Amnon Had A Friend

Wow! The whirlwind of life has swept up once again! I'm back at Crown and the Lord God Yahweh is truly amazing! I love Him more than I can even describe in human languages. It amazes me how He cares for me, an alienated sinner who denied His great power. I did nothing worth His great love, but when He was on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ reached up to God and down to man, and just as if I'd never sinned, He took me in His arm, embraced me, and willingly forgave me! We're in the beginning of our Faithful Men's Meeting here at Temple Baptist Church, and it has already been a huge blessing to me. Dr. Larry Brown from Washington, Iowa is preaching and He has been such a great blessing. This morning, his message was from II Samuel 13: 1-3 about Amnon, the son of David. He committed a great, horrific sin before the sight of God and his family, all because he had an untrustworthy friend. He probably would have not sinned out of respect for himself, his family, and his God if it weren't for his friend Jonadab, a very subtil man. How many "friends" do you have in your life that keep you from serving the Lord fully? This morning, I was truly convicted and had to go and get half of my music, literally rip it up, and throw them away with the assistance of my friends. We had a good time ripping up CDs full of garbage I didn't need in my life. I am so happy now! I went and deleated it all off of my computer as well. I pray that you will get rid of any "friends" you have in your life and get to know my dearest Friend, the Lord Jesus Christ!

100th Post :D

I don't know what to write about, but I am amazed that in my laziness, I just on my one-hundreth post. I probably should have been here a long time ago, but I sadly forget to blog many times. With all that goes on, I have so much to write about, but no time to sit down and write it!
Can you believe that Christmas-time is upon us? This is undoubtably my favorite time of the year. I am so thankful for the great sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ gave by coming to Earth and taking the form of a servant and dying for the sins of the whole world. I am pleased to say that I have accepted the great gift of His salvation through His pure, holy, precious blood. Have you? I pray that if you have not, that you will before it's eternally too late.
Today, I am getting my hair cut and possibly re-colored. It just depends! I'll post pictures as soon as possible!

Home at last :)

I am so happy to be home for Christmas break. I love being with my wonderful family, seeing my good old friends, and catching up with my church family. It is phenomenal how much a few months apart brings friends so much closer together. I love them with all my heart!
Last night, I was given the blessing of giving a devotional to our young people at church. I spoke with them about my greatest burden: People of all cultures and their equality in Christ. The prejudice of this world never ceases to amaze me. I'm saddened that people still look at the pigment in someone's skin, or their religion, or their struggle learning the English language and think them to be lesser men and women. I spoke to them in several languages, including French, Chinese, English, and American Sign Language. It was wonderful to see their reaction to the fact that so many people in this world cannot legally worship the Lord at all, and that we have the freedom to do that but ignore it. When was the last time that you gave someone the Gospel? In my entire life, no one has ever given me a single tract. It is sad that we aren't doing our proper job as Christians. It was a good reminder to myself, as well. I told the children, "The things on this whiteboard (It was covered in phrases of various languages about the goodness of God) are illegal in 51 countries. It is our job to make them legal everywhere." Next time you're nervous about giving the Gospel to someone you meet, remember that it might be the one person who you meet that truly wants it!

I know, I know...

It has been a LONG time since I last came on here and blogged. I get fussed at by my friends for not coming on here often enough. For this, I apologize. I am a college student who has a lot to do. Therefore, I kindly ask you to deal with it :)
What has been happening? Tons! For example:
1) My voice is still horribly messed up. I am still speaking with a British accent, and have no idea when or if it will ever go away. Thankfully, my singing voice is back to normal, if not even stronger. Praise the Lord for that! I think I would go crazy (As if I'm not already) if it was messed up as well. I am so happy that I didn't have to have surgery for it. All I could think of was the classic catastrophe, Lady Julie Andrews. I still am estatic to have my voice back!
2) I got to spend Thanksgiving in Georgia with my dear friends, the Suertefelipe family. I love them so much and am so thankful that they took me into their home.
3) I was able to be a part of The Crown College Choir's presentation of selections from Handel's Messiah. WOW! That was such a blessing! I can't wait to do it again next year.
4) I am completely finished with classes for the semester! Goodbye first semester of freshman year!!!!!
5) I am signed up for traveling groups for this summer. I pray that I will be chosen for this :)
6) I am going home next Thursday for Christmas Break! I'll be home for almost a month, and I am super excited about it! I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day,. friends!

How can I thank Him?

We serve an almighty, powerful God. I love Him every fiber of my being, for He made every part of me! We had an amazing Missions Conference here at Temple Baptist Church this week.
Several weeks ago, I lost my voice and my voice came back in a British accent. Everyone kept telling me that eventually I was going to be called to be a missionary to England, but I just brushed their comments off like dust. I had no feelings about being a missionary. To be honest, I did not want to be a missionary! What no one knew was that God was dealing in my heart about this. A couple of nights ago, the McClures showed a video presentation about their work in England and my heart became so tender. Last night, God called me to be a missionary. My burden has always been directly towards the small nation of Andorra, but my heart is even more open to the country of England now. It saddens me that a nation that was once on fire for God is now "Biblically illiterate." Please join me in prayer for this calling to be even more clear.
Also, over 50 young people publically surrendered to the mission field last night. Just continue to pray for the students here at The Crown College of the Bible!

Dear Blogging Friends,
I, once again, am very sorry for my lack of communication with you! I have been super busy.
First of all, you will be very pleased to hear that my voice is fully recovered! Apparently, I did not tear a vocal cord but a blood vessel in my vocal folds popped. How gross is that?!?! But, thankfully, after much fear of having to have vocal surgery, my voice is back and stronger than ever! The only strange thing is that it came back with a British accent. No lie. I have not used my original voice in over a week! Haha I sound British! I love it!!!! My doctor said it might last a few weeks and might stay permanently.
Second, this week is MIDTERMS!!!!! An evil word, I know.
I just want to say how much I love being here at Crown. I have amazing friends and really great classes. God is working so much in my life. I cannot believe that my first semester is half-way over already!

It's that time of year again...

The time of year I lose my voice, I mean. I can not stand this! I am a classically trained singer who has a very weak voice, and it enjoys giving out on me randomly. The other night, we all went to the Powell High School football game. (Which, of course, the Powell Panthers won!) and I tore one of my vocal cords screaming like a maniac. What was I screaming at? Not the game. Not the game at all. No. I tore a vocal cord cheering for the band's drumline. Those guys were beast!!! We all had a great time, but now, I have no voice. My friends are all taking turns playing "Mum" or "Dad" and slapping me if I try to speak, interpreting my sign language, and forcing me to drink horrible things such as Salt and Sodawater. (Trust me, it works like a mad person, but it is so disgusting!) I despise drinking it!!!!!!!!
Please pray that my voice will return quickly and that I will have the patience to try not to rush it, therefore damaging it further!

The Saltwater Beach

Sang so loudly that people thought you had headphones in?
Laughed so much that tears came streaming down your face?
Cried so hard that you laughed?
Spoke in ASL just because you could?
Wonder why we're all here and then understand?
Fell in love with love?
Hurt yourself with an inanimate object?
Had such a bad day that you would do it all over again just to see where or how you went wrong?
Spun in a circle until you almost passed out just to see if you would get dizzy?
Hugged a random stranger?
Gave someone you had never met a high five?
Wore a silly band ring that looks like a hippo?
Blogged until you ran out of things to blog about?
I HAVE!

Pure Epicness

Sitting here in the Great Hall with my Crown bestie (aslcollegegirl.blogspot.com) speaking in ASL for two reasons... 1) We're awesome like that; 2) We're too lazy to open our mouths and speak!

38 Chapters down... Eleven to go!

For those of you who aren't freshman here at Crown, I am talking about the book of Genesis. We have to read it by next Wednesday, and I am finished with all but eleven chapters! I am falling in love with Genesis. I never realized how interesting it is! Did you know that in just the first eleven chapters, not only do you learn the basics of Israel's history, but you learn two thousand years worth of it? It's amazing! I am so disappointed that I did not fall in love with Genesis before now! If you've never fully jumped straight into Genesis and read the Bible from the very beginning, I recommend you start NOW!

Well, just to let you know, fellow Bloggers, I ADORE being here at Crown. It is so great, and everything's a new adventure. Every day, I go down a new road, one that has never been traveled, one step closer to my goal. Just yesterday and this morning, we had our annual college retreat. The Lord has been moving, and I am so grateful for Pastor Sexton and the vision that God gave him for the founding of this great school.
I joined The Temple Baptist Church on Sunday, the 22nd, and it is already starting to feel like home!
Choir is my newest and greatest happiness! The beautiful songs we sing simply amaze me, and I am shocked how easy it has been to just hop on in! Soon, we'll start studying for a great event called Knoxville Remembers, an annual event in rememberance of Semptember 11, 2001. Please pray for us as well as all of the family of the victims from that tragic day. After this, we'll get to work on memorizing ten selections from Handel's Messiah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Words cannot describe how much I love that!
Have a wonderful day, dear Bloggers! I love you!

Crown at Last!!!!!

Yesterday, I moved into the Dorm 18 at Crown! It is so exciting! I have three adorable roomies, Allison, Lori, and Ashley. All I can say is that they are going to give me a huge southern accent, probably by the end of the week! This morning was my first choir practice. I'm a soprano and I'm in the third row. I am SOOOOOOOOO excited about school!