Avalon, Baptist Women's Sunday, and connecting thoughts.

So keystone, the church we go to while at school, had Baptist women's Sunday this morning. Basically all that means is that the women (and i mean every single woman, including myself and libby who were also roped into it) sing in the choir, pass the plates, do the announcements, and one of the ladies got up and spoke about what it is to be a woman of the word, walk, works, and wisdom. (before you think i am a heretic going to some church with a woman preacher, she was called our speaker of the day, which of course made me giggle because you know the baptist make it clear.) She was sharing her testimony and called the ladies in the church who have mentored her. Ladies were crying everywhere, including of course, me. It got me thinking about the people who have been mentors in my life. What a praise-worthy good thing that the Lord would bless me with such women to push and pull me along in my walk.

Also, the women did a slideshow and the song, My Jesus, I love Thee was playing (Charles Billingsley was singing it, who by the way i think is the man, his version is so worth listening to ) but this all led me to look up that hymn online and i ran across an old version done by Avalon ( which is beautiful) but it reminded me of the days when Avalon was "the" group. My sister and i used to listen to them...i remember distinctively riding in her old Honda on the way to church listening to Avalon before youth choir. The memory made me smile, seeing is how my sister is half-way across the world, and in November i am getting married.. sheesh where has the time gone?

1. My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
   For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
   My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
   If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
2. I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
   And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
   I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
   If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
3. I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
   And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
   And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
   If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
4. In mansions of glory and endless delight,
   I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
   I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
   If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

update.

                                                                           (a great gift)

Sheesh, time flies! A little update on my happenings. I went home this weekend for Valentine's Day..which by the way is my second favorite holiday..mostly because i love pink and red and chocolate and homemade cards and hearts and romance. oh, and also because it is a week after my birthday. Really February is a wonderful month! (and as this year is going, a snowy one)
Daniel had a fabulous birthday/Valentine's for me. The best gift ever! A close second to the engagement..well maybe not close, but definitely second! and my all time favorite birthday gift. Curious? good, you should be, because it was that good.
He also took me to Ruth's Chris which was so good. i loved it! People always tell me he can never out-due himself from (insert previous big thing) and i never worry because really, he ALWAYS does. i never wanna come back but as it stands we are only a short 9 months away from being married ..wahoo!

This week i finished "Teacher, the Henrietta Mears story" for my women's ministry class..one of the best books i have ever read. What a mountain of a woman! So much stuck out from her story but one sentence in particular has been swimming around in my head..
a Quote from Bill Bright to Henrietta in her book reads:
" From the time I heard you challenge us to go home and follow the apostle Paul's action in kneeling to ask of God, 'What wilt Thou have me to do?' my life began to change. Through your teaching i was encouraged to give my life to Christ and at all costs follow His leading. The establishment of Campus Crusade for Christ has been the result." 


It struck such a cord with me that i wrote it in the inside of my Bible.

"What wilt Thou have me to do?"

switcharoo!

So weekend 2 of being completely snowed in has taken its toll..miranda convinced me to let her straighten my hair. This wasn't going to happen. But as it goes Miranda can always talk me into ANYTHING. i agreed with the deal that she would let me do her hair the way i do mine. so as the title stands..the great switcharoo!
This is how it all went down: Miranda washed my hair/blow dried it and then sat me in a chair and refused to let me see a mirror until her artwork was completed. Try letting your life rest in miranda's hands..and by the way those hands were holding a hot iron..i was at her mercy! All along listening to her giggle with delight. All in all turns out it didn't look so bad. i mean i find comfort in my curls..but hey, a girls gotta let loose sometimes! (especially when she has been shut-in for half the month due to the snow). I laughed so hard when i looked in the mirror..how funny to see ourselves differently. Miranda let me do her hair and i was shocked at how curly it was! We actually had a really great time doing what typically girls do when we find ourselves looking for something to do..Pamper ourselves of course!
I think we might go watch a movie and spend the rest of the night just hanging out.

On another note. i was reminded today that it is Christ alone in which our hope is found. The shifting sands of the world are no match to the rock on which i stand. Encouraging, huh?

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

Reading Adventure

So today Jen and i took a little adventure..we had heard about this little gem of a bookstore located right down the street from our church. Little Dickens/Givens Books: Books, Quality Toys, and Teaching Supplies (as the sign says) is this massive purple (actually it's blue with yellow stripes that from the road gives it a purple look until you get close up) Anyway, so Jen and i ventured in and to our delight..prolly one of the neatest stores i have ever been in! One side of the place is books and the other side is split between teacher stuff and awesome toys. Also-there is a drowsy poet inside which for any local friends is a very wonderful coffee spot. We started on the book side-naturally. I was about 5 minutes in when to my sheer pleasure i came upon the largest selection of Junie B. Jones books ever! I though of Emillie since she is the wonderful person who introduced me to Junie B. Jones..she would have been in heaven! So of course i bought 2 for my fabulous weekend road trip with my roommates. Boy, was i ever excited!!
   Im crossing my fingers that the snow will hold off until we can get out of town..My birthday weekend in Charleston is only the highlight of my semester...it cant be ruined !

Signed,
holding off the snow..
 

All this for an Arby's samitch. yes, i said samitch.

So the cabin fever has gotten the best of me. Libby and i decided to go out tonight to get dinner because we needed to get out of the house. Our parking lot is unreal and honestly looks like we got more snow their than anywhere else in town. Anyway, back to my story. So we went outside and the temperature had considerably dropped since this afternoon..which of course means everything is freezing again. Libby finally pulled the car of the spot after i convinced her that it would be fine. I'm a great convincer. Turns out she may have been right about waiting a minute to brush off the ice. So 2 seconds into our drive she had to pull into another spot to get the snow off her windshield. Of course, all Libby had was a manilla envelope so she used that. i giggled and took pictures of her because it wasn't very effective and she ended up throwing some of the snow on herself..which made me laugh more. I took a really excellent video where Libby gives me a dirty look at my lack of help, but it wont load on here so you will just have to take my word for how funny it was. because it really is. I told Libby that this sure was turning out to be a lot of work for a Arby's samitch. Finally, Lib got the car going and in no time we got to our destination.
    Luckily for us, Arby's did not disappoint. We ate and are now enjoying an episode of Bones..quite possibly my favorite show. I am really hoping for a 2 hour delay tomorrow..that would be a nice surprise. Also-i finished my book yesterday...Passion and Purity. It is so good..i highly recommend it. More to blog about this later.