Okay, I’ve finally got a blog!! Well, here are the previous posts that I’ve written:

Wednesday, August 02, 2006 – 7:45

I thought I would write a post this morning. I don’t know what to say. Oh yes.

This is what I’m writing to you this morning:

A POST

Have a good day!

Tuesday, August 01, 2006 – 9:20

Okay, so here I am waiting for a phone call or email from Brian…about what? You’ll have to wait and see!!!!!

Tuesday, August 01, 2006 – 8:15

I love ping pong!! I think I’m getting better at it, and I love playing with Daniel because he’s so aggressive and it makes you very active. I started using Dad’s paddle (Tiga extreme power balance or something like that) and it really made a difference.

Well bye for now, we’re going to play a family spades game.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006 –5:57

There are some other things I want to share but we don’t have a camera so they’ll have to wait.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006 – 9:21

Oh yes, I just remembered something Rachel said Sunday night when leaving our house. “Oh no, pretty soon there’ll be little bods running around! I’ll have to think about that. Hmmm…”

HAHA!!!

Tuesday, August 01, 2006 – 7:32

Well, here I am…and it’s a new day-and a new month! Before you know it, It’ll be October 30^th and I’ll have my own xanga!!

Have a good day!

Monday, July 31, 2006 – 9:42

I was just playing hymns on the piano while singing to them and it SO lifted my spirits. Now I have a remedy whenever I’m depressed. Also looked at something I printed up from the internet awhile ago about drawing close to God and it is SO GOOD. Since it is so good, I decided to post the whole thing, so here it is…And be sure to read through it carefully…it has some VERY good points:

How Can You Draw Near to God?

By Monica Phillips (11/1/02)

• Buy the latest and best praise CD, sit in the dark and think about the words.
• Attend church services every Sunday and be sure to sing loudly with your hands in the air.
• Sign up for every Bible study and class the church offers, and buy a new Bible to boot.
• Serve at IHN, Church Project Day, Sunday School, Goodwill, and Red Cross.
• All of the above.
• None of the above.

According to the book of James, it’s none of the above. James gives us some GREAT suggestions as we try to draw close to God. James first teaches us that we need to act in truth, pray for wisdom, accept God’s mercy, live with love, control our speech, and serve God’s people. In addition, there is a mega-lesson in chapter four.

Mega-lesson point one: Submit to God (verse 7): “Submit yourselves, then, to God.”

Pretty clear, right? OK, so we are to yield to His authority and His will, commit to following Him and let Him have control. Many of us are still on this step — the first step. Jeesh! Consider turning that over to God in prayer. Ask Him to help you every day to release control and remind you to follow Him. Also, don’t wait to “arrive” at this step and be complete in this before you move on. God will help you release control.

Mega-lesson point two: We are to resist the devil (still verse 7): “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

I’m thinking that these steps aren’t too fuzzy. The words are nice and orderly for clear understanding. Don’t allow Satan to tempt you. Easier said than done? Try doing as Jesus did in Matthew 16:23: “Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” When you feel Satan on your back, tempting you to do wrong, say something similar. Again, don’t wait until all temptation is gone and you are sin-free.

Mega-lesson point three: Continue in the steps by washing your hands (not literally) and purifying your hearts (verse 8 ): “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

This means to lead a pure life. Be clean of your sin; replace your desire to sin with your desire for God. Make a decision (a committed one) to rid yourself of the sinful things you do (with God’s help) and replace that time and energy with Scripture, prayer, or worship.

Mega-lesson point four: James then suggests we grieve, mourn, and wail (verse 9): “Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.”

Express your sincere sorrow for your sins. Ask for forgiveness from God. Don’t allow yourself to be light-hearted and flippant in your confession and repentance. Sin grieves the heart of God, therefore it should also grieve our hearts. Spend serious time in confession. Allow yourself to break before God — don’t worry…He’ll pick up the pieces.

Mega-lesson point five: Humble yourself (verse 10): “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

Remember the “picking up the pieces” thing? You know, Peter said the same thing (1 Peter 5:6). Humbling ourselves means that we recognize our worth comes from God alone. Not our jobs, our families, our wealth, or our possessions. God made us worth a precious price (His Son’s life on the cross) and we must put our lives in line with His will according to His guidance. We cannot be humble before Him if we live independent of Him.

The book of James gives some clear direction for us as we thirst for God. Don’t allow activities or things to fool you into thinking you are close to God. Take your direction straight from Him: Submit, resist the devil, be pure, confess in true repentance, and humble yourself. Not a magic potion, but a pretty good way to draw near to God.

Well, have a good night.

Monday, July 31, 2006 – 3:51

So here I sit looking for my nalgene. Wait a minute, I just had a recollection. Yep, here it was. In my bedroom…slurp, slurp. I love drinking water. I would say it’s the most refreshing drink IN THE WORLD! Hmm…just two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom…makes the simplest drink in the world. Isn’t our God just a genius?

Well…there’s your science for the day…want a little laugh? Well, here’s one I found while folding sheets with Dan…when folding the regular (not fitted) sheet, I was trying to get the corners together when he yanked it out of my hand (might sound mean, but we both started cracking up). I picked it up and started doing it again, and then I yanked it out of his hand. We both did it to each other one more time and then I decided to be serious but he obviously didn’t. I tried getting the corners together again, but he yanked it out of my hand six more times, then told me to “settle down”:-o.

Oh well, not the best, but better than nothing.

I remember this quote from one of Daniel’s t-shirts – “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words, and that which cannot remain silent – Victor Hugo”

That’s just perfect, istn’t it! (you who aren’t into music might not understand this, but that’s okay.

Well, have a good day!

Monday, 7/31/06 – 1:18

Mom is gone to Shreveport (sorry if I spelled that wrong) shopping for fabric and it’s just me and Daniel here. This morning I went into Daniel’s room he studies in (except he wasn’t studying-just reading a Henty book). He started going punch drunk (no, I didn’t punch him), and pretty soon I was pinned against the other side of the bed. I could peek over his book and see him grinning from ear to ear, but I tried to make myself comfortable. Unfortunately, every few minutes, he would scoot closer, squishing me more.

I said “Hey Daniel, I might have to hop around with one leg and the other one would just be curled up all the time!” (One leg was pinned with my body and the other hung off the bed).

Finally Dad arrived home and Daniel got off the bed to go have lunch. I hobbled after him, then told Dad that he was punch drunk. I went to the kitchen to make my lunch, and when Dad came out he said, “He’s not punch drunk, but lunch drunk!” (dad likes making puns all the time).

Oh well, sometimes things get a little crazy at our house.

On a different note, this morning I noticed how diligent ants are. After taking the trash out, I looked where the trashcan was and saw hundreds of ants. I looked around a little, and found another ant. He (or she…whatever) was carrying (more like dragging, actually) what looked like half of a wasp’s body. Umm…let me think. About 20 times his(her) size! Wow. I glanced over a few feet and saw another ant carry a shriveled earthworm – about 10 times his(her!!) size.

All I can say is that ants are VERY diligent creatures – even if some of them DO bite J.

Well, gotta go practice violin. See ya later.

Sunday, July 30, 2006 – 2:28

Thought this was worth sharing. In Sunday School this morning, Mom asked the class what extinct means and Katie (4^th grade) instantly responds ‘GONE’!