misc.

Hello Everyone! I don't have any excuses other than "school" for why I haven't posted in so long, so I'll just say I'm sorry :)

Anyway, in my devotions this morning I read this selection from Morning and Evening:

"His bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob."
-- Genesis 49:24

"That strength which God gives to his Josephs is real strength; it isnot a boasted valour, a fiction, a thing of which men talk, but whichends in smoke; it is true-divine strength. Why does Joseph standagainst temptation? Because God gives him aid. There is nought that wecan do without the power of God. All true strength comes from "themighty God of Jacob." Notice in what a blessedly familiar way God givesthis strength to Joseph-"The arms of his hands were made strong by thehands of the mighty God of Jacob." Thus God is represented as puttinghis hands on Joseph's hands, placing his arms on Joseph's arms. Like asa father teaches his children, so the Lord teaches them that fear him.He puts his arms upon them. Marvellous condescension! God Almighty,Eternal, Omnipotent, stoops from his throne and lays his hand upon thechild's hand, stretching his arm upon the arm of Joseph, that he may bemade strong! This strength was also covenant strength, for it isascribed to "the mighty God of Jacob." Now, wherever you read of theGod of Jacob in the Bible, you should remember the covenant with Jacob.Christians love to think of God's covenant. All the power, all thegrace, all the blessings, all the mercies, all the comforts, all thethings we have, flow to us from the well-head, through the covenant. Ifthere were no covenant, then we should fail indeed; for all grace proceeds from it, as light and heat from the sun. No angels ascend or descend, save upon that ladder which Jacob saw, at the top of which stood a covenant God. Christian, it may be that the archers have sorely grieved you, and shot at you, and wounded you, but still your bow abides in strength; be sure, then, to ascribe all the glory to Jacob's God. "

Oops, some of the words are smooshed together. Sorry about that! Hopefully you can still make it out, because it is powerful and encouraging! I don't know about you, but I frequently feel my lack of strength spiritually. Not that I question my salvation, but sometimes I just don't feel strong in my faith. Like the ever-so-popular children's (and adult's) worship song, Jesus Loves Me says: "They (we) are weak but he is strong!" (now just picture a room full of 4-5 year olds singing that with only a handful of adults in the room, with heavy emphasis on the "strong". That's what I get to see almost every Sunday:) Anyway, to picture the Lord laying his arms and hands on mine and restoring my strength is a thing of great beauty to my soul. I'm falling deeper in love, people!

Okay, I have two more awesome tidbits to share with you. I received an ESV Study Bible for Christmas this year! And I've been using it nearly everyday (I'm trying to read through the New Testament this year). Just this morning, however, I decided to register my "online code" in order to view my Bible online. IT IS SO COOL! You are able to add notes, listen to a person read it (enthusiastically, I might add!), read the notes from the Study Bible, go directly to a linked verse, see a verse just by hovering over the bold type, and more! If you have a Study Bible, but, like me, you never registered your code, DO IT! You won't regret it. And if you don't have a Study Bible, I highly recommend one! It has been very helpful to me in understanding what was really going on in Bible times, and it has also helped me with theological questions that I've had.

Now for my last item: Faith Like Potatoes. I watched this movie with our small group on Friday night and it blew me away! It is a Christian film that is both encouraging and faith-building. There is one part in the movie that I had to close my eyes, and for families with younger kids, I would recommend fast-forwarding through, since it is a scene that involves an extremely traumatic circumstance. However, it really added a whole other dimension to the movie, and although it was hard to watch/hear, it was good for me. I hope to do a more full review on this movie later, but for now I'll leave it at that and add it to the "Favorite Movies" section of my profile ;)

Off to start my day!

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 ;)

Up

Today we went and saw "Up" at the Riverview Theater (matinee tickets are only $2!). It was really good. Both funny and sweet, it made me laugh and brought tears to my eyes. I really loved the first part that showed Mr. Fredrickson's (sp?) relationship with his wife. *Possible spoiler* I love it when he kisses her picture. So sweet!

Well, I have a bad cold, so I should get some rest.

Bye.

Funny little tidbit...

My mom has been planning our 2009-2010 school year recently. One of the things that she is planning to teach the younger kids about is the Revolutionary War. So, as preparatory material, she checked out the entire "Liberty's Kids" series of T.V. episodes from the library. Has anyone ever watched that show? It's an animated show that aired on PBS (I think). Each episode covers a different important issue during the Revolutionary War. There are three kids that live with Benjamin Franklin and are really involved in everything going on. Anyway, I remember watching it several years ago, thinking that the teenage girl was beautiful, but never really understanding the plot of each episode. The kids had already watched a few episodes, and then yesterday I was reading the back of the box it came in and saw that there were actually a bunch of famous actors that guest-starred in the show! Actors such as Ben Stiller (as Thomas Jefferson), Billy Crystal (as John Adams), Whoopi Goldburg (sp?) (I don't remember who she played) and--here's who made me want to watch it--SYLVESTER STALLONE! (as Paul Revere)!!! So, I was like, "Can we watch the one with him in it? Please??" And so we did. It was HILARIOUS! Kind of. I mean, I was really used to him as Rocky--you know, his signature slightly slurred, heavily accented way of speaking that is so endearing. But as Paul Revere, the slur and accent were (mostly) gone. It was still him though. I mean, his voice is always really deep, and it still sounded like him. Anyway, it was fun. =)

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!

Rocky

I watched Rocky Balboa today. *Sniff* "Why is that sad?" you may ask, or even "Why does that matter?" well, I'll answer both questions. First, it's sad, because my brother-in-law Ben and I have been watching the Rocky movies one by one and we are now out of movies. (Rocky Balboa is the last) Sure, we can re-watch them, and most likely will. But the point is that now I have seen them all (except the fifth one, because he told me that it is stupid, and that he and his family don't watch it) and, well, it won't ever really be the same. Which, I guess isn't that sad. And next, it matters because they are some of my favorite movies now. I know they can be pretty corny at times, but Rocky is SOOO SWEET! He just says the sweetest, funniest, most endearing things. If you have seen them, then you probably realize that by me just saying that, it gave away which one I like best. Rocky II. Watch it and tell me Rocky isn't sweet. That's impossible.