The birthday: for future reference

I'm going to outline my birthday on here because all weekend I've been trying to recall my last birthday, and I can't. No one else can either. Even if it wasn't the most exciting birthday, I want to at least remember it, you know? Since that's kinda a bummer, I'm going to make sure I have something to remind me of this birthday next year.

My presents: Painting supplies :), A teenage mutant ninja turtle belt (!), a study Bible, a vuvuzela :D, a punching bag (yessss), trail mix (the best kind), a painting, a bracelet, another bracelet/hairband, $, an itunes giftcard, and a free smoothie from Tropical. Basically the most maginficent presents ever.

The people who celebrated with me: UJ and Aunt Mary. The Ps. The bff (see blog title). The little Noogs. The Bean. The parents. The Meghead.

The lows: Felt baaaaaad. Things rotten between one parent and I ):
The highs: 10 hours with afore mentioned bff, awesome gifts. The love of God.

The activities: Choich. Eating. Driving. Singing. Blowing the vuvuzela. Talking to friends and family.


The End.



Lydia

Doing a post on thankfulness right now is so corny but when I've got:

Everything I need
A wonderful church (as in the people. the building doesn't mean nuttin)
Friends with whom I spend a lot of time
More reading material than I can handle
A djembe
An interesting short story idea bouncing around in my head
Beatles music readily available
16 years and 11 plus months under my belt
The world open before me
Great health
A God who is always with me,
Loves me more than life,
And is bigger than the biggest heartbreak,

How can I help it?






Lydia

Hate the sin, hate not the sinner.

Many times today, I think, people tend to hate a sin and then turn around and subconsciously hate the person who committed the sin. I have been guilty of this, so I know others are guilty as well.

It's so east to be judgemental, to see a person sinning and think, "Oh they're not fit to be saved; they're not worth to be saced and be my brother or sister in Christ." How dangerous, and how false a statement! These people need Christ just as much as I do, just as much as you do. For us as believers to fall prey to this idea that because one person has ugly sin that they are not worthy of the Gospel, or a Savior. That is false and could not be further from the truth.

I am a sinner. I have sinned just like the rest of the world. For me to sit by and watch as the community of the Church (who should be the most loving, kind, accepting people) judge the rest of the world the way they tend to do is unacceptable. Not to mention that we are no better as people because we're saved, as someone who isn't saved.

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
1 Corinthians 6:9-11

If that doesn't put things into perspective; if it doesn't convict you, then I pray at some point it would.

Hate the sin, LOVE the sinner.

I've got this ongoing quest for unrationalized(there's probably an actual word for that), un-industrialized stuff. Not crappy home made crafts, but stuff that I would otherwise buy at the oh-so-rationalized Wal Mart. This is why I like buying products from Threads 4 Thought, Nest (buildanest.com), Ten Thousand Villages, Sway Hearts and local green/eco-friendly stores (though all those places are still pretty rationalized). My favorite, though, is stuff made by myself, or someone I know directly. I like seeing a bunch of different elements beforehand, watching them be sewn, glued, stitched, and taped together, and turned into something useful and fun.
What I realized today is that music totally comes from people; music is bureaucracy-free (that's what unrationalized means in sociology terms)! Not machines, not huge organizations, just people. Even the sound-machine sounds that are infused in all the songs one hears on the radio can't hide the individuality of the drums, the guitar, the violin, the human voice. It's awesome. One can pick apart the different instruments, and it's not machines playing those instruments, it's people! There's a different person behind each sound that goes on. Heck, even DJs are behind those sound machines. Basically all this means that if i, Robot does happen, and we humans lose this time, we'll still be the ones with the music. There's a beautiful process that we miss out on when we're working on just one part of something. It's so rewarding to be able to break stuff down and get it back to the people, and the raw ingredients that make it real.





Lydia

SALLY IS HERE!! and I have been beating on her for the last hour :)
She's really a wonderful djembe. Except for this weird sort of piercing/resonating sound that she makes...I'm gonna look into that. Hopefully it's ok/will go away.
I'm so thankful!!



Lydia

Yesterday, Brianna and I were in a church class dealio and we were talking about the sovereignty of God or something, and how He has the ability to take anyone of us or any of our relatives at any moment. The "teacher" quickly mentioned various semi-common ways to die like cancer, heart failure, or an anuerysm in ones' brain. When he said that last one I heard Brianna (next to me) suck in her breath. I looked at her, and then remembered. That's how Ms. Sample died. I immediately felt mellow, and sort of stirred up. It was just like wow. How quickly one unexpected reminder got my heart back to feeling sad, and confused.
Later yesterday I had prayer time with a girl named Anna and she mentioned almost crying during the morning class. Her beloved aunt passed away a while back from cancer-another of the diseases/inflictions that had been mentioned. We found out that we've both suffered the same sorts of grief. It was nice to speak to someone who knows exactly what it's like, and who felt the same way I did that morning.
How crazy is it that grief can bring us together in ways that life never has?




Lydia

Pilgrims. When you hear that word what do you think? I'm going to guess that most people think of the Pilgrims and associate Thanksgiving, Indians, and a looooooong time ago. That's what I thought of until today.
I got a magazine today (I get this magazine monthly--Voice of the Martyrs--and it's absolutely fantastic) and the editors note was on Pilgrims. I laughed to myself and thought, "Why not, might as well read it." He explained that he can identify people in his life as being "pilgrims." These people came into his life and walked with him and his family through tough times and average times. These people journeyed through the highs and lows of his life. They helped him, comforted him, and prayed for him during these times.
Today, while reading this, I just realized how incredibly true this is. How beautiful this is.
I sat and thought of the people in my life who stand out, who journeyed with me through times of hardship and of joy. Some of these people have come and gone, brought into my life by the hand of God, at just the right moment to help me through one or two patches in my life. Other people are still here, helping me make sense of this thing called life. Yet others, specifically one, have passed from this Earth to a life beyond this.
I am overwhelmed with the love I have been shown through my life. It is beautiful. The Lord has been good. He has shown me His love, through His people. Through community. He has brought the perfect people into my life at just the right moments to help me not mess up to much; to make heads and tails of things.
My dearest, Lord Jesus--Son of the Father, thank you.


Brianna

If you drove past my house today (highly unlikely) you would have seen me on my bicycle. In sweatpants (yes, the closed-ankle kind) and TOMS, rocking this oddly shaped-helmet that I got from Goodwill.
I've taken up cycling, and once you get past the realization that you're not only propeling yourself over several miles for no real reason, but also a 50-100 pound bicycle, it's not bad. I do really enjoy it actually. I just have to keep myself from comparing it to running, because then I'll start hating it.
There's a restaurant about seven miles from where I live (Hayestack Cafe-go try it, you'll be glad you did) and I applied for a job there last week. They said if I got the job I'd most likely be washing dishes. ha. Anyway, that's why I've started cycling. I'm building up my endurance so IF I get the job I can cycle myself there instead of using my mom's car and a bunch of fuel. It will be most eco-friendly if it works out. And even if they don't hire me, I'm gonna ride there sometime and eat. So really it's a win, win.





Lydia