We couldn't play Ultimate...but it was still a good day...

God made a beautiful fall day for us today. Perfect tempature. Beautiful. Couldn't have been better. But we couldn't play Ultimate, because no one else could play with us. Just five people isn't quite enough. So that was sad.
But, I have lots of things to be happy about.
- we watched a John Piper DVD today. He is powerful!
- yesterday was Mama's birthday so today we had a big breakfast and it was good!
- as I said, it was a beautiful day
- we had the windows open and the attic fan on all day! (mama usually wants them closed before noon so that was special)
- I played the piano a long time
- the others rode their bikes around the block alot
- the one little neighbor kid was riding his bike too…then I noticed that he was sitting in the middle of the road listening to me play piano :) but he didn’t there long.
- playing Vivaldi, and boy, is my Vivaldi rusty!
- reading Jim Elliot for an hour and a half
- Mrs. O came by
- we had [leftover] hamburgers for supper
- gmail
- looking at molly’s blogspot and laughing at all her very funny pictures
- I fixed my xanga profile (so that its actually about me)
- we had ice cream after supper
- the Reeves family left today to go up north to get the Reeves girls which I have been missing terribly…now, it will be the end of the month before they get back…but at least the first ten days are nearly over…


But if you're planning on playing Ultimate anywhere, let me know and I'll be there! :)

Happy things

happy things...
- getting all my school work (except wisdom booklet work) done before lunch
- deciding to like fall this year
- having time this afternoon to do things
- finally finishing a book i'd been reading for at least 6 months
- starting Shadow of the Almighty a biography of Jim Elliot
- enjoying my little brothers
- being on xanga
- hearing from journey friends
- hearing from other friends
- getting a letter...i've not gotten one in probably 3 months...but that's because i've not mailed any.....argh... :(
- clemson football season is back
- hearing ben count his blessings
- i'm wearing my favorite skirt and favorite shirt
- god is teaching me how to pray (i tell you, that's the guy to get lessons from!)
- trying to apply the things i learned on the journey
- watermelons

---
i walk into the kitchen at noon and find some columbo's pizza: i want some lunch. i want it now, i want it quick, this lunch will do!
---
peter: josh a. says he can move his scalp without using his hands. he just does it.
ben: i can too!
(benjamin vigorously nods his head to demonstrate)

Teach me Thy will, O Lord

Teach Me Thy Will, O Lord
I am playing this hymn on the piano this week, and I've been thinking about the words. It's also our wisdom booklet hymn, and goes along with the theme of the month--Determining and following the will of God.
So, here are the two of the verses...

Teach me Thy will, O Lord
Teach me Thy will, O Lord, teach me Thy way
Teach me to know Thy word, teach me to pray
Whate'er seems best to Thee, that be my earnest plea
So that Thou drawest me, closer each day.

Teach me by pain Thy power, teach me by love
Teach me to know, each hour, Thou art above
Teach me as seemeth best in Thee to find sweet rest
Leaning upon Thy breast, all doubt remove.

Benjamin quotes

"The hot air is hotting my up."

"I figured out what problems me."


I love that kid.

The babysitter's pocket guide to David's own personal language

You can learn this language in only six weeks!

agah go, get down, get up, get out, get in,
buh bread, bun, ball, bye
doo juice
adlaah! light
caa car, truck
tadah tractor, cracker
diggah digger
ah guh all gone
uh, nuh! Oh no!
a MMah!! Mess!
Mama Mama
Paba Papa, Poppy
Dzeedzee ZZ, (Suzanna), Carrie
ihNinni Nini (Carrie)
ahNina Nina
Beh Ben
Gunna Grandma Lyn, Grandma, Grandaddy, goodnight
ahaoh apple
fis fish
ihBEEji Luigi (the italian guy in the movie CARS), frisbee
aghen again
vutah water
duh, duh, DAAH! 1, 2, 3, GO!
mah mouth
bibi Baby
HHHH! Hot
dzah sock
dahdah Diaper
cah cat
doow Door
Beebee BBTB (Black Bean Tortilla Bake)
moow More
Nuuuu, nuuuuuu, nuuu car engine sounds

Adventures in Frisbee Golf

Today we played some more frisbee golf on campus...so fun!!
It was a bit chilly though! At one point, I had finished that particular hole, and just Papa and Mama had to finish...we were all waiting, and watching them finish up. It was cold and windy, so I crouched in the bushes to avoid the windchill...I was about a foot or two from the lamp post that was the goal...Papa was just on the other side of the patch of boxwods and hollies. But, I figured that if I just kept on eye on Papa, and his frisbee, then if I needed to I could get out of the way. After all, wouldn't it be funny if of all the places, Papa actually did hit me? I tore off a few leaves, and started to mindlessly tear them apart. Guess what, I got hit pretty squarely in the jaw with Papa's frisbee.
Two throws into the next hole of golf, I was back behind a row of holly trees...they are about 6 or 7 feet tall, and so, I was kinda looking around for my frisbee...and i saw a pink frisbee. Now, the college students that play this cours regularly have to play at midnight when there aren't any pedestrians on the sidewalks...etc...so, because its midnight, its dark, and therefore very easy to lose frisbees in the bushes. We'd found really neat discs in these holly bushes before, so I pulled it out to look at it. It was one of those cheap flimsy frisbees that businesses use for advertising...but i shouted to Peter, "Look! I found a disc!" He shouted to the others...but then I showed him it was not a good disc...and then I tossed it to the others...and we all laughed...about finding a disc, a very junky one...but a disc.Still scanning for my disc, I looked around some more in the bushes. This time I saw a yellow one...mine was yellow, but this one had water in it. Apparently it had been there a while...so I told Peter that maybe I had found something good. I crawled carefully through the holly to where it was, dumped out the water and leaves and turned it over: INNOVA Champion Shark. That is a good disc. The Champion means that its the 13 dollar version of the Shark disc instead of the 8 dollar...pretty good!
The other three discs that we have found on campus have all belonged to the same person, but this one I was happy to find out, has very little wear, no identification, and our friend doesn't have any clue who it belongs to. So pretty much, its mine. A very nice disc!

What is the true meaning of Christmas?

Dudley: Benjamin, what are we doing on monday?
Ben: We are opening presents!
Mrs.M: Why are you opening presents?
Ben: Because its Christmas
Mrs.M: What is Christmas?
Ben: Monday
Mrs.M: But, who's birthday do we celebrate on Christmas?
Ben: Carrie's

I guess he doesn't quite undrstand it all yet...

Uggg. Blogger. It won't co-operate!

Well, Joanna...
I was going to change this site too, for you....but I an't make it...maybe BLOGGER is just having a bad day...but even after I "save changes" and "republish" it and all...it still it the same...

So...maybe another day it will let me...or maybe I should give up...I'll try to check it again later....or let me know if it automatically changes...cause in my settings, it says its changed. Whatever.

Reflections on mission work....

Ever since I was very small, I have felt that God wanted me to be a missionary. But, recently I have really been thinking a lot more on it...

Why am I attracted to mission work? At times it is easy to be attracted to the thought of glamorous adventures, or perhaps to receiving fame as a missionary. Is that why I want to be a missionary, or do I really feel a burden for souls? Am I driven by the love of Christ for those which are lost? If my true passion is for the salvation of lost souls, then what action am I taking? If I feel a burden for lost souls over seas, then how can I ignore the lost souls around me? Everyday I meet people in the store or on the street who have not heard. Do I not care that they are destined to eternal punishment? God cares about these people too. Jonathan Goforth was a missionary to China in the late 1700s to early 1800s. He grew up in Canada and when about twenty years old he sensed God’s call to the mission field and he surrendered himself to the Lord. It was said of him that, “from that minute on, he was a missionary.” He did not wait to arrive in China to begin evangelizing and sharing the gospel. He was completely taken up in this work. All of his spare time, all of his efforts, and any spare money was put into distributing tracts, evangelizing in the slums, and praying for lost souls. William Borden once said, “Any day in which work is not done for Christ is wasted.” If I want to be a missionary, then am I a missionary now where I am?

Missionary life requires character. It means suffering, humility, denial of self. This life involves a life of prayer, complete surrender of rights to the Lord, uprooting of all pride, a spirit of service even when unnoticed. Sacrifice and an emptying of self are a daily exercise. I must learn to love the unloved, and those who seem hard to love. Am I preparing myself now for that kind of a life? Is that what I am expecting? Am I willing to pay that price? Am I practicing that life now? The life of a missionary really is just laying down your life for the lives of others. But this is never too much, it’s only what Jesus did. He is the ultimate missionary’s example. He never demanded his own way, he loved the unloved, and he sacrificed willing for a people who did not love in return. Jim Elliot said, “One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime.”
Jonathan Goforth’s wife, Rosalind, told about how much she had to adjust to Jonathan’s complete commitment and focus on the gospel. Her first lesson was as early as their engagement. She was from a rich family and he was from a poor family. She had been dreaming of the beautiful engagement ring she was soon to receive, but Jonathan told her simply. He had enough money to purchase it, but every spare penny he could get a hold of was used in the purchase of tracts, and other gospel literature, and would she wish him to waste money on a valuable ring when there were so many lost souls who must hear the gospel? It was a sacrifice, but only the first of a life of sacrifice. A missionary is not there by his own wishes or to satisfy his own desires. He is there to lay down his life for those he came to serve.
To be a representative of the kingdom of God means to live as Jesus would, and to empty myself of my own desires and wishes and take on the humility of a servant.

Missionary life is hard. Besides the character that a missionary must have, I must be fit and ready to take physical suffering as well. Weariness, hunger, illness, may be reoccurring struggles. I may have to face an angry mob, take beatings, or imprisonment. Would I be able to face the loss of a loved one, or even to surrender my own life? These are solemn thoughts indeed, but a missionary is not out to satisfy his own wishes and goals, but those of the Lord.
Adoniram Judson, a missionary to Burma in the early 1800s, demonstrated a right understanding of the hardships and sufferings of a missionary. The following is a letter which he wrote to the father of his beloved to ask for her hand in marriage:
“I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India, to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution , and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Saviour from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?”
Though now times are different, and I may not face all the dangers that may have been faced in the early 1800s, I must be aware that a life over seas is one not without suffering and pain.

Isobel Kuhn— “I believe that in each generation God has ‘called’ enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth….Everywhere I go, I constantly meet with men and women who say to me, ‘When I was young I wanted to be a missionary, but I got married instead.’ Or… some such thing. No, it is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond!”

I'm Happy!

- taking Sunny for a walk
- everyone looking in the holly bushes for lost frisbee golf discs, and me finding one!
- Ben telling me that Ann Sullivan looked like Baker.
- people everywhere talking about Christmas presents....
- David seeing a picture of Nina, and saying her name
- David saying please, "Mooooon" …you just gotta be able to understand his dialect…
- Benjamin asking if he can have milk on his Chex Mix (Blah!)
- hearing a song about "that precious brown building in the yard..." and then realizing that it was talking about an outhouse...
- Benjamin calling David "Stickers"
- having played frisbee golf four times; three times we have found discs…and as far as we know, all three discs belong to the same guy! (we're not sure about the one I found)
- David's enthusiasm over Chex Mix
- good country bluegrass songs...done by totally not bluegrass people...
- Benjamin: "Papa, on Christmas day, you can open you Luigi!"
- giving 5 spelling tests yesterday
- re-doing my xanga! (Do you like it?)

A Happy Birthday!

- a very happy birthday
- lots of christmas shopping
- being online, chatting with gma lyn, then her telling me she and Poppy were gonna call me...and them calling before I could get off the line!
- Megan calling me on my birthday!
- Benjamin informing me that I have a striped shirt on
- A good piano recital, even though I accidentaly played my second stanza--first.
- getting tons of packages and Christmas cards in the mail everyday!
- finding something that's very cool, and buying it.
- finding a strange picture of me on nina's xanga...hey, at least she didn't put it on mine!
- changing my password again, now that I just said that...
- getting a Christmas box, all for me, and yes, from WA!
- getting invited to Chicago!
- Christmas shopping with Nina
- frisbee golf on campus, with all the Reeves
- Ben telling me that Dudley is making "Farmer John Chicken" for supper. its really Parmesan chicken.
- trying to write our Christmas letter
- freaking things happening like the air clip jumping off the rear-view mirror, and acting like a bat...
- Church at the horticulture gardens in the ampitheatre!
- getting two CDs for my birthday! The piano one that I really wanted, and Steve Petit's bluegrass one!
- and some really good cappacino mix!
- and the Bible that I really wanted!
- and a really cool vest!
- and Phase 10!
- reading happy lists
- wishing that I could shorten the distances between here and other places...such as...easley, WA, Chicago, ...and lots of other places!

Well, they were not all on my birthday, but they all made me happy!

My sweet Ben

I was having a kinda hard afternoon....you know when things just aren't going like you'd planned, and now you're behind in your work...
Benjamin came through the room, and I caught him. "Benjamin, you know what I need? I need a..."
"A HUG!!!!"
Aww, he is soo sweet!

Happy Things!

- Wreaths on the front windows of a cute house
- people who are crazy about the most minut details of 'CARS'
- looking through files of random pictures
- wishing for a quiet place in the house
- trying to learn to obey HIS voice
- matching long medical words to their latin roots and finding that gastrectemy literally means "the removal of the belly"
- God giving me a verse this morning
- trying to follow the Lord Jesus in Servanthood
- figuring out a way I can braid my hair
- songs like 'Okie from Muskogee'
- thinking about I should work for Milton Bradley when I grow up
- Alan Jackson's hymns CD 'Blessed Assurance'
- praying for people
- wishing people would be online at the same time as me
- wishing I could only try selling unassmebled snowmen around here. the thing is...we rarely get those raw materials here. ours usually look more like disassembled snowmen.
- frizzy hair today (cause it was braided last night)
- revisiting my old cubby space down in the basement (where once upon a time I liked to hide to do my schoolwork)
- making a soup that I didn't think would be very good, and everyone really liking it
- Emilie's Noodle Bake for supper
- my piano piece coming together
- God's amazing creatures! (we watched a documentery on tree hopping monkeys tonight)
- watching the hygenist type the results into the computer, and noticing that she was totally doing "hunt and peck"
- feeling that Jesus sees what I do
- Clara Maguire (because today is her birthday)
- reading a long xanga post that totally inspired me!
- tea early in the morning
- finally getting gmail to work right
- its my bedtime...

100 things I'm thankful for...

I really tried hard to make it random. Placement means nothing...except for the first five. : )

1. The Love of God
2. Jesus' sacrifice for me
3. The Bible
4. A God Who has planned out a perfect future for me
5. The incrdible suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross
6. Benjamin
7. serious moments
8. Parents who love me and care for me
9. The United States
10. My piano
11. A big family
12. dogs
13. REAL cristmas trees
14. Gospel for Asia
15. people who comment on my xanga
16. skittles
17. Charlie Miller and is piano CD that I absolutely LOVE
18. David
19. Goldie and Associates
20. little babies
21. English Ivy green
22. my awesome friends, they really are an encouragement to me!
23. goldfish
24. The letter J just becuase I like it
25. Riders In the Sky
26. Spanish!
27. piano lessons
28. smoothies
29. Dr. Morales
30. Megan Rowland
31. Fall colors
32. Carry on, Mr Bowditch by Jane Lee Latham
33. Pumpkin pie
34. Hannah Reeves
35. Mama, who earnestly desires to have her children walking with the Lord
36. pansys in the snow
37. My fiddle
38. Grandma Lyn
39. The number 39 because its my favorite number
40. the internet
41. Molly Watkins
42. fajitas
43. Papa, whose first desire is to please the Lord
44. Ever in Joyful Song
45. Mrs. Webb
46. South Carolina weather!
47. Bethany
48. Finding Nemo
49. The letter K because I like it
50. Perky Lewis
51. inashoe.blogspot.com
52. gerber daisys that look so beautiful in the summer
53. The Reeves
54. callwave
55. cell phones
56. Esther Verrinder
57. Google
58. Clemson Community Church
59. Rod and staff
60. Poppy
61. Clemson Tigers
62. fresh tomato sandwiches on homemade bread
63. Bill Gothard
64. Marli Reese
65. really cute little brothers!
66. frisbee golf
67. Peter
68. Christmas!
69. Lewis Creativity
70. the Grascals
71. Suzanna
72. bluegrass music
73. xanga
74. Joanna Harlin
75. Granddaddy
76. Daniel
77. Clemson Orange
78. homemade peanut butter
79. happy lists
80. The mailman
81. enchilada bake
82. Gan Gan
83. ATI
84. Gmail
85. Elayna Pierce
86. country music
87. Daffodills in the spring
88. homemade blueberry jelly
89. Amelia Bedelia
90. Nina
91. President Bush
92. Our homefellowship
93. Grandma
94. christmas music
95. Dudley
96. Ultimate frisbee
97. Douglas Briley and his piano arrangments
98. hymns
99. postage stamps
100. A God Who is preparing a home for me for all eternity

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
We surehad a great time!
We had all the good stuff...turkey, stuffing, corn, green bean casserole, jello, sweet potatoes, jellied cranberry sauce...etc. It was SOO good! Then there was apple, fudge pecan, and pumkin pie! wow! If only I had mulitple stomachs! lol
Grandma and Granddaddy came, though we were sad that my cousins couldn't come...We did invite my dad's cousin who lives local, but we never see...we called him two hours before the food was ready, and he came! It was great! He is a national autoharp champion and is really incredible! He brought two atouharps and we jammed for awhile. It was really great!
Then, after they left, and we got the house cleaned, everyone but Mama, Nina, and the two little boys packed up and went to campus to play frisbee golf! The course is not one of those that has the real baskets and chains and all, its just an unofficial, course that goes all over the heart of campus that everyone just knows. Daniel and a bunch of his freinds play pretty often...but since its all over campus, you can't play when lots of people are around...so, they usually play at midnight...but for some reason Papa didn't want us to play then...But, today is Thanksgiving, and there weren't many people out today...so we played. It was really awesome!
Then this evening, we just sorta "grazed" on leftovers (cause no one was really that hungry) and we asked each other what they wanted for Christmas, and made lists...and planned...and had fun!
Here are ten things I'm grateful for today:

- My Lord Jesus Who traded places with me, so that I could have Eternal Life in Glory!

- My family! they are great! I think that is one of my biggest blessings!

- My awesome friends who take the effort to encourage me in the Things that Really Count

- The beautiful world that God has created for us!

- Parents who truly desire to live their lives to be pleasing in the sight of the Lord, and whose desire is that their children also walk in the Light

- Adorable little brothers! Whatever would I do without my sweet Benjamin and David?!!!!

- Music! Piano and fiddle! Oh, and CD players that let me listen to music that I don't know how to play....western, bluegrass, country, hymns, and such...

- The ability to write! cause I sure do alot of it!

- Internet connection...even if I sometimes hate the way it acts, I'm grateful for it.

- The mailman

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! And don't forget to tell the Lord what you're thankful for, and be grateful to those in your life that help to make your days special!

Thanksgiving at our house this year....

For thanksgiving, every year we go to our grandparents' house (20 minutes away) and our aunt and uncle and cousins that live about 20 minutes farther on the other side of our grandparents....but my grandma has not been feeling so well this year as in past times, so we volunteered to host the holiday at our house. It will be so much fun!!

Is "age" the same as "size"

Benjamin has a little digger...and he has a little Charlie Brown...and it just so happens that the Charlie Brown can fit up perfectly through the bottom of the digger into the cab to look like he's driving.

 

Ben's comment: If I was Charlie Brown's age, then I could get in and drive that digger.