What An Opportunity!

School has resumed and so far..well...it's been a tad stressful. I wasn't too concerned beforehand because usually the first week is pretty light. Generally they go over the syllabus, get to know everyone, etc. Not with these classes. Nope! Full blown in the first week. This has made it pretty tricky in trying to juggle "motherhood" with school. LOL! But it's working out. Anyway, speech class started yesterday. I was a little nervous but excited at the same time. I don't have a problem playing the piano or singing in front of people, but I am apprehensive to speak in front of people. I'm looking forward to gain the necessary skills in this area. My first speech for the class is next Wednesday. It has to be 1-3 minutes long and it has to be about an artifact that means something to me. I have to explain what it is (by showing it) and tell why it's important to me. My first thought was "My Bible!" What an opportunity! I can totally give my testimony in speech class! At first I thought, " Well.....hmm. It's a secular college and I don't know how that will blow over." Then Romans 1:16 came to my mind. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;..." There is NO way I am going to pass up this awesome opportunity that the Lord has just plopped in my lap! I am super stoked about it. :-D Please pray that the Lord will give me the exact words to say. I've already had a couple of opportunities to speak with people in the class which didn't happen in my previous classes. I am praying that I'll have opportunities to have spiritual conversations with these people. After all, the quarter has only just begun so who knows what the Lord will open up.

Warning

Every once in a while I hop over to www.wayoflife.org, a website by David Cloud. He thoroughly researches topics and has a lot of really good information. Warnings, exhortations, etc. Today I stopped by his site and saw his most recent article. It was of particular interest to me because I have greatly enjoyed the music from West Coast in the past. While I still enjoy the good music they've produced in the past, I think it is important that we be aware of the direction they are heading. I hope you'll take the time to read this article. I personally find it very disappointing. http://www.wayoflife.org/adaptingccm/index.html

Life Resumes...

This morning greeted me with sunshine and an only slightly swollen jaw. I felt WAY better than I have every morning since my surgery! I can't say that I am fully recovered, but I am probably...hm.......90%? I was very grateful for this feeling because today demanded that I be on my feet, no matter how I was feeling. Today was pretty much the "do all those things you need to do before school starts" day. Accomplishments: Clean house, clean ROOM, organized desk (YES! I love it.), mostly filled out visa application, almost halfway finished with a printing job, an awesome time chatting with Kali and Maggie (although I don't consider that a task. Except when they are laughing at me trying to eat cake!!) and other various things. Oh and did I mention I'm "Mom" for the week? Another reason I'm glad to be up and about. Praise the Lord for His strength during this past week! Onto a new week as school, and life in general, resumes.

Two weeks?

I have been "down and out" sitting on this couch for almost two weeks. Granted, I had a little in between time during which I went skiing. For almost an entire week I was sick with whatever bug was spreading around the island. And I do mean the whole island! I went into Walmart to get some Dayquil and the shelf was almost empty! That's pretty sad. Once this flu that turned into a cold went away I was all excited. Well enough to go skiing! YAY!

Then what did I get myself into the DAY AFTER I went skiing? Yup....wisdom teeth removal. All four. Brilliant huh? My inability to move had nothing to do with the surgery. Oh no. It came from numerous times of falling off that snowboard. *sigh* I think that soreness has finally ebbed. First day after surgery was a-ok. A little achy, but I was quite pleased with the result. Then came day two. Dundundun. The worst day so far. (That was yesterday). My brother didn't have issues with nausea so I was surprised to have that come upon me. After a whole day and a half of that, I am feeling on the mend. Now the goal is to get off that prescription pain medication. Mom leaves late tonight then I'll be left to fend for myself for the rest of my recovery. Becca has been a great little nurse too but it's just not quite the same as Mom you know? Alrighty, well I thank everyone who has been praying for me. It has helped immensely! Hopefully next time I write I will be all chipper but less "Chipmunk like". LOL

Ouch. Can't.....move....

Today was a great experience in my life. I went skiing/snowboarding for the first time. Hence, the title. I am so sore I can barely walk. Should make tomorrow fun! (Wisdom teeth).

I didn't take any pictures. It was kind of hard in the moment to pull out a camera. Many memories were recorded, but only I can recall them as they are stuck in my head and not in print. I started out snowboarding. I had to give it a try, especially since everyone said it was much harder. I didn't want to avoid it just because it sounded hard. After some attempts on the bunny slope I finally ventured onto the "easy" normal slope. Getting on and off the lift was hard enough with a snowboard, but after immediately getting off and seeing this enormous drop I thought "I'm toast!" I couldn't help but wonder why it was the "easy" path. I would hate to go down the hard one! After three runs on the snowboard with gliding a few feet, fall, glide, fall, glide, fall, etc. you get the idea, I decided to switch to skis. I wasn't having a very good time with that snowboard but was still glad that I had tried it.

Onto skis I went! Anna helped me up to the bunny slope, upon which I was terrible! She believed in me and encouraged me to go up the lift and try the slope. Even though I was scared out of my wits, I am glad I did. That first time is always the hardest. My first run down was.....amusing. Anna had a good time at least. :-) I fell frequently and often looked like a helicopter. But I was determined to at least get the hang of skiing if I couldn't get snowboarding. Each run got a little better, and I even did a few runs with no falling at all! That was a huge deal for me. :-D All in all, I had a blast! Lesson for today: Never avoid trying something because it sounds hard and keep an open mind, but be aware of when it's just not working for ya. :-) Yay for skiing!

Victor Borge, The History Of Piano

If any of you have not seen anything by Victor Borge, you are truly missing something in your life. :-) He is great!! I laugh every single time I watch something of his. I hope you enjoy this clip. It's one of my favorites.

Finished!

This is out I feel right now....
My first quarter of school is OVER! :-D It went by oh so fast. Onto the next! Next quarter's classes include Speech, Intro to Humanities, Western Civ, and piano lessons. It's more credits than I took this quarter but hopefully the load will be a little lighter since I won't be commuting three days a week.

Spring break should be exciting. It holds for me a snowboarding trip (I've never gone before!) and having my wisdom teeth removed. Before I know it, school will be back in session. As much work as it is, I have thoroughly enjoyed being back in school. I am a very goal-oriented person so I love having something to work toward each quarter. It's very rewarding. Not to mention the long-term benefits!

Well, I'm off to enjoy the evening with NO school to think about! *insert HUGE grin here*

Friend or Foe?

We have a new member to the household. She's very small.....smaller than Chester. This is cause for jealousy. Or is it? He actually wasn't quite sure what to make of the little hamster (Rebecca just got this hamster. The name is Cocoa.) and at first he was a little skittish. He would peer inside the box at the little furball and sniff. All of a sudden he realized that it's a little rodent and his natural tendencies came out. (Christopher said I should have said "instinct" instead of "tendencies" but I'm sticking with my instinct and putting "tendencies".) He started nipping at the ball as she rolled around but he's still a scaredy cat. It will be intersting to see how their relationship develops over time. Either they will be friends or we will have an endless (one-sided) battle on our hands.

An Exciting Summer!

I have already mentioned this to some of you, but I wanted to make an official announcement that I will be going to Thailand this summer to help the Gaudets in their ministry! The Lord laid it on my heart and my church's heart to send me there for a few months. Here's the story:

Last October we had our Missions Month here at Bible Baptist Church. The Lord really began to open my eyes through the preaching and did a work in my heart. I began to really examine myself. Am I truly willing to do whatEVER is required? If He would have me to marry a preacher or a missionary, would I be willing to go to a field that is "inconvenient"? Away from family and away from the American culture that I love? Would I be willing right NOW to do something in the area of missions? You see, the Lord had already been preparing me even before missions month. I knew that this coming up summer would be my "last summer" before I really dug into working full time and all that. So I thought instead of getting a job for a few months in the summer I will take the summer "off" so to speak and use it for ministry/fun. ie. HWY 20 project, Youth Camp, spending some time with the Waldrons, spending time with family, visiting Maine. All these grand and glorious plans were swirling around in my head. The Lord then began to plant the seed in my heart of giving my "free summer" to a missions trip. Afterall, at this time in my life I am free and available to be used. I'm single, I don't have a job to tie me down, there are people at the church that could pick up the piano playing.

I went to Pastor with my new excitement and he assured me that there would be opportunities some time this summer for me to be involved on some sort of missions trip. That all took place at the beginning of the month. At some time during that month Bro. Gaudet came and presented his ministry. I had heard him before, but this time it was with a different perspective. He began to tell of the unique ministry they have there in Thailand and I was so intrigued! What a fascinating ministry! Translating, printing, etc. I thought of how much I would love to go to Thailand to help with that ministry. But I didn't mention it to anyone. I didn't want to "tell the Lord what to do". I thought, if it's His will, Pastor will know.

TADA! Not too long after that, Pastor approached me with the option of going to Thailand to help the Gaudets. :-D I love how the Lord is so clear in His direction. I will be leaving a few days after school lets out for the summer and will arrive back in just enough time to recover before school resumes. :-) So....about three months. I am SO excited at the opportunities the Lord has for me this summer. Not only am I expecting to learn A LOT and to gain a better understanding of the mission field, but I am excited to go there and be used in such a way.

Recital Time!

Ok...so I know you've all been sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear about my recital. :-p Just kidding. One thing is for sure, I was riding on wings of prayer and I thank all those that were praying. This was the most nervous I have ever been for a piano performance. I repeat, EVER!!! As I was backstage waiting to go out I was literally shaking but praying. And praying hard. As I sat there I briefly reviewed my starting notes before I began playing. I then realized, "*gasp! I've forgotten what comes after that!!!" Relying on the Lord, I just began. With a few minor blips, He helped me get through and I was even halfway satisfied with the piece. That's way more than what I expected! Playing a piece from memory is sooooo different from playing with music. ahhh! So now the first college recital is over and hopefully it's smooth sailing from here. Enjoy!



The lid was left down from the performance before of me and I didn't even notice till I was already playing. Very frustrating...

Is It A Monday?!

For those of you who read my post last Monday you probably thought when you read this title "Oh no...what happened this Monday? " Don't deny it! You were thinking that! :-) But that's ok. I can definitely tell you, today didn't feel very Monday-ish (Is that a word?). It was totally opposite from last Monday! I don't have much time (Paper due by tonight and I haven't started!) but I will share with you some of the blessings.

I woke up this morning praying to the Lord about my day. Afterall, without his help, it would end up just like last Monday for sure! I left the house at 8:30 and went down to the church to piano practice. I've been practicing SO much this week preparing for my recital. Let's just say, it paid off! I went to lessons today kind of hesitant. After all, this is it! I played for my teacher, and she barely critiqued it! She had nothing but good things to say about it! Praise the Lord! Also, I had shared with some of you my reserves about going to school as a piano major. I feel I am not going into this with tons of experience, and with my ignorance, thought I was WAY below most of the other piano majors. This is not a competition thing for me, rather the insecurity in my level of ability and really what's ahead for me as I go to college. I mentioned this to her and she assured me that most of the piano majors aren't even at my level when they first come in. Boy, did that make me feel better! That in and of itself boosted my confidence. (Insert huge smile here) I didn't do much playing at lessons today, mostly talking. But it's what I needed. She really helped me focus on where I want to go with my piano education and how I can get the best education for what I want to do, which is teach piano. I'll explain more about all that in another post.

As I walked out of Hodson Hall I breathed a whiff of freshly cut grass. Oh, how I love thee!!!! SPRING! Well, almost. I then headed to choir which was so fun. Not the heading over part. :-) But the choir part. I was able to get acquainted with another girl who is a piano major (There are only six of us) and we seem to have a lot in common! She is also a new teacher so that was fun to swap stories. I look forward to getting to know her better since we're doing a duet this next quarter. Praying for the Lord to open up a door to talk about spiritual things.

I then went to my Oral Surgeon appt. This was not a good time of my day. Learned it's WAY expensive to have my wisdom teeth extracted. But...it needs to be done. And soon! It's really getting painful.

(In between all these things there are numerous little busy things filling in the time.) To end my day I went to the Ladies Bible Fellowship. Mrs. S. taught a wonderful devotion on friendship! It just brought my day to a wonderful close as I talked with friends and was encouraged by them. Now, I am off to write a paper. Only three papers left to write in this quarter! Woohoo!!! :-)

A World We Never Touch

This song has SUCH a powerful message! It's very convicting to say the least. I have not been able to find the sheet music to this song (much to my disappointment) so if anyone knows of where I can find it, please let me know!

There Is Hope

This song is very high up on my "favorites list". These girls are not only wonderful singers, but you can tell they mean what they sing! I hope you'll look up the Victorious Valley Girls. They've been a favorite in our house for years. I hope this song is a blessing.

Thai Food

So I've begun to prepare for Thailand by searching for some Thai recipes. If anyone has any good ones (I know several of my readers have gone to Thailand before) I would love to try them! Tonight I made Pork Satay with Thai noodles and Garlic Butter Green Beans. Not exactly on the healthy side, but delicious either way!

On a different note, on Monday I have an appt. to meet with the oral surgeon to see about getting my wisdom teeth taken out. :-( After watching Josh go through this a few months ago, I am NOT looking forward to this whole process. But it must be done, and frankly I'm glad to get it over with.

Happy Birthday, Kali!

Kali.........You are greatly missed! I miss our times of staying up late to bake something just for the sake of baking. I miss decorating cakes together and laughing at your perfectionism. (teehee) I miss the loooong talks about everything and nothing. I miss taking self-portraits together (oh so many!) Even though you're across the mountains, know that you're missed. A LOT! Know that you're loved. A LOT! Happy Birthday, Kali!
(How is it that I'm always on the right when we take pictures together? I just noticed that. haha funny!)