still obsessed with summer

http://www.etsy.com/listing/52230087/wild-air-large-28-x-20-canvas-print

taylor swift

for the past several years, i have vowed to despise taylor swift's music.

i don't know why. maybe just because people say i look like her.

or because she's a country singer and i hate* country music.

[*clarification: when i think of country music...

i think of the songs you hear on the radio

about some guy and how much he loves his pickup truck.

he's upset and tears well up in his eyes.

wailing, his voice breaks mid-verse, but he doesn't care.

chorus: he sings about a girl or how he wants to go home to mississippi.

he drinks some coffee and feels better.

he sees a butterfly and there's a gentle breeze in the trees.

happy song ending with guitar solo.

is so dumb and pointless...]

but... i actually have begun to like one of taylor swift's songs.

and i actually went home and listened to it... several times!

i have not dared yet to listen to any of her other songs,

because maybe then i will like them too.

and if i like more than one of her songs,

then it will be said that i actually like her.

now do you see the dilemma i am in?

my previous prejudiced thinking has been turned upside down!

i was comfortable in my little blindly hating bubble.

but it has burst it into a million pieces! oh dear.

whatever am i going to do?

shall i listen to another song in the hope that i will hate it?

i do not dare to take that chance.

because if i do like it... then i will like it!

exodus 14

i was reading in my quiet time this morning from exodus.

the israelites have finally gotten out of egypt after the ten plagues.

they escape to the red sea, and God tells moses:

"I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them [the Israelites],

and I will get the glory over Pharaoh and all his host,

and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord."

[vs.4]

i was so struck by how passionate God is about his glory in this sentence.

he PLANNED for the egyptians to pursue his people.

the israelites panic when they see that they are being followed,

but GOD already KNEW. he is so worthy of trust.

he allows the people to cross through the parted red sea on dry ground,

and then when the egyptians go through, he sends the waves crashing down.

his purpose in changing pharaoh's mind was to be able to magnify his glory.

"I will get the glory OVER pharaoh" is really scary.

i was really struck by how passionate and furious this phrase sounds.

God will stop at nothing to bring himself glory.

but he is kind and loves his people.

he is the only being worthy of receiving all the glory,

and that's why its right for him to plan things for his own glory.

his people find joy when he is praised and magnified.

therefore it is kind of God to glorify himself.

anticipating

"The purest and most exhilarating joy is the delight of glorifying God, and so anticipating the time when we shall enjoy him for ever."
~chs

dunk mug

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64247286/dunk-mug

invisible love [ jj heller ]

if my arms could reach around you
i would never move
and if my eyes could see you
i'd have no faith left to prove
the wonder of invisible love

this is how it has to be
with you and me
the wonder of invisible love

when i fall i feel you arms
before i reach the ground
lord, i know your whisper
though i've never heard the sound
the wonder of invisible love

this is how it has to be
with you and me
the wonder of invisible love

someday there will be no time to mind
i will be your long-awaited bride
we will dance away the night

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/01/clever_book-folding_sculpture_trick.html

zipper jar

http://www.etsy.com/listing/26634889/sale-blues-and-greens-layered-vintage

work

life will always be work.

i can procrastinate for a day or two.
but then work will catch up with me.
and it'll be much harder to re-learn how to work.

or i can rush to get ahead a day or two.
but then work will catch up with me.
and it'll be much harder to re-learn how to work.

sometimes you just have to enjoy the little things.

this has been hannah's revelation of the day.
thank you for listening in.

when the storms swirl and rage
there are mercies anew
in sorrow and pain
you will carry me through
and at the end of my days
when your throne fills my view
i will sing of your mercies anew

summmmmmmmerrr

{http://www.etsy.com/listing/48361351/sherbert-palms-11x14-fine-art?ref=tre-4d337a3c027a6d91449cac01-2}

154 days, 4 hours, and 35 minutes.

which feels like an eternity away.

i have really bad spring fever this year.

i cannot wait for school to be overrr.

i was daydreaming last night, which would be more like nightdreaming, but that would be too easily confused as sleepdreaming, and i was deff awake... anywho, i was whateveryouwanttocallitdreaming last night, about summer.

things i love most:

1. the warm summer rains that leave the air feeling fresh and smelling sweet.

2. picnics outside on a blanket with ants crawling up your legs and bees humming.

3. walking around our backyard with bare feet picking raspberries.

4. green grass, and the smell of dirt, and the blue sky after the gray of winter.

5. the soft, glowing sun that stays in the sky all day long.

6. swinging, running, skipping, swimming, jumping, singing, playing, hula hooping.

7. last year: local missions, swim team, youth retreat, summer celebration, vaca.

random! cute baby dress made out of a pillowcase.

genius! check it out here on ButterflyBabyPlace.

grieved by sin

"A man who fears not God, will break all his laws with an easy conscience,
but one who is the favorite of heaven,
who has been indulged to sit at royal banquets,
who knows the eternal love of God to him,
cannot bear that there should be any evil way in him
that might grieve the Spirit and bring dishonor to the name of Christ.
A very little sin, as the world calls it, is a very great sin to a truly awakened Christian."

.chs.

his love knows best

"Fixing my heart on the blessed fact that what the Lord does is right and best, simply because he does it, I feel the anchor hold in the depths of his love - and no tempest is powerful enough to drive faith's barque from these moorings."
~Susannah Spurgeon

The Secret of the Gospel

"The secret of the Gospel is that we do better when we realize that it's not about our doing better. Growth does not come by going out to find what we're missing, but by living in the reality of what we DO have. Because of Jesus, I have everything. Everything I long for in Christ, I already have."
~Tulian Tchividjan

stupid funny...

http://www.thedoghousediaries.com/?p=207

this is for bekah.

patterns

i love patterns. i love how crazy and fun they can be.

they make things seem layered and sophisticated.

this clutch/organizer by downstairsDesigns comes in lots of different patterns.

i love them all!

prepare yourself

ok, this is realllllllly funny.

and downright disturbing.

something to say - starfield

and faith might mean there won't be answers
and hope might mean enduring through the night
help me not forget in darkness

the things that i believed in light

why i love school.

[a growing list of quotes from my classes]

1. "...so don't be down on my peeps!"

"wait they're your peeps?"

"yeah, he was blowing up his peeps."

2. "dude your ancestor must have been ripped!"

3. "then way out, far in the distance, past the blistering desert sun... they saw... pete hermit!"

4. "i have two older brothers and they're both nerds."

5. mr. stogs - "oh my gracious! he's holding her phone! he's touching it! so cute!"

6. "oh my gosh you just drowned our fish!"

"wait oh! really? ooooooooh. hahahaa!!!"

"ummm. wait, did you just say you drowned your fish?"

"uhhh. yeah. i actually did."

"that's awful! oh no!"

"ummm. you can't drown fish."

"oh. right."

7. "mrs. ellis likes me. she's hugging me! she's BLESSING ME!!!"

8. "its not a brain. its a turtle butt!"

9. "oh my goodness, no way! i've always wanted to dissect a sponge!"

10. mr. stogs chanting: "huuummm. my father can beat your father in dominoes. huuum."

new.years.resolutions / things.to.do

[a list in progress.]

1. goals:

- think more. i want to spend all that time at night before i fall asleep mediating on God. i want to meditate on him randomly throughout the day. i want to remember him when i eat, sleep, breath, sing, read, write, live. he is so infinite and satisfying, and i want to go back to my first love.

- read more. for the first time ever, i want to read through the bible in a year. i've got my whole plan set up, and i'm SUPER excited!

- pray more. i just wrote up a plan that tells me what to pray for on different days, printed out in my Bible so I don't forget. so my mind doesn't just wander aimlessly.

- remember. i can't do any of these things without God's help. and he's always there by my side, hands filled with ready grace. this means that i don't have to fall into self-pity mode once i have failed on january 3rd. i am not perfect. God is good though! :)

-

2. books to read:

- Tale of Two Cities by charles dickens

- another book by Gene Stratton-Porter

[ Freckles & The Keeper of the Bees ]

- something totally different. something happy.

-

3. movies to watch:

- Inception [haha. check already. score!]

- a new, cute, funny chick-flick thats worth my time

- any suggestions???

-

4. prepare for the future:

- learn more recipes

- application: cook once a week for mom

- supply my hope chest more

[ got some measuring utensils for christmas ]

[ ice cream scoop ]

5. misc.:

- keep taking all of my vitamins and supplements

- buy a new journal so i can keep writing

[ and check already with this one too! thanks rebekah! :) ]

- make sure that every week i have spent time with my siblings

- funny one now: be presentable at all times.

(my family is rather annoyed by the fact that i walk around the house all day in mom's old painting sweatpants, and one of dad's old baggy shirts. HA! i shall try to shed this habit that is so disgusting to them. :)

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