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Senior Pictures

Don't forget to stop the music on the side so you can hear the music on here. :)


The song that is playing is "While the Trees Sleep" By David Nevue

Weep with those who weep...

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.- Matthew 5:4

This morning the Lord called home one of His faithful followers, a man that "Walked with God" daily. He truly was amazing and I miss him VERY much. He was such a blessing to me and those around him. So if you could be in prayer for us during this time, especially for his wife Connie. She is such a kindred Spirit and she has such an amazing Godward focus right now, she has been such a humongous blessing to us as we mourn her husband's death. But also be in prayer that our thoughts wouldn't be focused down here on what we have lost but where he has gone. He has gone home. He is happy and he is perfect now! I must admit that I felt very selfish these last couple hours in that I wanted him here with me. But Jesus knows better, and just think... someday we will all be together in the presence of God. No more tears. No more sorrow. No more heartache. I can't wait for that day...

I strongly urge you to go read my dad's blog. He explains what I am feeling so much better than I ever could...

"When I grow up, I wanna be just like Stan."

Hello I'm Ana ...

Hello, I'm Ana, Leah's sister ... her blog was up so I thought I'd leave ya'll a note. :) Hello everyone! Now, I'm leaving, good-bye!

Was it really a year ago?

Well, actually it was on the 24th so I'm a couple days late.... but it was a year ago that my Grandma's cold dead body was lowered into the grave. I miss her VERY much. I find little things around the house that remind me of her and I get a little choked up. A birthday card signed with love from Grandma, a picture of her giving me a gift..... priceless treasures......

" O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:55-58

Decorating With Leah

(Hurrah for LARGE cork bulletin boards!! YEAH!)

(Here is a trick that I have found to work: instead of using your normal push pins, use some old earrings. Although I did find out that the straight backs work a LOT better than the curved backs. You can see one of my earrings in the picture above.)Unfortunately my room still lacks an absolutely-squishy-totally-rotic-shaby-chic-rug for the middle of my floor...... I think I am wanting it in a burnt orange color...... what's a girl to do?

(Click on each picture to see it better.)
Here is a picture of my new bedspread!! :) It makes me SO happy!

Suppose you are standing outside of a great auction room in London, and you hear a clerk say. "He paid $25 for a picture and another man paid $600,000 for one." You would instantly know quite a lot about the two pictures: The $25 picture may be any one of 10,000 little dogs done by amateur artists who paint sunsets, trees, and seascapes, hoping to get paid for them. The $600,000 picture- was it Rembrandt, Michelangelo, or Raphael? You can judge the painting by the price that is paid for it.

We can judge ourselves by the price Christ paid for us, the depths into which He had to reach in order to save us. Christ died for our sins, and when I learn the price that was paid for our redemption, I form conclusions that are justified from other portions of Scripture- how great was my sinfulness, the depths of my nature, and the height of His love.

-Donald Grey Barnhouse-

What are you guys going to do with me posting so many times in one day? :) Don't get used to it.... :P

Almost done!! :) YEAH!

Princess Ponytail

slepling dsenot mteatr!! :)

Eonverye taht can raed tihs rsaie yuor hnad.

Only great minds can read this This is weird, but interesting! fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Pictures with La-La :)

God has settled in heaven certain trials of our faith, which will as surely befall us as the crown of glory be given us at Christ's appearing. God's purposes of grace are a golden chain; not a link must be missing.

When the devil tries our faith it is that he may crush it or diminish it; but when God tries our faith it is to establish and increase it.

Persecution will be to us as the deluge to the ark- a flood to lift us toward heaven.

-D. L. Moody

Looking Forward to the End

How would you respond to an article or feature entitled, "Three Reasons Why You Can Stand Anything That Comes Your Way?" To me it sounds like a bestseller! That's the kind of information I would grab onto (and also grab for ever friend of mine and every person I know who is suffering in any way)!
Well, dear friend, as we approach this next lesson, Peter has a powerful- and hopeful!- message for us as we suffer for doing what's right. He gives us three reasons why we can stand anything that comes our way.

Reason #1 We can stand anything Because of what we are able to look forward to- the magnificent inheritance of life with God.

Reason #2 We can stand anything if we remember that every trial is, in fact, a test.

Reason #3 We can stand anything because, at the end of it,when Jesus Christ appears, we will receive from Him praise and glory and honor.

1Peter 1:3-9

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸ whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

-Elizabeth George Putting on a Gentle and Quiet Spirit pg. 19-20

Do YOU bloom Vikings colors?

I sure do!! It's a pretty safe bet that tonight I will be sitting watching the Vikings vs. Packers game!! GO VIKINGS!!!!!

And yes, Beni, I'll even be cheering for Favre. =)

(p.s. This is one of my pictures... but due to the lack of photoshop... there is no name on the bottom of it. sigh. )

Ah the Memories!! :)

Love You Cloe!!

Meet Mrs. Bailey!

Did you take my doors?

After arriving at church in my Honda Coupe, one of the little church girls walked over and studied it. After she looked at it for a bit she turned to me and asked, "What happened to your two other doors? *gasp* Did somebody steal them?" :) I chuckled a little, "No dear, it was actually made that way." :)

I see Him in everything!

Good morning dear ones, I hope you are all doing well. I know, another day of writing... it appears to go in cycles I think. :) I want to start off by saying thank you very much to the ones that commented on the post right before this one. Those sweet words of encouragement really meant much more than you know. As I finished writing it on Monday I hesitated before I pushed that bright orange publication button, I was worried that it would be boring to you. I didn't think anybody would really want to know what my day was like and so I almost didn't post it. But God had me push that button and I shared with you all what my day was like, and you in turn blessed me with comments so sweet they made my day even brighter. :) So thank you!

That said, today's post will somewhat be along the same lines as yesterday. But unlike yesterday where I unfortunately focused far to much on what I did, I want to focus today on what He did. It truly is MUCH more amazing.

Yesterday was by far one of the busiest days I have ever had in my whole life. Busy in the sense of being gone from my home for most of the day. My day consisted of getting in the car at 8:30am driving 2 hours for a doctors appointment, driving back returning home at about 1:50pm. I then went to work at 2:30 until 8:15pm which included our 3 hour full staff training. I then stopped at home for a max of about 5 minutes and then went to play practice at the public school until 10pm. Fphew. I think I figured out that I was home for a grand total of... drum roll please.... a little over half an hour for the WHOLE DAY! That's CRAZY! But, like I said at the beginning of this post, I will be attempting to focus on what He did and not what I did. :)

God showed Himself to me yesterday when He helped me get a GREAT nights rest the night before. He showed Himself to me when He helped me get my school done in the car on the way to the doctor. He showed Himself to me when He allowed doctor to help me and get me some things to get my body back into its natural rhythm again, which in turn will help me to have energy!! YEAH! Or as the doctor said "I'm giving you a bottle of life." That being said, I had a bit of energy to help with all the running that day. He showed Himself to me when He displayed His awesomeness in the landscaping as we were driving. He showed Himself to me when we got home and I walked down the hallway to my room and I found that my bed was made, and then after further inspection that my whole room was clean! Needless to say I almost dropped my bags. My mom cleaned my room for me! Now you might say, "Wow you must be really bad at cleaning your room... I mean your mom cleaned your room for you!" And I think I'd have to say yes to that. No, I am not good at cleaning my room. I had been slowly cleaning it for about the past week and I just hadn't the time. If you could have just felt what I felt when I walked into that gloriously clean room I think you would understand! She then showed me how she had sorted my clothes. Not even kidding. She showed me how the "Shirts with words and writings go in the tub in your closet, the rest of your closet is sorted by softball jerseys, nightgowns, skirts, dresses and jumpers... you then you have your work shirts and then your short sleeve shirts (and I'm not even kidding here, they were sorted by color!!!!) , long sleeve shirts, plaids, patterns, sweaters.. etc. Now in your dresser we have.." and she continued to show them to me. I just stood there absolutely speechless!! She had done all of this for me! She even had my socks separated by color! What would I do without my mother?! God is soo good to me to give me such a loving mother that knows that it bothers me that my room isn't clean but I don't have the time to clean it. So in her love... she cleans it for me!! I love you Mommy!!

He showed Himself to me when I went to work and did the normal teller job until our closing time at 5. He showed Himself to me on a little 5 minute break that I had when I checked my blog and that is when, dear friends, I saw your comments!! It made me soo happy!! I returned to work knowing that God is still working in me!! Yippee! He showed Himself to me when He helped me stay awake and to actually understand what the training was about. :P He showed Himself to me when I arrived home for a wonderful 5 minute stop. He showed Himself to me at play practice when He helped me to be calm and to remember all of my lines! Also by giving me the best director in the world!! She is so sweet! She is so willing to work with us over and over and over again until we get it! He also showed Himself to me by placing the right guy for me to act with, one who understands why I can't always do the things that they ask me to do (i.e. kissing) and he is so willing to work around it. Plus the director understands and she works with us so that we will be more comfortable in our scenes. Definitely GOD working!!!
He showed Himself to me in SO many other ways that day that I didn't write down for you. He is such an AMAZING GOD!! I am absolutely THRILLED to be called His child. Aren't you?!

I woke up this morning to the soothing sound of rain falling gently outside my window. My polyester sheets cool and smooth all around me as I snuggle into them telling myself "five more minutes, then I'll get up". The thump-thump of mother walking down the hallway to my room, the rattle of the doorknob and the ker-chunk as she opens the door. I bury my face deep into my pillow, "Leah, we leave in 20 minutes for piano...better get up.... are you awake?". I grunted to show I was at least partially awake, enough to hear and understand what she said. I turned over and looked out my window to the rain covered outside, the sky grey with harmless rainclouds overhead. I rolled over and out of bed.

After getting ready in about 15 minutes I walked out the door with purse, piano bag, camera and morning juice in hand. I plop into the drivers seat and run the wipers, the rain smears on the windshield. After we get out of town I see the morning sun as it attempts to peek through the clouds.

"As I drove to piano lessons, a couple hundreds miles away my penpal and blogpal was addressing an envelope to me and hurrying through the rain out to the mail box, hoping that she had given it adequate postage..." :P

The rain continues to patter for the entire ride. Half-way there we turn onto a detour which takes us on this GORGEOUS dirt road. The cornfields on either side of the road just turning a shade of brown, the grass in the ditches lush and green, the dirt road in shades of brown to black over the entire road. Due to the amount of travel on the road, washboards have formed and they shake your car vigorously.


Into the house and onto the couch where I read "Don't waste your life" by John Piper. I sat and tried to soak it in as much as possible. His words like air into a deflating balloon. I devoured it with much joy. After piano lessons we got back into the car and headed back home. As we arrive onto the detour I was awestruck again by the beauty of this little road that I have come to love. I pulled over onto the side of the road and took a good deal of pictures in an attempt to capture the solemness of the road. Off we go again until we arrive home.

After doing my Bible study for the day and 5 pages in math I then go into the kitchen to make Mac and Cheese for Ethan and myself. Just a box mix with absolutely NO similarities to mom's, but it's food right? After boiling the water and putting in the noodles I sat and turned on my computer. The soft humming of the computer as it starts, the pfooshing of the noodles as they roll around in the boiling water, Uncommon Ritual playing softly in the background. It's a chilly 65 degrees outside but I am extremely thankful for it. Due to the chilliness I get to put on a long sleeved shirt and my baggy-second-hand-store-treasure carpenter pants and socks. Total warmness. I call Ethan up and we eat while we eat I sit and I write this, and as I sit here I think of God's endless supply of mercy. I think of how thankful I am that His supply is endless, otherwise I would have used it up long before now. I think of all that I would miss if I attended a public school, or if I was at work. I think of all that God has been teaching me over that last few days and the joy that comes with it. I sit and I contemplate life and I hope that I am not wasting it. As I finish up the last of the fake Mac and Cheese I pray for strength for the rest of the day and for the week. I pray for all of you as well, that you would take time each day to stop and think of all that God has done for you and for what He is doing in your life and what He will continue to do (Phil 1:5-6). I STRONGLY encourage you to read "Don't Waste Your Life" because I know it won't be a waste of your time.

We're Weird... We Know