Panoply

Tonight at church we sang the old Charles Wesley hymn, Soldiers of Christ, Arise. The second verse contained a word that I did not know, "panoply." This word bugged me during the entire service (for those of you who don't know me very well, when I come across something I don't know I instinctively look it up out of utter curiosity.) So, when I got home I Googled it. The first entry that came up defined it as "A complete and impressive array." Scrolling down a little further I found the Miriam Webster Dictionary, it defined panoply as "a full suite of armor," and "something forming a protective covering." It is from the Greek word "panoplia," meaning "all arms."

The second verse of Soldiers of Christ, Arise reads, "Stand then in His great might, with all His strength endued; but take, to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God. Leave no unguarded place, no weakness of the soul; take every virtue, every grace, and fortify the whole." This entire song, and more specifically this stanza Wesley is talking about the Armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-20; in fact the entire hymn is a beautiful paraphrase of this passage.

Personally, I was reminded of how important it is to daily put on the armor of God, and not only a piece or two, but the full array, or all arms. As Christians we are daily in a battle against the world and the devil, if we allow one tiny area to slip our entire protection will be at a high risk. However, if we do as God commands, in His strength with His complete armor the chances of falling will be much slimmer.

Soldiers of Christ, arise,

And put your armor on,

Strong in the strength

Which God supplies

Through his eternal Son.

Strong in the Lord of Hosts,

And in his mighty pow’r,

Who in the strength of Jesus trusts

Is more than conqueror.

Stand then in his great might,

With all his strength endued;

But take, to arm you for the fight,

The panoply of God.

Leave no unguarded place,

No weakness of the soul;

Take ev’ry virtue, ev’ry grace,

And fortify the whole.

To keep your armor bright,

Attend with constant care;

Still walking in your Captain’s sight,

And watching unto prayer.

From strength to strength go on;

Wrestle and fight and pray;

Tread all the pow’rs of darkness down,

And win the well-fought day.

Lord Stay Close to Me

I heard this song at church tonight and it has officially become my life song...I think it says it all...

Lord, I knew a time like this would surely come my way

When in disbelief, I'd watch my whole life change

I thought I'd have the words to tell You how I feel

But the only thing my heart is telling me to say is

Chorus

Lord stay close to me, as I journey through the darkness of this great unknown

Lord, stay close to me, though I've place my faith in You, I feel so all alone

My heart trembles like a child as I walk each scary mile

And the only prayer my lips can find to speak is Lord, stay close to me

Verse 2

I guess that I could ask You for some miracle

To even take away this trial that I face

But Lord, I know that You alone know what I need

So would You hold me tight as I journey through this place

Chorus

Oh Lord, when I'm so scared, please be there, Lord

So I can rest in the promise, the promise that You care

Lord I know that I can make it through if all I have is You

Weekends Are Supposed to be for Resting!!

Sooo....I've been BUSY to say the least!
Friday was another day where I slept in, without anything that I HAD to do early. In the afternoon I made dirt pudding, which is chocolate pudding, butter, cream cheese, and milk mixed together and then layered with crushed Oreos! It is really good stuff, but I can't eat it which is sad! I made it for the Bible study that is held on Friday nights for families of people in jail, ex convicts, and really anyone who wants to come. It did go over REALLY well! :)
Mom and I went to the Saturday morning jail ministry team meeting. It went well. I was planning on going in on Sunday, which was all well and good until I found out that the regular pianist (also my former piano teacher) was going to be out of town! UGH! That meant that I had to play, I haven't played the piano in several months, there just hasn't been time! So, not only did I have to play the piano, but I also had to accompany a guy who was singing, which was fine cuz he was just singing out of the piano. Plus, I was told that I would be helping with what would be done with the speaking in the ladies block, I wasn't feeling well, and so it seemed REALLY overwhelming!!
I had a HUGE blessing on Saturday! :) At the jail meeting some how I had made the comment that I had found a job, but I would also like to get another job as well. One of the men on the jail team, Wes Smith, who has a whole bunch of ministries, mainly involving the end times and prophecy, asked if I was good on the computer. I was like, "Uh, yes." He said, "I'm wanting a presentation that I can show at churches of pictures from Israel that I have taken, etc. Do you know how to do things like that?" I said, "Yes!" The discussion went really well from there, and I'm hired! I have a meeting with him tomorrow to begin the work! YAY!!
Saturday afternoon we went to a high school graduation party for a friend of ours. I grew up with him, and we had a lot of fun! On our way home from that Samuel and I stopped to see another friend. He is trying to sell a pick-up truck, and jokingly tried to sell it to me!! :-P He did let me drive it, which was fun! :)

*****Me n' a truck...what a combo*****

Saturday night we went to a friends high school graduation. I grew up with Brent and his older brother, Bobby and I haven't seen them in ages. Bobby went to college at Pensacola Christian College, and ended up moving back down there almost two years ago, and we haven't seen him since. They have both been like brothers to me over the years. Bobby and I sat next to each other at the graduation and we made comments back and forth the entire time!! It was fun!

**********

*****Brent walking across the stage*****

Sunday morning Samuel and I both went into the jail. I was excited/sad to go to into our first service which is in F block, the lock down block where guys are locked into individual cells 23 hours a day, because a guy that I've known since he was a little boy, we were neighbors, and he and his siblings used to come to church with us, was in that block. When I found out several months ago that Michael was in jail (at the time he was only 15, now he is 16) I was pretty mad at him, but I also really saddened, and as time went on I decided that I couldn't wait to get back into jail so I could give him a hug. Since he was in F block, there would be no way that I could hug him, which made me sad. So we go into F and I'm looking around and didn't see him in any of the cells, so I asked one of the guys and he said that Michael had been moved from F to another block!! YAY!! That meant that I would be able to give him a hug after all!! That TOTALLY made my day! :) After the service in F one of the guys motioned me to come to his cell. In the little bit of time that we had been doing the service he had drawn a picture of me! How cool is that??!!

*****My picture*****

The next service was all of the guys in the regular cells combined into one service and Michael was there!!!!! :) There was a radical change from the boy that I used to know to the young man that he is now! When he was younger, Michael used to be a mocker, and defied authority at any and every chance possible. Now, he is really sweet, and he listened very intently, and was even helping another Mexican man who was sitting next to him. After the service was over the jailers weren't ready to take the men back to their blocks, so Michael and I got to talk for quite a while. He has really matured! I not only got one hug from him, but two!! :)
Our church had a carry-in dinner and then an afternoon service, so we went to that. I sang a solo for church! That was cool! I sang "God Hears My Prayer." It's a song that I learned for voice lessons and I really like.
Sunday evening we had friends over for dinner and played games.
Today was the beginning of training for my job. I will be selling Rainbow systems. It's a lot of information to digest, but I'm pretty sure I will like the job! :)
I got a phone call this evening from a hotel that I had filled out an application for last week, wanting me to come in for an interview tomorrow! Praise the Lord!

What I've Been Up To....

I'm SOOOOO sorry that I haven't posted in SOOOO long! I guess I have had a MAJOR case of "done-with-college-don't-feel-like-doing-a-thing" blues! All that I have felt like doing is sleeping, taking it easy, vegging out, etc...
So, to pick up from where I left off...
Last Sunday morning I went to church with a former manager and friend of mine, Nan. Her church had just recently built a new building, and she wanted me to see it. It was a good experience and I was glad that I went.
I didn't go to church Sunday night cuz I was NOT feeling well at all! :(
Monday Mom and I ran a bunch of errands, including doing some job hunting...to no avail. NO BODY is hiring at all! Please continue to pray that I will find a job. In the afternoon went up to Goshen to the GI doctor and he did a very thorough exam and scheduled me for some testing on Friday. While we were up there we also went to Sam's Club and DUNKIN DONUTS (my favorite!! :})!!!!! I like DD MUCH better than Star Bucks, or any other coffee shop. I guess I started to get into them at college cuz they are MUCH cheaper than any other coffee shop. Surprisingly, I don't like to get donuts, just coffee, my favorite being an iced latte (as Bro. Mike knows VERY well!! LOL! (fond memories....)).
I honestly don't remember what I did on Tuesday (my brain has completely blanked it out!), which probably means I rested a lot! It was Mom's 40th birthday! Last week I had ordered her a cake from Betty's Cakes, which is a little bakery here in Warsaw that makes the most AMAZING cakes in the whole world, their frosting is TO DIE FOR!! YUM! I ordered a strawberry cake wth chocolate frosting! It was rather good!! :) :)
On Wednesday I had an hour in a half interview with a photographer. I took some pictures for him and we discussed different photographic styles, etc. The job is a definite MAYBE!! Oh joy...that's what they all say.
Daddy came home from Minnesota on Thursday! It was SOOOOOOOO nice to see him! :) I also went to my church for the first time, it was nice to see everyone again.
Friday.....mom and I went garage saling and then to the hospital for blood work and an almost two hour test... Boy was that BORING!! However, I did get a WONDERFUL iced latte afterwards, so that did help.
Saturday morning we went to Flint Michigan to visit my great grandma. We kinda decided to do it last minute, but it was nice to go see her. I hadn't seen Mormor (as Samuel and I call her) since August when we went up and saw her on our way to New York. She will be 91 in July and still lives by herself, and drives!! WOW! Sunday afternoon I drove her car, and it was REALLY nice! It's a '98 Chevy Lumina with only 42,000 miles on it! Grandpa and Grandma bought it brand new, and since Grandpa died in 2000, Grandma hasn't driven it much further than the grocery store! I told her that when she finally decides to sell it that I would be VERY interested in it! She laughed and told me that my dad had already told her that he was interested in it when the time came for her to sell....guess dad n' I will have to fight it out!! LOL!
We drove home on Memorial Day. That was quite the trip! It started out fine, but when we stopped for gas and food just inside the Indiana boarder the van was accidentally locked with the keys inside! LOL! Thus we spent about half an hour attempting to break into our own vehicle!! It was rather exciting and somewhat frustrating, but as my uncle said, who knows what God was sparing us from with that delay, we may never know this side of Heaven what may have happened had we not been stopped!
Mom and Dad decided once again VERY last minute to get a hotel for just the 2 of them for last night! It was a birthday present for mom since dad missed her birthday. So Samuel and I had the run of the house last night! It was nice! We watched movies and I baked some peanut butter and chocolate bars!
Today I went to a new chiropractor. My family started going to them while I was away at college, so this was my chance to get in with them. I really like the Masterson's and think that their treatment should help my neck issues!! YAY!
My entire family had doctor appointments in Goshen today. Just routine physicals and check-ups. I had to have a physical for Shawnee for next school year. It went well, all that we're waiting on is the TB test to come back...it should be fine though.
Tonight I finished cleaning my room! I've been working on it since I've been back home. I did a MAJOR spring cleaning! I threw away SOOOOO much junk, and sent several boxes for our garage sale, whenever that is going to be....It's so nice to have a neat and clean room! :)
I will try to be more faithful with blogging. Now that I'm hopefully over the lazy hump (don't count on it though).

Home Sweet Home

The graduation ceremony went well on Friday night. :) I think there were 15 graduates, but don't hold me to that! I know it was the largest graduating class so far. I managed to make it through the ceremony fine until at the very end they had the graduates and their parents go up to the altar and pray while the ladies singing group sang "His Will" that's when I broke down and cried. I had so many friends, including my roommate graduate, and it was a bittersweet time for me.
After the ceremony we stood around and talked for a while, saying "good-bye." Then we loaded up my stuff and left International Bible College for good (or at least for good for me, and for me as a student). It was kinda hard knowing that I will never see quite a few of these people ever again.
On our way to the Phillips' we stopped at Friendly's and ate ice cream. :) That was good cuz they actually have ice cream that I am allowed to eat!! :)
After eating we then went to the Phillips' and unloaded what I would need for the night then stood around and talked for a long time. Morgan stayed over as well, so the two of us stayed up late and talked, enjoying our last few hours together.
Bro. Phillips had to go to work early, so we didn't see him at all on Saturday. Mrs. Phillips and Charlie and Nichole went soul winning, so I saw them for a little while before they left for church. Around 9:30 or so Bro. Mike came over with Seth and the four of us ran some errands, and then went to the Marina in Bay Shore (I think) and walked around the water for a while. It was fun, and kinda sad too cuz I knew that I was gonna miss them all SOOOO much!
We got back a little before 1:30 and Mrs. Phillips and the kiddos got back home soon after. We talked a lot and just spent time together as a "family."
We left around 3:00 for the airport. We got there and I got checked in, amazingly, neither one of my bags was over the 50 lb. limit! That's incredible! :) LOL! After making sure that I was all set to go, we sat down and had some more "family" time. It was really sweet, and sad, and well, I guess I miss them a LOT!
For some reason the fire alarm went off! I have no idea what the problem was because they never evacuated, but it kept going off and they had to keep silencing it for over an hour! It was still going off when I boarded my plane!
Finally the time came to say "good-bye." I cried, not as much as I thought I would, which is a good thing! It was really hard. I hope I get to go back sometime and see them again....or better yet, they can all come to Indiana (hint, hint!! :))

*****My New York Family*****

*****Left to Right: Nichole, Mrs. Phillips, Charlie, Seth, Morgan, Me, and Bro. Mike*****

I made it through security with no problems, which is a very good thing. I went to my gate, only to find that they had already started boarding!! LOL!! Thankfully I was still able to get on the plane, even though I should have boarded a LOT earlier than I actually did!! :) The plane was starting to get pretty full when I got on. I like to sit by the window near the back of the plane on the left side, I don't know why, but that is just my thing I guess. Well, there were NO window seats left when I got on, so I decided to sit in an isle seat on the same side. There was a guy sitting by the window, but nobody in between. So I sat down and then they announced that the plane would be full so every seat was going to be taken. :( The guy (I found out later his name is Neil) and I looked at each other and just rolled our eyes. We tried the "put a book in the seat, hope that nobody is going to sit there" thing, but it didn't work. I ended up moving to the middle cuz the other man that sat with us was really tall, and since I'm short, it was easier for me to sit in the middle.
Neil and I started talking. We talked the entire flight! It was cool cuz we started talking about God and the Bible. He is NOT a Christian. I had put my Bible in my computer bag which was up above the seats. :( Bad idea. He told me that he had read parts of the Bible, and so we started discussing the different writing styles, which brought me to my favorite book, Isaiah, which has two different styles of writing. He asked me to get my Bible out, which I was MORE than happy to do, and so we went through Isaiah 53 verse by verse! How cool is that??!! We then went on and talked about a BUNCH of different topics and doctrines in the Bible! It was amazing!! He gave me his email address, so hopefully we will be able to continue our discussion. I emailed him this evening. Pray for him, he is one of the types of people who is very smart, and good and very blind to his need of a Saviour.
I got off the plane with no problems, and it was sooo nice to see Mom and Samuel. Dad is in Minnesota right now for a friends wedding and some training for work, so I won't get to see him until Thursday! :(
We got out of Chicago without any problems, the traffic was clear which was nice. :) We stopped in Valpo so Mom and Samuel could get something to eat, I wasn't hungry, but I did want coffee, and Dunkin Donuts in particular. Well, unfortunately there was no Dunkin to be found. :( I had to go to Star Bucks instead. I prefer Dunkin cuz its a LOT cheaper, and more coffee for the price. I think I like the flavor of their coffee better as well. Anyways, I got an iced latte at SBs. :)
I came out of the Star Bucks to see someone talking to Mom and Samuel. I recognized her, but I couldn't remember who she was! LOL! It was my dad's cousin, Ruth, who lives in Valpo. I hadn't seen her since my graduation! We chatted for a while, then I got in the drivers seat and off we went! :)
We got home around 11:00 last night! :) HOME!!! YAY!!!
I opened my suite case and low and behold on the top of one of them there was a little note that informed me that the suite case had been randomly inspected! I could tell....it was a mess!! LOL!! It didn't bother me....I just thought it was funny!
This morning I went to church with one of my former managers. I had never been to her church, and they just built a new building, and she had been wanting me to go with her, so I went with her.
My former piano teacher really wanted to see me as well, so we went to her house for dinner. She made a Mexican dish, which I couldn't eat, but Mom had made homemade chicken noodle soup, which was something that I had been craving for a VERY long time, so we all had some of that, and then everyone else also had some of the Mexican food.
I came home and went to bed and slept this afternoon. Mom and Samuel went to church tonight, but I wasn't feeling well, so I stayed home.
I am VERY glad to FINALLY be home! It's SOOOO nice!

UGH!

UGH! I have been SICK and still am sick!! :( I've been sick since Thursday, or maybe before, I don't really remember exactly when I got sick, but it started getting really bad Saturday afternoon to evening, and has only gotten worse. It's bad enough that I went to the doctor today, and for those of you who know me, I HATE doctors, so if I went to one it means I'm sick!!!
I didn't ride on my bus route yesterday. I really wanted to go, but was too sick to think about riding on a bouncing bus for several hours. I did go to choir practice and sang in the choir. Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary Sunday of International Baptist Church, which is the church that the college I'm going to is affiliated with. Dr. Tom Wallace was here preaching all day, and I was volunteered for the job of running his book table in the morning, which was fun. :) He preached a really good message from Matthew 6:33, and I wish I could remember what all of his points were, but I had forgotten to take my notebook with me, so I was not able to write the notes. :(
Sunday school good from the few things I remember, by the time it started my brain was beginning to fog over....I was really feeling BAD!
After church I waited until my parents were out of church and then called Mom crying VERY hard! I was in a LOT of pain! I told her what was going on, and she told me to talk to Mrs. Donaghue who is the dorm supervisor. I found her, and the first thing out of her mouth was, "HANNAH!! What is wrong??!!" Apparently I looked HORRIBLE! I told her what my symptoms were and she said that it sounded like a possible UTI. So she said to go to bed and stay there. Which I did. However, I was only able to sleep for a little bit over an hour, and then I was wide awake.
I didn't go to choir, but I did slide in to church a few minutes after it started and left during the invitation.
I climbed in bed, and didn't get out again until 5:30 this morning, yes, I actually slept in for once! :-P The only reason I went to classes today was because this was the last day of class for the Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes before finals, and there was NO way that I was going to trust anyone else to write down the reviews for me. No offense, but when it is something as important as finals.....well, they are a lil important....lol
Mrs. Phillips, God bless her, took me to a convenience clinic this afternoon after classes. The doctor doesn't know what is wrong with me! :( He put me on a couple of over- the- counter meds and told me to follow up with my GI doctor when I get home. UGH! I HATE DOCTORS! Please pray that God will help me through this, as I know he will, but I need to learn to depend on Him more.
Today is the start of the East Coast Baptist Fellowship, hosted by the church, only it is at the Brooklyn location. The college is required to attend and they are busing all the college students back and forth. There is only one service tonight, and then there are morning and evening sessions both tomorrow and Wednesday. Because of my sickness, I did not go tonight, nor will I go tomorrow. I plan on sleeping in tomorrow, everybody is leaving at 7:30, so I probably won't get up until everyone is gone, and then I will just take it easy! :)

HEAT!!

Since I have started the new blog with the main purpose of posting pictures, I will not be putting as many on this blog, but I will most definitely be posting some on here as well.
Sunday went well. Bus attendance was down, which was sad. There were only 30 some kids instead of the 50 some that usually ride. :( I'm guessing the reason for that is probably due to the weather. It was GORGEOUS!! At least the first part of the day was gorgeous, it got REALLY hot by mid-afternoon.

*****This was taken around 11:30 Sunday afternoon!*****

Bus drop offs were miserably HOT! The bus was rather warm to say the least, even with all the windows open. It did finally start to cool off once all the kids were off and we were on our way home.
There was a bit of excitement after bus route. Bro. Mike drives a limo for his boss as a second job. He was supposed to go to the city Sunday night to pick his boss up, so he brought the limo with him to church that way he could leave directly from there for NYC. He offered to take several of us for a spin!! It was SOOOO sweet! :) It was WONDERFUL! On top of everything else, it was air conditioned, something that we were all desperately needing! (By this time the temp had reached 90!) It was a blast!! :)

*****Looking from the front*****

*****Looking from the back*****

*****Total Sweetness!*****

*****Bro. Mushtaq, our maintenance man, posing with the car :)*****

So, that was the excitement of the day. :) I got all of my homework done for Monday, and then took a brief nap before it was time for choir practice. When I got into the auditorium it was HOT!! The thermostat showed 87 degrees!! Apparently the air conditioning is broken, so UGH!! Bro. Randall decided to move choir practice downstairs to the music room, which was cooler, but after putting so many people inside it got rather warm.
Church was pretty hot as well. It got really hot in the choir loft. I was glad that I didn't have to stay on the platform like the assistant pastors had to do.
After church I worked like normal. I vacuumed for over an hour, and with the temperature being soooo warm, I was rather hot and sticky by the time I was done working. I went through 3 bottles of water in 2 hours! I actually put my hair up, so you know it was hot if I did that since I NEVER pull it back in any way, shape, or form!
I was sooooo glad to come back to my room and take a cool shower before check in at 10:00.
The research paper for English Composition was due today. Mine was written on Joan of Arc.
World History was a BLAST!! We convinced Mrs. Donaghue to have class outside, because the class rooms were sooooo hot! :) There are four of us in that class, and all of us had a major case of ADD during class! I don't think we got a thing out of the class, but we all had a blast being dumb! :D It was fun!
Nothing else exciting happened in any of my classes.
I took some pictures today, but I think I will post them on my other blog.
Work was REALLY hot again! I put my hair up yet again! AMAZING!! Two days in a row!

*****This was the temperature in the auditorium this afternoon, it got even hotter later!! The class rooms were even warmer than the auditorium!*****

I came across this poem today and thought is was really good and really sobering!

His Plan for Me

When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ
And He shows me His plan for me,
The plan of my life as it might have been
Had He had His way, and I see

How I blocked Him here, and checked Him there,
And I would not yield my will --
Will there be grief in my Saviour's eyes,
Grief though He loves me still?

He would have me rich, but I stand there poor,
Stripped of all but His grace,
While memory runs like a hunted thing
Down the paths I cannot retrace.

Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break
With the tears that I cannot shed;
I shall cover my face with my empty hands,
I shall bow my uncrowned head. . .

Lord, of the years that are left to me,
I give them to Thy hand;
Take me and break me, mould me to
The pattern Thou hast planned.

~Martha Snell Nicholson

A Busy Week!!

This entire week has been absolutely HECTIC for me. With the World History lesson due, and other tests, quizzes and assignments, I feel as though I've been run over by a truck! Many late nights, and early mornings made for an exhausting week.
Classes were normal yesterday. Chapel was really good. Pastor Kurt Skelley preached from Jeremiah 18 about the potter. His main points were: 1. We need a Master, 2.
After classes I went on a walk with Mrs. Phillips and Charlie. We had a lot of fun with "rock races." :) We were kicking rocks and racing them. I won quite a few times!! :) LOL!!

*****Charlie*****

*****The first and second graders were outside enjoying the weather*****

*****A bumblebee was enjoying the weather and the flowers*****

After our walk I went back to my room and worked some more on my World History! I spent hours on that class!! UGH!
Church was good. It was a nice break from World History! :) Bro. Dan Donaghue preached from Luke 15:11-8.
Friday was the big day for World History. I taught chapter 27, which was about World War I and the Great Depression. It was a LOT of material. I didn't finish it! I had to finish it on Monday, but will get to that a little bit later.
The class schedule was change on Friday because we had a split chapel, which means that the girls and guys had separate chapels, the speaker for the guys chapel hadn't gotten in until really late Thursday night, or actually really early Friday morning, so he had asked for chapel to get moved a class period later than what it usually is. So right after World History I had a test in English Grammar! I had not had very much time to study, so I was not really prepared. Oh well.
Chapel was really exciting. Instead of having a chapel service for the girls, we loaded up on a bus and went to the Stony Brook harbor and were able to just relax, take pictures, goof off, whatever we wanted to do. The administration had decided to give us a "mini-vacation" and all of us really appreciated it a LOT!! It was a beautiful day, and we needed the break.

*****Me and Nichole*****

*****Me and Dina*****

*****Me, Arrianny, and Mirta*****

*****I was able to get really close to this goose, I was almost able to touch it, but it wouldn't let me. The city girls, (Nichole, Mirta, and Arrianny) all from Brooklyn were terrified of it!! LOL*****

*****I thought this house was beautiful, I like the style*****

I really wasn't feeling very well on Friday, I was REALLY exhausted, so I took the day off work and slept for 4 hours! It was WONDERFUL! Even after I woke up I didn't do anything except lounge around. I fell asleep between 10 and 10:30 Friday night and slept until 7:30 on Saturday!! I got over 13 hours of sleep! AMAZING! It was wonderful and I could sooooo do it again!
Life got really fun on Saturday. Instead of doing my normal bus route I went with Bro. Barnes and several other college students to another bus route where for about half an hour we knocked on doors, in that time we were able to get 4 or 5 new families that wanted to ride the bus!! :) After that we picked up some bus kids, went to Subway for lunch (yay!!), picked up some more bus kids and then headed for Yonkers, NY for a youth rally. Dina was supposed to sing and needed someone to play for her, so I was asked to do that. There was a slight problem though, it was a Spanish youth rally, I don't understand much more than mucho, gracias, and muy bien. LOL! The rally went from 3 pm until 8 pm!! It was insane! There were 4 preachers, one of whom was Bro. Barnes, so at least I could understand what he was saying!!
I gave up trying to understand, and went outside and talked on my phone for the last sermon. I wasn't the only one who decided to get out, Bro. Barnes and his two sons that came with him also decided to leave! They went for a walk and found a Dunkin Donuts, smart people!! LOL!
The people that had come with us, weren't very happy with us for skipping out on them! :) I say it was their own fault! They could have left too!!
There was a meal that was served after the rally, it was REALLY good! MMM.....the rice was to die for! I love rice when it is cooked right, and nice and tender, but not mushy, that was the way this rice was! AWESOME!!
The ride back was pretty uneventful, although we couldn't find a Star Bucks anywhere, and when we finally found one it was closed! :( We decided to try Dunkin Donuts, cuz they are normally open 24 hours, well, it so happened that the 1 that we did find had closed about 15 minutes before we got there!! What a rip off!! We did finally find a 24/7 DDs and we got our drinks and food and were good to go!
We didn't get home until 11:15 Saturday night. I was pretty tired, but thankfully I had been able to get a lot of homework done, (I did hw at the rally when I couldn't understand a word!)

*****Jamecca taking a big gulp on our way to the rally*****

*****This was on the way to the rally, I thought it was pretty*****

*****Bro. Barnes preaching with an interpreter*****

*****My boredome expressed, a banana peel on the floor!!*****

Sunday started bright and early at 5:15. It really wasn't that bad. :) The bus kids were really wound up, so by the time I got back to church I was ready to kill a couple of kids, and was pretty tired. LOL!
Sunday school was really good. Bro. Randall talked about having patience. He said, "Stop trying to figure out what you are going to be doing in 25 years, and start trying to figure out what you are supposed to do TODAY!" What a good point! It's so easy to try to figure out what God wants me to be doing later, when really, I need to be figuring out what God wants me to do NOW! Bro. Randall also said, "Good things happen to those who wait." Yet, another good point!
The girl who normally works on Sunday afternoons was sick, so she asked me to work for her. I worked for about 1 1/2 hours Sunday afternoon. Then I got out my camera and started taking pictures, cuz there were more tulips in bloom!! :) :)

***************

Choir practice was interesting. As Brother Randall put it, "We have an ADD choir." That was pretty much it, the weather was GORGEOUS and nobody really wanted to be inside singing.
Church was good, Bro. Longhoffer, from Brooklyn, spoke on finances.
I worked for almost 2 hours Sunday night and then took a shower and went to bed. :)
I finished up World History today. :) I must admit, I really do like teaching, it's a good thing that is what I am going to be doing for the rest of my life. :)
Work was ok.....it seemed to drag though, but I think that is probably because it was raining and I really didn't want to be working. :( At least April showers bring May flowers!! :)

Easter Sunday and Easter Monday

I had a really good Easter Sunday. I didn't ride on the bus because the choir did a special concert Sunday morning and so everybody was required to be there, and we had an early choir practice at 8:15 that was also required. We sang 3 songs, "Up From the Grave," "It is Finished," and "Alive!" I liked all of them, but Alive! was my favorite. There were a lot of kids that rode the bus yesterday! I was really surprised! It was REALLY good. I don't think I mentioned this before, but on Friday the church had a teen activity and one of the guys on my bus route got saved!! That was sooooo cool!!
I was able to have Easter dinner with the Phillips' and the McMahon's. It was a lot of fun and good food!! :-P
Mrs. Phillips, Bro. Mike, and I had to be back at church by 5 for choir practice. I checked my phone and found out that a friend of mine had died about 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon!! He had been diagnosed with colon cancer 2 weeks ago, and apparently it was worse than I had thought. Please pray for the DeKruyter family as they are dealing with this sudden loss of a brother and uncle. I called him Uncle Dave, or Duncle Ave, and I know that I will miss him and his sweet spirit and the hours of music that we used to play together when he lived closer to us. His funeral will be Saturday in Illinois, where he lived. My family will be going. I think mom is going to be doing the music for the funeral cuz Uncle Dave was the pianist for his church. I know he has left a HUGE gap in his family, church, and friends lives. We will miss him! But he got to go home on Sunday, as he so wished to do, and not just any Sunday, but Easter Sunday.
It's a good thing that Mrs. Phillips was in the jeep with me cuz she gave me a hug, and I needed it REALLY REALLY bad!!
After that everything is pretty much a fog. I know I was at choir practice and church and I worked, but I don't remember any particular details.
After work I came back to my room to study for a World History test. That was fun....NOT! I was up pretty late. UGH!
Today dawned WAY to bright and early, well it wasn't exactly bright, just early, 5 am! YUCK again. I hate late nights and early mornings, they happen all the time. I guess that is just part of college life, but I still don't like it at all!
I think the World History test went ok. I had to use the process of elimination quite a bit. Oh well, at least Mrs. Donaghue brought chocolate to class with her, so that did help. :) Other than that classes went fine.
I got to sleep for almost 30 minutes between classes and work which was LOVELY!! Between the nap and a big mug of coffee I was able to make it through work just fine. :) There was no Christian school today because it is Easter Monday, I just think that they didn't want to have class, cuz the college still had classes. Since there was no mess to clean up in the school I was able to finish work early! I even did some extra things that I don't normally do and still was done 25 minutes early!! :) :) That made me VERY happy!
I just have some minor studying to do tonight and then I am going to work on the World History lesson that I am teaching on Friday....I think that will be fun! :)

Sooooo busy!

I feel so bad that I haven't been updating very often. Time seems to fly right now, and its not slowing down, only speeding up faster and faster!!
So I guess I'll start with Thursday. Classes went well, nothing unusual or exciting happened. Since I don't have to work on Thursday's and Charlie has chapel and choir practice, Mrs. Phillips and I always take a walk. It was kinda gloomy outside, so we decided to stay nearby. It was, as it always is, so much fun to spend time with her. She is such a HUGE blessing to me.
After school she took me to Target so that I could get a bridal shower present for a bridal shower that was on Saturday. I ended up just getting a gift card cuz I couldn't get the registry to work, it was being a pain!
Thursday night I played for Communion at the church here. It went well, praise the Lord. I did have a bit of a problem with people making faces at me while I was sitting up there in between playing. LOL! I finally gave up trying to keep a straight face, it just didn't happen. :)
Friday I had tests in English Comp, World History, and English Grammar!! It was crazy! After classes I worked and after work I came back to my room and worked a little bit on my project for Intro to Missions, and after that I pretty much vegged out. :)
Bus visiting went well on Saturday. It was really windy and a little bit on the chilly side because of that. I love the feel of wind so I didn't mind it at all, but I don't think many of the others were too happy about it.
Saturday afternoon there was a surprise bridal shower for one of the ladies here on staff who is getting married in August. It was a lot of fun, and a nice break from the routine.
I got a lot of work done on my project for Intro to Missions on Saturday, and only had a little bit that had to be finished by the time I stopped working on it. :)
I had a good time on the bus on Sunday. There is a little girl named Cindy who is 5 and an absolute doll and she absolutely adores me! :) I love her to death! She always sits by me and yesterday was no exception. She is sooooo sweet!

*****Cindy*****

Sunday afternoon I finished my project!! YAY!! That was such a relief! It was a LOT of work and many, many hours worth of time spent researching and planning.
I talked to dad on the phone for a while about something very important. It was nice to do that, and get some things settled.
Normally choir practice is at 4:30 on Sunday afternoons. Well, because of the special concert we are doing for Easter it was changed to 4:00. I didn't know that until 4:05!! OOPS!!! I made it to choir by 4:15, that was the fastest that I've gotten ready in a LOOOOONNNGGGG time!
Church went well, nothing too exciting happened. After church I worked like normal. I came back to the dorms and started writing a paper that was due today. I was up until 1:00 writing it! It was crazy!
Needless to say, because of my late night last night, I'm really tired today! To add to that, it rained all day, so that didn't help my sleepiness at all! UGH!! I did find out that I got an 88% on my English Comp test, which for that class is a good grade. I think the highest grade was a 91%! The World History test grade was a 94%, I had the second highest grade on that, and the English Grammar test was an 80%, which was the highest grade received. So overall I didn't do too terribly bad. :)
After classes I came back to my room and decided to sleep! I was planning on getting up at 1, but I didn't hear my alarm go off, so I didn't get up until 2!!! I was supposed to be at work at 1:30! Yet another time for me to get ready REALLY fast!!
I am planning on getting all of the work that I need to get done for today done ASAP and am hoping to be in bed before 11 tonight.....

The rest of my week

Ok, where do I start? I guess with Thursday! Classes went well. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Thursday afternoon I went on an hour walk with Mrs. Phillips. It was really nice, as always, to spend time with her. I'm SOOOO glad that God put her in my life. He definitely knew I would need a Godly, older woman's influence this semester. She is SUCH a blessing to me! I love her!
Thursday night we had church. In choir we sang a really pretty arrangement of "I'll Fly Away." I've never heard that song sung in that manner, it was really light and fluffy, BEAUTIFUL! Pastor Dan Helvey from North Carolina spoke, (he also spoke in chapel). He preached a really good sermon.
Friday was an interesting day. The first two class periods were normal, then we had chapel at 9:20, instead of lasting the normal 50 minutes it lasted over 2 hours!! It went from 9:20 until 11:30!!! Pastor Cazis preached a long message, and then he opened it up for us to ask questions about some things that are going to be changing. It was crazy! The last two class periods lasted 15 minutes each! It was different.
I worked from 1:30 until 5:30. When I got back to my room I decided to take a half hour nap. I didn't hear my alarm go off! I slept until 8:00!!! OOPS! I did really need the sleep. I finished writing a paper that was due Monday and some other homework. I was asleep by 11:30 and didn't get up until 7:30! I got over 10 hours of sleep in a 24 hour time period! CRAZY!! I can't tell you when the last time was that I did that! I didn't even do that over spring break!
Today I went out and did bus visitation. It got really interesting when we had finished our route, and our ride never showed up. We were standing on a corner of a road for over 30 minutes! The town that my bus route is in is Brentwood, and lets just say that it isn't exactly the best town on Long Island! There were 4 girls, and I think we were probably the only white girls in a half mile radius! LOL! At one point while we were waiting, this SUV with 2 young black guys in it pulled up to the stop sign, rolled down their window, and yelled, "You ladies are looking LOVELY today!" The 4 of us just looked at each other, and really weren't sure what to say. Thankfully the guys kept on going. The funny thing is, the other 3 girls are from the South, and I'm from the Midwest, none of us even come close to looking like NY street girls! LOL!!

Thursday

WOW!! The weather patterns changed like crazy today. This morning it was overcast and a little bit drizzly. By late morning the sun was coming out, and it was warming up. I think it was over 50 degrees. It was absolutely gorgeous, it even smelled like Spring! LOVELY! I don't quite know what happened, but at some point in time it got really cold and windy. Tonight it is windy and COLD!
Classes were ok I guess. Christian Home was sooo incredibly easy, Bro. Barnes came in, gave us an assignment that is due on Tuesday, and then left. It was WONDERFUL. I had a free period after that, so I had a nice long break, well, I didn't exactly do nothing, I had 2 tests coming up after chapel. Chapel was really good. Pastor Clark from Solid Rock Baptist Church in NJ spoke today. He spoke on Integrity from Job 1:7-8, 2:3, and gave an acrostic along with Bible verses for each letter which I will share:
Individual thing - Job 2:9, Genesis 37:2-3, I Samuel 19:1-4
No one may know that you don't have it, but you know, and eventually they will know - John 13:21
Truth - Proverbs 12:22
Everyone is effected by it - Adam and Eve
God knows - Acts 5
Right behavior ALWAYS - Daniel 1:8
Immorality destroys it - Judges 14:1, Romans 13:19
Temptation/Testing reveals it - Genesis 39:10
Your future depends on it - Proverbs 20:7

It was a really good sermon.
The first test that I had was Christian Womanhood. It was easy, and went well. The second test however, was somewhat difficult. My brain went completely blank at times. It was a pain!
Once again, I didn't work today. :) I was able to go to the store and pick up a few things, including chocolate that was on clearance after Valentines! <3
Today in my mail I got my acceptance letter from Shawnee Baptist College. I'm officially going to be a student there next year! I'm excited! I definitely know this the Lord's will for me. I will be VERY sad to leave some friends here behind, but who knows, maybe I'll get a chance to come visit sometime.
Also in my mailbox was the schedule for specials in church in March. I am on it to play the piano for an offertory. That is the first time I've ever been on for piano in church before! I'm not on for cello! Tonight I made a comment about it to Bro. Randall, he laughed, we both know why I'm not on for cello! I do believe he doesn't want to be hit in the head again. :)) LOL!!!
We did have church tonight. We had what they call "Spiritual Gifts Night." In the back of the auditorium they a table set up for every aspect of the churches ministries. Anywhere from the office to music, bus ministry to the Christian school, and lots of other areas. People could go around and see what each one does, and then sign up to volunteer, or learn more about each ministry. It's kinda cool.
Tonight I had to pick somebody up from work at 9:45. It was really cold and windy. I don't know what's up with this weather. I want spring!

Sunday

Today was an OK day. Nothing too exciting I guess.
I did make the mistake of accidentally falling asleep after my alarm went off this morning, so my time was cut off by 20 minutes. It really stank cuz my time with the Lord had to be cut short (along with everything else). Thankfully I was able to spend some extra time with Him this afternoon. :)
Choir practice started at 8:30 this morning, like normal. Everybody is sick here, half the choir was missing! It was interesting to say the least.
Church at 9. Two ladies got baptized! That was awesome. One got save 2 weeks ago, and the other got saved yesterday. SOOOOO amazing!
In Sunday school Bro. Randall has been teaching on Sanctification. Today he was in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, focusing on "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, soul, and mind." He quoted Dr. Bob Jones Sr. "What you love and what you hate reveals who you really are." That is a very thought provoking statement. What do I love that I shouldn't love? Even more important, what do I love more than Christ? Wow! It's scary.
I went to grandpa and grandma's for lunch today. We had roast, potatoes, gravy (YUM!), rolls, salad, and brownies and ice cream for dessert. It was really good. :)
I did a little bit of homework this afternoon, and then took a nap. It was WONDERFUL!
Choir practice at 4:30, and then church at 6.
After church I worked, and now I'm blogging. Not too much excitement, which is just fine with me!
I do have a prayer request. Today after church I came back to my room and checked my email. To my surprise there was an email from a son of one of my former managers back home. He is in the army. I hadn't heard from him since before I came to college in August. Somehow he had just come across my email address, and decided to send me an email. He is in Iraq right now, and will be until September! I was really shocked cuz he was just in Iraq not too long ago. Before that he was in Afghanistan for over a year! Please pray for him, his name is Ray, and he isn't saved. Pray for his safety, and Salvation. Thank you!

Today was just plain old interesting! I think it must be new moon! This afternoon everything that could, did go wrong! It was insane!
This afternoon I slept for over 2 hours! It was insane! It was nice though, but I needed to get some stuff done. I played my cello in church tonight. I went a little early to choir practice so that I could practice with my pianist. I have no idea what happened cuz the song I was supposed to play was one that I've played for a long time. Anyways, we ran through it several times, and decided that we'd pray for the best! Choir practice was just plain weird! I have no idea what was up, but there were songs that we all knew, that should've been easy for everybody that we just could not get! It was very strange.
I went to play my cello in church tonight. I sat down, and apparently moved at the exact same moment as Bro. Randall, who was sitting right behind me, I banged the scroll of my cello on his head, HARD! It knocked my cello out of tune! I had to try to tune it, and managed to get it pretty close, although it was still a half step off! Thankfully it was just one string, but I used that string a lot for this piece. Instead of it being to tuned to a D, it was tuned to and E-flat! I had to figure out how to make up for that while I was playing! It was interesting to say the least! Praise the Lord I made it through the entire song, and had a good ending! :) It really is funny, and I have laughed so much over it. It will probably be a story I tell for a long time! :)

Classes as usual today. Thankfully I didn't have any tests or quizzes!! YAY!! I guess it makes up for yesterday! I actually enjoyed my classes today and got stuff out of them. First thing this morning was Christian Home. I learned that there is going to be a test next Thursday in that class!! AAAAHHHHH!! Actually it shouldn't be that hard, Bro. Barnes gave us what we needed to go over, and if I study, I'll be fine. I also had Christian Womanhood today. It is a really interesting class, it covers a lot of basic stuff for young women. Today was mainly about running a household. Tips on organization, and cleaning schedules, etc. Intro to Missions was my final class of the day. I think it is going to be one of my favorite classes this semester. The topic today was on Sending missionaries. It was really interesting. Dr. Grimbilas really loves missions, so as a result it makes for a very interesting class.
The beginning of this semester 6 men from this church went to India on a missions trip. They got back last Thursday. Tonight they did a video presentation, and each of those men gave a short testimony. Then Pastor preached from Mark 16:15. It was a really good service. I learned a lot.
Tomorrow we are leaving at 6:30 in the morning to head to Connecticut and New England Baptist College. It is time for our basketball team to get their revenge!! We will beat them! GOOOOOO IBCo!!!
Following the game grandpa and I will drive directly to Queens, catch the train to Manhattan, and then take the subway to 57th St. and 7th Ave. CARNEGIE HALL!!! I'm sooooo excited, I can't wait! :)

I'm going to write a quick post tonight cuz I'm tired and need to go to bed!
I think I'm just about packed...just a few last minute things that need thrown in and then I'll be all set. Hopefully my suitcases aren't too heavy! :)
I made bread again today. Actually I taught my 14 year old cousin how to bake bread. She got the biggest kick out of kneading the dough. I'm glad she enjoyed it cuz I really don't care for that part of the process! It turned out really well, only because I didn't teach her how to poison it...that will be in our next lesson!! :))
Dad preached in church tonight! That was cool. He preached on prayer. It was really good!
It was COLD here today! The temps didn't make the double digits, and the windchill didn't make it above 0!! Tonight on our way home the actual temp was -13!! Who knows what the windchill is!