a rambling post

I'm sick. Went to sleep last night with a sore throat, woke up with a stuffy nose and tired body tagging along. Thus, I stayed in bed most of the day - just about the only times I got up were to refill my water bottle (about 7 steps from me), go to the bathroom (about 2 steps from me), or eat a meal (which did not include lunch...because I was too lazy and not hungry enough). Nathan was the first one contaminated, and now Nicholas is the only one who, so far, is feeling totally fine (or so it seems)...because in an RV, if one person gets sick, everyone gets sick.

So, while in bed, I finished a book I'd started yesterday, a novel by Beverly Lewis, titled Sanctuary. It was really good. Now that I think about it, I liked it a lot. If I had more energy, I probably would have realized that as soon as I finished it. My brain seems a tad sluggish today.

I haven't been outside once today. How sad. I'm going to change out of my PJs in a bit (yes, it's 8pm, and I am still blissfully wearing my PJs) and grab my shower stuff and walk over to the RV shower and - can you guess? - take a shower. I needed one when I woke up today, but I didn't want to get all my stuff together and everything. I'm so lazy...it really is slightly a problem. 

In Sanctuary there was a part where the main character thought to herself that (words in brackets are mine) "Something about the Plain [in this case, the Amish] style of living made hard work seem altogether natural." I want to have a better work ethic. I don't feel too bad about relaxing so much today, because I'm sick, but there are times where I put a hold on contact in a friendship because I don't feel like making the effort to type up an email or make that phone call, or I skip doing my very small chores because I'd just rather go on the computer or read a book or take some pictures, or I complain when asked to do something because it's more work than usual or I'd rather be doing something else or...yeah, I can be quite lazy.

"Do everything without complaining or arguing,"

--Philippians 2:14 (NIV)

I have to (sheepishly) admit that I often quote this verse to my brothers without remembering that God's Word is for me, too...that log-and-speck thing, you know?

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,"

--Colossians 3:22-23 (NIV)

The difference between working out of fear of men and out of reverence for the Lord is, well just that...fear or love. You can work for the Lord and do it out of fear. But what Paul means here is to work for the Lord out of love and gratefulness and worship. Even if it's not directly to the Lord as you might think might be serving Him...by living life to the full, you're serving Him. In everything you do, do it for Him.

Will you join me in obeying His Word, in working cheerfully and wholeheartedly, in being grateful and patient, in living life to the full? Not just, you know, tomorrow, or a couple of days, or a week...it's a good place to start, but how about your whole life? How's that sound?

Is there any time that it's tough for you to work wholeheartedly? Hey, and by the way, have you been watching the Olympics?

p.s. I had to go take my shower and then post this...most of the lights are out and we're settling down to bed (it is 11:30ish). Anyway, just wanted to say...being clean feels good. And I'm talking about more than just the outside.

p.p.s. OK, well, I couldn't post this last night (at, like, 11:45 or something the filter that I have on my computer shuts down the Internet connection), so I'm posting it this morning, but I'm not changing anything that was actually from yesterday. :P Hey, at least I'm posting, right? ;)

some thoughts about life and death

the two times i have come closest to death happened two days in a row.

not death happening to me, personally. but to others around me.

yesterday, my dad was driving early in the morning to find coffee and signal. for his phone, that is. as he was driving, a police car...a fire truck...an ambulance sped past him. later he saw them, crowded around where a car had driven off the road...and down the drop-off, several feet below. they loaded the person, loved and precious in the eyes of our Lord, into the ambulance.

that evening, as we drove by, merrily coming home from our day trip in San Diego, we quickly sobered when we saw flowers and a sign where the accident had happened.

life is so fragile.

today, a dear friend of mine, whom i've met only once, but who is a sweet sister in Christ...their very, very close family friend passed away today. she has... had been in the hospital for many weeks, for several things going on in her body. her husband, my friend said, was given peace by our loving Father, but i ask all of you reading this to please pray for him and for my friend and her family, as this is obviously so painful. i praise the Lord that this precious lady is now rejoicing in heaven with our Lord Jesus, but i weep for those here on earth who will miss her.

life is so fragile.

why? why must it be so? if i look at it in anger and pain and despair, it looks as if God is mocking us, mercilessly reminding us of our frailty, of our weakness, in contrast with His Almighty strength.

but i know that is not truth.

what is truth is that our Savior loves us. i know, as surely as the sun rises, as the Psalmist says, that our Lord and King is a loving God, and that while He is rejoicing in heaven, He is weeping with His beloved ones here in this fractured, broken world. the ones who miss their dear friends and family members, who have lost loved ones in combat...in the womb...at the end of an alley...in a hospital...

although i'm not quite sure what the point of this post is, other than to let out some of the thoughts tumbling around in my mind, my soul, begging to be heard...maybe, out of all that, this is one lesson learned:

how precious life is. how dear, sweet, and precious life is.

may we not forget that. may we always bless each day, grateful for the life given us by our Savior.

award and such

I know, I know, I know. I am a very bad blogger. Let me 'splain...no, there is too much - let me sum up (hehe :) Princess Bride quote): it's been about...let me see...5 weeks - over a month - since my last post.


I will wait for your gasps of horror to subside.


Now. Where were we? Oh, yes - the terrors of my blogging habits. You see, the first week and a half or so of my impromptu hiatus, I almost completely forgot to blog. At all. Really, you ask? Really. Seriously. No sarcasm involved. I'm not sure how, but somehow I just about totally forgot that I had a blog, much less that I needed to post on it. I'm not even sure what I was doing that so led me astray!


Once it finally, actually dawned on me that my 13 followers - wait a minute, 13? I gained new followers while I wasn't even posting?! This is slightly concerning...it leads to the thought that I am more interesting when you don't have to listen to me. Hmph.


Let me continue. *switches to dramatic, theatrical voice* When at last I realized that my questionably loyal followers were waiting in questionable suspense for my next questionably amazing post...*switches back to normal voice*..I procrastinated. Mmm, procrastination - one of the most blissful yet most cursed habits of mankind (blissful, that is, until your friend is coming over in 10 minutes and you haven't even started on your science test; blissful, that is, until you have to leave in a half an hour and you still haven't taken a shower; blissful, that is, until an entire 5 weeks have gone by and you are forced to post because you have been awarded. how pathetic. thus, it is cursed, as aforementioned).


And then, for the last, oh, 3 weeks, I had a topic bouncing around in my head that I refused post because of my stubborn laziness. I hesitantly checked up on my ailing blog every now and then, while still eagerly following other blogs....until the day that my blogging world was changed. That day was the day when I was....awarded. ;)


So, here I am, humbly presenting myself to you and apologizing for my lackadaisical neglect, and hoping you could somehow forgive me for my horrible misdeeds. (And realizing that I did not sum up. I most definitely explained, in a quite superfluous fashion. *sigh* Another thing for which to ask your forgiveness...)


And now I am putting my dark past behind me and am moving forward - to thank Ireland from A Pearl of Great Price for awarding me!! :)

1. Thank the person who awarded you.
2. List 7 random things about yourself.
3. Award 15 others this award.


So, #1 - just in case I did not make this clear: thank you so much, Ireland!! That was so sweet of you! ;) As I was telling her, I'm a bit embarrassed that she viewed my blog in its sorry state, and I was explaining how un-award-worthy my blog is, when it dawned on me - my blog fits one of the (lesser known) definitions of the award!


ver·sa·tile (adj.) - 1. Able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities. 2. Changeable; inconstant.


Inconstant - describes my preferred pattern of posting perfectly! :) I mean, I suppose could start a new trend on this blog of mine and start posting more regularly...maybe...think it'll work? It would take a miracle. Goodbye! (sorry...another Princess Bride quote :) ya think I've watched that movie too many times? my family quotes it all the time...)


Now for the 7 random things about me....


1. My eyes are blue-green, like my dad and my older brother.
2. I finished (home)school last week!! Next year, highschool...(still homeschooled)
3. I am taking Spanish on an online class over the summer, my choice. I'd like to one day be able to speak Spanish just about fluently.
4. My family is leaving on either the 15th or the 16th for our trip! So excited!!
5. My dad's birthday was yesterday!! We had such a great time, and I made this delicious dessert for him! Only instead of chocolate frosting, I made and spread ganache on top (my friend's idea), stuck it in the fridge, and then we ate it later. Yum...
6. I'm looking forward to, Lord willing, getting my permit this year, as I am turning 15 on November 16th!
7. I - er, my mom coupons. Well, I help. :) Any fellow couponers out there?


And I award....


1. Alisha at Mercy's Miracle
2. Anna at f a n a t i c a l
3. Chloe at Blooming in Christ
4. Emii at Girlz 4 God
5. Melody at Rejoice Always!
6. Melody at 100 Things to do Before College
7. Rachel at What Do You Expect?
8. Sarah Elizabeth at Learning to Trust God
9. Sophie at My Happy Place
10. Talia at Girlz of God
11. ...
12. ....
13. .....
14. ......
15. .......


Um, OK, so I didn't make it to 15. :P I tried really hard, but I only made it to 10. :( Ah, well. I already knew it would take a me a while to round up even just 10 people to award and then comment on their blogs letting them know I've awarded them...which is why I put this post off for a day or two. :P BUT, anyone else who wants to do this - I award you! ;)


Anyway, I hope this satisfies y'all for now, because I right about now, I feel satisfied just writing! I need to write more often (as my record of posts clearly shows)...


Love and blessings to you all! May God's peace guide us throughout the day as we serve Him...and be reminded by Him to serve Him - not others, not ourselves, but Christ, our Savior and Lover. <3


P.S. My friend and I sidewalk chalked yesterday....in the rain. ;) It was quite amusing, and I'm very sorry I was too lazy to take pic of it. :P We were very proud of our (slightly smudged) balloon and flower and tree and butterfly and teddy bear and - our best - the earth with purple, pink, orange, yellow, and white children circling it, holding hands. ;) When was the last time you sidewalk chalked? Or...have you - *gasp* - never sidewalk chalked?!

bullet lists are wonderful things

There's so much I want to say.


I was thinking, before I even started this post, about what I wanted to write...I started to count how many different topics I wanted to blog about. The number was somewhere around 7, I believe, and is rapidly increasing as I think of more things I want to just get out there.


Now, I think you all will agree with me that if I go ahead and pour out my heart about all those topics and events, you will never reach the end of this post (neither will I, for that matter) and I will have merely accomplished a way-too-long-I'm-so-tired-of-reading-this-my-eyelids-are-about-to-glue-shut post that will bore you all to death.


So. The normal solution would be to pick out one or two things for this post and either forget about the rest or save some for later. However, I am not normal, if you haven't noticed. Thus, I am going to condense several of these topics to just a couple of sentences, throw 'em all (including some other things I think of) on a couple of bullets, and hope it all works out. ;) Here we go...

• Last week we had some very, very good family friends come down from North Carolina and stay with us for a couple of days. We had such a great time with them!! I wish I could tell you every detail...but I can't. :)
• Also, last Friday evening and all day Saturday (excluding Fri. night), I was with my friend's youth group (which I've been attending for over a year now) at Acquire the Fire!! We had such a great time. The worship band, the speakers, the drama, the concerts - they were all amazing. Christ was certainly present, and many people gave their life to Him!
• I am currently loving this song - heard it on the radio, looked it up - never heard of the guy, but, wow, his voice is amazing! Yeah, he's unique, but I think he's really great. ;) Here's a link to the lyrics, btw (you might need 'em).
• Oh, and this song. :) {click here for lyrics}
• My friend, her family, most of her youth group, and several college kids that her older brother knows (and I know most of them, too, incidentally - they are homeschoolers, you know) are all taking part in the Justice Revolution. The JR is a book that her dad and another guy (I believe) wrote, a kind of daily devo containing a 21-day challenge to raise awareness about several injustices in this world - poverty, abortion, human sex trafficking, child soldiers, etc. {Yes, slavery is definitely still present in this world, and more so than ever...it's heartbreaking.} You can check out some of the teens' videos on YouTube here and here.
• Mom and I spent some time together yesterday afternoon, one-on-one, and had so much fun!! :) We got ice cream at Coldstone and painted our nails at the park!
• We, my family and I, are most definitely planning to take a road trip this summer, for about two and a half months or so...and I'm so excited!!! :D Unless God tells us that this His not His Plan for us, right now we believe it is, and we spent some time last night as a family planning it out - we've already got almost the first week down! (Google Maps is an amazing thing.) My mom and dad already planned out the whole
  (tentative) route, but last night we just started from the beginning in more detail.

Sooo...that wasn't too long, right? :) Just bits and pieces of my life lately...


Hey, and thanks to the girls who said they were praying for Nicholas!! Trinka, Tess, and Emma - I showed my post and your comments to him yesterday, and he loved it. ;) He was allowed to play in the last basketball game for a couple of minutes, and he did great - speaking of basketball, both our JV and varsity teams get to play in the first round of the tournament this Monday (woot-woot!), so please pray that everything goes well and no one gets hurt!! We had one of our best varsity players fracture his wrist two games ago. :( Prayers for him would be great, too!


Love and blessings,
Nicole <3 John 5:24

childlike

via Google Images

Sometimes I just want to be a kid again.

A little girl, who doesn't feel the need to tell her brother not to put a dripping wet cutting board into the cabinet as "clean", who hasn't yet learned to default to directing her brothers around carelessly. A little lady who is not yet desensitized to the ways of this world, who is utterly repulsed at the irreverent misuse of God's holy Name. A young child who enjoys running around outside in the sun with her little friends, who isn't worried about that guy who just tagged her to be 'it' - isn't worried about what he thinks of her, her clothes or her hair.

Who loves life. Who worships God in surrender, with abandon.

Does anyone else here long for that? Long to be childlike, as Jesus commanded? Wouldn't that be amazing? Don't you love it when you just laugh with your siblings, family, friends - just being enthralled with the joy of pure life?

I love life, this forgiven, free live He has given me. I hope I can learn again to enjoy it as much as Jesus does.

^"And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

--Mathew 18:3-4

p.s. A big, huge thanks to Emma Margaret, who designed the current theme for the blog! :) You can visit her blog here or order a blog design from her here. Thanks, Emma!

rice krispie treats and such

Does this not look absolutely yummy? And it was, btw, just thought you should know. ;) My friend and I had the best time ever making them yesterday!! The first batch...well, you wouldn't want to see a pic of that. It turned out to be a hardened mess. But this is the second batch, and I hope you agree with me that they look particularly scrumptious, if I do say so myself. My brother had the idea of putting M&Ns (sp?) on top, and my other brother arranged them very beautifully!

We brought them today to the science class that we go to at a nearby church - it was our last day (thank You, Jesus!), so a bunch of people brought snacks and our teacher let us hang out and stuff our faces for about a half an hour. There are now 8 treats left - er, never mind, there are 7.  My dad just scarfed one down. ;)

And I just wanted to say, I edited that picture ^^ with PicMonkey! Very easy, completely free, you don't even have to register, and the only limitation (that I've found so far) is that with some special effects, they stamp their monkey logo in the corner of the picture. And let me say, I never did use Picnik, so I don't know how it is compared to that, but I just know that this is very useful and extremely simple & user friendly!

So...here are two other pics that I've edited with PicMonkey so far:

Before...

After! ;)

I've been wanting to do something like that with a pic of my desk since about a month ago, but I didn't really think about it again until I saw this feature that PicMonkey had - and, tada! It really isn't a good picture, but I really just wanted to the black-&-white-but-leave-the-flowers-colored thing. ;) But here's the pic I really like... (wow, I'm all over the "really"s today :P)

Before...

After!! {insert sparkling music...
...no, wait, music can't sparkle...
...you know what I mean}

Hehe. About this picture: we used to juice carrots ALL the time a couple of years ago, but we don't do it as much anymore. A month or two back, though, we were juicing quite a bit more often, so one day we took all the carrot peelings we had saved and put back in the plastic bags that the carrots came in, and we brought them to a nearby field where the cows roam, and the envelopes play...hehe, sorry. {When my brother was younger, he was quite convinced that it was pronounced 'envelope', not 'antelope'. ;) Ah, little brothers...}.

Anyway, we dumped out all of the peelings for them, fed a few by hand, snapped a couple of pics, and then left them to enjoy their juicy snack. We used to do the same at our old house, only it was horses we fed, because we had neighbors behind our house who were, like, the most amazing neighbors ever and let us feed their horses and play in their pool and pick their tomatoes...see, I told you they were awesome. ;)

This week has been and will certainly continue to be positively busy. And I positively enjoy it. To name a few, we have had and have yet to have basketball practices, games, youth group (for me), science class, going to the library, dance lessons (Mom), coupoun-ing with friends (Mom and I), dance competition (Mom, she can't wait!! a mini-match, her first), etc. And....well, I'll have to surprise you later with a bit of information that I'm just bursting with excitement about.

Now we're off to watch the boys' basketball games! JV and varsity. They're playing at a school where my friend used to go! ;) (Unfortunately, I heard that the other team has a pretty good height advantage over us, with two guys on the varsity team that are as tall as our tallest player, who's, like, 6' 3'' or something. :P) 

Love and blessings,

Nicole <3 John 5:24