Graduation

'Tis an interesting thing, is graduation. The idea of having finished something so time consuming like high school or college...and then it's over, and you "graduate."

Tonight I went to the graduation for TMC students out in Santa Clarita. It brought back so many memories of this day last year when I was the one walking across that stage to get my diploma and wearing the funny cap and gown. It's hard to believe that it's been a year since that day.

I remember being in college and thinking that three years would take forever and that graduating was a long way away. It ended up coming a lot faster than I thought it would, and now it's already another year later. And so much has happened since I graduated, I wouldn't even have thought it possible.

In my mind, graduation is just the fancy way of showing that you have completed something (like an amount of school or completing a degree). It's a symbol of accomplishment. For me personally, it meant finishing three years of study at The Master's College. Learning not only academic knowledge, but learning many life lessons. I learned so much in my time there, but I'd have to say that most of what I remember and still use today, is either what I learned about the Bible, or the lessons I learned about life. God used the time when I was at Master's to teach me some very valuable lessons, and ones I hope I never forget. So, when I walked across that stage, it wasn't just to show that I passed all my classes...it was also showing that I had made it through many challenges and life lessons those three years. I kind of think that was really the most important part of my college education...not the piece of paper that says I have a Bachelors Degree from The Master's College. One thing my dad used to tell me while I was still in college, "the piece of paper represents the fact that you persevered, were diligent, had a goal, and made it through." This was his encouragement to me when I was ready to give up and was having a really hard time. There was one semester I remember having such a hard time that I was thinking about quitting and never going back. It was the semester when my Uncle Chris died, I was taking 21 units, I was in four choirs, and I went on two choir tours. I wanted to give up so badly, I just got to the point where I didn't think I could do it anymore. But then Daddy so kindly gave me his "words of wisdom," I got back on track, God gave me the strength to persevere, and I was able to finish.

Anyway, just some thoughts I was thinking about graduating, college, and looking back on last year. Graduating from college is a great accomplishment, but I think what you take away from it is what is most important.

Mighty Your Love...

This song has been on my heart last night and today...I love it so much. It is so encouraging to me right now.

Mighty Your Love

by Michelle Rose

What King would step from rightful throne, among the poor to live?

And die for those who cursed His love, His life a ransome give.

What Lord would lay aside His robes, to wash the feet of man?

And serve the ones who should have knelt before the Great I AM!

Great are you Lord! Mighty your love. Your mercy has rescued me.

Worthy are You, of all of our praise, my life made an offering.

The Word who formed the universe, became a Man and died.

To pay the debt caused by my sin, self righteousness and pride.

What faithful love shown by the Son, His Father's call obeyed,

To bear the wrath deserved by man, that sinners might be saved.

Great are you Lord! Mighty your love. Your mercy has rescued me.

Worthy are You, of all of our praise, my life made an offering.

There is so much to think about in these verses..."What king would step...to wash the feet of man...pay the debt caused by my sin...bear the wrath deserved by man...that sinners might be saved." That's me, I'm the sinner that Christ came to save. This song reminds me that I should be on my face before my Heavenly Father. I do not in any way deserve what he did for me. I can choose to think about, and focus on, how hard things are for me...or I can remember what Christ did, and how he suffered for my sins. It's a choice I make, an attitude that I have.

May God bring this to my mind when I forget and take for granted what Christ has done for a sinner such as I.

Some thoughts...

Hmmm...what a day. A lot happened on this day...April 17th. It's a day I won't readily forget.

It's amazing the process God has brought me through. Looking back at my entire life and where I am today, but even more specifically in looking back at this last year. Who knew that He'd do the things he has done in my life? I am blessed by so many things, some that I am remembering specifically today.

Today was a day of decisions. I've struggled for quite a while with what the "next thing" is for me and if it's the right choice. Finally, after a lot of thinking and praying...God gave me peace about my decision. May He be glorified in everything that I do. That is my hope and my prayer.

God has given me a wonderful family and wonderful friends. I do not deserve them. He is so gracious and kind in giving me what He has. I deserve none of it. I am so very blessed, it overwhelms me sometimes. Like today, I am definitely overwhelmed by His love and care, and that of others towards me. I am so unworthy.

"So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Trip Up North

Last week Shaina, Angela, and I went on a road trip up north to the small town of Scott's Valley. My ultimate purpose in going on this trip was to spend time with my amazing sister and wonderful friend. However, if you were to ask them...they might tell you that we were going to hear this famous guy sing some songs. : -) Actually, they'd probably roll their eyes if they heard me say that. Yes, we were driving up there because of a concert, where yes a famous singer was going to being singing, and yes everybody loves his voice. Anyway, I'll tell you a little bit about our trip.

We left Tuesday morning and started driving on the "ever exciting" 5 Freeway. It took us about 5 hours to get to Kelsey's house in Scott's Valley. Although, apparently (*ahem*) roads that look the most direct on the map....umm, yeah...aren't always. You have to pay attention to the level of elevation when considering which route to take. Also remember that maps don't show the little details like tight curves and steep hills. Hmmm, makes driving fun right? Poor Shaina and Angela, I probably made them car sick. That road was the cross-over from the 5 Freeway to the 1 Freeway (on the coast). It was very pretty (lots of trees and flowers), but we probably won't take that road next time.

We got to Kelsey's house at about 3pm. She showed us where we were going to be staying at the Christian Camp where her family works. It was right down the road from her house. It's so pretty where she lives. The road to her house and the camp is lined with trees (it's kind of like in a forest) and it's pretty secluded and quiet. It was real nice, I liked it a lot.

So, we changed and got ready for the concert. It took us about an hour to get to Oakland, which is where the concert actually was (not in little Scott's Valley : -). Okay, so here's some pictures...

Angela and I right before we left Kelsey's house for the concert.

Kelsey and Shaina in the backseat.

We stopped at Panda Express for dinner. The food was fine...but some of us don't really prefer Asian food. But that's okay, 'cause some other people do.

Awww...sisters. We can all thank Shaina for such a fun trip. She was the one who got everything together for us to go.

This was the very large arena where the concert was.

Awww...such good friends.

The best Angela friend ever.

They were pretty excited for the concert to start.

In our seats...anxiously waiting... : -)

"Bummer! We forgot the binoculars!" : -)

The opening show was quite great. Maybe even better the "man" himself. The group was called Naturally 7, and they were quite talented. Everything was a cappella and vocal percussion. It was pretty amazing.

Apparently something happened...'cause all the fans started screaming. I seemed to have missed it. Just kidding. : -)

Yes, we heard Michael Buble live, yes he does have a good voice, and yes he is a very good performer. I was impressed with his "down to earth" personality. I was expecting him to be kind of proud and "I'm so amazing." But he wasn't, so that was nice.

I thought the light and background changes were cool. It was fun/challenging trying to get good pictures of it because of being so far back.

So, then we drove back to Kelsey's house (well, the camp actually). We got back at about midnight or 12:30am I guess. We were all pretty tired and ready to go to bed. But, unfortunately, Angela and I had to have an "experience" first...(oh boy, why do these things always happen to me?). And poor Angela had to be my roommate.

Here are some pictures of the camp and our cabin so you can visualize what I'm telling you about...and then I'll tell you about our "experience."

The cabin where we stayed.

Our rooms were right next to each other...which was nice.

The inside of our room (Angela and I), it was really nice and cozy.

Okay, so about what happened...well, Angela and I had gotten ready for bed and then we were wondering what time we needed to leave in the morning. So, we decided to go next door and talk to Shaina and Kelsey about it. I walked out the door first and then Angela followed me...this wouldn't normally be a problem...except that I didn't check the door to see if it was unlocked...and Ang didn't think to check the lock...and the key was sitting on the dresser in our room. So yeah, we both walked out, closed the door, and went into Shaina and Kelsey's room. We started talking to Shaina and then I turn to Ang and ask her if she grabbed the key...she looks at me and says "no...was the door locked?"...I said, "umm, yeah I think it was..." Shaina and Kelsey both look at us with looks of "oh no!" and "it's 1:00am in the morning..." and "now what?" So then we check to make sure the door actually is locked...and it is, of course. Kelsey says something about no one at the camp being awake to get an extra key, we start thinking about sleeping in their room with them...and then...all of a sudden...I had a great rememberance! (okay, well maybe not really) But I did remember a trick that my RA in college taught me my first semester at TMC. (shhh, don't tell anyone...) It's really quite simply, it just involves a credit card/gift card and then...wahlah!...the door opens. (ideally anyway) Yes, it's an old trick, but it only works on certain doors...fortunately for us, the door of our room was an older one, and perfectly ideal for this credit card trick. It popped right open (okay, well maybe not exactly...but you know).

Anyway, I guess it really wasn't that big of a deal...but when I was standing outside in the cold looking at the closed door of our room...it struck me that it's comical things like this that make me laugh and wonder why I am continually so dumb. You'd think I'd learn my lesson. Hmmm, apparently repetition is the key to my learning.

These were just the trees outside our room. I really love trees.

Us with our "morning faces"...

Yay, for good friends!

So then we continued on our amazing travels down the coast to that small touristy town called Solvang. Shaina wanted to stop there and get a gift for her boss, so we got out and walked around for an hour or so. My favorite part about it was that I got some good pictures. It's always fun to take pictures of cute places and things. Although, apparently when I'm busy taking pictures...other people lose track of me...and then when they call my cell phone, it's on vibrate and I don't feel it (because I guess I was concentrating on taking the picture?)...and then they think I'm lost, but I'm not because I was right where they left me...kind of. Anyway, getting lost in Solvang isn't too bad, it's a pretty small town. But then again, who was getting lost?

Us being silly soldiers...

I think horses are really cool animals...there wasn't really any other reason for me taking this picture besides that.

I took some other pictures of some wildflowers...but I'm saving those for a future post. You'll see them one of these days, I promise.

Then we got back in the car and drove the rest of the way home. 'Twas a fun time that we had together and I'm glad we went. It was also nice to have a little break from work. Anyway, now you know about the random road trip we took because some people like that "guy" and his voice. : -)

"And they all lived happily ever after. The end."

Daddy...

So, the big news in our family right now is that Daddy got a new job. It's a little bit different, and not exactly what I would expect that he would do...but it's something, and for that we are all grateful. The process of finding a job has been a very long one for Daddy, and maybe it's not over yet, but God has been so faithful in providing for our family up until now, I have no doubt that He will continue to do so in the future.

Daddy has been training for the last three weeks to get his Class A Drivers License. By the grace of God he passed all of his tests and did very well. He just got hired by Werner Enterprises as a truck driver this last week, so everything has been happening rather quickly. He left Thursday night to go to Orientation on Friday and Saturday in Fontana, CA. Last we heard, he was supposed to be leaving this morning with his trainer for a long haul trip for 6 to 9 weeks. That means he'll be returning end of May/beginning of June (hopefully).

Needless to say, our family has a lot to adjust to in the next few weeks/months. Life will definitely be a little different, especially for my younger siblings. Shaina and I remember when Daddy used to be gone all the time as a Flight Engineer, but the other kids don't really remember that, so it will be more of an adjustment for them I think. Also, for my mom, I know she really liked how much Daddy has been able to be home the last few years...but now that is changing, so she'll have to get used to him being gone all the time all over again.

I have very mixed feelings about Daddy's new job. It's not what I expected, that is for sure. It's also hard for me to see my dad, someone who has been trained to serve in ministry and who has a passion for training/counseling people biblically, going and being a truck driver. It's just hard to think about sometimes. Not to belittle any job, but it's just so different from what Daddy has wanted to do..."truck driving" has never been on his "what I want to do when I grow up" list. But, I just have to remind myself that our plans are not God's plans, and at least for right now, this is what God has for Daddy. Just because we want something, or are working towards something, doesn't mean it will happen or turn out the way we want it to. We have to learn to trust God and His plan for us. Maybe this is God's way of teaching my family to completely trust him.

Please pray for our family as we go through this new transition and get used to Daddy being gone all the time. You could especially pray for Daddy as he is learning this new job and is having to adjust to everything that goes along with it. And honestly, just for strength and endurance as he's driving. I'm pretty sure there will be some pretty long days when he's driving by himself that won't be very fun.

A lot has happened this last week, and my heart has been heavy. I've had a lot to think about, and a lot of things are changing. And well, it's just been a hard week. But God is continually faithful, and His mercies are new every morning.

A friend so kindly reminded me of this passage, and it has been so helpful and encouraging to me lately.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Romans 5:1-5

May God continually remind me of this promise as I go through this week.