Reason for the Season

~Passage taken from Humility: True Greatness, by C.J. Mahaney

"How will God save? He will save by executing His Son- for the sake of the rich young rulers, for the sake of James and John, for the sake of ten indignant disciples, and for the sake of proud sinners like you and me.  How will God free us from the prison of pride? How can we be liberated from the dominating power of the world's empty definitions of greatness?

For those who feel the effect of their serious condition, who realize their humanly unalterable condition, the good news is that there's One who appears on the scene and says this: 'I've come. I'm leading the way. I'm moving relentlessly to the place where I'll be nailed to a cross and lifted up as the ultimate example of suffering, and there the concentrated fury of the Father's wrath for your sins will be vested upon Me. And I will groan, for I am sinless and I'm unfamiliar with any sin, with even a single sin. Yet on that cross I will experience the sins of many visited upon My body. And I will die.'

This is the death that awaits Him. But joy will follow His suffering: the certain joy of knowing His death has ransomed the many!

That's the effect of the atoning death of the Son of God"

Matthew 20: 28, "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Christmas Cheer

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."
~Buddy the Elf


Tonight I went Christmas caroling with the GEMS group from church! It was a good way to spread Christmas cheer to the elderly people that we sang to. They were happy to see us. The girls did a great job singing; I would say we sounded great.  I sure can't sing....but everyone else can :)


p.s. the blog is currently under construction

Home for the Holidays

Dear readers,


To those of you who were wondering/concerned: I did in fact make it home from school.  I arrived home on Friday at 4:00pm and my life has been busy since.  On Saturday I cleaned the house that I used to clean before I moved away.  My friend, Stacy, took over the job when I left, so we cleaned together on Saturday.  It didn't take us very long.  Then we headed out into the chaotic mess of holiday shoppers at the local mall.  Bad idea.  I'm glad I had most of my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving.  


On Saturday night, one of the epic ideas that me and Stacy come up with was carried out.  We thought it would be fun to have a contest between our friends to see who could make the best gingerbread house.  I bought gingerbread at the store, Stacy cut out the shapes for the houses, everyone else brought candy decorations, and then we used our creative skills to design and decorate the houses.  They turned out pretty sweet.  One house is more creative and crazy and the other house is more neat and thought out....you be the judge as to who wins.  (We still haven't decided!)

Stacy, me, Julie, Jared, Kaden, and Kyle

Emily, Tori, Aubrey, Stephanie, and Alicia

Love and Friendship

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrong and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to animal. Wrap it careful round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglement; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbearable, impenetrable, irredeemable.... the only place outside heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all dangers of love is hell."


~C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves


"With the grace of God firmly holding us, reminding us that he is the source of our true happiness, it is possible to nurture and sustain deep friendships throughout our lives. We are not made to live our lives alone. We are designed to live in relationships and share in the lives of others. We need each other. God knows that. He will help us. We have only to ask and surrender, to wait, to hope, and in faith, to love."


~John and Stasi Eldredge, Captivating

Art: that's about all.

Over the past few days I have been doing nothing but art homework! Very exciting (if you like art), which I am learning to like more and more.


For my 2 art exams I have tons of homework! First off, I have to create yet another craypa piece, this last one in color again.  I have to use complimentary colors or split complimentary colors.  This piece is due tomorrow (I haven't started it yet!) Side note: I now know that I'm a crazy art person, because when I looked at my computer screen background, the first thing I thought of was that it uses analogous and complimentary colors!

The red orange and yellow are analogous colors; the complimentary color of red is green!

Color piece #1- secondary triad

Color piece #2- analogous colors

Tomorrow I also have to turn in my color workbook! This is basically a short paper that the professor made with all of the color terms on it for us to define, because our class did not know the color definitions well enough.  There are words such as value, hue, intensity, tone, shade, value inversion of a color and beyond analogous to be defined.


I also have to have my 18 pages of our other color workbook finished.  This assignment required us to mix up each individual color to match the colors on the 12 step color wheel and then use them to fill out the assigned papers. I have 17.5 pages done and I plan on completing those in the morning!

12 step color wheel 

18 page color workbook

On Tuesday morning I have an individual critique with my 2D design professor.  I have to talk for 10 minutes on each of the craypa pieces I made this semester.  Luckily there are only 9 pieces.  I have to discuss the elements of design and the principles of organization that I used in each piece.  Then the professor will tell me what he thinks of my work this semester.  I am not looking forward to this meeting :(.


And on Thursday I have my other art exam, Art Fundamentals. For this one, I have to write an essay about the major movements in Abstract Expressionism, Neo-dada, and Pop Art.  Then I have to explain "the major tenets of each movement and how they relate to one another as a whole."  I mostly have my essay all outlined and written, so now I just have to memorize it.  


The last thing I have to do for this exam is be able to identify 15 slides of artwork by which historical movement they are from. The catch here is that there are 19 historical movements that we have discussed so far: Prehistoric, Egyptian, Classical, Early Christian, Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Dada, Pop Art, Minimalism, AND Conceptualism.  I would tell you how all the art in each movement is different, but I don't want to bore you any longer!


Back to my homework!

Museum of Contemporary Arts

Our trip to the museum last night was a success; we didn't get lost! It was just a bit cold, that's all. It only took us about an hour to go through the whole entire museum because it was so small. Admission was free on Tuesday nights- good thing, because I don't think I would have paid for that. There were only a few interesting things that I liked in the museum and everything else was not very cool. But, Danielle took lots of pictures and that made the night more fun. :)  So, here are some of our pictures...

Stairs inside the museum.

Creepy exhibit in the museum.

Amanda, Me, Emily, Jenna, Danielle and Jill

My most favorite piece!

Jenna, looking for the train to come...

Jenna and I :)

Danielle and I on the train, on the way back.

I was hiding inside my coat because I was cold!

Then Danielle took these awesome pictures.

Random Thought!

Wouldn't it be boring to be a fish? I was thinking of this tonight, as I watched the fish that my roommate has in our room. They have no purpose in life; we on the other hand have a purpose! So, live your life...


I'm pretty busy with my life right now. I have two papers to finish by Thursday and a some painting to catch up on for Art class. I also have to go to the Contemporary Art Museum before the end of the semester, for one of my art classes.  I'm going there tomorrow night with a bunch of friends. Then, next week is exams! YaY. I'll try to keep writing as much as possible in between all the school work.


John 3: 22-30:


²² After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. ²³Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized.²⁴ (This was before John was put in prison.) ²⁵ An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. ²⁶ They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

 ²⁷ To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰ He must become greater; I must become less.”

Determination

I am my mother's daughter... 


Every Friday morning I wake up and clean my "house" (dorm). It has been instilled in me, that on Friday and Saturday's, every week, the "house" has to be cleaned. So that is what I do!


When I have people coming over to my "house" (dorm), the house has to be perfect. Some friends are coming over to my room later to watch a movie; I had to put everything away, take out the garbage, and vacuum the floor so the room looked good! I just didn't feel right until everything was neat and clean.


I am my father's daughter...


I wake up at 7:30am every morning to get to "work" (do my homework), even though my classes don't start till noon. People tell me I'm crazy...I just tell them that I have a lot to get done in my day!


I am sitting here, at work, on a Friday night. I also volunteered to work tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night.  Why waste valuable time?  (Jenna is also gone, so I thought, "Hey, if I can pick up some extra hours- I have nothing better to do!")


I would like to thank my parents for the way they raised me. Especially for ingraining a good work ethic in me. 


“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” George Lorimer

~ALL~

"Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but not with God, ALL things are possible with God.'" Mark 10: 38

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3: 17

"Still God, you are our father. We're the clay and you're our potter, ALL of us are what you made us." Isaiah 64: 8

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do ALL this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4: 12-13

"Therefore, get rid of ALL moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." James 1: 21

"And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8: 28

"Love the Lord God with ALL your passions and prayer and itelligence and energy. And here is the second: Love others as well as you love yourself." Mark 12: 30-31

"You are worthy, O Lord, to recieve glory and honor and power; for you created ALL things, and by your will they exist and were created." Revelation 4: 11

"Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in ALL your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3: 5-6

I have been noticing how much the word ALL is used in the Bible. Clearly God does not want us to half trust him, half love him, or half follow him. God wants us to be IN or OUT. He wants our everything or nothing. In return, God promises to provide us with ALL the strength we will need to live for him in our day to day lives.  

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!" Revelation 3: 15

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

My friend Tori told my other friend Kyle to blog about a typical college day. So I'm going to steal her/his idea and blog about my typical day here.


This morning I woke up around 8am, ate breakfast, and did some homework. I had some homework to do for my Intro to Politics class- we have to read a very interesting book about integrating Christianity into every aspect of life. I don't mind this homework at all. 


Around 10am I went to look for Jenna so we could go running together. I texted her but she never texted me back...then I went to her room and she was not in there! I remembered that she was babysitting :( I was looking forward to running and talking with her but I accepted the fact that she couldn't come; I went running 3 miles by myself. After my run I got ready for the day and by this time it was 11:30am. I checked my emails and Facebook. Then Jenna came back and we went to lunch together in the caf. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some white chicken chili! It was delicious. Caf food is not that bad here thankfully.


When I was done with my lunch I went back to my room and got my books together for class. Class started at 12:30pm and I made it there with 1 minute to spare. I have Intro to Politics first; the professor lectures the whole time and I get a bit bored. Luckily, I haven't fallen asleep yet! Next I went to Art Fundamentals which started at 2pm. That is by far my favorite class because the professor is very knowledgeable about the subject and he tells interesting stories, and I enjoy learning about the history of art. Today we talked about Surrealism. Danielle sits next to me and she almost falls asleep everyday in this class....I just don't understand how she does not find this subject fascinating. But as the saying goes, "different strokes for different folks!" Next, I had the class of English at 3:30. Our professor introduced the 5 page paper that we have to write by next Thursday. He let us choose our own topic for the paper- he let us choose our own topic for almost every paper we have done for his class. Over the next 20 minutes I accomplished the feat of deciding on my topic. I am going to write about how people in our society have trouble trusting- trusting other people, trusting religion, and trusting the government. Then I talked to Jill for the rest of the time.  The professor let us leave early because not everyone liked the idea of writing the paper in class. I am one of those people who can't write in class, my ideas come to me on my own time when I am in my room. 


I came back to the dorms and talked to Danielle and Jill because Jenna was writing a paper. She finished the paper in record time and we went to dinner at 5pm in the caf. The food at dinner was wonderful! I ate tilapia (it makes my day when there is fish to eat in the caf :) along with green beans (my second favorite vegetable). After the amazing dinner I went to Jenna's room and didn't do homework. At 7:00, I went to the ArCC (Art and Communications Center) with Emily and Jill. We had some painting to do for our 2D Design class. We listened to country music on Jill's ipod the whole time!! That was especially exciting because I haven't listened to county in a while and I missed it. Danielle came by later and painted with us. She didn't like our country music- I knew she would complain about it. But she was forced to listen to it until we left. It was snowing outside when we left the ArCC! This is the first time it has snowed here, at least that I'm aware of.


Jenna and I went to the BBC to spend some quality time together (actually it was because I was craving ice cream, but the quality time was nice too). The BBC is decorated all pretty for Christmas, with garland, lights, and Christmas trees. I got some Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino ice cream, which was again, delicious! Jenna had a white chocolate mocha. We sat at a table and talked about life for about an hour. 


On our way back to the dorms, we stopped by the library so Jenna could print her paper. When we arrived at the dorms the RAs and RD were decorating the lobby with lots of Christmas decorations. This really put me in the mood for Christmas. I am ready for Christmas break; only 2.5 weeks until I get to come home! 


We were planning on watching Peter Pan after that, but instead we ended up talking with Emily (she came in Jenna's room to bring us the movie).  After another long talk about life, she left to go to bed and I decided to write this blog. Now I am blogging at 12:30am (now Wednesday December 1) and I should be in bed. That is what I plan to do next.


You now know more about my life than you ever wanted to know :) Thanks for reading...good night (or should I say good morning).