Extraordinary disappointment...

Well, I'm sick.

Yesterday, I was supposed to go to one of my best friend's house for a double sleepover and the long anticipated (by us) premiere of the movie Extraordinary Measures. But, I woke up feeling cranky and tired and terrible. And I knew that would be a rotten way to spend a double sleepover. Plus, I would hate to give my friend or any of her many little brothers and sisters my sickness.

So, I cried as my mom called her mom to say that I wouldn't be able to come. I was nearly heartbroken. I just couldn't understand why God would have me get sick at the exact time that I wanted nothing more than to hang out with my dear, dear friend. Why, after we had both been praying that nothing would go wrong, did He see fit for me to come down violently with a virus?

All I could do was think about the verses in the Bible that talk about God's love and Providence. I believe that God is Sovereign over everything. Everything? Even sickness? Even death? Even movie premieres and double sleepovers and teenage girls? Yes. EVERYTHING.

The following verse gave me comfort:

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

The truth is, I still don't know why it was good and better for me to have gotten sick than to have gone to my friend's house. But I do know that it WAS what was GOOD and BEST. Because I am a child of God, and He works all things together for the good--the further sanctification--of His children. Even if it's hard or difficult. What an incredible thing! What an incredible promise! Who is like our God? NO ONE! He is the best, most loving Father that will do what is best for His children, no matter what.

So anyway. Please join me in loving Him more and more every day!

Here is one way that He has blessed me during this awful virus:

Has anyone heard of Watch It Now on Netflix? Well, it's something where you are able to watch select movies and T.V. shows on your computer right from their website. Anyway, as I was looking for something to watch, I stumbled upon a FANTASTIC version of Jane Eyre. It was a 1983 version starring Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton as Jane and Mr. Rochester, respectively. They were phenomenal! I was enchanted for nearly 5 hours!

Also, I am in the midst of reading Sense and Sensibility, as I've stated before, so I've decided to put up a poll. Who is your favorite male lead in this novel? I plan to do more polls like this in the future, and I thought this would be a fun one to start out. Please vote for your favorite and then leave a comment with who you voted for and why!

Okay, I should get to bed...just one more thing. I wanted to let y'all know that I actually and genuinely enjoyed myself at Driver's Ed! My teacher is very fun and nice (he actually remembered my older sister and said that I look just like her!). There are a couple kids that I know that are in the class, one being a girl that I knew a while back but had fallen out of touch with. She's super nice and I went up to her and asked to sit by her. So now, I'm not stressed in the least. Praise the Lord!

p.s. I apologize for any grammatically incorrect sentences or misspellings--I'm exhausted and sick at the moment ;)

Mad-Libs and Wacky Web Tales

Ever played Mad-Libs? Super fun. If you like them, check out this website to create them online. They are really funny. http://www.eduplace.com/tales/. Email me your funniest ones. Sure, it can be a waste of time. The best time to do it is when you are really, really tired at a sleepover. That's what I've done a couple of times, including tonight ;)Then it's not wasted, because you are having a blast laughing and trying not to let your bladder explode.*

Goodnight!

*We watched "What About Bob?" last night. :)

p.s. Sorry I haven't updated in nearly a month. I've been busy and every time I think about writing a post I can't think of anything to write.

Update: No, I'm not in third grade. I just looked at the site that I posted and saw that it looks like it is aimed toward little kids. Oh well. It's still fun. I know you all think I'm lame :P That's okay. I probably am ;)

7 days till the 31st, Fireproof and dissections

Only one week left until Allie's due date! SO. EXTREMELY. EXCITED. I guess you can tell.
I had Biology class this morning. We "dissected" 4 different flowers and 9 different kinds of fruit. I don't really think it qualifies for the title of a "dissection" because they aren't animals, and it isn't gross. I'm relieved that we've left kingdom Animalia for at least a little while. I was getting sick of dissecting a new poor animal every week. But, I must say, the ones we've done so far haven't been as bad as I thought they would be. I actually touched our dogfish shark with my bare hands. I know, I know, I live on the wild side.
Has anyone seen Fireproof? I know you have, Grace, because I watched it for the first time with you. Anyone else? I LOVE it! My favorite part is when he *spoiler* bashes the computer up and replaces it with those beautiful roses and that sweet note that says "I love you more!" I think I started crying. I know I started crying when he's *spoiler* apologizing to Catherine at the end. He is an amazing cryer! (okay, that's not even a word.) Mrs. Maurer and I agree that we've never seen anyone in a movie cry like that. I guess Sam in LOTR is pretty close, but not quite. Then again, I've only seen a very select handful of movies. ;) So, if you've seen this wonderful movie, let me know what you think! If you haven't, go to your local McDonald's or Cub and get it from redbox for a buck. It's by far worth every single penny. Plus, EVERYONE in the movie is from Sherwood Baptist Church except Kirk Cameron, who is a Christian professional actor.
Okay, this post was very odd and random, but hey. That's me. I have to read twenty pages of Plato in the next 30 min before my class. Better hurry. Bye!

It's not over yet...

Last week, we went to Cambridge to stay with some friends to escape the chaos of our ceilings being ripped out. The girls and I stayed until Saturday when my dad picked us up. My mom and Keith stayed until Thursday afternoon, and then Keith stayed with some other friends until Saturday night while my mom stayed home. Well, shortly after my Dad returned from picking Keith up, he was surrounded by three of his daughters all talking at once (that often happens in our family) trying to tell him that someone had crashed into our car. Yes. Our beautiful mini-van. She has gone, after nearly one year of faithful service, to the big lot of pavement up in the sky. We will miss her.
What happened was that a lady had left her van running, unlocked, while she went into her work building. Some guy stole the van, and the lady called the police. Anyway, the officers started following him (he was going way over the speed limit, which is not the smartest thing to do in Minnesota in the winter) and I guess he lost control. He came through our yard, hit our tree, went out of the yard, pushed (crashed) our car across the street, skidded, and hit our poor baby again. He totaled her.
One of my first reactions was gratefulness that my dad and brother were inside the house and safe. Had they been two minutes later, they could easily have been seriously hurt or killed. God spared them. It was not their time to go.
Please pray that we can find a new car quickly. Also that my dad will not be stressed out in trying to do so. The Lord has sustained him so far, and he has succeeded in maintaining a cheerful attitude throughout all this hardship by God's grace. Thanks.