Update #9: Visitation

This evening was the visitation for one of the greatest, most amazing, awesome, terrific, fantastic, fun, daring, cool, adventurous person, it was for my cousin, Greg Seftick. So many emotions flooded me during the evening that it's nearly impossible to put anything into words. The outpouring of love for Greg and his family was immense. He loved and was loved greatly. In the short thirty-one years of his life he packed more in than most people would in eighty years.

Greg was one of the most unique people I have ever met. He was constantly doing or planning something dangerous and adventurous. From skiing, to hiking, to rock climbing and way beyond, his life was full of never missing a chance to try something and anything new. Every time I saw him he was always full of a never-ending stories which would keep you enthralled for hours on end of his crazy adventures that most of us can only dream about, but he put into action.

Most of all I remember Greg as a wonderful example to all of his younger cousins. He was a leader by nature, he was strong, outgoing, ambitious, loving, and just totally awesome. He was my dearly loved cousin. RIP Greg.

Consume Me

"God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like You, Lord Jesus."

~Jim Elliot~

Jim Elliot wrote this one summer while he was in college, which means he was right around my age. He had an evident dedication to God, and he wanted to display that in any way possible -- even to the point of death. He ended up being a missionary in Ecuador, and was martyred by the Auca Indians. As a result of his death the door was opened to these people for the Gospel. Now there is a thriving church among this once feared tribe of cannibals.

This made me seriously consider my life. I have come to the conclusion that I want God to run my life, I want to be filled by Him, I long to have a life that benefits and brings glory to Him alone. Whether I have one year or 60 years left in my life I want them to be filled with helping people and doing what God wants. I desire my life to be a living sacrifice to my Savior. When it is time for me to stand before my Maker, I hope to hear the words, "Well done!" I don't want to look back with regret at missed opportunities, wasted minutes, and empty enterprises. I want to look back at a full life -- full of things done to bring people closer to Jesus. I want my life to be a blazing "stick" for Christ, not a smoldering pile of ash that never amounted to anything.

Day 28: A Scar and its Story

Somehow I have made it through life without many scars. I don't know how this happened (or should I say didn't happen) because I was a rough and tumble tomboy growing up. Amazingly I have never broken a bone, although I have come very close on several occasions.

The scar I'm going to tell you about did not happen while I was growing up, in fact it came about last March, less than a year ago. When I am at school one of my jobs is at an ammunition factory. I have assembled thousands of bullets for all kinds of guns. One day I was working in the casting room making lead balls. When I work in there I have to wear safety glasses, a leather apron, and leather gloves. At this point the lead is nearly 700 degrees Fahrenheit!

One day the machine got stuck so I took my gloves off to fix it, BIG MISTAKE. As I reached into the machine to fix it some of the hot lead got on my middle finger of my left hand. OUCH! The lead left a hole in my finger that went nearly to my bone! It hurt really bad. It took about 4 or 5 weeks to completely heal and now I have nasty scar on my finger.

Ps. I never fixed the machine without my gloves on again.

The Next Day

The past few days I have seriously been thinking about how quickly life changes. With the sudden death of Mrs. Williams life has taken on a whole new meaning. I keep thinking of Proverbs 27:1

"Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."

Friday afternoon she was babysitting some of her grandkids. I am sure that she was planning what she would fix for dinner, what time she was going to put the baby to bed, what she was going to be doing the next morning, and so on but none of that happened. Instead she ended up in the emergency room, flying to a bigger hospital, having surgery, and ultimately going Home to be with her Lord.

For some unknown reason to us, God chose to take His servant to Heaven with Him Saturday morning. He chose to take her suddenly, without giving any of us a chance to knowingly say our good-byes. I honestly don't remember the last time I spoke to her, but I do know it was in the past two weeks. I don't remember what our conversation was about, or how long it was. I do know that I did not have a clue that I would never speak to her again.

I have learned that taking life for granted is really a sin. We don't know what will happen to us, in a minute, an hour, a day or a year. Make sure that you leave no hard feelings, no sadness, and no wrongs that have not been made right. Most of all, make sure that you have trusted Christ as your personal Savior, and that you have a short account with God.

None of us knows when it is our time to die. For some, it may be a prolonged illness, where we know that our days are short. Although some major suffering may be included, at least those have a chance to say good-bye to their loved ones. However, others may go in an instant with no extra chances. Only God knows, He it is Who knows our moment of death.

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make profit'; whereas ye do not know what will happen tomorrow.

For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'"

~James 4:13-15~

Veterans Day

In my life I have been blessed to know many men and women who were/are in the military, people who served their country, loved their country, and wanted the best for their country. I could list soooo many, but I want to focus on five men, 3 of whom were in the military, and 2 who are currently in the military right now.

I'll start with my grandpa, Michael Drazich. I really don't know much about his military service, except that he was in the Army in WWII. He never talked about it much and whenever the topic did come up he rarely said anything. All I know is that he was in Europe fighting during that time.

The second man that I'm thinking of is my daddy, Paul Drazich. He was in the Coast Guard in the 1980s. He loves to tell stories of the things he did, and my favorite thing as a little girl was to crawl up on his lap and have him tell me stories of his time on the ships. I could probably tell all of his stories as good as can tell them! He was stationed on the Great Lakes, as well as the Atlantic Ocean, and on Governor's Island in NYC teaching electronics.

The last of the 3 men who were in the military is my friend and hero, Aaron Williams. Aaron was a Marine, and the best of the best. Of any one person I know, Aaron was the most patriotic person in the world. He was also one of the kindest, gentlest, most loving, caring, generous person I've ever known. Aaron had NO enemies, and that's saying a lot for a person, everyone loved and cared deeply for the rough and tough Marine, with a BIG heart. Soon before he was to be deployed for Iraq, Aaron was diagnosed with brain cancer, at the age of 30. All the plans and dreams that he had came crashing down around him with a diagnosis of 6 months to live. However, instead of allowing the circumstances to get him down and ruin his life, Aaron chose to fight, and fight he did, for 3 years! But finally, after touching thousands of lives, God decided that it was time to call Aaron home to Him, and on June 22, 2007.

Next comes my dear friend Ray Pfahl. He is in the Army, and pretty close to being a big brother, without actually being one! Ray is 22 and has been in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He just got back from Iraq in August. Please pray for him, because he is not saved, and as he sees more and more pain and sorrow only gets harder and harder toward God. He is still one of my good friends, and I think I'm probably the only Christian that he allows to get close to him.

Lastly, and the most recent to come into my life is Jason Hunsicker, who is in the Navy. I know that I could go on and on and on about him… :) Anyway, well he has been in the Navy since August 2007, and is stationed in Yokosuka Japan on the USS Blue Ridge, which is the flagship for the 7th fleet. Currently he is deployed somewhere in the Pacific.

I just wanted to say thank you too all of the men and women who are or have been in the military and to their families as well.

***Aaron Williams***

***Daddy (on the left)***
***Jason***

Oh the joys of my life! I could go on and on! The reason I didn't post yesterday was because my internet was being funky! It is driving me nuts! I can't get onto the internet in the dorms, neither can most of the other girls. :( GRRRRRR!!!!! I have to go elsewhere on campus to be able to get online. It's very frustrating.
Yesterday was kinda boring. Nothing exciting happened in classes. It is spirit week, and yesterday's theme was blue and gold, which are our school colors. I didn't do anything for it cuz I really don't like gold, so as a result I don't own anything that is gold. I had to work like normal. After work I had some homework to do, and then I took a nap. It lasted a little bit longer than I was intending, like and hour in a half! YIKES! I guess I needed the sleep. It was wonderful.
Today was Western Day. I did wear a plaid shirt, denim skirt, boots, and had my roommate braid my hair. Yes, my hair really was up today! Shocking, I know! I got pictures, just to prove to those of you who know how much I HATE putting my hair up, that I actually did the cursed deed! :)
I played my cello in chapel today, I played "To God be the Glory." by Fanny Crosby. I picked that song on purpose because three years ago today I gave my life to Jesus, and WOW has He changed my life! :)

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

To God be the glory, great things He has done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Great things He has taught us, great things He has done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

Just in case you are wondering, I managed to make it through the entire piece without harming myself or others! YAY! As I was setting up to play Bro. Randall made some announcement, then he got off the platform, guess he was a little bit nervous! He's got a nice red bump on his head! Poor guy! I do feel really bad, but I also think it is really funny! I guess I can't believe it happened. Sometime last semester, I can't remember if it was in a sermon that he preached, or if it was in a Sunday School lesson, he said that some students come and go and nobody really remembers them. Other come and leave a mark, some good and some bad. At the time that he said that I wondered if I'd leave a mark, well now I know! I wasn't planning on leaving a bad mark, but I sure managed to do leave one quite well! I'm sure he won't be forgetting me for a long time, although he will probably want to forget me. :) :)

I have lots of studying to do today. I have 2 tests and 2 quizzes tomorrow! YIKES!! Pray for me! I normally work on Tuesdays, so I would've been really pressed for time, but tomorrow night is the Valentine's banquet, and I'm not going, but one of the other girls is, and she normally works Wednesdays, but not Tuesdays so she asked to switch days with me. I was more than happy to swap!