Oh the Modge Podge that is the Life Described

After a lovely lunch at Eat n Park as well as a stop at the new house, came home. checked the answering machine. I had been sleeping in the car on the way home. I entered the livingroom and laid down on the couch. couldnt help thinking of Mr. H's reference to being a couch potatoe in his message. There wasnt any present opportunity to serve around me, so I figured I was all clear.

;-)

Lying there, still sleepily calm, watching football and then parts of The Natural, I looked around me and thought.

I won't be here a month from now.

A matter of weeks and the way I've performed the simple things in my life up until now will be done in a completely different environment. A completely clean slate. Certain things will be lost, others, so much more relavant to today gained. A place ready for memories to be made within- yet not the home where so many have taken places. Innumerable.

There is going to be a day when we dont come back to this house again.

We will visit our family who live two, four streets away and our neighbors next door. But this house will not be ours. It will no longer hold our things or us; instead someone else will fill it. I'm sure at some point that will cease to seem odd to us, but right now I think we're all unable to grasp it being anything but.

This is post is based upon sentiment, yes. But I know that there are lessons here that are becoming a part of "the fabric of my [and each member of the family's] life" to reference Mr. P.

On the brain
a. the houses. duh.
b. the items I daily discover would be convenient which are located a box, below many others stacked
c. this week's schoolload=much. PSATs are Wednesday. Rejoice in the Lord always...
d. how amazing to be placed all the way out where the new house sits. farther than I'd ever think, yet everything around seems to show that we should be there

Other notes-
cancelation due to a powerline- how bizarre...and pleasing due to the situation
cho mein noodles are ah! a favorite. they were before Saturday, but after Saturday they became even more so
the color of green tea [authentic] is perceived as a nice one by my eyes and brain

I have an ongoing thesis that certain foreign countries have much better food, fashion, cars, and cities than Americans. It seems to come up often when I find myself preferring something not a part or disliking something that is the culture surrounding me. It's accuracy has yet to be decided.

Got this in the mail today.

One week exactly until 16 becomes the age I write down when I sign a form.

I remember meeting several people on the tenth anniversary Sunday while sitting in the third or so row waiting for the after-church festivity to begin...the top ten lists... I remember how much we as a family desired to be a part of the church body specifically after that Sunday, one year ago today. I cant help go over in my mind the large events and zoom into the smaller moments I attempt to recall, all in such a seemingly short time.

The Word of the Day. The Year. of Life itself- Grace.

grace unmeasured vast and free

Short Snippet of Some Moments

FUSE fun night numero uno = a digital scavenger hunt. Fun times.
"Fan of Spam in Spain." --say it three times fast.

Grad party for four [three present] friends who I'm so blessed to know and continue getting to know. We were only at the house a short time, but I made a great memory. I still really want to learn to swing dance! I dunno that I'll be any good at all, but I at least have to try.

I'll miss her, but I'm filled with joy about her leaving...deep down that is. Tears did well up several times in the past weeks while pondering the situation and past good times. Every ending is only a beginning. And sometimes endings, well, really aren't endings. They're just a sort of pause, a sort of extended season of separation or quietness or calm or lowered activity. Relationships can fade like a vapor in the sunlight in life, but for those in the family of Christ, eternity will be one long and joyously united celebration.

I love our church. I love what God has done in leading us to join their family. I thank God for the comfort of that family and also of Sovereign Grace. After talking with a friend tonight, I now feel happy after not being sure what I felt like all day long. God is good.

Oh! Side note! On Sunday, Mr. P. mentioned a verse Phil. 2. Mom decided to memorize that exact verse of which I cannot remember the reference on Friday. coolness. We continued reading in Phil. 2 today. Reinforced was the idea of rejoicing in everyday, knowing that God has made it; and to remember to build His name and not our own in everything we do. I realized what joy that concept could bring--when building a name for myself, my tasks are burdensome; but when I do make everything I do a brick in building the name and fame of Christ, there is joy. freedom and joy. Dad's been working nights this week, so he got to join our newly established morning devotions and prayer =]

PS.
Kev is at this moment playing the last three innings of a baseball game. The score when we left was 18 to 3...the other team. He hit a bomber that woke up everyone sitting on the bleachers down the first base foul only to strike out. We left right after that =\

Running a Race

life's crazy.
especially this weekend. gee whiz.
the line-up for this weekend is incredible just including the things we're doing, let alone the things we're not able to.

two-thirds of me is saying it's really nice to be busy. the other third is saying I wish I could focus on one or two things in my mind. At the moment, I'm uh, pretty scatterbrained. It was great to start my day with forty-five minutes of reading my Bible and prayer though, and I've been able to accomplish much already today.

The struggle with weekends like this for me is really being in the individual moments and not just flying past the current because my mind is on the upcoming.

My room is a wreck. partly because of my attempts to reorganize everything more systematically, and partly because I've got a gazillion different projects, not necessarily big or worth noting, or even all-consuming, but still projects. Put it this way--I've got my entire school life, clothing collection, library, sleeping quarters, items apart of my social life, and majority of my creative life all in one room.

I just finished Judy: A Story of Divine Corners. I bought the copyright 1930 hardback last summer at a yard sale at the lake for a dollar or two. It was a lovely story. It is written in a very simple style as far as teenage literature goes, but not so simple that it seems elementary. I enjoyed the simplicity and vintage flair. I found myself able to relate very well to the characters and the activities that occurred in the story of a girl and her circle of friends at their lake camp. I've read a few other novels base on the setting of a girls and boys summer camp, but the way the two groups related in this story was much more realistic and exemplary than I've seen before. I recommend the book for sure =]

Sufficient Breviloquence

NOTES ON THE DAY:
God is good. & lavishes me with what is good for me.
Jesus Christ on the cross took my place; I take His as being seen as blameless in the sight of the Father. My past, present, and future sin is atoned for. That was spoken at EC, was affirmed through my doctrines class and reaffirmed this morning through worship.
Lunch at the Q's was splendid. It was just lovely to eat lunch with a group of friends. [Is it just me or does the word usage there projoke one to want to talk in an Enlish accent?]
Arielle was visiting! She's a very much missed buddy. Oh how I'd love to go to New York to see her. Can anyone say school field trip?! haha.
Ultimate was quite convivial. Running makes me feel alive. I'll feel even more "alive" tomorrow when I'm sore. It wasnt terribly competitive; we had moments. Laughter was aplenty! Everyone kept coming and leaving so that made the team setup interesting, jostled it quite frequently. When the game(s) were over the guys ensued in dog pile/back jumping/wrestling action. A very casual game of "hackety-sackety" was played as well. Shamrock shakes were on the menu, but not for us. Our family headed to the Skiles' house for pizza. I had the urge for supreme pizza and apparently Mum did too. Everyone else had pepperoni/sausage.

NOTES FOR COMING WEEK:
-Keep my mind on the day at hand, not at what I plan on doing the next day or the coming weekend--so hard.
-Do the best work I possibly can to the glory of God. My tendency is to get wrapped up in assignments. Visual aid: textbooks. strangling action. me. On the other end, I can get quite lazy.
-Scratch "do notecards for creation science paper" completely off of my list.
-Email people just because I like being social like that.

How Great is Our God

Friday Night Packaging.

Cabin Fever Packets & invitations to the festival. Snowshoveling for free. Bringing Joy.

Coming together Saturday after setup.

All we could eat.

A little tike gets sticky and silly with cotton candy and a balloon hat.

Skinny Little White Boys.

Moonbounce Dudes.

I've already added pictures to my flickr of the weekend. My reasoning in putting them on here is because a picture is worth a thousand words. The weekend was packed; it was an envigorating feeling to be doing something every minute of the day. It was tiring too :-) I tried to stop at some point on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to record and remember the little things. So quickly do I forget not only the fellowship-related things that have made me smile, but the things that God has done.

We met each other on Friday night. We worked and worshipped together. We spent from morning till late afternoon in the neighborhoods Saturday. We ate and prepared, worshipped and talked together. We met with the Lord. We prepared our hearts and continued to prepare for the tasks of the day. We had fun and then we ate together again. On Sunday night, everyone came together to talk about what we had seen and done. It was the last time I was going to see the people I barely knew anything about but yet in three short days had unexpectedly and wonderfully bonded with. Most I knew only their name. After spending encouraging time in individuals YG's, we filled the little sanctuary that had been the hub and nucleus of activity, the beginning and end point. We worshipped. How great was the God we had seen. How great is the God which we serve. How great is the God which brought us together, a body. How great is the God which has continued and has continued to work in me! Bob's leadership was wonderful to witness. He knew exactly what questions to ask and how to relate with that room of teens.

He asked for one word descriptions.

The Day we had:
life-changing. amazing. unity. inspiring. phenomenal. blessed. fantastic.

The God we saw:
vivacious. uncontainable. pleased. fun. wild. gentle. merciful. strengthening. driving. glorified. happy. unstoppable. magnificient. creative

The God we were taking home:
gentle. outgoing. humble. alive. someone to confide in. Savior. flexible. open-hearted. joyful. perservering. hungry. strong. patient. strong