Jan 06, 2003 02:56
hey what's up guys...i haven't written in a long time =) wow hee. i guess things have been busy...actually scratch that...i know things have been busy!! lots have happened since i last wrote =)
hmmm...i start school and classes tomorrow =( on the way up here with my parents...i had this feeling of dread in my stomach, which is really weird. =/ i thought to myself how times have changed...in that when i was in high school and junior high, when i would go back to school, that meant waking up early in the morning and having my dad drive me to school. but now, what a distance we have to go in the car just to get to school! =) but yeah...God's taking care of me and helping me to get back into school mode. i'm so glad he's with me everywhere i am...it's very comforting...i can go anywhere and still He's with me =) and i know i'll be okay =)
i don't even know where to begin! :) umm...was able to share with amanda when i got back about how christmas break went =) and how God's been super awesome in my life. today i finished up my christmas shopping =) =) so i went to benny & eddy's house to drop off stuff and it was good talking and hanging out with them...both are so sweet and through everything, i still see traces of the boys i once met 4 years ago at VBS =) such sweethearts :)
then i went to get more stuff at the mall...i'm really beginning to hate shopping...i can't believe these words are coming from my mouth =) but yeah...i see it as so much of a hassle...oohhhweee...but i got what i needed and headed over to ron's :) it was good to see gary and my baby before i went back to school.
i had a really good talk with diane today at church and i just really praise God for granting us the opportunity. it was so good to hear from her and to be aware of how i can pray for her. it was really a blessing to talk to her...and it was so encouraging how God used me to speak to her...cuz she told me how what i said helped her...and i just praise God for enabling me to spend time with a sister and really working through me to touch another =)
lock-in was so fun :) it was friday nite-saturday and it was such an awesome time of laughing and fellowshipping with my brothers and sisters. i always love and look forward to spending times with my church and especially with the junior high and high school groups. i feel so comfortable and loved when i'm around them and i just see how God's blessed me through my church.
but yeah =) we played sardines and me and ron hid =) it was funny cuz while they were explaining the game, we were already planning strategies and places to hide =) haha...one step ahead =) and they wanted to put partners as guys with guys and girls with girls...but they saw me and ron...and they were like...nellie and ronald, you guys can go 10 minutes apart :) and we were like...ummm...no! :) and people looked at us and were like...awww it's like mother and child =) hee! i thought that was such an interesting comment! :) of course though, cuz he's my baby =) but yeah, they let us be together and the first people hid. me and ron were busy looking for places to hide and still thinking of strategies while we were looking for the people so we got there last but it was all good =) we became the sardines! so we were gonna hide at this one storage thing under the stairs and near the front door...but then it was hecka small and it stank up in there...so we looked for another place. ron wanted to hide in the closet but i thought it was too easy...but i just went along with it since we were running out of time. so we scrunched up in the closet and used the dresses hanging there to cover us.
in the beginning, ron was like cracking up and i was like no ron we gotta be really quiet...and at some parts when there were people coming into the room and ron was like giggling, i thought, oh man, it's gonna be over! but it was all good. ron calmed down and we kept hiding. sometimes, it was really scary cuz people would straight look into the closet but not see us :) whew...at least 10-15 times the closet was checked and the people couldn't see us...and since it's sliding doors, i had my foot up against the door me and ron were behind so when people tried to budge it and couldn't, they just gave up =) me and ron were holding hands! :) haha cuz like we were both nervous whenever people came in the room or looked in the closet and each time either of us was anxious, we would squeeze the other person's hand to express how we felt without having to say anything =) at one point, folks turned off the lights and me and ron could not see a thing sitting up in the closet! seriously, people couldn't find us and so we were sitting in there for like 30-40 minutes, i lost track of time and ron was like...what if they never find us then we'll be in here for forever!! and he was talking about getting sleepy and i was thinking...what if we both fell asleep in the closet and no one ever found us!!! hahaha, it was a funny thought. so yeah...people were really struggling to find us and after a while, it seemed as if everyone gave up...we heard some funny comments while we were in the closet =) like judy was like...okay we gotta think like nellie...so where would you hide if you were nellie...and jayson was with her and when she said..you gotta think like nellie, he was like...ummmm!!! haha...and me and ron heard different people's comments as they were looking in the closet...like we checked in there already and they're not there...or those dresses hanging there look scary! :)...or we can't find them anywhere!! quite amusing. so me and ron were thinking about coming out and then dominic and kenneth come trying to find us...they checked the closets...and the door which i had my foot up against...they pulled against it and then struggled a bit cuz i put pressure with my foot then they pulled it open and me and ron tried to stay quiet but they saw us...i guess my pants or something beneath the dresses hanging in the closet. so they were like...oh! haha we found you guys and me and ron were like...dude you guys ruined everything!!! and like they tried to hurry into the closet and there was like no room and like dom straight sat on top of me and i was like...dom!!! get off me!! what the heck! :) and so yeah, we all hid for a while, and then eventually decided to give it up and go downstairs.
me and ron are the champions! :) people were saying that giff was hecka worried about us! :) and that's why the second time they came to look for us, giff was like...turn on ALL the lights!! and we gotta find them and this and that cuz the lights were supposed to stay off during the game. what can i say, me and ron are just too good!!!!
then dom and kenneth hid...and me and ron were the first ones to find them...and then emily and kathleen hid and me and ron were again the first ones to find them!!! i wasn't even trying...i was sitting back, drinking soda =) and then i just kinda wandered into one room and found them! haha, we just got mad skill. we were the first ones there too =) too good at this game! :)
then we played mafia through the nite and some deuces for water :)
oh the reason i titled the entry integrity was because of something i heard today on the bridge as i was getting ready for church. the guy told a story of a pastor going to the store to buy some cds. and like they were 9.99 each but when the girl rang him up after waiting in a long line, she charged him 1.99 for one of the cds. the pastor got in his car and realized the girl undercharged him. he didn't have too much time on his hands and it was a long line...but he decided to go back in the store and tell the girl her mistake. so he waited in line again...and got back to the cashier and told the girl she made a mistake, and the girl says, no i didn't...i purposely charged you 1.99 for a cd i knew was 9.99. see i went to your church last sunday and sat in the back row and i just wanted to see if you lived the same life on monday as you talk about on sunday. wow! and so the pastor got to talk to her and actually pray with her and i think the girl ends up accepting christ. but wow...what an awesome testimony of the way God works. just from a simple situation. and i thought to myself, i wanna have that same kind of integrity...to be able to uphold the name of Jesus no matter where i am or what i'm doing....even if i'm not at church. i'm called to live my life for Christ 24/7...not just on sundays or fridays at fellowship...but everywhere...in class, at home, in a restaurant, at a mall, everywhere. i realize i don't have time-outs or breaks where i can take a break from being a Christian...it's lifestyle, it's a commitment and i have to be true to who i am and who God wants me to be.
so i pray Father, that you would develop in me, integrity, to be able to live a life set apart from this world and one that glorfies you in every area of my life. may you help me to uphold truth and honor above any of my desires, and may you be all i desire to please as i live my life on this earth where so many strive to please others or themselves. you are my head and you are all i'm living for. without you, i am nothing and so may your desires be mine and your will be my will. amen.