Well, fellow bloggers, I am back! I will be messing around with things, and trying out stuff (and working on posts!)....just so you know.
See you around!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
This year.....
Hello y'all!
Snow, SNOW, Snow!!!! At last, a decent amount of snow! (And a fairly decent amount of ice to boot.) Soaked gloves, snowy boots, rosy cheeks, hot chocolate….
The snow was also very useful because I couldn't go anywhere, so I worked on this post. ☺ Rather overdue, I know, but I usually blog when I get up early, and.....I haven't been do so during the past week *sorry!*
So anyway, I promised to tell you more about the year's goal. Well, actually, I have three:
That does sound a little non-specific, doesn’t it? They’re actually more like guidelines than specific goals. I
Blessings,
Ericka
Snow, SNOW, Snow!!!! At last, a decent amount of snow! (And a fairly decent amount of ice to boot.) Soaked gloves, snowy boots, rosy cheeks, hot chocolate….
The snow was also very useful because I couldn't go anywhere, so I worked on this post. ☺ Rather overdue, I know, but I usually blog when I get up early, and.....I haven't been do so during the past week *sorry!*
So anyway, I promised to tell you more about the year's goal. Well, actually, I have three:
- Do Hard Things.
- Get my act together.
- Use the situations around me to prepare myself for life.
That does sound a little non-specific, doesn’t it? They’re actually more like guidelines than specific goals. I
- Do Hard Things. I am in college (doing CollegePlus!), and between school, church, and family it seemed I had no time for anything else But God showed me I was really just lazy, not wanting put the effort into making things happen. So now I have to roll up my sleeves and make my schedule accomodate those hard things H wants me to do (you'll hear about them as they come!).
- Get my act together. Really, it means to go through my life like a person combing hair for lice, looking for those things that are hindrances/stumbling blocks (Heb. 12:1, Eph. 4:22) and replacing them with something better. I can't really do this very well by myself since I tend to think I'm a pretty good person ;) So this one kinda depends on the next:
- Use the situations around me to prepare myself for life. I know God has plans for me (Jer. 29:11) -ones I'm very excited about!- from the desires and gifts He has given me. And I have tried to go ahead and get started on them, but each time He has closed the door firmly but lovingly, and made it quite clear that I am not ready. It took me while to accept that fact. But He has made me content with where I am (Psalm 37:3), and in the many situations I face, I see His hand of preparation (having a large family: flexibility and leadership. Having students: patience and responsibility. Honoring parents when I think differently: obedience, humility, and appealing respectfully) Plus, He reveals to me what I need to change/learn by the way I react to various circumstances. It's not very pretty sometimes....but I'm thankful for Him caring enough about me to do so (Psalm 119:75, Heb. 12:10).
Blessings,
Ericka
Monday, January 19, 2009
First post of 2009!!
Hello y'all!!
It's the new year! In fact, it's way past New Year's Day (in case you hadn't noticed).
I'll be honest, for the past month, I have been struggling with several issues and not dealing with them well at all. Ergo, I did not want to say "Here's how God is helping me Do Hard Things" when really, I wasn't allowing myself to use His strength.
But by God's grace, He has allowed me to come out on top of my feelings and all that.
He has broken and humbled me as He showed me the many things that needed to change, big time, in my life.
He has given me a new longing to spend time with Him and to memorize Scripture; He has answered my prayers by giving me an intense longing to "know Him [meaning Christ] and the power of His resurrection" and that I "may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but of that which is through faith in Christ..."(Philippians 3, verses 10 and 9 respectively)
He has given me several verses from Psalm 37: (3-5) Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord trust also in Him and He will do it....(7) "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in His way because of the man who carries out wicked schemes."
God has been so good to me even though I often turned away from Him, and I praise Him for His mercy and lovingkindness!! I am excited about the vision He has given me for this year, and I look forward to sharing about it in the next couple posts!
Blessings,
Ericka
Hehe, I forgot to changed the post date...it is now officially posted in January.
It's the new year! In fact, it's way past New Year's Day (in case you hadn't noticed).
I'll be honest, for the past month, I have been struggling with several issues and not dealing with them well at all. Ergo, I did not want to say "Here's how God is helping me Do Hard Things" when really, I wasn't allowing myself to use His strength.
But by God's grace, He has allowed me to come out on top of my feelings and all that.
He has broken and humbled me as He showed me the many things that needed to change, big time, in my life.
He has given me a new longing to spend time with Him and to memorize Scripture; He has answered my prayers by giving me an intense longing to "know Him [meaning Christ] and the power of His resurrection" and that I "may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but of that which is through faith in Christ..."(Philippians 3, verses 10 and 9 respectively)
He has given me several verses from Psalm 37: (3-5) Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord trust also in Him and He will do it....(7) "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in His way because of the man who carries out wicked schemes."
God has been so good to me even though I often turned away from Him, and I praise Him for His mercy and lovingkindness!! I am excited about the vision He has given me for this year, and I look forward to sharing about it in the next couple posts!
Blessings,
Ericka
Hehe, I forgot to changed the post date...it is now officially posted in January.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
The Washington Briefing
Hey y'all!
Brrr....hot chocolate time! Are your trees "shedding" yet? The ones here are very reluctant to change colors, but when they do it'll be beautiful! This is a very overdue post, but read on.....
The Washington Briefing was really great, and I'm so glad I was able to go again. The only thing I'm not too pleased about....I'm not a big picture person. I like taking pictures, but I never seem to remember until too late that "I have a camera!" So I don't have any decent pictures for you all. But I worked really hard to get find links to make up for that, so have fun checking them out.
There was a real sense of excitement and energy, mainly because of the McCain/Palin ticket this presidential election, I think. The first speakers Lou Dobbs and Joe Gibbs really set the tone for Friday. They were funny, crisp, and energizing. Then, an interesting topic: Demographic Winter, introduced by Don Feder, with a teaser trailer (it's a fascinating documentary; I saw it last year). After that I went in and out of the conference room, so I don't really remember who else spoke that afternoon....
Saturday was another great day. I heard some of Shawn Hannity, as well as Ken Wales (producer of Amazing Grace and in a few years, a sequel to Chariots of Fire), and Star Parker. There break-out sessions that promised to be interesting, but we left early that day because we were tired from activities earlier in the week.
The two speakers who impacted me the most would be Lila Rose and Steve Baldwin. The latter was a humble man with...well, it's kind of hard to describe him. He was saved later in life...he is the real deal. I don't really remember all of his speech, but I do remember his attitude. Humble and bold. Hilarious but also serious. Calm yet absolutely brimful of energy. He has a passion for reaching young people, especially unsaved ones. Praise God for men like him!
Lila Rose (more about her in another post!) is a twenty-year old with a practical vision for making a difference about abortion. She began by going undercover as a pregnant girl seeking an abortion and recording the Responses of the Planned Parenthood personnel. Now she has her own group, Live Action, which is "dedicated to the respect and protection of all human life including the unborn. We use new media and educational presentations to share the truth about life and the threats to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness posed against the born and unborn." I'm going to do a "Website Highlite" about her site and I hope to interview her sometime in the next couple weeks, so keep an eye out for that.
So yeah, I would definitely encourage people to attend the Briefing. You get a lot of inside information, as well as the opportunity to see/meet conservative leaders. A date for next year has already been set: September 18-20, at the Omni Shoreham (a magnificent hotel). Mark it on your calenders, and don't forget, students get a special rate.
See you there!
~Ericka
::EDIT:: Aha! Go here to watch Stephen Baldwin's speech.
Brrr....hot chocolate time! Are your trees "shedding" yet? The ones here are very reluctant to change colors, but when they do it'll be beautiful! This is a very overdue post, but read on.....
The Washington Briefing was really great, and I'm so glad I was able to go again. The only thing I'm not too pleased about....I'm not a big picture person. I like taking pictures, but I never seem to remember until too late that "I have a camera!" So I don't have any decent pictures for you all. But I worked really hard to get find links to make up for that, so have fun checking them out.
There was a real sense of excitement and energy, mainly because of the McCain/Palin ticket this presidential election, I think. The first speakers Lou Dobbs and Joe Gibbs really set the tone for Friday. They were funny, crisp, and energizing. Then, an interesting topic: Demographic Winter, introduced by Don Feder, with a teaser trailer (it's a fascinating documentary; I saw it last year). After that I went in and out of the conference room, so I don't really remember who else spoke that afternoon....
Saturday was another great day. I heard some of Shawn Hannity, as well as Ken Wales (producer of Amazing Grace and in a few years, a sequel to Chariots of Fire), and Star Parker. There break-out sessions that promised to be interesting, but we left early that day because we were tired from activities earlier in the week.
The two speakers who impacted me the most would be Lila Rose and Steve Baldwin. The latter was a humble man with...well, it's kind of hard to describe him. He was saved later in life...he is the real deal. I don't really remember all of his speech, but I do remember his attitude. Humble and bold. Hilarious but also serious. Calm yet absolutely brimful of energy. He has a passion for reaching young people, especially unsaved ones. Praise God for men like him!
Lila Rose (more about her in another post!) is a twenty-year old with a practical vision for making a difference about abortion. She began by going undercover as a pregnant girl seeking an abortion and recording the Responses of the Planned Parenthood personnel. Now she has her own group, Live Action, which is "dedicated to the respect and protection of all human life including the unborn. We use new media and educational presentations to share the truth about life and the threats to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness posed against the born and unborn." I'm going to do a "Website Highlite" about her site and I hope to interview her sometime in the next couple weeks, so keep an eye out for that.
So yeah, I would definitely encourage people to attend the Briefing. You get a lot of inside information, as well as the opportunity to see/meet conservative leaders. A date for next year has already been set: September 18-20, at the Omni Shoreham (a magnificent hotel). Mark it on your calenders, and don't forget, students get a special rate.
See you there!
~Ericka
::EDIT:: Aha! Go here to watch Stephen Baldwin's speech.
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