It's about that time....

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.
OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don' t
Because, sometimes, you won't.
I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.
You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.
You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
....

On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So... be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
---Dr. Seuss

My Joy

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;

Angels descending, bring from above,

echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,

I in my Savior am happy and blest;

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long.

This my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long.

still figuring me out

I like to soul search but only in certain areas. I don’t like the uncomfortable, awkward soul searching probably because I want to see myself the way I perceive others to see me. I am shallow to an extent because it’s easier. There isn’t as much pain and that way I don’t have to think about the terrible sins I’ve committed. I don’t have to think about the way I’ve selfishly treated my family, friends, ex-boyfriends, or whoever because I haven’t given a thought to it. On Grey's Anatomy, Christina and Meredith call each other "their person." I thought, could I ever be so close to someone and tell them, "you're my person?" I couldn’t. I can’t. I am so guarded from being hurt that I just don’t open up. I hate that fact about me but it’s true and it’s selfish. What a terrible, horrible, very bad thing. I've been reading Mere Christianity and love the style in which it's written. It's an easy read but so very powerful. The chapter "Let's Pretend," has really shown me a way to break down my barriers. C.S. Lewis says, "To put it bluntly, you are dressing up as Christ. If you like, you are pretending. Because, of course, the moment you realize what the words mean, you realize you are not a son of God. You are not being like the Son of God, whose will and interest are at one with those of the Father: you are a bundle of self-centered fears, hopes, greeds, jealousies, and dressing up as Christ is a piece of outrageous cheek. But the odd things is that He has ordered us to do it." What encouragment! He talks about putting on a mask but it's not a barrier of any sort. I don't have to break down my walls, He will do it for me. God, He's pretty excellent at what He does.

Forever the Student

This isn't mine... I wish it was, but it's not. This is from a Beth Moore online devotional and it just connected with me that we are never finished "going to school," even if we do technically get our diploma.
James 1:21 says to “humbly accept the word planted in you.” In other words, “be teachable!” “Receive instruction!” My sweet grandmother once commented about my brother’s ability to play the piano, “He sure took to his learnin’, didn’t he?” The question today is, “Do we?”
Our teachability often depends on our teacher. If we respect the teacher, we might accept the teaching. If we don’t, we dump it. Numbers 22 clearly demonstrates that God can use anything or anyone as an instrument of His instruction. He can oppose a donkey through a prophet or a prophet through a donkey. He can deliver His message to us in any form He wishes. Second Peter 2:15-16 says, “They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—a beast without speech—who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.” When we are proud, rebellious, and insist on our own way, the chances are good He’ll use a donkey! Unlikely teachers have a two-fold purpose: to bring humility and instruction. Often we will learn no other way.
Whatever happened to Balaam? Last I saw of him, he was riding off with an “I Pause for Donkeys” bumper sticker on the back of his beast. Not a bad idea. Beloved, let’s work on having a more teachable spirit. God often wants to do “a new thing” in our lives, but we resist Him (see Isa. 43:18-19).
I have a wonderful friend named Marge Caldwell. She is beloved by many women who have heard her speak through the years. She absolutely amazes me. She would not appreciate me telling her age, and you would never believe it if I did, but she is still studying and allowing God to teach her new things when others have long since written their own eulogies. I get a kick out of watching her in our new contemporary worship service at church. She claps, sings, and sways with the best of them. Teachability!
Sometimes we don’t mind something new, we just don’t like the vehicle God’s using to drive us to that new place. A precious part of teachability is being willing and anxious to learn, regardless of who He chooses as our unlikely teacher. As my grandmother would say, “Child, let’s take to our learnin’.”
Lord, where I am unteachable, please manifest gentleness through Your Holy Spirit. Convict me when I close my ears to certain teachers out of sheer pride. Burden my heart when I refuse to learn anything new or anything that challenges something inaccurate about You that I’ve always believed. Give me a humble heart to receive Your instruction.

Practically Perfect

from Mary Poppins on Broadway.

Nerd Alert!

I'm a big time fan of reading.
Per the request of The Hil,
here is list of books
I think you should read.
These, however, are only made of
a list of books in my room.
There are more.

Life Changing Books
The Murder of Jesus -- John Macarthur
Redeeming Love -- Francine Rivers
Mark of the Lion series -- Francine Rivers
My Utmost for His Highest -- Oswald Chambers
Anything by G.K. Chesterton

Books for Escape
The Devil Wears Prada -- Lauren Weisberger
Emma -- Jane Austen
A Tale of Two Cities -- Charles Dickens
The Pretense -- Lori Wick
10 Little Indians -- Agatha Christie
Candide -- Voltaire

Politics
Taking Heat -- Ari Fleischer
Black in the White House -- Ron Christie
Liberty, Order, and Justice -- James McClellan
All the President's Men -- Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
Anything Ann Coulter. She may be controversial but her style of writing is a good reading practice.

We're Interns, we're supposed to be wrong.

Being an intern has endless possibilities. There is the possibility to do well or to do poorly, to make use everything within your grasp, or not, to eat too much, to drink too much, shop too much or simply sight see too much. Living in the Metropolitan Mecca (for those with political aspirations), Washington D.C., exposed me to all sides of how or what an intern can be.
This past summer led me to an internship on Capitol Hill. I had the privilege of being offered a press internship. I worked for three months making copies, sorting and filing mail, answering phones, giving Capitol tours, running errands (of a somewhat important nature), and writing a few press releases and tributes. The perks of being a gopher allowed me to see and interact with many brilliant and/or famous people. In the midst of one of my many copying adventures, I ran into Hillary Clinton. I was on an already crowded elevator with stacks of news clips in my hand trying to get them to my boss. The elevator stops just one floor before my stop, the doors open and there stands Senator Clinton in all of her “glory.” Now, common courtesy requires that staff and interns alike exit an elevator should a member of congress need it. Seeing as we were already pretty full, we thought she could wait for the next elevator. No, no. Senator Clinton and her entourage (I believe there were five in all) climb on board the elevator whereupon she chooses to stand next to me. At this point we are standing arm-touching-arm on a very tiny elevator and she begins to talk to the elevator operator who is mentally handicapped. I’m sure the Senator was attempting to be funny by making a low sounding voice while talking to our elevator operator. However, her joke came off to everyone else in the elevator (somewhere around 12 people now) as her making fun of a retard. We were only in the elevator for a mere moment in time but that moment will stick with me for a lifetime.
The cultural norms as discussed by Judee Burgoon state that we, as human beings, have certain expectations. In this instance, my expectation was that Senator Clinton would, first of all, have enough common sense to realize that seven staffers would not be emptying an elevator just for her when it was only one flight of stairs she could take (to her left), or would have just waited for another elevator. However, a former first lady violates the normalcy of a society’s culture, especially if she feels some form of entitlement in her everyday life. Had I been the only person aboard the elevator upon her calling it, I would have gladly exited the elevator in order to make a Senator’s life that much easier and simply out of respect. Not only did the Senator encroach upon my psyche but she also invaded my personal space. Any normal New York registered Democratic voter would have reveled in the opportunity to be touching their Senator but I, the young, staunch registered Republican voter, did not relish in this opportunity. She was in my “intimate distance” as Burgoon states. Senator Clinton, in the matter of 30 seconds, managed to violate my cultural beliefs as well as personal space.

It's in the genes

You know that saying, Friends are the family you choose for yourself? I have been pondering that and thought that that is a such rude and thoughtless statement. Here's why. When I was little I had my own room with a double bed (life of luxury, I assure you) and I was learning how to spell. Instead of sleeping one night I decided to practice my spelling... on the headboard. With a plastic pencil, I carved words onto my very nice, oak headboard. I don't remember exactly how the events unfolded from there but I remember having to wait for my dad to get home that evening for my punishment. It was well-deserved but not necessarily something I wanted to have happen to me. Regardless of what I thought though, there were consequences for my actions. If only I had shared a room like my sisters then maybe one of them would have said, "ummmmmmm, don't do that! you'll get in trouble!" As Christians we are being broken and punished by our Heavenly Father constantly because by His very nature He is a just God. If we are listening, the reprimand isn't the end of the world. Descartes stated God to be something that, "nothing greater can be conceived," so He must deal with our sin. If we are compromising our witness and the name of Christ the punishment is sure to be swift and unpleasant. Those who truly care about us tell us things about ourselves that are unpleasant and possibly hurtful because the truth, in a depraved world, is not sexy. To be refined by God is something an unsaved person cannot understand or begin to grasp. This does not grant us a right to arrogance by any means but what an amazing thought! God breaks, molds and reforms those whom He loves. It's a continual promise that He has placed us in the world for His purposes, His desires in His perfect time. What an excellent family I have. I didn't choose them but they love me enough to correct me and mold me into the creation God intended me to be... something I could not and would not choose on my own. Friends are to be valued and treasured for sure but more than that family is to be honored and revered above all. Don't think I am shrugging friends off, I'm not. I have realized though that very few people we encounter in life develop into relationships of the familial sort. Rarely do we have a friend who will say, "what you just did was really stupid." As much as it probably hurts a parent to deny a child his wish that parent realizes the importance of his child's positive development. The still, small voice of Jesus Christ is present within our lives... that includes the words our families speak to us.