I made it!!!!

 Today was unbelievable.

• A debate to prepare for (One of the first two to debate in that class).

• A presentation to prepare for (One of the first two to present).

• 2 papers to write.

• {Excluding all the readings and other things}.

I didn't know how I was going to get it all done (read my last post), and do EVERYTHING with QUALITY and FASHION.

But I did.

PTL. [Praise the Lord]

My New Fav. Song.

AWWW. I am so happy Whitney Houston's back. Now, I should totally  go get married and have her sing at my wedding....[yeah right. i wish :-/]...Anyways, yay for getting back on her feet again, and I am sure her mother's proud of her. I've been wanting this lady to come back since forever.

This week = happiness :)

This semester's crazy but I making it through successful. Hopefully that'll keep up.

For my nightly devotion, I have been reading the books of Samuel (I just started 2 Samuel about 2 days ago). David's faith (in 1 Samuel) ~ amazing.

man, I love powerful sermons.....

Last week, I checked out the Spanish church. The message focused on how it is essential that we worship God the way He wants us to, not our way(powerful powerful)! The pastor started from the sacrifices of Cain and Abel and all the way to the New Testament...I promise I will take sometime in the future to summarize it...I have to!!

Today, I checked out the French church....powerful message too...(man. I love sermons if you can't tell.....:)) Buuuuuuuuut before I get there, I HAVE to share the message from vespers last night =)!

At first I was so caught up in how much work I had to do for this upcoming week, that I began to lose motivation and didn't want to go to vespers. Instead, I wanted to stay at the apartment and spend time alone....(lol I know.. when a person is in the process of losing movitation, s(he) should go hang with people so to forget the problem.. and not stay home and dwell on it!! it makes it worse...). Anyways, but my friend called me to pick her up and attend vespers with her. I couldn't say no since I promised earlier that I would go...So I did. It was awesome!!

The Word was given by a student. I am trying to make this blog entry as short as possible. I would always use the names "Jesus" "Saviour" "Lord" so interchangeably that I never paused to think about the meaning of either one of them until....last night. Since I don't have my Bible near me, I can't recall the verse but to sum it up: We often think of Jesus as our Saviour because He came and died for us to save us, but not necessarily as our "Lord" so much. Yes, we're thankful that He saved us, but for many, we feel like we don't need to listen to Him and His  Word...as one with Authority and POWER. Check out the definition of "lord." Jesus is BOTH our SAVIOR AND LORD. We shouldn't look at Him as one and not the other, or the other without the one because we'd be stripping Him of either His sacrifice for us or His authority. Catch my drift? ....if you do, how true is that!?! Before, when I think of the Word, automatically I think of GOD, not necessarily Jesus though I would acknowledge Him as the living Word--an example for us!! (even though He clearly states that He is the Word of Life).... I would subconsciously put Him a little lower than God the Father (well more like I think of Him MORE as a SAVIOR than "our Lord", because you know...God is the Father....Isn't it funny? [We humans can't live without categorizing, organizing things in hierarchies, huh?] I mean think about it: when we pray we pray to the "our Heavenly Father"... We pray expecting Him to grant our wishes THROUGH the Son. But you know, the Son has as much power as the Father...After all, He IS our Judge...right? Well, you don't realize that you're doing something until you're called on it! Couldn't believe that...mind you, I've read the New Testament like a bijillion times...wow. Simple things like that, we tend to take for granted since we've heard/read it so many times, right!?!

But anyways, back to today. So I went to the French church and the pastor focused on this verse: 1 Chronicles 4:10! [Prayer of Jabez] Four main points to summarize:

• Petition: Come to God in prayer and talk to Him like a friend, a father.  

• Benediction (Blessing): Ask God to bless you!! there's nothing wrong with asking God to bless you!!  

• Augmentation: Don't be afraid to ask GOD for things...He told you you can ask and it shall be given unto you!! (as long as you're doing His will, and it is His will...He will shower you with blessings!)

• Protection: Sometimes when we get more, we get carried away (pride, egotism, selfishness etc) so ask Him that He will protect you from evil as you ENJOY His blessings. 

Now that you know I love powerful sermons/messages...if you'd like to share powerful words with me..feel free!!.

Check this: I love this song.

you wouldn't believe this!!

Watch this! Well, the first part of it!!






Would you believe this if it were a real scenario? Whether or not it was the case....the principle still applies. You wouldn't believe it, but it's true.....people do react to many situations like this- stand there and wait for someone to do something without even attempting to find ONE solution..in this case, TWO people...ha ha.

Speaking of Problem Solving today, my Psych Testing prof showed this clip (the first part of it! not the advertisement & such). I couldn't stop laughing but the moral behind it is deep.  For every problem, there are thousands of solutions, you may not know 99.9999% of them, but God does.....but still, don't just stand there, DO SOMETHING-- if you are capable of doing it-- and trust! You have hands, feet, eyes, brain, and all that good stuff for a reason! Click on this: Prov. 4: 5-8. I guess this can say something about our society too, huh? ;)

shedded tears.

Looks like I wasn't the only one ready to shed some tears last week while sitting in the library, typing a paper for one of my classes. I had everything under control, I felt...but I just wasn't feeling it. I needed some motivation and words of comfort or SOMETHING...you know what I mean? I was so close to it that if I knew enough people in that place, I would've gone up to them and asked them to give me a hug. Actually, I was planning to do it whether or not I was close to anyone---an acquaintance would've worked.  =)  I did the next best thing however, picked up my phone and texted a few people the following "today, not a good day....say something funny." lol, the responses were hilarious. I am thankful to know and have met funny people in my life. =)

It was Week 3 and apparently "everyone" I have talked to had a similar moment. I had it good, apparently. I was THIS close to shedding some tears, but "everyone else" actually cried......more than once.


Each individual is wondering whether or not s(he) will make through these upcoming  years and finish his/her program. My apartment-mate who's here for three years as well wonders the same. Whether or not I am subconsciously wondering the same thing, I refuse to let it be known.  I am here to MAKE it, and I WILL by God's grace. I am not sure I am ready for the harder challenges ahead, but I am choosing to take it one day at a time.

I was having a conversation with my godfather last night, and ended up going over all the work I had to get done in the next couple of weeks....and he reminded me, "millions have made it before you....you can do it" right after he told me of his challenges in grad school. While chatting and encouraging my apart.mate today (her program IS tough....lots of memorization), I passed along the words of my godfather and she laughed. Apparently her dad told her the same.


I will never forget the words of a man who came to the Youth Rally in St. Louis (I believe very early this year) and who was leading a discussion group. He asked us this question "Why do you think I want YOU to succeed?" Everyone attempted to find an answer to his question, but I definitely was taken back by his unique answer, "because I believe that if everyone would've been concerned about everyone else's success in life, we could have already found the cure for cancer . Maybe you (pointed to someone) have the ability to find the cure to a life threatened disease ...maybe it's you, or you....but we'll never know until everyone does his/her part to succeed in life."

Very deep, don't you think?....really, think about that.

On a different note, I went to the Spanish church this past Sabbath. I had no help with translation (yay!) and the message was deep! maybe I'll post something about it some other time, I don't want this blog to get too long.  Afterwards, we went to the beach and relaxed by the water. Beautiful weather. Sabbaths are awesome.


"The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you."

I am determined to succeed by God's grace. You should be too. And I want you too. I'll totally be your #1 fan.

who is she!?!?

Who AM I? [this blogger.]

I initially started this post to keep everyone I left back home updated, because I knew that once school started, It'd be hard to keep in contact with everyone :(. For those of you who know me, you know that I can write....alot. sometimes. However, more than anything, I really aim to encourage others in everything I do. So when I was asked to share my blog with the wiiserve community a couple days ago, I gladly gave my permission. I plan to keep this blog authentic so don't expect any alterations (don't worry...it'll still be good stuff).

For those of you who have NO idea who I am, or do not know me personally, I am currently taking a 15 minute break from my studies and I thought it'd be a great idea to tell you a bit about myself with the help of an online All About Me survey (c'mon you know you've done one before all you myspacers and facebookers...:)) and a visual.
  
1.Name: LyDiE

2.Location: Somewhere in the Midwest

3.Birth-date: August 30. Year? Here's a hint. Born on the Sabbath. :)

4.Siblings: Yes, three sisters. love 'em [possibly too much].

5.Height: Apparently, I am 5'5 !! I rebuke the devil. He is a liar. I believe I am still 5'6.5''.

6. Hair Color: brown.

7.Eye Color: light brown.

8.Do you wear contacts: :(

9. Right or Left Handed: Righty. There was a period I wanted to be a lefty so badly though. :)

10.My interests/passions:

• 1. God [eternal life]- can't nobody do me like Jesus. He's my bestest Friend. [Psalm 139]
• 2. Family (friends included:))!
• 3. Equality in education.
• 4. Service. [Proud AmeriCorps Alum!]. Check it out!! Missionary Work. Still looking for a good one.
  
• 5. Children. (on my way to become a school psychologist....word). {Child Advocate!}.
• 6. Anything that deals with psychology and political science (my undergrad degrees).
• 7. Proving that christians CAN live a happy life without conforming to societal pressures. [Matt 7:13]
• 8. Staying busy/multi-tasking.

Since I am on here, I'd like to share the following with you. So here is something to think about, taken from one of my prof's lectures: Speaking of James Marcia's 4-stages of psychological identity development. After explaining the second one "Identity Foreclosure" where an individual makes commitments hoever has no life crises to confront, he states, "the test of your strengths is to go through crises. Life with commitment and no crises = impaired development ".

Think on that...then check out James 1:2-6. God knew that already. =)

btw, please feel FREE to comment on any blog entry- agreeing, disagreeing, agree TO disagree, advice, suggestions, questions, answers to questions, etc....totally welcome.

[i shall be the one on the left.] SMILE!!!

ugh.

So even though I feel like I have been completely unproductive today and should really be doing my homework due tomorrow (or finishing them up)...I really can't seem to move forward without debriefing on something that happened today. Okay, this can be a long story that I don't have time to get into, but i clearly was not happy with a grade that I just received....who in the world takes a complete 2 points off EACH for capitalizing "King" and musician David, and "Word" of God? ....that's 4 POINTS!!!...seriously? wow. I am totally not happy...it wasn't a bad grade at all, but when you feel strongly that it COULD'VE been HIGHER, your mind can't stop thinking about it. 4 points do make a difference.....especially when you don't know what the future holds. wootsie. Lord, help me move pass this.

When life doesn't seem fair, recite the following (though it'll be hard to really mean it when you recite it): Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding (Prov. 3:5). lol funny thing (10 minutes later), when i started writing this post, I really was not happy...but then I realized just how minute this is to the larger picture at hand, I had to laugh.... It's a learning experience for future reference. I guess I am over it now.....:) writing does help you reflect on the importance (or lack of) and relevance (or lack of) of topic at hand....ummm. 1-hr update: yeah. I am TOTALLY over it. It was clarified. only 2 pts were taken off.....MERCY. Don't I feel a bit slow? yeah. totally. *hides face in shame*....next time, I'll just mentally build a bridge and quickly get over it....................MER.CY.

"Labor Day" Weekend....

....more like Labor Weekend. It's only Week 3 and already I am forced to plan my schedule on a hourly basis---which class to focus on when, which assignment to do first, how to do it efficiently and when to move on to the next one. Planning is actually one thing I like to do, but geesh week 3 already? I guess. [[No complaints no complaints...]]. Week 2 of school wasn't too bad. I was able to get everything done on timely quality fashion, but am in definite need to ensure that I get my 8-hrs sleep time, BEFORE midnight. That's the goal for this week. We'll see how it goes. Friday night was pretty awesome.

Every month, there is a vespers service called Fusion (where all the vespers or ministries on services join together to do 'vespers'). The speaker was phenomenal. She was a female pastor from California whose topic was on Matthew 14 starting with Verse 22. She explained these verses in a way that I've never heard before.

Verses 22-23 [when Jesus left his disciples in the ship to go spend time in prayer]:

--> Sometimes you just need your time alone with God, even Jesus needed time alone with God. After constantly being followed by the crowd and his disciples, Jesus needed to just go leave his "homies" and "close buddies" to spend sometime with His father. Quality time with self is important, quality time with self and GOD is essential.

Verses 24-27 when the disciples on the ship began to experience heavy tosses and turns and Jesus DECIDED to show up on the FOURTH watch.

-->Sometimes in life, you're going through so much. It's not like you did anything wrong...you were actually doing God's work.... You call on God. No show. You're trying to work things out and call on God again, this time louder. It's now the third watch. You've tried everything you could. You waited as long as you could. You're this close to give up but you try again..."LORD, PLEASE hear my cry!!".....still no show. You're mad, frustrated, tired, helpless, hopeless. You are this close to given up, THIS CLOSE...but you know He is the only one you can call on and finally you get on your knees and call on HIM....He answers (CP time anyone?) But you know why sometimes he takes ETERNITY TO SHOW UP? Because God wants us--- after trying EVERYTHING you can to solve the situations, finding people to solve the situations and getting to the point of helplessness-- to give ALL the credits when it is all said and done. That's all He wants. Us to recognize his power and glory, because sometimes we forget that He's even there with us. We loooove to take credits for things we had nothing to do with.

Verses 28-29: when Peter tested Jesus.

-->Out of all the disciples only PETER had the audacity to test Jesus. He said "Lord if it is you, command me to walk on water" [SOOOO MUCH TO WRITE HERE BUT] When we feel the calling to do something for the Lord, or we're in a situation when we're not sure what to do, don't be afraid to TEST God and ask him to do the IMPOSSIBLE. you know, everyone can say that they've walked with Jesus but only ONE can say "he walked on water with Jesus"...POWERFUL, no? I definitely think so.

Finally, Verses 30, 31. When Peter doubted and cried out to Jesus.

--> She didn't even bother to mention his lack of faith but rather said]...sometimes when you make it to the middle of the water, (away from the boat and "far" from Jesus) you'll feel LONELY. Don't be afraid to cry out His name. Jesus will come in a second, bend down and reach out to you. It was even more powerful to hear because so many of us, including myself was wondering how the student who just graduated last May from the seminary...How he felt the calling of God to go out and preach the gospel abroad...only to be found lifeless days before his return to the US. Why would God allow his life to be cut so short? Well, sometimes, she reminds us, we will have to sacrifice our life when we are called to do God's will. ummmm [think on that].

Although there is so much to say about this weekend , I think this definitely topped it all. Such a powerful message that I wish I had time to expand on. In any cases, I hope that the little I shared could be of an encouragement to you. Remember that when you're answering the call of Jesus, it will be a lonely road, but in the end it'll be worth it. Only ONE can ever said He walked on WATER with Jesus. Test Him. Stop living your spiritual life vicariously through your friend, elder, pastor, or whatnot. Get your own experience.

[ back to work now...break time over! :(]