I'm sorry about not posting much, but I'm honestly not sure what to post about.

Oh!! Some of you might know, but my grandma has been in the hospital for about a week. She's finally out of ICU and in a normal room!! She's having trouble keeping her vital signs up without help though which isn't good. So if you have a minute, pray for her and for us :) It's really sad because I've been sick so I can't even go see her.

In other news :P I actually got my driver's license last week. Driving by myself is amazing and it's cool how much freedom it brings. We're getting to T-bird fixed up this week and then I'll be able to drive it! I was so nervous when I took my drive test and I made a few stupid mistakes, but fortunately I still passed. If you want to know what not to do on your drive test you should ask me though. :P

Hm. Hm. Hm. Well. I'm turning 17 on Sunday ^_^ *sings* I am 16 goin' on 17...I'm so excited. 16 was a pretty amazing year though.

For now I'll leave you with this.
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." -Aesop

and this

To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.
-G. K. Chesterton

I'm back! Finally :)

Hey everyone. I'm sorry I haven't posted since January. Ouch :/ I had a great time in California. Haha, that seems so long ago now. I was so blessed by the people we went to visit because they just love us like we're part of their family and I decided that when I grow up I want to have friends like that.

I've been reading through Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters for about the millionth time so maybe I'll post about them soon. They're amazing, seriously, if you haven't read them, you should.

Sorry this is so short. I'll try and post again this week. I hope you all are doing great! We had such a beautiful day here today that I can almost imagine it's summer already.

Off to The Golden State!

This is going to be a quick post. Sorry I haven't posted lately - we've been really busy and today we're leaving for a short holiday in California. My parents have really good friends who are pastors down there and have been wanting to visit them for a while. I'm all for it. Sunshine, the beach, and Knott's Berry Farm!

Seriously. It was 80 degrees there last night :)

New Years Resolutions Tag

Lauren Ann tagged me for New Years resolutions. Here are the rules:

...Everyone needs to set goals that they wish to accomplish each year. Name ten of your goals for the upcoming year. Link to the person who tagged you. Then tag seven people and link to them. Tell the people you tagged that they are tagged!

I don't really like New Years resolutions, but I do agree that it's a important to set goals and be committed to seeing them come to pass. Here are mine:

1. Make my prayer time more of a priority.
2. Get my driver's license and get over my fear of driving (Yikes!)
3. Find a summer job.
4. Go on another missions trip.
5. Practice my piano all the time so I'm always ready for my lesson.
6. Pass the Compass test and go to community college this fall.
7. Make sure the words I'm speaking are bringing life to people.
8. Have a better attitude toward my family.
9. Make a new friend.
10. Fall more in love with God than ever before and not allow my love for Christ to be put in a box. I don't want my faith to be dictated by where my comfort zone is.

Well, That's it! May God bless you richly this year!

I'm not going to tag anyone since It's already after New Years, but If you would like to do this go ahead!

Good Thoughts

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. -Romans 8:28-9

My pastor was talking about starting off the new year and how much of a promise this verse is. The thing that struck me was what he was saying that good was. When I think of good I guess I think of happiness or comfort. I realized that it's one of those words that I can't really think of a solid meaning for. I looked it up on Dictionary.com and it had 58 definitions for it! I guess I'm not the only one who has this problem. Anyway, he was saying that good is actually defined there in verse 29.

To be conformed to the likeness of his Son

That actually makes sense because if good meant comfort the Bible would seem contradictory. Job had a ton of bad things happen to him that he never deserved. Paul served God wholeheartedly and ended up in a Roman prison and eventually dead.

It got me thinking about Jeremiah 29:11 as well.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

What if God's definition of prosperity isn't always what we think of as prosperity? I know God loves to bless his people, but maybe sometimes things happen so we can become more like Christ and won't feel or look good at all.

Christmas Greetings!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! It's kind of sad that it's almost over.

Last night my family went to church like we always do. We ended up getting there early because we didn't know how icy the roads would be so I got to greet people with my mom. I felt like I opened that door a million times, but it was fun. Something about church on Christmas Eve is just so beautiful.

We got the whitest Christmas you can imagine :D For someone who is used to it raining every Christmas it was a miracle.

Tidings of Comfort and Joy!

I'm sitting here hoping I can write this fast enough that I'll still have internet when I go to save it. The weather has been crazy. I can't remember ever having snow and ice for a whole week before. It usually snows one day and is gone the next. We've been home for an hour and we've got three inches of new snow. It's really blowing too. They said on the news to prepare to be without power for a week or more O.o I've been there, done that, and I didn't enjoy it!

We've got 15 inches of snow now. I'm amazed at the fact that they say every snowflake is unique and there must be a billion just in my yard alone. I think it's so cool that God didn't make them all fit the same mold. I love it when it's snowing and you can actually see the snowflake shape when they land on you. I used to think they were all just white blobs, and I'm glad they're not.

Our driveway is really steep and when we tried to go up it tonight we slid all over the place and started sliding backwards toward the road. The brakes were doing nothing and my dad kept saying "Pray" as we got rolling faster. We ended up getting turned enough that we got stuck on some new snow. God protected us and helped us get turned around. We did have to hike up a ways, but we were safe. It's funny, I keep being reminded of how God sends angels to protect his people. I actually have a cool story about them from Ethiopia that I'll have to post.

For now, Merry Christmas! Stay warm and safe wherever you are.