Blessed beyond measure..

"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds.

[And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.]"

Isn't it good to know that others have gone before us, and God isn't surprised by what happens?

Happy Sunday.

Thursday Tidbits

Just a few things to note.

1. Incase anyone was wondering, I got contacts this week. Apparently, the glasses aren't doing their job, which is rather a let down.

[I thought they were rather awesome, in my humble opinion.]

But as Dr. Bestwinna let me know, my right eye is 4 times worse than before. Yeah. Shocked me too. Didn't think I would get my parents' eyes so early. :P

[Love you mom and dad!]

And now I am no longer a cyclops. My left eye needs them now too. Great. Oh, and to top it all off the right one has astigmatism. Lovely. SO. I have contacts. And since I had them for a short time before, [in the right eye only, since the left one was fine two years ago] the right eye's contact fits fine, and I don't notice. The left however....oh dear. I can't seem to get used to it. I'm beginning to wonder if I have it in wrong. >_> It hurts and my eye is leaking like Niagara Falls. Which, believe me, isn't pleasant.

At all.

[See? It's red. Like MY EYE.]

But the contacts look nice on me. :D And I don't have black rims around everything anymore!

2. Numéro deux.

[That's French for Number two.]

The Rebelution tour is coming to Nashvegas! Huzzah! If you've never heard of the Rebelution, check this out:

Wanna come? Sign up here!

I'll be at the door, registering people. So..I guess if you want to see me too, sign up. :P Cause I'm such an amazing draw.

[Sarcasm, anyone?]

3. Update on my reading list.

Currently reading:

-Twelfth Night by The Lovely Shakespeare

and

-Radical by David Platt

Twelth Night is almost finished [after which, I have to write a few papers and answer questions. Good times. :D], and I'm entering the fourth chapter in Radical. Radical is slower to read, but much more challenging, mentally and spiritually. And also more rewarding.

[Twelfth Night is just fun.]

I noticed something. No one is joining me in reading even one of the books on my list.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!

I know, I know. I'm some freak who LOVES to read. Get over it. You should too. It's fun. And rewarding. And ... learn-i-ish. I love made up words. :D

But seriously. Huckleberry Finn is not hard to read. For that matter, neither is Shakespeare. Despite what your 8th grade English Class taught you years ago. You CAN love Shakespeare. Trust me. I'm not the only one who does. :P

[I'm pointing to you, you writers I know that follow my blog. You traitors of all things bookish.]

[Can you see my lovely sense of the dramatic here?]

So. GO. READ. JOIN ME. PLEASE. Do you think I enjoy explaining all of Shakespeare puns with Mumsie Dearest? I thought not.

I leave you with this. Simply cause I find it horridly ironic and it's one of my favorite verses to quote. Especially when Dad starts egging on me to study for the ACT. Again.

[Which is rather a smart thing to do, but don't tell anyone I admitted to it.

I mean, I can trust the World Wide Web, right?]

Here it is:

{But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There's no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you're no good for anything else.}

-Ecclesiastes 12:12 MSG

100th post!!!! w00t!

Yup. That's right. 100 posts.

Actually, that's kinda sad considering how long I've had this blog. >_>

Anyways. Updates!

School has started in full swing this year...Oh. I don't think I've ever mentioned this. I'm

homeschooled.

Yup. And I'm a senior this year. Which means lotsa stuff to do. And because I just want to tell it to something..here's the list.

1. Senior Project at my church: helping out in the student ministry and girls ministry as well as helping out in the nursery for an hour each Sunday.
2. PE credit: Team manager for my lil sis's soccer team. This means soccer practice on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and games on Fridays and Saturdays. Oh me. What have I done. -_-
3. Debate and Worldview classes on Thursday.
4. Humanities class on Wednesday.
5. French II on Tuesday.
6. Babysitting on Friday nights (twice a month) and cleaning houses on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Gotta make some income somehow.
7. PLUS. I am still running the Least of These ministry at my church.

So. All that on top of other subjects (Geometry, dual enrollment for a computer class, and CLEPing out of a Biology class, and a Brit Lit cred I'm doing myself) I have to try to fit in my reading lists, re-enacting, mission trips, dancing, piano, and in general, a life. :P

Speaking of reading lists, want to see mine? Hoo boy.

Humanities:

• The Song of Roland - author unknown - medieval French literary work from 11^th century
• The Divine Comedy - Dante
• The Decameron - Giovanni Boccaccio
• Caedmon's Hymn - oldest extant Old English poem composed between 658 and 680

Worldview :

• Radical - David Platt
• I would Die for You - Brent and Deanna Higgins

Brit Lit:

• Twelth Night
• Much Ado About Nothing
• As You Like It
• All's Well That Ends Well
• The Tempest
• MacBeth
• Hamlet
• The Genlemen of Verona

All by Shakespeare. I'm studying his works as my Brit Lit cred. Luckily, I love the dear old fellow and am looking forward to this subject....unlike some of my friends. :)

Pre-College Requisite:

• No Doubt About It: The Case for Christianity - Winifried Corduan
• Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
• Plato: Complete Works - Plato
• Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion: Eastern and Western Thought - William L. Reese
• Politics - Aristotle
• The Law - Bastiat
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
• Leviathon - Thomas Hobbes
• The Crucible - Arthur Miller
• Discourse on the Origin of Inequality - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith
• Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
• The Annals of Imperial Rome - Tacitus
• War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
• Myths from Mesopotamia - anonymous
• The Oresteia - Aeschylus
• The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories - Herodotus
• The Illiad - Homer
• On the Nature of Things - Lucretius
• History of the Peloponnesian War - Thucydides
• Clouds - Aristophanes
• Oedipus Rex - Sophocles
• City of God - Augustine

I recently visited my future college (Yes, I have decided) and talked to one of the professors. After discussing it with my parents, we realized that it might be wise for me to go ahead and begin reading some of the texts that will be used in my classes. Those are listed above. Yes, I realize that the majority of these are hardcore intense reading. And it has started to look quite imposing, but I'm up for the challenge.

Speaking of college, and deciding college for that matter, I've chosen:

The College at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Yeah..long name. But it's an amazing school and has everything I could ever hope for in a college. I'll be doing a double major of Christian Studies and English with a possible minor in History, before continuing on for my Masters in Divinity. Yup. Big plan. It'll be six years, but I excited, frankly.

So that's the reason for all the books. I think I'm going to put some sort of counter on the side bar keeping track. Hm. Good thought. Then all you guys can keep up with my success (or failure) of reading that monster list. :P Anyone want to join me on some of them? I'd love to have people to discuss it with. *hinthint* ;)

Now. Back to school work.

Keep Changing the World...

I think this song sums it up wonderfully...and tells alot about how I'm feeling right now. More to come in near days..

Called...

"Not called!" did you say? "Not heard the call," I think you should say.Put your ear down the Bible and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, the agonized hearts of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of Hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his mercy to the world.

-William Booth

Monday, Monday, Monday.....(said with a deep voice that rumbles)

So yes, I have a long post comin' your way today, cause it's Monday. :D Which happens to include pics. Huzzah!

1. KA trip.

Which was awesome. Here's some stuff from it.

Me, trying to get some last minute editing done! I like this pic. It's funny and cute. And my hair looks awesome. :P In case you were wondering, yes I cut it. Again. I can't help it! I love it short!

Lunch on Saturday, I have the grey hat on. Oh, how I miss you guys!

Some of us goofing of as Pirates vs. Ninjas. XD I was a Pirate!

Samii, StoryGirl and me! *Sorry SG! I forgot your name! Eyi!

2. A new book.

Yup. And you have to buy it. It's just too amazing. Here's a vid on what it's all about.

This book has changed my life, and I'm only in the third chapter. Here's a tid bit for ya.

It's easy for American Christians to forget how jesus said his followers would actually live, what thier new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the sake of the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily....

But who do you know that lives like that? Do you?

3. Discussion

Last night Mom, Dad, Janessa and I had some powerful discussion on what we (as a family) believe as Baptists. It was challenging, encouraging, and heartening to be fed the truth. Time after time, we pulled out our copies of God's Word and checked what we believe to what we know the Bible says. How amazing is it to know that God has an answer to everything? Whether or not he decides to make it known to us...

Here's a bit that was especially powerful for me.

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

Romans 8:28-30

I don't know how to keep going on miscellaneous things today. Today is just too thoughtful to fill with random musings. Last night's talk left too big an imprint on me to be spouting off about Sharpies and shopping sprees....and after that video..I don't know if I want to. God has a bigger calling on our lives than the best deals at the grocery store. Are we responding to it? And I leave you with this. A video that did more than change my life...it's changed my future.

Changes, changes...

Some of you may have noticed the changes on my blog. Well, a lot is happening to do so.

1. If you want to keep up with my re-enactments, go to it's own specialized page, newly made for your convenience!
2. I am a writer, so my blog might be a little more literary minded this school year. Including my study of Shakespeare's works for my Brit Lit cred. :D
3. The new name. Don't worry, the url is still the same. But I've come to a realization this summer. God has equipped me with a talent for words, and I intend to use it to tell stories of grace, hope, forgiveness, and sacrifice. Some times that means I have to dip into the real world for examples of sin, despair, cruelty, and deprivation. Understand that this is real writing. Not some fairy tale. Not a lovey-dovey story that makes you feel good and your innards warm. As a friend of mine once said, "I want to be God's frying pan and go around whacking heads. People have got to wake up." Wake up indeed.
4. Pictures.....ah yes. Those lovely things. Weeel, the laptop crashed, so posting pictures is difficult now and editing them is near impossible. I'm working on that. ;) Re-enactments are hard to come by in the summer (when it's 99 degrees for a week straight). But trips aren't! :D And I have plenty of those coming.
5. Sewing Projects!!!! I have yet to update that page (or develop it for that matter. ;) ) I have several projects done, and finished, that I would love to post and talk about! Check out that page soon for some awesome stitching!

To keep you all up to date, here's a look at what this year is bringing:

• NC trip (#3 of this year) and trip to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC.
• Several re-enactments. Including the Fall Encampment, Red River, Yule Fest, Daniel Smith Days, and possibly Fort Loudon, which I am especially excited about.
• The usual Thanksgiving Trip to NC.
• A "talked of" Christmas trip to....Texas? O_o

And in addition to:

• School!
• Novel deadline (August 15th at midnight)
• New novel!
• Graduation! O_O There's a shocker for ya. ;)

Some updates on my life:

1. The Kansas trip went great and I had a blast! Learned so much from the people there and can't wait to go back next year.
2. Contacts?
3. A new impersonation for re-enacting. Drumroll please!!! : It's a young widow. Hoohoo! There's gonna be some fun with that. :D
4. This is a little more serious. I have felt God leading me into the mission field after (and during) college. For quite a while he has placed the people of Europe on my heart, where religion there is a culture, not a relationship with God Almighty. Please pray for me as I find out what God has planned for my life and prepare for His calling.

So, anyways. Lotsa going on. And more to come. ;) (Don't worry, patience isn't a virtue I possess either. XD )