May 14

Life as of Late

Wow.

A lot has happened. I’ll start with….

GRADUATION

Yes, finally! Dad graduated two days ago! WOOT WOOT!!! Graduation was SO long and boring, but there were lots of parties afterwards to make up for it. :) So Dad now has a Master of Theology degree, as well as a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. He ALSO won an award for the best paper written on apologetics, AND he won the H.A. Ironside award for awesome preaching. That was big. I’m sure he’ll hate me for posting all this. :) There was also a graduation barbecue the day before. There was a petting zoo, bounce houses, inflatable slides, pony rides, and, of course, barbecue. We had sat in our apartment watching all the graduates have fun and stuff themselves, dreaming about the day when that might be us. Finally, after five years of waiting, that was us. When I watched everybody from the windows, I was thinking about the big party we were missing out on. But when I was down there, making my way to the giant tent where the barbecue was being served, where Chaplin Bill was playing his old heart out on the trumpet, where the professors were serving the students, and where the students were laughing, conversing, and celebrating God’s faithfulness in pulling them through, it wasn’t about a good food or fun rides at all. They were done. We were done. I just wanted to get up and dance.

Now for the PhD…

 

MOVING

Well, now that that’s over, we have to move. Our move-out date is June 1st, but we still have no idea where we’re going, so we’re trying to get an extension. If we don’t get it, we are officially homeless and living with friends. So yeah. At least we have friends, and don’t have to stay in that underpass….
For when we do finally move, though, we found an AMAZING house. But as you well may know, AMAZING houses cost an AMAZING amount of money. There are some people who would like to help us with it, though. Here’s the story.
Some friends of ours helped us find a duplex for us to rent. We had a meeting the next morning to sign the lease. Mom and Dad didn’t feel good about it at all. The realtor was difficult to work with, and we barely fit the requirements. It just felt like a bad decision. So Mom and Dad prayed hard that night, that something would happen before they had to sign the lease. Well, that night, at 11:00pm, Dr. Pentecost called. He never calls that late. He told mom that he found us the perfect house. He said he has a good friend who is a missionary in Hong Kong, and he’d been trying to find his contact information for a long time. That night, he just popped up on Skype. So Dr. P Skyped him. He told him about our situation, about how we needed a house by June, etcetera. He was very interested, and told Dr. P that he had a house in Garland that he had been trying to sell. And oh. My. Word. It’s amazing. It’s a five bedroom house (so Dad’s dad could come live with us, and we’d all get our own rooms), it has a pool and a hot tub, TWO ACRES of land (with a forest and a creek), they accept dogs, and he said he would love to help us be able to get the house. It’s in Garland, but it feels like it’s in the middle of Colorado. It’s beautiful and very peaceful. Lots of people want to help us get this house; we really think this is it, and that would be amazing! So please pray! You can come hot tub with us!

 

Sep 7

Pine Cove, Portraits, Parrots, and Provision

Wow – have I not posted about Pine Cove yet? Or art lessons? Or anything? I thought I would post more often than this. *sigh*

Well, Pine Cove. It was amazing. There was horseback riding (LOTS of it), zip lining, skiing, banana boating, swimming, waterslides, blobs, pottery, the Zorb, games, eating, playing, laughing, loving…they had basically everything. :) Mom and Dad went horseback riding usually twice a day. Mom used to have horses, so I bet she missed that. The first time I went on a trail ride with Impact (my group), was…scary. I almost didn’t want to go again. Yes, I have ridden horses before, but not in a deer-infested wood in front of a skeet shooting area. The deer and the gun shots scared the horses half to death, so they started going crazy; running, jumping, turning around and knocking into other horses…we were all inexperienced riders, so we were all scared half to death. I don’t know about everyone else, but I was praying through my teeth and gripping onto the saddle horn with both hands so hard my hands were sore the next day. Well, we were all okay, and we all did ride again. And I loved every second of it. Except for the fact that we had to wear dark jeans and gym shoes in the 110°, unshaded riding arena. Well, I could go on and on about the activities…it was understatemently (is that a word?) awesome. But even more awesome than the activities and the fun was the spiritual element. I haven’t felt that close to God in a very long time. The first bible study especially was great. I don’t remember exactly what it was about, but I just remember while we were praying, looking out at the hills and the trees, and the huge lake spread out before me, and I never felt so small. And I never felt God was so big. It felt like he was right there with us, sitting at the picnic table. I was just overcome with His beauty and magnificence and power, I…cried. I don’t remember the last time I cried over God, or if I ever have. Well, that was amazing. And the counselors were so awesome too. They were so energetic and sweet. They really took time to get to know each person. I have never met anyone as on fire for Jesus as the counselors at Pine Cove. We will definitely be going again next year (Lord willing). :)

Even awsomER than THAT, is what happened yesterday. Well, we applied for k12, an online, free school. After weeks of waiting for approval, we found out that we were wait listed because the eighth grade class was too full. Well, we didn’t have any money, and we NEEDED a curriculum. Plus, the DTS semester had just started, and Dad needed hundreds of dollars worth of books for the new semester. So while dad was at work, or studying, or in class, or – I don’t know, whatever seminary students do all day – we prayed. We specifically prayed for $1000, because that’s what we added up how much we would need. And the very next day, a friend who was unaware of our circumstances, sent us a letter containing exactly $1000. He is faithful.

Anyway, I started art lessons a couple months ago. Mrs. Rylin (someone in our building), agreed to teach me. She’s awesome. :) Art lessons are going great! I love them. I just finished a huge self portrait of myself, which is kinda weird, having an 18” by 24” picture of my face staring at me. At the moment I’m working on a Chuck Close (http://chuckclose.com/art.php) style picture of my bird, Jackson. It’s going great, and I can’t wait to continue lessons and get better and better, and build up my portfolio, because I hope to get into some art magnet school next year. That would be awesome.

Also, I’m going to try to post pictures more, so…yeah. There’s Jackson on the new playset thingy we got him. :)

Jack :)

 

 

Jul 30

Breathe It In Deeply

I’m not afraid to live, I’m afraid to die.
I’m not afraid to love, I’m afraid to even try.
I’m not afraid to fly, I’m afraid to fall.
I’m not afraid of life, but the meaning of it all.

We were born with wings, I was made to fly.
I am meant to live, I am meant to die.
I am bound to fall, I am bound to try.

My world will shake, my heart will break, but I won’t give up for God’s sake.
That’s the Journey; it’s not easy, it’s not meant to be.
This life is just a glimpse on a map of eternity.
So take a step back, take a breath,
Don’t fear life, don’t fear death.

Life is a chance to open your window and let the Son in,
Then to share with others this brilliant light you’ve been given.
And death is our reward for following this light;
A gateway to a world where everything is right.

So thank God for life, and don’t fear death.
To God this life is merely a breath.
Breathe it in deeply, live your life well,
Though it only lasts a spell, you never can tell
How hard it may be.

When you accept His call, you’re bound to fall,
But He’ll help you back up and teach you to soar.

Jul 22

Live for Today

“If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
-Matthew 6:30-34

We’ve been in seminary for about five years, and almost every single month we were months behind on all of our bills. For example, just two days ago, our phones were shut off, we were two months behind on rent, needed tuition, were locked out of our storage unit, all for obvious reasons. But on that day, somebody anonymously paid our rent so that we were current, a friend paid us early for some babysitting we were going to be doing this summer, enabling us to pay our phone bill and use our storage unit again. All in a day. Thank you, Jesus. :) We still need tuition, but I don’t think we need to worry. It just seems silly to worry after seeing miracles happen just in the nick of time every month.

So, when it comes to necessities, there’s no need to worry. God has proven Himself faithful time and time again, so why should we doubt Him now? But, being thirteen, my concerns aren’t completely focused on bills and tuition. What I’m most worried/upset/concerned about right now is the future. Which is exactly what that verse says not to be concerned about. Dad is applying for a PhD at DTS this fall. I know it’s probably wrong, but I hope and pray everyday that he won’t be accepted. I just don’t want to stay in Dallas with Dad in school for six more years…until I’m 19 and (hopefully) in college. I feel like my life doesn’t start until we have a home in Colorado and Dad’s the preacher at a church. I feel like right now, Swiss Tower, seminary…is training for Colorado. I don’t know. I just have big issues with expectations. I need to work on lowering them. God often doesn’t open a door until you stand right in front of it. Who knows what the future holds. It’s not up to me to know. My life already has began. It began thirteen years ago. I need to live for today, not for six years from now. My life so far has been full of miracles and blessings, a touch of God’s hand on every day. I keep thinking that my childhood will be wasted, with dad in school the whole time. I want to live in Colorado, in our own house, and have my own room. I want to be a pastors daughter. I know I’m so selfish for thinking that. I’ve had this picture in my head of how my future will be, and I’ve been dreaming about it for years. Whenever I was down about our position at the moment, or how cramped our house is, I would just close my eyes and dream about Colorado, when everything would be perfect. But the fact of the matter is, it wouldn’t. “Perfect” is just a fairy tale that drives me crazy. Heaven is the only place that will be perfect, and it’s so far away. So until then, I need to live for today, and let God use me so that others will get a chance at the perfect future God has planned.

Jul 16

Fireworks, The Wingfeather Saga, Harry Potter, and Goodbyes

I am a failure.  I say time and time again that I will try to post often; and time and time again I put it off. I always say it’s because there’s not much going on, and things are pretty boring around here. But there is so much going on, and there always is, so I guess that’s why I don’t notice. And as for things being pretty boring around here…well, that’s sort of true. I guess “laid back” would be a better term. Anyway, enough blabbering. I’ll start. And because of my quirkyness and OCDness, everything will be put in to categories. :) I guess I’ll just…start at the beginning. Okey dokey.

Independence Day
For the fourth, we went to some park in…somewhere…with some of our friends – the Emory’s and the Streuss’s – to see some AWESOME fireworks. We got there seven hours early so that we could get good spots. Oh. My. Word. It was SO hot. Thankfully, our church let us borrow some canopies for shade, so it didn’t kill us (completely). And it turned out, we didn’t even need to get there early. The side of the lake that we were on was nearly empty, even when the fireworks actually came. Well, I’d say the seven hours of sweltering heat was worth the fireworks. The fireworks came an hour late, so for the last half-hour we waited, the kids were cheering them on, shouting things like, “fire do your work! Fire do your work!” until somebody yelled at them to shut up. That was the end of that. :) When the fireworks did finally come, they were amazing. Some guy said that he traveled the world, and has seen many different firework displays, and this one was definitely in the top ten. They were huge and loud and bright, and some of them formed different shapes, like smiley faces, the American flag, etc. At the end, some golden shooty-sparky-thingymabobs shot out into the lake, and somehow, the lake shot them back out, high into the sky. It was beautiful. The whole time, Dad just shook his head and kept saying, “This could be paying for my PhD.”

 

The Wingfeather Saga
Yesterday, I finished Monster in the Hallows, the third and most recent book in The Wingfeather Saga, an excellent series by Andrew Peterson (who also happens to be an awesome singer). I highly recommend his series and music. The first book is okay, but the second book is AWESOME, and the third book even better (the first is called On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness if you want to get it). Anyway, that’s it.

 

HARRY POTTER!!!!
Dad took me to see the (premiere) midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 (IN 3D!!!!!!!) on Friday. I know I’ve already said that the fireworks and the Wingfeather Saga were ‘AWESOME’, but I kinda have to say it again…pardon me for that. I guess my life is just pretty AWESOME right now. :) Anyway, IT WAS AWESOME!! I’m not going to give a review on it or anything, because I’d have to include lots of spoilers, and three out of the six (I know. Sad.) people that I know of who read this blog are in the middle of the series. Well…yeah. I guess that’s all I have to say about that. I am a BIG fan of Harry Potter, but not a freak about it or anything, like the people wearing robes and hats and carrying wands that were in the seats in front of me. :)

 

On a NOT so happy note…
On the 31st of July, we are leaving to Pine Cove (the most AWESOME [haha] camp ever), and when we come back, some of our best friends will have moved to Washington. :( They have grown very close to our family in the past four years, they live in the same building as us (though most of the time they live in the same apartment as us), and they now feel more like family than friends. Some more of our best friends live in North Carolina (miss you, Jenna), Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, India, China, Korea, and Mexico. That’s what happens when you live here, I guess. It is cool having friends all around the world, but I really miss them all. :( Well, soon we’ll have friends in Walla Walla Washington. Goodbye, Hannah. Love you.