School To Dos...

So here is what I have to do between now and the end of school which is in exactly one month. On December 8th at say 3 or 4pm I will have the hardest semester of my life over with!


But between now and then I have a crazy long list of things to do for my classes. So I can see my progress over the next month and for my love of lists, I'm going to make a list that I can come back to and mark off as I get things done... So here goes.


To Do Before Thanksgiving:

1.    Research paper

2.    Reading 46-48

3.    Reading 49-51; VND 11

4.    Reading 52-55

5.    Reading 56-59; VND 12

6.    Reading 60-64
6a. Read Article Dr. Tatlock Emailed

7.    Jane Eyre: last 125 pages

8.    Jane Eyre Introduction

9.    Paper 3
9a. Read for Paper 3

10. An Ideal Husband

11. Table of Contents

12. Final Essay

13. Choose two more themes

14. Find Images for Alcohol/Drugs

15. Find Images for Criminal Class/Crime

16. Find Images for (3rd/4th theme)

17. Find Scholarly Articles for Alcohol/Drugs

18. Find Scholarly Articles for Criminal Class/Crime

19. Find Scholarly Articles for (3rd/4th theme)

20. Find Excerpt Read in Class for Alcohol/Drugs

21. Find Excerpt Read in Class for Criminal Class/Crime

22. Find Excerpt Read in Class for (3rd/4th themes)

23. Find Primary Source for Alcohol/Drugs

24. Find Primary Source for Criminal Class/Crime

25. Find Primary Source for (3rd and 4th themes)

26. Find Contemporary Response to Sherlock Holmes (Biographical)

27. Find Contemporary Response to Sherlock Holmes (Autobiographical)

28. Find Contemporary Response to Sherlock Holmes (Review)

29. Brief Assignment 2

30. Read Ever Changing Place and Answer Questions

31. Movie Review
31a. Watch Shadow Magic

32. Read Banquet Bug
33. French HW pg 438
34. French HW pg 441-442
35. French HW pg 441- 442 again
36. French HW pg 445-446
37. French HW pg 445-446 again
38. Anthropology Extra Credit

To Do After Thanksgiving:

1. Book Review (VND)
2. Bibliography 
3. Study for Exam 3
4. Test 5
5. Activite Orale
6. Paper 3 - Banquet Bug
7. Term Quiz

The end is in sight! Praise the Lord!!! :]

He is, I am not...

 I am the Lord. 
I am faithful. I am the Holy One of Israel. 
I have chosen you.
When it is time to show you my favor, I will answer your prayers.
When it is time to save you, I will help you.
I will keep you safe.
I will not forget you.
I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
Those who put their hope in me will not be ashamed.
I am the one who saves you.
I am the Lord. 
I set you free.
I am the Mighty One.
I am THE LORD.


[from Isaiah 49]


He is the I am. I am not. 
It's about what he's done, not about what I do. 
Praise him, that it's not about me. I am not. He is. I can not. He can. He is THE LORD. The mighty warrior who saves and persistently passionately pursues me. 

Lantern Festival - Thailand

I was just perusing Pinterest, wasting time and came across this picture. This is a Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/364508027/

 It reminds me of this scene from the recent Disney movie, Tangled. Of course, I being the Disney princess loving girl that I am, loved it and definitely recommend it. I remember thinking how magically beautiful this scene was in the movie but I didn't realize there was actually a real live floating lantern festival!

http://www.chicagoparent.com/community/convonista/2010/november/mandy-moore-lets-her-hair-down-in-disney's-tangled 

So it's been decided, I'm going! One more thing to add to my bucket list.

http://keeplifefresh.blogspot.com/2011/07/floating-lanterns-and-fascinations.html

I the Lord go before you!

Be strong and courageous; don't be terrified or afraid. For it is the LORD (the promise maker and the promise keeper) [my] God who goes with [me]; He will not leave [me] or forsake [me]...The LORD (the promise maker and the promise keeper) is the One who will go before [me]. He will be with[me]; He will not leave [me] or forsake [me]. Do not be afraid or discouraged. 

Deuteronomy 31:6-8

The Lord gave me these verses tonight just when I needed them. His attentiveness astounds me! I was thinking about all the school work I've got over the next couple of days and over into the next few weeks. Not only school, but next week I have to have a test done to make sure my insides are ok. Long story short, I've had some side affects as a result of some medicine I'm taking for my dermatologist and I have to have this procedure done to make sure everything is all right inside. It's not a big deal really and the procedure itself will only take about 20 minutes. I'm not really worried about the procedure or even the results. I'm just a little nervous cause I've never had to do anything like this before by myself. I'm gonna sound like a big baby, but I wish my mama could be here to go with me. But as I was thinking about all this, my heavenly Father quickly reminded me. "Melissa, I not only am with you, but I go before you. I knew this was coming, in the midst of a crazy school week. I won't leave you and won't let you be forsaken. Don't be afraid."

He is faithful and oh so good!

P.S. The whole thing that led me to find those verses was a song called Be Strong Be Courageous. Here's a link to the wonderful band Tim & Kate who sings this song. I couldn't find a youtube link of the song, but go here and download their whole EP it for free. It's well worth it! 

Like a Lion

"Oh, yes! Tell us about Aslan!" said several voices at once; for once again that strange feeling-like the first signs of spring, like good news, had come over them. 

"Who is Aslan?" asked Susan. "Aslan?" said Mr. Beaver. "Why don't you know? He's the King. He's the Lord of the whole wood..."

"Is - is he a man?" asked Lucy. "Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the great Lion." 

"Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion." 

"That you will dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver; "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy. "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

                                                                                                       - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 

                                                                                                                                               by C.S. Lewis

Romans One

I've started going through Romans with my sister and our best friend. This week we read Romans one, and let me tell you the more I read over it, the more I find. It's like drinking from a fire hydrant, which in this case is good. But since there is just so much to take in I wanted to get all my jumbled up thoughts down and out of my mind, so I thought this might be a good place to do so...

Romans One.

"For although [we] knew God, [we] neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but in [our] thinking became futile and [our] foolish hearts were darkened." - Romans 1:21

What struck me about this verse was just that if I don't consciously turn our thoughts to the Lord by glorifying and thanking him just for who he is and what he has done my thinking will become futile and my heart will become foolish and unresponsive to the Spirit's leading in my life. This is something that I have witnessed in my life recently. If I let my mind become so overwhelmed with worry and stress about how I'm gonna get all my school work done or what someone thinks of me or what the future holds and I don't take those thoughts captive or turn those thoughts to God in prayer I will loose sight of the glorious God who has set me free and given me abundant life through Jesus Christ!

"Although [we] claimed to be wise, [we] became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal human beings and birds and animals and reptiles." - Romans 1:22-23

These verses directly follow the one above. As a continuation I see this as a mindset that has changed. It's when I don't glorify the Lord and give thanks to him for all he has done that my heart becomes foolish and I begin to think that I can do it all on my own; That I've got this life thing figured out and I know what's best for me. It's my mindset that has changed. When I don't start my day giving glory and thanks to my God, my focus has immediately shifted and I have exchanged the "glory of the immortal God" for my own glory. My focus has turned off of the mighty God of the universe, who was and is and is to come, who is Yaweh, the covenant maker and the covenant keeper, who is the lover and protector of my soul, who is my Savior, and who knew me, chose me and numbered my days before time began. Why in the world would I want to exchange the glory of this GREAT and MIGHTY GOD for something that is merely human!? 

It is because I am human. It is a result of my natural human, sinful, depraved nature. But praise be to God that he has set me free and given me victory over this sinful nature by his son Jesus Christ. He has given me victory, but it is my choice to actively walk in this victory daily. 

"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is forever praised. Amen." - Romans 1:25

As a continuation of my thoughts above. I must actively seek truth about God. This verse stuck out to me immediately because recently I went through the book "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Lee DeMoss (I highly recommend it!!). Our whole life, the way we think, the way we see the world, the way we interpret circumstances and events, the way we do relationships, the way we view ourselves is all rooted in what we believe about God. This book was so helpful in pin pointing lies that have subtly crept into my life that I have accepted as truth without even realizing it. In pin pointing them I have then been able to counter them with truth from the word of God!

"Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they no only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." - Romans 1: 32 

This last verse was a reminder to me that the wages of sin is death. As a human, left up to my own devices I deserve death. Sometimes I know what's right and what God has called me to but I choose what gratifies my flesh. And for that I deserve death and eternal separation from this glorious, holy God. But again I will say, Praise be to the LORD! Who out of his great mercy sent his son Jesus to die the death I deserved so that I could receive grace from God!

Again this whole chapter was just overwhelming. Paul sets up the background for the story of salvation, that he will go on to expound on in the rest of his letter to the Romans. He presents humanity in our disgusting, wicked sinful nature. We are a people undeserving, but because of his unfathomable love Jesus took our place on the cross so that we could live with him forever!

Wow, I feel like I just wrote a book. But this helped get all my jumbled thoughts out coherently (hopefully) and work through the truth that the Lord is teaching me!

Penguins and Friends and Wicked! OH MY!

I had been looking forward to last weekend since mid-May when my friend and now roommate, Lauren asked me to go see Wicked with her in Atlanta. After two crazy weeks jam packed with school stuff, I was in desperate need of a get away!

Saturday morning began before the sun came up...yes, can you believe it. I was up before the sun! I wouldn't have been if were not for Lauren calling me 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave...but that's besides the point. We made it to Atlanta by 10:30, just in time for Lauren to be at her cousin's bridal shower. So after I dropped her off, I made my way to Emory to meet up with Hye Zhin and Nathan for the afternoon. 

Just a side note, the weather in Atlanta was beautiful. It was the PERFECT Fall weather and I think I've decided living there would not be half bad. Mostly just because I'd get to have more of a Fall/Winter there then I do here. 

Anyhoo, we ate lunch then headed to the Aquarium. It was so neat to wander through the exhibits! My favorites were the otters, the penguins and the balugas. We also went to the dolphin show, which was...well cheesy. Don't get me wrong the dolphins were incredible to watch, but the host of the show was know as the "Star Spinner"... need I say more? And to top off the cheese factor he was wearing a lighted cape (as in a cape with christmas tree lights in it) and he sang. Yes. It's true. So just a forewarning, the dolphins performance was awesome but the premise of the show... not so much.  

After a fabulous Korean dinner, that Hye Zhin cooked, it was time for me to head back. I spent the night with Lauren at her grandmother's house and had a lovely time getting to know her family just a little bit. 

Sunday was the day we had been waiting for! We went to see Wicked!!! After church Lauren and I hurried downtown, grabbed a quick lunch at the Varsity then headed to find parking close by the Fox Theater. We got there just in time for the show to start and made our way to our 6th row seats! The show was AMAZING! From the costumes to the acting to the singing to the music, it was all EXCELLENT! 

After the show we headed home and back to reality. But it was a stress, school free weekend and I got to spend it with three of my favorite people! It was just what I needed and just when I needed it! :) God provides in it all! 

Happy Fall

Fall is in the air and well on it's way and I love it. I love it. I LOVE IT!

Here's to...

cool weather

shorter days and longer nights

all things pumpkin

soup and chili
candles

scarves
pumpkin spice lattes

cardigans

pride and prejudice
some of my favorite holidays

jazz music

hot tea
crisp cool mornings

and the beginning of my favorite time of year

Happy Fall!!

Holiday Weekend

So it's been a little while since I've posted. When school started I thought to myself, "Oh, I'll have plenty of time to be consistent in my blog now that I'm back into a routine." Who was I kidding, I'm busier now than I've ever been. But this long weekend was just what I needed to catch up. Not so much on school as I had planned, but just on life. My long weekend included...

Babysitting

Dinner on Riverstreet

Skype date with my sister!

Spending a splendid day with my bestie, visiting her church and watching this favorite TV show

I got to spend time with my friends, talk to my family, read, hang out with my roommates, clean, check some things off my to do list and sleep. It was wonderful. God knew just what I needed to relax and catch up on. He is good! 

Week One.

Last week was a week of firsts...

I had my first night in my house by myself.

I had my first week of living with friends as roommates.

I had my first week as a junior in college.

I had my first week back at work in two months.

I had my first night back at biblestudy since we broke for the summer.

Ok so they weren't huge firsts...but it was a week of getting back into the groove. And I'll be honest, I wasn't so joyful about it. Almost everyday I had to get up earlier than I expected, to meet a maintenance man or have blood work done (two of my MOST favorite things!). But it wasn't all bad. Really, it wasn't!!

Even though it's only been a week, I can say that I am a huge fan of living off campus with friends rather than on campus with acquaintances. Not that my on campus experience was bad. My roommates were not bad, we just never really developed a friendship. So we never shared meals together or just hung out. But I am thrilled to say that my new roommates are awesome. Our schedules are crazy and don't really match, but the few nights we're home together we did share meals and hang out in the living room watching trashy tv. It's just a totally different experience and I am so thankful for it!

An then theres that lovely thing called school, yes this week was the first week back. My classes, though I like most of them, are going to be incredibly demanding this semester. After Monday's classes I was thinking it wasn't gonna be too bad of a semester. But then Tuesday came and lets just say I was a little overwhelmed when I got my remaining three classes syllabi. And when I say a little, I mean a lot. Considering I chose to take three upper level history classes I should have seen this coming. Anyhoo, I'm gonna take it as a challenge and do the very best I can do. Even though there seems to be an unimaginable amount of reading to do this semester, I think I learn more when I'm more challenged. So we shall see.

Speaking of all that reading, I need to do a bit before I get to bed. But this week, my challenge to myself is to delight in it all. To find the silver lining and be joyful. Even when I'm up too early, or overwhelmed by my workload, I can be joyful because the Lord is faithful, always good and he's always looking out for me. And if that's not enough to be joyful about then I don't know what is.

Goodbye

The time has come to say goodbye to yet another summer. This was a great one, probably one of the best. I got to spend the whole time with my family and got to visit some of my very best friends.

Since I love lists I'm gonna make a list of my favorite memories this summer...

1. I went skydiving.

2. My best friend got married and I got to be in her beautiful wedding.

3. I went to Houston with my mom, sister and brother and got to spend a whole week with some of my bestest friends.

4. In that week I watched more scary/thriller movies than I ever have in my life.

5. Spent a month in Israel with my family.

6. Watched season one and two of the Andy Griffith show. [it's THE BEST!]

7. Spent a weekend in the Golan with my whole family, including Suki on a religious moshav.

8. Had an "interesting" dinner that included chicken hearts stuffed with almonds. And yes, I was brave and tasted it.

9. Visited my family in Charlotte. Unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I wanted to since I was on the couch most of the weekend sick.

10. Went to Vans Warped Tour with some of my favorite friends and got a picture WITH Relient K. I've only been a fan since I was 13. That was exciting!

11. Experienced a screamo concert at Warped Tour for the first and last time. Lets just say, now I am certain thats not the kind of music I enjoy listening to. If you're curious just youtube "I set my friends on fire."

12. Spent a week at the Dock house with all of my favorites. It was a reunion and it was the BEST!

13. Painted my new room green.

14. Ran in the rain on River Street.

15. Spent countless hours at the house cleaning/moving/painting/working/unpacking...[and a HUGE thank you to all who helped out! you know who you are!!]

So that was my summer in a list more or less.

It was not so much the places I went or the thing I did but the people I did them with. My family and friends are the best. I have been so blessed to have spent time with them this summer.

Anyhoo now its back to real life. School, work, school, work. But I'm excited. Not so much to get back to the grind, but excited to see what God's got in store for me this semester. I'm going to choose to be joyful and choose to make the most of this semester. It's gonna be good!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near..I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:4-5,12-13

Summertime

What have I been up to this summer???

I was in my best friends wedding!!

Spent a week with my favorite girlies in Houston and watched these scary movies!

Bought this bedding to go on...

...this bed!

I have gotten to photograph these beautiful places in Israel (Jaffa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) while touring my second cousin and some friends around Israel.

Have been reading/watching Harry Potter. The books are way better then the movies so far.

Went to the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two in Israel. Not quite as much hype as in the states, but Steph got into it.

Thats just some of the highlights so far and it's not over yet!

New Traditions

This week we made a new summer tradition. Last summer when the Stewarts were at Tybee with us, we watched "Hide and Seek." All of the girls squeezed on to the couch, with as many blankets as would fit, turned the lights off and hunkered down for scary movie night. This week we decided one scary/suspenseful/thriller movie wasn't enough...so we watched four. Here's what we saw...

1. Shutter Island

2. What Lies Beneath

3. The Sixth Sense

4. Population 436

The first three were the best. Population 436 didn't hold to our high expectations set by the first three. My favorite and the scariest (judged by the amount and loudness of our screams) was What Lies Beneath.

It's all for a reason!

Yesterday began what could have been series of unfortunate travel events. We began our journey to Houston, Texas expecting to arrive at 11:19pm Sunday night. Our flight was supposed to leave at 6:45, but as we were going through security we saw that it had been delayed by 15 minutes. After we walked down to the gate the departure time had been changed back to 6:45, we were happy and all was well. No delays after all.

Just a few minutes before we were supposed to board, the gate agent spoke over the intercom, explaining that there were thunderstorms in Atlanta and nothing was moving. We were delayed until 7:30, then 8:00, and then 9:00.

Just before 9:00 we were able to board the plane and take off. The usual 35 minute flight to Atlanta was 90 minutes in order to avoid thunderstorms in our path.

These delays would not have been a problem if Atlanta had been our final destination. Unfortunately that was not the case. Daddy was heading to Tel Aviv (leaving at 10:45) and the rest of us to Houston (leaving at 10:15). Luckily all flights going out of Atlanta had been delayed. When we landed and arrived at our gate at 11:00 we had to quickly say our goodbyes and run to the next terminal to catch our 11:10 connection.

When we arrived at our gate, huffing and puffing, we found the boarding door had just been closed seconds before we got there. Disappointed and angry we found a place to sit down and figure out what to do.

After looking at the Delta ticket line that had about 200 people in it (and no I'm not exaggerating) we decided to find a hotel for the night and to call Delta. Mama stayed up talking to the ticket agents to get everything sorted out.

All flights going to Houston today were full. We thought great, we're stuck in this hotel for a whole day with 1. no luggage 2. no transportation 3. nothing to do 4. we're going to be two days late to houston. This was not ideal. At all.

We talked to Daddy this morning and he suggested we call our friends, the O'Mearas, since they live close by in Montgomery. It didn't take us long to decide we were going to rent a car and spend the afternoon in Alabama. It turned out perfect. We got to spend several hours visiting with the O'Mearas before we had to drive back to Atlanta.

God is so good. It is true, he works all things together for the good of those who love him. Not only do we get to spend the four days with the Stewarts in Houston, but we also got to spend some unexpected time with the O'Mearas!

I wonder if almond butter has the same affect...as peanut butter???

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit my best friend in Houston last weekend. Not only did I get to spend four days with her and her lovely family, but I got to be there for her graduation. Bethany and I became friends when I was a senior and she was a freshman and basically since then we've been best friends! It's so neat how God brings people into your life...people you just click with...who just get you...and that is Bethany. I am so blessed to be friends with such a unbelievably fantastic girl!

Bethany and I before graduation..."The next time I see you, you'll be a graduate."

Me and my favorite Patricia at graduation!

Patricia and Ethan waiting for graduation to begin in the 5000 degree sanctuary.

Bethany and her friend did a fantastic job singing "For Good"

She's a graduate!!!!!!

After the ceremony we went back to the Stewart house for a celebration, Mediterranean style. We had so much fun together from late night peanut butter snacks, to girl talk. I am so glad to have gotten to be there for this milestone in my best friends life! As cheesy as it sounds I know she is going to do great things and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for her.

And now as a graduate maybe she can tell me if almond butter does have the same effect as peanut butter...??

Congratulations Bethany!!! <3