They once were lost, but now they're found!
Class canceled!
One of my classes got canceled tomorrow and I just wanted to share my excitement with everyone!! More time to do homework now. Yay! And tonight was a great night... went and worked with the children's choir again. We brought out the Christmas songs tonight and it was such a joy. I absolutely without a doubt love and adore children. They are so precious. Then I went to a youth church service that I always go to after children's choir... and that was a great time as well. Goodnight everyone! Thanks for listening :)
Wednesdays in the Word
1 Corinthians 15:58 says, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
This verse is so encouraging to me. And especially lately it has been. Because even though we can be immovable and solid and steadfast in our faith... often times we feel like our efforts aren't appreciated. For example, lately my faith has been very solid. I have been steadfast in my efforts to be Christ-like. I have been immovable and only because my eyes are focused and constantly being refocused on the Lord. I've given gifts and money to friends for support in hard times, with no reciprocation of a thank you. I've put in time to friendships, where equal time on their part has not been reciprocated. I've put in countless hours, days on projects that haven't been given appropriate grades. I've given much time to the Lord in word, deed and thought, and certainly He has blessed me. But I begin to think that because my efforts seem unappreciated, my work is in vain (is unsuccessful, is ineffective, is insignificant). When you feel like you're on your last string, you want the same encouragement that you give to others. You want the "you're doing a great job" or you want the random card on your doorstep from your neighbor. But sometimes life doesn't go that way. :) Sometimes God gives you work that goes seemingly unnoticed. Granted, the Lord is teaching me through this to be dependent on His love. To trust that even though I may not hear the "thank yous" from others, my work is still significant and powerful. Let this verse be encouraging to you because it declares that your toil, your work, your efforts are not in vain in the Lord. They are not unsuccessful, they are not insignificant or ineffective. The Lord says that it is good. So be encouraged... while being steadfast and immovable, even if others come up against you... your toil is not in vain.
The Adivising Appointment!
I'm going to get straight to the point. It went great!!! So I took much time in the morning praying. I wanted to go into my advising appointment feeling at peace with any possible solution. And I was. I truly was at peace. I was going to be ok if they told me that there was nothing they could do and that I would have to transfer for a semester. I was going to be ok. So I prepared well for the meeting. I went in with having typed up every possible option... even if chances of the option happening were slim. I walked into her office and said... "I'm organized but I'm confused." And I gave her a calm smile. I said I'm willing to transfer... I understand that there is only so much you can do. And she said, with a voice a hope that I almost thought not possible... "No you're not transfering... we'll get you a full schedule somehow." She told me that I've worked too hard and fought for this for so long that she was just going to pretty much sign me off on any class that I needed (even though this hasn't really been done before). Whoa. I couldn't believe my ears. We walked around to different professors and got personal permission and signatures for me to take these classes.
So what's happening is... I'm taking classes next semester that I should have been taking in the fall. These classes are supposed to be taken while student teaching, but they said they would make any accommodations necessary for me. And in the fall, I will be able to finish my math endorsement because during that semester, the classes will be offered. So praise God... because I have a full load of 17 credits next semester. People... prayer works.
Today is a big day...
For the last... oh I'd say 4 semesters here... I've had difficulty getting the credits I need each semester. This is because I am getting a math endorsement and there are very few teachers in the math department, being that I go to a small school. Thus, the classes I am required to take for my math endorsement are only offered every couple years. I could have taken the easy way out and gotten another endorsement, like English or History, but math truly is the smarter way to go for 2 reasons. The first is obvious... I'm a math person, not an English person, so teaching math would be much easier and I would be more effective as a teacher. The second reason is that math teachers are almost always needed, so to be endorsed in math would do great favor to me in the future if I were to get a job as a junior high teacher. But like I said, its been a fight each time I go to schedule classes because teachers have to make accommodations for the classes I need. If I don't take a full load every semester, then I don't graduate on time. And if classes aren't offered so that I can't take a full load, then I have to take classes elsewhere and have them transfered in. Problem is... that's more money. So each semester its been a battle to find ways to complete my education here at northwest.
All that being said... I have my advising appointment today at 3:10. This is where I meet with my academic adviser to plan my class schedule for the spring semester. We are supposed to go in with a pre-planned schedule of classes that would all fit together, and then the adviser looks it over, and marks her approval. This is an easy process for most people. But for me its not... especially this time... because NONE of the classes I need to take to fulfill the requirements for the math endorsement are being offered. Well I'm now in the education program and once you're in the education program, they pretty much map out the rest of your time at northwest. This next semester they have me "completing my endorsement." But like I said... none of those classes are being offered. And the odds of them letting me take Fall '10 classes a semester early are not good at all. So... again... I run into the same problem that I've ran into every semester. I could go on and fill you in on more information because it gets very complicated... so I won't. :)
But maybe just prayers lifted up on my behalf would be great. I've spent time in the Word and in prayer with the Lord this morning. I've prayed that he gives me patience and a peace about all of this. And this He has done. I know that God will provide... for that is His what He has promised. However, He didn't promise that getting there would be easy. :) But today I have chosen not to worry. I have chosen to be calm. I'm resting in God. Please pray for this appointment today, and I will update you on how it goes...
A Sunday in Seattle
Happy Sunday everyone! I'd like to share with you a new idea I have for my blog: Its called Sundays in Seattle. Every day, I am in awe of the beauty of my surroundings. The scenery in Seattle is absolutely breath taking, and although I am not a great photographer, I have been taking pictures to capture the things that I love about where I live. I am so thankful to live in such a beautiful place. I have beautiful green trees surrounding a gorgeous lake. I have a bridge that connects the extravagant city of Seattle to the residential beauty of Kirkland. We have a curious sky that changes all the time that makes the weather very unpredictable.
So with this new idea of Sundays in Seattle, every Sunday I would like to post a picture of something that I love about this place. This means, for those of you reading my blog in your email, that you will have to actually direct yourself to my blog page in order to see the picture.
Today I'd like to share with you a picture I captured of the Seattle sky above Lake Washington, which is within easy walking distance of my university. Enjoy. :)
Taking Time
Lately I have been very busy. Its just that time of year during school when midterms hit and final projects are beginning. Each day of the week is non-stop. Fridays are such a blessing because I don't have any classes on that day! Yesterday I was extremely productive. I ran time-consuming errands that I needed to run and wrote papers that needed to be written. Usually I see Saturdays and Sundays as a time to be productive as well. I see them as days of work to get ahead for the next week. But this means that when Monday comes around, I'm already feeling burnt out. Well recently I have really been learning that we are to have a day of rest. Just as God took a day of rest on the 7th day, so are we to take time to unwind. God created the world and then told us to continue this process of creating. Whether we are creating people (like new baby Jackson!) or whether we are creating work and productivity. But the weekend, or at least one day of the weekend should be a day where we just sit and reflect on the week and all that we created. We should relax and look back and be able to say that it was good as we let our physical body and our mind unwind. I'm realizing that if I don't take time for myself to relax and recharge, then I am ineffect for the Kingdom of God.
Wednesdays in the Word
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you." -John 15:7
Most people would focus on the second half of the verse. They focus on the sermon that helps people to understand questions like these... "SO then, if you ask for a bike, will God give it to you?"
But I am going to focus on the first half of the verse, in order to later understand the second half. And particularly I want to focus on the word abide. I don't know about you, but this word holds power when it is spoken. When I read this verse, the word abide is not just a word that I can quickly pass over. And I think this is mostly because of the fact that this word, abide, is not used much anymore in everyday life. So I asked myself, "What does this word mean? What does it really mean to abide in the Lord and His words?" Because I feel like abide holds more meaning than it's synonym remain, which is found in many translations of the Bible. The dictionary defined abide in two different ways as a verb: A verb with an object and a verb without an object. I'm going to use the definitions of the verb with an object since we are told to abide in God.
Here are several of the definitions under this word as a verb with an object:
To endure, sustain, or withstand without yielding
To wait for; await; to abide the coming of the Lord
To accept without oppostion or question
To remain; continue; Abide with me
To have one's abode; dwell; reside
To Pay the price or penalty of; suffer for
To continue in a particular condition, attitude, relationship, etc; last.
I could preach on this probably for hours... so instead, I'll let you chew on those definitions for awhile. Understand what it really means to abide in the Lord and in His words. Accept it without opposition or question. Accept His word as it is; as true and perfect. Dwell in Him; reside in Him, don't cease, but keep studying in His word. Continue to be in relationship with him. Uphold your attitude toward God (important one). And I'll leave you with this thought... the second to the last definition... pay the price or penalty of; suffer for...
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you."
The second half of the verse makes more sense once we unpack the real meaning of what the first half is saying. Being in the right respect of God gives us the correct eyes to see what it is that we should be asking for.
The Sound of the Alarm
This morning when my alarm went off, before I opened my eyes, I thought I was waking up in Panama. I imagined pulling my feet out of bed and placing them on the cold tile floor. I imagined walking to the bathroom as gross things stuck to my feet. I remembered waiting to hear the doorbell as I got ready to let my other team members in so that we could do our morning devotional. I remembered walking out on the patio to enjoy a bowl of fruity pebbles in the heavy morning humidity.
But when I opened my eyes this morning, I was not in Panama.
I still think about Panama every day. I still miss it. I still talk about it all the time. I still look at pictures almost everyday. I still often read the blogs I wrote while I was in Panama. I still miss it.
I'll be back there someday. And hopefully someday soon I'll be waking up to cold tile again.
Wednesdays in the Word
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I pondered on the thought of God being our strength in weakness back in May. I wondered how God could be our strength in weakness. Because when we are weak, we have to find the strength to choose God in our weakness. Does this make sense? When you are at your lowest point, you have to find the strength to reach up. But how can you find strength to do this when you are so weak? In May, I found myself being too weak to choose God to be my strength. So I wondered... how can I make myself strong in the Lord in my weakness?
This is where training comes in. When life is going great, we think we can just sit back and enjoy the ride. But really, times of prosperity and strength are crucial to your faith development. It is in times of prosperity when you must really give yourself to the Lord and make habits of it. For then when you become weak, it is natural to choose the Lord to be your strength. For example, at 3am when I was still doing homework. And all the thread from my geometry project became tangled, I was weak. I could have gotten frustrated and acted out. But because I was faithful in my training in the good times, I found myself singing "It is well with my soul." If I hadn't trained and been faithful in the good times, then I would not have had the instinct of giving myself to the Lord in this time of weakness.
So train in prosperity, so the Lord can be strength in weakness. Then when you are strong in weakness, you can boast in the Lord and give all glory to him. This idea may not make sense, as it is very confusing. But it has been a thought that has festered in my mind all summer long. So think on this for awhile and let me know your thoughts.
Busy, yet phenomenal.
So first I need to apologize for not writing in so long! Oh boy its been almost a week. Not ok, but let me tell you why and all that has happened here in the last 6 days!
My roommate Krissa's best friend from Florida came to visit us this weekend. It was the perfect weekend for her to visit because we didn't have school on Monday. Our school calls it "Reading Day." Not sure how it came about, but we have it, and I'm certainly not going to complain about having a day off from school. :) So her friend came and we made many fun plans to go into Seattle. We walked around Seattle center (where the spaceneedle is). We went to the Fremont Troll and many other very fun adventures! But also this weekend... I had to study for 3 midterms and a quiz. I had to prepare for a presentation, write 4 book analyses, read 30 pages each day from a painfully boring book, prepare for my Chapel audition, and finish my geometry line-art project. And all of this had to be done while entertaining a guest. Can I just say that the Lord is so faithful? He is just so good. At 3 in the morning, when everyone had gone to bed, but I was still up doing homework, I found myself singing, "It is well with my soul." Although I was tired, I did not allow myself to stress out or miss out on any fun. I still attended my early Saturday morning Bible study and still went on all of the outings to Seattle with Krissa and Britt.
I learned this weekend that happiness is choice. I could have been in a sour mood all weekend, complaining about all of the homework I had. I could have missed out on the fun. Yes, maybe I was exhausted, but I chose to be positive at all moments. Even moments when the thread from my geometry project got tangled into a million-gajillion knots. I chose to wait upon the Lord, and he met me there in my moments of weakness.
Read more...
Wednesdays in the Word
Psalm 34: 1-3, 8
1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good.
The Psalms really capture my heart. David's writings are absolutely incredible. In times of his greatest rejoicing, praise fell from his lips. And even in times of his greatest sorrow, fear, and anger, praise still continued to fall from his lips. Rejoice with me today and rest in the thought that the Lord is good.
Imagine your favorite meal. The meal that makes your mouth water uncontrollably when you think about it. The meal that you can eat anytime and all the time. The meal that you deeply crave. You love the taste of it, the smell of it, the sound of it, the sight of it. And your mouth waters. When you finally take a bite, you swish the food around in your mouth to keep the flavor for as long as possible. In fact, after eating it, you don't want to eat anything else because you want to keep this beautiful flavor in your mouth. Translate this into a metaphor of the word of the Lord. Just as you taste, crave, and marvel over your favorite dish, taste that the Lord is good. Meditate on your blessings and praise Him for not only what He has done, but for who He is. When we eat our favorite food, it always tastes good. No matter what mood we are in. If we are sad, happy, angry, joyful... the flavor of the food still makes our mouth water. This is the same for the Lord. No matter what kind of day you are having, the Lord is good and is worthy to be praised.
So Glorify the Lord with me. Taste and see that the Lord is good.
My new blog!
Hi everyone! This is my newly improved blog designed by my beautiful sister, Lindsay Pruitt. I will be writing to update it every other day, and hopefully transition into writing a little something everyday. It will document exciting things going on in my life and any interesting thoughts that I have about my day. Every Wednesday I will be bringing my thoughts on a Bible verse and how the Lord has spoken to me through His word. This will be called Wednesdays in the Word. So keep checking in to see my updates and don't be afraid to leave a comment or two. :) Have a great day!
72 Pencil Structure
