Ends and Beginnings

So as summer is quickly coming to an end (how cliche) and school is going to start like next week, I've been noticing how life really changes. This year I'll be a senior in highschool which brings the dreaded words of SATs, college applications, visits, and interviews, GRADUATION! (which isn't so dreaded), and a ton of other stuff. It's crazy how it seems like just yesterday I was getting my feeding tube taken out, surgery for my trach to be closed... and other stuff that I thought I'd never live through. But I'm just reminded that when we think we can't, God is up in Heaven saying, "Oh yeah, with me, YOU CAN!"

So I'm starting a new blog, if any of you care, its going to be called, "Senior Year" haha, I wonder why? Lol. But hopefully during my senior year there'll be more good than bad happening...

~Liz

The Words I Would Say

This song by Sidewalk Prophets totally sums up what I would say to all of my classmates, friends, and family :

Three in the morning,
And I'm still awake,
So I picked up a pen and a page,
And I started writing,
Just what I'd say,
If we were face to face,
I'd tell you just what you mean to me,
I'd tell you these simple truths,

Be strong in the lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
Gods got his hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why your here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say,

Last time we spoke,
You said you were hurting,
And I felt your pain in my heart,
I want to tell you,
That I keep on praying,
Love will find you where you are,
I know cause I've already been there,
So please hear these simple truths,

Be strong in the lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
Gods got his hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why your here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say,

From one simple life to another,
I will say,
Come find peace in the father,

Be strong in the lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
Gods got his hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why your here,
Take your time and pray,
Thank God for each day,
His love will find a way,
These are the words I would say

Life since school got out....

My life since school got out has been interesting - to say the least! It has been quite the summer, and God has really been working in my life. I've been to the Bill Rice Ranch in Tennessee, we've had VBS at church, my sister's family moved, I GOT MY FIRST CAR, I gave my horse back to her previous owner, and lots more! It's weird, but I'm really thinking this summer is going to be the best summer yet! Oh, I'm also reading a few books that my English teacher is requiring. Some of them are boring, while others are pretty intriguing. I got my senior pictures taken the other day, and I'm excited to see how they're going to come out.

THE BEST PART!!!! My car - a dark blue '00 Jeep Cherokee - is really sweet! I love it! I don't have a picture yet, or else I would've put one up.

I'm also doing A LOT of riding! My horses will be well ridden and worked with by the time fall comes and soon after that winter hits!

God has really blessed me and taught me A LOT this summer, and it's only half way through!

Patience....

Patience: the act or power of calmly waiting for something due or hoped for

Lately I've been thinking a lot about having a boyfriend. I see a few of my friends that have significant others and it makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me that makes guys not want to date me, or if I'm just not good enough for guys to date. A few weeks ago I was talking with my pastor's wife about this and she said that I just need to be patient. Yeah, it's easier said than done, I wanted to say.

Should it be? It's easy if we have the right mindset, right? If we're focused on God then it is supposed to be easy to be patient and wait for the things to come about that we want. I really don't think so. I think that it can actually be harder to be patient when you're a Christian than when you're not. I say this, not to justify myself, but to be realisitic. I mean, honestly, how many of the Christian teens you know would save themselves for their spouse? How many do you think would wait? Or what about just normal everyday stuff. We know how Jesus would act, and how everything He did was to honor and glorify God.... even being patient. Jesus was patient through the cross. He let the soldiers whip him, beat him, and do whatever they were going to do. Not a word came from his mouth of complaining. There was never "When is this going to be over, Father? It's just getting to hard." No. He was going through so much, but you could never see Him be impatient.

I annoy myself sometimes because I think I have it so hard because I have to wait for the man God has for me. It is hard, I'll admit, because most people would just go with whoever, and it can be a little intimidating going against the crowd. But you know what? I've got God on my side. I know, that because I'm serving Him, and living for Him, He's going to work everything out for His honor and glory. For example, today we had the mile run at school. I'm no runner, and because of my asthma it makes running a whole lot worse. BUT! God showed His power through all of that. I didn't finish first, but I finished - which is an improvement. I didn't get to get nationals or anything, but I got my breath back fast - another improvement.

Once again I can only go back to that verse in 2 Chorinthians 12:9-10 when God says that His grace is sufficient for us. Oh, and one last thing, while you're waiting for the person God has in mind for you, try becoming the ideal person God has in mind for someone else.

Drained...

I am so drained right now it's not funny. It seems like forever for school to be done. I'm excited to be graduating next year, but it's also a little frightening. :/ Geometry sucks. Anyone who has the chance, DON'T TAKE IT! I mean, yeah it's good to be challenged, but ugh, it's just too much of a challenge. Maybe I should be looking on the bright side, at least I get to go to school. Anyways, I'm so tired and just want to relax for about 5 days and do nothing that has to do with school, homework, studying or tests. I guess the break will come soon enough! Haha.

What I learned from X-Men Origins: Wolverine

This past weekend I saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine in theaters. It was pretty good and I think I'd like to see the rest of the movies. There are a few bad spots in it, which kinda didn't appeal to my liking at all, but all in all, I thought it was a good movie. There was lots of action and cool gifts too. I think that my favorite part was at the end when the mutants used their "gifts" to help each other. I thought that was so cool. They barely knew the person, yet they'd trust him and help him out. They all had something to offer, and if needed, I'd bet they'd use them to help the group.

Isn't that what we, as Christians, are supposed to do. God gave us all gifts that we are called to use it "...in proportion to his faith." (Romans 12:6) We're not all the same, though. In X-Men, the mutants didn't all have the same gift. If they did, they wouldn't be useful for the purpose that they were there (which wasn't good, but that's besides the point). It's the same way with people, and Christians in particular. We aren't all the same. If we were, we wouldn't be useful for the purpose that God has put us on earth - to bring Him glory in everything we do. I play the piano and the violin a little. Imagine how boring it could get listening to that all day everyday because that was the only thing that was able to be played. But that's not it at all. Not everyone is able to play the piano, drive a bus with no problem, or teach kids all day. That's the beauty of it all! God created each of us differently, and because of it we can each reach different types of people. My friend works at a grocery store and because of this she can share Christ's love with those people there that I might never get to talk to and they probably wouldn't listen to me very much. But because she knows them, and can relate with some of the things that they are going through, she can witness to them a lot easier than I could. The scenario could be flipped around too.

I used to wish I could be someone else because I didn't have the "perfect" body, couldn't play that many sports and wasn't as smart as others I knew, and I was annoyed of being me. But then God showed me three things.

1. Perfection in all reality is left to God. He alone is perfect, and there's no way that I can have the perfect body until I get to Heaven. I just need to accept what I can't change, and try to fix what I can.
2. God has a plan for my life, that's like nothing I could imagine! He's got all things covered, and it might not be in His plan for me to play sports, be a genius, or whatever. But He's got things for me to do, that no one else can. Because of who God made me, there are people that I can reach that, without me reaching to them, they'll never hear about God.
3. This is the best. God showed me that even though I might get tired of trying, sick of being me, or just wanting to give up His grace is sufficient for me (2 Chorinthians 12:9-10). God says that even when we don't think it's humanly possible to do something it is, and by His grace we'll be able to do it. When someone says that you can't do something, or will never be good enough, I can just imagine Him saying to His angels "Oh yeah? Watch what I can do through him/her."

Ford Mustang Bulitt

This is the car I want! It's totally awesome! However, I'd rather not have it be green. Even though I love green, cars like this don't look good in green. Maybe black!!! I'll probably never get it though, because it's probably really expensive!!!

There is a burning question in my brain....

What hits the ground first.... a pound of lead???? or a bowling ball???

Favorites....

I must be in a blogging mood today because this blog makes my second for the day. =] I'm sure that nobody really wants to know about my favorite songs, but I don't care.

1) "How deep the Father's Love for Us" - I don't know who wrote it
2) "The New Song We Sing" - Meredith Andrews
3) "Dependence" - Jamie Slocum
4) "You've got a Friend in me" - Toy Story!!
5) "From the Inside Out" - Hillsong
6) "While I'm waiting" - John Waller
7) "Who I am hates who I've been" - Relient K
8) "We live" - Superchick
9) "You're Not Alone" - Meredith Andrews
10) "Sing, Sing, Sing" - Chris Tomlin

My FOREVER favorite is.......

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" - Straight No Chaser

It's been a while

So its been a long time since I've written a blog. God has been showing me some cool stuff this past month. Basically, it is this : sometimes troubles come into our lives to bring us to Jesus. I mean, it sounds so cliche, but its true. The problems He allows to trouble us may be His way of getting us to pray and talk to Him. Usually when life is going smoothly, we tend to not pray about things, but then when life gets rough and we get stressed we pray again. I think that God misses us when we think life is great and going well, because we don't pray and give Him the time that He deserves. My pastor said it the best way when I was saying that things have been rough lately. He said that God was giving me a lot to pray about. Yeah, He was, becasue I wasn't praying before. I just think it's awesome that I serve a God that loves me so much that He would bring rough stuff my way so that I would be forced to talk to Him. It just is so awesome!

A "normal" class...

Okay, so.... there is this thing in our school called the Academic Cup. The class, in high school, who has greatest percent of people on high honor or honor roll gets to keep the Cup for the next quarter. For the entire year, our class has been trying to get this cup and finally, WE DID IT! It was soo exciting. I loved it, and our class was all cheering. Then Mr. Enderle, one of the teachers in the high school, said that we are a "vocal bunch" but he still thought that we are a good bunch of kids.

Anyways, then at the end of the day yesterday, during homeroom, some of us were doing this thing with a guppie and saying how they don't smile (it was funny), and the Pastor of the church walked by and Mr. Enderle told him how we got the Academic Cup, and showed him how we were pretending to be gophers, which was really guppies, but it's okay.

This is the truth about our class.... Actually, I really can't describe my class. It's the best class ever! The only thing is, though, there is only one guy, and it gets annoying sometimes with a whole lot of girls.

Life is crazy right now!

So there is so much going on in my life right now! I just got a new horse! Her name is Montana, and she's a Morgan mare. She's a bay, and is beautiful! I just love her so much! It's crazy how this is possible, but it just is.

Also, it's almost spring - tomorrow is the first day - and I'm just so sick with spring fever. It's crazy! I'm so excited for springtime and the warmer weather! It just reminds me that no matter what we should still praise God for what we have. Most of the time, I complain in the winter that it is so cold and I don't like it. Then I'm excited when the warm weather comes and we get to go outside more and have lots of fun! But then, once it gets to summer. I start complaining that it is too warm, and I get too hot! It's crazy how that works, but at least for me, I complain way too much about the weather and other things, when they are just petty.

What else is new???? Hmmm..... God has been doing so much in my life! I'm so excited. I can't even explain what He's doing, but I just know that He's changing me for the best! He's doing things in my life, that only HE can do!! I just am so thankful!

So last week was pi day, and my friend recited almost two hundred digits of pi. THAT'S CRAZY!!!!! I mean, that's really cool that she can do it, but WOW! I'm definitely not that self-disciplined to sit down and just memorize pi. HAHAHA!!!! =]

Chapel!!

Chapel today was AWESOME! There aren't words that can express how great it was! I thought I was prepared for it, but I definitely wasn't! God was doing amazing things, and worked in everyone's heart and life! I'm so thankful that I got to come to school today and that I can go to a Christian school where we can worship and praise God and give him glory for everything!!! It's just amazing to see how God can do mighty things in anyway! I just love GOD!!!! Then, my best friend went up and read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 and it just was so what I needed to hear! God is great!!!

Driver's Test

So today I took my road test and I was a basket case. I don't think I've ever been more nervous in my life! Haha. But I passed!!! I'm soo excited!

It's crazy because while I was waiting in line the door to the building opened where the instructor usually comes out and I knew that I was next. Well, I just about had a heart attack. It was crazy. Then this lady comes out and I'm okay, but then the door opened, and I just about fainted. If the door would've opened again I would've passed out. Haha! But then the guy went to the wrong car. Oh boy! I was like "I'm over here!" Even when I'm in a car people don't notice me cause I'm so short. haha, just kidding.

All in all it was probably the most nerve wrecking thing I've ever done. I'm praising God that He guided my hands and feet and allowed me to pass, because without God I wouldn't have even made it past turning the car on. =]

"Who's on first?" - Abbot and Costello

This is pretty funny. It took me a while to pick it up, but oh well. =]

I don't know...

I've been sitting here for about five minutes trying to come up with something to blog about. I'm still wondering. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be open to anything... well maybe not anything, but you know. =]

We had chapel today and I was on worship team, and worship was... interesting. Haha, but it only depends on what God thinks. =-]

Anyways, my church is having a sailboat regatta on Saturday so it will take up my day then, but then I have to work at four. I love my job. It's one of those jobs where everyday it is new, but still the same. THe reason is that I am working with people. There is still a schedule to follow every day, but since people don't always act the same, it's new.

Hmmm.... I don't really have anything else to say other than I don't feel good at all. =[

Horses

My weekend was basically fully devoted to my horses. On Friday, my friend and I groomed my old horse (it feels so weird to say that) Ranger up really nice so that he'd look halfway decent when he left the next morning. It's sad, but he had to go to a new home, but I'm sure that it was for the best because he was too much for me to handle, and I am not experienced enough as a rider to ride him properly. So, Saturday morning I watched, with a bittersweat feeling deep-down and leaning against my other horse Preacher, as the woman who was getting Ranger drove away with him in the trailor. But, the woman who bought Ranger called me Saturday afternoon and said that he was doing very well and she was so excited and happy! This, of course, made me very happy!!!

On Sunday, I took my horse Preacher out for a ride in the field! We BOTH loved it! He was so excited to get to run and I was excited that I 1) didn't fall off!!! =] and 2) felt so free and adventerous! Plus, my mom even got on Preacher. For those of you who don't know my mom, she's not the type of person who will jump on a horse when given the chance. It was fun because I got to share some time with my mom doing something I enjoyed. I loved teaching her how to get on, find the stirrups, and stuff like that. What was funny, was that when she went to get off, she didn't take both feet out of the stirrups and she ended up sliding to a stop on the ground and she took the saddle along with her. She was okay though, and was laughing the entire way!

Warm weather!!!!!

It has been such a cold winter this year! I'm so excited that it is finally starting to come to an end. I love the warm weather because it means that we can be outside more and having fun!! It also means that the school year is coming to a close, even though I don't want to enter my senior year next year because I'm a little bit scared to go out on my own to college! :/ But God is always there, and I'll trust Him to keep me in His hands forever - so I have nothing to fear!

We have a lot of tests this week! Bible, Chemistry, Health, English, and Vocab (that's normal though). It'll be a sigh of relief when we get finished with them all. :)

Superbowl XLIII

Okay so the Steelers just won the Superbowl for the sixth time!!!! The first franchise ever to do that!!!! I'm super excited! The fourth quarter was definitely the best of them all!!!! It went from Pitt leading to the Cards leading then back to Pitt to win the game!!!

As much as I'm way excited, I'm asking God to help me remember that there's more to life than just football games. I mean, yeah, God lets us enjoy the fun of watching guys play an awesome game like football (especially if they've got super neat cornrows haha, Sarah). But still, my life, is totally about God, and my relationship with Him, and that beats all Superbowls, football games, record setting teams, or anything else in the whole world hands down!

Today is Friday.... FINALLY!!!

Random

This week has been one of ups and downs. I'm glad that I didn't have to work a lot this week either! It gets pretty stressful. Anyways, we are probably going to get another snow storm tonight and tomorrow which means no school for us. :( I don't want to have to make up days of school.

I'm pretty excited because my church has a youth group and for the longest time I couldn't go because of work, but now I can go again!!!! I can't wait until next Tuesday!! :))) Well, it's almost 11:30 at night and I should probably get some sleep so in case we have school tomorrow I'll be well rested up.

Laminin

I love this video. Especially now, when life gets tough and it just shows that Jesus holds all things together!!!

Falling Hay

Tonight I was going to feed my horse in the barn. My dad said to not give him any more grain because he has had enough for today and to just give him some hay. "That's easy enough!" I thought. Yeah, so I thought. When I got into the barn I realized that there were no lights in the hay mound. I went into Bakercrest, a personal care home my dad owns, and was searching for a flash light and finally found one. Well, I figured that if I shined the light enough so that I could see ahead of me, that I wouldn't fall through, because there are wholes in the floor. I guess you could say I figured wrong. I ended up walking really careful, and assumed that the next step was okay, but it wasn't. There was a whole in the floor, and I ended up falling through. Luckily, the whole was only big enough for half of my body to fit through, but it still was scary! I was just dangling there. Helpless, for a few seconds, until I got my wits about me again. But all in all, it ended well. I just have some bruises and a sore leg, and I'm praising God that I didn't fall all the way through! Yikes!

Steelers and Studying

Okay so I don't really know much about football, but I know that the Steelers are just awesome! They are so awesome! I'm really hoping that they win tonight and go to the AFC Championship! Anyways, this weekend was full of studying. It's that time again, where the stress level just about maxes and my brain gets in overdrive mode - FINALS. They are those wonderful tests that symbolize half of a year is done, and at the end of the year. I love one thing about this week though, we don't really get that much homework! Basically all our classes are study halls! I love it!