Last night at Scrooge rehearsal, we got our scripts. My part is a London villager, and I actually have two lines! I'm surprised and excited, since only a few villagers get to say anything. Most of the villagers just sing as a group. I can't wait to start practicing! :)

update

Sorry my title is so boring. I don't know what else to call it.

Life has been normal. Just working and occasionally hanging out with friends. I started being a 'mother's helper' to one of the young moms in our church. She's expecting her second child, and hasn't been feeling well. I go over every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month and watch her boy Zach while she does housework and grocery shopping. It's been fun getting to know her a little better, and to bless her with free babysitting. :)

I got together with a friend at Starbucks on Wednesday. I haven't done that in a long time, so it was good to have a 'girl to girl' talk. We prayed for each other when we finished talking. It was definitely time worth spent.

On Tuesday, I went with Mom and Dad to see the last Harry Potter movie. It was a really good movie!


Last Saturday I auditioned for a musical, and got in. I'm so excited to have a chance to act again! :) The play is Scrooge. Rehearsals will be every Monday night, until the last 2 weeks when they will be every night. The first one is this coming Monday. Don't know who I'll get cast as, but it'll be fun no matter what!

dinner and a farm

Saturday evening a group of my friends and I got dressed up and went to a fancy restaurant for dinner. Just for fun. :)
A few of the girls got together to fix our hair before meeting the others to carpool. One of the girls curled my hair for me. It was the first time I've had my hair curled. I liked it!


We met in our church parking lot before driving to the restaurant downtown.



At the restaurant:


After dinner, we walked for a while. We got some funny comments, like "Are you guys going to prom?"
It was such a fun evening! I love my friends!

Then, Sunday evening we went to a cookout at a friend's farm. It was neat seeing the animals, and hanging out with people I haven't hung out with in a long time.




Angora rabbits!

amazing grace

God is amazing. The more I read and study His Word, the more I desire Him and the more content I am in Him. I'm amazed by God's grace being poured out on my life right now.

There is a possibility that we might be moving in a year, due to changes in Dad's job. We're not certain yet if we'll stay or move. Even in the uncertainty, God has given me peace and contentment. I know this is where God has me right now, so I'm trying to be more purposeful in what I do here. I'm not being lazy and saying, "Oh, I'm not going to do much here because I could be somewhere else in a year." No, I want to give my all for what God is doing right now, where I am. This is only because of God's amazing grace at work in me.

Another mark of His grace is that I will be sad if we end up moving, but I know God will provide everything I need to serve Him wherever I go. He will give me strength to press on.

Thank You, Lord, for your amazing, unending grace!

Grace unending all my days
You give me strength to run this race
And when my years on earth are through
The praise will all belong to You

I Stand in Awe

I feel like posting a song, so here it is.

I Stand in Awe

You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
Too wonderful for comprehension
Like nothing ever seen or heard
Who can grasp such infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depth of your love?
You are beautiful beyond description
Majesty enthroned above

And I stand, I stand in awe of You
I stand, I stand in awe of You
Holy God to whom all praise is due
I stand in awe of You

You are beautiful beyond description
Yet God crushed You for my sin
In agony and deep affliction
Cut off that I might enter in
Who can grasp such tender compassion?
Who can fathom this mercy so free?
You are beautiful beyond description
Lamb of God who died for me

brief update

Friday night I had the privilege of serving at our youth group end-of-year celebration. It was my third time helping, and I always enjoy it. I love being there to see awards being given to the young man and woman who most exemplify Christ. It's encouraging to hear how these young people devote themselves to God, because they represent the future of our church. The youth of our church love the Lord, so by His grace our future looks bright. =)
Serving with friends is fun as well. We helped set up tables with cupcakes and other desserts, and a water/coffee table. Then during the event we restocked the food and drinks, and manned the popcorn machine. Afterward we cleaned up, and even got to use the photo booth we rented for the teens. Fun!
Here are some pictures.

The decorations were really colorful this year! This is the entrance to the auditorium.

they made a huge canopy out of streamers

two of the lovely helpers, Kasey and Samantha

one of the dessert tables

the popcorn maker

Sorry if you can't see this one very well. It's most of the helpers, having fun with the photo booth. (if you click on the picture you can see it better)

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Also last week I got a gift from a friend. It's a license plate frame for my car, and it matches my steering wheel cover. ^_^

humility

I've been reading Humility by CJ Mahaney, and it's a challenging book. CJ says that pride is your greatest enemy because to be proud is to contend with God for supremacy. He says that humility is your best friend because it attracts God and His grace. The best way to kill pride and cultivate humility is to focus on the cross of Christ.

Think about it:
All of us were slaves to sin, chained to a cruel master. We were completely helpless; there was absolutely nothing we could do to break free. We didn't even want to. Sin blinded us so that we saw our lives as the best there was. We couldn't see that we were enslaved. We were the worst creatures on earth.

But God so loved His creation that He sent His son Jesus to live on earth and die on the cross, in order to set us free. God provided a way for us to be delivered from slavery to sin. Yet even with that wonderful provision, we cannot believe in Jesus without God revealing Him to us. /Everything/ regarding salvation is God's doing. We contribute not even the minutest part to our salvation. It is all a gift from God. Unmerited and undeserved.

When I think about that I am ashamed of how easily I fall into pride, thinking I should have things differently than what they are. How can I contend for authority with God, when He so freely gave me the gift of salvation to which I contributed absolutely nothing!

something new

Sorry I haven't been posting very much! I'll try to do better.

The latest news of the family is: Wesley has a girlfriend! :)

(sorry for the bad quality of the picture) Her name's Anna Grace, and she's really sweet. I'm so excited for her and Wes!