Wow, I haven't posted anything in a while. I've been really busy with school and work and other activities. So far I really like our AP class. The work load is manageable and not as intense as AP Psych. It's really interesting too. Collaboration within our groups is a little challanging. It's harder to communicate through writing than it is with actual words. I think it's helpful though.
If you are interested in something to read, check out my other blog www.purityforgirls.blogspot.com. It's based off a magazine I began two years ago about purity and on it I have articals about beauty, modesty, boyfriends and when I find the time to post them, marriage and love. A few days ago I updated my blog so I'm pretty excited about the changes. Let me know what you think! :)
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Psyched For Astronomy
Has anyone here every studied astronomy? I just started reading a book about it the other day and it is fascinating! I read briefly about the planets and how each rotates and revolves differently and about their orbits around the sun. And then there's all that history about people studying the sky and believing that we are the centre of the universe and everything revolves around us. The invention of the telescope comes next and how scientists a few decades ago developed really powerful telescopes that can see different types of light and even detect radio waves! I read today this section that talked about extraterrestrial life. The author of the book had come up with some really strange creatures that could live on planets like Pluto, Jupiter and Mars.
Everything I read is so interesting, astronomy has quickly become my favorite subject. It's really neat to read about all this stuff then look up at the sky at night and see it. I can't wait to learn more!
Everything I read is so interesting, astronomy has quickly become my favorite subject. It's really neat to read about all this stuff then look up at the sky at night and see it. I can't wait to learn more!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Sun Behind The Clouds
Do you ever feel like God isn't there? You don't feel His presence and it doesn't feel like He's listening? I think all Christians go through this. A few weeks ago God showed me an metaphor that goes along with this.
When you feel God's presence and everything seems like it's going fine, it's like a sunny day. The sky is clear and the sun is beaming down. Everything is looks beautiful. Some days have a few clouds in the sky. Once in a while they'll block the sun but they always move out of the way fairly quickly. These days are when you feel God and then you don't and then you do again. But some days are cloudy and the sun stays hidden the whole day. On days like this you don't feel God at all and it seems like He's taken a vacation.
But you know what? On cloudy days, the sun is still shining. It's shining above the clouds. We can't see it but it's still there. It's shining just as brightly. The sun hasn't gone, it's just been temporarily hidden. The same is true with God. On those days when we can't feel Him, He's still there; He hasn't gone anywhere. We just can't see Him. And just like it doesn't stay cloudy forever, neither will we not feel God forever. The sun always shines and in the end the clouds always part.
And some days it can be sunny and we choose to stay inside. We hide in our houses and don't acknowledge the beautiful day outside. Sometimes we may feel very close to God but we choose to let the distractions take our time. We become consumed with the things of this world and let our focus shift from God. Even though the sun is shining, sometimes we forget what is gorgeous day it is.
When you feel God's presence and everything seems like it's going fine, it's like a sunny day. The sky is clear and the sun is beaming down. Everything is looks beautiful. Some days have a few clouds in the sky. Once in a while they'll block the sun but they always move out of the way fairly quickly. These days are when you feel God and then you don't and then you do again. But some days are cloudy and the sun stays hidden the whole day. On days like this you don't feel God at all and it seems like He's taken a vacation.
But you know what? On cloudy days, the sun is still shining. It's shining above the clouds. We can't see it but it's still there. It's shining just as brightly. The sun hasn't gone, it's just been temporarily hidden. The same is true with God. On those days when we can't feel Him, He's still there; He hasn't gone anywhere. We just can't see Him. And just like it doesn't stay cloudy forever, neither will we not feel God forever. The sun always shines and in the end the clouds always part.
And some days it can be sunny and we choose to stay inside. We hide in our houses and don't acknowledge the beautiful day outside. Sometimes we may feel very close to God but we choose to let the distractions take our time. We become consumed with the things of this world and let our focus shift from God. Even though the sun is shining, sometimes we forget what is gorgeous day it is.
Hold My Heart
This is another song my Tenth Avenue North that I really like and really speaks to me.
How long must I pray, must I pray to You?
How long must I wait, must I wait for You?
How long 'til I see Your face, see You shining through?
I'm on my knees, begging You to notice me.
I'm on my knees, Father will You turn to me?
One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One life, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Would You come close and hold my heart
I've been so afraid, afraid to close my eyes
So much can slip away before I say goodbye.
But if there's no other way, I'm done asking why.
I'm on my knees, begging You to turn to me
I'm on my knees, Father will You run to me?
One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One life, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Would You come close and hold my heart.
So many questions without answers, Your promises remain
I can't see but I'll take my chances to hear You call my name
To hear You call my name
One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One life, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Won't You come close and hold my heart.
Hold my heart, could you hold my heart?
Hold my heart.
How long must I pray, must I pray to You?
How long must I wait, must I wait for You?
How long 'til I see Your face, see You shining through?
I'm on my knees, begging You to notice me.
I'm on my knees, Father will You turn to me?
One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One life, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Would You come close and hold my heart
I've been so afraid, afraid to close my eyes
So much can slip away before I say goodbye.
But if there's no other way, I'm done asking why.
I'm on my knees, begging You to turn to me
I'm on my knees, Father will You run to me?
One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One life, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Would You come close and hold my heart.
So many questions without answers, Your promises remain
I can't see but I'll take my chances to hear You call my name
To hear You call my name
One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One life, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Won't You come close and hold my heart.
Hold my heart, could you hold my heart?
Hold my heart.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
By Your Side
This song "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North. The lyrics are really powerful and the song has just been speaking to me and comforting me recently. It's so beautiful and so moving; listen to the words.
Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away
Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away
Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Monday, September 14, 2009
Advertisement - Logos
I've never seen an ad like this before; it must be out there somewhere though.This ad shows a little boy(?) getting sunburned and at the bottom it says "A child's sunburn now may lead to melanoma skin cancer later on in life." And of course the ad is trying to get you to buy the company's sunscreen for your children so they won't get sunburn and get skin cancer. It's definitely logical; who wants to get skin cancer?
Advertisement - Pathos
Just look at the way those hungry children are staring at you! This ad is most certainly an appeal to pathos. By showing children, who our hearts naturally go out to, their scant quantities of food, their pleading facing and hopeful eyes, this ad makes your heart ache for those poor, hungry children. It stirs you and make you want to do something to help; which is exactly the objective of the ad. I'd say their appeal to pathos is very successful.
Advertisement - Ethos
This ad shows James Franco (aka, Harry Osborn from Spiderman) along with some cologne, or at least that's what I think it is. By featuring James Franco, a well known and I assume respected actor, in this advertisement, the company has created some credibility for their product. A customer might assume that if James Franco uses this cologne, it must really be good; and if it's good enough for Mr. Franco, it's good enough for him.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Rain Down
Darn, I had like a whole post typed out and my computer just lost it all. Let me try again.
It's raining. It's been raining all day; pouring, sprinkling and just plain old raining. I'm glad. I'm going in to work tonight after not working for a few days and it will be nice to have a slower night. Not many people come to a drive in restaurant in the rain.
I really should be doing school work instead of blogging about the rain. I have SAT stuff to study and college applications essays to write.
Does anyone here ever get really stressed out about school work? I usually do sometime during the school year and I feel like I'm on the brink of it now. There's one verse that's been really helpful to me, "I can do all thinkgs through Christ who gives me strength." This year I feel like God is more present in my life. Whenever I feel down or overwhelmed, He's the first one I go to for comfort. When I feel lonely, I cling to HIs promise that He'll never leave me. When I'm afraid, I remember that He is holding me up and protecting me. Life is so much better if you live it with God.
Well, that's all I've got for now. I'm off to do my school work.
It's raining. It's been raining all day; pouring, sprinkling and just plain old raining. I'm glad. I'm going in to work tonight after not working for a few days and it will be nice to have a slower night. Not many people come to a drive in restaurant in the rain.
I really should be doing school work instead of blogging about the rain. I have SAT stuff to study and college applications essays to write.
Does anyone here ever get really stressed out about school work? I usually do sometime during the school year and I feel like I'm on the brink of it now. There's one verse that's been really helpful to me, "I can do all thinkgs through Christ who gives me strength." This year I feel like God is more present in my life. Whenever I feel down or overwhelmed, He's the first one I go to for comfort. When I feel lonely, I cling to HIs promise that He'll never leave me. When I'm afraid, I remember that He is holding me up and protecting me. Life is so much better if you live it with God.
Well, that's all I've got for now. I'm off to do my school work.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
El Discurso Del Presidente
I didn't read anything about the speech before I heard it so my observations are unbiased.
One of the most powerful parts of the speech was when the President said that even if you are discouraged or feel that everyone has given up on you, don't give up on yourself. And just before that when he said you won't be good at everything the first time you try it and you may have to go over things a few times before it clicks in your head.
There was definitely an appeal to pathos in the speech. The President talked about when he was a kid and got up at 4:30 to do his lessons with his mother and how he wished he was back in bed. It put him at the same level with us. He made a connection with his past and what we as students deal with now. His tone of voice when he got to this part of the speech, how he got quieter, really created a picture in my mind of him sitting at a table with his mother and made me feel almost sorry for that boy living in Indonesia. I guess that would be ethos as well. And it was pathos and ethos again when he talked about his father leaving, his mother dealing with everything else while trying to raise him on her own, and when he felt lonely and like he didn't fit in.And there was an appeal to logos. The President used the examples of JK Rowling and Michael Jordan to illustrate his statement that you won't succeed the first time you try. He also used the stories of three students in difficult situations to show that you can succeed when faced with challenges and that you shouldn't give up.
I thought that over all the speech was pretty good. Like others have said, it was a very good pep talk. It seemed to me that President Obama was trying to motivate kids to do well and not give up when things got tough. It was like he was saying "I know school can be hard and not all that exciting, but we're all expecting great things from you. We expect you to stay focused and work hard this year. Don't let us down." Throughout this school year, kids are going to think back and remember this speech and push themselves to excel because that's what President Obama told them to do.
One of the most powerful parts of the speech was when the President said that even if you are discouraged or feel that everyone has given up on you, don't give up on yourself. And just before that when he said you won't be good at everything the first time you try it and you may have to go over things a few times before it clicks in your head.
There was definitely an appeal to pathos in the speech. The President talked about when he was a kid and got up at 4:30 to do his lessons with his mother and how he wished he was back in bed. It put him at the same level with us. He made a connection with his past and what we as students deal with now. His tone of voice when he got to this part of the speech, how he got quieter, really created a picture in my mind of him sitting at a table with his mother and made me feel almost sorry for that boy living in Indonesia. I guess that would be ethos as well. And it was pathos and ethos again when he talked about his father leaving, his mother dealing with everything else while trying to raise him on her own, and when he felt lonely and like he didn't fit in.And there was an appeal to logos. The President used the examples of JK Rowling and Michael Jordan to illustrate his statement that you won't succeed the first time you try. He also used the stories of three students in difficult situations to show that you can succeed when faced with challenges and that you shouldn't give up.
I thought that over all the speech was pretty good. Like others have said, it was a very good pep talk. It seemed to me that President Obama was trying to motivate kids to do well and not give up when things got tough. It was like he was saying "I know school can be hard and not all that exciting, but we're all expecting great things from you. We expect you to stay focused and work hard this year. Don't let us down." Throughout this school year, kids are going to think back and remember this speech and push themselves to excel because that's what President Obama told them to do.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Fear and Doubt
I did it again. Tonight I went into work and was scheduled to close with another girl. I was so scared. I didn't think I knew what to do. I was thinking about this before I went into work, and God just said to me, "I've gotten you through other things; don't you trust me with this too?" This was really meaningful to me. But why was I still scared? Everything went fine. It was great, me and the other girl had great team work. There was nothing to worry about. I was thinking about it as I drove home and didn't understand why, if every time I'm afraid God holds me up, I still get scared. Why am I so frightened of new situations? God is taking care for me, He's showed that to me. It seems like I'm not learning anything. Or do I not trust God as much as I think I do. I'm not sure.
And then right as I was coming up the hill to my house, the song "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North began playiing on the radio. It was a great reminder that God was with me, holding onto me, and that He'll never ever ever leave me and I can cry out to Him any time and He will be there to help me.
Ok, one more thing. Anyone else have trouble with doubt? Well, I do. Let me give you an example. I'm pretty certain I want to go to DeSales University for college next year. Actually, I'm very certain. I just feel a pull towards DeSales that I didn't feel for any of the other colleges I visited. I think that that's God's way of telling me that DeSales is where He wants me. At least that's what I thought. I guess I still think it, but now as I fill out an application for DeSales, I'm maybe wondering if I should also consider other colleges in case I don't get accepted or if DeSales isn't where God wants me. See, when I made up my mind that I wanted to go to DeSales, I pretty much ruled out all other schools. My mom asked me if I wasnted to visit Messiah and I said no. I don't know if I'm even going to apply to other schools. What if I'm making a mistake? Last night was really bad. Lying in bed, I just doubted my decision; I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing. I've prayed about where I should go, but never got a really clear answer. But maybe the tug I felt towards DeSales is my answer. I feel so drawn to DeSales and sorta repulsed my all the other colleges. It's another trust issue. I need to surrender decision about where I go to college to God and trust that He'll take me to the right school and enable me to get in. But I'm afraid. Next year isn't too far away and I want to know where I'll be. I want to be certain. I want it all planned out. But maybe God doesn't; can I trust Him with that?
Alright, I'm through. I'm going to stop listening to "City On Our Knees" over and over and go to bed now. Thanks for listening.
And then right as I was coming up the hill to my house, the song "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North began playiing on the radio. It was a great reminder that God was with me, holding onto me, and that He'll never ever ever leave me and I can cry out to Him any time and He will be there to help me.
Ok, one more thing. Anyone else have trouble with doubt? Well, I do. Let me give you an example. I'm pretty certain I want to go to DeSales University for college next year. Actually, I'm very certain. I just feel a pull towards DeSales that I didn't feel for any of the other colleges I visited. I think that that's God's way of telling me that DeSales is where He wants me. At least that's what I thought. I guess I still think it, but now as I fill out an application for DeSales, I'm maybe wondering if I should also consider other colleges in case I don't get accepted or if DeSales isn't where God wants me. See, when I made up my mind that I wanted to go to DeSales, I pretty much ruled out all other schools. My mom asked me if I wasnted to visit Messiah and I said no. I don't know if I'm even going to apply to other schools. What if I'm making a mistake? Last night was really bad. Lying in bed, I just doubted my decision; I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing. I've prayed about where I should go, but never got a really clear answer. But maybe the tug I felt towards DeSales is my answer. I feel so drawn to DeSales and sorta repulsed my all the other colleges. It's another trust issue. I need to surrender decision about where I go to college to God and trust that He'll take me to the right school and enable me to get in. But I'm afraid. Next year isn't too far away and I want to know where I'll be. I want to be certain. I want it all planned out. But maybe God doesn't; can I trust Him with that?
Alright, I'm through. I'm going to stop listening to "City On Our Knees" over and over and go to bed now. Thanks for listening.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
City On Our Knees
Anyone of my fellow students like TobyMac? I think his music is awesome and I'm actually going to see him in concert in Novemeber with my youth group! I'm sooooo excited!! Anyway...has anyone heard his new single "City On Our Knees"? It is a great song. I love it. It's a bit different then his previous songs but still just as good. It's very quiet and slow but the lyrics and the music are very moving. It talks about everyone coming together and becoming a city on our knees, worshiping God. My soul just wants to sing and I feel like dancing when I hear it. If you haven't heard it yet, you can go to http://free.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=11508481 and it should be the first song on the list. Let me know what you think.
Irena's Blog
Is anyone else having trouble posting comments on Irena's blog? And Irena, if you're reading this, I really like your blog and your background for it. Very cool. I wanted to post a comment on your post "Just as Sweet...Right?" but something kept getting messed up. Any ideas what's wrong?
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