Class of 2008!

Guys, guess what?!
I'm done with high school!!!! YAY!!! Whew, I am soooo excited about that! My ceremony was on Saturday. It was nice and quiet. There were only three of us, but it was good. Short and sweet. Cait's new blog has some pics of the day...it was quite exciting.
So, this means a new chapter in my life. Like NOT having to come home from work and do school! And not having tests and not doing late nights for school. YAY! Don't get me wrong, there were some good times in high school- I loved my writing classes with Ms. Rachel, and that bible course we took at the church with Mr. Martin where we went through Bible Doctrine. It was a really good class. And biology class as a freshman with Mrs. Price! That was really fun! Especially when we disected things...a frog, a shark. The pig was a little less than exciting, but the boys loved it. One guy decided when we started disecting things to see how much he could mutilate things, just to gross us girls out...he totally scored on that one! We were all groaning and being girly girls. But it was some fun times. That was one of the very few times that the girls were outnumbered by guys. The reading out loud and history lessons with Mom were fun times too. Thanks Mom, for all you did in schooling me...I appreicate all your work and effort. Love you!
Thanks to all my friends for their encouragement and help when I needed someone to talk to. You guys are the best!
Well, here's to being out of high school!!! :-) Yeah class of '08!

Na Part 2-Mark Dever

Here we are, beginning another week.

So, I said I was going to post about the messages! Here we go with sermon 2, Mark Dever on The Authority of Scripture.

He began with asking questions about the Bible and addressing critics of the Bible. Now, he is able to address these people in a scholarly way- this man has degrees from more than 5 colleges and he is very knowledgable about a great many topics. Let me see...he also addressed the fact that there are many more archaelogical evidences that the Bible's events actually happened then there are for evolution and even those atheists that don't believe in anything. Dever stated that he had believed that there was some creative power behind the universe, that we didn't just come out of the soup and also that there was a god period, but he needed to some proof. There's a word that describes that kind of belief, but it has escaped me.

It was really cool what he said about his studies of ancient literature- all other ancient manuscripts don't have as many copies, let alone copies that are all the same.

Another thing that he said that was really powerful was this- "Just because I don't know everything doesn't mean I don't know anything!" This is empowering for me when I trip into a deep theological pool that I have a skilled oppenent in- I believe that the Bible is true and even if you know more about it than I do, I still know enough to know the truth! He said we needed to treat the Bible as Christ treated it- as the very Word of God; and that we know Him because He wants us to know Him. The Word must reshape our lives, in order for us to live life like He calls us to.

These are the questions he put to us and some that I asked myself:

~What use will I make of the Bible?
~How will I apply it to my life?
~Am I looking somewhere else for my authority and guide?
~Is God's Word my delight?

I hope this has been some food for thought. I highly recomend listening to his message, which you can find here. The other messages from the conference are there as well.
Blessings!

It Was Amazing!

WHOA...that was the most amazing trip of my life. So, the conference that I just came home from was absolutely life-changing. To start with, we were there from Saturday night to Tuesday afternoon; we had three sessions per day and we worshipped before each one-that was probably one of the best parts of the whole thing. Worshipping with 3,ooo other young people that are on fire for the One God. It was the bomb. Yeah, so we had worship, then sessions which included speakers like Al Mohler, Mark Dever, Josh Harris, C.J. Mahaney, and last but not least, John Piper...we heard from the latter two twice. They were amazing, but I think that the one that impacted me the most was the very first message by Josh Harris on the Word and basically the welcome. He spoke from Jeremiah 15:16 where Jeremiah is talking about eating God's word and consuming it, that it became a joy and delight to him, even in his trials. Here's the verse:
"Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts." Jer. 15:16
Josh talked about how important this is compared to the rest of the text- Jeremiah has been through a lot and previously in the chapter, he was cursing the day that he was born. And yet he is taking delight and joy in the Words of the Lord. The cool thing about all this is that the people had been paganized and had been without the words of the Lord fro many generations and when they were found, the people were again having to be educated in the laws and ways of God. The faithful Jeremiah was relaying the messages and the people were listening.
The wording is so descriptive: "Your words were found and I ate them." He is talking about physically eating and consuming the Word-this made me think. What is my delight? Do l eat God's Word, or even want to? What occupies my thoughts and affections?
So, that is basically what I learned the first night! It was a very full weekend. I will post about the other messages later. Going into the conference I had prayed that the Lord would show me one thing to work on and fill me afresh with Him: He gave me what I asked for that first night and the rest was just icing on the cake...
I do have a major prayer request for you all: last week I had a major migraine. It was intense and hard to get rid of. And on Sunday, I had another really bad one. We were on the way back to the hotel and I almost passed out! I was hyperventilating and felt like I was gonna be sick. It was not a good feeling. Then, the next day I had another one-three in one week! This has never happened to me, and they were getting worse. There is a really cool story about the last headache that I had, but I shall share that in a later post.
Blessings!

Preparation

Hello.
This week many big things are happening to me! Sejin Kim, an exchange student from Korea, who has been staying with the Abraham family, is spending the week with my family! It has been an adventure so far...she is taking classes at Wake Tech and is doing very well. She is a dear, and we love having her.
Cait is coming home from Chicago!!! YAY! This is a very happy thing for me. She is getting back Sunday at midnight or something absurd like that.
This ties into the next amazing thing happening to me this week: I'm going to New Attitude! For those of you not familiar with this, it is a Christian conference for singles over the memorial day weekend in Louisville, Kentucky. We are riding down in vans and I am so excited about what God is going to do in my life while I'm there. We leave at 6am on Saturday and we will probably get back very early Wednesday morning. And then, as if this week weren't exciting enough, Cait and I are heading to the beach on Wednesday...she will be driving most of the way, while I try and sleep. But, the only problem is, I can never sleep in the car! It drives me crazy, but I have earnestly tried- it doesn't work.
I did want to tell you all about something that I was reading in my devotions this morning. I was reading in Ephesians and Paul was talking about life in the Spirit and it struck me what he said in chapter 5.

"But be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." Ephesians 5:18-21

This is my goal and prayer for this weekend. I want a fresh filling, so as to be and do all these things that Paul was referring to.

Well, I'll post some graduation pics later this week. Blessings!

A Prom Post

Hey Everyone!

So, people have been asking me why I don't post more...there are two answers to this riddle. 1) I am super busy trying to finish school and working. 2) I don't have my own computer! Thus, I have only a little bit of time on Cait's (which rarely ever happens!) or juggle for time on the family computer, which is almost less likely than Cait's!

But, I thought I'd post about the Homeshcool Prom. It was May 3rd at Triangle Community Church. I went with Josh Abraham and we had a blast! It was my senior prom, and I was honored that Josh asked me. Here are some pics of the wonderful event. *Compliments of Cait!*

These are the flowers that Josh got me! They were beautiful. Thanks Josh!

This is my good smile and he didn't tell me that we were doing serious! Oh well...

And yes, we wore our Chuck Taylors! It was awesome and my feet weren't sore at all!

Isn's Cait amazing? She is so talented, I am blessed and honored to be her older, (and shorter) sister. She is in Chicago right now, being an intern with Sarah Anne Barlow. And I just want you to know that I love you and miss you! Even though you're having the time of your life, I can't wait for you to come back and share the memories with me. Only 2 more pics: We danced the night away!

I think we all looked amazing, and it was a fun way to say goodbye to high school-with all of the people I cherish. Including dear Michelle, the gerogous blonde in the blue. She and I decided to slow dance like we were in middle school...I think we pretty much got it down- sway right, sway left...(And I can't get that pic to work! Hold on.) We had such fun and ate too much good food. Who wouldn't want to be there?!

Okay, I am going contra dancing on Friday! I am so excited about going again. Only this time, I'm bringing my dancing shoes! I'm still recovering from the blisters I got the last time we went, which was over a month ago...if you ever plan to go, wear appropriate shoes. Aka NOT socks!Hope you enjoyed the pics! Have a blessed day!

Totally Random

Hey all!
So, I have decided that I am going to write a little about me. I don't know who is reading this and doesn't know me well, but that is beside the point.

1) My favorite Bath and Body Works scent is Midnight Pomegranate
2) I love singing in the shower, the car and making people look at me funny! It is a very freeing experience
3) I am cutting my hari super short and funky next week, and if I didn't work at a bank, I would get a mohawk with blue and pink spikes! I'll post my new do when it is done.
4) I am crazy!

Well, there is more, but I don't know what else to write...I love you all and have a blessed day!
By grace we have been saved- Paul

Praise the Lord!

Hey all! Happy Spring! Although, the weather man has been wrong the past few days....does anyone else ever wonder HOW they come to those conclusions about weather when they never come about!!! Well, I should be used to it, seeing as how it has been this way since I can remember- the weather never does what they think it will!

Well, as some of you all know, I just got back from a MASSIVE road trip to Kentucky last night. It was a lot of fun, but a very long drive. I left at 7pm on Friday night, and drove all through the night and didn't get lost! Once we got into Kentucky at 4am, we actually got lost and couldn't find the hotel for the girl that I was riding with- we drove around for 30 minutes! We could see it, but we couldn't get to it. We finally got to it, but I was supposed to go to my hotel- I nixed that idea and slept in Jenna's room. We got about 2 hours of sleep and then headed over to the conference. It was so amazing. God really spoke to me and I was blessed to hear the speakers. A little tired, but I had XS energy drinks and rhodiola (an awesome vitamin with energy!). I honestly didn't get tired until like 3pm as we were eating lunch/dinner at Outback....yummm.

But really, I was so encouraged and blessed by all of the speakers: I think my favorite speakers were a couple named Terri and Lorri Taylor. Lorri spoke about a recent tragedy that happened to them. Their 8,000 square foot house burned to the ground while they were 9 hours away on business- they rushed back, but they couldn't put it out. It burned for 13 days before going out and all their possessions were lost. Every picture, every book, every childhood memory was gone. As Lorri and her daughters dug through the ashes, one of the people helping with the mess ran over to her and handed her a little plastic card that they had found in the ashes...before I go on, let me just tell you that they discovered through analysis that their house had burned at 5,000 degrees! And this little card that was plastic had remained. The card said "The greatest gift that we have is the gift of Jesus." Lorri wept as she told us that even when all we have is lost, our greatest treasure is not a thing, but the gift of Jesus. This was moving for me and made me think about all the things I have to be grateful for. A home, but more importantly, the greatest gift, the gift of salvation. I hope this can help you pause and think about the goodness of God in your life as it did me. May the glory of the Lord be praised!

"Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices ; My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol ; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life ; In Your presence is fullness of joy ; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever." Psalm 16. 9-11

* And a big thanks to Cait, who provided the photo!