Kony 2012

I've seen the name Joseph Kony popping up all over the internet lately, and I haven't really thought much of it. I just thought it was another thing/video that people were bringing attention just to be forgotten the next week. That isn't what has happened, so I finally watched the video. I wasn't ready for what I saw.

I didn't know who Kony was, and the whole point of the video was to make him known to people like me -- people who had never heard of him and the things he has done. Kony is the leader of the LRA -- the lord's resistance army, and he is the one responsible for all the African children being abducted and forced into soldiering. He also abducts children to put into the sex trade.

My favorite part of the video that I embedded into this blog is when it talks about this being the first time in history that America sent soldiers somewhere not for self defense, but just to do what was right.

These people are dedicated, and it is amazing how the world is coming together to finally put a stop to what Kony is doing. Its been 26 years and almost 30,000 children who have been abducted. Its time to step in and do what's right. Do you want to be a part of history? Watch this video, and see what you can do to help. Prayer is always the first place to start; let God do the rest.

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

When You Feel Useless, Remember This

Aurelia seems to have yet another cold, but that won't keep her down. I think I second guess myself more than ever when she is sick: She is so outgoing and happy during the day, and then when nighttime comes, she is screaming and fussing and not sleeping. Thankfully, we are only fighting the virus now, since the tooth that has been trying to surface finally has. Praise God!

I feel like there is a lot I would like to write about, because God has really been working in my life (at least it feels that way. That's probably good, however, and normal when I put my trust in Him like I have been lately). First of all, Josh and I are just trying to trust that God has the whole plan for our lives worked out (which he does) and we just need to enjoy the life he has given us day by day.

The biggest thing God has been showing me/reminding me is that He made me, in His image, which means that He will use me just the way I am. I was reading Acts 4 (which is my favorite passage in the Bible, I think!) and it talks about God using Peter and John just the way they were, because they were "filled with the Holy Spirit". Verse 13, however, really gets me excited: " Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus." (NASB) This verse gets my heart pumping and adrenaline racing every time I read it. First of all, I picture all these important people of society standing around, watching how Peter and John are captivating their audience, and then they realize that these guys are just some middle class, minimum wage-type guys preaching their hearts out. With confidence!!

I want that to be me. I want to have the kind of confidence to stand in front of people, or amongst people and share the living Word with them. That kind of confidence, as this passage tells me, can only come from Christ. The kind of confidence that really makes you stand out as having been with Jesus can only come from being filled with the Holy Spirit. My prayer is that everyday I can have that confidence, and walk in His will.

We have to remember that if Christ used people like Peter (Peter!), then He will use us, if we only trust in Him and let our hearts and souls be filled with the Holy Spirit. It makes me think of the song that says to do 'everything we do to the Glory of the One who made you, 'cause He made you to do every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face' (Chris Tomlin, maybe?).

Sometimes I feel like I am not being useful in the Kingdom because all I do is pick up after Aurelia all day and clean the house. But if I do it for the glory of God, He uses it, and opens doors I never knew were there in the first place!

Celebrating 90 Posts.

This is my 90th post on my blog, which is pretty exciting! I think I will do something even more special for the 100th one. (although this isn't really that special.)

I am currently sitting in McDonald's, using the internet. It was nice and quiet, and I guess a game just got over because the place is now crawling with really hyper, noisy teenagers. I will admit I am a bit annoyed. I was also trying to work on t the blog for The Following:, but that isn't happening because I couldn't figure out how to use Blogger's new setup. That is kind of frustrating as well. I came here to get a little peace and quiet, but that isn't going to happen, so I will probably just go home. Not really a fan of the cussing and rudeness. I hope I wasn't like that when I was a teen.

Anyway, I am sure there was something I was going to blog about. Oh yes! Our band submitted our promo kit for Big Ticket Festival, and it was even a day before the deadline! I was pretty glad of that. It was more work than we expected, putting it together, but for two weeks notice, we did okay. Now we are just waiting to see if we will actually get in. In the meantime, we will just have to practice.

I really can't focus too much anymore. The teens are getting louder. Guess I'm signing off. Maybe I will finish later.

Monday, Monday, Monday

I realize that today is Tuesday, but this is about something that happened yesterday. (I might talk about things that happened today, but mostly it will be about yesterday)

Yesterday was a rough day. On my way to drop Marvin off at the vet to get neutered and de-clawed, I noticed that is was pretty slick out in spots. The strong winds were causing the snow to blow onto the roads, and it was melting, creating slush and slick spots. Well, on my way home, I didn't notice just how long the slick spot was, and wasn't able to slow down enough to keep control of the car, which led to me ending up in the ditch facing the opposite direction I was going. Thankfully, the ditch wasn't much of a ditch, just mainly a field. I was thankful that I didn't flip and that I didn't hit the sign that was about 50 ft away from me. The car and I were okay, and I was glad that Aurelia stayed home with Daddy. I called a friend to help get me unstuck, and I was on my way.

That was the most exciting even of the day, other than the ants that were continuing to take over our kitchen and us going to the junior high basketball games. That was the first time I had ever been driving when I got into an accident, and even though everything was okay and it wasn't really that scary, it still shook me up a bit. It made me realize (or at least rethink) just how much God loves us and just how much I really could lose by getting hurt or killed. I mean, God uses everything for good, but things would definitely changed if something happened to Josh or myself.

Yesterday was a day of rest for me, but Josh was excited to get the drumset up in the office room, which was a bigger job than I thought it would be... it involved removing the couch from the office and bringing it out to the living room, which meant we had to rearrange the living room. Then the office had to be rearranged to get the drums to fit. At the end of the day, the house ended up cleaner and rearranged, the drum set is up, and Josh was happy. [For the record, I am okay with it too :P]

Today, I finally got around to caulking the big gaps in our wall, which is where we think that ants were coming from. I guess we will find out if we were right in the next couple of days. Also, I am excited to be headed over to some friends' house tonight for dinner and fellowship :) We are also going to make sure we get our promo kit sent to the Big Ticket Festival today.

Oh, and something else exciting that happened yesterday: Aurelia got brave enough to walk behind her walker toy thing all on her own! She is getting closer and closer to walking every day, and I wouldn't be surprised if it is going to happen in the next couple weeks :)




Just a picture of our band... which has been the main thing we have been working on lately. (Not this picture, but our band and our music.)

A Non-Book Review Blog :)

I have decided that I really like blogging. Maybe its just because lately I feel like there is stuff happening to blog about. Life seems to be going really well right now, and I think its just because Josh and I finally have TRULY given God complete control. We have no idea what is ahead of us, where we will be going or when, but we are trusting in Him to let us know. Until then, we are just living life, and that has proven to be quite fun!

As you know, we have put together a band to try called The Following, and our goal is to be accepted to play on the Indie stage at Big Ticket Festival this year. I actually think we have a shot too, because we have some really talented musicians and a super talented (and might I add very attractive ;P) lead singer (That's Josh, if you didn't catch on!). I think I am the least experienced out of the group, but am reassured by Josh that I am learning the drums quickly, and doing well. Of course, I have a pretty decent teacher... Josh is teaching me what he knows, and between that and listening to different beats, I think that with practice, I might be halfway decent someday.

Anyway, we also think that we might be able to play at the Deford Rock Festival this year as well. It is just a SUPER tiny thing, but it would be fun to perform no matter what :) This Saturday, we are headed to Harbor Beach to try and record a few of our songs to send to Big Ticket Festival. I am excited to see what they have to say.

The band thing had a few different motives behind it: the main one was we both enjoy music, and we both thought it would be cool to be in a band. the second reason is that we wanted a [cheaper or free] way to get into the Big Ticket Festival since we can't afford / dont want to pay the full price for all three days. So, with that being said, there is always a chance we won't get chosen to play on the Indie stage, which is why we have a back up plan :P

I dont know if you have ever heard of NRT Radio (New Release Tuesday), but it is an online radio station that plays the newest Christian music. It is a really great station, and it is usually what is playing if there is music on in our home. Anyway, we emailed them asking if they were interested or able to have a table set up at the Festival, and we told them we would be willing to run the table, or advertise for them or something. They emailed Josh back and said that while they couldn't really afford to have a table or anything extreme, they might be able to have us 'report' for them. Basically what we would be doing is creating a write up on each day: Who we saw play, what we did, what we liked, things like that. Although it is our number one goal to play at BTF, it would be a pretty cool way to go if we were there representing NRT Radio :) It would be a really neat experience either way.

I am very excited about where God is taking us and what we will get to do along the way.

Also, on a different note, Aurelia is looking pretty ready to walk soon. She is getting more brave every day, and letting go of things to stand on her own. Also, she loves giving kisses (mostly to Marvin, our cat, and her stuffed animals. Or to her reflection) and hugs. She is also talking a lot (baby talk, that is), and she knows the signs for milk and all done. While she knows what the signs are for eat and please, she doesn't really seem to like to do them. Instead, when she is hungry, she usually goes 'MMmmmmmm'. Its pretty cute :) I love being a Mommy!!!!!

For Women Only: In the Workplace

For Women Only in the Workplace is a book that looks at the differences between men and women in a work environment. Feldhahn is know for her 'Only' book series, and this is a great addition to those books! She highlights many ways men and women differ in styles of work and thinking. For instance, Feldhahn explains that women tend to think from many different 'boxes' in their minds, while men have the ability think from one box at a time, closing all the others while they work from a specific box. She explains how to use these differences to our advantage in the workplace, instead of letting it hinder us.

I found this book to be full of helpful tips not only for women in the workplace, but also women who work from home or are stay at home mothers/wives. Knowing how men in the workplace think and respond is always helpful, whether you are their coworker, or you are their customer.

I would suggest this book to women in the workplace looking to understand their male coworkers more.

I received this book free from the Blogging for Books program.

Surprised By Laughter: the Comic World of C.S.Lewis

C.S. Lewis was a man who sought Christ and wanted to share Him with others all over the world. He did this by writing about Christ, and has been known for some great works such as Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Screwtape Letters. I am myself a Lewis fan, so when I saw that I had an opportunity to read Surprised by Laughter: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis, by Terry Lindvall, I was quite excited. I will be honest in saying my hopes were dashed upon the books arrival: it was a whopping 454 pages long! The introduction explains how the author wouldn't want to read a book explaining what makes humor humorous, but that is what the book is about. It is repetitive and not an easy read.

While the author of the book seems to know a lot about Lewis and his life, the book read more like a textbook than a biography. It was very repetitive, and I feel like it could have been written in 200 or even 150 pages. The whole book consists of many (too many, in my opinion) long quotes from Lewis' books as well as other people who have studied his life. It was almost as if the author wrote this book using others' words.

I enjoyed some of this book, but this book is more of a textbook read, and I wouldn't suggest it if you are looking to learn more about the life of Lewis. It seems to focus more on different styles of humor.

I received this book free from the Booksneeze book blog program.