I'm truly learning to take everything to the Lord and His Word. Every thought, idea, belief I have or someone puts before me must be brought before Him and shaken and purged to see what stands, to see what is gold. I'm tired of being swayed by it all- the Word stands and cannot be burned. I'm just so thankful that I have it and I'm thankful for the cloud of witnesses that went before me to spread it and translate it and gave their lives that I could have the Word of God in my heart language. I'm so spoiled.
Being done school is the highlight of my life right now! I am seriously so happy this semester is over!
As of right now my plans are to take off from school till further notice. This semester was just like insanity- between the three online classes, Tuesday night class, driving to Coatesville on Thursdays, Sr. High ministry, College and Career, church, the friends that I never get to see, the 30 cousins that are all offended if we don't hang all together every three seconds, the house in which I clean and cook, the three brothers and sisters, mom, dad, eight chickens, oh yeah, and that grandmom that I take care of who spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital these past three months, and then there's also this very important blog that I keep that keeps everyone on the edge of their seat waiting for me to update every day! well, between all that my life has been a little on the stressful side- and so I thought, I might as well stop going to school until I can actually really go to school, if I'm even supposed to ever go to school! I really don't know if that is something God has for me- college is sincerely not for everyone, and I don't want to waste my time striving for that if it's something God doesn't even have for me.
And so, long story short-
I'm a quitter
a college drop out
a failure
but whatever! I'm so excited to be done, to have time for all of those two hundred other things I do- to have a life! I'm so happy!
And so, I'll leave you with a verse or two that I'm loving:
"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self,[fn3] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
and give no opportunity to the devil.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Therefore do not associate with them;
for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."
Well, basically that's Ephesians 4-5:21
I love Ephesians
Oh, and since I don't go to school, I have time to bake..and be jealous- THIS is in the oven!
As of right now my plans are to take off from school till further notice. This semester was just like insanity- between the three online classes, Tuesday night class, driving to Coatesville on Thursdays, Sr. High ministry, College and Career, church, the friends that I never get to see, the 30 cousins that are all offended if we don't hang all together every three seconds, the house in which I clean and cook, the three brothers and sisters, mom, dad, eight chickens, oh yeah, and that grandmom that I take care of who spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital these past three months, and then there's also this very important blog that I keep that keeps everyone on the edge of their seat waiting for me to update every day! well, between all that my life has been a little on the stressful side- and so I thought, I might as well stop going to school until I can actually really go to school, if I'm even supposed to ever go to school! I really don't know if that is something God has for me- college is sincerely not for everyone, and I don't want to waste my time striving for that if it's something God doesn't even have for me.
And so, long story short-
I'm a quitter
a college drop out
a failure
but whatever! I'm so excited to be done, to have time for all of those two hundred other things I do- to have a life! I'm so happy!
And so, I'll leave you with a verse or two that I'm loving:
"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self,[fn3] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
and give no opportunity to the devil.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Therefore do not associate with them;
for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."
Well, basically that's Ephesians 4-5:21
I love Ephesians
Oh, and since I don't go to school, I have time to bake..and be jealous- THIS is in the oven!
I was just reading in my history textbook about the reconstruction period in America..."In 1856, John Rapier, a free black barber in Florence, Alabama, urged his freeborn sons to flee the increasingly repressive and dangerous South. Searching for a color-blind society..."- I literally thought that they were looking for a society where people were only color-blind, as in, could not see colors correctly...I must need more coffee, or to be done school
So I've never really used that "next blog" button at the top of Blogger to check out other blogs- I mean, every blog I read is stimulating enough, but since it's 12:06 at night and I have a paper to write, it would make perfect sense that since no one has updated their blog in the last hour I'm going to have to find different one's to procrastinate by reading...
Well, the next ten blogs that it led me to were all of these parenting blogs- like for all of these mom's who have so much free time on their hands raising their three toddlers to blog and I was almost mocking them when I had this revelation...
I am them...
but with my 79 year old toddler...yikes
I need a life...
Well, the next ten blogs that it led me to were all of these parenting blogs- like for all of these mom's who have so much free time on their hands raising their three toddlers to blog and I was almost mocking them when I had this revelation...
I am them...
but with my 79 year old toddler...yikes
I need a life...
So I've had an insane week including house guests and tons of homework that didn't get done and missing school books and fun times with friends and picnics and football games and fall and hospital visits and needing to get a new license and turning 21 and going to Coatesville and drinking Bubble tea and car accidents literally the day after my car got inspected and being very very tired and having class tonight...yikes
it all sounds about how I feel at this point...please pray
also, pray, I was asked to teach a class of Kindergarteners the Bible on Thursdays at Coatesville, but I don't know if I should teach or be a helper like I was before and I'm supposed to get back to them...I've never taught anything in my life, can barely tell a story, and have no skill in explaining a concept if my life depended on it- so if I'm looking at it from a pure physical sense than I know I cannot do this...BUT...if God wants me to He will make me able...so...I need some wisdom and peace...k?
love you all insanely
it all sounds about how I feel at this point...please pray
also, pray, I was asked to teach a class of Kindergarteners the Bible on Thursdays at Coatesville, but I don't know if I should teach or be a helper like I was before and I'm supposed to get back to them...I've never taught anything in my life, can barely tell a story, and have no skill in explaining a concept if my life depended on it- so if I'm looking at it from a pure physical sense than I know I cannot do this...BUT...if God wants me to He will make me able...so...I need some wisdom and peace...k?
love you all insanely
I saw Emilee Grace off on the bus today for her very first day of kindergarten. Of course, she's been going to school since she was born so this isn't as exciting as it would be- but it is her first day on the bus. I took pics and texted them to my mom. I blew kisses to Jeremiah as his friends picked him up for his first day of his Senior Year. I'm probably going to get punched when he gets home (but it was worth it...)
Today my goals are to clean my house (thank goodness the kids are finally back to school, maybe I'll have some sanity around here- oh wait, I live with a demented 79 year old!), read Huck Finn, bake cookies, make a budget, and go to church tonight- we'll see how far I get on all of this.
My friends are amazing. My God is amazing. He knows what is best for me and for that I am thankful.
“For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:10
"[[A Psalm.]] O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." Psalm 98:1
Today my goals are to clean my house (thank goodness the kids are finally back to school, maybe I'll have some sanity around here- oh wait, I live with a demented 79 year old!), read Huck Finn, bake cookies, make a budget, and go to church tonight- we'll see how far I get on all of this.
My friends are amazing. My God is amazing. He knows what is best for me and for that I am thankful.
“For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:10
"[[A Psalm.]] O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." Psalm 98:1
