What's Going On.

Hello everyone! Well, it's been awhile... -again. :)
Things have been moving kind of slow and fast around here, at the same time :)
On the slow side, there is school, babysitting and reading (Oh, I'm reading a great book called 'Eragon' ... One of Justin's favorites, that he has been wanting me to read for a while now  :D)
On the fast side, I just realized TODAY that my piano Federation is in FOUR DAYS. Oh my good golly Moses. I am NOT ready!!!! :P XP
I have been *stressing out* about Federation all day! Blah.
Oh my goodness. It is FANTASTIC outside today! I went running/hiking for about an hour (although it seemed much longer) hehe.
Well, I have been listening to a *TON* of 80's pop music the past few weeks. Mom and Dad are always like "Whoa. That song brings me right back to high school" and I'm like "Someday I'll be saying the same thing about the same kind of music !" :)
Okay. I have to tell you about our "adventure".
For the past month the door handle for my bedroom has been getting "stuck" and it's been really hard to open the door.
Last night, Rebekah and Emily were in my room... and it was about 1:00 in the morning. Well, we were all just talking and hanging out, and then when we were all done we headed for the door. And it would NOT open. We all tried REALLY hard to open it, but we couldn't open it for the life of us! So, we tried yelling...but everyone was in bed and no-one heard us... and we were like "Oh no! I have to go to the bathroom!" We were COMPLETELY stuck. So Emily and Rebekah and I opened up my window and crawled onto the roof of our house, and we walked over to my brother's window! So, all three of us girls are on top of the roof... in our pajamas... FREEZING... and we get to Matthew's window and we start knocking on it and yelling "open up!" We have to go to the bathroom!"
So, Matthew woke up to that sound outside of his window and FREAKED OUT. By the time we "calmed him down" through the window, he just stared at us "dumb-founded". :D Haha! It was SOOOO funny!
Once he let us in we all couldn't stop laughing! (Oh, and Rebekah and I both had to go BACK to my room by the roof later, to get back in bed!)
Agh. Good times. :P
So, this morning Mom and Matthew spent thirty minutes tearing our door down. So now, *sniff* *sniff* I don't really have a door for  my bedroom! :( :D
..so anyway.. that's about all the excitement going on around here!

Being an "Obvious Fanatic"

  Okay, so I have already put this on Facebook as a "note".... but I wanted to also make it my blog post. 

            Something that God has really placed on my heart, lately, is how Christians need to pick up their cross daily. It is so easy to just read  the Bible, memorize verses, and yes, even make really good facebook status’. It’s even easier to “dress up for Church” on Sunday and put on a “good face”.

 But how are we living our every-day lives? Are we, truly, “living up” to all we say we are? In James 2: 14-18, it states: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.” How are we living up to this at home? Are we respecting our siblings, parents, or spouse? Are we, physically, helping them? “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” -1 John 3:18.

We are disciples for God. We are Christians. Are we shinning the light clearly? When someone is drunk, you know in less than five minutes with the way they walk, talk, and act, that they are obviously intoxicated. It shouldn’t be any different for a Christian. It should be just as obvious that within five minutes anyone can tell “hey, there is something different about this person.” (-and, different, in agood way :P )

Think of it this way: “We are like windows.” We want to remain pure and clean so that anyone can see God shining through you. How can a person see anything through a dirty window? Let the Lord’s radiance shine clear and bright through you. How can we claim to be witnesses if we keep our music, fashion, speech and morals separate?  All of this excess "trash" is just "fogging up our windows". We don't have to be "of this world" just because we are in it. We definitly can't waste our God-given time "blending in with society." 

It’s so amazing that God wants to “shine through us.” He will make beautiful things out of us. :D Please don’t become complacent in your faith –but rather, be concerned with the way you have been living and Give it all to God. He will fix it. Let’s be fanatics for Christ. Let’s live for him. Let’s live in such a way that it is obvious for anyone to see who we are living for. “I'm not extreme, I'm redeemed with faith, to serve a God who's extremly great.” –LeCrae. 

:D

Okay. I have lived about three months without watching "Gettysburg" of "God's And Generals" :) I am such a Civil War geek   X)   VERY much craving to hear a Southern accent I turned it on for the first time in waay too long, yesterday :) Wow. Oh. Wow.  I'm on "cloud nine" (I know, I know... some of us get that feeling by watching Johnny Depp on a big screen, but all I require is a cup of tea and a war movie)

Emily gave me about three yards of brown material, because she hasn't used since she bought it... a LONG time ago, and so after weeks and weeks of begging for it, she has given it to me. Now that I've got it, I have an "artistic block". 31/2 yards of material. The possibilities are endless :/ (I guess there are worse problems to have ;P)

Changes!

Wow! It's been a long time since my last post, and so much has changed. First of all, God has gracefully revealed to me who my "real" friends are. I am so happy to finally have good friends that really care about me. (Rachel, Tabbi, Jonnah!) It's wonderful to finally have friends who share the same morals and dreams as you. That has utterly, changed a lot in my life. It's hard to come to "grips with reality" sometimes. It's hard to find out that you have been believing "lies" this whole time. It hurts to put so much hope and trust in someone and watch them break it all. The Lord is helping me through every step of the way :) He has given me SO much support through my "real friends" and family. It feels good to be loved. REALLY LOVED. :D
Along with all of that ^^ He has been guiding me by opening and closing doors. Lord willing, I am going to take the ACT in April. I am *SO* nervous... but you know what? The worst that could happen is that I just have to take it again!
Festival is coming up... I have to memorize four piano songs. I am NOT excited, but I do love the Hymn playing that I get to do. I forgot how much I love to play Hymns. :)
This week I have been working on my "Jean Patch-Skirt". I finished it today :) I'm so proud ;D I have been watching a lot of Doctor Who this week! Over the weekend I "glued" my hair into a Mohawk. :D It was CRAZY.  I had no Idea how hard it is to form a Mohawk... huge "respect points" out there, for anyone who does it on a regular basis!


Romans 15: 13 
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."