Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is almost here. Tomorrow I'll be traveling 6 hours to Massachusetts to have Thanksgiving with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. On Thursday we will prepare our Thanksgiving feast (and for 20 people we're going to have a lot of food) and eat until we can't hold anymore.

And in another month it will be Christmas. I'll start my Christmas shopping and be thinking about the things I want the most. We'll have more good food and see more family and drink hot chocolate as we watch the snow fall.

But in many other countries, none of this will happen. The people there may never know what it is like to eat a good meal and feel completely full. The people there may have little or nothing is their houses. The people there may be cold and have no shelter. And yet they smile. Though they have nothing, they are happy. Though they are hungry, they are content. How can we, who have anything and everything we could desire, still be unhappy?

My youth leader was talking about this on Sunday. Thinking about all those people in need makes the holidays a little less joyful. It makes me feel guilty. I have so much and I'm about to get more and yet they have nothing. But they have genuine happiness. Maybe they have the better end of the deal.

Math=Fail

Blood and ashes! I am terrible at math! I'm trying to prepare to take the SAT in January and I've been going over the math sections in SAT prep book. Ugh! I'm just horrible at it! My mind was not made to understand math, it just does not stick. And then I'm doing statistics and man! there are some complicated equations in there! I don't know how I'm ever going to get through the book. God certainly did not make me a math whiz. That means that to get better scores on the SAT math section or to pass the stat exam, I'm going to have to reply on Him and that if He wants me to get good scores, He'll help me recall what I've learned and give me the strength to get through this studying!

TobyMac!!!!!!!

I'm going to see TobyMac and Relient K tomorrow in concert tomorrow with my youth group!!! Yay!! I'm so excited! I've waited months for this and now it's only one more day!!!! I can't wait!! All I have to do now is survive another school day...it will be so worth it though!

Writing Block... Already???

Anyone else feeling a little stuck when trying to start writing the research paper? I'm not sure where to begin. We're supposed to cover the history of our topic. Well, mine goes back all the way to the 19th chapter of Genesis! Sure, covering what's said in the Bible is easy but what about the churches opinion of same sex marriage through out history? None of my sources have anything to do with that, all of them are current. Does this mean I'll have to search for more sources and add them to my bibliography (ugh, that was so annoying!) ?

The point of this whole post is to say that when it comes to writing the research paper, I'm stuck. Usually writing reports and things comes really easy for me but I've never written something this big before. From the instructions Mrs. Bell gave us, it seems I would have to write so much more than five pages to include it all!

And then today (or was it yesterday?) I got this great idea for a short story and I would so much rather be working on that. And next week (Monday) my sister is coming home from college with a friend, on Wednesday my while family is driving up to Boston to celebrate Thanksgiving with my Dad's entire family (plus my sister's friend and an exchange student staying with my Aunt and Uncle) so any hope I had of working on my research paper during break seems to be crumbling. There is always the six hour+ car ride...

Goodness gracious! Just think about college!

Acts 5:40-41

"[The Sanhedrin] called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." ~ Acts 5:40-41

Wow, I don't think I would be rejoicing that I had just been thrown in prison and flogged. I think I would either thank God I had been released or asking Him to never let that happen to me again. That story is amazing.

Research Paper Bibliography

Bohlin, Sue. “Same Sex Marriage: A Façade of Normalcy.” Probe Ministries. Probe Ministries. 2005. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. .

Dewan, Shaila. “United Church of Christ Backs Same Sex Marriage.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company. 5 Jul. 2005. Web. 30 Oct. 2009. .

Flynn, Father John. “Same-Sex Marriage and the Church.” ZENIT. Innovative Media, Inc. 19 Oct. 2008. Web. 30 Oct. 2009. .

Focus on the Family Issue Analysts. “Marriage.” Focus on the Family. Focus on the Family. 2008. Web. 30 Oct. 2009. .

“Gay Marriage.” Catholic Answers. Catholic Answer, Inc. 2004. Web. 30 Oct. 2009. .

Gilgoff, Dan. “Rick Warren: Stopping Gay Marriage Very Low on Priority List.” U.S. News. U.S. New & World Report. 7 Apr. 2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. .

“Homosexuality: From Declassification to Decriminalization. Where Do We Go From Here?” Host Gilbert Herdt. Palm Center. Palm Center. 1 Sep. 2004. Web. 18 Nov. 2009. .

Pilote, Alain. “Vatican Says ‘No’ to Same Sex Marriage.” Michael Journal. The Pilgrims of St. Michael. Aug. 2003. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. .

Pope, Msgr. Charles. “‘Same-Sex Marriage’ is Contrary to Biblical Teaching on Marriage.” Archdiocese of Washington. Archdiocese of Washington. 19 Sep. 2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. .

“What Does the Bible Say About Gay Marriage/Same Sex Marriage?” Got Questions?. Got Questions Ministries. n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2009. .

“Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone; to have a deep soul relationship with another; to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God says,
No, not until you satisfied, fulfilled, and content with being loved by Me alone, and with having intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone, discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found; only then will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you.

You will never be united with another until you are united with Me.
Exclusive of anyone else, exclusive of any other desires or longings, I want you to stop planning,
stop wishing,
and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing, one that you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best. Please allow me to bring it to you.

You just wait. That’s all.

Don’t be anxious.
Don’t worry.
Don’t look around at the things others have gotten or that I’ve given them.
Don’t look at the things you think you want.

Just keep looking off and away up to Me or you’ll miss what I want to show you. And then, when you’re ready, I’ll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than you could dream of. You see, until you are ready (I am working even at this moment to have both of you ready at the same time), until both of you are satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I have planned for you, you won’t be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me; and this perfect love.
And, dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love; I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me, and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love you utterly. I am God. Believe and be satisfied.”

-author unknown

I think this speaks for it's self. I first read it in "The Theology of the Mind and Body for Teens" and it continues to speak to me and encouage me. Waiting can be so hard. Especially when friends and finding boyfriends (or girlfriends) and you see couples all over the place and it feels like no one has ever given you a second thought. But God is in control of my love story. He'll bring the perfect man for me when the time is right. And it will be even better, becuase I waited.

In His Own Image

In Christianity, we are made in the image of our God. In other religions, gods are made in the image of people.

Christmas!!

I'm feeling really excited for Christmas. I've had Christmas songs in my head the past few days and I've actually found myself looking forward to colder weather and snow (usually I hate the cold). I'm also looking forward to the decorations and getting together with family and shopping and wrapping presents and making Christmas cookies. I love the Christmas season. And of course we get celebrate Christ's birth, the best thing about Christmas. I feel I've grown a lot closer to God this past year so celebrating Christmas this year feels like it's going to be different, more special. I'm so excited. Oh! And I'm planning on dancing at my church again. This time to a Christmas song, "Mary, Did You Know"? so that's another reason I'm excited. But shhhh! so far the dance is a secret!