To all of you I say "Thank You"

A close friend of mine is going through some major health issues at the moment. Her trials inspired me to take a moment and tell each of you how much you mean to me. Those who read this blog are teammates, classmates, dorm mates, teachers, coaches, and friends and relatives. Each of you has played a significant role in my life, and for that I give God praise and glory. You have given me godly advice, unconditional love, many prayers, and a shoulder to lean on. Bethanie always gave me a hard time in college because I constantly referred to this friend or that one as "one of my best friends". It is true, God has blessed me with such an enormous circle of friends that I consider to be my best, closest friends. I wish I could even put in words the gratitude and love I feel, both to God and toward all of you. Most of you are hundreds of miles away, but I send you, as best as I can, my love and appreciation.

Deuteronomy 10:16-17

Sheesh, I forgot again! Here are Monday's verses...


Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.

Who knows what a quarter rabbit is?

Well I don't think there is such a thing actually. Amanda was reading an alphabet book to Jack and
said "Queens with quarter rabbits on roller skates." I said, "what's a quarter rabbit and why does a queen have them on her skates?" Ha, ha, ha....funny...it was supposed to be "Queens with quarters, (next page) rabbits on roller skates." Oh, silly me. Sure is funny when people read things too fast!!!

Thoughts on Character

I heard a great talk about character on the radio this morning as I drove to work. The speaker pointed out that skill, talent, power, position don't matter; what really matters is character. Who cares if you and I are great teachers, students, parents, spouses, chefs, artists, or athletes? When we stand before God He is not going to ask how many A's and B's we got in high school. He is not going to ask how many students went on to be famous or how many athletes won gold medals in the Olympics. On a personal level, He is not going to ask me to demonstrate the waltz or samba for Him just to make sure I am good enough for Heaven. No, indeed not. What matters to Him is our inner man: are we honest, merciful, joyful, forgiving, loving, patient? (Gal. 5) If that is the case, where should the bulk of our time and money be spent? It takes time to be holy, you know. Time invested in learning a skill is worthwhile only as long as we are here on this earth. While we need to provide for ourselves and our families, I think we tend to focus too much on those things instead of pouring our time and energy into becoming men and women of Christlike character. I am especially challenged as I pursue my hobby of ballroom dancing. Never have I enjoyed an activity more or had so much fun as when I am gliding around the ballroom floor. But am I willing to risk my character in order to be a good dancer? That seems to be a stupid question, don't you think? Basically, I think we need to evaluate the time we spend on cultivating a godly heart and compare that with the time we spend pursuing the areas in which we hope to succeed here on this earth. Undoubtedly many are pursuing a worthy prize, like Paul was. But if any of you are like me, there are certain things in life that get just a bit too much attention as the great goal falls by the wayside. I really like the passage that talks about a man in the military not being bogged down by the cares of civilian life. He has a battle to fight, he can't be bothered with anything else at the moment! We are all in a battle against sin and time to fight the good fight and spread the Gospel. Those tasks cannot be performed accurately unless you and I are willing to put in sufficient "training" time. I am willing to take up the challenge, but it is work - hard work. Pray for me, that I will be a woman of character. A bold, standing-up-straight-for-Christ woman, more concerned with the condition of my heart than the performance of my waltz.

Fun, Fast, Fabulous Weekend

I stayed with the Beltran del Rio kiddos this weekend from 9am Saturday morning til 7:30 Sunday night. We played board games, watched TV and movies, played outside, went to a basketball game, played on the computer, did homework, read, slept, etc. I got some good practice at being a mom when I had to go out at 9:30 Saturday night to get Marisa from a youth activity. Even better practice at being a mom of four when I had to get us all ready to go to church this morning. I was thinking it would be a long weekend, and I wasn't sure what all we would do. Thank goodness it turned out superbly!

Deuteronomy 10:14-15

Behold to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord has set His heart in love on your fathers, and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.

(Oops, forgot to post this on Monday!)

"The floor on which he lay seemed to be white, neither warm nor cold, but simply there, a flat, blank something on which to be."

J.K. Rowling is truly a talented author. Seriously, who could write something so descriptive about an object that is, apparently, so dull?! (from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

Experiment

I was fiddling with the picture program on my computer and this is what I did to the picture I posted yesterday. Kinda intersting; I love the bright orange and the silhouette of the smoke stack.

Sunset

These aren't the best pictures, but the sunset Friday night was absolutely incredible. Even in winter we have the most fabulous sunsets here on Lake Michigan. The first one was taken on my way out of Spring Lake heading into Grand Haven. Yes, I was driving and taking pictures. (Don't worry mom, it was safer than on that bridge in California=) The second one I was sitting at the end of Sam and Jeff's street at the stop sign. Our spectacular sunsets are one reason I love living in the Tri-Cities area.

My Weakness

I can't help it, I love ice cream! And every knows it... These were from friends and family for various occasions, including one from mom for Valentine's Day. Now I have almost $45 of gift cards to Cold Stone. (I had over $50 but I treated Ally Sides and myself yesterday!)

More Soccer Thoughts

- Who could forget sitting in line for meals during preseason with bags of ice on and under various body parts?!

-One year when we went to Northland we forgot the girls' socks and had to wear the boys' stinky ones after they played.

- Sophomore year Mandy Blumer and I missed about half our Principles of Bible Study classes because it was sixth hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we had games to go to.

- Coach would declare no laughing practices when we weren't paying attention, then we would laugh even more.

- The best practice was when we were doing butt traps in the pouring rain on the upper field. I laughed so hard!

- After a drill during one practice Sandy said I had hit her nose with my elbow and I couldn't figure out how my elbow, way down there, could hit her nose?! But then I remembered how tall I am and how short she is and it all made sense!

- Eventually Sandy evolved my nickname, "Lenny", into "Leonard."

- The Hummer dealership we went by to one field we played at I always said I would love to test- drive them at their little driving course thing; coach said if a guy ever asked him where to take me on a date he would tell him to take me there.

- Hayley's dad was our biggest fan and it was great hearing him cheer for us. Sometimes he would show up for games when Hayley didn't even know he was coming!

- I always liked to smile and wave at the trains going by our soccer field because I was confident that someone needed a smile and a wave and that I might be able to brighten their day. Weird, I know. =)

- For team pictures I had to stand in the back, in the middle...I wonder why that is?!

- One of the most embarrassing moments was freshman year and coach was going to put me in the game for someone and I asked where she was playing and he got mad and wouldn't put me in. Boy did I feel stupid. But, in my defense, I was asking because he was putting me in at either forward or midfield (can't remember which it was) and I was so surpised so I asked to make sure. So there!

- One other game I had just received the ball and out of nowhere a girl from the other team ran into me and knocked me right over and coach really yelled at me and I was so mad at him because how was I supposed to know she was going to run into me? Later I did realize that I should have been looking up and paying better attention, but still, I was totally ticked at the moment. =)

- Jen Adam was and is so fun and encouraging and she told me consistently that I had the best touch on the ball. That meant alot to me because I really am not that super at soccer, but I love it, so it was nice to be encouraged.

- Because of soccer I gave up drinking pop, and to this day I rarely drink the stuff.

- I loved that coach encouraged his players to be godly women on and off the field. He was a great spiritual leader.

Snowy Day...NOT a Snow Day

we don't really want visitors...just kidding, we never really used this front door =)

everything is so white!

my car is just behind a pile of snow, not actually buried!

mom's Jag has been sitting for a couple days

Snow has been falling on a regular basis these days and lots of it. We didn't see too much during the day today, but just before school let out it started coming like nobody's business. I barely made it home. Actually, I am not even home yet, just at mom and dad's. It is beautiful, but treacherous. As I was driving here, I was amazed by the power of my God. He makes the seasons come and go. In His hands is the authority and majesty and might that is, to me, incomprehensible. Michigan is blessed to see so much change in the weather that gives glory to our great God alone. Don't fear the snow and ice; don't despise the cold. Praise God for His omnipotence, and trust in His steadfast love!

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?

Memories

Yesterday I was rather shocked by the most recent post on coach's blog. He's not going to be coaching soccer at MBBC anymore. At first I was swept with a wave of sadness, but that was quickly followed with a sense of gratitude that I had the privilege of being on his team for four years. He mentioned in his blog that he wants to take the next few days to reminisce a bit about his years as Maranatha's soccer coach. I was inspired to do some remembering of my own. My four years at Maranatha were some of the best in my life, and the four soccer seasons were the highlight of those years. Here are some of my favorite personal memories

- Preseason, freshman year, coach asked if I was related to Lenny Dykstra. Regardless of the fact that I was neither related to him nor even knew who he was, coach decided that I was to be called Lenny from then on. It stuck, big time.

-Preseason, sophomore year, coach had written on the board "How to Survive at Maranatha" with the "survive" crossed out and replaced with "thrive." I was thoroughly challenged with that, and it has stuck with me ever since.

- My first or second year we were running before practice (which I hated) and I was in the middle of the line. I also hated being in the middle because that meant I actually had to keep up with everyone else, which wasn't easy for me. I must have said something about it because KJ said that if I didn't push myself I would never get any faster. I have thought about that and carried it over into other areas of life as well.

- One year our team verse was about loving the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, etc. I couldn't remember the reference in the locker room one day, and the one I said was to a verse about not knowing the Word of God. Doh!

- Freshman year (I think it was) when I was actually playing in a game, coach told someone (Sandy?) that he had a three day old niece who could run faster than me. Unfortunately, it was probably true... =)

- At an indoor tournament some of us played in, we were resting outside between games and some of the girls got it in their heads to spell MBBC on the grass. Laura hollered up the hill to me, "Hey, Lenny, wanna play?".

- Once coach and I predicted what time we would get back to campus. He saw that I was going to be dead on so when I wasn't looking he changed the clock in the van so it read the time, or close to the time, that he'd predicted. Cheater!

- Senior year there were three RA's on the team and several PC's. Good for us!

- Senior year, last home game, Parents' Day...I scored my first and last goal on a free kick. That was fun. Later I was given the Goal of the Year award. Won't be forgetting that anytime soon.



This is all I can think of for now, but maybe I'll post some more memories as I think of them.

Good Morning, America!

This morning I was greeted by the Stars and Stripes flying proudly in the wet, chilly February wind. I wish I'd had my camera; the flag was completely unfurled and bold as ever. "Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave; o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!" We are free, because of the brave.

Spirit Day

A casual day topped off with an hour and a half of fast- paced all- school competition. The cheers and smiles were at an all time high today!

Salmagundi

Did I mention that you should check out my new blog? Just another little insight into the person that I am and that you all think you know so well.

Becoming a Woman of Excellence

I am currently doing a devotional/Bible study book by Cynthia Heald entitled Becoming a Woman of Excellence. It is a fabulous study and I highly recommend it. Each chapter is loaded with Scripture and thought- provoking quotes from men and women of God. The chapter I am working through at the moment deals with purity. In this chapter, Ms. Heald includes a quote from Elisabeth Elliot:

If there is an Enemy of Souls (and I have not the slightest doubt that there is), one thing he cannot abide is the desire for purity. Hence a man's or woman's passions become his battle ground. The Lover of Souls does not prevent this. I was perplexed because it seemed to me He should prevent it, but He doesn't. He wants us to learn to use our weapons.

Pretty profound, eh? And what are the weapons that we need to be wielding in order to keep our lives pure and holy? According to Ephesians 6, they are truth, faith, righteousness, and the gospel of peace. Have you aquired those weapons? Are you using them, or are you hiding from the battle? Get rid of the things that distract from the battle, protect your heart, stand firm on God's Word, and trust in your Almighty Leader!

When God Protected a Murderer

I was reading in Genesis last night and was amazed when I came across the story of Cain and Abel. Of course, I have read and heard this account dozens of times, but God's abundant and overwhelming mercy on Cain's behalf blew me away this particular time. Do you realize that God punished and protected Cain at the same time? He was a murderer. Killed his own brother out of pure hatred and anger. God sentenced him to be a fugitive and a vagabond the rest of his life. Cain was afraid he couldn't handle it and that surely someone would kill him. God put some kind of a mark on Cain to ensure that no one could harm him. Why? I just don't understand. Why would God put a hedge around someone who was being punished for murder? Cain had just murdered a man who was an obedient servant of God. God could have ended Cain's life in an instant to teach him a thing or two! But he didn't. That's the awesome part.
And then I ask, why would God call me, save me, want me? My sins put Christ on the cross just as much as Cain's did. Now, because of Christ's blood, I too have a security. No person or event can harm me outside of God's perfect plan and design for my life. I am safe in my Father's hands. His mercy is higher than the heavens and his faithfulness reaches to the sky. (Psalm 36:5) Have you thought about God's mercy today and what that means for you? If you are a believer, that means you are not getting hell for eternity as you deserve. If you have not accepted a personal relationship with Christ yet, that means He has given you another chance that you don't deserve. Praise Him today for His mercy. Praise Him for standing up for sinners like you and me.

Write On!

I updated my class's writing blog, so take a sec to check it out today. The assignment today was a fun one, and they got pretty creative. My students enjoyed sharing them with the class; I think you will enjoy reading them as well.

Colossians 3:1-3

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Happy Saturday

Not much to say today. I got a hair cut this morning, ran a few errands (and returned/purchased everything as planned, thank fortune), ate a yummy lunch of leftover tuna salad on toast and a perfectly ripe mango. Since I am still sickly I plan to spend the rest of the day in bed sleeping and watching movies. Last night I watched the several hour version of Pride & Prejudice. That movie gets better every time I watch it. Of course, I am a sucker for a good love story...
Have a super weekend everyone. Be sure to check back here on Monday for my weekly memory verse!

Sometimes You Just Have to Watch Veggie Tales

Today was one of those days for a multitude of reasons.

#1 My throat still very scratchy and I have a bit of congestion in my lungs so I don't feel real swell.

#2 Last night I hit my head on a cabinet thingy at Jeff and Sam's, and Jeff said I had a concussion (maybe he was joking?). My head still hurts today; actually everything from my shoulders up hurts, even my face. I know that's ridiculous, but you try hitting the very top of your head with all your strength and see if your face doesn't hurt.

#3 A third of my students was out today for one reason or another. That's only two students for me, but with a total of six students, two missing is a big deal!

#4 Snow was falling incessantly today and I was of the opinion that we should all be sent home to lie around and watch movies.


So there you have it. I had plenty of good reasons to watch Moe and the Big Exit with my class the last half of the day today. Actually, they did have band for about an hour, so it wasn't the entire afternoon. And it's a good, wholesome movie. Some days you just have to do that.