Facebook Fast

I went on a Facebook fast on Friday, March 19, 2010. I can't believe it was only a week ago! It seems like an eternity-but that's because I only logged on to Facebook every free moment I was on the internet, which probably averaged 2-3 times a day. No wonder it was hard to suddenly drop it! Of course, though, it would be difficult to suddenly drop anything which you have become so attached to. :-)
Just two more weeks of teaching! In fact, this is my last weekend for planning lesson plans. I am going to do 5 lessons for my last week, but of course it won't be any sort of work and planning that I've been doing for the last 10 weeks. I have a few more lessons to write and get ready, but I've learned how long each one takes, so I can more wisely determine my course of action for my day.

Facebook Fast

Wow! I randomly decided last Friday to go on a "fast" from Facebook for 3 weeks until I am finished student teaching. This has been the hardest three days of my life on the internet! I was in such a habit of checking Facebook, often multiple times a day, that now I have to pull myself away before I sign into my FB account out of sheer habit. I am ashamed of how quickly I got addicted to this social website. In fact, I probably wasted more time on here than I have wasted other places during the course of my life.
How many times have I simply logged on to see if someone commented on a post I put up for the sole purpose of seeking to gain ungodly attention? I am ashamed to admit it, but that is the truth. Yes, I am still swamped with busyness as I seek to finish out my last days of student teaching strongly. Yes, ridding myself of this Facebook addiction is hard. However, it is an awesome feeling to seek strength from the Lord during this time of trials in my life.
He will lift you up and give you all the strength you need if you just ask Him. Quitting Facebook for three weeks is just another area where I am sure God will teach me to grow in Him and seek His face more. May His name be praised forever and ever! For He has done great things. God IS in the business of saving lives.

March of Books Blog Carnival!!!

The Laws of Nature

The laws of nature have once again come upon us, and this past week has been full of cancellations and school delays. I had 8 lesson plans written to do this week, and I only did one. Talk about a great start to my student teaching! Oh well. "Thus begins the blessed winter of my soul," as my friend Shakespeare once commented. (Note: that is not the exact quotation; in fact, it very well could have been altered in slight ways)
I am looking forward to days of sunshine and warmth which promise to come. It is only January, but I always get excited for spring around this time every year. Then spring turns to summer, and days are filled with outdoor activities, dripping sweat, sun burns and sun tans, lazy hours by the pool, warm nights wandering the streets of downtown West Chicago, and singing praises to God around bonfires. Ah, the days of summer! Such memories they hold for me. Yet, thinking of them now, they hold a bittersweet sigh for that which is no longer.
Never again will we travel from Dubuque to the dear old West Chicago lands to spend our summers with the greatest Christ-followers on the face of the earth. Never again will we roam the streets looking for souls to add to the kingdom of God in the historic town of West Chicago. Never again will this happen, for, you see, we have moved further than the streets of West Chicago. Yes, they will be evangelized upon in the future; however, we have moved beyond Jerusalem to Judea, and even to the remotest parts of the world, to paraphrase a Biblical reference. Those of us from Dubuque have started the Core College Ministry; others have moved to Purdue to minister on campus; others are working on moving to certain churches who need help; and still others are staying where they are planted in order to minister in the areas where God wants them.
I say we will "never again" do such and such things, but I know nothing is impossible for God. As bittersweet as it is to remember my last two summers in Chicago, I know God has amazing dreams planned for each and every one of us who seek to do his will. Perhaps we shall never see each other again on this earth, but we will be together for eternity worshiping our Savior together. Perhaps my brothers and sisters are asked to bring the gospel to China and India and Egypt and Angola and Russia. Perhaps we are separated and never hear from each other again while living on this earth. As long as we individually seek to do the will of God, we together will be united. And that, my friend, is a promise we can stake our lives upon.

Time

Oh, for the days when I could jump on and blog for hours on end, when I could write lovely stories and make sure every word was correct, and peacefully write with no worries in mind. Yes, those were the days. However, it has come to my attention lately that my blogging has come to a definite standstill. It most definitely will remain this way until Christmas break. Such is the life for a college student who enrolls in 3 colleges all in the same semester to take all the classes she needs to in order to finish on time. And no, I would not recommend it.
I must turn my undivided attention once again to my homework, which I think must be like a lover: it is always around me, rarely leaves, keeps me up at night..., demands my attention 24/7, and I even bring it with me everywhere I go. Somehow, I don't have the same feelings for it that it must have for me. Ah, yes. What was that? I'm wanted again? I must go, my friends. Farewell. :)

enter to win!

Write a post to this article and be entered to win a free book!
http://ylcf.org/2009/07/pajama-school/comment-page-1/#comment-9477

School in bed anybody?

Thank God for Pain

Thank God for pain. Thank God that my muscles ache and my joints groan when I move. Thank God I have feeling in my body. A day may come down the road when I long to feel pain, feel something, anything. Someday I may be lying in a bed, unable to move, unable to feel, unable to speak.

Thank God that I can move my lips to praise Him. Thank God that I can lift my arms to dance for Him. Thank God that I can see His creation and hear the songs in the wind. Thank God I suffer the trials of living on this earth. Thank God that it will not be like this forever.

Someday we will be transformed. Someday, yes, someday SOON those who have accepted Jesus into their hearts will go to heaven and be like Him. We will know the truth for what it is. All the questions we ever had will be answered, once and for all. And we will praise God.

In the midst of trials, in the times that tears run down our faces and we beg for answers that never come, we can find comfort. As we seek to cover our heartache and grief with artificial smiles, God still sees our pain. In our sorrow, He comforts us. And He blesses us on this earth by giving us trials. With heartaches, we grow closer to Him. With physical aches, we grow our bodies into deeper submission, growing stronger.

And so today, as my muscles ache and my physical body cries out because of the demands I place on it, I thank God for pain. I thank God I can walk, and I thank Him for the pain I feel. If I could not feel pain, something would be wrong. If my body never hurt, never ached, never became tired and sore, something would be very wrong. Thank God for pain.

25 random things about me

1. Someday I will drive stick-shift
2. I used to sew anything from aprons to doll clothes on my sewing machine
3. I love chocolate. And cheesecake.
   
4. I almost died from an appendix rupture-they told me it was the flu
5. Someday I will own a horse(s)
6. I hope to go skydiving some day
7. I've never flown in a plane
8. I hate math and science, love reading and writing
9. I randomly begin writing poetry when I don't know what to write for a school assignment
10. I use the same purse until it wears out and/or breaks. I can't stand getting used to a new purse, so never switch till I really have to.
11. I've never been hospitalized in my life except for two months ago with my appendix
12. I had two extra wisdom teeth-six total-so I had to have surgery to get them out
13. I've never broken a bone
14. I have a really cool apple tree in the backyard I still climb
15. I can't stand the smell of fish-I detest working during Lent season
16. I have half a dozen brothers, five younger than me. And they know karate. Take that.
    
17. Coffee has one of three effects on me: it doesn't do anything, it makes me hyper, or I fall asleep.
18. I always order the same dish when I eat Chinese-Sesame Chicken
19. I look for cool shapes in the clouds
20. I have no relatives living closer than 3 hours away
21. My hair refuses to cooperate. When I want it straight, it curls, and when I want it curly, it poofs.
    
22. I love road trips
23. I am exactly 4 1/2 years minus two hours older than my sister
    
24. I love Aussie, British, Scottish, and Irish accents
    
25. I love God and the Bible more than anything else.
    

Frozen waterfall at Apple Canyon Lake

Church Hoedown last fall

Saved By Grace Alone

Saved by Grace Alone

I cannot face the morning tides
And I run my way to the other side
Weeping, praying, ever longing
For an answer I am calling

Can there ever live truth again?
Can love reach to the farthest one?
Does trembling fear, mourning all
Turn against the weaker son?

My heart! My love, my life, my all
Cruelly cast to dogs of slaves
Hanging off the court side wall
I cannot see true light again

My eyes blinded by lies therein
I give all to grief and pain
Mercy, kind mercy! Touch my brow but once
Let me hear the savior’s name


Cleanse me with the balm you hold
Wash me new with heavens light
Lift me up with wings of dawn
Let me dance in Jesus’ might.

Victory! All dies not the end
Merely, I believed the lies of men
But truth still speaks all clearly
Through God’s own mouth the promises He penned.

Pre-FaithWalkers 2008

Oh, the peaceful sounds of rain pouring down in torrents. The blissfulness of walking outside in a tee shirt instead of bulky layers of coats. Smelling the smells of springtime in dead winter. Such is life when you attend FaithWalkers, a Christian conference hosted by Great Commission Churches Northwest, in Osage Beach, Missouri. We left home a day early for the day-long ride to the resort because of fore-casted bad weather on the horizon. Thankfully we escaped it, and the further towards our destination we traveled, the warmer it got. We arrived to balmy weather of 63 degrees. It even smelled like spring! After much laughter, talking, and what-not last night, we settled down for an uneventful night of slumber. Early this morning the sun cheerfully arose, but as we sat out on the porch and watched the lake and sky awaken to a new day, dark clouds began accumulating. It wasn't long before that wetness commonly called rain came, and it has now been pouring down in torrents for over an hour.

All matters of weather aside, I feel very grateful to attend the conference. Even in the hospital, with everyone telling me to take it easy and rest, I still wanted to go. (I also thought I would feel much better at this time as well. For goodness's sake, its been nearly 3 weeks since surgery) (Side note: more to come on my hospital stay later...)
Attending these conferences throughout the year help to fill me up when I hit a low. Rich, insightful teachings increase my Bible knowledge and challenge me to go beyond the mundane living I find myself falling into at times. I come away from teachings renewed and inspired, eager to grow deeper in my relationship with Jesus Christ. I have once again been reminded by God the importance of living for HIM alone. HE ALONE is worth living for. When I live for myself, satisfying desires of the flesh and not caring for other people as I should because I am too focused on myself, nothing I try to do for Christ will reach its fulfillment. I must do everything wholly as to the Lord, seeking not my own good but the good of others. I feel grateful to the Lord for allowing me to attend these conferences and learn more about HIM. I pray that as the conference begins tonight and goes for the next few days that God will teach me more about Him and help me to grow in my relationship with Him. I look forward to seeing everyone from Chicago as well, and spending time with everyone.
Yes, because of my "invalidism" or "wounded-ness" I am devoid of things I wish I could do, such as swimming with the young people, or running all around this vast resort. Unfortunately, many good things must come to an end when your appendix ruptures. At least, for a while. Who do these teenagers think they are, running around and swimming and never getting tired? Ah well, I shall soon be back to my old self. As it is, I can't get out of bed without assistance or life anything over 15 lbs. I probably look really goofy when I walk, because I keep one hand close to my belly in case anything starts pulling on it, and bend my back at the waist. Even as I do this, I try to keep my back as straight as possible and walk as rapidly as I can. Yes, I must look goofy indeed. :)

share the savior

“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” - Charles Spurgeon (Spurgeon At His Best, compiled by Tom Carter, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991 reprinted edition, first published 1988), 67. ) (http://www.founders.org/journal/fj33/editorial.html)
“Prepare to meet thy God…” - Amos 4:1

drowning in papers

There comes a time every semester when I wonder if I will make it through. Will I complete everything, turn in everything on time, and earn a good grade? Or will I easily give up, letting go of the high standards I had at the beginning of the semester? If we go to school for the right reasons with the goal in mind of graduating in a timely manner and earning a good grade while we're at it, we need to consider everything that goes with it. For example, last spring I took 19 credits of prerequisites and was student teaching 20 hours a week as well as working 20-30 hours a week. Needless to say, I was in over my head. As a result, my grades didn't reflect all that I wanted them to. My student teaching wasn't planned as well as it should have been. And, most importantly, my spiritual life all but crumbled. I was racing around doing everything but ultimately doing nothing that would last. I was not cultivating my relationship with God and growing in Him. I would fall into bed at night and realize I'd not read the bible that day.
"oh well, I'll do it tomorrow," I would think. However, I was not devoted to growing in Christ as I should have been. I devoted myself to my classes, homework, and work, forgetting my Savior in the meantime. I cannot thank God enough that I went to Chicago and participated in SALT this summer. It truly woke me up to the most important thing I need to be doing in life: Serving God and growing in Him. Praise God for His mercy! He is so faithful when we make mistakes and screw up. Ever-loving, He does not let us stay where we are in the mud and mire, but seeks us out and brings us back to Himself because of His great love.
"We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's." Romans 14:7-8

the evil of two lessers

http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/blogs/dwp/2008-VoterGuide.pdf

I encourage everyone who is voting tomorrow to look at this simple voter guide that Vision Forum created. What everything eventually boils down to is: are these candidates supporting life or supporting the convenience of getting rid of a "mistake"? are they supporting the fundamentals of preserving God-given life, or not?
So many fellow Christians are on the bandwagon of voting for the lesser of two evils. We need to look at the facts, check out the data, and acknowledge the political history everyone running for office has. Does what they're saying now support what they voted for in the past? Do they show evidence of practicing what they preach? Consider this: We have had a "pro-life" president in the White House for eight years. Abortion is still legal. For six of those eight years, the supreme court was "pro-life" republican-dominated. Life is still being terminated legally. Babies never see light of day because of a few elected official's un-kept promises. Please, don't let the media tell you how to vote. Don't vote out of fear. Vote because you are a Christian, don't vote because you are a Democrat or Republican.
Whoever becomes elected, we as Christians have a huge responsibility. I don't think God punishes countries because of what evil people are doing. They don't know they are doing evil in some cases. Instead, God punishes countries because of the Christians who do nothing. Will you do something?

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My comforter, my all in all
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save

Till on that cross, as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His, and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from his hand
Till he returns or call me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

Encounter Conference

Ah, the joys of christian conferencing! this weekend my friend Allisa and I went to Des Moines for a college leadership conference and were reunited with our Chicago brethren from the summer. it was SO good to see everyone again! I didn't realize how much I'd missed everyone until I actually saw them. the weather was GORGEOUS, and we went wading across the Des Moines River. 4 inches, my eye! more like 4 inches for a giant...lets just say we all got a lot wetter than we planned.
we found turtle eggs (sadly i accidentally knocked sand down on a couple and they fell in the water) BUT ONE OF THE TURTLES WAS HATCHING! it was pretty cool. :-)
on the way back from the conference on Sunday afternoon I got to stop in Des Moines to visit my Grandma, who broke her hip a few weeks ago. It seemed like forever since I'd seen her. I am hugely grateful for Dan bringing Allisa and I back and stopping so I could see my Grandma.
the conference itself was extremely helpful in getting me back on track and renewing my heart. there are so many times when i get stuck in the rut of life and I feel like I'm not being effective for Christ at all. I am just plodding along, doing the mundane tasks of life and so often I can forget God's higher calling. I liked what Tom Short, our speaker this weekend, said:
"yes, you ARE a saint if you've accepted Jesus Christ. I like it when people say to me, 'who do you think you are-a saint, or something?'" "well, actually..."
if you have accepted Jesus into your heart and are living your life for Him, then you are a saint. therefore, you must live like one. OF COURSE people look at you differently and hold you to a higher standard-you are a child of the KING!!!
Lord willing, I will be at Faithwalkers in Missouri this winter. It was an amazing conference last year, and i pray God teaches me more about Himself and shows me areas in my life where i need to grow in Him.

Wondering at Wander

Every time I look at the world I find something out
Every time I look at myself I wonder who I am
But every time I look at You I close my eyes and breath life in

Cause I know who You are
I don’t have to wonder
I know what you did
And I know who You are

Every time I see something
Every time I say something
Every time I grip reality again

I see something more
I never saw before
And I am brought back to
Who You are

Cause I know who You are
I don’t have to wonder
I know what you did
And I know who You are

You are
The One who took my burdens
You are
The One who took my pain
You are
The One who took my sins
Took it all, upon your back

Every time I look around
I see
The wonder of Your majesty
The glory of the King

Every time I think of heaven
I believe
You are who You said You are
And You have done everything.



Do you know Who God is? Do you know God? God is, and has always been. he will never fail us even when we fail him, and he will never leave us even if we feel like dirt. God is love, love so deep we cannot even comprehend it. God is the amazing creator of the universe, the one who had the perfect plan, the only plan that really worked. While we try to save ourselves through good works and 'holy' living, God is waiting for us to turn to Him and acknowledge the truth: we cannot save ourselves. God is waiting for our attention so He can gently whisper, "my child, I sent my beloved Son to die for you so you wouldn't have to die. turn your life over to me and let me do the work in your heart no one else can. I love you more than anything else. that is why I created you!" Do you know God?