happy monday to everyone

Today was a good day.

     I wrote a speech last night at 1:00 a.m. this morning and consequently only got about four hours of sleep. Needless to say, I thought it was going to be a rotten Monday. But God loves me a lot and I guess he felt like giving me a good Monday instead. :)

one | this video made me laugh today:

two | I gave aforesaid speech today in rhetoric class and it went really well :)

three | remember when I said I was failing chemistry? well. well! today I checked my grade and I have a B. (!!!!) suffice it to say that rarely in my life have I been this happy. you would've thought I had just been accepted into my dream college or something - I was telling everyone!

     I hope you all are having as great a Monday as I am, but if not, I hope you will be able to see the good in it anyway. And here's to a better Tuesday, yes?

 "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."   

 Philippians 4:13

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overwhelmed 2.0

     I know I just posted earlier today about how I was overwhelmed and just generally down (see post below to understand what I'm talking about). To be honest, I'm still not doing so great. But I'm so grateful at the same time.

     This morning I kind of complained more than I should have. Needless to say, my friends knew how I was feeling. I got lovely notes and encouragements from them, saying things like "Feel better!" and "God loves you and thinks you are awesome!" Some of my friends weren't even aware that I was having a bad day, but they were just so nice and kind and friend-like and that cheered me up, too. :) So I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to all of my dear friends because they are wonderful and I love them very much. 

     Being overwhelmed now by the love my friends show me, I was thinking about what a blessing from God friends are.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Philippians 1:3-5

   

     I think the following verse is used in regard to friendship almost too much without it's content being really considered:

 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. 

Proverbs 17:17

       This verse means that your friends are there for you when you are facing adversity, and they love you all the time. How amazing is that? And God is the epitome of a perfect friend - the friend that "sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24)

Sarah

 

what pride of the yankees taught me

     I just watched Pride of the Yankees - that delightful forties film about the Yankees baseball star, Lou Gehrig. It's one of the very few movies that actually make me cry. And it really made me think, as well.
     Because, unlike Lou Gehrig, most of us don't have any idea when we are going to die. We often live monotonously, saying "I'll just get to that tomorrow" or "I have plenty of time for that!"
     The truth is, we have no idea if we have time for that. Only God knows the number of our days, and because of that, we need to live every day to the fullest we possibly can. I know I sound like a broken record. But if you were told you were going to die in three years, wouldn't you try to get angry less, and to love people more, and to not procrastinate as much?
     Like that song by Tim McGraw; "Live Like You Were Dying." Like Lou Gehrig, who was told he didn't have long to live, so he took each moment seriously and carefully, and put all of the love and joy and thought that he could into each day.
      All that said, we shouldn't live in fear of the day we die. After all, as Christians, "for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). And "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control"(2 Timothy 1:7). We have one beautiful life on earth, and we shouldn't waste it by putting things off and letting moments slip by.

That's what Pride of the Yankees taught me.

Happy Sunday, folks. :)
-Sarah
    

all things

     Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:11-13

     I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 

I was interrupted while writing the previous sentence by a most uncomfortable sneezing fit. :) I am currently sick with a cold, and have been for the past couple days. At first, I was thinking it would be over the next day and I would carry on as normal. But when Saturday rolled around and I was still sick, I started wondering how long it was going to take for me to get better, I'm really, really tired of being sick. Anxious thoughts come unbidden to my mind: I have loads of homework to do before Monday and Tuesday, and this weekend happens to be the weekend my family is decorating for Christmas. I also was going to have an violin audition for my youth group's worship team, but I might have to reschedule because I'm sick and because I didn't get my piece ready in time. 

     In all this, the passage from Philippians above is helping me through. I'm learning to be content. I'm learning to be content with being awake half the night because I can't breathe through my nose; I'm learning to be content with trekking through the Christmas tree farm with a headache and a nauseous stomach; I'm learning to be content with having to still do school while I'm feeling sick. 

     I know how to be brought low. . . 

I can do ALL things. Through HIM who strengthens me. I don't know about you, but this verse gets me pretty excited. Sure, I'm discouraged sometimes; we all are. Some more than others. Sometimes it seems like you've tried to be content for so long, but it isn't working. 

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 

1 Peter 5:6-7

     Jesus has enough strength for everyone, all the time. He has enough for me to get through an annoying and uncomfortable cold and still be joyful. 

     Rejoice always.

I forget all too often the significance of my blog's name. REJOICE. Always. In all things. Including illness. Because Jesus works in all things. 

-Sarah :)

another thursday verse... sorry 'bout the belatedness

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Philippians 4:11

Post Scriptum: I would like to maybe do a post about this verse and the surrounding verses in the near future, so look out for that. :) 

wednesday verse

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14

Help!

     This isn't a post that is begging my readers to assist me in some way. Nor am I in dire need of medical aid. :)

     Sometimes, though, I do feel like screaming "help!" Or feeling like I need to stop time in order to finish everything that I need to get done. As a freshman in high school, I am experiencing one of the most strenuous years of school in my whole education thus far. I'm taking outside classes for all of my subjects, out of which come copious amounts of homework. Add onto that daily violin and piano practice, and it makes for one VERY busy girl. I'm sure most of you have experienced a similar kind of overwhelming amount of work at one time or another. I just get so caught up in finishing everything on time that I forget that I can't do it. Because I can't - I'm not physically able to do everything by myself. The good news is, I don't have to do it by myself! God knows that we are too weak to do what he has called us to do by ourselves, and he loves to help us. Please read these next few verses about God giving us strength. These encourage me so much when I'm struggling with getting it all done.

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Colossians 1:29

 I can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psalm 46:1

     God is always there to give us the strength to do what he's called us to do. Remembering that and hiding these verses in our hearts can not only help us to get it all done, but to do everything we do for God's glory! 

-Sarah :)

     

new year musings

     Yesterday was the last day of 2011. Today is the first day of the year 2012––a fresh new year, the first two months of which will be filled with writing "2011" on biology quizzes and then erasing it because it isn't 2011 anymore.

      I would like to post a quote from one of my favorite books (Anne's House of Dreams - in the Anne of Green Gables series).

"I reckon that whatever the New Year brings us will be the best the Great Captain has for us––and somehow or other we'll all make port in a good harbor."

     I love thinking of the New Year this way. The new year is filled with the best that God, or the "Great Captain," has for us. God only has the best in store for us! Doesn't that make you feel so secure?

     It's this true security, security that comes from casting your cares on God, that assures us that the best is in store for us, and that we will "all make port in a good harbor."

     My new year's resolution is to live every day to the fullest, to the glory of God. I want to run for the eternal prize, like Paul talks about in Philippians 3:14: I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 


     Happy new year, everyone! What are some of your new year's resolutions?

-Sarah :)