haha. If you've read this far, then you'll probably make it to the end. I think I'm at the end of my stream of consciousness. Maybe.
Panera's Cafe Mochas are scrum-diddily-umptious!
Focus. NIPTO.
Ah. This is INSANE. I just read Luke and there are about 50 bazillion verses that I want to post... to limit myself or not... I don't have a TON of time... seeing as Panera is technically closed... but my sister works here, so it's okay if I hang out here until she's done right? I mean... her manager's girlfriend does it too... =P
Okay.
Luke 17:9-10- Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"
We shouldn't expect praise when we do what we're supposed to. We're supposed to consider ourselves unworthy servants. We need to be humble. If someone does praise us, we shouldn't glorify ourselves. WE didn't do it. We shouldn't really even be doing stuff for people. We should be doing it for God. I mean... if someone asks you to do something that you're capable of, by all means do it. But don't do it just to do it. Do it to glorify God, whatever it is. This week I wrote "Geometry for Jesus" on the front of my Geometry notebook. I don't always like doing Geometry, but it's probably a skill I'll need to use if I am going to do stuff with photography. So I need to remember that I'm not just doing it to pass the class, I'm doing it so that maybe, someday, I can use it to glorify God. (I need to remember to write "Chemistry for Jesus" on the front of my chem notebook. That's another subject that isn't my favorite. But still useful in photography because of developing photos and whatnot.) wow. that evolved. And I think that might be all I'm going to post for Luke... let me look over the other verses I underlined.
18:7- And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? No. He won't. If you're calling out to God day and night He's going to listen to you. Don't despair. Psalm 42:11: Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. =D (I also read Luke 19 today. That's scheduled for tomorrow. Oh well!)
Proverbs 25:11- A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of sliver. I'm a word person. I like words. I'm coming to like writing more... as you might be able to tell by the length of this post. So this verse stuck out to me because of the word aspect of it. I also noticed that it doesn't say "words" it says a "word." That's singular. (Thank you. It's been great.) One word can be like apples set in gold? Not quite sure what that means... I think it means it's beautiful... pleasing? Anyone care to clarify if you have any idea what this means? I'd appreciate it.
Also: Proverbs 25:28- Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. Whew. That's kinda heavy for being 14/15 words. (Depends if you count a hyphenated word as 1 or 2 words. =P) It just kinda makes you think more about being in control of your self and your thoughts and well... yourself. Again. Something to think about.
On to Revelation 18:2- With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. If I'm not mistaken, Babylon was a GREAT city in its day. Aka... thousands of years ago. But in the days when the Lord will come, it will become this haunt for evil things. I think it was a spiritually significant city, but I'm not completely sure. I'd have to do some research. I think that's kind of significant though if Babylon was a spiritually significant city because things that were once spiritually significant to us can become this place for demons and evil to abide. Interesting.
I think that is ALL for today. Tonight. Whatever. Almost 3 hours after I started this post, I'm done. Kind of. ;)
P.S. I'm totally rocking out and dancing to my worship playlist for the week. While sitting in Panera. It's awesome. Here's a list of the songs if you want to listen too :)
Mighty to Save
Marvelous Light
Can You Hear Us? Thank You For Hearing Me (Did NOT notice that those two were next to each other until RIGHT now. =P)
Your Love Will Never Change
Come and Listen
Turn Your Eyes
Beautiful
Lily of the Valley
Be Thou My Vision
More Than Life
The Stand
You'll Come
Where the Spirit Is(?)
Your Love Will Never Change.
(If you want more info on these songs you can leave a comment and I'll get you artists and whatnot :)
P. P. S. After reading this over again... skimming really. I have decided that I have a slight form of ADD... and probably OCD to go along with that. Crazy combo!
