Something Beautiful

This song speaks straight to my soul every time my friend Lee Ellen sings it. What a blessing from God she is!! I went on a very fast (for me anyway) 4 mile run this morning, and it felt really good. Then I picked 3 jalapeno peppers from the garden. I have 4 yellow bell peppers coming and lots of watermelon and butternut squash and pumpkins. I'm so excited for them to ripen. :) I have a busy morning ahead of me. I need to clean my room/the house because my grandparents and aunt are stopping by on their way to Missouri today. I also need to make cookies for my sis to take to MN with her this weekend. She introduced me to a song last night called "What do I know of Holy" by Addison Road. Soooo good!! I also need to work on finishing up some projects. I have a table and chair to finish refinishing and I want to sew a jacket to go with the dress I made a couple weeks ago. I also think I might be in the mood to paint some more...we'll see. I also need to shower!!! Peace y

"We're too young to realize that some things are impossible, so we'll do them anyway." - William Pitt (Amazing Grace) Sometimes young and crazy kids do the stupidest things. Sometimes young and crazy kids change the world by doing impossible things. There is a certain mentality that goes with youth. Young people have yet to discover that they are not indestructible. They don't realize that there are some things that people consider to be impossible. Two such young and crazy kids did away with the slave trade...William Wilberforce and William Pitt. They did what everyone considered to be impossible. Another such young and crazy kid was a girl by the name of Mary. A young woman who considered herself to be God's servant. The angel Gabriel told her that with God nothing is impossible. When are we going to wake up to this truth?? Paul got it...I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. The people who get it are the ones who change the world. Think a

What a glorious morning!! God is so faithful!! Every morning His mercies and His faithfulness are renewed. Just as the sun rises every morning and sets every evening. Just as the stars faithfully move in their pattern through the night sky, so God is faithful above and beyond that. His faithfulness surpasses all understanding. Today was one of those days where you start the day well and you know that it's going to be a good day. My run was awesome this morning. The air was cool and fresh. I felt great. It was simply a glorious run. I'm going to go to the fair for a bit today, and then I have work tonight. This starts my second to last week at BH. I also am going to finish the painting I started yesterday. And I'm just in the mood for some Lauryn Hill...so here you go... Water Have a Glorious Day!! Peace!!

This is fair week. And it has had one of the most interesting beginnings that I can remember...it rained today and was about 70-80 degrees all day long. Usually fair week is around 100 all week long, so this was a nice beginning. It downpoured at my house today, and I took a trip to Manhattan this morning...Kansas, not New York. It was a nice morning to do that. I deposited my paycheck and then I went shopping. I picked up groceries to make Moroccan chicken for supper. I had my favorite Chai Tea for breakfast and I got curtains for my room. I also picked up some painting supplies and I painted this afternoon while I listened to some music from ZHOP. So good!! I am really not much of a painter, but I just felt like painting, so I did. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I think I need to add some yellow to it before I'm done, but I want the blue and green to dry first. I made Moroccan chicken in the crockpot for supper...it was soooo good. I'm going to have to make it again. T

It looks like the garden fairies visited my house. We have a barrel of sweet corn on our front porch and I brought home a bag of zucchini from work. I have successfully finished cleaning another house and gotten a paycheck for it!! :) E told me that I should start a cleaning business which she has already named for me...The Cleaning Connection. Yeah...not sure that's in my future, but for now I appreciate the work. Tonight I'm going to go see A in the 4-H fashion revue, and I'm looking forward to that...I was thinking back this morning, and the first 4-H fashion revue I went to was 13 years ago. WOW! It should be lots of fun to see what the kids have made and what they are modeling...plus Miss A might get champion or reserve champion. It's nice to have tomorrow off from all jobs. I might see if C wants help with the kids at fair judging. I also remembered some of the thoughts I wanted to share yesterday. In church (for the little bit I was able to be there before I had

I had so many thoughts I wanted to write about until I sat down to write this blog entry and now they have all escaped my mind except for this one...cabbage salad...YUM!!! Work was insane this weekend...I worked yesterday and today both lunch and dinner shifts...Today alone I worked over 7 hours which is a lot for a part time job...I've also been up since 6:30 this morning. I'm not sure why exactly I woke up so early on a Sunday, but it's probably due to the fact I went to bed so early last night...10:30/11ish. Last night I had a party at work who made a reservation for 20 people which is what we had set up for them...then they showed up...with 32 people. I was a little bit stressed out at this point as we had NO tables left...literally we had people sitting on every single table we had. That's the kind of night it was. So then these 12 extra people show up...that's 2-3 tables extra...and we are trying to get them all sat down. Long story short...it's a miracle

So I have been in a project mood so far today. I finished the dress I started last week (or was it the week before). I cleaned my room, and I'm working on laundry. I've been contemplating starting a painting, and I got my bag out to pack for St. Croix. Yes, I realize that over 2 weeks out is early to begin packing...actually I just wanted somewhere to put some clothes so I had more room in my dresser. I found out yesterday when I called the financial aid office that I have been freaking out about nothing because all of my scholarships are good to go. I still can't find where it shows me my financial aid package on my student info page...I am not really a big fan of the system change of the University information system. At least I am good to go...that's such a relief!! I have a couple of pumpkins and a watermelon starting to grow in my garden as well as little tiny beans. :) I'm excited to start harvesting produce in a couple weeks. :) I have decided that I am going

Isaiah 55 rocks my socks off...just an fyi. God gave it to me this morning, and I am so in awe of Him. He knows exactly what I need to hear exactly when I need to hear it. I had a lovely trip to SGF this last weekend, and I really was ready to be back there for good, but I just have about two and a half weeks left until I am. Well, I have the trip to VI and then I'm in SGF. I can't believe how the summer has flown by, and yet at the same time, looking back it seems like forever. Funny how that works. I'm a little stressed about my financial aid because I haven't received any information on it yet, and it's almost August!! So I'm going to call on it today. I also am going to call the chiropractor that my friend goes to in SGF and set up an appointment because I'm going to get a really good deal on it. :) Thanks K!! That is a real answer to pray because I have been thinking that I really would like to go because my back hasn't been feeling the greatest, an

I've been working on a refinishing project for my friends. I picked up a table and chair set for 50 bucks at a garage sale for them, but they seriously need refinished...can anyone say 70's finishes suck? Since the set has been sitting in my garage all summer I decided to start working on refinishing it because I have basically nothing else to do with all my free time (except may be read). Well, at first I was a little overwhelmed as this is my first refinishing project, and I felt a little like maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew. But as I've been working on it, God has really been using it to show me some cool things about how He refines us. This is how I kind of see it (P.S. God is really cool because He gives me awesome real life analogies for what He is like) we are like the table and chair set...we have this yucky 70's gross finish on us. It is covering us up and masking us and making us just downright ugly. Then God comes along and says "I see a lo

Trudy, my beloved Mini Cooper, is finally back in commission. She has had her radiator fan replaced, her drivers side window motor replaced, a ball joint replaced, and tomorrow she is getting an alignment and some new tires. And my dad did all the work, except the alignment and tires tomorrow. What a blessing to have a dad who can do all of that for me!! Anyway, it is soooo nice to finally have my car back. I'm going to give her a bath and a vacuuming today and this weekend, we are roadtripping it to SGF. :) I need to get some more done on my refinishing project. I'm hoping to have 4 out of the 5 chairs done by Saturday. Today I'm also going to babysit around noon, and then I have work again tonight. I really enjoy my job. I'm a little sad that I will be leaving in just over 3 weeks. Too bad the Brookville Hotel can't be in Springfield. Oh, well, I have other work to do in SGF. My sunburnt back is slowly getting better. I at least didn't wake up every time I rol

I am at a very interesting phase of life right at this moment. I feel kind of like my life is paused becuase all that really happens is I work and hang out with my family and have projects and read. It is almost like I am outside of time. It is so odd for me because I am used to having all kinds of responsibilities and lots of irons in the fire at the same time. Right now there is really none of that. I have very few responsibilities..just show up for work on time and do a good job. I really can't remember a time when I had so little actually going on in my life. It is kind of nice to just slow down for a little while, but at the same time I miss my social life at school. I miss having friends to hang out with every night of the week. I miss the balancing act of school, work, and extracurricular activities. Yesterday I mowed the lawn and then I laid out and read for a while. The result...a nice sunburn on my back. At least I was able to start working on my tan to match my new swims

Today's title comes from the Misty Edwards song Only a Shadow from her album Eternity. So good!! Rightly do I love God for He alone is worthy. Last night I spent the evening at church because my parents went to a church health meeting. While they were in the meeting, I spent time in the prayer room. I have been reading in Ephesians lately because God kept telling me to read it, so I've been reading it. He actually started giving me Ch. 3 of Ephesians over Spring Break, and that has been an ongoing theme with me ever since. Well, last night I decided to move on to Chapter 4, and it was one of those times when you feel like the words just jump off of the page at you. I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3 I read that and felt lik

Everyone has those days...the ones where you wish you didn't have to wake up in the morning. The ones where you go through the entire day and feel like you never quite catch up. The ones where you feel like you are running on half speed the entire time and you can't switch into high gear. Yep today was one of those days. Dad and I ran this morning...and I ran really slow today, and I couldn't seem to speed up for anything. I went to work at 11:15 and I just couldn't quite seem to snap out of it. I came home and tried to start a sewing project, and everything seemed to be going wrong, so I took a 15 minute nap, had some coffee, and went back to work. Work tonight was better. My paycheck is going to be really nice this time, and I finally seemed to be getting with the program tonight. And then I looked at the clock and it was only 6:00. We hadn't even seated the second round people and I was ready to be done. Although the night seemed to drag on, it was fun. Now I'

Today is a day of memories for me. Memories of a year ago. Memories of much longer ago. A year ago today I discovered what it meant to be desperate for God. A year ago today my whole view of my future changed. A year ago today I had one of the worst days of my life. And a year ago today was the best day of my life because it was the day that I started on an entirely new path in my walk with God. Until that day, I was content in my relationship with God, and then He showed me that our relationship could be so much more. It literally changed my life forever, and now I can never go back. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and now nothing else will ever satisfy me. I have also been working on a project that is requiring me to go much further back in my life. It is causing me to remember where I have been and what God has taken me through. I am overwhelmed at God's goodness. He is so good. Never ever ever for a second buy into a lie that God is not good and that He is not wor

My dad and I looked at my transcrpit today because he needed me to print it off for the insurance company. And the result is that I am going to be retaking a class this fall...econometrics...ugh. But it is going to be for the best. I will hopefully learn something from the class this time, and it will make my transcript look better. Also I have the hours to retake it, it fits in my schedule, and it is just kind of a wise move. Then while I was on a roll, I decided to start looking at grad schools...and I'm a little nervous. Not about getting in, but about paying for it. I know that God will provide, but still it is a little daunting to look at costs and realize that all of my current assets may or may not cover grad school. I guess on the bright side, I can get a job while I'm in grad school which will help with paying for it. I'm also hoping that I can get work study and scholarships. The nice thing about the grad school I'm looking at is that they do not require the G

I am reading the book Prusuit of the Holy , and it is rekindling in me a deep desire to know God. I mean to truly know Him as He is. Something that is repeated over and over in the book is that we all have our own ideas of God and who He is...and mostly they are all wrong. This is the battleground; what we truly believe in our hearts about God. This is where the enemy stages his greatest warfare. If the enemy wins here, he wins everywhere in our lives. And as the church goes, so goes the world...Satan, the father of lies, has bombarded us with lies about God since we were born. Most of us struggle with false ideas about God's heart for us and lies that question His ability to deliver us.(Pursuit of the Holy, pg. 38) More and more I realize the truth of what is spoken in Job 36:26 where it says "Behold God is Great, and we do not know Him." I do not know God. In fact, I could seek to know Him my whole life and still not know Him, such is His depth. But I want to know Him.

Today's title comes from this song which I love. :) The past day or so has been really fun. I went and saw a friend get married, and I cried...yeah, it was a great wedding!! The message was so good...about God's unconditional love. And the lovely Miss Lee Ellen Starks sang The Lord's Prayer, and I cried because it was soooo beautiful. Then I had a sleepover with K and L and then I got to see D and H today...so much fun!! I also discovered Whole Foods today, and realized that I could spend a lot of time and money in there. I pretty much fell in love with it when I walked in the door...amazing!! Plus they had so many varieties of my favorite yogurt, and I'm really excited about it!! "No big secret...just looove yogurt." -Michael Westin Then I got home and discovered that my mom had found the webcam that we have and had put it in my room, so I've been able to record videos for my friends...so much fun!! Tomorrow is officially 5 weeks until the beach!! WooHoo

As I was waiting for the hot water to boil this morning so I could have a cup of lemon ginger herbal tea with honey, I looked at the shelves on the wall and saw this book. Such a wonderful book. And then I found out through my friend S that they are making it into a movie...so I found the trailer . I can't wait for the movie...it's gonna be awesome!!! Besides that today is my last day of work for the week. Tomorrow we are going as a family to KC to watch a Royals game tomorrow night. I'm staying in KC tomorrow night and going to a wedding on Saturday near there. I'm also hoping that I will get to maybe get a swimsuit. I dislike swimsuit shopping, but I do want a new suit, and I finally have money in my bank account. :) Last night I made oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookies. They are delicious and healthy!! And today I picked up freon so my dad is going to fix my car. I woke up to rain this morning and cooler temps which is nice especially for all the farmers who just dou