I will not give him the chance...

Satan pulled a number on me today. Lousy test score, bad attitude about it, long confrontation, lost volleyball game, lost soccer game and a friends lost soccer game. All minor things in the big picture but for today these things were life and Satan used them to color my heart.

But tonight I was reminded of real life. A life that proclaims God as sovereign and supreme. A Life that will not allow Satan to have a foothold and denies him the chance to even penetrate the heart. Praise God for friends who I can worship with, laugh with and pray with. Praise God for this reminder of the awesome nature of free life in Him. Praise God for this community that acts as a shield against the powers that be.

On the way home I heard this chorus by ZOEgirl:

I may be misunderstood cause I wouldn't ever fake it
You're the only one who understands my pain
It doesn't matter what they do, what they think, what they say
At the end of the day I'm okay anyway
Cause Lord, You get me.

At the end of the day I'm ok. Praise God for the end of the day!

Be blessed!!!

New Song

Just a side note: We won our first softball game yesterday-the other team didn't show up :o)
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Song for right now. If you click on the song title it will take you to the page where you can listen to the song. Here are the lyrics.

"Stand"

You feel like a candle in a hurricane
Just like a picture with a broken frame
Alone and helpless
Like you've lost your fight
But you'll be alright

[Chorus:]
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand, Then you stand

Life's like a novel
With the end ripped out
The edge of a canyon
With only one way down
Take what you're given before its gone
Start holding on, keep holding on

Everytime you get up
And get back in the race
One more small piece of you
Starts to fall into place

******

I really like this song. The message of this song is powerful. The bridge at the end is what really gets me. I have never really thought about what it means to your character when you persevere. I have always admired people who have been through great adversity and come out on top but I never thought about what that means for me. When I am faced with trials, big or small, pushing through them builds my character. I feel stronger. Things fall into place. I fall into place. I like this song. I will always stand!

Be blessed!!!

Too small...

...so I had a whole post written out but now I'm frustrated that it got erased.

hope you have a good day and may all your post be published successfully!

Be Blessed!

The Sentinel

This is a still shot from Kiefer Southerland's new movie The Sentinel, co-starring Michael Douglas. I went to see this movie last night with a couple of friends and some guys from the youth group at Highland. We had fun eating and watching the movie. I think the general consensus was it was an Ok movie but it was no 24.

regardless of the movie, we had a lot of fun hanging out. There is a picture further down of all of us before we ate. I have no explanation for the men in this picture.

In other news, life is going well. Graduation is about 3 weeks away. I'm excited about it but also cherishing the times I get to spend with my friends. We have had a lot of fun the last four years and have experienced life together so these last three weeks are going to be important to spend together.

Life is Good. God is good. Love God and love his people.

How can it be?

Life as an undergraduate student is almost over. How can it be that the life ahead of me can be so exciting and so scary at the same time? I can't wait to go to Belton and meet new people and allow God to guide me as I embark upon a new group and a new adventure. I'm nervous about life beyond college. What will it be like with out all of my friends around all the time? What will it be like to only hear about the relationships they develop and not get to observe them and encourage them in those? What will it be like to move past the "college desires"i.e. a relationship, a mentor, late nights with roommates, etc.? Scary. What does the world hold for me? What does God have in store? I don't know. I'm excited. I'm scared! It's gonna be a grand adventure, life. I can't wait!

Be Blessed!!!

2 Down 5 to go...

What a great book. I just finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. It's like entering a whole different world when you start reading these books. I often find myself caught up in the action of the words on the page, as if it were this grand adventure that I have been invited into. Traveling with the characters and experiencing the unknown as they do. Maybe you think I'm being silly, but I would invite you to read the book. If you will let yourself you could also experience the world of Narnia as if you were a little kid hearing of the Great Lion and the White Witch and the Kings and Queens and the rivers and mountains and battles and so much more. Try it....

On of the great things about this book, in my opinion, was the conversation between Lucy and Susan toward the end. After they won the battle with Aslan's help, and after Edmund had been healed, this is what the girls say...

"Does he know," whispered Lucy to Susan, "What Aslan did for him? Does he know what the arrangement with the White Witch really was?"

"Hush! No. Of course not," said Susan.

"Oughtn't he to be told?" said Lucy.

"Oh, surly not," said Susan. "It would be too awful for him. Think how you'd feel if you were he."

"All the same, I think he ought to know," said Lucy.

If you are not familiar with the book, or the movie, then you might not understand this conversation. You see the girls are talking about Edmund and whether or not he should be told that Aslan gave himself in Edmund's stead.

This book is littered with biblical references but here is one that, for whatever reason, connected with me this morning.

If you didn't know the story you wouldn't understand the sacrifice. How much more important is it then for us to tell the story. As Christians we preach the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf, but with no background, no history, no frame of reference the meaning is faded and lacks impact. We have to tell the story for those who don't know to understand.

At the same time, we have to tell of the sacrifice. For Edmund to have known Aslan gave his life on his behalf makes the victory that much sweeter. It brings the story to life and makes it personal. The story that we tell connects to the sacrifice and together the two halves make a sweet song.

Be Blessed today!!!

Bits and pieces

Well I'm in class holdin' up the D row alone. Don't you worry. I got it! We are talking about Therese of Lisieux. I like her. She wants it all. I'm down with that.

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We lost our game last night. It was a good match up. We went into Rally Scoring in the middle of the 2nd game. If you know anything about Volleyball rally scoring usually happens in the first 5 min of the 3rd game if you get that far. It was fun but disappointing.

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I got new pictures of Ty in my email this morning! PRECIOUS! I love that baby boy! I have been working on slide for my Lynay Senior Speech today and I have the cutest slide of Ty Baby! If you have any pictures of me with you or a group of people send them to me! I would love to have them. Also the slide show has been updated.

Shower of Blessings...

Thursday afternoon and evening easily made it into the top 5 best days of my life. It was such a joy to share stories and games, to love and be loved on, and to simply enjoy some great moments with friends and professors. This Senior Blessing experience has truly shown me that ACU is the best place I could have gone to school. Senior Blessing was the ACU difference. Calling Professors by their first names, playing games and sharing stories of successes and mishaps in ministry. Reading letters that brought tears to my eyes and hearing stories that did the same. I am so excited about life right now. I am living with this grand anticipation of what God is doing in the lives of my friends. So many great dreams and goals were shared and I love to see and hear how God is working. With this graduating class I know the kingdom is going to be blessed.

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I got to talk with a good friend last night. It had been a while but I loved hearing his story and his future plans. His story only added to the many I heard on Thursday. He will be spending the majority traveling around Europe and in Africa having fun and serving the Lord with one of his best friends. Please keep these two in your prayers as they prepare to be a modern day Paul and Silas.

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It was a race and I forgot about it. Go check out the lyrics of the song My Wish on Jonathan Paul's blog. I hope they will bless and encourage you as they did me.

Be Blessed

Never was a Cubs fan...

...until Tuesday. I got the pleasure of watching Ben Mills play little league baseball a couple of days ago. What fun it was to see the sea of blue uniforms scurry around the field not quite sure where to throw the ball, and assuming they did know where to thrown it, not know if the time spent playing catch with dad would prove muscle enough to get the ball across the field. They were precious. There are some pictures in the slide show to the right.

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Last night in our 8th grade class we hit a hard topic. Abortion. This is our second time to discuss this topic-sort of an annual thing. It went really well. We had a small group of girls and they ask some really good questions. The whole point of talking about it is to prepare their hearts, minds, and speech for difficult situations that may not be a reality now, but as they go to High School and get older it will be very real. I got to engage in some role play with the girls a little bit. I was the friend who was going to have an abortion and we just conversed over how they would react to that situation. They are smart girls and I could tell they were thinking about it.

God, as these girls enter into a world that is so tainted with worldly decisions and the consequence they bring, keep our kids safe. Protect them from the temptations of Satan and shield them from situations like this. God I pray that if you do chose to allow them to be in this sort of situation, be the words they speak and the love they show. Give them the courage and faith to do the right thing and the strength to endure the race. Thanks you for your love God and help them to show that love to all their friends no matter what situation they find themselves in. Amen

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TMB made my day! Senior Blessing later! It doesn't get better than this!

Be Blessed!!!

Game Stats:

We played hard we got close but didn't pull it out this time! We'll get them next week.

Game 1
Kai-O: 12 Kojie Pink: 15

Game 2
Kaio-O:15 Kojie Pink: 17

I hurt my neck so pray that it's just a little pull and will get better really soon.

Be Blessed!!!

Alive...

What a great weekend. Got to see a bunch of awesome teens that I hadn't seen in a while in Arlington, got to watch Bree's team in a playoff game for soccer, got to hang out with Elizabeth for a while, got to see my summer family again, got to spend some time with my new friends fellowshipping and praising God, got to take part in an awesome devo, got to play some volleyball with some great girls and finally, I got to see God in a hundred different ways this weekend! Here's two things from this weekend that really resonated and continue to surface in my thoughts:

"Sometimes we sing our theology better than we say it and live it." -DP

I like this because I have always thought that music says things we can't find the words to say. One song in particular that I think about is Shield About Me. I love the imagery in the line "your my glory, your the lifter of my head..." I love the picture of me sitting in God's lap and him taking his mighty hand and gently lifting my chin up, looking into my heart through my eyes and sending his love.

The other quote is: "Jesus had dirty feet." -JP

So simple but so loaded with truth.

What a great day to be alive!

Be Blessed!!