A high calling...
"May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones."-1 Thess. 3:12

"However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."-Luke 10:20
It's not about anything I can do but what God can, has, and will do.

I've got exactly 5 minutes before I have to leave for dance...so I tried to study bio but didn't get very far (not in that 5 minutes mind you) and it's kind of discouraging when you have to re-learn material because of a cumulative final. I promise I learned something this summer but I don't have a very long retention span for stuff like that and maybe that's why I'm not the best test taker, especially when it comes to those evaluation/placement tests. Oh well, I'll try and study more tonight. In other news we insulated the attic in the flip house down town. I say 'we' in a different term. Mr. Robbie came and helped and I ended up being the go between yeller. Yes, I was the one who yelled out of the window turn it off or on. Then I ended up running up and down the stairs (About the fifth time up and down I figured I should've kept a tally) to bring daddy whatever he needed i.e. bats of pink insulation, stapler, extension cord, well you get the idea. Well the pink insulation is a tad itchy but the environmentally green insulation tastes nasty but is apparently harmless. We'll see. Boy was it nasty and hot here in SC but hey, it only took a morning and we were done by noon. Up I went a minute over, gotta go but enjoy your Tuesday!

I accidentally killed a roly-poly today. I knew it was there too and wasn't thinking and stepped on it in my bare feet. It was one of those instances where I knew immediately what had happened. You see, I'm usually just lazy and don't bother to kill various creatures in my house because they aren't harming me and I don't feel like messing with them so I had seen it earlier in the day but alas it caught me in a moment of weakness. Man, it even made a little squealing sound, kind of like drrll. It was sad. I'm sorry roly-poly.

Quote of the day:

(My biology lab manual on comparing free-living worms to parasitic worms)

"Parasites have complicated life cycles."

"Relationships are complicated."-mom

"Faith yields itself to the promise that God will take full possession and all through the day and night inspire its hope and expectation."

"a faith that begins to see that waiting on God is needed and that quietly rests in the hope of what God will do..."

-Andrew Murray God's Best Secrets

Just Sit Still

"Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and askd, 'Why couldn't we drive it out?' He replied, 'Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.' Matthew 16:18-21 interesting that Jesus tells them to have faith and then tells them He's going to die. That is another subject and one of utmost importance however that is not what I was initially thinking about this morning.

Have you ever felt like your life is a "big question mark". You have something come up and think it's the perfect choice but then your plans just fall a part and you're back in the same place again. It's like you think it's the right choice but in the back of your mind you think what I see may not be what God sees. And it's oh so hard. Don't get me wrong, I am SO thankful that God promises Jeremiah 29:11. It's just that I think that Andrew Murray hits it when he says, "We don't realize that faith must accept and expect that God will, by His almighty power, fulfill every promise He has made." So when jealousy comes of what seems to be like the perfect life, that's not my place. Jealousy aside, and prayerfully gone, what do I have to fear/worry. Am I fearing God or man? After all, I am a child of the King, Daddy is just doing some fine tuning at the moment. It's my job to trust Him. It's my job to just sit still.

In Honor of Edwin Lee Dear

Edwin Lee Dear
March 17, 1959-July 11, 2009

"God sees when the footsteps all falter,
When the pathway has grown too steep,
Then He touches the weary eyelids
And gives His dear ones sleep." -Mary Katherine Dear

Isaiah 25:8
"He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces."

Writing Compiled by Kimber Dear

Dear Family, you are in our thoughts and prayers!

The Joys of Radio and Music

After many hours of biology note cards and about 30 hours over three days of driving time, I have decided that I very much love music and the radio. There's just something about it. It's not like I enjoy just one genre or type of broadcast. Pop, rap, Contemporary Christian, country and the like are up for grabs. As for broadcasts I like the kid shows, a good sermon every now and then, comedy, morning banter, late night call-in-shows and your good ol' conservative talk show. Perhaps its the thoughts that run by with each song and experience or the reality of it. Granted there is time and good use of quiet but more often than not I find myself listening to something.
If the news and weather aren't keeping me up to date, then a song is encouraging or stimulating thoughts. What better way to learn by music, it sticks in your head and you certainly don't forget it. I mean how many times have you been stuck singing an annoying song that you just can't get out of your head or better yet you wake up singing one you love.
Well today was no exception, I did note cards for most of the day and passed the time with Pandora, sure does make it more exciting. Hear are some of the songs I hadn't heard before but kind of liked: Sitting at a Red Light by Susie Luchsinger, Stand by Matthew West, Just Pray by Jason Meadows, With You by Geoff Moore, and Look Like a Fool by Matt Maher. These were all Christian and some of the melodies are a bit old school but the lyrics are powerful.
Anyway, anybody else out there feel like you always have to have something playing in the background? I mean I can even have a book on tape, headphones in with music, and read a book at the same time. Wait a sec, maybe that's not a good thing, I wonder how much of each of those I'm really taking in. It's crazy how I can just tune out other things!

Heard this on direct connection the other day and looked up the video.

Mat Kearney - Closer To Love (Official Music Video) - The funniest videos are a click away

So I got a little slack on posting, my apologies. I should actually be studying for my genetics biology test but I just can't seem to muster up the motivation. I guess the sooner I do it, the sooner it will be done.

Not much new...Josh and Alli are here, as I said before, and we are enjoying that. It's nice to have the whole family home. Strange how you grow up, life goes on, and new families are made but there's nothing like seeing mom, dad, brother, and sister. It's true, you never stop being a mom or a sister for that matter :).

Starting up dance again after a week off and boy can I feel it. Strange how I used to be able to go long amounts of time without class and now I crave it because I now how long it'll take to get back into it. Guess I'm gettin' old. Just about a month and a half until the placement class so we'll see....I've got a lot of work to do!

Well I suppose I should get motivated or at least get it done

So I'm typing this from my iPod, which I must say is incredible! Technology can be pretty amazing! Anyway, I should start by saying happy fourth of July!! I hope everyone enjoys time with their families and catch some fireworks later tonight. Certainly can't forget our men & women of the armedd forces, thank you! And praise the Lord for our freedom. Sure we've had our ups and downs but there's no denying that we've been blessed.

On the homefront, we've loved having josh and Alli home! And of course sharing fresh blueberries with our cousins. We are down in good ok'. Ga and the weather is lovely. You can actually walk outside without immediately sweating. Last night was quite a trip. After all twelve of us had burgers and our fair share of blueberry cheesecake, way to go mom it was so good, we proceeded to play Settlers of Catan. Most of us hadn't played before but if you can get passed the overwhelming rules it really gets interesting. We played teams which really helped and got so into it. It's one of those games where you get all worked up with the role of the dice. Don't be surprised if you find yourself holding your breath. So we ended up playing 'til 1:30am, I don't remember the last time my parents have been up and thinking at that time by choice but they were great! It was like a good book you couldn't put down and we're still not done that game. It was voted to come back today and finish. Somehow abbie and I managed to be close to winning, a surprise to us! Go team!

P.S. I edited this from mom's computer....my ipod battery was dying and the predictive typing made for some unique sentences