6th Period

I'm sitting at school during a free period! ugh!! I wouldn't be here except that I am waiting for Mr. Kabel to grade my math test (yikes!). I'm hoping for a better grade than I have been getting lately....sigh. Math...bother! I have a C-in the class and hope to bring it up to a solid B before the end of the year (ehehe). So, we'll see.
That's all...
Andrea

Ouch!

I've been working on my advanced bio catalina island journal for almost two hours, while sitting on my bedroom floor. I've gone through approx. four cd's (some of them twice). My legs are officially cramped and it hurts so bad! When I stood up, I almost fell over...haHa.

Sigh...anyway, I've decided to quite on that project for the night. I can only handle so much tedious cutting out and pasting at one time. But I still have a few more journal responses to do as well as some "not so directed, directed notes" for english. Hmmm, I don't really want to do it but I've been in a strange mood today. I have done a fair amount of homework (nice) and feel like getting more done. I don't want to do the work but I want to get it done....Does this make sense to anyone but me?

I really want to watch a movie. Oooh, I want to watch Top Gun again...either that or While You Were Sleeping. I've had an urge to watch that one for a long time. Perhaps I'll get to it sometime this week...woohoo, what a wonderful movie.

Ok, this is getting long and boring so I'm outa here! See you all tomorrow...

Andrea

Friends are Cool

Today was wierd because I was exhausted and drained and not motivated at all but at the same time it was really cool. It was super layed back and spontaneous (which I like)...
Hannah and I went over to her house to watch While You Were Sleeping and eat swedish fish. We sat on her bed to watch it on her laptop (woohoo) but decided we didn't really want to watch it. So we didn't. We hung out for a little while and talked...Then, later on I was working on my advanced bio journal and Kyle B. called to see if I wanted to go with him and his sister to the fair. I did and it was so fun...We didn't really do a lot but it was fun to not do anything...and just hang out and walk around. I like making last minutes decisions to hang out with friends. And I like it when I can be with a good friend and decide not to watch a movie but to talk instead. Friends are cool.

I am going to miss days like this next year.

~Andrea

PS I'm really sad about it...

Just a Thought

I really like this song and as I was listening to it today (while trying to write a paper...blah) I decided I wanted to post it. So here it is, for all of you to enjoy :). But I think it would be perhaps more meaningful if you heard it...Oh well.

Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore
Be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified
Follow Christ to the holy mountain
Sinner, sorry and wrecked by the fall
Cleanse your heart and your soul
In the fountain that flows
For you and for me and for all

At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree
On that beautiful scandalous night you and me
Were atoned bu His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful scandalous night

On the hillside you will be delivered
At the foot of the cross, justified
And your spirit restored by the river that pours
From our blessed Savior's side

You carried the sin of mankind on your back
And the sky went black

Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore
Be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified

In my senior Bible class we've been studying Romans 8. It has been so wonderful and has, for me, given a whole new meaning to this song. What a great Savior we serve.
Have a blessed day!

CATALINA ISLAND

I got back from Catalina Island last night (or rather this morning at 3:30). It was an amazing trip...full of fun times and relaxation. We saw so many super cool organisms! Marine life is incredible, I love it!

AND, during a live dissection lab I ate sea urchin gonads (otherwise known as testicles)....I know, sicko. I didn't know that's what they were when I tasted them but Mrs. Chandler said they were a delicacy in Japan and others were tasting it....So I said what the heck and tried it. It was rather gross but I am still super proud of the fact that I actually tried it! Maybe later I'll post a picture of the internal structure of the sea urchin and point it out for you. (Kristen, I'm one ahead on unusual foods...)

The trip was a blast and I am so glad I was able to go on it. There are so many stories but you'll just have to hear them in person because I don't want to right them all out. Oh, and I have a kazillion more pictures too...
these are just a few.

The whole gang

The dolphins!!! They were incredible!

Chris, Brian, and Isaac on the back deck

Kylea and Nathan before we got on the boat

Senioritis?...hmmmm

Obviously, as seniors, we are feeling ready to move on. We are getting excited, nervous, anxious, antsy, and hopeful. We are looking to the future, whether it be one at the U of A or out of town. We are feeling unsure and yet strangely ready to step into the next phase of our lives. Mr. O'Hair identifies the transition and, as he also mentions, so do we. Only we give it a different name: senioritis.

I don't deny the feelings that accompany this "transition." I too feel anxious and excited, ready and hopeful. However, I have recently been overwhelmed by the presence of great bitterness, laziness and rudeness, all hidden under the guise of "senioritis." Does feeling unsure and nervous, but also excited, give anyone the right to treat people badly? Mustn't we still press on, seeking to proclaim Christ in our daily living?

Paul wrote "To live is Christ and to die is gain" because it was true for him. He sought to live each day fully for the sake of Christ and the Kingdom. He lived to glorify God. For him, each day was a race. But he wasn't racing for a temporal prize. He was racing for the eternal--life in Christ and with Christ. To live is Christ.

I feel sad because I see people acting so bitter and angry. We aren't running with excellence anymore. And I AM NOT saying that we must get A's on all our work this quarter (or that we ever should have). That is not the point at all. I'm tired of people thinking that I am a goody goody who thinks doing your best means getting straight A's. If you think that then I'm sorry. I don't think you ever truly knew me.

Be excellent in your atittude, in your treatment of others, in your adherence to authority. Most of all, be excellent in your faith. I don't believe "senioritis" is permission to give up and throw authority and committment out the window. I know that there are many feelings associated with being a senior. I'm not immune to them. But I also believe that Christ still holds us to our higher calling. To live is Christ. So why aren't we living each day for Christ?

Woohoo! Luke in his kayak! He is amazingly cool because he likes to do things outdoors...like KAYAK.



Oh....and by the way....34 school days until graduation!!!! Even less because of the Catalina Island trip and no finals. yahoo! I am so extremely excited...

(I'm having lots of fun posting picures, can you tell?...)

This Just In!!!...

Derek Webb is releasing a live dvd on October 11, 2005. It has the song "Blood of the Lamb" on it (it is so good) along with many others. The dvd is called “How To Kill And Be Killed.” I am oh so excited.
If anyone wants to buy it for me, feel free! :)

SISTERS!!!

Glacier National Park 

Jars of Clay's new cd is AMAZING

I recommend it to everyone...This is one of my favorite songs on the cd (though there are many).

GOD BE MERCIFUL TO ME (Psalm 51)
God be merciful to me on Thy grace, I rest my plea/Plenteous in compassion Thou/Blot out my transgressions now/Wash me, make me pure within/Cleanse, oh, cleanse me from my sin/My transgressions I confess/Grief anf guilt my soul oppress/I have sinned against Thy grace/And provoked Thee to Thy face/I confess Thy judgment just/Speechless, I , Thy mercy trust/I am evil born in sin/Thou desirest truth within/Thou alone my Savior art/Teach Thy wisdom to my heart/Make me pure, Thy grace bestow/Wash me whiter than the snow/Gracious God, my heart renew/Make my spirit right and true/Thy salvation's joy impart/Steadfast make my willing heart/Steadfast make my willing heart/Broken, humbled to the dust/By Thy wrath and judgment just/Let my contrite heart rejoice/And in gladness hear Thy voice/From my sins, oh, hide Thy face/Blot them out in boundless grace.

What a glorious, merciful, majestic God we serve!

We're in a battle...so why don't we act like it?

Life is War. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

"Life is war because the maintenance of our faith and the laying hold on eternal life is a constant fight." John Piper

But most of us do not believe it...We show by the way we live (priorities, casual approach to spiritual issues, etc.) that we actually believe we are living in peacetime.

If we truly believed we are living in wartime, we would be living differently. In wartime, we are on the alert. We are armed. We are ready to do battle.

The number one weapon in this spiritual war is prayer. But until people believe they are living in wartime, they will not pray as they should. We cannot know what prayer is until we understand the reality of a life of war.

O that we would have a passion for battle, that we might fight the good fight for the glory and praise of God. When this is done, we will experience and understand for the first time the awesome power of prayer.

Put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Well....

I really, really like my friends. Amazing Race was fun tonight but it made me kind of sad. I am going to miss hanging out with my friends! Afterwards Hannah and I dropped by Mark's house and it was just so much fun. Next year is going to be so different...sometimes I really don't feel ready. Sigh...

It's a good thing God is in control and is sovereign...

The Mark of the Christian

"Love--and the unity it attests to--is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world. Only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians, and that Jesus was sent by the Father."
-Francis Schaeffer

T-shirts (what we should be known for) by Derek Webb
They'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
They'll know us by the way we point and stare
at anyone whose sin looks worse than ours
who cannot hide the scars of this curse that we all bare
They'll know us by our picket lines and signs
They'll know us by the pride we hide behind
like anyone on earth is living right
and isn't that why Jesus died
not to make us think we're right

When love, love, love
is what we should be known for
Love, love, love
it's the how and it's the why
we live and breathe and we die

They'll know us by the reasons we divide
and how we can't seem to unify
becuase we've gotta sing songs a certain style
or we'll walk right down that aisle
and juts leave it all behind
They'll know us by the billboards that we make
just turning God's word to cheap cliches
says 'what part of murder don't you understand?'
but we hate our fellow man
and point a finger at his grave

They'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
They'll know us by the way we point and stare
telling them their sins are worse than ours
thinking we can hide our scars
beneath these t-shirts that we wear"


"The world has a right to judge whether we are christians or not on the basis of how we manifest substantive love to each other as christians--and to all men and women, because they are created in God's image, deserving dignity and honor."
-Francis Schaeffer

Joy in the Midst of Suffering

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:6,7

Head/Heart Issues

"The heart never takes the place of
the head: but it can, and should, obey it."
--C.S. Lewis (The Abolition of Man)

I am struggling to have my heart obey my head.

Outrageous Love

Praise Him because His love is better than life! (Psalm 63:3)