Good Quotes to get you thinking!

"Every day people make choices. Some choose to be mad. Some choose to be sad. It's just as easy to choose to be grateful and glad. Sadness will make you grow weary and weak. Anger will make your life dark and hard. But joy will make you strong and healthy. Remember, I told you so." --(p 180)--

"We can't see evil fighting to keep our promise away from us, but that's what's happening. We're children and we don't need to see everything, we just need to keep believing God. That's why we have to be like Daniel, we have to believe and pray. Even better, we got to fast and pray and sometimes--sad to say--we got to cry. The good news, when the devil is fighting, God got even more reinforcements He can send in to get the job done. We can't see it, but when we pray, God is listening. ...it may take some time, but God is going to keep His promise."
"At the end of all that crying, praying fasting, and angel-fighting, Daniel got his promise--he got his word. ...don't ever give up. Your answer is just a prayer, a fast, or even a tear away." --(p 78)--



--Riding Through Shadows by Sharon Ewell Foster--

Trusting God to "figure it out"

"We never figure it out. It never gets figured out. We're not supposed to figure it out. We live every day and we never have it figured out. We pretend to ourselves that we do--it makes us feel safe. But we don't."

"Just breathe... We're never going to figure it out. We just have to be where we are and trust that it's the place that God wanted us and that He's taking care of us--all of it is part of his plan."

"We don't have to figure it out. God's got it all in His hands."

--Passing into Light by Sharon Ewell Foster (pp 247-8)--

This is so true, eh? Don't we all need to learn to trust in God to get it all figured out?

(This is a really good book to get a good perspective on the power of prayer. It is the sequel so read both. They are worth it. Oh... and they are fiction, too.)

Analogy

Guys are like trees.

There are two different categories for trees. There are the deciduous trees, and there are the evergreen trees. The evergreen trees stay green even throughout the tough, cold, wet, brutal winters. They are green even when the going gets rough. The deciduous trees, on the other hand, lose their leaves when the going gets rough exposing them for what they truly are.

When a girl is looking for a guy, she must watch him throughout the winter months, when the going gets rough, to find out which kind of tree he is and whether or not he is worth keeping.



P.s. By the way guys... the same goes for us girls.

Learning and Growing

Though I feel saddened when the sun finishes setting and the Northern Lights fade away, I remember them... will not forget them... will store them away to view in my mind later... and will allow it to fade as all life on earth does. I can be content with this, knowing that I can look forward with ever-growing urgency, to see the radiancy of the glory of my Father in heaven, wherein all else pales to bleached white snow in comparison to his majesty.

Aurora Borealis

My God is so great
So strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do

The mountains are his
The valleys are his
The stars are his handiwork too
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Psalm 8:3, 9
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained...
O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!"

Psalm 19:1
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork."
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Tonight God gave me the great pleasure of viewing his handiwork at work in the Northern Lights in the black sky. They shone like green sunbeams stretching upwards and across the heavens, and I was enthralled. O Lord, How majestic is the work of your fingers. You have painted the sky with a glimpse of the shadow of your glory and radiancy. O Lord, Our Lord... how majestic is your name in all the earth.

Sunset Radiancy

Last night, God bestowed upon me a gift in the skies. As the sun descended, it sent its beams across the heavens scattering them through the clouds. On many, the beams landed, lighting up the edges of the cloud with brilliancy. First orange, then pink, before it was gone... as quickly as it had come. That suset, which filled half the sky that the naked eye could see, with its beams stretching out to touch anyone and everyone, stole my breath from my lips. My chest filled and overflowed and I was not able to breathe as I was completely filled with the wonder of the work of God's fingers. O Lord, our Lord... how majestic is your name in all the earth.
And when it left, I wanted to cry for the loss... and then today, I was reminded by a wonderful person in my church that I need to remember how good I have some things in life, and that I need to stop focusing on what I don't have.

A Date

Tonight my twin brother took my best friend on their first date as an official couple. I am very happy for them. Before they left I talked with my friend about the upcoming evening.

Though I accomplished several different things today, I have to say that I did spend a lot of time day-dreaming. Life. Friends. Family. Dating. Change. University. Age. Excitement. Romance. Others. Sadness. Longing. Smiles. Soft. These are all topics that my mind has gone through.

Places. Beaches. Sunsets. Sunrises. Beginnings. Endings. Clouds. Billowing. Wispy. Puffy. Cotton. Candy. Glowing. Shining. Sunlight. Streaming. Bright. Green. Grass. Trees. Nature. Breathe. Smell. Leaves. Fall. Brisk. Windy. Swirling. Emotions.

Indoors. Coffee. Talk. Smile. Eyes. Hoping. Inquiring. Uncertainty. Warm. Hearts. Steaming. Drinks. Gentle. Chatter. Surrounding.

Wishing. Accepting. Lonely. Happy. Life. Beginnings. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Never stop thinking. dreaming. imagining. going. places. coming. home. life. full. God. Love. Plans. Mine. God's. Accepting. Trusting.

And Life goes on.

What a Great Day!... yesterday!

Wow... so yeah... I had an amazing day!

It all started with a great sleep. I got to sleep in until 10:15. As I am on reading break from school right now, it is particularly exciting because I don't have to go to class, and tomorrow, I don't have to get up to go to work at 6:00 in the morning.Anyway, after I got up, I had multi-grain cheerios for breakfast. Mmm mmm good!

Then I started the laundry going. I had three loads to go, so I was starting early. Stefan and Dylan had to help me figure out our new washing machine.

Next, I did my devo's for the day. I just started reading the book of Hosea last night... and it is pretty interesting. I don't remember having read it anytime recently at all. When I went downstairs to start reading some stuff for my Missions class at school, I found Sarah reading for one of her classes. We had a little debate on an issue in her Sociology book, until I decided I was not quite qualified to have that debate until I looked more deeply into it.

After that, I read until the first load of laundry was done. Switching that one to the dryer, starting on a new load, Sarah and I decided that it was lunch time. I had managed to reach the end of a chapter in my book, and it was 1:00 pm.

Following lunch, Stefan, Dylan, Sarah, and I went outside for some exercise, fresh air, and fun. I was going to mow the lawn to begin with, but we found a way to make that a lot cooler... jk. We had relay races back and forth across our backyard, pushing the lawn mower, at top speed. The grass was cut in only a few moments. Then I raked the leaves on the front lawn, and we layed on the grass. When we attempted to do some push ups, we found out that certain ones of us were completely useless at it. (myself included) When we played basketball, we had great fun teaching Sarah how to shoot exactly right for a free throw as well as do a proper lay-up. We were very particular about the way that it had to be done, eh Sarah?

When we went back inside, it was to do a bunch more reading, and for me, a bunch of laundry folding. Then Kev came home, and I left for the bank with Stefan. The first bank machine didn't work, so I had to get back into line for another one. On the way back home, I followed Sarah's example of smiling at people in other vehicles driving by me. I earned a very nice smile from one guy in a pick-up truck. *wink* *wink*

Dinner consisted of Chicken Pot Pie (hmm hmm good). Though dessert would have been nice too. Actually, we did get dessert. Tutie Frutie. Or however it is spelt. That was good, too.

This was followed by more reading of my Missions book, until my parents left for a meeting, and we moved onto bigger and better things, namely baking. We started by making the dough for cookies. But then we put that into the fridge so that the cookies wouldn't be all flat when we baked them. Then we made two pans of brownies, and two pans of ginger butter cake (in dutch it is called something else, but I don't know how to spell it). Then we went back to our cookies and baked 90 cookies. They were really good.

In the middle of all this, Stefan found some old animal masks from when we were little kids, and we all put them on and took pictures of us looking like absolute dorks. It was soooooo cool. (not really)

When all this was done being made, and we had finished cleaning up the kitchen, we all went off to bed. Actually, I went on the computer. I checked my email, looked for presents on the internet, etc. etc. Then I wrote stuff for my blog. Which I didn't finish until today.

THEN... I went to bed. But wait. Sarah and I chatted and did devo's and chatted some more. But before that I brushed my teeth. They felt so clean!

But yeah... then I went to sleep.

It was good.

Crummy!

Why is it that every time I come home for a holiday I get sick... I mean honestly. This year I've been making sure to take my vitamins like a good girl, who has been reminded to do so by her mother for several years now. I have managed to stay relatively healthy throughout the first month or so of school. Just about everyone else has gotten sick that I know. People at school, work, church, a friend's church, my roommate's family, my dormies, etc. But I, who am almost always sick with a cold or something, have managed to stay sick-free. Then in comes Thanksgiving, and what do ya know... I have managed to get a cold. Crummy!

Refiner's Fire...

I heard something a while back and did not get a chance to write it down in my own words and thoughts... so... here it is...

When a silver smith is refining a piece of silver, he puts it in the fire in order to refine it. Remove the impurities and make it more fully itself.
God has made me the person that I am. When sin came into the world, I was filled with impurities and sin filled my being. Yet, the person that God originally made me into, is still inside and I can be more fully that person when I am refined.
In order to refine silver, it must be placed into the hottest part of the fire, for it is only in the hottest point, that the deepest defects can be burned out. And yet, amazingly enough, even as this is done, if the silver smith is careful, the silver will not be damaged from the flames.
I have been placed in the fire... sometimes I feel like I am in the hottest part, and yet there are always hotter places to go. While it is tough, I can understand the need for me to be in the fire. God is refining me. The only way the impurities can be burned out of the deepest recesses of my heart and soul is to place me in the center of the fire, where difficult times in my life make me a stronger person, who is more sure of my faith and of the person that God would have me be. God is being careful. I will not be burned, or even singed, for my heavenly Father is watching out for my well-being.
The silver smith must watch the piece of silver constantly, because if it is in the fire even a moment too long, it will be damaged completely.
God has never, is not, and will never turn his eyes away from me and the struggles that I face in my life each and every day. The struggles that are on the outside that the world can see, as well as the struggles that remain hidden from the world, the ones that eat me from the inside out. God is burning them out so that eventually I will be free from the burdens that haunt my soul.
The silver smith knows that the time has come to remove the silver from the flames when he can see the reflection of his image in it.
God knows when to remove me from the fire when He is able to see his image in me. He created me in his image originally, and I still have that original image within me. Now the impurities are being burned away so that I will once again be the person and work that God created me to be, and I will reflect his image through my life.

However... the day has not yet come and could possibly be a long way off yet... it is coming... one day... yet... when I am in heaven with my God, my King, my Savior, my Lord... My Friend... then I will reflect God wholly in the way that He would have me do.

I love you Lord!

Some recent Changes in my Life!

Recently I have made some huge decisions for my life.

I went to a concert in May where the Newsboys played, and Peter Furler (did I spell that right?) gave a bit of a testimony. I felt convicted at that time that I had to make a decision... a decision for God... I needed to decide that I was a believer, rather than wait until God made me a stronger and better Christian. As I made this decision, I broke down. It was a shock to realize that God did want me... me... just me... exactly how I was...

After that, I also made another decision... and this was that I needed to become completely content with who I am and with where God has placed me. I needed to become content with what God has given me as well as with what God has decided to hold back for now. This doesn't mean that God will never give me my heart's desires, never let me move ahead... However, I realized that God is a lot wiser than I am... infinitely wiser... and I can understand why He is holding me back from where I often want to be.

Finally... I made the decision tonite that I am going to be the person that God has made me... This means that I will work on my sinfulness. Sometimes that results in a pulling away from certain people for a short while to figure out how the relationships are supposed to be going and what I should not be doing.

I won't be perfect now, after I have worked through these things for a large part, or ever in this life... However one day, when I get to heaven, I will be perfect. The angels will be amazed at the wonderful change in me... for I will be with my God, my Lord, my Savior, my King. He is almighty and above all. Revelation 7: 13-17 says, "Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, 'Who are these arrayed in white robers, and where did they come from?' So he said to me, 'These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple... And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"

So yeah... those are my deep thoughts for now!!!

"Safely Home" by Randy Alcorn

I've read this book before and recently read it again. It's a really great book, and it inspired me to think more deeply about my faith. Particularly about how thankful I am, or am not, for what God has done for me, sending his only Son, Jesus Christ, down to earth to die for me. Reading through this book, which follows a Chinese man's story as he is thrown into jail and persecuted for his faith, I thought about how little time I spend each day thanking God for all that He has done for me.
Furthermore, since I have had some problems remembering what I did my devotions on, even from the same morning, I thought a lot about the part in Alcorn's "Safely Home" when 'Ben' was asked to speak at a conference and explain one of the books of the Bible, the book of John. 'Ben' was very taken aback, as he was not even sure if he believed the Bible at this point in time. However, he did as the people asked, and haltingly at first, began to teach the people.
At this point in the book, I started to really pay close attention. 'Ben' started by reading a portion from the first chapter of the book of John. Then he reread that same portion, until he felt able to explain its meaning. Once he had explained its meaning, he continued on to the next portion. In so doing, he taught the entire book of John. Before the end of his teaching, 'Ben' came to a new understanding of his faith in Jesus Christ and turned back to the Lord.
This method of studying God's word is somewhat new to me, and I have decided to try it. Whenever I do devotions, I try to read a portion and then explain it. I don't move on to a new portion until I have explained the portion that I have read. I have learned before that oftentimes the teacher learns just as much from teaching as the student/listener learns from listening.
So yeah, I just thought I would share that method. From it, you can get a better grasp on the portion of Scripture yourself, and you can also become better at expressing your faith to others.

Enough with the Complaints!

'Bob' and 'Fred' are talking at work.
'Bob' is complaining.
'Fred' is sick of hearing about it.
'Fred' says, "Bob, are you dying of cancer? No? Than be quiet."

Lack of Thought

I know... pretty regular for me... actually, I just set this up so I haven't thought of anything interesting to write yet. But... ... ... This is just the beginning. Because even with lack of thought, I hardly ever run out of things to say.