Tuesday, August 30, 2016

There's a smile in my cup!

Does anyone else get excited to finish a cup of milk just to see it smile back at you?  Or am I here just sheepishly raising my hand all alone?...Ok, so maybe it's just me. 
It's hard to believe that summer is practically over now.  And it has simply flown by at my house!  As you can tell, I've taken little time for blogging.  Between afternoons with friends, drives to the airport, weekends with family, and work, I have let a lot of writing responsibilities fall behind.  But there's so much to be thankful for in a full summer!  So much more than just a smiling cup of milk.  As I think about hurting people around the world who may have experienced a very painful, heart-breaking summer, I am reminded that I have more than I think I do....
And as much as I'm groaning that summer has already come to a close, I am so ready for fall!  I know that it's going to hold just as much to be thankful for.  Isn't God GOOD to give us so many things to be thankful for?!  I think He likes variety and little smiley surprises through each day.  Life is the little things.

Thank you, God, for the little things.

Friday, August 19, 2016

"Now what?"

"Now what?"  
"What are your future plans?"
"Have you finished school yet?" 
"Where are you hoping to go to college?"

If you have graduated at all recently, these questions are really familiar to you.  Everyone asks this stuff constantly.  I am a homeschooler, 2016-ish graduate, and 18-year-old.  Everyone wants to know what my plans are.  Let's just be honest for a second.  Questions of this variety get old really fast.  What if I don't have plans?  What if I don't know what I'm supposed to do or where I'm supposed to be yet?  This time of life can be a bit overwhelming because so many options, decisions, and changes lie ahead.  It's both scary and exciting.

However, I do appreciate the interest from so many friends.  I am thankful to be surrounded by so many great people who care about me!

So what are my plans?  Have I graduated?  The answer is...I am a homeschooler.

This simply means that being graduated is not a fine, black/white line.  There is always more to learn. At the moment, I am mostly graduated, which is exciting, but complicated to explain.  I hope to use this fall to finish out high-school requirements and get a head-start on college classes.  I have, at least temporarily, decided to pursue an education major and photojournalism minor as well.

I am currently signed up for the Dr Pepper scholarship tuition with the possibility of college in the near future.  If you'd like to vote for me, follow the link and vote so I can go to the next level of this competition!

I don't know what all God has for my future, but I know that I want to live in a way that is productive and glorifying to Him. I want Him to use me as an inspiration and encouragement to others.  My goal in life is not to get people to look at me and see what I have accomplished.  Rather, I want others to know that God can do great things through Small people.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Take time

Take time to be holy, speak oft with the Lord;
Abide in Him always and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let Him be they guide,
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow still follow thy Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul--
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
You know, the American life promotes speed.  We want faster cars, higher speed limits, instant food, and shorter meetings.  We multi-task a lot and try to cram in as much as possible through the week.  Although this life-style allows us to experience a lot of variety, we don't get enough of anything.  Everything happens so quickly that we don't really get to know people, become skilled in our talents, or appreciate and enjoy life as fully as we could otherwise.

Consequently, we skip over our Spiritual needs.  The days are so full and stressful that we have little or no time to just be in God's presence.  We do whatever we have to in order to "get by."  Is this what God wants from us?  Is this why He died?  I am ashamed to say that I am no better.  I easily become consumed with life, schedules, and to-do lists that time in God's presence doesn't get the priority.

However, Take Time to be Holy suggests a different way.  I love the sort of progression in this hymn. First, we are to speak with Him often and spend regular time eating up His Word.  Having like-minded friends and helping the weak also encourages us to be accountable and to live a life that is consistent.  Second, we are responsible to cut regular time out of ordinarily busy days to learn more of becoming Christ-like.  Third, there is a warning to not be too anxious.  Even in our spiritual lives we want speed.  We want our prayers to be answered quickly, we want to have patience now, and we want everything to be easy immediately.  But God doesn't work on our time.  Finally, there is a calling to live it out.  Being a Christian doesn't just mean reading the Bible and praying.  It's practicing that life every day and growing on that solid foundation.
So it's ok to not commit to everything.  It's ok to cut things out...as long as it's not the Word and it's influence on our lives.


Friday, August 5, 2016

Musical obsessions

A few days ago a question from "The Ultimate Gift" (which we had just watched) was raised: "What would be your perfect day?"  At the time I didn't really have anything specific in mind.  Days filled with friends, family, memories, laughter, and even tears are always good...

Then last Saturday happened.  And glitter fell on my day after a bit of a rough morning.  5 of us were in the car on the way to "a concert" in Seattle.  I wasn't feeling especially pumped about this concert.  The drive was long (just like it always is) and concerts are expensive.  I had no idea that this was no ordinary concert, though.  These were people I actually "knew" and stalked--The Piano Guys!!  (Who happen to be one of my greatest obsessions right now, and it's only getting worse.)  Travel time and pricey tickets all faded to the back because I was about to experience my favorite music group in person!  

AHAHA I NEED THIS.  LIKE.  ON A POSTER.  OR SOMETHING.  SERIOUSLY.: As I described it to a friend, think of The Piano Guys' music as a perfect rainy day.  (Anyone who knows me well knows that I love rainy days...if you didn't know that, you probably don't know me as well as you thought you did.)  So here we are with their music already topping out.  But then add a thunderstorm and power outage, which greatly improve that perfect rainy day....and that's what it's like to see them perform.
[Sorry about the bad-quality pictures.  We weren't allowed to have good cameras at the concert, which ended up being a good thing.  Knowing me, I tend to spend memorable moments trying to get really good pictures rather than truly enjoying the moment.  Without my DSLR, I was able to be there completely and without distraction.  However, I still occasionally pulled out the phone and snapped a couple for the sake of recording the memory.  Thus, with the distance we were at, the zoom fuzzes the pictures some.]

Maybe you're wondering...
  • Why did I not blog about this sooner?  It's hard to come up with just the right words that match enthusiasm.  :)
  • So I've done it once and gotten it over with.  That's good enough, right?  Actually, no.  Now that I know how amazing they are in concert, I want to go again and again and again and...ok, you get the point.
  • Was it the best day of my life?  Well, I couldn't say that with absolute confidence, but it was dangerously close.
  • Was it the best concert I've ever attended?  It was definitely among the top, but it's hard to compare to, say, the symphony because they both uplift and inspire in different ways.
  • What made this so amazing?  First, they were hilarious.  And it wasn't pathetic and fake sounding, like they had practiced all their lines.  Everything sounded impromptu.  Second, it was obvious that they were really enjoying the music, being together, and performing.  It's pretty noticeable in their videos, but it doesn't change in person.  Finally and most importantly, they were humble and gave credit to God.  They weren't ashamed or afraid to say that.
  • Why should you go to their concert?  Because you'll realize how worth it it is.  Yes, it's expensive, but it's a memory that lasts.  And their talents are nothing to laugh at.  (unless you're laughing because it seems impossible.)  Besides, their music and attitudes are very uplifting.
  • Is it really worth it?  YES.  And that's coming from someone who is naturally a money saver.  I generally get mildly stressed when a family member or myself spends money on unnecessary things.  So here I am saying that this one is worth it even though it seems financially painful at first.
Mom, Johannah, me, Keren, and Tirzah
This was Johannah's first concert of any kind ever.  (Let's all take this moment to stare awkwardly at her and wonder what planet she's actually from.)
Jon Schmidt can really play the piano upside down!  (Steve doesn't seem impressed.)
YES, they even played all around the piano!  "Ants Go Marching" and "What Makes You Beautiful".
There were real bagpipers for "Amazing Grace/Fight Song" too!!!
And, just in case attending their concert wasn't exciting enough, we also got to be among the first to hear a new song, "Okay," which they have written.  This has not been released yet, so only people on their current tours get to hear it!  "Okay" will be on their next CD, "Uncharted," which will be released on October 28th!!!!  (Not like I'm counting down or anything...)  You can pre-order it here and actually get it on that date.  (Which I have not done.)

Many thanks to my sisters who made this happen.  Can we go to their London concert next?

Monday, August 1, 2016

Home theater

Summer: Noun.  The season for doing things a little differently and daily "wasting" time on making memories of all variations.

Last week my sister and I finally did something that I've been wanting to do for over a year now: create our own outdoor theater!  I really wanted to do this last summer, but we were busy and I wasn't sure where to find all the cords and such.  (And looking was just too hard, I guess.)

But a friend asked if we could do a special outing or something together, and I suggested outdoor theater in our back yard.  Since she thought that sounded cool, I really had to pull myself together to find all the equipment and make it happen...and we got it all put together before dark!  (Not without much help and experimenting along the way.)  Watching a movie outside was a new experience for me, and it was rewarding and fun.  For the opening night, we gave out free tickets, too.  Only 5 people attended, but it was just right for the size of our trampoline.  :)
Many thanks to our most amazing neighbors who provided the movie for our show--"The Ultimate Gift."  It's a movie I can highly recommend!  It shows what the real gifts in life are and how much we really have even without physical stuff.
You can't see it from this distance, but we should note that our pre-show music was Piano Guys!

Many sleeping bags and pillows help make a night cozy, though still somewhat sleepless.