FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

School at last! I'm usually pretty excited to start a new school year, even though summer is delightful and I never entirely want it to end. I started my SENIOR YEAR (How exciting!) yesterday and so far it's going very well. It's been a bit of a challenge to give up sleeping in, having a lot of leisure time, and not having to think to hard unless I chose to, but it's all excellent for my character and I enjoy it, too.

So here is a little look at a day in the life of me right now:
It's 6:55. A catchy ringtone alarm on my cell phone startles me awake, and I sneak downstairs in an attempt to not wake up my brother. After grabbing a snack and a glass of water, and donning some work-out clothing, I excercise for half an hour, then of course shower and gorge on whatever looks good try to have a healthy breakfast (since it is better breakfast month!). If I didn't dawdle around, I should have about an hour to spend with the Lord, reading my Daily Bible, a passage from Philippians, and a few pages of Stepping Heavenward, and some prayer time. At 9:00 I either spend the morning doing chores or working on preserving vegetables with my mom, or else start school and do chores in the afternoon.

At any rate, I do some of those chores and some school, somewhere amidst the day. Since it is my last year, I don't have many real classes left, so I have the privilege of reading a systematic theology book (it is so huge - I don't know if I'll ever finish it!) and studying to obtain my certification as a biblical counselor with NANC. (Soon I'll have to start writing essays... ohh that's the scary part.) Also, I am still learning Spanish and piano, which are lots of fun. In a couple of weeks I will be starting my history class and physics. But over all, I don't have too much school to do and I have time for homemaking, journaling, drawing, phone calls, friends, and other misc. blessings.

I am just SO excited about this school year!

A day in my life

I've had a wonderful day so far. This morning Mom, Dad, Zach, and I went to a favorite restaurant in town  for breakfast out as a family, which we haven't done in many years. It ate so much I didn't eat lunch, and still haven't at 3:27 PM! After two enormous chocolate chip pancakes smothered with peanut butter and drenched in real maple syrup, accompanied by four satisfying sausage links and a glass of milk, who wants lunch anyway?

When we got home, mom and I had a nice talk in her bedroom, with no other distractions and no multitasking. Just... talking. I cherished it, knowing that we won't have another like it for a month. Soon she had to go off with my dad to get a vehicle checked, so I steeled on the couch with Anne of Green Gables (which I have been devouring for the past week or so), intending to read three chapters and leave the last four for tomorrow. But when you're only four chapters away from the end of such an enchanting book, it's awfully hard to put it down! I finished the whole book. The beginning of it is sweet, and it makes you laugh, but the end is truly beautiful. I cried, of course - I always do at those sort of things!

Finishing the book, I went outside to wander around and think and pray. I decided to pick some daisies and make a chain for my hair, and the closest place where the daisies are growing is in the ditch by the road. So, I stepped into the deep ditch beside our dirt road and started picking the nicest looking ones, and stringing them into a crown. As I did, though, I noticed some tiny, wild strawberries growing! Oh, there is nothing quite like wild strawberries. Cultivated ones are alright, but the wild ones are so much sweeter. And they look so much prettier, springing up here and there amid daisies and buttercups, instead of in unimaginative rows.

So I traversed the rocky ditch up and down, wearing a heavy denim skirt and a too-big t-shirt since all my other clothing is packed and a tiara of daisies which looks much less romantic than it sounds. But I didn't care if someone did drive by and think I looked silly, because it felt delightful. That's the nice thing about where we live though - people rarely do drive by! Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of deerflies, and two of them discovered my presence and would not leave me alone. When I had eaten all of the berries I could find, I came in here to write this post, and so I sit, filled with a delightful peace about life. To think that in 48 hours I will be boarding an airplane by myself and heading off across the nation... wow! It's thrilling.

I'm back

Hello, folks.

These past few days I have sort of freaked out and have gone back and forth as to whether or not I want to continue blogging. I delted my blog, then un-deleted it... twice. In the end I have finally decided that I will keep it and continue, because I do love blogging. But I also created a new, private blog to share my personal thoughts with my close friends. Good solution, I think.

As an update of what's been going on in my life the past few days: I have been very sick but God is helping me to get well incredibly quickly - just in time for my trip to AZ. I leave next Monday, so I have been packing and preparing as much as possible, along with going nuts because I want to be completely packed, but it is not practical or sensible for me to be yet. :P Tonight I am going to slice 3 quarts of strawberries and then read as much of Anne of Green Gables as I have time for. Oh, it is such a fabulous book!

So, that's everything I've been doing. Hope you all have had a lovely weekend! And by the way, during my freaking out time, I stopped following most of your blogs. So if you have a blog and I was following it (or I wasn't but you'd like me to check it out) would you drop me a comment and say so? Thanks!

God's Glorious Word

Tonight I am feeling very thoughtful. I guess that's partly owing to the fact that I've been reading some great books these past few days. Here's a section of the first book of the wonderful series: Elsie Dinsmore.

[Speaking of the Bible] "Do you really love it so, Rose?" asked Adelaide, lifting her eyes to her friend's face with an expression of astonishment; "Do tell me why?"
"For its exceeding great and precious promises, Adelaide; for its holy teachings; for its offers of peace and pardon and eternal life. I am a sinner, Adelaide, lost, ruined, helpless, hopeless, and the Bible brings me the glad news of salvation offered as a free, unmerited gift; it tells me that Jesus died to save sinners - just such sinners as I. I find that I have a heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and the blessed Bible tells me how that heart can be renewed, and where I can obtain that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. I find myself utterly unable to keep God's holy law, and it tells me of One who has kept it for me. I find that I deserve the wrath and curse of a justly offended God, and it tells me of Him who was made a curse for me. I find that all my righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and it offers me the beautiful spotless robe of Christ's perfect righteousness. Yes, it tells me that God can be just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus."

I guess that's all I have to say for now... God is working in my heart and tearing down idols. He is good, as ever! Hope you're having a great week my friends.

Idols

Hello everyone! I suppose it's about time I wrote a post. Well, I had a wonderful Christmas! I got 3 books - "The Pleasures of God" by John Piper, and "The Lost Art of True Beauty" and "Sacred Singleness" by Leslie Ludy. Wow, they are such great books! God has been teaching me so much recently. He has been calling me to lay everything down at His feet... all my desires, all my dreams, and all of my "rights." But once I lay them down, He satisfies me with His love, which is so much more wonderful than anything the world could give me! I love the passage in Matthew chapter 4 about Jesus being tempted.

"Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve."' Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him."

Often Satan offers us "pleasures" and "glories." All he asks in return is that we worship him by making those pleasures idols in our lives. And all too often, we agree to his terms and believe his lies. But Jesus said, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" That is what our response should be. And when we do that, we get much greater blessings. An intimate relationship with Jesus Christ is so much more wonderful than any of Satan's lies could ever be.

I also wanted to tell you all that I deleted my facebook. That was a huge step for me. It's not that facebook is, in and of itself, "bad." But for me, it became and idol. I found myself wasting so much time on it, and caring way too much what people thought of me through it. Often I based my social "worth" on how many comments I got, or something like that. God was asking me to give it up for Him, and He enabled me to do it. And honestly, I don't miss it! I still have email and blogger to keep up in touch with people, and I have so much more time to do God's will because I'm not wasting it on facebook! God has torn that idol from my life, as He is doing with many others. And the process is oh, so painful at times, but so worth it! He is so good, all the time!

CHRISTmas!

Okay, I have a lot to say, but I don't even know where to begin, or how to say it all.

I guess I'll start with Christmas. It was wonderful! On Christmas eve we had a nice supper together, and then played games. We had my friend, Vicki, and my neighbor, Zach, over and they added to all the fun! Right now my bedroom is torn apart because we're fixing it up some, so my bed was out in my oldest brother Erik's bedroom. So, I slept in his room. It was kind of a funny night... somehow the heat got turned off so it was FREEZING cold, and I kept having weird dreams and waking up (mostly because it was so cold!). Anyway, we all slept in on Christmas morning and that was actually really nice. I think this is the first year that I've slept in on Christmas. We all got up around 8:00 and sat around talking and such for a few minutes... then we all took our showers and got dressed. It was neat because it was just a nice, low-key day. We opened our stockings, and then had a nice breakfast. After breakfast we opened presents. It was a lot of fun... all of us just sitting around together, laughing, and enjoying ourselves. I got a couple of pairs of shoes which were really cool - one pair was neon pink and the other was neon green. :) I got two books - "Before You Meet Prince Charming" by Sarah Mally, and "Raising Maidens of Virtue" by Stacy McDonald. I've read both of those books before, but it's especially nice to own them. They are SUCH good books!! I would very highly recommend them to any young lady who wants to serve Christ. I also got a really nice handbag with music notes and Scripture about music on it. I love it!! We got some gifts that were for all of us - a bunch of Christian movies! We got Fireproof, Facing the Giants, Flywheel, and some others. I couldn't have gotten any better presents! I love my family so much. It was great to be with all of them for the past few days.

Now to tell you about all the WONDERFUL things God is doing in my life!! I don't know how to put it into words... He has totally changed me, and my view of life! A week or two ago, I was trying very hard to live righteously, but I didn't feel the passion and closeness of our Savior. I wasn't living completely for Him. I was tying, but I wasn't trying in HIS power, filled with HIS Holy Spirit. I just couldn't take that. I hadn't done anything the most people would consider a "big" sin, but I had strayed so, so far from where I needed (and still need!) to be. I got down on my knees and poured out my heart to God. I confessed everything I had done... all of my selfishness and pride, all of waywardness, everything. I prayed and begged God to reveal Himself to me, to give me a passion, to fill me with the Holy Spirit. That was my constant prayer for about a week. On Christmas day, He truly did show Himself to me. I can't explain it... I just had a total change in my understanding of Him. These past few days I have just CRAVED Him. It's wonderful!! I have been reading the two books I got for Christmas, another book called Stepping Heavenward, and of course, the Bible! It's wonderful. God is teaching me so, so, SO much about how I am to live. Please, please pray for me. I don't want to lose this passion. God is doing marvelous things in my life. He is SO INFINITELY GOOD! Praise Him!!

"I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and He gave ear unto me." Psalms 77:1

"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known they faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 89:1

LIfe is good, eternal life is better! :D

Hey everyone! God has been teaching me soooo much lately! I have been learning about being truly set-apart for God, and really having joy in my Christian walk! I have been reading the book "Set-Apart Femininity" By Leslie Ludy, and it is an AWESOME book! All of the books by Eric and/or Leslie Ludy are really good! Something I have learned is that we often spend way too much time feeling depressed that our relationship with God doesn't seem close and vibrant and personal, and too little time actually SEEKING him and striving to become closer to him. In Sunday School we have been talking about holiness, and it is SOO good! The only way for us to become holy is to be daily in God's word. Doing a a short little morning "devo" every day doesn't cut it, either. We really have to seek Him, and let Him search our hearts, and ask Him for His wisdom. We really need to be living out His word, too. It doesn't matter how much we read it and think about it and memorize it if we don't obey it! So I have been really striving toward holiness and joy in my walk with Christ.

I also have found that I love hymns!! A lot of songs these days basically say "Life stinks, everything is hard, you're all alone..... but God is good so don't give up." If you ask me, that's a pretty depressing outlook on life! Yes, life is hard. Yes, the world will be full of heartache and disappointment. But that can't be our focus. We need to let nothing get in the way of our joy. If we are walking with Christ, there will be joy. Even when Paul the Apostle was imprisoned and hated by many people he was full of joy! The more I seek God, the more joy He brings. I have really been seeking Him a lot lately, and let me tell you, it is so worth it! :)

Now to write about the events of the past week... my brothers came home from Lamoka on Saturday for GOOD! They have been at Lamoka most of the summer and now the camp year is over. I'm really happy to have them back. Saturday was also my dad's 47th birthday! I baked him a German Chocolate cake with coconut-walnut frosting, which is tradition in out house. He loooves that kind of cake and frosting, so we always make it for his birthday. That evening was our church's annual Sunday School picnic, so we went to that for a few hours and it was fun. This Saturday is a youth event called the Gathering, and I am SO excited! That's about all I have to say now. Thanks for reading, fellow bloggers! :)