Tie Post

 I didn't intend to write a post, but after viewing and commenting on some blogs, I began to feel inspired. :) My main thought is on this: My life has gone through a lot of changes lately, many of them good. I have moved way outside my comfort zone to move towards the goal of getting a GED. This, in turn, has helped me with getting the courage up to receive professional help in writing a resume so I can go out there and hopefully get a job. My dad has been off work to recover from an injury. Two new families have begun to come to church and one couple have recently gotten married. Through all of these many things I have been overcome by the terror, the stress, the joy, and the blessings. What has kept me sane and solid in all this? Jesus.
 Right now I have a desktop picture of a rushing, turbulent river. I have captioned these words on it:

" Though the waters roar, I will be comforted.

I will rest in the shadow of His strength and the peace of His never-failing love.

The LORD is the Rock of my salvation. "

 The words just came to me when I saw the picture. It is something I have found to be so true. God is my anchor. He is my tie post. I need Him so much. When I see all the world around in such confusion, when I talk to my study partners, I realize how different I am. I thank God I am different. I don't want what I see and hear out there. It's a mess. Everyone seems to think they are somebody or that they have to do it themselves because no one else will.

 For me, the only times I experience real peace, real happiness, real love is when I talk to Jesus and He talks back to me. It is the times when I can get myself out of the way that I really receive from God. You see, God doesn't really actually need us. He didn't have to make an earth and put humans on it. He did though. He created us and loved us. So much so that He died for us. Loved us so much that He placed a need to be loved inside of us. He let go of Himself for us. We need to let go of us for Him. That's how it works. That's how you become anchored. Letting go of you and receiving Jesus Christ, the Word instead. 

~ Blessings ~

Down Time

 Well, I finally have an entire day in which I can do pretty much as much or as little as I want. YAY! I don't plan on partying too hard. ;D The fact that I'm tired from an awesome day yesterday might have something to do with that. The fact that I'm feeling a tad under the weather might also. :( Oh well, it gives me a double excuse. :D hehehe.
 So, I have been really busy with school stuff. I did SO much last week it's crazy. Besides my regular 1-4, Tues-Thurs class time, I managed to fit in some job search stuff, financial aide stuff, church stuff, family stuff...that's a lot of stuff. :D I can't even say for sure what was my busiest day. I think maybe Thursday, because I spent the morning working on some things and getting ready to go to a friend's house for the weekend, then I went to school early, then our family went out to dinner straight from school, then I went to my friends' house.
 Saturday was awesome because in the afternoon we went to a Lewis and Clark movie thing. I guess you could call it a documentary. Someone narrated while a movie played of scenery and people acting out parts of the expedition. It was at a imax type of thing with a huge screen. IT WAS SO AWESOME!! I kept thinking, " God, what an amazing God You are, making all this wondrous beauty. " as clips of breath-taking scenery were shown.
 Sunday after service we had a wedding reception for a couple in our church that got married recently. God had really blessed our church lately. We have been growing in number and in the Word. It has been truly amazing. We have two new families originally from the Congo, both with kids the ages of the families already at church. That's been a lot of fun. :)
 Well, that's what's been going on with me this past week. I think now I'm gonna do some emails then take a nap. Ahhh, what a life. :D :D

My Hectic Life ;)

 Whew! So here I am five minutes into Tuesday and finally getting around to posting. Hahaha, my weekend went nothing like how I thought it would. Starting with Thursday, the last four days ( five? i dunno, lol. ) have been major stress.
 Thursday I had a filling. As usual, it took me about as long to get set up and numb as it did to have them drill and fill, lol. At least this time they " only " had to shoot me with numbing juice twice. And the second time it actually worked! Whaddya know. :D Anywhoo, that numbing stuff knocked me out for a day. Always does. :(
 Friday I had my assessment test. I could safely say it was one of the most stressful mornings of my life. But, I made it. And made it well, if I do say so myself. Got the highest score you can get for the essay and pretty close to the highest you can get for reading comprehension and basic math testing. Thing was, I had to hit the ground running right after, with errands, packing for a busy weekend, and dinner at my pastor's family's house ( at which I stayed for the weekend ).
 Saturday. Saturday was crazy and long. I had brought ingredients with me to make a healthy dessert for the get-togethers we were having over the weekend. Cute little single-serve cheesecakes. Plan A failed. So, I created Plan B. That made for a less-than-perfect morning in which I exercised an amazing amount of self-control. The afternoon brought mom and dad to help me clean the church because it was our turn and dad had hurt himself at work and could barely walk ( more on that later ).  The evening brought a ( LONG ) get-together with the musicians and song leader  ( my dad ) and their families to learn new songs that are on our new projector thingy we have.
 Sunday was our Communion Sunday. Those are the Sundays we have two services and a potluck in between. Sunday morning had to be another one of the most stressful mornings of my life, but in a little bit different way than on Friday.
 See, my dad had pulled something in his lower back on the right side at work last week and the pain had gotten steadily worse and spread over a larger area, down his Siatic nerve. He'd been limping around. Well, he collapsed on the front steps when he and mom had gotten home Saturday night. I was worried and concerned. Sunday morning my mom got hold of me early and told me they were not going to be there because dad could hardly get out of bed. So, I had a hard morning worrying about him and trying not to freak out about what was going to happen next and all that. Thankfully, God really gave me a touch in the service and a great peace came over me.
 Since then I have tried to hold on to that peace. It's been a hard battle. Today I went ( at first, against my will and by parental command ) to a Introduction program for a Lab class to help me get ready to take my GED ( I had the option of skipping that and going straight to doing the pre-tests or the GED itself since I did so well, but I get credits if I go to this Lab thing and mom wanted me to get the credits ). Right after that we were out all afternoon and evening running dad here and there to appointments etc...
 Tomorrow I start this class thing three days a week for three hours and dad has Chiro appointments three times a week as well. Here just a week ago I was complaining that my life at home was so boring and there wasn't enough to keep me busy when I'm home, verses at someone else's home helping with their kids. Well, those days are over for at least the next six weeks, and if I find a job soon, over for a long time.
 Right now, I think I'm going to collapse and sleep for forever. :D 'Night folks.