Blessed be the name of the LORD!

When there's peace and calm

Blessed be the name of the Lord

When the darkness falls

Blessed be the name of the Lord

When the wind begins to blow

Blessed be the name of the Lord

When the flood waters rise

Blessed be the name of the Lord

When the storm rages

Blessed be the name of the Lord

When I say Amen and it's still raining

Blessed be the name of the Lord

When all I have is lost

Blessed be the name of the Lord

When my own body is afflicted

Blessed be the name of the Lord

When I've reached the point of no return, when I am broken beyond repair, when the storm takes me beyond what I can bear I will still say

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!!!

Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

1 Peter 1:7: These have come so that your faith, of greater worth than gold which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Just for fun

Greivancees of a chapel attendance taker:

1. If one of the double doors is locked, try the other one before you knock.
2. If the other door won't open, don't pull, try turning the handle. That's how doors open.
3. You should have your card out and ready to go before you get to me. Don't hold up the line because you're looking for your card.
4. If you don't have your card, tell me you don't have your card and THEN say your number. Don't just walk up to me and start spouting your number.
5. If you do walk up to me and start spouting your number, don't get mad when I ask you to repeat it.
6. Don't move your card or think that you know how to make it scan. You don't, I do, end of story, let me do my thing.
7. If your card takes a long time to scan, it's probably your fault for doing grievance number 6, so don't get mad at me.
8. Once you scan your card, go all the way into the chapel and find a seat. Don't stand in the doorway
9. We're not supid, we do suspect when you are pulling a Chapel skip scam, and we will tell our boss. Have a little integrity.
10. Use common sense. It's not that hard to figure these things out.

Praise you in the storm

This is my hearts song this week.
Everyword rings true.

It's hard to watch someone you love and care about die.

It's hard to watch those around you hurt.

It's even harder when the person is 20 years old.

Everything within you screams "This is not right!"

And it's not.

The end has come

5 am this morning, they took Erica off of life support.

Crash and Burn...

Well, I talked to my grandma, Dale, Rita and Doreen about my cousin Erica and found out what happened and how things are going now.

My cousin Erica had a seizure while giving her daughter a bath last night, and Doreen heard the baby screaming and went into the bathroom to find Erica between the tub and the toilet. She had a seizure, vomitted all over herself, wasn't breathing and had started turning purple. Dale checked for a pulse and there was a faint one. They called 911 and an ambulance came but no one was allowed to go in the ambulance with her. When they got to the hospital they found that Erica had 'died' in the ambulance and was 'dead' for 10 minutes before they hooked her up to life support. They believe she's suffered extensive brain damage.

Since last night they've transferred her to Porter Memorial Hospital, but there has been no change since last night and they don't believe she is going to make it and are preparing themselves for a funeral.

I fear she may already gone and life support is just keeping the body functioning. I hope I'm wrong.

But, I have peace, and I hope and pray that God gives peace to Doreen and the rest of the family.

Since they're at Porter now, I'm going try to go visit when my parents get back from the Aldi.

Children of the World Choir

They are so cute. They sang at Bethel today, and I took this video of them singing Jesus Loves the Little Children. A few of the older ones passed out the World Help booklets while we were taking chapel attendance. Isn't it amazing how much these little children capture your heart?

Hooray for Fun Weekends

Movies... Niles Haunted House... Corn Mazes... Eating Out... Parties at Professors Homes... Pumpkin Patches... Board Games... Laundry for free while playing Super Mario 3... Christine spent the weekend with me and it was a blast! She and Ruthie, and I hung out and had a great time. It's just too bad that Naomi wasn't there.

I could really use some rest. I don't get a lot of that here at Bethel. Can I take a nap and trust that I will finish my paper by midnight?

A wise man once said one of the most spiritual things you can do is take a nap. That would be a nice luxary. I'm ready for the weekend again. LOL

Just wanted to pose a question:

Is it possible to have true forgiveness without reconciliation?

Life Purpose

Happy October!!!

Fall Break is in two weeks. I'm sooooooo looking forward to going home.

It seems like more and more lately I'm hearing something and it always sticks out to me: Perhaps you are here now "for such a time as this". I have heard this at every Chapel for the past three Chapel.

I've been thinking about that... for such a time as this. What is this time we're here for? Really.

Anyway, I have the epitaph, what I hope people to say about me after I die, the starter for developing my Life Purpose Statement. I hope that when I die, people will know that I lived for a single purpose, but I would also hope that they have more to say about me than just two sentences. So... It feels too cheesy and cheap, but here's my draft epitaph:

She lived and died for the Kingdom Of God; Love was her Alma Mater

I know my purpose lies within a passionate pursuit of God's Kingdom, and I want my life to be characterized by this. I also want the mark of Love to be on me. We shared our epitaphs today in class, and there were two others that really struck me.

Adrien's said: The influence of her faith reached far beyond those she was in contact with.

And Professor Brandt's said: The impact of his life outlived him.

I think that's the thing about life purpose, no matter what I pursue as my lifes purpose, I do pray fervently that the influence of this life and faith and purpose both outlives me and reaches far beyond just those whom I have had direct contact with.

Or I would even want people to be able to say "She finished the race, she kept the faith, she was worthy of the call." (combinging 2nd Timothy 4:7 and Ephesians 4:1)

Or "Being with her was like walking with Jesus"

I don't need to be remembered, but I do want my life's work to matter.

We are but a mere breath, woven into the strands of existence by the ever moving winds of God. Though this life will pass away, may the legacy remain.