Spring Cleaning

We're getting close to the end.  Starting Sunday afternoon, my family has been rushing to get the house ready for an exchange student. Even though the student won't be here for another few months, we are getting pictures taken of all the rooms in the house as part of the process to get her. It's been a busy few days. My parents traded rooms with my sister and I. We've been cleaning the whole house, getting rid of some of our clothes and shoes to make room, finding a bed for her, etc. Today is the last day. We're having a bed delivered, a new kitchen sink and counter top put in, finishing vacuuming everything; and the pictures are getting taken at three this afternoon. While the process has been somewhat stressful, tiring, and rushed, I'm glad we're doing it. I can't wait to have another sister :)

On a side note, I will get the pictures of the cotillion up asap. My sister (she's the photographer and techy one in the family) is the one that uploads the pictures to the computer, and she isn't feeling well. When she's feeling better, I'll see if she can get the pictures onto the computer for me.

P. S. Anyone have an idea of what I should title this post? Comment with your ideas!  For now, it will be "Spring Cleaning."

Historical Cotillion!

I'm about to leave for the Historical Cotillion hosted by the local home school organization. This is the fourth or fifth one I've been to, and I can't wait! Usually I dress in regency era(think Jane Austen) clothes, but this time, I chose 50's! Definitely a new thing for me. I've never worn anything other than a regency dress, which is what most girls wear.  Pictures to follow tomorrow or Sunday.
Until then,
Bethany

Gun-Control

I'm going a little anti-gun-control crazy today. I got these off of a page on Facebook... If anyone out there reading this is for gun-control...

No, the image above does not mean every person needs a gun, and no, I'm not saying you're wimpy if you don't have a gun. I don't have one either. But don't try to take away other people's guns because you don't want/have one.

Valentine's Day

Here's my checklist from Valentine's Day. Comment with your favorite thing you got/did on Valentine's Day :)

By the way, if you don't know what Red Lobster is, it's a seafood restaurant.

Does God Only Hear the Many?

Have you ever gone to a prayer meeting, or any meeting, and asked people to pray for something, only to have everyone forget when the time to pray comes?  It feels kinda discouraging, right?  That happened to me tonight, and I was sitting there wondering what to do.  Do I cut in when someone finishes?  Do I just leave it?  What should I do???  Whether you believe it or not, I got my answer. No, I didn't cut in; I didn't just leave it to not be prayed about.  And, no, I didn't hear some magical voice speak to me.  But God did help me.  If your prayer request ever gets forgotten, you don't need to worry about what to do.  Because, even if no one else remembers to pray, there is always YOU!  God doesn't need a million people praying, or even one person praying out loud, to hear your prayer, and answer it.  Prayers can be answered by one person, by themselves, praying silently.  That was my answer.  I was so worried that God wouldn't answer my prayer if only I asked.  He needs more people, right?  It takes lots of prayers to get His attention, right??

Wrong.

Don't be afraid to be the only person praying for something.  God won't ignore you because you're "not important enough," or "too small."  When you're worrying, it may not sound like that.  You may not be actually thinking "I'm not important," or "I'm too small."  But at the back of all your worrying, those are the reasons, or something like them.

Don't worry about having others forget to pray about something, because maybe the only one God wants praying for it... is YOU.

Shout Out to the Best Teamates Ever!

Shout out to Amanda and Kayla! You guys are the best! I know the team couldn't have won if y'all weren't there to pull me through it! Great job, girls! Congratulations!

Help Me Pick!

In my Speech and Drama class, I have to read a poem about or having to do with love for Valentine's Day. I've found my favorite three, but I don't know which one I like the most. Can y'all help? Comment with your favorite and second favorite. Here's the links:
How Do I Love Thee? - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Love Stays, Feelings Fade - M. S. Lowndes
Shakespear's Sonnet 116

I will go off of the most popular.  Also, if you have a poem about love that you like or have written, post it or give me a link to see it, and I'll add it to the list :) (If you wrote the poem, and don't want your name with it when I read it in class, let me know, because I'm going to say who wrote the poem otherwise.)

Presumptions and Prejudices

I saw this on Facebook today and thought it was profitable.  

'A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. "That laundry is not very clean; she doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap." Her husband looks on, remaining silent. Every time her neighbor hangs her wash to dry, the young woman makes the same comments. A month later, the woman is surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and says to her husband: "Look, she's finally learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this? " The husband replies, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows." And so it is with life... What we see when watching others depends on the clarity of the window through which we look.'

Make sure the way you're looking at someone else isn't colored or blurred by presumptions or prejudices. I will do the same for myself.

Taken from Common Sense Club's page on Facebook.

The Fear of the Lord

Do you love death?  Do you fear God?  You may be wondering why I asked these questions, and what they have to do with each other.  In proverbs 8:36, wisdom is speaking, and says, "But he who sins against me injures himself; all those who hate me love death"(NASB).  And in Proverbs 9:10, it says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."  If you do not "fear the Lord," then you must "love death," for if you don't "fear the Lord," you do not have wisdom. And if you do not have wisdom, then you hate wisdom, and, as stated above, "...all those who hate me love death." 
If you don't fear the Lord, you need to.  Have faith in God, believe what Christ did on the cross is real and has saving power, the power to save you from your sin and wickedness, and repent and turn from your sin. Read your bible, listen to biblical teaching, pray and beg God for mercy and forgiveness.  If you don't fear the Lord, yet think you're good enough to get into heaven, think again!  "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away." - Isaiah 64:6.  If you don't fear the Lord, and say that science has "disproved" God, and that those who believe in God are fools, even if you won't believe the bible, the bible does have something to say to you: "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved it is the power of God... Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?  Has God not made the foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe... Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men... but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong..." - 1 Corinthians 1:18, 20, 21, 25, 27. (I know I skipped some verses in there.  If I would have copied the whole passage, it would have been much longer.  To get the whole of the passage, read either 1 Cor. 1, or 1 Cor 1:18-31.)  For those of you who do fear the Lord, "Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the Lord always.  Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off." Proverbs 23:7, 8.
May the Lord be with you, everyone, to save and sanctify you, to turn you to repentance, and to work His will through and in you.

About Me

I am a Christian who lives in Texas.  In case you're wondering (probably because of all the pink on the page), yes, I am a girl.  I love books and animals, and I volunteer at the local aquarium.  That's basically me. If you have any questions, feel free to comment and ask them. I will (at my discretion) answer them. I am not afraid to say no, so if there are any questions I am uncomfortable with, I will not answer the question. I will not post my age or the city I live in.  If there are any questions about the page you have, first check my "About the Page" link. It is at the top of the page, under the title and description.  If I haven't already answered the question there, comment on that page and ask.  The same rules apply for comments there: I won't answer the question if I'm uncomfortable with it, and won't say my age or city.