I've been thinking a lot about God's sovereignty and holiness. Mostly I've been considering the way that I am and feel in His presence. And then I wondered: at what point did I put God in my pocket and call him my homeboy? I treat my relationship with God as something that is so very casual. I throw shout-outs to Him throughout the day, for instance "Hey God, it's me again. I need ________" or "Can you ______", and that blank can be filled in with any number of things; things that I should ask for his provision or guidance on. And I'm not saying that we shouldn't have a regular prayer life, because he wants to bless us and give us every spiritual blessing, but when I communicate with him and wait on him, my attitude is all wrong. It's like becoming too familiar with someone and forgetting who they are. There's no sense of reverence for him in me. I feel like there are several popular praise and worship songs that mirror my same attitude.

I wonder if part of it comes from our society. We don't recognize anyone as being sovereign over us. I tend to think the president is an average guy that we could sit down and have a beer with. There's no fear or awe associated with anyone I know in this country.

Jesus gave us an example of how to pray:
"Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen. "

I tend to skip the first 5 lines and jump to the part where I ask for his provision. I neglect to remind myself of who it is I am talking to. I want to know God and stand in awe of him. I also want to be a good steward of my time and stop making plans apart from his will. That I were able to do the things I know to be right!
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On a completely different note, I bought a fish today. Just a little crown-tail beta. His name is Jean-Luc Poisson II. Or, je vous presente le deuxieme Jean-Luc Poisson, le roi d'eau. Il est jaune et magnifique. Mais il est mort presque aujourd'hui quand June Bug a essayé de le manger. Mauvais chat! (He is yellow and magnificent. But he almost died today when June Bug tried to eat him. Bad cat!)

Also, Michaela, I would just like to say that I have had your blog open for a while listening to your playlist. I love it! And you my sweet friend! When are you coming to visit?

I thought this was hilarious:

Peyton Manning gives advice

23 January 09

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." - Psalm 91:1

Please pray

Please keep Kristin Francis and her family in your prayers. She had surgery today for a brain tumor. It's a serious, life threatening situation. The last unofficial update I heard was that the surgery was not as successful as the doctors hoped. We're asking for a miracle.

Probably Similar to That Time I Saw the Queen...

"Notice the speed of the motorcade:

No faster than a grown man with a gun can walk."


Nice.



There's a lot of excitement out there today. My first class was dismissed early so that my professor could go home and watch President Obama's inauguration.

Obama just got out of his car in the parade to walk and people are losing their minds...

An article which my Uncle brought to my attention:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/article2141868.ece

Oh, for the Love

Oliver, one of my roommate's cats (the one on the right), is standing on me right now, kneading my muffin top. I wish he knew how rude it was to point out people's trouble areas. It is a little inspiring though. I gained 8 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Eat much? Just saying... Also, funny story. When I was working at The Write Touch (a stationary, gift, and wedding invitation shop in Houston), a woman came into the store after lunch one day and began the longest stream of one-sided conversation I have ever heard. I walked through the store with her and went back and forth to the front counter to set her things down. When I began to ring up her sale, I kid you not, she reached across the counter and put her hand on my stomach and asked me how far along I was... I honestly...just could not find the words to tell her anything. I am rarely completely speechless, but homegirl just let all the air out of my balloon in one swoop. It wasn't even a question, just an assumption that I was. And she touched me! Reached over a barrier and put her hand on me. Is there an unspoken rule about strangers being able to touch pregnant bellies? I wasn't pregnant, just for the record. And I'm not a big girl, so when I gain weight it shows every time. I went to the backroom after she left and did a quick evaluation. My co-worker was doubled over, breathless, and crying when I told her what happened. I was not amused. I can laugh about it now, but I still don't ever wear that blouse. Too bad; it looks good on the hanger.


I want to paste the last two devotionals I've read (yesterday's and today's) from God Calling. It's my roommate's copy so I don't read it consistently. But if it's lying around I'll scoop it up. If you've never checked it out, I highly recommend it. It is Holy Spirit breathed and inspired and I take something away from it almost every time.


January 17:
"Silence. Be silent before Me. Seek to know, and then to do My will in all things.
Abide in My Love. An atmosphere of loving understanding to all men. This is your part to carry out, and then I surround you with a protective screen that keeps all evil from you. It is fashioned by your own attitude of mind, words, and deeds, towards others.
I want to give you all things, good measure, pressed down and running over. Be quick to learn. You know little yet of the Divine Impatience which longs to rush to give. Does one worrying thought enter your mind, one impatient thought? Fight it at once.
Love and Trust are the solvents for the worry and cares and frets of a life. Apply them at once. You are channels and though the channel may not be altogether blocked, fret and worry corrode, and in time would become beyond your help
Persevere, oh! persevere. Never lose heart. All is well."

January 18:
"Pray daily for Faith. It is My Gift.
It is your only requisite for the accomplishment of mighty deeds. Certainly you have to work, you have to pray, but upon Faith alone depends the answer to your prayers--your works.
I give it you in response to your prayer, because it is the necessary weapon for you to possess for the dispersion of evil,--the overcoming of all adverse conditions, and the accomplishment of all good in your lives, and then you having Faith, give it back to Me. It is the envelope in which every request to Me should be placed.
And yet "Faith without works is dead." So you need works, too, to feed your Faith in Me. As you seek to do, you feel your helplessness. You then turn to Me. In knowing Me, your faith grows--and that faith is all you need for My Power to work."


Meditate on those and take much away, my friends. And then go get the book.
I've been struggling this new year to have my quiet time. For whatever reason, I haven't worked out a schedule in this new house and have therefore been off my game, so to speak. I honestly struggle so much throughout the day when I have not spent time with the Lord. All of my awfulness comes pouring out in abundance and I end the day frustrated and chastising myself for my hateful attitude and unsettled heart. I know the cause of my frustration, but then the next day I don't take even a few minutes to converse with God. The extent of my disobedience amazes me sometimes. And not in a good way. This past week I have made a huge effort to change this and have almost established a schedule. Classes kick off on Tuesday and I think that will really help.

Holy Birthday Cake, Batman!

I thought I would be a little creative and change up my blog.

I'm happy with the end result. I'm surprised how long it took me though! I need to practice html code more. I had to find a template online because I couldn't remember a lot of things. So here's my tribute to Spring, which will be happening in approximately 2.4 weeks. I love Texas!

[And I think birthday cake sounds divine right now!]

We Moved!

Now that we are in our new house and our internet has finally been set up, I will try to keep things up to date! (Ha! Yeah, right!)

So, since Christmas I have been busy [with the exception of the last several days, which have been devastatingly un-busy]. Classes start again on the 21st, so I have been on vacay for about a month and a half (sigh, such a hard life. Right after Christmas I came back to Austin and started packing up the old house and moving things over one car load at a time. I think the seats in my SUV were folded down for about 3 weeks straight. I finally cleaned out the back of my car and set them back up on Sunday. The moving went pretty smoothly and then for the next week or so I unpacked everything into the new house. I hung some framed pictures on the wall in the entryway and living room yesterday so it's feeling a little more put together. I'll try to take and upload some pictures of the new house. I haven't had batteries for my digital camera in over a year (at least). We're also working on a day for a house-warming party, so if you're in the Austin area, keep an eye out for our e-vite.

Also today I tried to pull a cactus out of the ground. I didn't know it was a cactus until it was too late. That was painful. I'll probably have to dig it up along with the little berry trees that are right next to it. I'm hoping to clear the front beds out and put some flowers and maybe some tomato plants in. The front of our house needs a little spice. It is easily one of the ugliest houses on the street...but not for long!

Take care friends!