The End is Near!

Okay, maybe not that end, but 2013 is pretty much over!

I’ve never really been the one to go all sentimental over stuff at the end of the year, but that’s mainly because I can’t remember what happened. This year, however, I’ve got loads on my mind as I reflect back.

I started off the year pretty interestingly. I began this blog and had no idea what I was doing, but I’ve continued and look how far I got! Okay, well maybe I had a hiatus or two, but at least I didn’t give up.

In May I went to Washington, D.C. with my senior class and had a blast. I really got to know several of them better as well as got to go to tons of museums (my favorite thing to do) and historic places. Then we came back for graduation and my high school days were officially over. I had no idea what changes lay ahead of me.

By this time I still had no idea where I was going to college, though I knew I should. I started working in the sales department of where my dad works and that really broadened my horizons. I had worked there before, but in a closet-like office where I never saw anyone. This time I was in a cubicle near lots of others and heard some interesting stuff. I also worked front desk during lunch break and had to handle loads of situations that I had known nothing about. In all, I think it was a good experience as I learned people skills and responsibility.

July had loads of stuff going on. I was preparing to leave as were many of my friends. It was kind of rough over all but probably the best thing to happen to me this year also happened during this time. The older of my two younger brothers went on a missions trip to Michigan to help a small church put on a big VBS program. While he was up there, our youth pastor had the opportunity to lead him to the Lord one night. Even though, we weren’t there, my entire family was pretty excited when he texted us the news. It definitely made up for everything else that was going on during that time.

Around June I had started looking for colleges in the area that would take a late applicant such as myself. I found two Catholic colleges in the area and visited the on my days off. One was very small and only had one dorm, which was coed. The other, was a fairly large campus with both coed dorms and a dorm reserved for Freshman girls only. Both had the program I was looking for, so the only thing I had to decide was whether I would live on campus or not. I didn’t have my license and wasn’t sure I’d have it in time so I made the rather difficult decision of living on campus. Now, this wasn’t difficult because I would miss my family, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be that close to all the partying that frequently goes on in colleges. I definitely didn’t want to be in a coed dorm, as my understanding was your roommate or the room across the hall could be a guy. Yikes! (It isn’t that way. Coed dorms have locked doors and usually have separate halls for each gender) With this in mind, I chose the larger campus with the girls  only dorm. They accepted my late application and even gave me some scholarships. Things were looking good until I got my room assignment. They had filled up the girl’s dorm and had put me in the upperclassman, coed dorm. I panicked. We went for another tour to see that dorm and find out if there was any way I could change it. Nope, I was stuck.Moving day came and my roommate never showed. Yay! God had given me a semester to figure out what on earth I was doing. Classes were always early and I made a few friends. The semester flew by and I finished with good grades and more importantly, my sanity.

Tons of stuff happened to both my and many of my friends. Not all of it was good, but I still witnessed many blessings in my life and the lives of others. I could share many more stories but I don’t want to take up too much of you time. Have a Happy New Year, everyone!

~jojo

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1-3

TT!- Deck the Halls!

Merry Christmas everyone!!! If you are reading this on either Christmas Eve or Christmas, shame on you! You should be spending time with family, not the internet!!! Okay, on to the music 🙂

Thought for the Week

Who or what do I look for satisfaction?

FF! – 12/20/13

Sorry I didn’t post anything this week! I had a few drafts but just never finished them.

It’s been an eventful week for me. I had three of my finals Monday and Tuesday, came home and shopped Wednesday (not my favorite thing to do), and went to my highschool’s homecoming Thursday. Anyways, enough of that boring stuff, on to the fun!

•I might get to see the second part of the Hobbit (Desolation of Smaug) over break!

•Truer words were never spoken…

•

•Seriously!

•I wonder how many problems they had before they put this sign in

•How I shall spend most of my Christmas break

•Whoever did this.. *slowly claps*

•Dance of the Hiddles-flakes

•Aww!

•That’s all!

~jojo

FF! Bike Tricks!

So when I got my first trick/off-road bike, this is what I envisioned myself doing with it. Needless to say, I was not coordinated in the slightest 😀 Anyways, these guys are amazing!! Especially considering the fact they walked away with all body parts intact

TT-O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Thoughts on Love

I am constantly amazed by how often something I’ve read in devotions one day and been convicted by turns up in other places. The video I put in here later on is one I came across today and the subject it’s under was one that I’ve been thinking about for the last few days

In my Sunday School class we are going through the book Biblical Leadership by Matt Williams and Ken Collier. The chapter we went over this week dealt with the love we must have as Christians so naturally, the main passage was 1 Corinthians 13. I like to read ahead for the coming Sunday so I was reading this chapter last week. I don’t know about you, but this is one of those passages that I usually approach with the attitude of “Oh, I’ve read this before.” You’d think I’d learn by now! I was really hit by a few of the verses as well as the commentary Ken Collier had on them.

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love envieth not.

“I cannot be envious of someone, because his success cannot work against my success in God’s plan.” If someone else is living a successful life in God’s will, why should that make me upset?

Love vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up.

“A person who loves God will not be impressed with himself.” This can be a big one for me. I tend to look at all the “good” I’ve done and think that I’m a good person or at least a better Christian than someone else. The truth is, I can’t do anything without God, and all that I can even attempt is filthy compared to God (John 15:5; Isaiah 64:6)

Love thinketh no evil.

“I am not allowed to attempt to read someone’s motive’s. To do so is unloving. I cannot know for a certainty why he says what he says, nor why he does what he does.”  Only God knows what is going on in a person’s heart (1 Samuel 16:7). This was the biggest one for me. I tend to judge people’s actions and manners without anyone knowing. I just sit there and think of all the bad things they’re probably doing and that is very wrong of me. If I judge others, I am in more danger to be judged myself and that can bring about many more problems (Matthew 7: 1-5).

Love rejoices in truth.

“True love loves what God loves as well as hates what God hates.” I don’t think I have much to add to this one. Showing love to someone involves caring about them as a person. Therefore, because the things that God hates are sinful and will lead to painful consequences (Romans 6:23), we cannot allow those we love to follow that path. We must in love pray for them and perhaps even approach them when we fear they are sinning.

Love bears all things.

“Love covers all it can rigteously cover. It doesn’t ignore sin; it simply refers it back to the ones who can solve the problem . . . While a sin problem is being handled, I must love the person by covering hime, protecting him from ridicule, exposure, and harm as much as I possibly can.” Often we like to spread bad news by gossiping about it. Christians like to hide this by using “prayer requests” that have all the juicy details of the scandel. While I think it is okay to ask others to be praying for a fellow believer, others do not have to know all the details in order for them to pray for the situation. Telling people who are not part of the problem or solution to the problem is useless and often blows a small offense way out of proportion.

Love believeth all things.

“Love does not rush to judgement of others without evidence.” This applies to several of the previous statements as well. Another danger here is that a person who has done no wrong may have their testimony ruined by someone who began spreading rumors about them. This is damaging because the person may lose credibility when sharing the Gospel with an unbeliever. Even if the rumor has no basis to be founded on, it can be very difficult to convince people otherwise (Job 27:4).

Love hopeth all things.

“I must persevere in my love for someone, always hoping, never giving up!” No matter how difficult it may be, we must love others. It is a command and though we may fail at times, we know that Christ can give us the strength to succeed (Matthew 22:35-40; Philipians 4:13; Hebrews 6:19)

I hope this was an encouraging post for you, as it has been for me. Have a lovely day!

~jojo

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:35

FF!-Pretty Snowflakes!!

So it snowed here yesterday and it wasn’t that big of a deal but I did slip on the ice in the street on my way to class -_- Anyways, aren’t these gorgeous!?!

^(I thought this one in particular was pretty nifty)

All these pictures were taken by Alexey Kljatov, a Moscow-based photographer who takes a special interest in shooting snowflakes.

~jojo

TT!- Search Me, Oh God.

This is a song we used to sing a lot in Sunday School. It’s been going through my mind a lot lately. I love songs that allow me to focus directly on Scripture!

This is another song that is based off the same scripture and I really like this one as well.

These songs as well as many others are taken from Psalm 139, one of my favorite passages:

Psalm 139

1 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

~jojo