"...but GOD IS FAITHFUL."

For all of you who have been praying for/thinking about Amy -- thank you.
She received her diagnosis yesterday. She filled me in today. She does indeed have lymphoma (a type of cancer).
PLEASE keep praying.



Amazing how God works. I found this email in my inbox after I received the news:


"One day we will meet beside the river and our Lord will dry every tear. For now, we must live in the joy of that promise and recall that for every generation life is hard, but God is faithful."

-- Bodie Thoene

Noah's Ark

(Thanks, Kat!)

Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Noah's Ark:

ONE

Don't miss the boat.

TWO

Remember that we are all in the same boat.

THREE

Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

FOUR

Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

FIVE

Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

SIX

Build your future on high ground.

SEVEN

For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

EIGHT

Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

NINE

When you're stressed, float awhile.

TEN

Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

ELEVEN

No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

Bits of randomness

This post made me sigh happily. Thanks, cuileann!

Quick updates, because it's late-ish and piles of schoolwork abound...

Friend Amy ended up unexpectedly going for surgery this past Tuesday, a week earlier then expected. Everything went really well, though, THANK GOD (and I mean that quite literally!). She's back home and doing well, recovery-wise, and is back to teasing me which must mean she's feeling better :)

Keep praying as we wait for the results of the biopsy.....


College = writing. UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNTS of it. Holy stinking guacomole. I haven't gone to bed before midnight in at least two weeks.

Cafeterias are not quite as fantastic as I'd hoped. I'd always thought it was a bummer that, being homeschooled since birth, I never really got the chance to experience cafeteria life. I ate out of my fridge at my dining room table each day. Wahoo. How exciting. So, when I started taking college classes this year, one of the perks -- to little sheltered me, at least -- was access to the cafeteria.
I've learned that really, it's a bunch of overpriced fried grease. That's it. And it all gets old rather quickly. I'm officially sick of pizza, mysterious pasta dishes, salty soups and chicken tenders. And whatever you do, DON'T eat the "soft" pretzels, because the word "soft" is a FLAT-OUT LIE. You know you're in trouble when your "soft" pretzel has fossilized and an archaeology major at the next table informs you that it's probably been around since circa 5000 B.C.
So, because of all this, last night I was found eating -- are you ready for this? -- a salad. Yep. Green stuff and all (for those who don't know, I happen to severely dislike most green foods. Lettuce being one of the worst offenders, as the word, to me, is bascially synonymous with the word "grass".). Thank goodness for the blessings of ranch dressing and insane amounts of cheese; I could somewhat drown out the nastiness of the lettuce with all that. Which probably totally defeated the purpose of eating the salad in the first place, but oh, well. At least I tried.

Two children at preschool today came in wearing two different shoes. EUREKA -- I'M CONTAGIOUS!!!!

SAT's on Oct 4th. Probably should find time to review math in the very near future.

Help Help Help!

Yikes. I know, it's been weeks. My apologies.

Life has been pretty topsy-turvy lately.

First and foremost, I'm begging for your prayers and good thoughts for my dear friend and youth leader, Amy. Amy's been having some pretty serious medical issues lately and has spent the last two weeks getting a plethora of tests done. Some of the results have been really scary, and we're in desperate need of prayers for her and her family. Amy's one of my favorite people and this has been really hard on me. Amazingly, though, she has somehow managed to remain unbelievably positive throughout all this; even in the midst of insane situations she's still teaching me life lessons! The longer it stretches on, though, the more things there are too worry about.... She is scheduled to have surgery (a biopsy) sometime this week, and hopefully that will finally give her some definite answers...so please pray for her and her family and the doctors and everyone involved in the situation. Thanks.

That situation has pretty much been consuming my thoughts lately, so I haven't had much time for any deep soul-searching ponderings or amusing anecdotes. I've been squeezing in schoolwork and doing homework at the last minute and just barely surviving my many college classes and averaging about 4 hours of sleep each night, so, well, I'm managing :)

For Speech Communication class I'll be giving an informative speech about the effects of sleep deprivation on young adults/college students in a week or two. If anybody's got any great examples or anecdotes, I'd be thrilled if you shared them with me! email: mismatchedsockgirl@gmail.com Muchas gracias!

I'm also looking for interesting news articles that I can **briefly** analyze for my Intro to Ethics class. Post links if you stumble across anything!

Because I've been in such a somber mood lately, this is my current playlist:

Whatever You're Doing -- Sanctus Real
Empty Garden -- Elton John
Even Angels Cry -- Jars of Clay
Mighty to Save -- Laura Story
Amy's Song -- Switchfoot [ironic, eh?]
Unchanging One -- Todd Agnew
Hallelujah -- Krystal Meyers
In Better Hands -- Natalie Grant
The Economy of Mercy -- Switchfoot
Daisy -- Switchfoot
Oh My God -- Jars of Clay
I Still Believe -- Jeremy Camp
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) -- Chris Tomlin