Squeakin' By!

I have only four- pretty much three- weeks left of college. I got back today (Monday) at 12:30, so that's half a day, then I'm leaving on Wednesday in the middle of the day, so I just have one full day of this week to be here. I'm so excited for Easter, the family's having a cookout at Mamaw's house Sunday- very exciting, I can't wait!

Let me catch ya'll up on a few things:

I'm going to be able to get credit for a full year of college, and I only have to take one final in Biblical Foundations! That's a good deal for me. I just have to turn in a paper for Hebrews, and just show up the rest of the time. I'm moving my stuff back home slowly, so the transition back home will be effortless. :) Then when I get home, I'll have to get rid of some crap I don't need. Not looking forward to organizing all the STUFF.

oh! Got some new Keens! Little River Trading Company had a 20% off sale...I hit that up! Now bring on summer, I'm ready to do some hiking! I almost thought about buying Vibram Five Fingers...that's next on the list. Along with some white Toms. New black Chacos?? Hiking boots?? oooh I know rock climbing shoes! or new Asics...gotta have footwear for every activity ya know. Got the cowboy boots for riding too. Barefoot covers the rest. :)

Anyways...

I visited Cornerstone Church of Knoxville two weeks ago--loved it. I was impressed with the whole thing, the preaching, music, prayer, was all very Christ centered. It was great.

Then, I went to a new Bible study last night--loved it too! It was fantastic, so I'll be going back again--they meet on Sunday nights and Thursday nights. I am pretty durn excited about getting plugged into a group again...since I haven't been in a year or two. Looking forward to see what God's gonna do with this group! They also want to start a church plant, so I'm praying about how I should fit into that. I'm not new to church plants...it can be frustrating but really great sometimes too. I was also greatly encouraged last night by the conversations I had with my new friends I met! I've been bummed out about Blount County churches lately, and realized that I shouldn't be that way, and now hopefully I can be involved and not be so negative now!

I think that's it. Oh- had my first blood test today...that was exciting. I didn't pass out...I barely felt the needle. I think I can stick someone else with a needle, but watching it stick me is not very fun. I START NURSING CLASSES IN ALMOST THREE WEEKS!!!!!

Boy, I need prayer for a lot of things. I've been stuck in a mood for a week, and I need to get out of it. I hurt my leg running (as soon as I get to where I want to be, I can't run :( stupid stress fractures slow me down) So that hasn't set well with me, I'm a horrible patient. So now I'm resting my leg and apparently my arches are causing the problems when I run. So frustrating. Grrrrrrrr.

Christ needs to be the center of my life, not everything else. I'm struggling to remember that. Nothing else is really that important.

Well, Self Defense class is next tonight, so I guess I'll close! Goodnight

Holiness

Last night I finished the book I've occasionally written about on here. Holiness by J.C. Ryle is a must read for Christians! I loved it. Since I've talked about it on here before, I'll just give a small summary.

The first few chapters deal with what holiness is and why we need to strive to be holy. He lays out the differences between sanctification and justification, which we are able to improve on (sanctification) and which one is already accomplished for us, our righteousness that we can't work on (justification). Then he talks about fighting for holiness, growing in it, and he gives a few biblical examples of Lot, Lot's wife, Moses, and then wraps the book up with the best chapter in the book: Christ is All. The last chapter really made the book come full-circle, it was great.

So if you haven't read it, grab a copy!

Is Technology Killing Us?

Not literally killing us, but is it hurting us?

The weather here just turned GORGEOUS and I have been outside for the past two days laying in the sun, running, and walking downtown. As I was laying in the sun earlier, I realized I forgot my music. But then I thought, "Do I really need something in my ear, constantly entertaining me?"

No, I don't.

Do we need to constantly check Facebook and our e-mail, or constantly be reading blogs and "expressing" ourselves to the online world? Um, no. The only rest my poor laptop gets is when I'm not connected to high speed at home.

Another issue: texting. Do we have to always know what everyone else is doing? Twitter and Facebook statuses are bad enough.

In one way, it's good to be connected with people, so you can influence them for Christ's and the Gospel's sake. But come on, that's no excuse for obsessive facebooking. Not only is it very self-centered to think everyone else wants to know how great your life is, and to post it every five seconds, its kind of stupid. Why are we so obsessed with doing that? I guess it comes back to self-centerdness, that's all I can come up with. The desire to have many comments assuring ourselves that we are loved by at least a few of our facebook friends. I don't know.

I'm guilty of doing this of course. I tell myself I'm posting things for my family to see, whatever, which I am, but it is fun to see how many friends you can get and how well liked you are. It's a nice feeling. Facebook is an ego feeder. We are already sinning human beings, how much more fuel do we need to boost our image? Not much, that's for sure. So stop making the first priority of the morning be turning on the stupid computer and checking what people say to you, and what other people are talking about. Who cares, really. Living people are much more important than the little profile picture you stare at. Is someone's FB profile really all there is to the person? I hope not, geez.

Chatting with friends for hours is kind of dumb, too. Chatting in person or on the phone is not dumb, but typing and tapping away, staring at the stupid screen, laughing occasionally to the words, is not ok. I don't know where that caught on! Again, I'm terribly guilty. I "chat" or type to my cousin almost everyday for long periods of time. It's nice, but isn't it nicer to actually hear the person? You lose your discretion and discernment. I've typed things to people I totally regret. You also can't look in the person's eyes or hear the tone of their voice. Real easy to lie through typed words. I'll still IM with my cousin, because I'll make the case for convenience or whatever, but it's still not the best form of communication.

The internet can be a great place, but also a dangerous place. There are many helpful sites I frequent, but there is so much crap out there.

Another issue that's pressing is having everything ON DEMAND. Right here, right now. I don't think it's healthy for an already lazy, dependent, flawed human (speaking of myself, of course) to have the world at their fingertips. You want to know the lyrics to that song? BAM type it in Google, and we have the answer in less than three seconds. Want to indulge in those funny videos? Youtube, baby. BAM we're laughing at something stupid. Pandora radio, anything, anytime. Want a recipe? type it in and you've got it. Too bad it won't shoot the pulled pork out of the screen for us. Maybe that's next.

When I was little, we had one TV, a VCR, and I think my daddy had a radio and a turntable. That was it for technology. Besides a microwave and washing machine. But we kept the wood stove. My cousin and I talk about this a lot. We were very content playing in the yard with our pets, and ourselves. We made up games to play, and had woods to build things in, and creeks and ponds to entertain us for hours! I was big on Barbie's and stuffed animals for years. We even played with bows and arrows and bb guns. And we played sports a lot. Very low tech indeed. I know of a first grader today that has a stinking cell phone. What??? Yes.

I also know a kid younger than 10, I forget how old he is, but his parents got him an iPod Touch for Christmas. Wow. Last year this kid got his own portable DVD player, and his face was always two inches away from the screen. Now. Is that good for children? I don't think so. My parents won't even buy us a cell phone plan. :/ I'm 19.

Give them a bike and a stuffed animal, and they'll be fine.

I'm not saying I know everything about technology and raising kids. I have a laptop, cell phone, mp3, camera, and I want an iPod touch to replace the old mp3 player, which is a cheapie to begin with. I'm not totally against it, but I need to remind myself to show moderation and use it sparingly. Unlimited everything is not good. We want it, but it's not good for us. Another big lesson from the parents. They wouldn't indulge our pleas for unlimited-everything, and looking back, we are better for it.

So go read a book or just sit and admire God's creation without something sticking out of your ears, or something flashing in front of your face.






For whoever loves Napoleon Dynamite...you'll get this without me having to explain. :)

The Final Stretch!

Last week was spring break, it was great, so that was why I haven't written anything in a while. Friday night I came home, my family went out to eat at my favorite Japanese restaurant, Osaka, and my brother's girlfriend got to come along, and she came home with us afterward and watched a movie while I bothered them.
Saturday was awesome. My friend Amber and I volunteered for Love89 at Winterjam, a huge Christian concert. We got there at 3 and people were already lined up to get in. (The concert started at 5.) So Amber and I volunteered to sell t-shirts right at the front, where we had a great view of the concert and I got to see my favorite bands! (Third Day and Newsboys of course.) We stood up and sold things for about 6 hours straight, and ended up leaving at about 10:30. Then Amber came home with me and we went to church in the morning.
Monday was interesting, I got to go to the doctor, fun stuff, then Daddy took me to Lemongrass to eat some sushi! It was really good, I was impressed.
On Tuesday, my friend Katie, who is engaged!!! and I went to eat at Salsaritas, visited a bridal shop, then went to work out a little at The Rush. Then, I went to visit John, Rochele, and the kiddos and got to go biking before the weather turned gross! We biked 9 miles, and then went home with them to eat burritos! After that we had to get some Wii action in. Fun night.
Wednesday, Hannah, Mamaw, and I went to Mr. Gatti's to eat some pizza, and I stuffed myself once again. But it was so good.
Thursday I was home all day by myself, so I cleaned some, and did whatever.
On Friday, Mama and I went to town, went to Burger King, and I got an awesome new workout DVD that busted my tail, and I'm still a little sore from it. The $9 was totally worth it mother.
Saturday we went to Mamaw and Papaw's with Andy and Luke, and had lunch, then came home and watched The Proposal, then just chilled for the rest of the day.
Sunday at 4 I left for Bryan, and now I'm back!

So now I have 6 weeks of Bryan left, and then I'll get to start training to be a nurse! I'm so excited.

AMAZING DAY!!

The post I wrote earlier today was about how snowy and gloomy it was outside. Then...two of my friends found out that they made RA for next year! Congratulations Katlyn and Rachel!! Then...my CLF leader from last semester is in the hall, and so I ambushed her because she got engaged this weekend!! Her story is soooo amazing. God's hand is all over that story, it's incredible. So we were rejoicing with Becky in the hall, along with my friend Amelia who is also engaged, and then my RA Rachel comes down, who is ALSO engaged, and so we were having a great time just laughing and being amazed, Kristen and I are the only ones not engaged, so we were just rejoicing along with them. :)

Then...I see I have a text message on my phone. It's from my mother, and says, "Call me as soon as you can, I have good news." So I'm freaking out, thinking what in the world could it be? She answered the phone and let me listen to the answering machine, which was a message from Blount Memorial's Nursing School. AND I GOT ACCEPTED!!!! I screamed! Then my RA hears me and comes in and gives me a hug while I'm screaming in Mama's ear (sorry).
AHHHHH!!!!! I'm ecstatic right now.
And I just pleaded with God last night to let me get accepted and to know His will. AND I GOT AN ANSWER TODAY!
I'm blown away!! God is so good. Our hall has had such good news lately, you hear screams of happiness almost every second because someone is finding out something good from someone. Thank you Lord!
I think I've called everyone and told everyone I can...

But classes start on April 26th, so the only sad thing about this situation is that I'll be leaving Bryan in a few weeks. :( BUT I promise I'll come visit. All the time. So I'll have to talk with my professors about taking my finals so I can get credit for a full year of college. I'm not gonna lie, I will miss it here, but I know this is what I should be doing.
Now I'm gonna party like crazy! Just kidding, I'll still get to bed on time and do good in my classes.

Time to get off the computer and spend precious time with my friends!

"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name oh most high."
Psalm 9:1-2

And I Wore a Tank Top Three Days Ago

This...is snow. I don't know what happened to the sun, but it's gone now.

I'm so ready for spring break, as are all of my friends. Hopefully break will bring about some nice weather. It won't be long!!! At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Aerobics class is cancelled today, so it's up to me to find something productive to do. I'm going to borrow my friend's ab ripper X DVD, or the yoga one, I haven't decided yet. I need to do something to pass the time, this is the longest week ever!

The rest of the week is pretty low key, we have a hall event Wednesday; Yuri is cooking Honduran food for us at Danielle (our hall parent)'s house. I'm excited about that. Then one more day, and on Friday, Katie and I are leaving for home at about 11:00! (Hopefully my parents will take me to eat Japanese food for dinner??? PLEASE!)

Nothing exciting is happening, so I'll just leave you with a little thought. I'm borrowing it from Holiness.

Read through the gospels and familiarize yourself with the works of Jesus. He performed amazing miracles and taught great things to His followers. Study His parables. What do they mean? Notice how the crowds chased after Him and wouldn't let Him rest. We should also search the Scriptures and learn everything we can about our Savior as the Son of Man that came down to earth.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. for by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Colossians 1:15-17