picnics and more fun stuff.

1. This week has been:

a. busy

b. crazy

c. insane

d. all of the above

And...my mind goes to test taking. Great. So. If you can't tell, I've had a busy week. Good week, just busy. Monday, I had class, then had to drive to Auburn for stuff. And then Tuesday, I went over to the school I'm doing my observation at for my initial meeting. My teacher is nice, the kids are pretty cool, and I think first grade will be a lot more fun than fourth. Now, if we can just get the energy levels down a bit...

After I got finished with my observation, I went to lunch with Mom. W

e had Subway. Yum. And since it was such a pretty day outside, we took our lunch to the park to eat it. And we took pictures with my cellular "for the blog"! Ha! I love it!

Then, I had a huge scary Math test on Wednesday. I'm not a fan of this Elementary Math stuff. It was soooo much work and took foreverrr, but I finally finished! Then, I had a meeting with my advisor and she said I might actually graduate on time (May 2010) . Um...YAY! Bad news is I'm 2 hours short of being a Junior, so I have to wait longer to register...not fun.

And then today....I did Ed.Psyc. No, really. I think that's all I did. Oh-and read a People magazine while Mom got her hair did and I procrastinated on the Ed.Psyc. And I may have gotten dressed and eaten lunch and dinner. And some cake. But, other than that, EdPsyc defines my day. And NOW, I get to go listen to some classical music for a concert I have to attend for my Music Appreciation class. So not fun.

But. Yeah. That's my week. Maybe this weekend will be more fun! :)

things that make me smile.

• Spring Break.
• Chacos.
• Going Bowling with friends I haven't seen since High School.
• Listening to the new Passion CD.
• Tickets to Passion 2011 (it's going to be awesome!)
• Frozen yogurt- with brownie pieces.
• Quiche for dinner.
• Sunshine.
• Lilly cardigans at T.J. Maxx for twenty.
• Yoga pants.
• The Great Sponsorship Challenge (I so want to do this!)
• The thought of teaching my kids how to sew in Sunday School.
• Possibilities for this summer.
• Running shorts and t-shirts.
• Taking pictures.
• Flying kites on the beach.
• Chocolate covered pretzels.
• Diet Coke.

We can elaborate more at a later date. It's sufficient to say that it's been a good Spring Break. And- there's still the weekend left! :)

sneak peek.

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But, the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. -Mother Teresa

Random Ramblings.

SBX is here.

I'm excited.

No class for a week.

In other news,

My hard drive had something happen.

I may have accidentally deleted important things

Off of it

To try and fix it.

I'm not sure.

So, today Daddy and I got a new hard drive.

It's not HP.

And we got Windows 7

Because Vista isn't the fav.

And now I have a computer

That works

And looks different

So. I have to get used to it.

It's weird.

I'm a little sad

Because I lost a lot of music in the transfer

Because the hard drive is

Not recoverable.

I lost Hannah (as in Montana, the movie)

in my hard drive.

I'm a little sad.

I also lost some worship songs

But I can get those again

I think

This whole hard drive failure thing

Isn't real cool when it happens

For like

the second time in less 1 and a 1/2 years

3 hard drives

20ish months

Not cool, Mr. HP.

But, I'm blessed.

All I lost was some music

And all my bookmarks

Including all my blogs.

It stinks.

All my pictures are accounted for

Between Facebook

And some special people.

(Or they will be special to me!)

And my documents were all on my external hard drive.

And I have a Daddy that can fix things.

I'm blessed.

I would end this post

With a picture.

But,

I have none on this computer.

Except for some tulips

And a desert

And pictures that come with a computer.

But I think they are copyrighted

And I'm sleepy.

So.

Goodnight moon.

And Happy SBX. :)

(P.S. Did you figure out what blogger I'm copying in the format of this post? And the literary reference at the end?)

Introducing...

This is Sandra.

She's six years old and in Kindergarten. She lives in El Salvador with her parents and four siblings. She likes to play house and with dolls. Her birthday is in September. She makes the beds and runs errands for the family as her chores. Oh- and did I mention- she is the child that I sponsor through Compassion International. I got my sponsor packet in the mail today. It made me smile. And that made me think...if I get this happy about getting a package with her picture, how much more happy will she be after she gets a letter from me? Even though I've never met her, I'm already in love with her. I want to meet her. I want to jump on a plane and fly to El Salvador and see her- right now! (And that's a big deal. I'm scared to death of flying.) But, I would do it in a heartbeat if it meant I would get to see her, and hug her, and tell her how much Jesus loves her. I've never felt like this before. I'm just so amazed at the fact that I get the opportunity to make a difference in this adorable little girl's life (I'm so not biased at all).

So. Go. Now. Click on that blue box in my sidebar and find you a "cute kid" of your own to sponsor. You can't have mine, but there's thousands more out there just waiting for someone like you to come along. Go. Be the change you want to see in the world. Make a difference in a child's life and help them have the opportunity to escape from a world of poverty and leap into the loving arms of a Savior, the one we call Jesus Christ. :)

and you think this is hard? try dying on a cross.

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

- Phillipians 2: 1-5

A friend of mine recently caught my attention when he posted about part of this verse on Facebook. I decided to look it up in my handy dandy Bible and found the rest of it and been reflecting on it since. I mean, it's kind of a long passage, and it kind of has a lot of really good stuff in it. So, as part of my effort to digest it all, I'm writing a little something here.

First of all, Paul starts out this chapter with an attention grabber. In my public speaking class I took my first semester in college, my professor (the Captain) told us that we should always start a speech with an attention grabber, such as a "Did you know...?" or some rhetorical questions. Paul takes the second option here. He is asking the Phillipians some questions, that he most likely did not intend for them to answer, since it was a letter and all, to grab their attention so that they could key in on the information. We know that when we are in a relationship with God that there should be encouragement from belonging to Christ and that we should have compassionate hearts. It makes sense. Paul is asking these questions to get the readers of the letters to focus in on what he's saying and not be all ADD.

In verse 2, Paul begins the movement towards his main idea. We might call this verse a supporting detail. Paul tells the Philippians that he (and more importantly God) would be happy if the people would get along. He wants them to agree with each other, love each other, and work with each other. He wants the people to come together for a single purpose. Any guesses on what that one mind/one purpose is? I'm pretty sure it has something to do with God. If we (as a body of Christ) were completely focused on serving the purpose of God and not the purposes of ourselves, I think that we would get along more and we would love each other more deeply. It only makes sense. Paul tells us how to do this (put the purpose of God above our own) in the next verse.

I believe that the main idea of this passage (verses 1-11) is found in verse 3. It says how we can live in a way that puts God's purpose first. And it doesn't sound that hard at first.  The words are small and easy to understand, right? We just need to do this: "Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had." Okay....so. Don't be selfish. Don't try and impress others. Be humble. Think of others as better than you. Don't look after just your best interest. Be like Christ. Maybe it's a little harder of a concept to grasp when we really start thinking about it. I mean, I like my comfortable life. I like to get what I want. At times, I put myself first. This probably happens way more often than it should. I'm not always humble. I think that I'm the awesomeist sometimes. I put others down because of judgments I have made about them that normally turn out to be completely wrong. This is really hard. We live in a culture that tells us to be the best we can be and to take down anyone that stands in our way. We live in a culture that says that some people are better than others because of the color of their hair, or the car they drive, or the neighborhood they live in, or the school they go to, or the degrees they have, and so forth and so on. The world tells us that some people are better than others and that if you are one of those people than you should live like it. You should show off what you have. But, this is wrong. The world is wrong. The people who have the most in the world's eyes often have the least in the Kingdom of God. Jesus went as far to say that it is "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God" (Matt. 20:23). I don't think rich just means money. It means possessions. It means having something that makes you feel like you can do it on your own and lessens your dependence on God. I think sometimes, that it would be easier to live a sold out life for Christ in a third world country. In some places, people depend on God for everything. That they would have food to eat. Clean water to drink. I think sometimes...we just don't get it over here because we have it all. Even the poorest of the poor in America have more than a majority of the world. Jesus told the rich young ruler in Matthew 20 that in order to inherit the Kingdom of God, he needed to sell everything he had. But, the rich young ruler couldn't do that. He had placed his interest over the interest of Christ and that cost him. Are you willing to give up everything you have? Am I willing to give up everything I have? I don't have an answer. I'm embarrassed about that. I don't know what I would do if God told me tomorrow to jump on a plane and leave everything behind and follow him across the world to a place where I didn't speak the language or know anybody. I would freak out. I would probably panic. And I don't know if I would go? I mean, I need to finish school. I need to get that degree. I need to do my "to do" list. And then...then, I might have time for God. That's not what he wants. Deep inside, that's not what I want. I feel like there is something out there that if we listen for, God will show us where to Go. I don't think he's calling everyone to leave America and live among the impoverished. I mean, the global economy would collapse. :) Kidding, God would take care of that. But, you know what I'm saying. I don't think he necessarily wants everyone to go to Africa. But, I think he does want us all to care about the people living in poverty. I think he does want us to do what he leads us to do, whether that is sponsoring a child, or going on a mission trip, or sending money, or teaching bible school.

He wants us to be like Christ. No. I'm not perfect. Neither are you. But, he wants us to "give it our best shot". Put aside out worries for a second and think about others. He did it. He sent his son Jesus Christ to die a criminal's death on a cross when he did nothing wrong. Do you think this (living by putting God and Others first) is hard? Why don't you try dying on a cross? For doing nothing that is sinful. In the place of a whole bunch of sinful people, people that don't even appreciate the precious gift you've given them. He wants us to have the attitude of Christ, and Christ put others first, so we should also. Why is this so hard?

SMA.

I came across THIS blog almost a year ago.

It's the story of a little princess, named Gwendolyn, that has a disease called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

This semester, I have to write a paper for my education class. I'm writing my paper on SMA. Since a majority of people have never heard of this disease, I'm hoping to spread awareness so that we can get a cure for all the people like Gwendolyn.

Here's some quick facts:

• SMA is the leading genetic killer of children under the age of 2.
• 1 in 6000 children are born with it. It may take months to be diagnosed. The most severe type normally results in death in the first 2 years.
• The gene that causes SMA has been found. But, there have been no widespread development of a treatment and cure for the disease. Some doctors say that we are only a few years from finding the cure.
• 1 in 40 people are a carrier for SMA.
• It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes muscles to atrophy. In the more severe cases, this affects the respiratory system.
• Patients with SMA tend to be "intellectually precocious" and as verbal as possible. Many people with SMA can lead very successful lives-if they can survive long enough. They are not "mentally disabled" and their minds are completely present.

The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation was one of the winners of the Chase Community Giving Celebration on Facebook! Even if you're like my mom, and you "don't read sick children blogs", I encourage you to go to http://www.gwendolynstrong.com/ and read about this incredible family and how they are working to overcome this disease.

compassion.

Last Saturday, Compassion International put on a concert in Nashville called "Help Haiti Live" to raise money for Haitian Earthquake Relief Efforts. During the show, Shaun Groves told a story about a little girl that he met on the Compassion Bloggers trip to India. It really touched my heart. I realized, after looking at the bank account, that I could make it work. I could sponsor a child. So, I went to Compassion.com to "pick me out a child". I knew that I wanted to sponsor a little girl. Because they pull at my heart like nothing else does. And on, oh-about page five, I found HER. The one. She has a smile that just melts my heart and she makes me happy. So. I did it. I took the plunge and I committed to sponsoring her. I'm waiting for my packet to get mailed to me (it's supposed to take 15 days) and I can't wait to get my hands on it. I'm excited about getting her picture in the mail and showing off her great big smile. I'm going to send her letters and pictures and most important of all--I'm going to pray for her. I'm going to help her she that she matters in this world, that she's loved by many people. She's already loved by me and I don't even really know her, and more importantly, she's loved by the creator of the universe, the savior of the world, the Lord Almighty.

This week, a group of Compassion Bloggers left the comforts of their life in America and traveled to Kenya. I am so excited that I get to read about their experiences. It's going to be an awesome experience (and secretly--or not so--I hope one day I get to go on one! I would love to get to meet Sandra someday!). So, won't you join me in praying for their trip and the people they encounter? I'm sure they'd all appreciate it. You can visit Compassion Bloggers to read about their journey and also a lot of them are tweeting about the trip! So, check it out! There's a button on my sidebar that you can click on, or you can click on the banner above to go to Compassion's site and figure out how to sponsor a cute kid of your own!

dr.seuss

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You're on your own.

And you know what you know.

And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go.

-"Oh The Places You'll Go"

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss.

(And Happy Read Across America Week!)

parades are fun.

I'm taking part in Abigail's blog parade, and I am so excited, because it looks like fun! So, I'm going to go ahead and get my little party started.

Hi. My name is Lauren. I'm nineteen. I think I'm pretty cool, if I say so myself. I live at home with my parentals and two smallish munchkins that call me "Sissy". I love disney princesses and cupcakes. I aspire to be the next Bakerella. I'm an elementary education major and can't wait until the day that I get to teach cute kids all day. I want to be creative when I grow up (or now!), so I read crafty people blogs and then decide that being creative isn't worth all the effort. :) Want to know more about me? Check out THIS post.

Now, Abigail gave a list of interview questions. I'm going to try and answer them. Here we go!

1. What's your favorite time of the day, and why?

I'm a afternoon person. I don't like the morning because I have to get up. But, I don't like nighttime either because I can't stay up late or I get sleepy. I like my sleep. So, maybe my favorite time of day is the nighttime because I'm sleeping. I don't know.

2. If health wasn't an issue, what food could you live off of?

Cupcakes. I love them. They make me smile. And they can taste really good. But, I would want to make them myself so that I could make them look cute. Because that's fun. And cupcake liners make me happy too!

3. If you could have one wish granted (besides wishing for more wishes), what would it be?

I'm going to go with world peace. Because it sounds like a really good answer. And it's the answer I always give for this question. Peace and harmony. :)

4. What's one thing that you get teased about a lot?

Um. Probably my cluelessness. I don't catch on to things really easily. I'm pretty slow to pick up on jokes, which means they're normally about me. But, I don't mind, as long as it's done in love! :)

5. If you could choose one movie, book, or TV show to spend your life in, which would you pick? What type of character would you be?

I'm going to go with Harry Potter. Call me nerdy. Whatever. But, I want to be Ginny and marry Harry. (And I mean the one in the book. I like him better.). It's always been a dream of mine since, oh...fourth grade. :)

6. If you could have one talent that you don't already have, what would it be?

I'd love to be artistic. I can't draw if my life depended on it. Stick figures are like the "Mona Lisa" of my artistic creations. And, i think it would be really cool. :)

7.If money were no object, where would you go on vacation?

Disney World. And I want to stay in Cinderella's Castle. And- Can I have Prince Charming, too? Thanks!

8. If you were an awesome singer, which genre would you sing?

Um. I would be a rapper. Because, I think I would be a great rapper. (Daddy- I would do Jesus rap for you, okay?) and because my mom already has a swagger wagon and we're awesome like that. And because I make up great rap lyrics like "I like your shoes. They're red and blue. With pink and yellow and purple polka dots too." You just wait. When I become an awesome singer....

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, what would it be?

J.Crew. I heart them, but they're way over my budget (except for sale!). So, a shopping spree would be great. But, I mean, we could do a Michael's one and then I could get all that scrapbooking and cake decorating stuff and be creative and that would be cool two. So. One of them.

10. If you could live in any point in time, when would it be?

The present. I like my life and where God's leading me. I can't think of any other time or place I'd rather be.

11. If every outfit in your wardrobe had to be one color, what would it be?

Pink. Enough said. :)

12. If you were one of the seven dwarves, which one would you be? (Doc, Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Bashful, Happy, or Dopey)

Sneezy. Those allergies. They're rising up inside of me as we speak. Or. Um. Blog.

13. What's the last album you listened to?

That's embarrassing. I'm pretty sure it's Backstreet's latest "This is Us". And I'm pretty sure that I like it. Or some of it. Some of it's just plain weird.

14. What's something we'd be surprised to know about you?

I'm not a people person. I get really nervous around people I don't know. Except online. Because I don't really know them, and most people are pretty nice. :)

So. That's it for today! Yay! That was a fun parade. Now, I should probably wind down for bed. I have to be up early in the morning for observations at a school an hour away! :)