Hello! Well, it's been a very exhausting night, but we are finally relaxing at our hotel. I don't have much time, so I will just leave a thought for you to mull over....

God is the calmer of the storm. Any storm. And as soon as you realize that you can't control God's will, the better you will feel.

Well, that's it! That's all! ta ta for now!

Going to St. Louis!

Well, tomorrow my senior band class is setting out into the great unknown and heading to Missouri! I am so excited! This will only be the second time I've been in the USA. We are going to perform our band songs, of course, but also take in the Six Flags amusement park, Hard Rock cafe, Odyssey Theatre's "Alaska: Spirit of the Wild", a Gateway Arch Riverboat Cruise, an awards ceremony dinner at Six Flags, and hopefully a Bible-thumping hardcore gospel church!! I am very greatful for the opportunity to go in my last year of school... and I think I'll have a lot more to tell you when I get back!

TAG!

Ahhh! It seems I've been tagged! And now I must confide in you, my dear readers, six strange things about myself!

1. I've moved 13 times
2. I have a secret passion for celtic music
3. I love syrup and grilled cheese sandwiches
4. My middle tow on my right foot is gimped
5. I love tomatoes, dislike ketchup, love tomato sauce, dislike tomato soup
6. I would wear hoodies all year round if I could

Okay.... TAG! Joey's it.

I think I'm getting the message...

Okay, over these last 2 weeks I have heard the same message repeatedly, all from varying sources. I've even blogged about it! It's this... "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12) I cannot believe how I've heard it from my sunday school teacher, my pastor (aka my dad), and from different friends and youth leaders, all with no connection to the others. It's so amazing how God teaches us things in that way. Repitition is one of the most effective tools in committing something to memory. This is not the first time this has happened to me. When I switched from private to public school, it was Jeremiah's calling that kept popping up everywhere. Then, while working at a small camp one summer, it became Philippians 3:7-14. I would think it ironic that out of all the passages in the Bible, those particular ones were being brought to my attention, but I know God, and there is no luck, irony, or coincidences with Him. Anyhoo, I just thought you'd find today's rambling thoughts interesting...

The Big Countdown

There are 44 minutes left until I have to clean the house...
2 days left until I am freed for the weekend...
2 weeks left until I go on the school band trip...
2 weeks, 3 days until the "10 month" mark...
1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days until the "11 month" mark...
2 months until the last exam I'll ever have to write in highschool...
2 months, 2 weeks, 2 days untill I graduate...
2 months, 2 weeks, 3 days until the "1 year" mark...
etcetera.... etcetera....

Oh yes, I like to count down. I tend to look forward more than I look at the present, which may not be the best thing to do. Does anticipating the future blind a person to the present? I'm not so sure. All I know is that my life is going to change in a huge way in the next year or so, and I'm going to have to be prepared for it.

34 minutes until I have to clean the house...

Resurrection Sunday

Today is what I like to refer to as Resurrection Sunday. Yes, that would mean Easter, but I have many reservations to using that title. That can be for another blog on another day.

The sermon today was really quite good... very thought provoking. It was entitled "That You Might Believe: Three Encounters with the Risen Christ." The three main points were as follows...


-Jesus' encounter with Mary was one to provide hope. Mary responded to a familiar voice, showing that hope is provided when Christ personally calls our names, and because He has conquered death. (John 20:11-16)

-Jesus' encounter with Thomas provided evidence of Christ's finished work. It is faith for the doubting, also seen in the life that Christ restores. (John 20:26-29)
-Jesus' encounter with Peter demonstrated forgiveness. Peter returned to his first love because Christ has love for the deserting. (John 21:17)
I was very affected by what it means to truly believe in Christ Jesus. I think I saw His resurrection in a new light today.

Take heed

Oh, brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to be earnestly guarding our hearts and our minds! Sin attacks us on all fronts and in every way, and it creeps into the dirty crevices that we fail to apprehend.

We seem to think that the enemy plays by the rules... that he will shoot where we have armor, always in front of us and in broad daylight. No, he attacks where we are most vulnerable. He finds the gaps in our armor, the cracks in our fortress. He does the best he can to pollute our water source, weakening us from within. He attacks at "night" when our minds are not engaged, our emotions are vulnerable, and our senses are easily misled. He is ruthless and always desires to take glory away from God.

It starts with the smallest negligence... failure to find weak spots, slipshod patchwork instead of getting to the source of the problem. I have found myself in positions where I am completely brought to my knees because of a fracture in the most unexpected part of my life. Although I would hardly never say it, I think of myself as "above" weakness. It is undiscerned spiritual pride, and God opposes it.

Do you see how we need to take care to protect every part of our lives? By becoming Christians, we deny the nature of the world and take up the cross of Christ. He says through the apostle Paul that "those who are of the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:8). Oh, please, open your hearts to the conviction of Christ and do not fall prey to the enemy's attacks! "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12)

"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12)