Backwards could work . . .

I've tried reading through the Bible a few times . . . starting in Genesis and going to Revelation. Well, 'round about Genesis 19 or so, I'd either get behind in my reading, or just forget completely! After this happened several times, I decided to start again . . . except backwards. I still wanted to save Revelation for last, so I started in Jude. 1 Peter is almost completed and then it's on to James! I kind of like this arrangement . . . although if reading the Bible "forwards" isn't even necessarily chronological sometimes, reading it backwards will be really non-chronological. However, it could be like a negative times a negative equals a positive type thing. :)

Anyway... :) Mom, Jerusha, and I are leaving for New York to visit our relatives in a few days! Because of this impending trip, Josiah decided about a month ago that Jerusha and I could have his old netbook. (He was buying a new laptop for himself...) Regrettably, I destroyed the old netbook before it was even totally ours yet! Not-regrettably, Josiah (with the help of one of his friends) bought us a new one!! And it's an amazing shade of red! ;) I could hardly believe it when he set a box on the table and said "This is for you girls." He's such a great big brother!!!! :)

Recently I've been really enjoying going through our hymnals and sitting outside singing them. Sometimes I just pick a random one and try to sight-read it . . . it's at those times that I'm glad our cat is the only one outside! :p  The one song that has stuck out to me in the past few days is called Give of Your Best to the Master.

Give of your best to the Master; Give of the strength of your youth;

Throw your soul's fresh, glowing ardor Into the battle for truth.

Jesus has set the example; Dauntless was He, young and brave;

Give Him your loyal devotion, Give Him the best that you have.

Chorus:

Give of you best to the Master; Give of the strength of your youth;

Clad in salvation's full armor, Join in the battle for truth.

Give of you best to the Master; Give Him first place in your heart;

Give Him first place in your service, Consecrate ev'ry part.

Give, and to you shall be given; God His beloved Son gave;

Gratefully seeking to serve Him, Give Him the best that you have.

Chorus:

Give of you best to the Master; Give of the strength of your youth;

Clad in salvation's full armor, Join in the battle for truth.

 

Give of your best to the Master; Naught else is worthy His love;

He gave Himself for your ransom, Gave up His glory above:

Laid down His life without murmur, You from sin's ruin to save;

Give Him your heart's adoration, Give Him the best that you have.

Chorus:

Give of you best to the Master; Give of the strength of your youth;

Clad in salvation's full armor, Join in the battle for truth.

 

Although it has a nice tune, I really like this song because of it's words. It reminds me that I truly need to give every single part of myself to my Master; to HIS service. Nothing less than everything is worthy His love.
I am required to give Him all my heart's adoration. When I hear this song, why wouldn't I want to give Him everything? ...It's all the distractions in life that keep me from loving Him wholly. All the things to whom I give little pieces of my heart, when all of it should belong to my Saviour.

Mark 12:30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."

Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Oh! I have a blog! :)

Short answer? Facebook.

Yes, now that I look at my last post, I realize it has been quite a while since I have written. A friend reminded me of this tragic oversight, and so I have decided to once again write to you all! :)

Quite a bit has happened since my last post, and I will try my best to convey them to you!
Jerusha and I were in our church's Easter drama in April. We both had speaking parts (if two words count...), but we were mainly just part of the "crowd".

Jerusha played a blind person in the play; she did really well!!

Of course, being a blind person means you have to have a blindfold over your eyes to show the audience that you are, in fact, blind. :) They put a blindfold over her and them applied tons of make-up to make her look like the above pic! 

<3

The weekend after the drama my aunt and uncle from New York came to visit us! They were able to hear Jerusha and I in our Spring Piano Recital, and we all went to Eureka Springs together the next day! :)

Jerusha played "Jazz Suite No. 2".



I played "Prelude II" by George Gershwin.

Daddy with his girls!! :)

For lunch in Eureka Springs, we asked a local where he suggested. He mentioned "Local Flavor"...great recommendation!!

My mom and her sister! It was so great to have her and my uncle come to Missouri!!

After the recital, Jerusha, my mom, and I were involved in a Homeschooling convention here in town. SHEM (Southwest Homeschool Education Ministries) was held in the first week of May.

Jerusha and I worked the convention as Pages. A Page is basically a volunteer at the convention to help the exhibitors, speakers, and attendees. Usually the volunteers are from 13-18 years old. We worked with about twenty-two other Pages.

This year the Pages were organized by a young man who has been a Page for three years. He did exceptionally well in planning and getting all the Pages together before and during the convention! (I heard his sister helped him quite a bit, though. :))

We had a great group this year! :)

We've had many more things since April (including a birthday, garage sale, graduations, orchestra performances, etc...), but I don't want to bore you with all the details. :)  I will tell you that recently I have been studying for the ACT which I am taking in a week and a half. Coincidentally, I'm taking it the day after I return from a Worldview Leadership camp . . . should be interesting. :) I would really appreciate it if you would pray for me if you happen to remember. Please pray that God would give me strength to be able to keep going after camp so that I can take this test with a clear mind! Thank you! :) 

Anyway, thanks for reading this unique post! ;)

I know there are a lot of pictures on here, but there are many more on facebook! :p

"As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him." Psalm 18:30