NIPTO, Day 58

Wow. I was going to be all on top of things and do NIPTO after dinner then watch American Idol and go straight to bed.  well. It's currently 10:40 and I still haven't done NIPTO. But I got to play my guitar for about an hour. It was nice. Learned how to play "For The Moments I Feel Faint" or "Never Underestimate My Jesus" by Relient K. It's really easy to play and it has great lyrics. Maybe I'll record a video or something and subject you all to my horrible singing. :D

Today was a good day. I got up "early" (6:40ish) and went on a walk like I said I was going to last night. I didn't really think about Chuck. I didn't really pray. I prayed a little, but nothing long or drawn out. Just little things. I just enjoyed the beauty of the morning... even if it was a little cloudy. It was gorgeous nonetheless. I'm planning on walking again tomorrow morning. I think it will be a good habit to start. I want to get up at least once a week for the rest of the summer* and see the sun rise. (I'll post pictures from my walks at some point!)

*while it's warm... which could be as late as September.

NIPTO time!
Luke 23:50-24:53
Luke 24:27-And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 


Wooow. That's a lot of stuff man. Like... a lot of stuff. But what an honor to have Jesus of all people explain everything about himself to you. Crazy. Simply crazy. (as opposed to complexly crazy)


Revelation 1:1- The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servant what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John. 


Revelation-something revealed or disclosed, esp. a striking disclosure, as of something not before realized. 
Definition courtesy of Dictionary.com.
This book contains the things that haven't been realized. They're striking. They're important. And God used a regular guy, John, who was kind of spectacular in his own right, but he was still human. Pretty normal for the time, ya know? Hm. That's about all I have to say about that. 


*yawn* time for bed. Have to get up early to go walk! =D Should be fantastic.
Hope you had a good day! 

NIPTO, Day 47

Oh my goodness. There is snow on the ground. Spring break starts after school ends today... and there is SNOW on the ground. WOW. Wanna see some pictures? Okay! Here are a couple that I took this morning so I could document the craziness of snow on spring break. I would also like to add that my best friend is leaving for Florida today to go to Disney World... She's pretty excited to leave! hm.... I wonder why?

  Remember... today is March 26th.

There are buds on the trees.

See how wrong that is?!?! But I guess I live in Ohio and can't expect much else. (note: I did NOT leave my house to take these. I think I would be ridiculous if I did... and I'm not being sarcastic. I stayed in my house.) 

In other news: My sister is coming home today for spring break!!! She's going to be home for an entire week. And that's exciting... because she's going to Germany this summer for 11 or 12 weeks. So it's exciting to see her... it should be a super fun week!

Acts 12:24-But the word of God continued to increase and spread. Despite persecution. Persecution almost makes it spread faster. But it can also slow things down majorly. I mean... some people aren't into the whole "getting into something that could get you killed" thing. But some people, once they've heard/seen the truth, there's no way you could make them turn back. 

Proverbs 26:1-Like snow in summer [or spring] or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool. I thought this was particularly relevant to today... Snow in summer... or spring... It's just not right. So it's just as wrong for a fool to be honorable... I mean... A fool is a fool... and it's just not normal for a fool to have honor. Like having snow on March 26th... (but hey, it's Ohio. We'll live. We're used to 'extreme' conditions =P) 

Revelation 21:5-He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." I think "I am making everything new" is fantastic because it doesn't matter how broken and damaged something is, God will make it new. And it's true. It says so in the latter half of the verse. "These words are trustworthy and true." That's what it says. You can trust in them. They're not some big lie. They're true. 

So I'm reading Hebrews 11, right? And I'm on my computer blogging... so I decided to google "Faith quotes." I found this website and there are some good quotes, some cheesy ones, but here are two that I found that I liked. They're not exactly about faith, but they're good reminders.

Frequently remind yourself that God is with you, that He will
     never fail you, that you can count upon him.  Say these words,
     "God is with me, helping me."
                                                                       - Norman Vincent Peale      


Worry is a total waste of time.  It doesn't change anything.
      All it does is taint your mind and steals your joy.
You can't have joy without peace, and there is no peace
      without God.


I hope you have a good day and that you enjoy the weather wherever you are, snow or no snow!

NIPTO, Day 43

You should listen to this song. It's pretty amazing. We sang it on Friday night... and it was the first time I'd ever heard it. I love it... and you should listen to it :)

There's a thunderstorm going on right now (God's roaring like a lion). I love it. I used to hate thunderstorms with a passion, but now I love love love them. I also have a whole week of new NIPTO material in front of me. It makes me happy. So I'm pretty much in a great place right now. More opportunities to spend time with God+Thunderstorm=Happy Abby. =D

Also, today starts week SEVEN of NIPTO. I mean... I know we have 46 weeks left... but yeah. It's exciting. I'm really doing this. Awesome.

Acts 11:15-17- As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." 17So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?" I like those last few words. Who was I to think that I could oppose God. Really. If these people were doing the same thing you were doing in the name of the same person, you can't do anything about it because, well, God kinda told them to do this. I mean... the Holy Spirit came upon them too... so yeah. I wouldn't want to oppose God!

Proverbs 22:2-Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all. This verse is proof that you can't say "I have absolutely nothing in common with this person" because you do. God made both of you. And that is something to bond and rejoice over. 

Revelation 21:4-He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. How cool is that? No more pain or crying... to be honest, I kind of cry a lot. It doesn't really take much to set me off. You hit something that's close to my heart, I cry. Sometimes I don't cry for a long time, and then it all comes bursting out at some random time. Usually when something upsets me. Even just a little bit. But when we're in heaven, no. more. crying. Just worshiping God in his holiness.

Starting today, every day, for the rest of the NIPTO year (kind of like a fiscal year but different!) those of us who are in NIPTO are going to be reading about who we are in Christ. It's pretty amazing actually. If you want to read what we're reading, you can just click on this link and it'll take you to the post :)

It's time for me to go to sleep to the sound of the rumbling thunder and the pitter pat of raindrops on the roof... and Jim Dale's voice reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to me... =P (Yes. I listen to Harry Potter every single night as I fall asleep. I fall asleep fastest that way!)

Goodnight!

NIPTO, Day 41

Last night was awesome. But I'm going to write another post on that when I'm done with this... maybe... if I have the time.

Acts 10:15-The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." I think that we as fairly average, middle-class Americans look down on God's children who are not average, middle-class citizens. But we shouldn't. God made them in his image too. We're the same no matter what our financial situations. We might look at the homeless and think that they're dirty and unclean, but God has washed them and made them pure in his sight. here is a great post that was posted today... it's the guy I told you about a couple days ago. The one who was living on the streets of New York as a homeless man? Yeah. Him. This is a great new perspective on homelessness.


Proverbs 20:27-The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being. Dude. That's scary. To have God know everything that's in my heart? Crazy intense. I mean... even if I want to hide something from him, he still knows it... Crazyyy.

Revelation 20:12-And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. This almost makes things confusing. Because it says that they "were judged according to what they had done." But what you do doesn't really matter. If you've accepted that Jesus died for your sins, then you will have eternal life.


Hebrews 11:19-Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. Abraham was an incredible man of faith. He was willing to kill his own son if God told him to. And God did tell him to. But God, at the last minute, stopped Abraham from killing his son because he had seen his faith. But Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac back from the dead even if he did kill him. That, my dear friends, is faith at its finest.

I'm going to try to cram some nipto homework in now... it's due tomorrow and I realized that I'm not going to have time to do it unless I do it right now. So unfortunately the Generation Akron post is going to have to wait. But it's going to be a good one, so keep an eye out for it. I'll try to get it done tomorrow afternoon, but I have no clue if I'm going to have any time tomorrow... Church, birthday party, Nipto?, youth group, home early... crazy day. But it should be fantastic. So just keep an eye out for it, would ya?



P.S. Today is the first day of Spring! Happy Spring everyone!

NIPTO, Day 38

I went on a walk with a friend this morning. It was fun. We got to see the sun. It was nice. Here are some pictures:

It was a pretty morning. A little cold, but it'll get warmer :) I'm excited for morning walks this summer. It should be a good time... especially once it gets warmer.

Ermm. I'm kind of freaking out... I'm supposed to do this dance at the Generation Akron prayer meeting on Friday night, and it's not finished yet. So that's getting some major time tomorrow. I want to finish it tomorrow so I'm not working on it the day of the performance, ya know? Not exactly a good thing. Sooooo I'm going to get school done quickly. And I'm going to get that dance finished. I don't have that much left... but I just need to get 'er done. So. Tomorrow: Wake up, NIPTO, School, more school, dancing, thenn going BOWLING with my good friends Katie and Paige :) It should be a good time. 

Now: NIPTO. 

In Acts 10 it talks about a man named Cornelius. This man makes me think of a certain song called, you guessed it, Cornelius. It's by the Newsboys. They were a great band before Peter Furler left... *sigh* Oh. Well. Here is a link to the song on YouTube. It's a good song... sorry that it's a corny music video that some people made for a school project... it's the best I could find =P Acts 10:34-35-Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. Yay. I want to be like God and accept everyone for who they are. But that's hard. I feel like everything I post, I want to do, but it's hard. Man... Maybe God's showing me that I need to attempt to do what I'm being shown even if it means that I fail sometimes because it's too hard... hmm... Interesting thought... 

(Proverb of the day... HEY! It's St. Patrick's day. You should really head over to Wikipedia and see what it has to say about St. Patrick! It's actually pretty cool :) and I even linked it up for you! So you have no choice but to go read it. Even if it's just the opening paragraph!) Proverbs 17:5-He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished. I'm going to ignore the second half of this verse. The first half reminds me of a blog post I read today about a fantastic man by the name of Barry Rodriguez who I believe works for World Next Door. For four days and nights Barry is going to "be homeless" in New York City. I would encourage you to go read this post. It's fantastic. It will give you a new perspective. I love it. So go read it and let me know what you think! I'm going to be keeping up to date with what he's posting and will probably post links on here too :)

Revelation 17:14-They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is the Lord of lords and the King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers. These "they" people in this passage are kings who are going to make war against God. But it's sooo cool because the Lamb, Jesus, is going to overcome them because he is who he is. And with him are going to be his faithful, devoted, called, chosen followers. We are God's chosen followers. How amazing is that? I know I'm going to be there. Are you?

Hebrews 11:10-For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. This is talking about how Abraham didn't mind living in tents or whatnot because he was looking forward to the "city with foundations." We live in a temporary place. Earth is temporary. It isn't going to last forever. Why set your sights here when you can set them on the permanent things of Heaven? The song "Turn Your Eyes" has a great lyric that goes like this: 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in his wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of his glory and grace

Isn't that awesome? I think so.

I'm going to SLEEP now. Because, once again, it's late. Oops. 

Press On!

NIPTO, Day 29

I have just discovered that I am a very list/schedule/structure oriented person. I kind of freaked out when Katie told me this afternoon that Brandon hadn't given them papers with readings on them or anything. I didn't know what to think. I apparently like to have structure or something like that! Then Brandon posted them on the blog and I calmed down. I didn't really freak out too badly... visibly. I guess I learned something new about myself and so did you.

Also, my bible is back in one piece! Thanks to my father and his exceptional gluing skills! It "works great" now and I don't have to worry about it falling apart/pages falling out! (It had recently split into 3 pieces: cover, and two halves of bible. It split right at the beginning of Psalms which I thought was lucky(???) haha. I'm still going to get a new one for my birthday probably, but it's nice to not have to worry about my bible falling apart in the meantime!

Today it was sunny. I love the sun. It makes me happy. It's kind of amazing how much the weather can affect your mood. We went on a walk today. It was gorgeous. As one of my friends said on facebook, "If I lived anywhere other than Ohio, I'd say that winter was over..." but alas... it will probably snow again, but it will be spring soon enough! "On and off the clouds have fought for control over the skies. Lately the weather has been so bipolar and consequently so have I. And now I'm sunny with a high of 75, since you took my heavy heart and made it light. And it's funny how you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be alive." ~Relient K

Have I told you how much I like spring? It's probably my favorite season. Here's a list of why I like spring:

1.) It starts to get warm and the flowers start to come out!

2.) My birthday is in the spring ;)

3.) Easter is also in spring. Easter is amazing. I ♥ Easter.

4.) You start to see people emerge from the caves of their houses.

5.) The end of school is in sight!

That's all I can think of right now, but I'll probably make more lists like this in the future. I like lists.

Acts 1:14- They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers. They joined together constantly in prayer. Constantly. Ah-mazing. I wish I could say truthfully that I'm constantly in prayer. I'm not.

Proverbs 8:11-for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. There's nothing better in the world than wisdom. There's nothing that we desire that is better than wisdom. Wisdom is going on my prayer list.

Revelation 8:1-When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. This is just a kind of strange verse. It's kind of like the calm before the storm. This was the quiet before the trumpets sounded and started the destruction on earth. Interesting. Just interesting.

Hebrews 11:1- Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. I think I found a new favorite chapter in the Bible. This is a great great great chapter about faith. Go read it. It's worth 5 minutes of your time. It doesn't take long to read and it has some thought provoking things to say. I'll be posting more verses from this chapter as the week goes on :)

I hope you've been enjoying the sun! I know I have :)