Let the Games Begin!

I just love the olympics. Watching your country's best athletes compete against the best athletes in the world and being able to celebrate with them as they hold up their medals(I am now a fan of Michael Phelps!) and to feel their pain when they drop a baton, fall off the beam, or trip over a hurdle. When I watch all these spectacular and very muscular athletes it kinda makes me feel...well...worthless lol BUT God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise so I'm set hehe! It always comforts me to know that I don't have to be something special or extraordinary to be used by God, I just have to be humble and obedient! Anyway, I was upset with the judging for the gymnastics because USA should have the team gold, and Nastia should have three gold medals not just one. Not only was Nastia better but its not fair to compete against 8 year olds ::angry face:: I GET TO GO SEE NASTIA AND SHAWN ON OCTOBER 24TH AND I'M SO FREAKIN EXCITED ABOUT IT!!!! So you all will be hearing about it a lot =)

The one event that really amazes me is the decathalon. They have to do so many things and by the end you can tell they are all just dragging and after the last race they are gonna go home and sleep for about 4 days. Well thats what I feel like I'm about to embark on with this semester. I have six classes, five of them are on tuesdays and thursdays meaning I'm on campus from 9am to 8pm and then mondays, fridays, and saturdays I will be at work all day paying the bills. Now this wouldn't be so bad but allll of my classes are 400 level meaning very intensive,very in depth, and alot of papers. This will be my hardest semester at Penn State BUT it will be my last semester of classes because next semester I do my internship. But I'm asking for your prayers as I go through this educational decathalon because I think I've done a good job preparing but you never know when your body is gonna say NO MORE!

As I started to walk to my last class of the day yesterday I thought to myself, "This professor better be really funny looking or something because I'm about to fall asleep". Well, hes not funny looking but he is from New York City! He went to school in Long Island, I think hes from the Bronx, and he has that priceless NYC accent. That kept me awake =) Plus hes got a lot of energy and a good sense of humor so I WILL be able to stay awake until 7:45 when the class is over. What was most interesting about him is that he was a witness to 9/11. He literally saw the first plane hit the world trade center while he was walking to work and only worked a little ways down from the world trade center. One woman who worked for him got a call saying that her son was on one of the planes and what makes it even worse was that her other son worked at the world trade center and both of them died. My professor personally knew 16 people that died on 9/11 and he witnessed people jumping out of the windows. He said to this day he remembers that sound of the bodies hitting the ground and its something you can't get out of your head. The class was very silent while he was telling us about his experiences. He also talked about a train operator who heard about the planes hitting the world trade center and he immediately stopped the trains going underneath them and he saved about 25,000 people that day. I'm sure there are a lot of other heros that we don't hear about too.

While I was at work the other day one of my first tables I got never sat down. Meaning, they pretended to go to the bathroom and then left without telling anyone or paying or even eating anything. They probably didn't like the price of the bill and just decided to split but whatever the case I was confused. I thought to myself "I wonder if I missed the rapture." lol I was only joking around with myself but it really got me thinking. What if a plane flew into the nuclear reactor at Penn State, what if the Lord returned TODAY, what if a car hit me out of no where. I think sometimes we easily forget that we shouldn't be living for this life, but living with eternal mindsets. Its easy to start thinking about the future, and who you might marry, where you might live, how many kids you'll have, where your kids will go to college, how old you will live to be, if you'll have to eat prunes when you're 86 (lol), but we need to live for today. This could be your last day on earth, you have to expect the unexpected and live for God with all that you have TODAY! You may not get a second chance tomorrow...

Ten Days of Freedom

In less than a week my days of reading of dysfunctional families and how to write a grant proposal accompanied by weekly presentations, papers, and boring lectures will be OVER! Oh happy day!!!! While day dreaming in my english class I came up with a few things I'm going to do with my ten days of freedom before the fall semester starts. Although they aren't very adventurous or overly exciting, here they are:

-Read "Hungry for More of Jesus" in its entirety By the wonderful David Wilkerson

-Get in the habit of reading Andrew Murray on Prayer every morning =)

-Write these great blogs about what God is teaching me through life and His Word

-Eat pierogies with a whole bottle of ketchup,crab ragoons as my appetizer, and my marshmallow cinnimon rolls for dessert!

-Admire my beautiful fake nails that were applied by a nice asian boy who has a degree in engineering from Penn State and is attending grad school...yet working at B&B nails lol

-Convince my roomate to dress up with me and go out to dinner! (hint hint)

-Spend time with Brian =)

-Take my dog on a run through the park

-Use my magical powers to change my dirty smelly dog into a apple scented black and WHITE dog

-Teach my doggie how to roll over

-FINALLY get to hang out with Zeph when he asks lol

-Have a movie night with Kendra including "A little Princess" (makes me cry!), Balto (we both have huskies lol), and happy feet (love the little songs they sing lol)

-go hiking!!!!! Theres something about a hill that makes me want to walk faster even though in reality i'm walking slower...its like the hill is challenging me and I MUST NOT STOP lol I could just hike for hours and hours

Ok so I think theres enough here to fill up ten days and most of my time will probably be spent working but a woman can dream can't she? Hopefully I get a few done especially the first 2! I hope you all are doing well, letting God work in you, and I'm excited to meet with you for the first time in our new church on Sunday! yay!

Au Revoir

867-530niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Acts 2:21 - Who so ever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Late nights, long weekends, and too many papers to write for class often cause me to revert to my very emotional side. Mole hills begin to look like mountains and my mustard seed of faith seems to disapper into thin air leaving me stranded on a hidden island surrounded by ravenous sharks and heavy fog. But you know what I love about God? He permeates every inch of every hidden island, He is the best shark slayer you'll ever find, and at the snap of His fingers all the fog disappears and when it does you see a large ship there waiting to take you home.

I had this bad habit of calling my closest friends, venting to people at work, or just wallowing in my problems instead of calling on the name of the Lord. My cell phone was the first one to hear about my stress and my confusion and not the ears of the only one who can bring me comfort and wisdom. Should I be surprised that when God is the first one I turn to, I never leave the conversation discouraged? I never leave that time left in confusion and filled with anxiety? Shouldn't I really understand this concept already?

I was convicted by my own word as I shared a message with the campus group. I have nothing to complain about, and do so is a bad witness (Phil 2:14-15). Philippians also tells me to be anxious for nothing but just PRAY. I remember learning this lesson as a freshman in college and realizing the freedom and joy that it brought, but I'm ashamed that I somehow lost this tendency to call on the Lord right away.

Thank God for this Holyspirit who convicts, reminds, and empowers to change! I find these days are a lot easier to get through and even though sometimes I feel overwhelmed and out of place, when I call on the Lord, he is faithful to hear and faithful to save me. And thank God after I seek Him, I have godly counsel and wise friends and family =)

I had a tick!!!!!!

This weekend had its ups and downs but no matter what happens on friday and saturday, SUNDAY always makes up for it. Not only do I get to go to church but church is with the people I love the most! And this sunday I got to go up to the mountains with some of those people!

Our day started out with a delicious dinner of beef, au jus, mashed patatoes, corn on the cob, and some brownie sundays for the desert, and if a spider had not fell into my au jus during our delightful picnic I think I might have eaten a little more lol. Brian tried to help but he just squished it more and the nasty little things legs were floating around just begging to be eaten. GROSS!

I was in a weird mood all day, not because i was upset or angry, just because I was REALLY tired and when I'm tired and feel weak, for some reason I just like to lay down and listen to other people talk. So thats what I did for the most part. Although after the good news that we will hopefully hear about tomorrow if everything works out, I did perk up for a little bit lol. ::crossing fingers::

But after watching a handsome young pirate brave the fire swamp and ROUS's to save the true love of his life we decided to go for a walk. Now when I think walk I think of a 15 minute stroll down the sidewalk, but considering they dont' have sidewalks up there on the mountain it was more like a HIKE. I LOVE HIKING. I had forgotten how much I love hiking! My legs were burning, my back was tight, the oxygen wasn't getting to my lungs too quickly for some reason, and I loved it! The mountains are a reminder to me of how awesome God is. He created every tree, every plant, every delicious huckleberry that we ate, every rootbeer tasting plant lol, every creature in that forest, including the tick that attached itself to my leg! It just amazes me how beautiful the forest is, how big and vast, and I like to just think while I push myself to the point of exhaustion because I'm so out of shape lol.

AND my beautiful husky got to go on the hike leash free! It was an accident at first because this four month old is SO strong she escaped the leash for the second time that day and started running down the mountain. Knowing that huskies are prone to run away and never come back, I was on the verge of tears and ready to run 20 miles to catch her BUT she waited for us. Then she would run a little more and stop and wait for us. When we called her name, we would see some bushes move and hear her little feet running and then she would pop out of the forest and come right to us. This may sound a little silly but THANK YOU GOD she didn't run away, Brian and I have become so attached to her, and while her poop surprises on the floor and never ending engery sometimes make us very angry, she seems to always make up for it, and shes so cute you soon forget about all the things that made you mad. I <3>=)

Thanks to those of you who opened your home and let us eat all of your food, thanks to those of you who provided interesting conversation, and thanks to God for such a beautiful mountain and wonderful day =)

poetry?

Ok so everyone has been really into writing poetry lately and I feel a little left out lol. Even my brother writes hiku's? Apparently his hiku's are about birds soaring through the air...and getting blown up. So I think to myself if my little brother can write a poem about birds getting blown up in mid air, I can think of something. Right now I'm in more of a silly mood so we'll see how this goes....

I love my peeps
they are so much more reliable than jeeps
When I'm down they always know what to say
and encouarage me every day
they still love me when I burn the food
and defend me when Brian calls me a "dude" (lol)
they love and care for my dog
and they read my opinionated and colorful blog
they understand its really late at night
so they will try to appreciate my poetry with all their might
they like to come over and play the wii
and my dog loves them so much she can't help but pee
they know that i'm not good at writing poetry at the drop of a dime
so they'll understand why my next two lines don't rhyme
Although this poem is a bit silly and fun
I thank God for all of you and can't express how much you mean to me =)


lol so theres my poem...if thats what you want to call it haha. But seriously I love wednesdays! We have good times of discussion, self disclosure, and fellowship and I honestly feel like these people are like family. The more I'm around them the closer I feel to them and the more God uses them to bless me. I can only pray and hope that I'm a blessing to them in return and that God will use me in the same way he uses them. THANKS FOR THE ENCOUARGMENT!!!!

Persevering...refusing to get discouraged =)

In Christ Alone

In christ alone
I place my trust
and find my glory in the power of the cross
in every victory
let it be said of me
my source strength
my source of hope
is Christ alone

The past week or so I've been on the verge of tears at least once a day. Just thinking of all the school work I have to get done, how I have to work yet never make any money, I'm having difficulties with my....well... just difficulties, I have to somehow pay very large car bill plus so many other bills. I've thought of not eating anymore but was quickly rebuked by the boyfriend and handed money for lunch (thank God for a boyfriend with cash in his wallet! =) I was so encouarged on wednesday when the girlies had our accountability meeting because as my roomate put it "THIS ISN'T IT!" This is not what the end result is going to be! I'm living for eternity and I'm living for heaven and that thought never fails to bring me out of my worries and problems of this life and this world and put me back on the solid rock of Christ. I know that he will provide and I know that if I put my trust in Him he will never fail me. Yes, life can be stressful BUT the joy of God will keep me through it all and make my life a whole lot less infuriating. Even when people do their BEST to make it that way ;)

IN CHRIST ALONE....COME QUICKLY LORD JESUS

MEDIA and SEX EDUCATION

Just as I did in the last blog, i'm gonna start this off with something from the word of God and then i'll move on to media and sex education. Just because I want to =)

I was so encouraged in the last week because I got a chance to spend some time with a lot of godly people from my church and some from another state but either way it was so refreshing! I read in Ephesians not too long ago that I should...

EPHESIANS 4:29"let no unwholesome word proceed from 'my' mouth but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment that it may give grace to those who hear" AND

EPHESIANS 5:4 "there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or course jesting, which are not fitting but rather giving of thanks."

I found that these things are SO easy when you're around people who love God. Not only is it easy but its so fun, uplifting and envigorating. You leave the conversation with your focus on God and His promises and it gives you so much more material to meditate on later =) Tonight was really cool because I spent it with two lovely ladies and we talked about a variety of things but it was all centered around Christ. It was really cool because a lot of our conversation went along with EPHESIANS 5:1 "Therefore be imitators of God..." and this is so important because its easy to look up to people who are wiser and more spiritual than us and follow their example in EVERYTHING which makes us disregard personal conviction. I really enjoyed my conversation with these two ladies because I knew I could share my convictions and they would know that if my convictions are different from theirs I won't think any less of them or get angry with them and vice versa. Obvisously if its plainly written in the word theres not room for "different opinions" cuz its very clear, but with other things that are more of a seeking after God to see what he wants for ME, sometimes people are gonna hear different things depending on where they are and where God wants them to go. God really reminded me in the past few weeks that its doesn't matter if other people think certain things are ok, its about what God has shown me personally and the personal convictions that I have. I need to compare myself to Him not anyone else. For example a while ago God convicted me about reading fictional books because I could be reading something like Andrew Murrey or Hudson Taylor etc instead of wasting my time on some christian romance novel. But as soon as I saw that everyone else was reading them I began to "forget" about that conviction and I realized just recently (thanks to my pastor) this was VERY wrong. This was a big OUCH but I'm so glad God showed this to me again.

OK BACK TO MEDIA AND SEX EDUCATION lol

I just took a class in which we learned about the effects that media (tv, advertisements, music, video games, and so on) has on kids, children and adolescents. Let me tell you the effects that media has are OUTRAGEOUS. People think its stupid to blame childrens violent behavoir on violent video games like grand theft auto but study after study after study shows that these kinds of things really get into kids minds and makes them do things they normally wouldn't do. Ok so we were talking about violence and one really stupid intervention tried to deter kids from playing violent video games by teaching them how to creat the violent video game and make the characters bleed all over the place. Basically they were teaching them how to kill. THIS DID NOT WORK. Doing this only made the kids more violent and want to play the violent video games even more. Most people would hear that and say to themselves DUHHHH but then theres sex educaiton...

We think its crazy to try to teach kids not to be violent by letting them be violent, BUT we think that if we teach kids how to have sex we can prevent it. BUT I guess now a days its not really about preventing sex its about preventing pregnancy. My main point here is that if we are teaching kids how to have sex, how to put the condom on, what the different parts are and what their functions are, THEY ARE GONNA DO IT. They are going to get curious and hormones are gonna be raging and its going to encouarge them to do it.

Obviously I'm a big advocate of abstinence but at the same time I don't think thats gonna work either. I hate to say that but its the truth. I've read so many peer reviewed journals and research articles its ridiculous and all the results say that teaching abstinece doesn't work and when they teach abstinence there is actually more pregnancy than when they have sex education. I HATE TO HEAR THIS. The reason is because with abstinence teaching they aren't being educated about birth control (how to use it or where to get it) so the result is more pregnancy. And heres where the media plays a HUGE role (in my opinion).

First of all, I beleive that teaching abstinence is most effective among christians because theres a desire in a christians heart to please God and follow his commandments and theres also the grace of God to guard their hearts and not let them give into temptation. I also think that the abstinece teaching would be more effective among secular crowds as well if it wasn't for the sex that kids see everyday on tv, in movies, on cd covers, on MTV, in songs, and allllllll over the place. Its almost impossible to try to teach kids who couldn't care less about God and his standards to stay pure in a culture that no longer values saving yourself for your partner and flashes body parts moving in very sexual ways before their eyes every single day. And we then encouarge the sexual behavoir by showing them how to do it in sex education classes (I know because I had to go through in the public school system.)

So WHAT DO WE DO????? I'm not trying to scare any of you future parents out there but this is a very serious question to which I have an answer. GET EM SAVED AND PREACH ABSTINENCE. Now this is the most important part but another very important part is to limit their access to media. Limit their tv watching, censor alllll of their music, magazines, and internet use, and just be involved. You're probably gonna put scars on your knees from praying so much and if there aren't any scars you aren't praying enough!!!! This stuff is really powerful but thank God He is more powerful than it all!!! Then theres the question of "what about all the other kids in public schools without praying parents?" Pray for revival people!!! Pray for God to fill those hallways because the percentage of kids who have sex before they graduate from high school is shocking. And it doens't have good effects on these kids, especially girls.

This wasn't very uplifting I know but its something that we need to address and its something us future parents need to be very aware of. So go pray and pray hard!!!