Alex, Brett, and William

The Harris twins, Alex and Brett, have recently written the book Do Hard Things. (http://www.therebelution.com/dohardthings/) I finished reading this book yesterday. This evening I watched (for the first time) the movie about the work of William Wilburforce, called "Amazing Grace." (http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/) I could not help jumping to my feet after this movie and yelling, "Why aren't we doing anything NOW for the slaves around the world!?!?!!" This is something that NEEDS to change!! Too many people, especially children, are kidnapped and/or sold into slavery today and being forced to be, among other things, sex slaves. What is our world coming to!? We, the US as a society, are far too concerned about our personally comfort and convenience than about the GREAT SUFFERING around the globe!!! Why don't we wake up and do something!? I am a college sophmore majoring in Biblical Studies and, as Wilburforce says in the movie, I too often prefer to meditate on God; why is that? Because just meditating is easy. Doing something with the Truth is far more difficult. I have also been helping out some at the local Pregnancy Care Center this summer. To hear a few of the stories of the lives of these women and girls...it would break your heart. Yes, some are the stario typical dumb teen who gave her boyfriend too much one night, but many aren't. I can't tell any details for legal confidence sake, but they make me want to cry (and if you know me at all, me crying is significant). Abortion. Have you ever really considered how truly gruesome and terrible it is. A baby can't talk, but they have all the other functions which we use everyday. Why are we letting them be MASS MURDERED everyday!!??!!

Why does the world not value life above a payable price? Why does the US care more about its economy than its people? Why do we only meditate on God and what He has told us? Why have I not done anything?

Lord God! Show us what battles we should be fighting! Show me how I am supposed to respond to this enormous burden on my heart!! Lord Jesus, may all that I do be to Your glory! May Your will be done! Father God, I pray this in Jesus name.

Camp Site 41

This past weekend, I went camping! Elijah, his sister, Lydia, and my brother, Daniel were my companions. We meet at Kings Mountain National Military Park and camped Saturday night at Kings Mountain State Park. Walking/hiking around, playing frisbee, playing cards, attending the campground chapel service, singing accompanied by Daniel on the guitar, and engaging in various conversations filled our time. I had a wonderfully refreshing and enjoyable weekend! Praise God for all His awesome, amazing blessings!!!
The Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780 was a major turning point in the American Revolution. The British forces had put Col. Patrick Ferguson in charge of recruiting colonist loyal to the British Crown. The battle that occurred at Kings Mtn was fought between 1,000 of these Loyalist and 910 "Overmountain men." The Overmountain men came from what was called the backwoods of Virginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas, which essentailly was made up of the areas west of most the colonial settlements. The different forces of Overmountain men rallied together at three locations: Sycamore Shoals, in present day Carter County, TN (where I was born); Quaker Meadows, the easte of the McDowell family in present day Burke County, NC (where my family now lives); and Cowpens, SC. These untrained, rugged mountain men came in answer to Ferguson's proclamtion that if they would not “desist from their opposition to the British army, and take protection under his standard, he would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword.” The Battle at Kings Mtn lasted only about an hour, but the Loyalist forces were totally defeated and Col. Ferguson was among those killed.
Walking around on Kings Mtn gave me an extra thrill because this was more to me than just another battle fought a long time ago; one of my ancesters, Thomas Francis, and his relative, Henry Francis, Jr, were among those who came down with Col. William Campbell and charged the hill that day. Yes, I am an US American right through. I must admit, however, that I struggle to be proud of what this nation has become. One of the best conversations I had with Elijah and Lydia this weekend concerned the US church today and our personal life callings. Are we going to be loyal to that which appears safest, strongest, and most promising as the British Empire did in 1780? Or are we going to stick out our necks, stand for what is right, and fight against all odds for the glory of God as the American patriots from "over the mountains"?

What about you? Where will you pledge your aliegence and stand when the fighting comes?

Look Up from the Grime

Have you ever had a job or duty given which was hard physically and mentally? and the longer you worked at it, the harder it got?
My job(s) have been rather like that recently. I seem to work at cleaning, painting, and general helping at church and home to no avail. The other day, much to my shame, I let some of the depressing thoughts on my mind spill out. I always feel bad for whomever is around when this happens; this time it was my mother. I have been getting caught up in looking and thinking about my current situation from a prespective of comparing myself to others. Forgetting that God's standard and what He has called me to do is all that matters and counts. Thank God for a mother who reads who Bible!! The next morning while I was getting ready for work, she comes to me and reads Isaiah 43:10-19.
Walking to work and all day I kept thinking about what it said and two songs came to mind which I also rolled around several times. The songs "How Great Thou Art" and "God Will Make a Way" continued to run through my head the rest of the week, enabling me to do my work with a smile. I would like to share one song with you here, that other I would encourage you to go look it up, as well as the verses.

God will make a way,
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way.

By a roadway in the wilderness,
He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and earth will fade
But His Word will still remain
He will do something new today.

God will make a way,
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way

Words and music by Don Moen

Be Thou My Vision

I often have songs which get stuck in my head when I work or take walks. When the song stays a significant while or comes at a particularly noteworthy moment, I can't help but wonder as to their purpose. As one of the songs I've had drifting through my head recently, I thought I would share it with you, for it has been a great encouragement and comfort to me for several days now.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

by Dal­lan For­gaill (translated from the Irish by
Ma­ry E. Byrne, Versified by El­ea­nor H. Hull)

Work

So, I have work. Well, actually I have had work. (yay for the English language :-) Cleaning, cooking, painting, more cleaning, washing dishes, etc are among my duties at my church. Yes, I am paid, for the staff understand I need it. (silly money) I can't begin to express how thankful I am to God for providing!!!!! I will admit, however, that when I asked God for paying work this summer I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Be careful what you ask God for; He may just give you what you ask for. From week to week I have not known how much or what kind of jobs I would be doing. In general, I knew mostly cleaning would be involved and the painting assignment will take several weeks, but details are always subject to change. ^_^ When working for God's money which is to fund an education for the purpose of preparing to do a lifetime of work dedicated to God, living daily by faith for everything becomes increasingly important. Yes, it is hard many times, but none the less essential. Please, pray for me as I struggle in striving to "simply trust and obey" everyday moment of my life.

Rain Showers and Toads

Simply can't resist a pleasant jaunt in the summer rain shower...... my brother found a plump toad also out in the gutter beside the road enjoying itself. Beside a bit stuffy on a few days, weather in this part of the US, in my humble opinion, lends better to my preferred lifestyle of spending much time out of doors than my other recent homes. I have significantly appreciated the need to walk to and from work this summer (due to a lack of car of my own), for it allows a whole extra hour of my day to be spent out under the sky as a necessity, not only for the obvious purpose of transportation, but also for the sake of my retaining of sanity and promoting of health.
Praise God for all His blessings!!! Please, pray this simple attitude of deep appreciation and joy, for what might so easily be an annoyance, continue, no matter the surrounding circumstances. May God bless each of you exceedingly as well!

Geometry Problem

I feel rather silly now....
One of my brothers asked me to solve a simple geometry problem today, and I knew tan(x) was needed, but beyond that I couldn't remember. I like math! I like geometry! I like trig and calc! but the path I'm headed down right now in life doesn't allow for much math.....I don't understand! God has given me some enjoyments and, what I once thought were talents, which I no longer use. I'm a liberal arts major who transfered in all the math credit required, so I don't get to take math in college......I know I've said this before, but.......I don't understand, and, honestly, it kinda makes me sad.....

Dear God, please, make me joyful in exactly where You have put me and with exactly what You have given me. Thank You for being so patient with me. Thank You for always being faithful.

Summer time!

I'm home in NC now....and I'm back in my beautiful mountains! Yep, we went hiking today. Such a gorgeous day and so clear....we could see Mt Mitchell, Mt Pisgah, Hump Mtn, and Balsam Knob, among others. The small variety of rhododendron was in bloom leaving pink splashes across the slopes. However, summer has begun with temperatures well into the 70s. Oh well, the sweat makes the hiking seem more fulfilling. ^_^

Ponding myself

yes, I jumped into the campus pond voluntarily.....with Benaiah, Elijah, and Nolan (taking the picture). It was fun and very wet and dirty. ^_^

Paper and Presentation

The last slide of my power point presentation.

I turned in my term paper and gave a presentation on it today in Religions of the World class. The assignment was to discuss the influence of religion on the economic, political, and general culture of a particular country of my choice. Originally, I choose Uzbekistan. (if you don't know where it is, educate yourself: ) The trouble with picking a country that has only been independent for 17 years and prefers to keep to itself, would obviously be the challenge of finding information. Less than a week before it was due, I realized I could not write the paper with what information I had available to me. So.......what country would be interesting, not one someone else picked, and I could come up with enough information for this paper in less than a week? Well, I settled on Swaziland. Yep, once again, I used my experience from that trip and the pictures from Matthew an Jena to complete a class assignment. ^_^ I truly enjoy attending a Christian university!