NIPTO, Day 317

Whew. I feel like I did a whole lot of nothin' today!

And ohhhhhh my. My dad and sister are crazy. That's all I'm allowed to say. hahahahahaha.

So. Today... got up, ate breakfast, got dressed, made peanut butter kiss cookies, read a book? ate lunch, read some more, went on a walk and figured out some of our Christmas song stuff, stretched... did I don't know what, ate dinner, and thennn we played Set for a bit and then watched Elf! twas a good evening.
We also all sat on the couch. That was fun. :)

NIPTO!
Philippians 4:10-13
¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.


He was glad (he rejoiced, even) that they were concerned for him. They didn't have an opportunity to show that they were concerned, though. But he wasn't saying this because he was in need. Definitely not. He learned to be content in whatever circumstances he was in. That, my friends, is crazy faith. It's so hard to be content in AMERICA where we have ANYTHING we could NEED, yet we want so much. It's just wrong. *sighs and shakes head*




¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.


Paul knew what it was like to be in need and what it was like to have more than enough. He learned "the secret" to being content in every single situation. Food or no food: contentment. 
The great thing is that Jesus knows those things too. He's the one who can help us through those things. He knew hunger. He knew being full. Jesus experienced anything and everything that we're going through. And that's comforting. 




¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.


Paul's secret? He learned to be content through him who gave him strength. Jesus. God. He'll give us the strength that we need to be content in every circumstance. 


I think, especially with Christmas approaching in a few short days, that contentment is something that I'm writing on my hand or my arm. A reminder to be content, no matter what I "want" or "need." Contentment is something that I can choose. And today, I choose to be content.

NIPTO, Day 316

Hey all!

Today was lazy and fun!
Got up late. Ate breakfast. Hung around for a while. Started to make sugar cookies. Let the cookies chill. Mom, Katie, and I went to one bank, then another bank, then the library. And then went home. Cut out the sugar cookies/baked them. Frosted/sprinkled them. Ate dinner. Got ready for dance. Went to dance (modern&jazz). Came home. Read Mockingjay for a little bit. Then facebooked or whatever for a while. And now I do be here. Blogging. Hungry for foooood. I think I might get somefink to eat.

Ooon that note, NIPTO.
Philippians 4:8-9
⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.


Lastly (but not least...ly): Think about things that are TRUE. The devil feeds us lies. So often we believe those lies. Think about things that are true. Think about things that are noble. I think of royalty when I think "noble." Think "royal" thoughts. Think about things that are right and pure. To me, "right" goes with "true." I could be wrong. But in my mind they go together. Pure. Think about things that are holy and can have no blame tied to them. Think lovely thoughts. Admirable. Think about things that can be admired from God's perspective. 
If anything at all is excellent or praiseworthy, think about those things! 
Remember yesterday's post? Where, once you give things over to God so that you're not anxious anymore you'll have the peace of God which guard's your heart and your mind? Yeah. Give things over to God and your thoughts will follow suit.




⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.


We need to put into practice the things that we learn from other strong/mature Christians. We need to. There's no way around it. It's something we need to do. And once we do, the peace of God will be with us. Exciting, huh?
I thought so. :)




I'm going to finish eating my peanutbutter crackers, and then I'm headed to bed!
G'night y'all!

NIPTO, Day 315

Hey-o!

Today has been a good day. Even though I feel like I didn't go to church today... even though I did go to church. hah. (Sunday school, play practice... and that was my church day!) We had play practice. That was good. Annd we had lunch with Kasey and Bethany! I like them a whole lot. Wish they would move back up here... but, hey, they both have jobs! So that's good.

Then... I... did some facebook stuff? Then it was time to leave for the play! We ate dinner and got everyone in costumes and then it was time for the play! It was really good! The kids were great and it was funny and I messed up the 3 lines that I had, but it was okay. Hah. My narration went much better. Then we ate cake and talked to people.
After that, Hannah and I went to The620 Christmas Party. It was fun! Hannah and I hung around after and did some dishes and listened to awesome worship music. Mucho de fun-o. I mean... fue muy divertido! haha.

Then we came home and the whole family watched the Survivor Finale (and Reunion show). The next season of Survivor seems like it's going to be great!

And I finished my blog that I "published" last night. And now I'm doing this. :)

NIPTO!
Philippians 4:4-7
 ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!


Rejoice. In the Lord. Always. Not when we feel like it. Always. And he'll say it again: Rejoice! It's hard to remember to rejoice. Always. Lots of the time, you just want to stay... neutral in your emotion. You don't want to rejoice. 




⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.


Gentleness. Huh. No one focuses on this verse. It's sandwiched between two great verses. But this in and of itself is really good. We should show our gentleness to others. We shouldn't be harsh. Gentle. It makes me think of a little kid and a baby. You always tell the little kid to "be gentle!" We should be gentle to others. Why? Because the Lord is near. Always. 




⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


I don't know what to say about these verses. They're so picked over. But here's what I've got: Don't be anxious. About anything at all. Don't just forget about stuff, though! In every single situation, we should pray and tell God what's goin' on. And don't forget to be thankful. Because thankfulness can kind of be key. When you've truly let go about whatever it is that you were anxious about by telling God about it, you'll receive peace. The peace of God. No one can understand it. But that's kind of the point. If we could understand it, we wouldn't need it. But we need that peace desperately. When we get that peace, it guards our hearts and minds. In a stressful situation, your mind can wander so much to worst case scenarios. But when you have this peace, it won't. God will guard your mind. And that's peace in and of itself. 




Whew. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to bed. And I'm going to SLEEP IN. Because I can! Yay me, huh?


G'night!

A crazy couple of days...

Okay. So. Yesterday. Friday. I did school and whatnot. I watched Elf. Annnnnnd I didn't have to babysit!

Around 4:00, Katie and Hannah got home from school for BREAK! So they'll be home until January. So that's exciting. So we hauled all their stuff upstairs and to the basement and made sure that the house was in party form. Then, at 7:00, we had a partay! Well, my parents had a party. It was their annual neighborhood Christmas party that Katie, Hannah, and I "crashed." Read: we were the only teenagers there. So we talked to people, ate food, talked to people some more and whatnot. We had a white-elephant gift exchange which was awesomeee. And I laughed A TON. Because my next door neighbor is hilarious. And yeah. So that was really fun. People left around 11. We cleaned up. I blogged. I went to bed.

Got up this morning, got ready and whatever. Went to play practice. Read my lines. Read some other people who weren't there's lines. Ate two pieces of pizza. Came home. Flat ironed my hair and put makeup on. Got dressed for ze wedding. Ran around trying to find last minute pieces of outfits. Annd then we were off!

Ahhhh. The Kline-Wyszynski wedding. It was gorgeous. The church that it was at was beautiful. Lauren looked gorgeous. As did her maids of honor&brides maids. I cried. Of course. I always cry at weddings. But yes, it was gorgeous all around.

Here are some pictures of the wedding, and a couple from the reception!

Lauren and Tim exchanging rings

Lighting the unity candle.

The parents praying with Lauren and Tim

Aaaaaaand the kiss. :)

Mr & Mrs

It was great to see people that we hadn't seen in a long time, too!

Me, Morgan, and Katelyn!
We were the three musketeers back in the day!

Me&Erin&Hailee! :) 

Hailee, Erin, Erin, Hannah, and Katie :)

Lauren and Katie... friends since 6 mo. and birth, respectively! 

Tony dancing. Baaahaha. Love that kid.

The faaam! :)

Mom&Dad dancing... dawwwww

Yay for weddings (drinks all around! hah!)

Their wedding was discreetly OSU themed. (Bridesmaid dresses were red, tables had grey center cloth things, flowers were white w/ red, centerpieces were dark red...)
Here are a couple pictures of the cakes that were on every table. It kind of gives it away. ;)

Sooo pretty! 

Delicious too!

Buckeyes on top too!

But now I'm exhausted. And I have church and play practice and the actual PLAY tomorrow! So I think I'm going to head to bed.
Hope you enjoyed this!

NIPTO, Day 314

This is NIPTO. I'm thinking about writing a separate post about yesterday and today. SOOO much has happened. All good. No worries! But I want to do NIPTO. So. Here goes.

Philippians 4:1-3
 ¹ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

Stand firm. Firm. One spot. Don't waver. In the Lord. Remain in the Lord. I think if one remains in the Lord, then that person will stand firm.

 ² I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. ³ Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

He was asking these two women (I think) to get along. To be of the same mind. He asked the other people he was writing to to help them. Those women worked beside him and worked for the gospel. All the people who worked with him had their names in the book of life. How sweet is that? Pretty sweet.




Is it time to blog about parties and a wedding? YES. ;)