My Trip to Oglethorpe

So, I'm gonna quick blog about my trip to Atlanta, so that you all can hear abuot it without me having to repeat the same thing a thousand times. Hahaha.
It was a really fun trip! I drove most of the way there and back, which was exciting. Except for driving through Atlanta. That is not fun. Just so you all know. Haha. But we got there and Oglthorpe had a gift bag waiting for me at the hotel, which was cool. And then dad and I went to the campus for my choral scholarship audition. It went really really well! I think I sang better for that audition than I've ever sung ever. I was so excited! And Dr. Ray was really nice. Everyone at Oglethorpe was really nice. But, I sang for him, and then dad and I went to the on campus library, which was AMAZING. Ok. Amazing. Half of this library is the size of the Madison library. It's amazing. I'm tellin' ya. And all the builidings, except a few which are being remodeled to be like the other ones, are in the neogothic structure, and in grey stone. And it's just the most beautiful campus. It is so gorgeous. Then, at 4:30 we checked in for the JEO merit scholarship competition, and I met a few girls, and then we went to different brief type things. One was on their core curriculm, and the other was all about their honors program and studying abroad, and I am eligible for both by the way. Then we went to a reception, and the food was actually good! I got to talk to some OU parents, and a current student, and the Civic Engagement boss person. I learned a lot! Then, I went back to the hotel and crashed promptly after eating some of my dad's dinnner.
Saturday was really really fun! We got to the school at 8:30 and met the president in the theater. Which is awesome by the way! I wish I had taken a picture of it. It was super cool! And then we moved on to our seminars. I was in one called "The Polotics of Hip Hop" and it was really interesting! My professor was really nice, and she asked some very thought provoking questions, and gave us all a signed copy of her book, "African American Polotics." Then we had to write an essay based on what we covered in the seminar, then we went to lunch. I got to talk to an economics major about all the awesome economics classes he's taking, and another girl about the cafeteria food, and then we went to Emerson Hall for a "Party." It wasn't really a party. Hahaha. It was mostly loud music and some chips and we sat around for 3 hours. But, I visited with some really nice girls, and that was fun. And then, I went on a dorm tour, and the dorms are super nice. Plus there's a kitchen available for the residents of each dorm! I thought that was awesome. Because I do not want to live off ramen for 4 years if I go to this school. haha. Then, we went to the auditorium in Lupton Hall and watched "Inception". Really good movie! If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. It's really good. Also, I had an interview with an alumni. She basically just asked me all about myself, and all my accomplishments, and my interests. Things like that. And then we got in a bus to go to a VIP dinner at the natural history museum in Atlanta. I will spare you the details of the horrid bus ride to the museum.... Ahem. And the food at the museum was really yummy. I got back to the hotel at 9:30, slept in on Sunday morning, then me and dad left for home. It was a really fun weekend!
I don't know any results from my audition or seminar yet, but I'll be sure to tell you all when I get them. Thanks for reading my really long post! :)

Deliverer

Well, I started at Calhoun last Thursday, and since then, I've been positively SWAMPED with homework. I am doing the mini-mester in Macroeconomics, so, I have 7 weeks to do a 15 week course, and I am doing a math, which, by definition, takes me forever to do. So, blame my lack of blogging on the fact that I get 15 minutes here, and fifteen minutes there to do something other than homework. Hahaha. But, I am on break right now, waiting until time for my econ class to start, so I am blogging! :) Next name on my list is Deliverer!

2 Samuel 22:1-3 "David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: 'The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—from violent people you save me.'"

So, when I think of God as a deliverer, the first thing I think of is the Hebrews being delivered by God out of bondage. But, there's so much more to Him being a deliverer than just the Hebrews being delivered by Him.
Christ delivers us out of bondage to sin and He delivers us into His family. When we're born, we're born spiritually dead (Ephesians 2) and He gives us new life in Him! He delivered us from the devil and sin and gave us life in Him. He redeemed us, He saved us, He rescued us.
It's such an amazing thing to think about! I want to challenge you all to spend five or ten minutes just thinking of all the things God has delivered you from. Here's a few things I thought of:

• Sin
• Hell
• Satan
  
• Despair
• Death

Creator

Isaiah 43:15 "I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”

John 1:3 "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."

Colossians 1:16 "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him."

Nehemiah 9:6 "You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you."

God being our creator is the foundation of our faith. Think about it. The beginning of Genesis is all about creation and what God created. And, as you can see from the verses above, there are references to God being the Creator all throughout the Bible. Old Testament and New Testament. Humans are intelligent beings, capable of making decisions, of speaking, we have emotions, etc... That could not have occurred by chance. It all happened because of God's plan, by His creating us and the world we live in. In order to respond to God at any level, we need to acknowledge His handiwork in us and the things around us. He gives life to everything. All things were made by Him and for Him. He is our Life-giver.

Picture Post!

I am going to put a few recent pictures of Chloe on here. She's so big now! Squealing and screaming and just being super cute. And she's also very chubby, and that makes her all the more adorable. :)



This was her Christmas outfit. It had a reindeer head on her rear end! How cute!!!

Reindeer feet!


This was her Christmas present from mom and dad. The bird sings when she pulls on it and she never stops smiling and giggling when it sings.


How cute is she with that giant bow on her little head? I mean, come on!

Counselor

Next name, here we go! :) Oh! I'm not going to do "I Am" anymore, because I basically covered that when I did Jehovah. Just an FYI.

Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

"God is our Wonderful Counselor… Merriam-Webster defines a counselor as a person who gives advice or counseling. When God gives us His counsel, He is sharing with us His purpose!"

Ok, so, that's a quote from the website at the bottom of the post. Since they so wonderfully explained how God is our counselor, I'm going to share some ways in which God gives us counsel.
1. Through the Scriptures. How can we expect to know God's will or purpose if we don't search the scriptures? The Scriptures give us our purpose in the Great Commission, in the Beatitudes, in the fruits of the Spirit, and many other places. We are to spread the gospel, be peace-makers, be kind, loving, meek and quiet, etc...
2. Through prayer. We can't exactly expect to hear from God if we don't talk to him. So, praying is good! We are to be still and know that He is God. So, pray, make your requests known, give thanks, and then wait. I've never ever heard someone I know say that God has directly spoken to them, but, you can get an impression on your heart, your circumstances can give you an answer to your prayers, or, as above, the Scriptures can reveal things as well.
So, that's all I have on that. I encourage you to look at Matthew 5 and 28, Galatians 5, and maybe find your own passages on what we are commanded by God to do as Christians, and, I challenge you all to find some time to be still and not just ask God for stuff.

www.impressyourkids.org/god-is-our-counselor

What do you do when.....

What do you do when....
life becomes way more complicated than you ever thought it would be?
you have to make grown up decisions and you don't feel like a grown up?
faced with two or three equally amazing opportunities and have to choose?
you want to stay a kid but life tells you no?
These are a few things I've been thinking a lot about the past 6 months or so, with graduation coming up and college and turning 18 on my next birthday and all that weird stuff that I thought about but never realized would happen until recently. haha