Patrick the Persimmon

Hey, everybody! Let me introduce you to Patrick! ....... Yep ... Patrick the Persimmon!

Patrick is the creation of all the ladies who went on the Calvary Chapel Ladies' Retreat last weekend. Yep, I was there too!

I will tell you the story behind Patrick right now, and then I'll share all of my adventures with him in a later post. Get excited! This is one of the greatest stories you'll ever hear! :D

Alrighty ... sooooo!

I and probably 17 other ladies from my church headed to the Indian Creek Camp and Retreat Center down in Oolitic, IN (it's down near the Bloomington/Bedford area) last weekend to get away from the crazies of this life. It was a great time to relax, laugh, get into the word, pray, breathe in the crisp, October air, be convicted by the Holy Spirit, and be encouraged by great women of God. It was a marvelous time! ................ Little did we know that a little man would be joining us on this all-ladies retreat. ;) He turned out to be one of the highlights of the weekend for all the ladies on the trip, and it was a hilarious time! :D

So ... the story of his coming into existence is as follow .................

One of the events we got excited about on the trip was The Amazing Race. If you've seen it on TV, you'll know what I'm talking about. :) So ........ our super cool leaders (the ladies who put on the whole retreat) made up a series of activities to complete in one hour. The team to get the most activities done successfully by the end of that hour won cool prizes! (My team won!!!! And I got a cool "God Journal," as I'm going to call it!) .... Well, one of the activities was to take pictures of random objects. We had a list of objects written on a piece of paper. The list had several items on it .... like metal, a turkey, pine, a hat, the color purple, something heavy, a flying object, a persimmon ..... things like that! And the more things you could get into one picture, the more points you got! So!!! Guess what my team did!? We made a little persimmon man!!!! Yep, take a look at Patrick! He is a PERSIMMON! He is riding on a TURKEY feather. He has a stem that we called a HAT. He has PINE sticking out of his head. He has METAL screws for legs. And what you can't see is that we had a lady with a PURPLE shirt make him FLY over a HEAVY block. YESSS!!!! We had half of the list in ONE picture!!!!!!!!! Needless to say .... my team won. And it's all because of Patrick!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, by the time The Amazing Race was complete .... everyone on my team had grown too fond of Patrick to just throw him out in the yard .... how could we do that?! He was our new little friend! So we took him into the lodge and set him on the counter. Later that afternoon, I thought that the story of Patrick would be a great blog post! So I took a picture of him, and I was ready to go at it! ... It wasn't a minute later that a super fun lady from my church, Cheryl Huffman, told me I couldn't just take a picture of Patrick .... but I needed to take pictures of him DOING things! Soooo! That idea began a spiral of super fun pictures! Patrick ended up doing all of the things we did on the ladies' retreat. So ............... (yes, I know I say "so" a lot) in a later post or series of posts, I will show you guys pictures of Patrick the Persimmon undergoing all of the activities that we did on the amazing Calvary Chapel Ladies' Retreat!!!

So stay tuned! You don't want to miss this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Favorite Teacher in the World!

So ... I was e-mailing my buddy, Ben, today ................. and I got to thinking about all the crazy-great stuff God is teaching me right now. Ben is good at getting that stuff out of me ... and he doesn't even have to ask me about it. I guess that's what spiritual thought buddies do for ya! Yay for Ben! :)

But I thought I'd share a "snipet" from that e-mail ....

THESE ARE ALL THE THINGS GOD IS TEACHING ME RIGHT NOW! .... What is God teaching you? ....... Really ... share the lessons with me! :D

"Snipet" to Ben :)
"Yes, indeed! I will ever be working on balance ... but yep, I'm back! :) It was a good fast ... God's been teaching me a lot ... and the fast only helped in the teaching process. :) I've been learning ..... surrender (that it's a DAILY task!), putting ALL of my hope in Christ, being content ONLY in Jesus, conforming my desires to HIS, PATIENCE, remembering that God speaks even in His "silence," and finally, to ever be running after my Savior no matter how busy or sad or excited or whatever I get. ...... Wow! Those are a lot of lessons. I really am learning a lot! I just don't take the time to sit down and think about it! Nice. Our God is faithful!"

Remember high school? Yep ... those teachers that really could care less about what they were doing. They didn't teach. They handed you worksheets and said, "Have at it!" They didn't help you out when you had a question. They gave you study guides that were identical to the tests ... so you could memorize all the answers and spit 'em back out on the test, get an A, and not have even tried. Well ........ God is NOT that kind of teacher! He is one of those RARE teachers ... the kind who make you work for your grade. The teacher everyone respects because they are tough but completely helpful and a guide. I didn't have too many of these kinds of teachers in high school, but the few I did have were the ones I respected and liked the most. They were my favorite teachers. Teachers who cared about their students. Teachers who wanted their students to learn the material. Teachers who didn't lay everything out on a study guide because they wanted their students to go through the process of learning the material ... and learning it well.

That's exactly how God works!!!!!!!!! ............... He is that tough teacher, that respected teacher, that FAVORITE teacher ....... because He has a plan for us. He doesn't lay out our whole lives right before our eyes. He makes us work for 'em! He makes us go through the crazy ... sometimes exciting, sometimes tormenting .... process of LEARNING!!!!! He wants us to be BETTER STUDENTS! Better students of His word ... better students of our time .... better students of understanding and knowing WHO He is and WHAT He's all about and HOW He is at work in our lives! He wants us to be the BEST students we can be!

.... Wow! This is really something to think about! Sweet! Our God is BEYOND a great teacher! .... He's my FAVORITE teacher in the world!!!!

Skinny Woman!

Just another quick post! And yes .... I am totally bragging!!!!!!!! This picture was taken at a youth group bonfire a couple weeks ago, and dang! Who IS that skinny woman!!!??? .... Oh wait. That's me! :D

It's fun losing a little weight! ;)

And this is a picture of me being the huge goober

that I am deep down inside ...

and on the surface too (obviously!). ;)

Breaking the Fast!

Hey, all! I'm finally back!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm sure I'm way more excited than you all are - ha ha! - but perhaps a few of you are excited too.) ;) ... Well, while I was fasting from e-mail and blogging, I took some time to reflect on the time I spend on the internet. I also pondered about some drama that has come up in my life on account of blogging and e-mail. THAT is why I took a break in the first place (and my dad highly recommended it!). It was a rough task! And I'm glad that I'm back at it again ... but I'm also gonna continue evaluating myself. I'm gonna work harder at balancing e-mail and blogging with school work and Jesus time and friends and whatever else. ... To say all of that, I talked to God a bit while I was taking a break, and I'm posting a couple of prayers from my "prayer journal." Thought they would give ya'll some insight into why I fasted from these things in the first place and what I'm working towards as a chaotic-spirited, emotional, crazy person. Yep ... that's me. .... I'm incredibly thankful that God is faithful. That He never ceases to teach me, convict me, love me, push me, and uphold me no matter what I'm going through! We serve a mighty God!

So here are my two long prayers. :)

October 13, 2008
Lord God,
I'm fasting from e-mail (well Faithful7326 anyway), as you well know ... and I've had urges here and there to get on and check my e-mail - because I'm curious - but also because I want to encourage and be encouraged. Encouragement is my favorite part about e-mail. BUT! I am committed to following through with this fast. And it occurred to me ... the biggest part of fasting is PRAYER! So I'm sitting here at school, really wanting to check my Faithful7326 account, and instead, I'm praying. :)
Above all else, I want to honor you and make you proud of me (bring GLORY to your name). :) One way I'm trying to do this is cut out some of the drama in my life - since I bring nearly all of it on myself. So ... that's the biggest goal behind the fast. I want to cut down on drama and focus on YOU.
Lord, whatever you want to do in my life ... do it! I'm yours!!! I've surrendered _____. I've surrendered my new major. I've surrendered. I'm ready. I'm ready to be used by you. I'm ready to be effective! I'm ready to live out my calling! I'm ready to function again. I'm ready to live in joy and encourage others and be a light. I'm ready, Lord. I'm yours. Use me!
Okay. Just taking a homework break to say ... I'm continually surrendering myself to you; I love you; I want all of me to be about YOU. Thank you for being with me today. I'm excited to continue the day. Wow! Thank you for joy and peace. I praise you and thank you today. Be glorified in me.
Talk to you soon! :)

October 15, 2008
Lord God,
I really want to check my e-mail! Really! I do!!! What is it about e-mail that I love so much? Why do I want to check it 3, 4, 5 times a day? If I weren't fasting, I bet I would've check it at least twice by now, and it is only 10:00 in the morning! What is the deal?! I guess this fast will put some things into perspective. PRIORITIES! What are my priorities, Lord? Help me figure them out! And fast! I need to find some BALANCE, and I need to focus on YOU! Help me, Lord!
So as you're teaching me, convicting me, encouraging me, pushing me ... will you help me be content? Content in you? Content in not knowing what you have in store for me? And will you give me a stronger desire for your word and for quality time with you? Time of REAL Bible STUDY? I need more of you. I want more of you! Be my all!
Wow, Lord ... isn't it cool how prayer works? I don't even care about checking my e-mail anymore. I've only been talking to you for a couple of minutes, but I don't really have a desire to check my e-mail anymore. When we take the time to focus on YOU instead of everything that "gets in the way," instead of everything that distracts us from your presence ... we find ALL we need, all we WANT in YOU. :) Yay for that! Thanks for that! Please keep convicting me to spend more time with you. I don't have to cut out e-mail altogether, but I DO need to PRIORITIZE! It has been a good break from e-mail so far ... and I've still gotta week left of my fast ... but if I learn nothing else from this fast, help me to learn that I need YOU above all else, and I need to make sure YOU are my #1 priority! E-mail is a great encouragement (most of the time) ... I am encouraged, and I can encourage others ... but I spend way too much time online. Help me focus on YOU! You, Lord! You! I want more of you! Keep convicting me! Keep encouraging me! Keep pushing me to make ALL of ME be for ALL of YOU! Thank you, Lord!You are amazing, Lord! Be glorified in me today! ... Back to class, Lord! Talk to ya soon!

Fasting ... it's not easy ... but it is so needed sometimes .... and whatta ya know? God demands it of us! Check out Matthew 6:16-24 ... Jesus says "WHEN you fast" not "if you fast." Ooo ... yeah. Did you just feel a smack up side your head too? Darnit. Conviction. We all need it, don't we? ;)

Wes' Testimony!!!!!!!

Ahhh!!!!!!!!! My brother sent me an e-mail today, and this is what it said! (It's his testimony!!!!!!!!!!!!) .................... "Yo mike, one of the guys on the team is putting on a bible study for guys on the team. I'm trying to put together my testimony... how does this sound? --- i dont have a very elaborate testimony. its pretty basic. My dad lead me to christ at an early age. however I'm not sure of the exact date/time. Ive been saved for so long that i tend to take it for granted from time to time and live for myself rather than for Christ... I know im saved becasue God always catches me. he convicts me and hits me with the realization that how i'm living is the wrong way. Living for Christ is a strugle however its the best decision ive ever made. God brings me peace and happiness i cannot understand. liiving for Christ is a gradual growing process." .............. Isn't that amazing?! MY brother! He loves Jesus! What an AMAZING blessing! (For those who know Wes well, know this is BIG for him!) Yay!

Yet Another Stolen Post (from Judy and Barrett) :D

Yay! I love stealing blog posts from Judy. It's becoming a habit of mine. :D

She let Barrett post on her blog today, and he used a "fill-in-the-blank" set up, as I like to call them ... go to www.midsummermeanders.blogspot.com to read little Barrett's post ... and here's mine! :)

Outside My Window... is darkness and cool autumn air and cars zipping by on the highway.

I am thinking ... about how much I don't want it to be Monday tomorrow but how excited I am to strive after Jesus for another week!

I am thankful for ... my friends. God has given me the most amazing friends in the world. I'm thankful for growing friendships with Ben Nilsen, Judy Nilsen, and Alex E. They are becoming some of the most amazing encouragers in my life!

From the kitchen ... I have food that needs to be packed for tomorrow's lunch and some strawberry muffins that need to be warmed for breakfast!

I am wearing ... my favorite shoes in the world - my crocs! ... my favorite blue jeans (a whole size smaller than usual) ... and a green shirt.

I am going ... to strive to spend more time with Jesus this week and write the BEST biography of Judy that I possible can! :)

I am reading ... my Bible - the Psalms, Romans, Numbers, and doing a topical study on "trusting God."

I am hoping ... for healing and an INCREDIBLY cherished and broken friendship to be RESTORED!

I am hearing ... the sound of my parents watching TV downstairs.

Around the house ... I find peace by just BEING. Do you ever just need to "be"? My home ... the house I live in, is a refuge from the crazies of this life.

One (Some) of my favorite things ... conversations with Ben, hugs from Emily, blogging, peace from the Lord, smiley face fruit snacks ....

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... love Jesus more this week than I did last week! ... call my friend, Rachael Miller, and tell her I love her ... write a stinkin' great Judy Nilsen bio! ... get the oil changed in my car.

Well, wow. Wasn't that fun? I thought so .... I hope you all weren't too terribly bored with it. ;) Bye for now!

Moment by Moment ....

Hey, all :)

Just a quick thought for the start to your week. (I got this from my bosom buddy's blog!)

"Happy moments. Praise God.
Difficult moments. Seek God.
Quiet moments. Worship God.
Painful moments. Trust God.
Every moment. Thank God."

Enough said.

Have a fantastic week, folks! Let's love Jesus more this week than we did last week! Whatta ya say??? :D

Picture Phone Scavenger Hunt :)

Quick "yay" story for you all.

Well, everyone knows I have the best friends in the world ... I mean, half of my blog is dedicated to those amazing friends! Yay! So ... my "yay" story is about a random activity we undertook yesterday. ... "Undertook" ... that's a fun word. ... Anyway ... here's the story. It should be short but fun!

If you ever get bored with your friends (Who has time to get bored these days! I don't remember the last time I was bored!), then try a scavenger hunt! Not just ANY scavenger hunt ... go to your local Wal-Mart for the hunt! ... Last night, after Higher Ground, er ... a trip to El Rodeo ... we went to Wal-Mart and had a picture scavenger hunt. :) We got out our handy picture phones and took off through the store. We broke up into 2 teams .... We had 10 minutes to take pictures of random items throughout the store, and then we met up again, switched phones with the other team and took off to see who could find the most items in 10 more minutes. (My team won - "Team Wade" ... comprised of me, Emily, Mags, and Jared). It was a fun time! ..... And I even found some more smiley face fruit snacks! (Head to my "It's the Simple Things" link on my page to read about the story behind the smiley gummies! It's a good story!) Fun times!

Well, that's all for now! :)

The BEST Thought I've EVER Heard!!!

Wow, guys! Hannah has a link posted on her most recent blog post, and it is AMAZING! It is the BEST - I'm serious! - the BEST thought I've heard in a long time! Maybe the best one I've EVER heard - period! It's soooo good that I'm copying and pasting it right here! Right now! It's a blog from some youth pastor guy from somewhere. (Yes, don't you love "vagueness"?) ;)

I haven't checked out any of his other posts, but the website for his blog is www.stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com. ......... Read this post, and really, really think about it!

#413. Trying to find a cause.

Have you ever doubted your purpose in life? Have you ever thought, “What am I supposed to be doing?” Or why am I here? Why don’t I have a mission in life?

I have, with increasing intensity these last two weeks. I’ve been wrestling with the question, “What’s next God?” I’ve been reading books about purpose and listening to great sermons like Craig Groeschel’s “Warrior” series. I started asking God, “What do you want me to do? What would you have me do for you? What did you put me on this earth for? What is my cause?”

I wanted him to tell me to start a ministry or be a spiritual warrior in faraway lands on a faraway adventure. I wanted him to give me a big cause so that I could do big things for him in big ways. But last Monday, in the midst of working through the weight and burden of feeling like I didn’t have a cause, I felt like God reminded me that he doesn’t think like I do. Maybe, when he hears me crying out for a cause, when he hears me asking him to transform me into a spiritual warrior, he wants to cry back:

"You want to be a warrior? Be a warrior of need and surrender. Make fighting for a relationship with me your greatest cause and see what other causes come out of that. See what other causes I put in your path. I can bring you adventures, but those things are small. Those are tiny compared to the cause of surrendering your heart and soul to me. That's your cause right now. Daily, hourly surrender of your heart and soul to me. You are on an adventure, make no mistake, but the real adventure, the big one that I cheer loudest about from the bleachers of heaven is for your heart. The adventure that begins every morning. That is the adventure I care about. Don't miss that one."

And I do, I miss it all the time because I focus on "what's next" instead of "what's now." I get so lost thinking I need to “do something for him” instead of “be in a relationship with him.” Like it says in Revelation 2:4, I forsake my first love. Repentance. Forgiveness. A minute by minute, all consuming need for God.

I don't want to miss that adventure. I don't want you to miss it either. God has big, crazy things planned for all of us. But the biggest adventure, the greatest cause, the grandest purpose, is the one that starts in our heart.

.........
This post really hit home with me because I've been asking the same questions ... "Lord, you've taken a bunch of things away from me lately ... and I can deal ... I'm healing ... but what am I to do now? What's next?" Wow! .......... "Make fighting for a relationship with me your greatest cause and see what other causes come out of that." --- THAT is ALL God is calling me to do right NOW!!!! Yep! That's it! That's all of it! That's my CAUSE! That's my PURPOSE! Not just now ... but ALWAYS. When I get my relationship completely right with Jesus, and when I make my relationship with Him ALL of me, ALL of what I'm about .... that is when He brings the other purposes - the important yet smaller ones - into my life! I focus way too much on the "what's next" rather than the "what's now?" What a great thought! ......... I know I just repeated everything this youth pastor guy just said, but his thoughts are so APPLICABLE! So EXACTLY exact!!!!! Yep! Wow! A MIGHTY thing to chew on, for sure!!!

Okay ... that's all for now. Let's make our relationship with Jesus our GREATEST cause! Much easier said than done most of the time, but ..... let's give it a try! (A LOT of tries!!!) Yeah!!!

A Paraphrase

Wow! There are too many thoughts rollin' around in this brain! ........... I'm still deciding if that's a good thing or a bad thing! ;) Well, here's a quick thought from Psalm 37 ... another goal of mine, I guess.

Psalm 37:4 - "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

This does NOT mean that if you love Jesus, He'll give you whatever you want. NOPE! It doesn't work that way! I think a lot of people take this verse to mean that, but they are sadly mistaken. God is faithful. He takes care of us. He loves us. He has our best interest at heart. But He is not the kind of God who gives us anything and everything we want. He desires to grow us, stretch us, allow us to go through pain and unpleasant circumstances and mishaps so that we will learn to depend on Him completely! God doesn't give us our desires just to give them to us ... He has MUCH bigger plans than that! He wants us to learn more about Him in the process ... learn more about how to live for Him in the process ... learn how to be content ONLY in HIM in the process. He wants our desires to be His desires!

This is my "paraphrase" of Psalm 37:4 ---

Make JESUS the ULTIMATE pleasure of your life, and THEN your desires will be CONFORMED to HIS ... and once your desires have been conformed to His ... THEN He will give you the desires of your heart!

Another Stolen Post (continued)!

Swweeet! Yep, I'm back at it! Blogging! I know I do it too much ... but it is a great outlet for me. It is a great way to wind down from the craziness of life. And I think some of you enjoy my posts on occasion as well. ;)

Here's the rest of that stolen post from Judy's blog ..... :)

4 places I've lived:
Indianapolis ... Francis Lane ... right down the street from my favorite cousin, Megan (until I was almost 6).
DANVILLE! The best town in the world!
Clayton, Indiana ... we were living with some friends for some reason ... perhaps it was during our transition to good old Danville.
And yeah ... that's all. Can't even name 4 places.

4 TV shows I watch:
Yeah ... I don't watch much TV. But when I do ... these are my favorites -
The Cosby Show (my all-time favorite!)
Family Matters
Bonanza
3 2 1 Penguins (I watch it on Saturday mornings sometimes ... heck yes, I love cartoons!)

4 places I've been:
Ducktown, Tennessee .... we stopped their on our way to a mission trip :) ... I mention it simply because Ducktown is about the coolest name for a town you can think of, and I was there once!
Bogalusa, Louisiana - this was the BEST mission trip EVER - and I got to go twice!
Texas/Mexico border ... mission trip my freshman year of high school - this is the farthest I've been away from home.
Poplar Bluff, Missouri - that's where my youth pastors live! And I get to see them in 32 days!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 websites I visit daily:
www.funandfaithful.blogspot.com - I love checking for comments ... and yeah, I usually leave a post just about everyday! ;)
www.midsummermeanderings.blogspot.com - yep, I heart your blog, Judy! :)
www. (Hannah's blog) .com - yeah, I forget your address, HayBay.
www. (Emily's blog) .com - and yeah, I forget your address too, em.

4 of my favorite foods:
POTATOES! - mashed, fried, baked!
STEAK!
Los Rancheros - chips and cheese dip!
Bean burrito from Taco Bell

4 places I'd rather be right now:
Calvary Chapel
Grace Fellowship
Higher Ground
New Zealand!

Okay ..... so that was fun! Off to read my Bible and do some homework! Have a fantastic day, my blogger friends! :D

Another Stolen Post! ;)

Yeah ... so I know I'm addicted to my blog. It's a lot like e-mail. When I need a break from homework throughout the day, I check my e-mail. I LOVE getting mail! I also check my blog - I LOVE getting comments! Waaay too much fun! Okay, so anyway ... I was checking Judy's blog this afternoon for a school project - honest! I am writing a biography about her for one of my non-fiction writing classes, and she pointed me to her blog for a couple of the questions. But! On my way to finding the posts about how she met her Mike, I stumbled across a fun "about me" kind of post. Yeah. I'll have to check the fun Mike posts after class. I've got about 8.25 1/2 minutes until I have to leave for class. Eek! We'll see if I can do this in that time! You know me! I'm oober longwinded!

4 jobs I've had:
1. "Assistant book handler" for my mom's book business - sorting books, stocking books on shelves, pricing books, pushing heavy shelves full of books, carrying heavy boxes of books, staring at books, taking money for books ... but hardly ever reading books. (June 2003 to present!)
2. IUPUI University Writing Center .... I read folk's papers and help them make their papers stronger. :) (Last fall to present) I love this job!
3 & 4 .... yeah, I haven't had any other jobs.

4 movies I'd watch over and over again:
Hairspray! .... I love musicals!
Pride and Prejudice (the Keira Knightley version) ... it's one of those comfort movies.
Monsters Inc. ... one of the BEST animated movies of all time!
Princess Bride ... wow, a good one!

One minute and counting .... shoot. It is impossible. I am way too longwinded. I'm off to my Religion class!

"Another Stolen Post" ... TO BE CONTINUED ................