Finally its Friday!

This Friday...

The Earl Klugh Trio is a perfect start to a overcast weekend in November. (Even though it would sound even better in Seattle). A little bit of smooth jazz to set the mood (and ease the pain of a fourteen page paper).

Cute and a bit impractical money wise... here is the fashion find of the week:







Happy weekend!!!

an interesting time

... seeing if I can just get through another week... another semester...

learning to not only let God help me, but actively seek God's help..

waiting... patience... anticipation...

peace...

freedom

My sister is studying journalism in Virginia, and has already done so much to raise awareness regarding modern day trafficking and the slave trade at home and internationally.

Here is an article she wrote that has been published in two different magazines, an online one called "Real Teen Faith", and "Bloom Magazine", a magazine sent to girls around the United States.

Read the Article for yourself!!!

http://realteenfaith.com/2009/10/02/real-issues-invisible-chains/


Gracy's blog is also especially insightful: forteforfreedom.blogspot.com

Howdy from Cody

I am in Cody Wyoming

There is no phone reception for me here

But.. it is beautiful

And... I am worn out

But... so happy...

Life is good. :)

Getting Ready...

Believe it or not, It's almost that time of year again... School time! [and it's my junior year... slow down mother time... please!]
I've been trying to find some pieces that I like enough to play for my junior recital... gah! not freaking out... hah...

Highlight of August: I get to spend some wonderful, quality time with my beloved piano before I head off to the practice rooms with everyone else... Oh my piano... she is my favorite... Look at her!





We have a special understanding... the way I can get different sounds from her keys and create different tones for different pieces of music... so wonderful!



She is so easy to play, and if I get into my music, I will end up playing for two or three hours without remembering to look at the clock!



I realized that I don't have ANY picture with me playing the piano in the past five years or so... that makes me so sad... I should work on that... really...

This was from six years ago... my first piano camp, where I met my first college piano professor, who started teaching me the fall of that same year! Crazy how life surprises you.. :)

Road Highlights

Just under three weeks left... I can't believe the summer has gone by so fast!
I have been thinking about the relationships that we go through in life... some of them are lasting, others are simply interactions made on the journey. At the beginning of the summer, I struggled with the thought of meeting so many people that I may never see again. It seems that my life is filled with friendships that come and go on summer travels or changes in life stages. But as I have made new friends, and have been blessed by pastors, home-stays, and campers, I have realized how important even these relationships are. God puts everyone, everyone!, in our lives for some reason- to be encouraged or to encourage us!
There have been so many times this summer that someone we have met has said just what I needed to hear whether it be encouragement or a challenge, and there have also been so many opportunites to experience a quiet understanding with someone who may be going through the same thing I am.
So really, in so many words, don't underestimate the impact that God has on you. A look, a smile, or a word... you have no idea how what you do or say may impact someone else... someone you may never see again. [And who knows... you may make some life-long pals in the process!!!]

Here's some fun pics of the summer... there are so many on my facebook, but I'll post some more here later!


The Awesome Cova-Girls!



Celebrating David's Birthday on the Road




Great Homestays



Wonderfully Amazing Time on the Beach





Worship With Fun Campers at Seaside

Coming to a House of God near you... the Covenutz!!!

The Covenant Family Band... The Covenutz... The Cova-teers... or just... Covenant...

Ontario Church of the Nazarene, Ontario Oregon - June 28th- 9 am service

For more concert listings, http://www.nnu.edu/admissions/undergraduate/summer-ministry-groups/





Right now we are in at an AMAZING camp in Colorado, both junior and senior high. My camera died, but I have some great pictures to put up... until then... for your entertainment... my amazing golfing skills... :)







More later!!!

On the Road...

Just got to... Colorado!!!...


...With...

My amazing band family!!! [aka the Covenutz as our director calls us]

We play at our first church tomorrow, and then we are off to our first camp! I'm so excited! Right now I'm sitting in my room with Holly and Danielle... we are all journalists... smart that way! ;)

We will be in Ontario on the 28th... so I will be posting specifics on that! and maybe... a couple pictures... :)

figuring things out...

that has been my past couple weeks... letting things surface... writing them down... working through my thoughts, which is much harder than i thought...
so overwhelmed right now. giving things to God... and struggling with the silliest smallest worries... wanting so badly not to fail...
maybe being too easy on myself, but so weary at the same time...

I read this today (It's actually yesterday's post) of My Utmost For His Highest... It's amazing how everytime I read it, it applies a lot to what I'm dealing with spiritually... (and for those tired of my super long posts... you can skip and scroll...)


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If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them —John 13:17

Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you know more. Examine where you have become sluggish, where you began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a point where you did not do something you knew you should do. You did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more.

The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2. It is much better to fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than it is to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice . . ." ( 1 Samuel 15:22 ). Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been. "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . ." ( John 7:17 ).

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I'm back to good 'ol NNU for training camp. Our band got a good bit done today, working through some of our pieces. I just read through a large portion of the keyboard manual (rgggg...) trying to figure some things out... technology and I aren't so hot about each other... oh well.... guess i have to do what i need to...

Really great group... everyone is a lot of fun to be with! We will have a good time this summer....

Especially if it warms back up :)


p.s. I will post our church information soon so that you can come see us! :)

Ok it was nice to get that out... :)

On my way to a movie... trying to figure out whether to pack for a week and two and a half months at the same time... hmmm....

and the truth is...

Katie is incredibly frustrated...

Is Society Really that Far Behind?

Please read the article at the below link:

forteforfreedom.blogspot.com

Our local newspaper featured an article on modern day slavery, and they seem to be a bit behind the times... my sister wrote an excellent response and sent it to the editor.

A couple excellent books should you want to read more about modern day slave trafficking:


Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade-- and How We Can Fight It
by David Batstone


A Crime So Monstrous: Face to Face With Modern Day Slavery
by E. Benjamin Skinner and Richard Holbrooke


Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy
by Kevin Bales

And a couple I haven't read yet:

Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery In America Today
by Kevin Bales and Rod Soodalter

Sacred Bath: An American Teen's Story of Modern Day Slavery

Ending Slavery: How We Free Today's Slaves
by Kevin Bales


"Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy"
by John Bowe


Please Note: Due to the appalling yet veracious content of this material, it would be advisable to read these books with your eyes opened beforehand. Please prepare yourself for gruesome details and heart-wrenching accounts of unspeakable brutality. Don't let that keep you from reading them though! We cannot solve a problem without knowing all about it, and awareness is the first big step to change!!!

...

I will continue on with the below and respond to the very welcomed comments and such soon as possible. I've had to take a bit of a break the past few days as my health has stopped improving again. Tonight I got an hour nap to help my finish the day, which I find pretty pathetic... but "His strength is made perfect in my weakness"... it's a good thing!

I just had a random thought... When Rory is trying to decide on colleges in the amazingly comical "Gilmore Girls" series, she creates one of the famous Gilmore Girl "pro-con lists"... as far as my fall semester goes, I think that is my next step! :)

But, for the present, I'm working on some new repertoire: I think I'm going to finally learn Rhapsody in Blue (I've known parts of it for a while, but never buckled down to finish it), and I need to get a hold of a good sonata. A few other pieces, and then some Ben Folds and Muse that I'm currently working on. What would I do without the piano???

Well back to my big red couch, my journal, and my Garden State soundtrack... 'night!




p.s. here is an interesting article i found in the questions and answers part of boundless.org an AMAZING webzine for college students.... check it out!!! :)


DEAR BOUNDLESS ANSWERS

I have read the Bible through from cover to cover six times and the New Testament more times than I can count. I don't get the concept of reading the same message day after day. The Scriptures state that the word will be written on our hearts. I am bored reading the Scriptures. I wish I wasn't but the fact of the matter is, I am bored.

I would like to hear what you have to say regarding my comments.

REPLY

When you practice a spiritual discipline, whether it's reading the Bible or praying or fasting or whatever, it's absolutely critical to remember the goal: greater connection with the living God. Behind all of these disciplines is not a discipline; it's a Person, Jesus Christ, Who desires to know us, to be in relationship with us. Reading the Bible can become boring when the point is just to "get through" a certain amount of Scripture in a certain time period. That's not the point. The point is daily connection with God, ultimately leading to a moment-by-moment connection. God wants us not merely to read about Him, but to walk with Him.

I suggest that you take a step back to see the big picture regarding your discipline of reading the Bible, and ask yourself a key question: Why am I doing this? Is it merely to accomplish a reading goal? To check off a "to do" list? To please God? What pleases God is not simply the practice of a spiritual discipline, but the end result of a deeper and more intimate connection with His heart, leading to a passionate, vibrant relationship with your Creator. Sometimes that's accomplished by reading, sometimes praying, sometimes just sitting reflecting and meditating on His Word and His character, and sometimes just listening quietly.

I remember reading in seminary a book on teaching the Bible, written by Dr. Howard Hendricks, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. In it he tells the story of a person who came to him one day and said, with a hint of pride, "I've been through the Bible 15 times, Dr. Hendricks!" I'll never forget Dr. Hendricks' response: "Wonderful! Now, how many times has the Bible been through you?"

That little encounter has stuck with me over the years, gently reminding me that when I sit down to read my Bible, it's not about how much of it I can get through, but how much of it gets through me.

Blessings,
JOHN THOMAS

The Logical Next Step...

Men have obviously tried multiple ways in which to prove that the Bible is trustworthy, reliable, authoritative, and accurate. However, I find one way particularly logical, yet easy to understand. Jesus, throughout the Gospels is seen quoting scripture from the Old Testament, and quoting it in a very authoritative way, as if from God Himself. (In fact, He quotes from every part of the Hebrew Bible, from the Pentateuch to Historical writing.) He establishes key theological doctrine. Jesus also sets the stage for his followers to come, of which came the New Testament books.

Another interesting point- Jesus interchanges the terms "God said" and "Scripture says" multiple times.

But to go on, Jesus obviously endorses the Old Testament, and claims to be the Son of God, the Savior of the World, and the King to come. He promises His Holy Spirit, and tells us of the importance the Holy Spirit must have in our lives. The essence of Christianity can be summed up in the words and the life of Jesus.

How do we know that these words of Jesus are true? How do we know that the New Testament gospels are not flawed? You see, if we can prove the authenticity of these four New Testament Gospels, we can then prove the authenticity of the Old Testament, and the rest of the New Testament books. Greg Koukl states it this way, "If Jesus gave His imprimatur to the Hebrew Bible, and if Jesus is someone whose word we might be able to trust, then that gives us good reason to trust the authority of the Hebrew Bible."

Koukl goes on saying of Jesus, "If He claims to be God, for example, as He did in the context of His culture, and then demonstrates through His life and actions that the claim quite possibly is true, or might probably be true, then when He identifies the Bible as the word of God, He is speaking from the inside, not the outside."

Now here is raised all sorts of questions: "Well, these may be God's Words, but they are written by humans, flawed humans. How do we know whether what we are reading is accurate?" Or, "What about literal errancies, small numerical flaws, and passage differences?"

Greg Koukl: "If the Bible is the word of God, and God can't err, then His word can't err. If I have good reason to believe that this is a fair way of looking at it, then when I come to a possible apparent contradiction, since my evidence is on the side of being authoritative, what I'm going to look for is a way to resolve the contradiction.

I'm not going to camp on one apparent problem and use that to disqualify all the rest. Because if one apparent problem disqualifies the Bible as the word of God, then Jesus was wrong about His source of authority--the Scriptures--as coming from God.

But Jesus was the one who worked the miracles, who rose from the dead, etc. And I think it's less likely that Jesus was mistaken than that I'm mistaken. I'm probably the one who's misreading. That's my take on it."

If we can prove the NT gospels true, that makes Jesus' claims credible and the Word extremely essential to Christianity. After logically examining these texts, we can begin to put faith in what they say, and then work through small problems we find.

So, next step: look at extensive evidence of the reliability of the New Testament Gospels.

A quick thought in closing from Timothy Keller in his book "The Reason for God":
If you don't trust the Bible enough to let it challenge and correct your thinking, how could you ever have a personal relationship with God? In any truly personal relationship, the other person has to be able to contradict you. For example, if a wife is not allowed to contradict her husband, they won't have an intimate relationship... Now, what happens if you eliminate anything from the Bible that offends your sensibility and crosses your will? If you pick and choose what you want to believe and reject the rest, how will you ever have a God who can contradict you? You won't! [You'll have]... a God, essentially, of your own making, and not a God with whom you can have a relationship and genuine interaction. Only if your God can say things that outrage you and make you struggle will you know that you have gotten hold of a real God and not a figment of your imagination. So an authoritative Bible is not the enemy of a personal relationship with God. It is the precondition for it."

An Essential Foundation... First things First...

Part One

So two very interesting things happened today. First, for some reason I decided to start reading Proverbs. As I read through the first chapter, these verses really stood out to me:

"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?... "For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them..." (Proverbs 1:22,32)

Ok, so second thing. I was facebook chatting while looking through some of my books today and commented to this male acquaintance from school that I was "reading some books... and my Bible." The response I got kinda surprised me so much that I laughed and got pretty mad at the same time. His response, "Oh that is so cute!" CUTE?!?!? That was probably the last straw. Or the straw after the last straw. If there was never a term "laughing in anger", I think I just invented it!!!

There is nothing cute about the above verse, and really any other passage of the Bible. Now, before I am accused of judging or not being light-hearted enough, I happen to know that this person doesn't really read the Bible. So, I would challenge him to study it in depth, and then tell me again whether my Bible reading habits are really cute or not.

Ok enough of that rant. Sort of... Ok to be honest, these two small parts of my day, really defined it. And these two meaningless tidbits of information really point to something that has been wanting to scream out of me: let's grow up! We have spent enough time sitting around being "ok" with how we are and our lame version of Christianity that looks a lot like bossing God around and expecting Him to clean up all our messes! He wants a relationship, we want a life saver. He doesn't work that way, and we are going to be incredibly disappointed. He invites to experience Him in the deepest and richest ways. Where do we start? That's where His word comes in. His word is His love story to us! No where else can I find advice for the problems I'm facing in life, encouragement in times of dark depression, and most of all, a clear perspective of life outside of the selfish lenses I see everything through.

It is time to get off our spiritual butts and take a chance. Take a chance on His very un-cute Word. His Word is a matter of life and death. To be honest, sometimes reading the Bible is the most gruesome task I can think of. But that's where the growing up comes in. It takes discipline, and after a while, the rewards are so evident! Let's stop laughing, stop sleeping, and start reading.

I have been doing so much research and seemed to have opened a bit of a pandora's box, but tomorrow I will be clarifying some issues with the reliability and authority of Scripture. After that I hope to (in the next couple weeks) tie in the importance of the two testaments, show the life giving power the Word has throughout the world and how people sacrifice their lives daily just to read its pages, and finally, what it can do in each of our lives personally. Until then, grow up, and give it a chance! :)

Scripture Merely Superfluous???

Oh the wonders of muscle memorization... after a week of unsuccessfully trying to acccess my account and changing my password, I sit down today, unaware of what I'm doing accessing my blogger account... and she's in! Amazing...

So I'm sitting at home. With a new Bible. Random yes, but extremely definitive for me. I just put away my two older Bibles, worn and marked up. With the Spiritual ups and downs of the last semester, unfortunatley instead of becoming more faded, they grew rather dusty. My daily devotions became a rather meager and pathetic "ok Lord, here's a chapter, and please help me."

I find that I get stuck in a rut, simply reading over the highlighted or marked passages, thinking in my mind, "Oh, here comes a good verse!" I'm not sure whether the Apostle Paul would want to smack me or simply laugh at me as a stupid child regarding that remark. I'm sure he had no intention in writing "good" and "bad" verses.

Anyways, all this to say, I decided I needed a new Bible, a new translation, a fresh start. This time, I have challenged myself to not write in it or highlight it, but rather to read it afresh each time, allowing the Holy Spirit to show me new things, and not let myself be hindered from past lessons learned.

On another note, yet still connected, is my absolute frustration of the lack of Passion in Christ's followers for reading His written Word. Yes I grow weary of the strenous exercise it gives to my mind, intellect, and conscience, but I still weigh it's absolute importance in shaping my life and growing me closer to my Savior. I am who I am because of the way the Word has taken effect in my life. "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing, by the Word of God." Oh, us of little faith.

Over the next couple days, I hope to delve into this subject, and I hope to prove that our existence is simply worthless from an eternal perspective without this vital verbatim being poured into our lives on a consistent basis.

Seeing as there are countless numbers of people dying in different parts of the world simply because they are reading this book, it must be extremely important... even our enemies know it. In fact, I believe that Satan has made believers apethetic to the Word of God because he knows of its powers. Obviously we are missing something, and if the Word may be worth dying for, we owe it to ourselves to at least think very intensively on this subject.

#1

So I wrote a little birthday post in November, about all the things in my life that I wanted to change. So far the most attention I have gotten is from the hope to stay single for a year. Funny enough, that one is one of the least important of my little goals in my mind right now though.

One of the hardest resolutions I have made is to stay true and real. I'm writing this post in the midst of a huge spiritual and emotional hard spot in my life. I cry on my way home from work most nights, and really have no motivation to live life. I hate myself for struggling when I have so much to be thankful for. I have no desire to read my Bible or to pray, and honestly, I'm completely disgusted with modern Christianity.

There I said it.

There is so much hypocrosy and religious piety in the name Christian anymore. Day after day at work I interact with broken people who desperately need a real God that will meet them right where they are, before they clean up there messy lives. I have come to realize that I want nothing to do with "religious" people. I have gotten to the point that I cringe when people at work say, "but she is a Christian". No. Not like you would think. I don't hate you for your messed up lives. I don't judge you for your actions. I pity you. I want desperately for you to have a real joy. I want your heart to be filled with joy and peace. Please don't look at me and see a "good girl" trying to put on a great impression. I struggle with the same thoughts, desires, sins... I just have realized that I can't do it on my own. That's where the love of Christ comes in.

And Christ's love looks nothing like the modern church's display of love. His love is one that goes out and meets the scars, blood, and dirt of a bedraggled man or woman, a love that does not recognize the selfish piety of a proud "saint." I hate the fact that anymore I represent a body of people who simply look down on the rest of the world for what they do, rather than going in and simply loving as Christ loved... showing by example a better way. Showing by example does not mean having everything together. For every time I kick myself: letting some choice word at work slip out of my mouth; for every time I don't seem happy and preppy, or snap at a co-worker, I am reminded: it is by grace you have been saved.

Grace. Oh how I need it. Oh how the stained heart of the common man needs it. And even more so, the messed up bunch of people who pretend to represent the Lord Jesus whom they would hardly recognize if He walked the earth today.

Step 1. Being Real. Check.

Not so good at the whole honesty thing...

So good at hiding behind shadows off the facade I have built... no truth in that...
It takes courage to be real.

2009... Time to pull the facade away.