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!