:)

My cousin's baseball game on.....Tuesday?? (can't remember!!!) They won!

Afterwards, we went down to the lake, and saw ducks and geese and all sort of flying things. (misquitos, too.....)

:)

 

ealier we had gone to salvation army to get some dress skirts and this is what i found! an Apt. 9 brand new skirt! for $2.50! (it was half of it's orginal price of $5) yay me!

Top 9...

okay, so someone once told me that i should do a "Top 10 Tuesday", but i thought...alot of people do that. so i'm doing Top 9's. on whatever day i do it. (i can say i'm doing that to be different, when really it's just because i'm completely inconsistent.:))
 today, on Top 9 Saturday i'm giving my top 9...

 things that make me happy. (in no particular order)

 9. rain. i love rain.

 8. camp. my ultimate favorite time of the year is camp time!! whether i'm going to Servan't Heart Camp, or the Wilds, it makes me so excited and happy to be going. i'm not sure if there's really a specific reason why, other than i love people. and at camp, you not only get to hang out with some people you already know, but you meet new people, too! yes... i love camp.

7. learning. when i think of learning, i think of school. and although i do adore school, that's not the only thing i'm talking about. learning anything. about God, about my friends, about any random thing, about myself! i don't like not knowing things, which is probably why this is in this list...

6. autumn. yeah, yeah, all the seasons are wonderful, but i, in particularly, love (love) fall. because summer is too hot, and winter is too cold. that time when you can wear a hoodie and jeans, and be totally comfortable. and the leaves! i love crunchy orange leaves.

5. my friends. duh. i would not be where i am today without my friends. i love having people to talk to and laugh (or cry) with. i love inside jokes (Ireland) and the way some of my friends and i just connect. you don't have to be weird to be my friend. but it helps. alot. ^_^

4. music. music is so much a part of my life that i don't know what i would do without it. i must listen to music to fall to sleep, and whenever i'm in the car at night looking at the stars. (yeah. i do that.)

3. carnations. red ones. seriously, i adore these flowers.

2. marshmallows. give me a bag of marshmallows, and i will love you forever. i really will... they don't even have to be toasted. just ask my sisters.

1. the color yellow. that's pretty self-explanatory. i love yellow.

         smile.

my summer....so far. :)

so far?

                                                

first baseball game...

(indeed, as boring as i thought it would be....)

got alot of hair cut off... not as depressing a day as i had thought...good outcome!

went on a missions trip with this group of people. most definitely one of the best weeks i've ever had...

after much ordeal, made it to the wilds for a week that i will never forget.

i don't think it's possible.

see this adorable bunny?

yeah. it bit me.

evil bunny.

"adopted" this little girl who comes and sits with me on

my porch when i can't sleep.

overall? good summer.

i'm happy.

My Chains Are Gone...

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine

This Summer....

This summer I have a TON of stuff to do! In a couple of weeks my youth group has a trip up to Servant’s Heart Camp Ministries to help them with their whole camp construction. I’m not completely sure what we’ll be doing, but I am looking forward to it!! I know, I know, it’s WORK, and very and very hard work at that, but I love this camp. I was saved there, I met a ton of friends there when we first moved back to PA, and many of them are still my friends to this day! So working or playing or learning, I love that camp.

 And after that, the week of July 4^th, we’re heading down to The WILDS Camp. I went to this camp 2 years ago and last I went to SHCM, but here we go again! :) I love camp any way it comes, so I am most absolutely looking forward to that week! And, since we’re going July 4^th, we get fireworks! Which I don’t like to hear, (fact- I am tone sensitive. I do NOT like loud noises: yelling, crashes, fireworks etc. I just don’t like it.) but love to watch. I love the way you never know what pattern is going to come next, and especially the colors. Reds, blues, greens, yellows, you just never know what’s coming. So fireworks are good.

 And after THAT, I will most likely be traveling down to Fort Worth, Texas with my little sister to visit my dad. Pros and Cons are there.  Pros: sunshine, pool, bike, my own yellow room, dog, extreme reading time. Cons: horridly bipolar Texas weather (sunshine, rain, floods, tornados, sunshine), having to fly, considering my unnatural fear of airplanes, I know NO ONE, sad library. The heat can get pretty brutal at times, reaching up to a good 110 on bad days. Of course people expect me to come back with a tan, but the truth is……I don’t tan. Like, ever. So before we even go into that one, let’s move on!

 And after all this, school will begin again, consisting of all my electives, and HOME EC. I am most definitely looking forward to this one, if only to mock it’s advice. I once read a Home Ec. Book that showed like 12 different steps for “perfect” posture while scrubbing the floor. No. So anyhoo,  that will be exciting! I will be cooking, which will be weird for me, because I don’t cook. I bake, and not even that often. My Mom’s a professional cake decorator, what do you expect??? :)

 And in conclusion, I wish you all an AMAZING summer….full of family, and friends, and all the cool summer stuff we wait for for what seems like forever. It’s coming quickly!

Today.

today was bliss.

just wanted you to know.

spreading the smile.

it's contagious.

10 things i did today....

1. smiled.

2. tripped walking out to the car because i was laughing too hard.
     - this is the only time it's okay....

3. sang opera to my stuffed dog.
      - such a normal thing for me....

4. rescued a innocent worm from mean children.

5. drank my black coffee,
    - this is good!

6. talked to an old friend for 2 hours....

7. mended my stuffed dog.
     -same one referred to in #3. he had a hole in his stomach.

8. heard my favorite song on the radio...sang really loud, made people look at me funny.

9. hugged a 4 year old. precious.

10. danced in the rain.
       - this used to be so normal for me...always did it when i was little. but this.was.amazing. something about being showered in the middle of a sidewalk laughing makes my heart skip a beat and makes me feel unbelievably happy. i suggest you do this.

my day was good.

amazing.

Evangelistic Meetings...

I ask prayers for our church as this week we are privileged to have Jerry Sivnksty speaking for our yearly evangelistic meetings! I am super excited for the many, many truths we may learn this week, and just being able to be together almost EVERY night this week! I used to always wish we could have church all the time, (when I was really small, obviously...) and this is the time we can.
 Pray...
 That hearts will be open.
 That Mr. Sivnksky will have the words to say to us as a congregation.
 That God will be honored and glorified.
 That people will invite, invite!
 That we, as individuals will be willing to change.
 That the decisions made will be put into action.

 I have always enjoyed these of days of total fellowship, and I always learn...

Baby...

A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said:

'Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even 1 year old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together.

So the doctor said: 'Ok and what do you want me to do?'

She said: 'I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this.'

The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady: 'I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you too.'

She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.

Then he continued: 'You see, in order for you not to have to take care 2 babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms.

The lady was horrified and said: 'No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!

'I agree', the doctor replied. 'But you seemed to be OK with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution.'

The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point.

He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that's already been born and one that's still in the womb.

The crime is the same!

If you agree, please SHARE. Together we can help save precious lives!

"Love says I sacrifice myself for the good of the other person. Abortion says I sacrifice the other person for the good of myself..."

Jesus sacrificed Himself for the good of sinners! That's perfect love!

-unkown

Learning....

this past week in my devotions i was reading in Jonah 3&4. the overall subject was "God loves People", and that is most definitely what i learned! I mean, we all know that "Jesus loves me", but this kind of love, one that gives and gives when we deserve nothing at all, is completely incomprehensible...
 the ninevites were horrible people....they stole, lied, murdered and committed sins we would find utterly disgusting and terrible.

but God loved them anyway.

doesn't that amaze you? that one can sin and sin over and over and over again, but as long as he is God's child, God will never, ever stop forgiving! i mean, i think about myself then....the way there are so many things that overtake what i could do for God, but go and do something else instead. over and over.

but God loves me anyway.

His love is so much, that He gave His Son, His only Son, to come down to this wicked earth and be condemned and tormented to death, so we could live. it's overwhelming! He gave His life, yet we refuse to give Him the smallest things. friends...music...purity...books. so much that could be given to Him, our lives!! but we tend not to, because we are human, and selfish.

but God loves you anyway.

i, myself, cannot understand just why, other than the fact that...Jesus loves me....

The Garden of My Heart

okay, so here is a quote/poem from a book series that i've been reading for a long time; Christy Miller. I really really really really love these books! they have taught me so much about God's timing in my life and just about growing up.
 this poem is actually a letter one girl had written for a guy in the very last book of the series, and she was trying to figure out what God wanted for her life. i really like this because it's not all about, well, a guy. it's including God in the areas of this girl's life, and not just rushing into a relationship. but praying it over, and realizing that God's timing is not our own; that we need to wait for God to tell us what to do...

 "Within my heart a garden grows,
wild with violets and fragrant rose.
bright daffodils line the narrow path,
my footsteps silent as i pass.
sweet tulips nod their heads in rest;
i kneel in prayer to seek God's best.
for round my garden a fence stands firm
to guard my heart so i can learn
who should enter, and who should wait
on the other side of my locked gate.
i clasp the key around my neck
and wonder if the time is yet.
if i unlocked the gate today,
would you come in? or run away?" 
                                          (Robin Jones Gunn)

 we all have a key that decides who comes in, and who stays out. i know i, for a long time, have been holding on to my key myself and not realizing that God should be the one to open the doors. but in the very end of this book, the main character (Christy) realized that she needed to giver her heart's key to her Father God. that in every aspect, God should be the One helping her figure things out. and wow, i was brought to tears. i had been holding on to my own key! i know now, that if my God is holding my key, and holding my hand, and i have the patience to wait for His Will, it will most definitely change my life.

 so what i really have to say is to pray for me! i really am just a girl, but i am God's princess and daughter. i'm learning day by day that no matter what, He is always caring and never forsaking....

it's warm!!

I'm in texas!! i miss my friends and family very much, but this weather is amazing.....next weeks forecast? 89. :D wow!
 i haven't really been up to much...just soaking up the sun and hanging around. the flight in was extremely bumpy. (which was NOT good at all considering my airplane phobia already planted in my mind that we were going to crash to our deaths...) there was this family that told their 5 year old son that it was all a roller coaster, so all the way up he was screaming and flailing his arms! he told me to "relax" when i almost tore the arm-rest off...
 but i got there in one piece...i actually had a connnecting flight from houston to dallas, so we were on the ground for about a half hour before we took off again for our 40 minute flight. it was kind of funny watching the stewardesses run around trying to hand out all those pretzels before we landed again!
 for my birthday (woohoo!!) i had some amazing food at a little "French" bistro called la Madeleine....i only got a turkey blt, but it was wonderful! they make their own bread and i do think it was the best i've ever had. then we got dessert to go. 3 little parfaits; tiramisu, fruit, and triple chocolate. they were so cute i almost didn't want to eat them! then we had little lemon pastries. now i dont normally like lemon in desserts, but this was really, really good! it was glazed over with a really hard glaze that wasn't nessecarily sweet, jest a little lemony. and last was a Strawberry Napoleon. it was, as well, very delicious!

i'm pretty sure i dont have anything else interesting to say, but i shall share some pictures when i get some good ones! i have had zero Kodak moments. (which, being a picture crazy maniac, really bugs me...) but when i do, i will share!

texas....

hmmm....haven't posted for quite a while! well, here i am to say that i'm going away....

 i'm headed of to fort worth, texas to visit with my dad for my birthday...i'm pretty sure i wont be there for longer than 3 weeks, but it is a long time since i'm away from my dear friends!

 please keep me in your prayers as i head off tomorrow morning (10:20) from Philadelphia, as i have a complete fear of airplanes, and saying goodbye! thank you!!!

i am not afraid!

okay, so maybe you guys have noticed that i am really big on sharing lyrics. it's just something i like to do, find songs, listen to them over and over again and then share the words with people who might get something out of it. anyhoo, this is a song that we're singing tomorrow morning in choir and i absolutely love it! it's so very uplifting and i think many people can relate to it. it's titled "I Am Not Afraid".....

 I Am Not Afraid
 In the emptiness of silence
 when the world has turned away;
 beneath the weight of sorrow
 when I can no longer pray;
 in the wilderness of worry,
 in the desert of despair;
 in the never ending darkness
 when it seems that no one cares,

 I am not afraid, I am not alone
 You hold me in Your hands and will not let me go.
 Though the waters rise, and though the wind may blow,
 I will not be afraid, for I am not alone.

 When there are no words of comfort
 that can stem the flow of tears;
 when I'm stranded at the center
 of a rising tide of fear;
 when there is no path before me,
 when my feet have lost their way,
 I remember you are with me
 and I am not afraid!

  I am not afraid, I am not alone
 You hold me in Your hands and will not let me go.
 Though the waters rise, and though the wind may blow,
 I will not be afraid, for I am not alone.

 I will not be afraid....I am not alone.

An Image After His....

"Many women have done excellently,
   but you surpass them all."

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
   and let her works praise her in the gates.
                 Proverbs 31:29-31

A humble, lowly contrite heart, believing, true, and clean.
which neither life nor death can part from Christ who dwells within.
A heart in every though renewed and full of love divine,
perfect and right and pure and good, a copy, Lord, of thine.
Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart; come quickly from above;
write thy new name upon my heart, they new, best name of Love.
                              
                                                             Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
 -C.S. Lewis

Today I'm...

....getting a haircut. Okay, kinda boring, right? Right. But for real, this is a very big deal to me. Take last time, for instance. I cried. So anyhoo....I'm walking down to my Aunts house to get a couple inches off and get my bangs back. Not sure about the bangs yet...I had bangs for a while, and then a certain older sister, no names,  trimmed them crooked and too short. So for 2 months I walked around looking like an Amish boy. So here we go......... :D

Snow Day!!!!

 It's Snow Day!!!!! What's this happiness I speak of? It's a day at my church where we all go outside in the freezing cold and jump around doing completely mad things we would NEVER do at any other time. No, it's fun, really!! Last year we made ice cream sculptures that melted for too fast, and then we stuffed our friends with shredded paper. (that was fun) Oh yeah, and we all bring yummy food to eat. (I'm bringing chocolate cream pie.....:)
 So wish me luck as I go out in the cold, cold outside, and sculpt a pirate ship and ride a snowmobile...

Photography Friday....

random pictures......

Just a Closer Walk With Thee

I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

 Now, I know, I know, after reading that you're most likely not wanting to read any more, but I have something to say!!! (as i normally do....)

 I want you to be able to dig way, way deep into this song, and think about it all. The beginning...."I am weak" which oh, we are. I don't think I go a day without my realizing that I could not be able to do or go through anything by myself. But..."Jesus is strong"!! Wow! This is always an encouragement to me because we can always go to God, and He will always be there! We are never left alone or forsaken, and we can cast all our care on Him, who will redeem and refresh us. We should never (as very hard as it sometimes is!) be unsatisfied in the Love of God.

"Let me walk close to Thee..."

"Through this world of toils and snares..." We all know how many things can bring us down, whether it be just by temptation or if we've gone to actually do it. Satan is waiting out there to trap us in these "toils" and "snares", and we need to be on the lookout! "If I falter, who cares!" Wow. Again and again I am caught up in becoming self-conscious about my sins, but really? God is the only one who we really need to go to. (unless, of course, this sin concerns another...) And He is always ready to forgive! "Who with me my burdens shares? None but Thee, Lord, None but Thee." I think this really ties into what I said up there, God will never, ever leave us. And I believe that at one point or another, you are going to get to a spot where you feel that all is lost, that no matter what people say, you are completely alone. But this is so not true. I fall into this trap so often, that I have come to even pray that this doesn't happen in my daily prayer! Our heavenly Father is always there. It's like He's always a prayer away, which you can do anywhere! Anytime, and anyplace, He will hear you!

"Let me walk close to Thee..."

 "When my feeble life is o'er". I'm pretty sure this is self-explainable. This is when we die, or, I think, about to die. If I live to be really old, and I know I'm going to die, I know I will want to be able to look back and say... "I walked with the Lord!" I think that something like this should be the prayer of us all, really. I know I have seen and read about people who have lived and walked with the Lord and their stories have gone down through generations to get to us! I'm not saying I necessarily want to be one of those people, but I want to be like them. Follow their examples, and walk in their footsteps to becoming more like Christ! "Guide me gently, safely o'er To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore." Okay, I'm going to be practical. None of us know what heaven looks like. We can't even begin to imagine what God has planned for us after this life. I know we sometimes joke about eating pizza and drinking Mtn. Dew, (or maybe that's just me and my friends....) but really. God has created a place, a place beyond all expectation of any man or woman, that we are going to spend eternity. And I dont think we're going to go around like the world we live in now. Because we're going to be in such awe, we will fall at the feet of our creator!! How absolutely amazing it will be to be able to not only worship Him, but to be able to talk to Him, and walk with Him! Indescribable.

 So maybe I'm completely boring you with things you already knew, but I felt as if I should share what God has shown me today! Keep on living for Him....

Winter Retreat '11

Well, here I am again! I feel really bad, I haven't been on here in ages....

 This past weekend I went on the SHCM Winter Retreat, and I. had. a. blast. I had so much fun just being able to visit with all my friends and those I haven't seen in so long! I think that really is one thing that I look forward to anytime I go to camp! :) Mr. Shawn Madrid was the speaker, as many of you know, he is Mr. Fry's son-in-law, and he spoke the message at my Junior Camp '08 when I was saved! So this was a really great experience to hear him speak again!
 He spoke on mainly one subject. The matter of the Heart. Not like, y'know the thing that keeps you alive heart, but our (as he told us) mind. Feelings, intellect, and will. Every decision we make comes decided by our heart.
 I think what really spoke to me was the giving of your heart to God. Yeah yeah, we hear this all the time at church. But really, it is a very serious matter! God set our hearts in one place when we were saved. He based it on the Will of Him. The place God made them to be for the rest of our lives! But we, as humans, have divided our hearts. Whether be little things that we think don't matter, or big things that we know are very wrong, but just don't want to get rid of them. I think some examples may be friends, music, and our thoughts. When God asks for our hearts, He doesn't mean part of it. Not half of it, not even 99.9%!  Solomon was one example. He walked in the Lord, and he loved Him wholly! But in one mistake, one thing he did not want to give up, he fell away. His problem was women. Maybe yours is one of the things that I mentioned just a minute ago. Maybe you think that if you can hide it from others around you, you can just ignore that God sees it. But no. It's all in your heart, and God sees every dark corner of the heart. We cant ignore the problem, only work to fix it.
 So I guess what I'm trying to get across is something that Pastor Madrid said in one of our evening messages. That we need to fix it NOW. No waiting for someone to come along and tell you to do it, but immediately after you realize that it is wrong. Because our hearts cannot be trusted, and they are going to tell us to go the other way. One little thing can take us away from the spot where our Father placed our hearts, so we need to catch the temptation before it catches us, and destroys our lives.

 Yeah, that might be alot to take in, but it's the Truth from The Word. And I know my life was, maybe not in massive ways that will add to my testimony, but in little things, was changed. I hope this brings some realization to your heart.

 Keep trusting Him!

                                                  (view from the room we stayed in)