Hebrews 3:12-13

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, while it is called "today", that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Dress Shopping

Friday I spent the day shopping for wedding dresses with Karin and Mrs. Woodby. The two photos are of a dress that I absolutely loved that Karin tried on just so I could see it. =) What a nice friend! After she found a super fabulous dress we went next door and ate at KJ's Cafe. So here's to you, Kaje! Alisa's Stanley came with us so we had to get a couple pictures of him enjoying the company of us lovely ladies. It was a fun day, way fun.

Chicago...again

Yesterday I took Ally, Marissa, and Amanda to Chicago. I was a bit nervous and expecting bad weather and car trouble. Neither hindered our adventure in any way. We drove right downtown and parked, then spent a few hours roaming the shops. We all got some fun things. The Hershey's store was amazing! Amanda's friend Bethany, whom we visited last September when we went to Chicago, met us at Giordano's for an early supper. I don't know about the girls, but Amanda and I were tired and ready to be done after that so we stopped at the Cold Stone next to our parking garage then headed home. Not a terribly long day, and definitely loads of fun. I love Chicago!

Ok, so I didn't take any pictures yesterday but I wanted to put something with this post so this morning I took a picture of the postcard I bought and put it on here. Pretty clever, huh? =)

Isaiah 29:15-16

Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, who say "Who sees us?", "Who knows us?". You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its make, "He did not make me", or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

Resurrection Day

Praise the Lord He is risen indeed! Today my heart is full of praise to the Lord for His victory over death. I serve a living Lord! Whom do you serve?

Ten Things

I love to watch movies. It's my way of relaxing and unwinding. Yesterday I came across this funny list called "Ten Things We've Learned From Watching Movies." If you watch movies as much as I do, you will see just how true these all seem to be! They made me laugh anyway =) Number ten is definitely my favorite.

1. If being chased through town, you can usually take cover in a passing St. Patrick's Day parade - at any time of the year.
2. Cars and trucks that crash will almost always burst into flames.
3. All grocery shopping bags contain at least one loaf of French bread.
4. The ventilation system of any building is a perfect hiding place. No one will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building without difficulty.
5. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window of any building in Paris.
6. A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.
7. Medieval peasants had perfect teeth.
8. Any person waking from a nightmare will sit bolt upright and pant.
9. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.
10. A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.

Do You Know Why Today is Good?

Today is good because today we celebrate the Sacrifice that gives freedom from sin and hell and brings eternal life and peace. Without that Sacrifice, no day would be good. Do you realize this truth? Do you know that it was for you He died, laying His life down in love for a sinner? We try to hide our ways from God and act as though He doesn't know what He is doing. Does the potter not know the details of his clay more than the clay itself? Does the Creator not know His creation better than the creature itself? How can today and every day be anything but good when we have the Answer, the Truth, in our very own, sinful, dirty hands?! Today is not a day to mourn the death of Jesus Christ, but to rejoice that He has chosen us to be the recipients of that Great Gift. My heart sings with love for that Gift, my Savior. Does yours? Was your day good, simply because we have a Savior who loves us and gave His life for us?! Forget the little annoyances of life, God has it under control. Look to the Lamb, the Sacrifice. Hallelujah!

Little Things

Yesterday was a fabulous day. First of all, the sun was shining and that always makes my spirits soar. Second, I had a ballroom lesson and practice party to look forward to all day. Third, it was nice enough out and I live close enough to Leppink's to walk there and get something I needed for my dinner. I wanted to go for a walk and it was such a happy moment to realize I could do that and the other thing all at once. But my students get full credit for truly making my day one of the best in a long while. We have been working on some tricky verbs such as lie/lay and rise/raise. Working together in class they had some struggles figuring out all the forms of those verbs and when to use them. Yesterday they had a quiz over those verbs, and I was a little nervous about how they would do. So I gave them the quiz and waited......then we scored their answers.....and their scores just blew me away! I was seriously just floating the rest of the day. Several of them even got more than a 100% because I gave them a couple bonus things to do. After that I told them several times how proud I was of them. This morning after pledges and prayer I said, "Have I mentioned how proud I am of how well you did on that quiz yesterday?" They all said, "Yes you did, Miss D.!" We all had a smile over that one =) What a blessing for a teacher to see her students learning and growing. I thank God for allowing me the privilege of molding young lives in so many ways. And I thank Him for showing me through times like these that my work is paying off. I never forget that their spiritual growth is most important, but what teacher wouldn't be proud of her students doing so well on something they'd been struggling with?! I love God, and I love my students.

Let's Sing

One of the most endearing moments in life is when a small child sings songs about God. Today while working at the day care Max was sitting on my lap singing. We sang "If you're happy and you know it"; then he asked to sing "Go Tell It On The Mountain", so we did that one too. I started a few more that he wasn't quite as enthusiastic about, then he said, "Just 'Jesus Loves Me'!" I was happy to oblige. Any child that wants to sing about the love of Jesus holds a special place in my heart. We must pray that those words do not remain in the head only but that some day they will reach the heart and these small souls will become giants for Christ. I am honored and humbled to be a child of God; I hope our children will someday be able to say that as well.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

the rains fall soft upon your fields

and until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

(traditional Gaelic blessing)

This post is in honor of my dear friend Bethanie Wall. She is Irish and proud of it! In college, her enthusiasm for anything Irish was hard to ignore, and we were all a bit persuaded to join in the fun. So, here's to Beth...Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Psalm 18:29-30

For by God I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God - His way is perfect, the Word of the Lord proves true. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in Him.

You tell me....

So, I got one of those notices in the mail saying that I'm getting $600 from the government. Good for us, huh? I'll believe it when I have the check in my hands. But, in case it truly does happen, what to do with all that money?! My first response was, "Yes! More ballroom lessons!" But should I do the responsible thing and put it all into savings to use for some good purpose at a later date? Do I use it to keep up with my ballroom lessons? Do I put it all toward my student loan? Do I use it for a super fun vacation? What do you think, eh? I'd love to hear your suggestions! =) You better hurry or else I will have it all spent before it even gets here and it might not be in a very responsible way! (I have a tendency to do that when I know- or think- I have some money coming my way...I know, I'm bad.)

Where Does She Go?!

I realized that almost every Friday I pack up my car and head off to.....you know, wherever. Sometimes it's to Sam and Jeff's, sometimes to house/dog/kid sit, sometimes to visit other friends or family. Wherever it is I can't remember the last time I spent Friday night at my own house! Tonight I am at Sam and Jeff's for treadmill, pizza, The Mummy Returns, and a great time. I have a good, fun life...what can I say?!

Old longings nomadic leap,

Chafing at custom's chain;

Again from its brumal sleep

Wakens the ferine strain.

I wish I could take credit for writing this tiny masterpiece, but I must give credit where credit is due: these are the first words you read in The Call of the Wild, by Jack London. Much to my chagrin, I have never read that book, but today I was leafing through a copy on my bookshelf at school. I had to look up a couple words to be a hundred percent sure of their meanings, but I was soon able to work through the verbosity. This is a fantastic little composition, the likes of which I would be delighted to pen myself someday. If you are still trying to put it all together so it makes sense, look up a few of the words here and here. Think about it first, though, and see if you can't come up with something on your own. It'll be good for your brain, trust me.

Deuteronomy 10:21-22

He is your praise; He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying these that your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.

The Word

Take a moment to listen to this song that is currently at the top of my playlist. The words are powerful. God's Word was, is, and will be. I love that she quotes Scripture in this song! One part she talks about finding something to fit our needs like finding something to wear...if it doesn't fit just the way we like, we through it in the Salvation Army (or Goodwill or whatever!) pile. We can't do that with God's Word, every letter and phrase is pertinent to you and me every single day. I love this song. I hope it can be a reminder to you, as it was to me, to put a high priority on studying, learning, and living God's Word.

An m&m memory

As I sat at my desk today eating some m&m's that I had bought for my class candy basket, I thought of a great college memory. My junior and senior years at Maranatha I was an RA in Weeks Dormitory. I had a great m&m dispenser that my uncle had made and given me for a birthday present. I kept m&m's in it and told the girls on my floor that they could come in any time to chat and get a handful of candy. One day my friend Maria and I were both stressed out for one reason or another. She stopped by my room to visit; I offered her some m&m's and took some for myself. As we stood and talked, eating handful after handful of m&m's, I decided to just unscrew the jar from the base so we could just eat straight out of that. We ended up eating the entire jar of m&m's right then and there! We still laugh about that one. A good friend to talk to and an abundance of chocolate is the perfect remedy for a stressful day...I highly recommend it.

Big News!

I wish I was about to tell you that I got engaged yesterday, but that's not it. Next best thing though: TAD and Annie got engaged yesterday!! They are skiing in Utah with her family, and he popped the question up on a beautiful mountain yesterday afternoon. He called me last evening to tell me. Woohoo!!

Deuteronomy 10:18-20

He executes justice for the fatherless and widows, and loves the sojourner, giving them food and clothing. Love the sojourner therefore for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve Him and hold fast to Him, and by His name you shall swear.

Another Chicago Weekend

(this has nothing to do with our trip, but I was shocked to see

an Arthur Murray just down the way from David's Bridal. Seriously, you can

find an Arthur Murray studio just about anywhere! Oh, I dance at the two Arthur Murrays

in GR if you were wondering=)

my huge chicken sandwich and chocolate cake shake from Portillo's

Last Friday after school Karin and I left for Chicago to have a girls' weekend. We picked up Rachel at Midway on our way to Kate's house. Just a little trouble getting out...Karin had a hard time with the U turn part. Not sure why, though; I was reading the directions exactly right and we ended up where we needed to be. Kristin met us at Kate's, too, from Maranatha. Anyway, we spent all Saturday shopping. Mostly for wedding gowns and bridesmaids dresses, but some regular shopping too. We got some good ideas for wedding attire. Lunch Saturday was at a super fun diner called Portillo's. Yum! Saturday night we hung out at Kate's and watched Becoming Jane. What a depressing movie! We hated the end so much that we had to watch the ends of both Pride&Prejudice and Sense&Sensibility! I know, silly girls! =) Sunday we went to church with Kate and Dr. Jaspers preached...what a treat! I haven't seen him since graduation and it was like being back in school again. Saw some other MBBC people too. It was kinda weird, but fun. Overall, we had a fantastic weekend.