I'm in Charleston this weekend, YAY! I've missed it a lot (go figure!) We had a great beach day and we went to church this morning. I have missed being there for Sunday mornings - it's especially nice to be able to just go to the service and relax during the worship service. We have City Life tonight and then Stacey comes, so we all get to hang out until whenever I leave to go back to Augusta tomorrow!
Anyway, here are some pictures I stole from Molly's computer from this past year :)






CHRISTMAS

ROOMMATES


BAPTISM AT THE BEACH

KAMINSKYS

He Set My Feet Upon A Rock

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear And will trust in the Lord.

How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
For evils beyond number have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make haste, O Lord, to help me.
Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.
Let those be appalled because of their shame
Who say to me "Aha, aha!"

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
"The Lord be magnified!"
Since I am afflicated and needy,
Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

PSALM 40: 1-5, 11-17

Being

"You don't have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body." -C.S. Lewis



"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." -Nelson Mandela

You Are Good / Every Season

"In this world you will have trouble. But take courage. I have overcome the world."
John 16:33

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:18

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord gives grace and glory; He does not withhold the good from those who live with integrity."
Psalm 84:11

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them."
Romans 8:28

"I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on Him. I have put my hope in His word."
Psalm 130:5

"Yet I am confident I will see the Lord's goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord."
Psalm 27:13-14

"This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed."
Habakkuk 2:3

"Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me."
Isaiah 30:15



Here are two songs I love that are good examples of God being with us in EVERY situation.

"YOU ARE GOOD"


"EVERY SEASON"

Child Life

Maybe I just appreciate this because I was in Child Life, but this video is great. It is a boy who has cancer - telling his story as "Julius Caesar." He goes through all the things he has had to face... it's just really interesting to see this kid act everything out. He's pretty funny, too! A Child Life Specialist was helping him make the video.

Can't Run Away

There is this song I heard today by Bethany Dillon, and the first line is something about running around the room and running outside and back inside and never being able to run away from yourself.

And that made me think about how weird it is that we never get to get away from ourselves. I don't think there is one person on earth that we could spend every waking moment with. I mean husbands and wives love each other, and parents love children, but even they have to spend some time apart during the day or whatever - or else we'd go crazy.

BUT - we'd better like ourselves, because we NEVER get a break from ourselves. To me, that is really weird! I mean, I have had some moments where I just want to pull my brain out of my head and stop thinking and get out of my head, but of course it's not possible. But don't you just sometimes want to get away from yourself? Maybe that's why some people get so crazy sometimes - they can't handle themselves, but then they can't get away from themselves either!

I've never really thought about getting out of my body and life and personality - I guess because it's not possible at all... I think it would be really weird, but a nice break!

We have to live with our personality ALL the time - when we wake up, when we go to bed, when we are having a bad day, so it would behoove us to have a good personality and a positive outlook on life because otherwise it would SUCK to live with yourself!

All these thoughts from one song I heard today. It is interesting, though. Usually, if I am really frustrated about someone who is extremely rude or mean or whatever, I remind myself that they have to live with themselves. It just makes me realize how difficult it really would be to be someone who is mean or negative or lazy or whatever - because I believe deep down no one wants to be that way - but they have let themselves become that way for some reason, whether it's to deal with something in their life or to shield themselves from other rude people - who knows... but it makes me sad for the person, because they have to live with themselves day in and day out - and that can't be pretty. Sometimes that makes me have more sympathy for those people, and sometimes, for a short minute, it makes me feel secretly happy that they have to live with themselves - I hate to admit that last part, but I'm just being honest. Mostly, I hope that I realize that these people need prayer and God's presence in their lives even more so that I can be a better friend.

So, I guess some good advice would be that since you can't run away from yourself - you might as well try to work on yourself so that you are more fun to live with - because it's not gonna change unless you do!