Voted. Procrastinated on my speech. Went hiking in the woods with Dad and Ted. (Super fun!) Got to work on speech. FINALLY finished researching and writing it at 12:38pm. Found it was too long. Odd. Everyone else had to lengthen theirs. I am just that passionate about recycling I guess! I could go on for pages. The problem is the numerous stats that are boring. Hmm. Have to tweak it now I guess. Then practice it. Write formal outline. Practice it. Meh. Too much.
Tomorrow possibly going with Katana somewhere fun. Then back to school to study for 2 quizzes on Monday. Bio and Chem. YAY?
Yup. So mind is turned off and sleep is near. Slept over 10 hrs last night, but not enough to make up for what was lost. Goodnight my friends, and sweet dreams.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”- 1 Peter 5:8-9
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Bleh.
A lot has been going on this past week with school and friends and such. It has been almost MORE stressful than mid-terms week. All because of this awful speech situation. My prof said I had to go on Thursday instead of next Tuesday (which would have given me the weekend to figure it all out) and so I was freaking out on Wednesday, then finally decided to take the grade dock and not be prepared. Well, turns out my prayer (and others who were praying the same for me) was answered in that he had a change of heart and is letting me go on Tuesday as scheduled! Gah, stress.
I made an unexpected friend at campus. Mr. Rinehart is the director of campus facilities, and also an avid recycler. I do not think anyone could be as freaky about recycling as myself, but I like that he cares so much to have a recycling program here! So the interview with that went very well, and I am thinking about starting a green machine club sometime in the spring semester...or whenever club day hits again. Should be cool! I like planning stuff, so I am sure I can fit it into my schedule...along with the numerous hours of study time and job searching. Bleh.
So I am home for the weekend, needing to work on my speech, and contemplating all that is going on in friend's lives and how I can help them. My chem lab prof had to go in for emergency eye surgery yesterday! While everyone else was cheering for no lab, I was thinking, "OH NOOOO!!!!" How horrible. Needles in the eye = not fun. So let me see, what else major has happened in the last week? I saw an amazing play called the Children of Eden. It is about the downfall of man and then jumps to the Noah account in the second half. Though not a perfectly accurate depiction of the Bible stories, it made me cry. I didn't even notice I was til partway though...Eve questioning God's wisdom and authority...going behind His back...making Adam choose between God and her...quite the cause of sorrow I say. My friend Link is so intellectual about everything...she never cries. She laughed that I cried. But I wish I was a deep thinker like that! Perhaps I can learn someday.
Meh. :\
But anyhow, choose against going to ValleyScare for multiple reasons...it is weird that when you are away from your family and get to make your own choices, how many of those choices resemble those that you rebelled against when your parents always said no.
If none of this is making sense to you, well don't expect it too. I have gotten about 6 hrs of sleep (or less) each night for the past 2 weeks (or more) and it is greatly depriving me of focus and proper grammar skills at the moment. So I shall say goodnight to you my friends, sleep well, and sweet dreams to you.
Dreams. They can be scary thoughts in itself....
Bleh.
I made an unexpected friend at campus. Mr. Rinehart is the director of campus facilities, and also an avid recycler. I do not think anyone could be as freaky about recycling as myself, but I like that he cares so much to have a recycling program here! So the interview with that went very well, and I am thinking about starting a green machine club sometime in the spring semester...or whenever club day hits again. Should be cool! I like planning stuff, so I am sure I can fit it into my schedule...along with the numerous hours of study time and job searching. Bleh.
So I am home for the weekend, needing to work on my speech, and contemplating all that is going on in friend's lives and how I can help them. My chem lab prof had to go in for emergency eye surgery yesterday! While everyone else was cheering for no lab, I was thinking, "OH NOOOO!!!!" How horrible. Needles in the eye = not fun. So let me see, what else major has happened in the last week? I saw an amazing play called the Children of Eden. It is about the downfall of man and then jumps to the Noah account in the second half. Though not a perfectly accurate depiction of the Bible stories, it made me cry. I didn't even notice I was til partway though...Eve questioning God's wisdom and authority...going behind His back...making Adam choose between God and her...quite the cause of sorrow I say. My friend Link is so intellectual about everything...she never cries. She laughed that I cried. But I wish I was a deep thinker like that! Perhaps I can learn someday.
Meh. :\
But anyhow, choose against going to ValleyScare for multiple reasons...it is weird that when you are away from your family and get to make your own choices, how many of those choices resemble those that you rebelled against when your parents always said no.
If none of this is making sense to you, well don't expect it too. I have gotten about 6 hrs of sleep (or less) each night for the past 2 weeks (or more) and it is greatly depriving me of focus and proper grammar skills at the moment. So I shall say goodnight to you my friends, sleep well, and sweet dreams to you.
Dreams. They can be scary thoughts in itself....
Bleh.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Taken
I just come back from the most amazing and touching time of storytelling and volunteering!
Our hall went to the World Missions Prayer Center in St. Paul for a time of jelwery packaging and learning about trafficking. It is just horrible what people do to these girls from Nepal. . . read on to find out more.
Peace Rehab Center
The Peace Rehabilitation Center rescuses girls that were trafficked into the sex trade, gives them counseling and mentoring, ministers to them and tells them about Jesus, and helps them learn a trade so that they can make a new life for themselves. Some of the workers came back to the states with a TON of jewelry that the girls made, all ready to be packaged up and sold. We punched and sorted tags, stuck tags on necklaces, bracelets, bangles, etc. all of the most beautiful colors and styles of beads!
PRC teaches girls how to knit, crochet, sew, raise pigs, goats, and other various trades besides jewelry making. You may think that jewelry making is a lame way to make a living. But it is not! I have experience with making jewelry, and it is quite tedious work. Stringing beads on thread is harder than you think, and can be quite frustrating. It is easier to do it with wire or stretch cord, though they use silk thread because it is more durable. With this type of material you have to find needles small enough to allow the tiny glass seed beads to slide across. The beads are often hand-made as well, so the holes are various sizes and not all fit on the string. It can be annoying work. The long long strands they craft into beautiful necklace designs sometimes takes them all day to make! WOW. That is cool.
Carmen
The woman who is organizing the selling of the jewlery has the most amazing stories to tell, as she has personally worked with several of the girls. Her name is Carmen, and she asks for prayer as she travels around MN to speak to high schools and churches about the problem of human trafficking, and how we can help through the "Wear Their Future" jewelry program. PRAYER is the best way we can help though! For it is the best way to fight the spiritual battle going on against the evil in the world.
Sasha
She told us a story tonight about a girl named Sasha. The basic outline of the story was that she was sold from her family at a very young age (wish I could remember the specifics, the story broke my heart) to a man who had a wife. This man sexually abused the girl in horrible ways. The wife was jealous of the girl, and decided one day to get rid of her. The husband was at work, and the wife poured gasoline all over the house and her dog. She lit the dog on fire, and the poor creature ran around the house and it all burned to the ground. Amazingly Sasha got out safely, but then was arrested for doing the awful deed. She had been set up by the wife. She was put into prison, and who knows what other awful things could have been done to her if she had not been rescued by PRC.
They worked with the government to allow her to be freed from prison if she committed to rehab at the center. For two years Sasha was SO suicidal that she had to be watched day and night to make sure she would not harm herself, for she tried to kill herself out of her deep and utter depression. One day, a woman finally broke through to her in ministering and she gave her life over to the Lord!! It took time for healing to occur, but now she is going to school in the morning (which in Nepal is like U.S. adult night school) and wants to become a cosmetologist! In Nepal marriages are arranged by their mothers. Since Sasha had been taken from her family, the acting mother that was assigned to her from PRC asked a godly man from the church if he would be open to marrying her. Amazingly, he accepted! So now they are happily married and have two beautiful daughters of their own.
Stories like this one happen EVERY DAY, though not always with such a happy ending. Hundreds of girls die from the abuse, and PRC is working to stop this. They prevent sex trafficking as well as rescue those who are victims. A leader from the village picks out 10 of the poorest girls (so that PRC won't be accused of being biased in choosing) and they teach them a trade so that they can make jobs and prevent their families from selling them for money.
Help
I was truly taken with the above story...if I was abused in such a manner, I know that I would probably hate men for the rest of my life. It is breathtaking to imagine a God so powerful to bring healing to such girls from these horrible experiences, and cause them to be transformed enough to have a blessed marriage with sex the way God truly meant it to be! Blessed in marriage between one man and woman. WOW. I am glad I can serve a God who is big enough to save us from the smallest and biggest problems imaginable...breathtaking.
I wanted to cry afterward as Carmen told more stories and statistics on the prostitute trade. She is the most amazingly generous lady, and gave each of us girls some free jewelry to wear and spread the word for the program. Did you know MN is the 13th highest state in the U.S. to traffic people? And the Mall of America is a top hot spot for picking up young girls, age 8 - 13 are the biggest target. Nepal is not the only area that needs a lot of help. We fall victim to it here in our "free" country. It breaks my heart and makes me cry out for ways I can help! PRAYER is the best way for us who want to help, spread the word and pray against this evil in the world. The heavenly realm is in uproar as angels battle to save souls! It pains me so much...I want to cry.
:'(
If you have ever seen the movie taken, or the Human Trafficking documentary from Lifetime, Carmen suggests these as two of several very realistic and heartbreaking shows that resemble what goes on unknown everyday. . . Please pray.
Ezra 9: 8-9...God has not forsaken us, even when in slavery.
Visit:
www.peacerehab.org
Our hall went to the World Missions Prayer Center in St. Paul for a time of jelwery packaging and learning about trafficking. It is just horrible what people do to these girls from Nepal. . . read on to find out more.
Peace Rehab Center
The Peace Rehabilitation Center rescuses girls that were trafficked into the sex trade, gives them counseling and mentoring, ministers to them and tells them about Jesus, and helps them learn a trade so that they can make a new life for themselves. Some of the workers came back to the states with a TON of jewelry that the girls made, all ready to be packaged up and sold. We punched and sorted tags, stuck tags on necklaces, bracelets, bangles, etc. all of the most beautiful colors and styles of beads!
PRC teaches girls how to knit, crochet, sew, raise pigs, goats, and other various trades besides jewelry making. You may think that jewelry making is a lame way to make a living. But it is not! I have experience with making jewelry, and it is quite tedious work. Stringing beads on thread is harder than you think, and can be quite frustrating. It is easier to do it with wire or stretch cord, though they use silk thread because it is more durable. With this type of material you have to find needles small enough to allow the tiny glass seed beads to slide across. The beads are often hand-made as well, so the holes are various sizes and not all fit on the string. It can be annoying work. The long long strands they craft into beautiful necklace designs sometimes takes them all day to make! WOW. That is cool.
Carmen
The woman who is organizing the selling of the jewlery has the most amazing stories to tell, as she has personally worked with several of the girls. Her name is Carmen, and she asks for prayer as she travels around MN to speak to high schools and churches about the problem of human trafficking, and how we can help through the "Wear Their Future" jewelry program. PRAYER is the best way we can help though! For it is the best way to fight the spiritual battle going on against the evil in the world.
Sasha
She told us a story tonight about a girl named Sasha. The basic outline of the story was that she was sold from her family at a very young age (wish I could remember the specifics, the story broke my heart) to a man who had a wife. This man sexually abused the girl in horrible ways. The wife was jealous of the girl, and decided one day to get rid of her. The husband was at work, and the wife poured gasoline all over the house and her dog. She lit the dog on fire, and the poor creature ran around the house and it all burned to the ground. Amazingly Sasha got out safely, but then was arrested for doing the awful deed. She had been set up by the wife. She was put into prison, and who knows what other awful things could have been done to her if she had not been rescued by PRC.
They worked with the government to allow her to be freed from prison if she committed to rehab at the center. For two years Sasha was SO suicidal that she had to be watched day and night to make sure she would not harm herself, for she tried to kill herself out of her deep and utter depression. One day, a woman finally broke through to her in ministering and she gave her life over to the Lord!! It took time for healing to occur, but now she is going to school in the morning (which in Nepal is like U.S. adult night school) and wants to become a cosmetologist! In Nepal marriages are arranged by their mothers. Since Sasha had been taken from her family, the acting mother that was assigned to her from PRC asked a godly man from the church if he would be open to marrying her. Amazingly, he accepted! So now they are happily married and have two beautiful daughters of their own.
Stories like this one happen EVERY DAY, though not always with such a happy ending. Hundreds of girls die from the abuse, and PRC is working to stop this. They prevent sex trafficking as well as rescue those who are victims. A leader from the village picks out 10 of the poorest girls (so that PRC won't be accused of being biased in choosing) and they teach them a trade so that they can make jobs and prevent their families from selling them for money.
Help
I was truly taken with the above story...if I was abused in such a manner, I know that I would probably hate men for the rest of my life. It is breathtaking to imagine a God so powerful to bring healing to such girls from these horrible experiences, and cause them to be transformed enough to have a blessed marriage with sex the way God truly meant it to be! Blessed in marriage between one man and woman. WOW. I am glad I can serve a God who is big enough to save us from the smallest and biggest problems imaginable...breathtaking.
I wanted to cry afterward as Carmen told more stories and statistics on the prostitute trade. She is the most amazingly generous lady, and gave each of us girls some free jewelry to wear and spread the word for the program. Did you know MN is the 13th highest state in the U.S. to traffic people? And the Mall of America is a top hot spot for picking up young girls, age 8 - 13 are the biggest target. Nepal is not the only area that needs a lot of help. We fall victim to it here in our "free" country. It breaks my heart and makes me cry out for ways I can help! PRAYER is the best way for us who want to help, spread the word and pray against this evil in the world. The heavenly realm is in uproar as angels battle to save souls! It pains me so much...I want to cry.
:'(
If you have ever seen the movie taken, or the Human Trafficking documentary from Lifetime, Carmen suggests these as two of several very realistic and heartbreaking shows that resemble what goes on unknown everyday. . . Please pray.
Ezra 9: 8-9...God has not forsaken us, even when in slavery.
Visit:
www.peacerehab.org
Saturday, October 23, 2010
What Minnesotans Do for Fun
Today is Saturday. Today I slept in til 9am. Today I went to an alpaca farm. This is what we Minnesotans do for fun! Why would you want to go to New York and visit world-famous museums for $1 when you can kiss a llama?!
Sigh...
I know my friend Bob was only trying to be funny when she teases me about such things, and I don't normally mind it. It is just that I have been feeling so very lonely these last 2 days after Katana left. It made me realize just how much I miss being with my old friends. (Facebook and Skype is NOT the same!! Even when Katana and I were just hanging out, we were having troubles finding what to say. Perhaps cause FB has stole all our social life. I hate it.) So anyways, when I hear about all the cool things that my old friends are being able to do, it makes my life seem super lame. Like the alpaca thing. I joined a cro/knit and crochet club to get me "involved."
But lemme explain.
I basically talk to people and do homework 24/7. I am not complaining, I LOVE doing those things! That is what I am here for! But I do want to have a variety of friends (besides bio majors) and get involved with stuff here on campus. So there was this "club" day where clubs set up booths down by the dinning hall and you can sign up and find out more. Well, by the time I got out of bio class and down to eat lunch the only table left was the knitting club. I love knitting, so I was like, "Well, why not? Maybe they can teach me something new!" They have already, and I am excited to get started on knitting some Christmas presents for friends during chapel. :)
So I guess I didn't realize just how lame it sounds to be in a knitting club in college until my New-York-college friend started teaching me about it. Meh. I still think it is cool though! I tend to enjoy being productive and boring, so it fits. Anyways, so the club was taking a field trip today to an alpaca farm! It was an hour away, and I spent most of my Saturday in the car or cuddling with an orange tabbycat trying to stay warm in this blustery weather. But I succeeded in scaring the baby alpacas away and kissing a llama instead! haha! I also learned that alpaca yarn is very expensive, yet durable, and a sweater has come down in price from several hundred dollars to around $70. Yikes.
So instead I got some yarn from a nearby craft store and shall be collecting my needles from home. Yup. The lameo Minnesota cheapskate that I am. I am not sure what upsets me more, that my college is so sheltered or that Bob's college is not. I mean, how can I ever learn to live in the "real world" unless I am thrown into dealing with matters of handing drugs, smoking, and the such? Yet, I also want to NOT be in those situations, because then I shall not ever be tempted to fall into such things. Surrounding yourself with such godly people is a good thing! Think on matters of purity and goodness and such is what the Bible says. But I just want some situations that will cause me to get out of my comfort zone and get me used to dealing with difficult situations. Cause I am bad at that. I don't wanna cave to peer pressures! I am weak. But I know my Jesus is stronger...
Well, that is all for now. I must be going to bed. Church tomorrow! Going to try a new place with my hallmate. Very excited!
Jesus is awesome.
PEACE OUT.
Sigh...
I know my friend Bob was only trying to be funny when she teases me about such things, and I don't normally mind it. It is just that I have been feeling so very lonely these last 2 days after Katana left. It made me realize just how much I miss being with my old friends. (Facebook and Skype is NOT the same!! Even when Katana and I were just hanging out, we were having troubles finding what to say. Perhaps cause FB has stole all our social life. I hate it.) So anyways, when I hear about all the cool things that my old friends are being able to do, it makes my life seem super lame. Like the alpaca thing. I joined a cro/knit and crochet club to get me "involved."
But lemme explain.
I basically talk to people and do homework 24/7. I am not complaining, I LOVE doing those things! That is what I am here for! But I do want to have a variety of friends (besides bio majors) and get involved with stuff here on campus. So there was this "club" day where clubs set up booths down by the dinning hall and you can sign up and find out more. Well, by the time I got out of bio class and down to eat lunch the only table left was the knitting club. I love knitting, so I was like, "Well, why not? Maybe they can teach me something new!" They have already, and I am excited to get started on knitting some Christmas presents for friends during chapel. :)
So I guess I didn't realize just how lame it sounds to be in a knitting club in college until my New-York-college friend started teaching me about it. Meh. I still think it is cool though! I tend to enjoy being productive and boring, so it fits. Anyways, so the club was taking a field trip today to an alpaca farm! It was an hour away, and I spent most of my Saturday in the car or cuddling with an orange tabbycat trying to stay warm in this blustery weather. But I succeeded in scaring the baby alpacas away and kissing a llama instead! haha! I also learned that alpaca yarn is very expensive, yet durable, and a sweater has come down in price from several hundred dollars to around $70. Yikes.
So instead I got some yarn from a nearby craft store and shall be collecting my needles from home. Yup. The lameo Minnesota cheapskate that I am. I am not sure what upsets me more, that my college is so sheltered or that Bob's college is not. I mean, how can I ever learn to live in the "real world" unless I am thrown into dealing with matters of handing drugs, smoking, and the such? Yet, I also want to NOT be in those situations, because then I shall not ever be tempted to fall into such things. Surrounding yourself with such godly people is a good thing! Think on matters of purity and goodness and such is what the Bible says. But I just want some situations that will cause me to get out of my comfort zone and get me used to dealing with difficult situations. Cause I am bad at that. I don't wanna cave to peer pressures! I am weak. But I know my Jesus is stronger...
Well, that is all for now. I must be going to bed. Church tomorrow! Going to try a new place with my hallmate. Very excited!
Jesus is awesome.
PEACE OUT.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Live Ninjas, Dead Scrolls
So I had the most AMAZING time last night with my friend Katana. I haven't seen her in more than two months, though we have kept in touch through video chat and the such. We went to go see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Science Museam! It was amazing. I have heard that many people were disappointed with the exhibit, and I guess I can kinda see why. The posters/info boards were boring and took FOREVER to read, so I skipped most of them and just looked at the pictures. hehe. The scenery in the museum is nothing interesting. But hey, it is a museum! And about history of all things. What do you expect? NINJAS?! haha! I am joking. History is important and cool.
I thought the free audio tour was pretty groovy too. I learn things a lot better when people explain them to me, rather than having to read a ton of boring signs and not comprehending what is being said. So that was neat to see all the pottery, glassware, scroll jars, burial boxes, and a bunch of other artifacts that were found in the caves near Qumran. My favorite parts of this was the mascara bottle and the info and examples of how the scribes made ink from oil, flax seeds, ground rock, and a bunch of other stuff! All mixed together. WOW. It is super cool to see all the glassware bottles and how they are so small! How they made those things with the backwards technology they had I have NO idea.
The scrolls themselves were quite tiny fragments, which also disapoints most people. I had read up a TON about the scrolls before though, so this came as no suprise.
I am glad that some of the pieces are still being studied. The writing is SO small!!It was weird how you could see the scotch tape on them from the first archealogist who weren't careful enough! It ruined them. There was also a very terrible picture of a dude inspecting the scrolls holding a CIGARETTE! What are you trying to do people? BURN HISTORY?! Sad sad day. :\
I peered down into the glass, not sure what I was expecting to recognize since I could not understand the Hebrew and Aramaic language anyhoo, but made me all squirrly inside! But they do not cause butterflies in your stomach by just seeing all the artifacts. It is the audio tour and the writings that teach you what they mean, what they represent, and how this applies to us today that gives me the shivers.
What made me more so was pondering all of what the scrolls say and what they mean and what controversy they have caused in my mind...for example, I saw parts of the scrolls from Genesis, Leviticus, Enoch, and the Common Laws. How did we decide what books were supposed to be in the Bible? Like, the Catholic and Jewish Bibles have different books in them than our Christian Bible. Are any of the Bibles really correct? Or are all of them correct? What is the meaning of the Bible really? How do we KNOW if the books of the Bibles are divinely inspired? Or which ones are or aren't inspired by God? And the ones that aren't, shouldn't they still be in the Bible cause they are about the people of God?
The Catholic Bible has 7 more books than the "protestant" or Christian Bible has:
Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch.
It also has portions added into Esther and Daniel! The Catholics consider these parts to be divinely inspired, why do we not?
The Hebrew/Jewish Bible (A.K.A. Tanakh) has extra parts too I think. I don't remember exactly what they are called though.
So the point is, with the discovery of these scrolls and the history they record...they record the history of God's chosen people! And since the OT books do the same, why are some recorded and included in the Bible and some not? Is it because they were not discovered yet? WHY IS THIS?! I want to know! It bothers me a LOT. When we are reading the Bible to better understand God, wouldn't these other books of history also allow us to better understand God? I mean, whether they are divinely inspired or not, they are still true accounts of stuff that happened. God was there when that happened too! He is EVERYWHERE! So shouldn't these books be available to us to research and study as well? Why do we study only the Bible intensely? Why not other books? Because of the divine inspiration that God caused them to be written down by? So then what? Like, aren't therer divine inspirations today too? I want to know why some books of history were attributed more important than others, why, and then how they got all put into a book that our culture of Chrisianity says we must read. I mean, sure, God says we must read and know His word as well. But is His word all that is written in the Bible? Or does it include other stuff too? Like, what He speaks to us nowadays? ..?!?!?!?! grr................frustration .
Sigh....
These things I ponder.
So now to go on a random tangent about me and the ninja Katana. We spent so much time in the exhibit we never even got to go look at the other exhibits. Although afterward (15 min. til close!) we played on the geometric playground which was super fun. haha, lots of little cute kids that were giving us strange looks. :D
Then we went and giggled on top of some red blood cell chairs, which made me thinks of the lack of nucleus in them and the pedigrees of blood types that we have been learning this week in Bio. LOL! (another random tangent, I was writing a note today and noticed my exclamation strokes were overlapping into what looked like a orbital hybridization of pi bonds. DORK ALERT! haha!) So yeah, that was fun.
Then we went back to school and bought some food, though we were disappointed that they were out of orange chicken and egg rolls. Wow that cafeteria place takes SO long to make food! So after getting our hunger out of the way, we proceeded to be climbing ninjas around campus after dark. I cannot reveal all of our secrets, but the episodes included climbing walls, stairs, hills, a lightpost, door frames, trees, yelling at people from the tree, running from security guards, a "haunted" chapel, the sprinklers, and an expedition to an island. Laughing and giggling with gal friends is the best. I love you my ninja friend Katana!
So in summary, I now am in deep curiosity about the trustfulness of the Bible, and I really want to learn more. Perhaps I can find some time this week to talk to my OT prof about it. He seems pretty smart. I shall have to pray about it...if only I had time to research it more! Oh coveted time, how I dread you.
*I hear the scrolls are being scanned and put on Google! That will be sweetness for those laypeople like myself who seek to learn more. :)
I thought the free audio tour was pretty groovy too. I learn things a lot better when people explain them to me, rather than having to read a ton of boring signs and not comprehending what is being said. So that was neat to see all the pottery, glassware, scroll jars, burial boxes, and a bunch of other artifacts that were found in the caves near Qumran. My favorite parts of this was the mascara bottle and the info and examples of how the scribes made ink from oil, flax seeds, ground rock, and a bunch of other stuff! All mixed together. WOW. It is super cool to see all the glassware bottles and how they are so small! How they made those things with the backwards technology they had I have NO idea.
The scrolls themselves were quite tiny fragments, which also disapoints most people. I had read up a TON about the scrolls before though, so this came as no suprise.
I am glad that some of the pieces are still being studied. The writing is SO small!!It was weird how you could see the scotch tape on them from the first archealogist who weren't careful enough! It ruined them. There was also a very terrible picture of a dude inspecting the scrolls holding a CIGARETTE! What are you trying to do people? BURN HISTORY?! Sad sad day. :\
I peered down into the glass, not sure what I was expecting to recognize since I could not understand the Hebrew and Aramaic language anyhoo, but made me all squirrly inside! But they do not cause butterflies in your stomach by just seeing all the artifacts. It is the audio tour and the writings that teach you what they mean, what they represent, and how this applies to us today that gives me the shivers.
What made me more so was pondering all of what the scrolls say and what they mean and what controversy they have caused in my mind...for example, I saw parts of the scrolls from Genesis, Leviticus, Enoch, and the Common Laws. How did we decide what books were supposed to be in the Bible? Like, the Catholic and Jewish Bibles have different books in them than our Christian Bible. Are any of the Bibles really correct? Or are all of them correct? What is the meaning of the Bible really? How do we KNOW if the books of the Bibles are divinely inspired? Or which ones are or aren't inspired by God? And the ones that aren't, shouldn't they still be in the Bible cause they are about the people of God?
The Catholic Bible has 7 more books than the "protestant" or Christian Bible has:
Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch.
It also has portions added into Esther and Daniel! The Catholics consider these parts to be divinely inspired, why do we not?
The Hebrew/Jewish Bible (A.K.A. Tanakh) has extra parts too I think. I don't remember exactly what they are called though.
So the point is, with the discovery of these scrolls and the history they record...they record the history of God's chosen people! And since the OT books do the same, why are some recorded and included in the Bible and some not? Is it because they were not discovered yet? WHY IS THIS?! I want to know! It bothers me a LOT. When we are reading the Bible to better understand God, wouldn't these other books of history also allow us to better understand God? I mean, whether they are divinely inspired or not, they are still true accounts of stuff that happened. God was there when that happened too! He is EVERYWHERE! So shouldn't these books be available to us to research and study as well? Why do we study only the Bible intensely? Why not other books? Because of the divine inspiration that God caused them to be written down by? So then what? Like, aren't therer divine inspirations today too? I want to know why some books of history were attributed more important than others, why, and then how they got all put into a book that our culture of Chrisianity says we must read. I mean, sure, God says we must read and know His word as well. But is His word all that is written in the Bible? Or does it include other stuff too? Like, what He speaks to us nowadays? ..?!?!?!?! grr................frustration .
Sigh....
These things I ponder.
So now to go on a random tangent about me and the ninja Katana. We spent so much time in the exhibit we never even got to go look at the other exhibits. Although afterward (15 min. til close!) we played on the geometric playground which was super fun. haha, lots of little cute kids that were giving us strange looks. :D
Then we went and giggled on top of some red blood cell chairs, which made me thinks of the lack of nucleus in them and the pedigrees of blood types that we have been learning this week in Bio. LOL! (another random tangent, I was writing a note today and noticed my exclamation strokes were overlapping into what looked like a orbital hybridization of pi bonds. DORK ALERT! haha!) So yeah, that was fun.
Then we went back to school and bought some food, though we were disappointed that they were out of orange chicken and egg rolls. Wow that cafeteria place takes SO long to make food! So after getting our hunger out of the way, we proceeded to be climbing ninjas around campus after dark. I cannot reveal all of our secrets, but the episodes included climbing walls, stairs, hills, a lightpost, door frames, trees, yelling at people from the tree, running from security guards, a "haunted" chapel, the sprinklers, and an expedition to an island. Laughing and giggling with gal friends is the best. I love you my ninja friend Katana!
So in summary, I now am in deep curiosity about the trustfulness of the Bible, and I really want to learn more. Perhaps I can find some time this week to talk to my OT prof about it. He seems pretty smart. I shall have to pray about it...if only I had time to research it more! Oh coveted time, how I dread you.
*I hear the scrolls are being scanned and put on Google! That will be sweetness for those laypeople like myself who seek to learn more. :)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Pleasant Bread
Daniel fasted from pleasant bread.
This would hint that fasting would include giving up pleasant things like television or deserts, not just giving up full-blown meals. I have been thinking a lot about fasting. WELL ok, so maybe not a lot. My mind is usually filled with thoughts of homework. That is sad to say. It should be filled with thoughts of Jesus! But yeah.
SO anyways, fasting.
What does it mean to fast? I wonder this. Is there a hard and fast definition? Or is it just a play-by-ear thing? Like, does God tell us when we should fast, or are we supposed to just be responsible enough to know when something is becoming an addiction? Cause then we should fast from that.
OR are we just supposed to give up things that are taking up a lot of time so that we can spend more time with God? Cause if the purpose of fasting is to spend more time with God, than how can fasting from desert truly be fasting? Seriously, I know that not eating a slice of chocolate cake will not shorten up my dinner time any sooner so that I could spend more time with God. Which is why it seems that fasting would only be considered so if you are giving up a chunk of time for God. Like a meal or hours of television. This is what I am pondering tonight...
I read through a book called, "A Commonsense Guide to Fasting" by Kenneth E. Hagin. It is good, but it doens't solve my questions because it does not truly back up all of what it says with sound scripture. I need to solve this question. I want to know how to truly fast for the purpose of knowing God! Loving God! Being more sensitive to the things of God! For fasting changes YOU, not God. I know this for sure because God is the same yesterday, today, and FOREVER! (Heb. 13:8) Amazing. He is so faithful and consistent! I need that in my life.
I also know that fasting does not give us power over the devil. That I read up on a lot, though it is a bit long to share for right now. All the power that we have over the devil came to us when Christ broke the bonds on the cross! We can use the name of Jesus to cast out demons and to have power and authority whether we fast or not. Yet, if we fast, can we not have MORE power? Or maybe be more sensitive to the power God gives us? This I wonder. . . .
1 Pet. 5:8___Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Self-control is what fasting is about, right?
1 Cor. 7:5___Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
This is powerful! It says a lot about fasting. Only for a time, do not cause yourself to be deprived (no sleep fasting? or just not to the point where you are exhausted.) Give this extra time to GOD. But do not weaken yourself to lacking self-control. YET you need to fast to show you have self-control. Hmm. This requires a lot of thinking on my part. TIME TIME TIME is the issue here! Time for God. Time for thinking about things. Gah. Not enough of it.
Mark 16:17___And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues.
If we just believe in God we can use His name to drive out demons. No fasting needed?
Because our power is from God, who is in us.
1 John 4:4 ___You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
James 4:7___Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
If we can submit ourselves to God better through fasting, then with the devil flee faster? :\
Again, this I ponder. . . .
This would hint that fasting would include giving up pleasant things like television or deserts, not just giving up full-blown meals. I have been thinking a lot about fasting. WELL ok, so maybe not a lot. My mind is usually filled with thoughts of homework. That is sad to say. It should be filled with thoughts of Jesus! But yeah.
SO anyways, fasting.
What does it mean to fast? I wonder this. Is there a hard and fast definition? Or is it just a play-by-ear thing? Like, does God tell us when we should fast, or are we supposed to just be responsible enough to know when something is becoming an addiction? Cause then we should fast from that.
OR are we just supposed to give up things that are taking up a lot of time so that we can spend more time with God? Cause if the purpose of fasting is to spend more time with God, than how can fasting from desert truly be fasting? Seriously, I know that not eating a slice of chocolate cake will not shorten up my dinner time any sooner so that I could spend more time with God. Which is why it seems that fasting would only be considered so if you are giving up a chunk of time for God. Like a meal or hours of television. This is what I am pondering tonight...
I read through a book called, "A Commonsense Guide to Fasting" by Kenneth E. Hagin. It is good, but it doens't solve my questions because it does not truly back up all of what it says with sound scripture. I need to solve this question. I want to know how to truly fast for the purpose of knowing God! Loving God! Being more sensitive to the things of God! For fasting changes YOU, not God. I know this for sure because God is the same yesterday, today, and FOREVER! (Heb. 13:8) Amazing. He is so faithful and consistent! I need that in my life.
I also know that fasting does not give us power over the devil. That I read up on a lot, though it is a bit long to share for right now. All the power that we have over the devil came to us when Christ broke the bonds on the cross! We can use the name of Jesus to cast out demons and to have power and authority whether we fast or not. Yet, if we fast, can we not have MORE power? Or maybe be more sensitive to the power God gives us? This I wonder. . . .
1 Pet. 5:8___Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Self-control is what fasting is about, right?
1 Cor. 7:5___Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
This is powerful! It says a lot about fasting. Only for a time, do not cause yourself to be deprived (no sleep fasting? or just not to the point where you are exhausted.) Give this extra time to GOD. But do not weaken yourself to lacking self-control. YET you need to fast to show you have self-control. Hmm. This requires a lot of thinking on my part. TIME TIME TIME is the issue here! Time for God. Time for thinking about things. Gah. Not enough of it.
Mark 16:17___And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues.
If we just believe in God we can use His name to drive out demons. No fasting needed?
Because our power is from God, who is in us.
1 John 4:4 ___You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
James 4:7___Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
If we can submit ourselves to God better through fasting, then with the devil flee faster? :\
Again, this I ponder. . . .
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
OT
Time will not permit me to ramble about how much I love my Old Testament class! I am learning so so much from it!
It was really nice to talk to my mom about it this weekend over break. I must have spent near 3 hours straight talking with her about it! She loves the old testament, always has! I never did appreciate all of the teachings she gave to my siblings and I as we were growing up. She would read passage after passage out of the OT every morning during our devotion times. Now I seem to have a lot of the stories and happenings of the Bible in my subconscious memory! haha! A leg up from the other folks I might say. Not really though, because there is so so much that I have yet to learn! God is amazingly faithful...time and time again the OT proves this! Wow. Awesome.
I just finished reading through 2 Chronicles. I must say though, it seemed pointless. It repeats itself so much! Meaning that all that is in Chronicles was/is in other books of the Bible too. Like Judges, Samuel, and the such. I do not understand though why the Bible must repeat these stories in the Chronicles account? There are only slight changes in wording, it is basically word for word from the other accounts. So why? Why waste space by repeating the same stories again? Why not expand on them or explain them or tell new stories? More examples of God's character and faithfulness to His chosen people? I don't get it. I am excited to go to my 7:50am class tomorrow! Most other students remark on how OT is the most boring class ever (second to Western Civilization), but I love it!! It is cool to be able to study the Bible in a different perspective. More broad and general. Just to get the gist of what the OT's purpose is. I want to talk to my prof about the numerous questions I have from the readings today. They pile up, and then sometimes I forget to ask about them.
They include:
What is a salt covenant? -Mentioned in 2 Chron. 13
Can you really COMMAND a burnt offering as King Hezekiah did in chap. 29?
What really can we learn from the countless names listed in the genealogies?
And stuff like that.
Sigh...
Time to go. I am attempting to get 6 hours of sleep before starting a full day of classes tomorrow. Sleep. Such a waste of time that could be spent learning about the Old Testament! haha!
Well alrighty then, more on that later. :)
It was really nice to talk to my mom about it this weekend over break. I must have spent near 3 hours straight talking with her about it! She loves the old testament, always has! I never did appreciate all of the teachings she gave to my siblings and I as we were growing up. She would read passage after passage out of the OT every morning during our devotion times. Now I seem to have a lot of the stories and happenings of the Bible in my subconscious memory! haha! A leg up from the other folks I might say. Not really though, because there is so so much that I have yet to learn! God is amazingly faithful...time and time again the OT proves this! Wow. Awesome.
I just finished reading through 2 Chronicles. I must say though, it seemed pointless. It repeats itself so much! Meaning that all that is in Chronicles was/is in other books of the Bible too. Like Judges, Samuel, and the such. I do not understand though why the Bible must repeat these stories in the Chronicles account? There are only slight changes in wording, it is basically word for word from the other accounts. So why? Why waste space by repeating the same stories again? Why not expand on them or explain them or tell new stories? More examples of God's character and faithfulness to His chosen people? I don't get it. I am excited to go to my 7:50am class tomorrow! Most other students remark on how OT is the most boring class ever (second to Western Civilization), but I love it!! It is cool to be able to study the Bible in a different perspective. More broad and general. Just to get the gist of what the OT's purpose is. I want to talk to my prof about the numerous questions I have from the readings today. They pile up, and then sometimes I forget to ask about them.
They include:
What is a salt covenant? -Mentioned in 2 Chron. 13
Can you really COMMAND a burnt offering as King Hezekiah did in chap. 29?
What really can we learn from the countless names listed in the genealogies?
And stuff like that.
Sigh...
Time to go. I am attempting to get 6 hours of sleep before starting a full day of classes tomorrow. Sleep. Such a waste of time that could be spent learning about the Old Testament! haha!
Well alrighty then, more on that later. :)
Monday, October 18, 2010
Bible Contemplation
2 Cor. 8: 1-7 and 10-12 ___ I need to work on excelling in the grace of giving. Giving of my time, giving of my love to my God and my family. I need to want to! I do want to. So then what about the action? Is wanting to love on people even truly sincere if you still don't act it out?
Luke 6:45___If out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (meaning action) than if your actions are continually selfish, is your heart then truly selfish? Even though there is that desire to not be? ....IDK....It seems like it to me. It seems that if I have selfish actions than there has to be something behind those actions. A selfish heart.... :\
I feel so super selfish at school. I am spending thousands of dollars I do not have to get MYself an education, make new friends for ME, further better MY walk with God...ME ME ME!! What am I doing here that can ever benefit others? That is what I am wanting to know. . . . .
Luke 6:45___If out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (meaning action) than if your actions are continually selfish, is your heart then truly selfish? Even though there is that desire to not be? ....IDK....It seems like it to me. It seems that if I have selfish actions than there has to be something behind those actions. A selfish heart.... :\
I feel so super selfish at school. I am spending thousands of dollars I do not have to get MYself an education, make new friends for ME, further better MY walk with God...ME ME ME!! What am I doing here that can ever benefit others? That is what I am wanting to know. . . . .
Hello Ontario
I am having issues with something. That something is family.
I am home for fall break! Only Monday and Tuesday off, but it is well worth it for catching up. Though I have gotten basically nothing done because of talking to my family, catching up on life, and shopping and such...Sigh... Did you know that colleges decided to have a fall break because too many young adults were committing suicide from the overload of stress? Its true.
It is good to be able to see all my family again. On the one hand, they haven't changed much since I left two months ago. Still act the same, make the same jokes, talk in weird cartoon voices, etc.
On the other hand, I got a phone call a couple weeks ago letting me know the updates of home. Apparently my mom has become a texter, dad was a cave-man hick for awhile (he grew a beard!!) and Ted, my bro, is now a skateboarder/videogamer/typical teenage boy.
Ted, Ted, my buddy Ted!! How I have missed my little brother. He has grown spiritually SO much! He enjoys going to church and participates in youth group with vigor. I am proud him. We would always hang out all summer long, and have been the best of friends out of any of my siblings...it makes me want to cry seeing him grow up!! Slowly he is becoming the man God has planned for him to be. :')
I feel bad for not wanting to come home more often though. It is just as stressful at home as at school...just in different ways. Financial issues are causing a tight budget and tensions to rise between Mom and Dad. The whole bankruptcy thing and bank coming after our house doesn't help much either. It is hard to remember to pray for my family and home issues when I am away. I mean, they are on my list, but when I am away removed from the tensions I just want to forget about them. Cause it makes me want to cry.
Yes, it has been a very depressing day as you might be able to tell. I love my family very much, and feel so guilty for wanting to stay at school during the weekend. I CAN get more work gone there though. I just shut the door to my room and no one bothers me...mostly. Here at home-home my family is soooo distracting, noisy, and yes, sometimes rude. Haha! BUT I LOVE them SO much!!!
I love the liberty living along brings me. I don't make any different decisions than I did when living at home. It just feels as if somehow I have more independence...Like I can choose to do bad things if I want! Haha, that is a power we always had though. I don't know...I like to ramble a lot if you cannot tell...haha
I am going to have to spend a lot more time in prayer about this. I don't know. I just feel like I am betraying my family and not loving them like I should when I DON'T want to come home! It is fun at school, I admit. Friends, freedom...even learning is fun! I want to stay there and be involved in everything I can, although the majority of the time IS spent studying...Sigh... If find yourself reading this, would you say a prayer for my family? We need peace. We need to get along. And we most importantly need to learn to spend our time loving on others and our God more than worrying about money problems.
I am home for fall break! Only Monday and Tuesday off, but it is well worth it for catching up. Though I have gotten basically nothing done because of talking to my family, catching up on life, and shopping and such...Sigh... Did you know that colleges decided to have a fall break because too many young adults were committing suicide from the overload of stress? Its true.
It is good to be able to see all my family again. On the one hand, they haven't changed much since I left two months ago. Still act the same, make the same jokes, talk in weird cartoon voices, etc.
On the other hand, I got a phone call a couple weeks ago letting me know the updates of home. Apparently my mom has become a texter, dad was a cave-man hick for awhile (he grew a beard!!) and Ted, my bro, is now a skateboarder/videogamer/typical teenage boy.
Ted, Ted, my buddy Ted!! How I have missed my little brother. He has grown spiritually SO much! He enjoys going to church and participates in youth group with vigor. I am proud him. We would always hang out all summer long, and have been the best of friends out of any of my siblings...it makes me want to cry seeing him grow up!! Slowly he is becoming the man God has planned for him to be. :')
I feel bad for not wanting to come home more often though. It is just as stressful at home as at school...just in different ways. Financial issues are causing a tight budget and tensions to rise between Mom and Dad. The whole bankruptcy thing and bank coming after our house doesn't help much either. It is hard to remember to pray for my family and home issues when I am away. I mean, they are on my list, but when I am away removed from the tensions I just want to forget about them. Cause it makes me want to cry.
Yes, it has been a very depressing day as you might be able to tell. I love my family very much, and feel so guilty for wanting to stay at school during the weekend. I CAN get more work gone there though. I just shut the door to my room and no one bothers me...mostly. Here at home-home my family is soooo distracting, noisy, and yes, sometimes rude. Haha! BUT I LOVE them SO much!!!
I love the liberty living along brings me. I don't make any different decisions than I did when living at home. It just feels as if somehow I have more independence...Like I can choose to do bad things if I want! Haha, that is a power we always had though. I don't know...I like to ramble a lot if you cannot tell...haha
I am going to have to spend a lot more time in prayer about this. I don't know. I just feel like I am betraying my family and not loving them like I should when I DON'T want to come home! It is fun at school, I admit. Friends, freedom...even learning is fun! I want to stay there and be involved in everything I can, although the majority of the time IS spent studying...Sigh... If find yourself reading this, would you say a prayer for my family? We need peace. We need to get along. And we most importantly need to learn to spend our time loving on others and our God more than worrying about money problems.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Jesus Freak!
I am not afraid to be called a Jesus freak.
One day, I was walking through Menard's when gruff looking old man shouted, "HEY YOU JESUS FREAK!!" down the hall. I slowly turned as I tried to place the voice..."Ponch!" I replied (with much less enthusiasm than he had greeted me with). It turns out it was an old friend of my mom's whom I had not seen in a few years! Incredible that he even remembered me. It is funny how God can put those people in your life in the right place at the right time. Actually, this is far more than funny. It is amazing! He was just the person I needed to see that day. I was not having a very good day, but as we talked about God that day in Menard's my attitude was changed for the better.
God can speak to you and lift you up by placing those people in your life at the right place, and at the right time. It is not coincidence that you just run into people you know at stores or shopping malls. I believe God puts them there for a purpose. Whether it is to just lift your cheek muscles in a smile or to allow you a chance to brighten their day, I usually never know until our conversation is finished and I am through the checkout line. But this I do know - nothing happens by coincidence.
That day I was having a really bad day. It was one of those time that nothing is seeming to go right, and I had some bad news in the family as well. I was just in a sour mood about God's work in my life. Yet as I searched for the light-bulb isle that day in Menard's, God brightened my life in more ways than one. That day, I made a new friend in an unexpected way, on an unexpected day, and in a very unsuspecting place...
What you may not know about Ponch is that he is a biker dude. That's right, a Harley Drivin', leather wearing, gray beard sportin' sort of dude. He also runs an outreach ministry for bikers in the Twin Cities. He GLOWS with the love of the Lord! It made me slightly uncomfortable that day to be talking about God and spiritual matters in a Menard's isle. People walked by and looked at us funny. But you know what? Afterwards, I was glad we did. Praying for others in public places like this is one thing that we can be thankful for being able to do!
When I look back on that day, that intellectual conversation in that everything-shopping-store, I could not have ever expected such a simple happening to change me. It brightened my day to see that Jesus cares enough for me to "go out of His way" to cause an old friend to stumble into my path to talk about God. And you know what? I was encouraged so much that I was able to in turn bless others that day with my joyous attitude.
These simple happenings mean so much to me! To know that God puts people in places to cross your path at the right time is simply awesome. Whether you are to impact them, or they you, it usually turns out that both are blessed. I know I was able to bless Ponch by praying for his biker friends and outreach that weekend, and he was able to bless me by smiling and brightening my day with that sometimes harsh label of JESUS FREAK.
When feeling weak, remember that it is OK to be called a Jesus freak! So if someone calls you by that name, do not hesitate to return the greeting. You might be pleasantly surprised at how much God can bless your day through an unexpected source.
One day, I was walking through Menard's when gruff looking old man shouted, "HEY YOU JESUS FREAK!!" down the hall. I slowly turned as I tried to place the voice..."Ponch!" I replied (with much less enthusiasm than he had greeted me with). It turns out it was an old friend of my mom's whom I had not seen in a few years! Incredible that he even remembered me. It is funny how God can put those people in your life in the right place at the right time. Actually, this is far more than funny. It is amazing! He was just the person I needed to see that day. I was not having a very good day, but as we talked about God that day in Menard's my attitude was changed for the better.
God can speak to you and lift you up by placing those people in your life at the right place, and at the right time. It is not coincidence that you just run into people you know at stores or shopping malls. I believe God puts them there for a purpose. Whether it is to just lift your cheek muscles in a smile or to allow you a chance to brighten their day, I usually never know until our conversation is finished and I am through the checkout line. But this I do know - nothing happens by coincidence.
That day I was having a really bad day. It was one of those time that nothing is seeming to go right, and I had some bad news in the family as well. I was just in a sour mood about God's work in my life. Yet as I searched for the light-bulb isle that day in Menard's, God brightened my life in more ways than one. That day, I made a new friend in an unexpected way, on an unexpected day, and in a very unsuspecting place...
What you may not know about Ponch is that he is a biker dude. That's right, a Harley Drivin', leather wearing, gray beard sportin' sort of dude. He also runs an outreach ministry for bikers in the Twin Cities. He GLOWS with the love of the Lord! It made me slightly uncomfortable that day to be talking about God and spiritual matters in a Menard's isle. People walked by and looked at us funny. But you know what? Afterwards, I was glad we did. Praying for others in public places like this is one thing that we can be thankful for being able to do!
When I look back on that day, that intellectual conversation in that everything-shopping-store, I could not have ever expected such a simple happening to change me. It brightened my day to see that Jesus cares enough for me to "go out of His way" to cause an old friend to stumble into my path to talk about God. And you know what? I was encouraged so much that I was able to in turn bless others that day with my joyous attitude.
These simple happenings mean so much to me! To know that God puts people in places to cross your path at the right time is simply awesome. Whether you are to impact them, or they you, it usually turns out that both are blessed. I know I was able to bless Ponch by praying for his biker friends and outreach that weekend, and he was able to bless me by smiling and brightening my day with that sometimes harsh label of JESUS FREAK.
When feeling weak, remember that it is OK to be called a Jesus freak! So if someone calls you by that name, do not hesitate to return the greeting. You might be pleasantly surprised at how much God can bless your day through an unexpected source.
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