I probably shouldn't say anything, but...

dook 54
Nova 77

What a whoopin!

And Carolina will probably lose tomorrow night since I just said that...

Nonetheless, notable comments on Devils Illustrated Basketball forum right now:
"What's the deal with Memphis? Mizzou is beating them soundly..." welll ::clears throat::

"We have blown big leads before, maybe its our turn for an epic comeback... PLEASE?" wishful thinking dookie.

"Comeback? I'll be happy if we don't lose by double digits" Haha

"If we can keep within 10 then it's a moral victory" Hahaha... no words...

"Face it, we have been overrated all year" Now you realize it.

"I'm more surprised at how emotional they're getting" Thats right, blame it on emotions... again.

And my favorite, in a thread called "Did you consider applying to UNC when applying to Duke?":
"Finances played a part in my decision to choose NC State as the school I would eventually flunk out of" Well, I'm certainly glad you new in advance not to pay for a diff. university... hahahaha

Have a good night!

Starting BVWs

Hey hey! I recently thought of a great idea for my blog - Bible Verse Wednesdays (BVWs)! Because I am awful at recalling exact verses and references, I have decided to start memorizing verses. I believe that arming yourself with God's word is crucial because:

1. It protects you from Satan (see Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11)

2. It helps keep you from sin and temptation (Psalm 119:11)

3. It helps you when witnessing & communicating with unbelievers

4. It provides comfort for you and others

So, if you'd like to join me in this, I plan to post the verse of the week at the top of my side bar. AND, if you want, you can do the same on your blog so others can join in! The more Christians that arm themselves with God's word, the better we can serve Him!

I chose this week's verse from Billy Graham's Hope for Each Day. I use it as a devotional to get started on my quiet time with God and I LOVE IT! I strongly recommend it! It's the best mini-devotional I've come across.

I'd like to share the passage that this verse came from:

"Today we have learned to harness the power of the atom, but very few of us have learned how to develop fully the power of prayer. We have not yet learned that a man can be more powerful on his knees than behind the most powerful weapons ever developed. We have not learned that a nation is more powerful when it unites in earnest prayer to God than when its resources are channeled into weapons. We have not discovered that the answer to our problems can be through contact with the living God. Weapons by themselves will not keep us safe or solve the world's problems. Our basic problems are spiritual in nature, and only spiritual solutions will solve them. That is why prayer is so vital, for only God can change the human heart. Who knows what might happen if millions of believers around the world availed themselves of the greatest privilege this side of Heaven - the privilege of intercessory prayer? Will you be one of them?" (p. 97)

(In case you haven't figured it out yet, I like to make lists and I like to define words... I guess that's the teacher in me....)

Intercessory prayer is prayer on someone else's behalf. The bible says we should pray for our leaders, our friends, the sick, our enemies, and those who forsake us... among lots of others.

I found this awesome list of things about intercessory prayer, but I have no idea when I wrote it or where I got it from... but here it goes:
1. Keep a list of who to pray for (...again, I'm a list person)
2. Tell people you're praying for them (this can encourage & inspire them)
3. Pray in a group (and this blog network totally counts as a group!)
4. Know that you're not praying alone, even if you are alone.
5. Recognize that your prayers might change
6. Recognize that He knows our heart even when we can't find the words to pray

So since my promise is to be as transparent as possible with this blog, so that others can see God's work in my life, I thought I'd reveal some of people I pray for:
1. My family, friends, and Parker
2. My Aunt Debbie
3. My grandparents
4. Jonah
5. Carrie & Beaty Bass' ministry
6. Georgina as she raises support for ministry in Sweden
7. Erin as she studies abroad in Africa
8. Recently added - Stellan (It's kinda funny praying for God's healing hands on "MckMuffin" and peace for "Mckmama" and "Prince Charming" and their family... if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm telling you... you should check out Mckmama's blog!
9. My friend Anna's mom
10. Jacob & Candice during their engagement (Parker's brother & future sister-in-law)
11. Katherine & Eric during their engagement (roomate & friend)
12. Martha Lynn's dad who is battling cancer (Parker's other brother's wife)

Well... that's a start! I hope you will join me in intercessory prayer and "scripture arming!" Please tell me how you pray or memorize scripture! I am not an expert, I just tell what's on my heart! :)

God Bless!!!

Stellan

Hey prayer warriors! Please pray for Stellan (aka MckMuffin), Mckmama's youngest son. He was taken to the hospital last night and has been experiencing SVT (Supra Ventricular Tachycardia = very high heart rate), the condition that he almost died from in the womb. I don't really know all the details, but you can check out Mckmama's blog for updates! Please pray for peace for their family, healing for Stellan, and wisdom for the doctors/caretakers!

If you don't know Mckmama, and by "know" I mean... read her blog (cause I don't know her either... but I feel like I know her), she is the one I got the "Not Me Monday" from! Just about everyone I know that has a blog, follows her blog - it has something like 4 million hits. But anyhoo... she is a sister in Christ & mother of 4 children ages 4 and under (Big Mac, MckNugget, Small Fry, and MckMuffin).

God's Grace

This morning, my pastor preached a wonderful message on God's grace. (I think he must've read my 2nd post, because it was quite similar... same scripture even! ha!) And since my blog is named "Grace Like Rain" for a reason... I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Apparently, there is a Family Circus cartoon of the family sitting in church singing "Amazing Grace" and the little girl looks up to the mom and says, "Mom, what did Grace do that's so amazing?" Haha! I looked for it online, but I can't find it anywhere... so if you can, let me know!!

As you can see in my new header... it says "The stories of a girlfriend, daughter, friend, and future teacher, in God's unmerited favor." Unmerited. I like that word - it means undeserved. Since, merit is accomplished through good work, or success, and it entitles you to receive a reward, not having merit would mean you were undeserving of a reward. As I said in my previous post, grace is receiving something good that you don't deserve (while mercy is not receiving something bad that you do deserve - grace & mercy go hand-in-hand.)

Back to getting something good that you don't deserve - boy is that looked down on in our society! American culture teaches us that you should work hard, be successful, and then you can earn good things. The problem is, we can't earn God's grace. Not only that, but we can't take credit for God's favor because we didn't do anything to get it, he just gave it to us. We can't boast about it, because it was a gift and we are undeserving.

Here are the lyrics to Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone by Chris Tomlin:

Amazing grace

How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

My chains are gone

I've been set free

My God, my Savior has ransomed me

And like a flood His mercy rains

Unending love, Amazing grace.

The Lord has promised good to me

His word my hope secures

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow

The sun forbear to shine

But God, Who called me here below

Will be forever mine

Will be forever mine, You are forever mine.

Sorry my thoughts are so jambled - it's 12:30 am, but I wanted to share! Have a good night!

A New Season - A New Look

I've spent my lazy Saturday "sprucing" up my blog as a way to procrastinate doing academic planning for my SENIOR (whoot whoot!) fall semester. OH WELL!

I hope you like it! Let me know what you think! I love getting comments!

PS. I'm at almost 850 views! I put the ticker up there about two and half weeks ago! Wow, who is reading my lame thoughts? Who are you invisible people? Reveal yourself :) I'm flattered!

I should've put the ticker up when Wes was in the hospital - I know I was getting a lot of hits then... OH WELL!

What A Week!

Recap of this week:

Sunday - Get back to school, forgot memory foam pillow, TV breaks, fix TV

Monday - Phone dies, is dead as a door knob, get new phone

Tuesday - Laptop malfunctions, Windows won't load, stay calm, don't freak out

Wednesday - Take laptop to ITS on campus, check laptop in to ITS shop for a few days, throat swells, crazy discomfort in mouth

Thursday - Miss classes to go to Campus Health, thinking I have an infection from wisdom teeth removal, doctor says an abscess, calls Dr. Means, he is concerned & wants to see me Friday at noon, prescribes heavy antibiotic and orders irrigation, run downstairs at Campus Health to pharmacy to get antibiotic, go to Acute Health Center for irrigation *stress out about being late for GRE* semi-uncomfortable irrigation procedure, quick lunch, off to NC Central for GRE, do not know where to park, park in lot near building, arrive at GRE near tears, administrator asks if I'm ok, I tell her my situation, advises me to get doctor's note and send in to GRE headquarters appealing a free-reschedule, administrator tells me that next time I park anywhere come upstairs and get parking pass and she'll tell me where to park, I thank her and leave, return to my car to find $80 parking ticket, chase after police walking away, police rudely tells me how to appeal, drive around looking for Campus Police building, Appeals lady tells me I need a self-addressed stamped envelope, since I cannot pull it magically out of my purse I make my way to Student Union to find post office, fill out appeal, told it'll be 2-3 months before hearing back, leave... go pick up my laptop from ITS, told I need a new hard drive and should contact Sony, drive home

Friday - miss classes, go to Dr. Mean's office, there is in fact, no abscess, just unseen food pressing on nerves, ups the amp on irrigation procedure *heavy discomfort* must irrigate myself for several months, come home contact Sony, nice guy named Marcus tells me what to do and VOILA laptop works just fine, hang out with Parker & family

Home Sweet Home! AND Pillow Sweet Pillow! :-)

::Sigh of relief::

Turkey, Rooster

Happenings in the classroom of a future teacher:
During my time at the middle school yesterday, we were doing map drills on the board as an assessment of the class's preparation for Tuesday's test. We point to the country, they say the name, we ask the capital, they say the capital city... mountain range, sea, ocean, straight, etc. Well I've told you funny things that my 7th graders have said before, and yesterday my favorite student made me laugh at something I shouldn't have. It went something like this:
Me - (point to Iraq)
Class - IRAQ!
Me - Capital?
Class - BAGHDAD!
Me - (point to Iran)
Class - IRAN!
Me - Capital?
Class - TEHRAN!
Me - (point to Turkey)
Class - TURKEY!
Me - Capital?
Peter - ROOSTER!

Haha! I thought it was funny.

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Did anyone watch American Idol last night?? I must confess that I've never actually watched AI until this year and I'm only watching it because ANOOP is on. (He's from UNC in case you haven't heard.) Well, he did SO good last night. Take a look, but make sure to pause my music at the bottom:

I mean that is an Indian dude that sings R&B up there singing Willie Nelson! I'm proud to say that he's from UNC!! On the other hand, no one is proud to know this guy:

YIKES! He just made Ozzy Osbourne sound like NSYNC. How can you take a classic Johnny Cash song and turn it into that? That's just ridiculous. I don't have words to describe it. Well, maybe one word - SCARY!

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Finally, I'd like to put out a prayer request for Georgina who is going to mission work in Sweden this summer! Check out her post to read the details. She is in need of support, so if you are interested in supporting a local girl doing God's work check out this. If you aren't able to help support her, you can help her by praying for her! She's asked for these specific prayer requests:

- That she would continue trusting the Lord to provide the necessary finances

- Her heart would continue to develop for the people of Uppsala, Sweden

- That she would best prepare herself - reading the right books, spending time in prayer, etc.

- That her family & friends would be supporting and understanding

You can also click on my sidebar icon (I'll get it up ASAP) to get the information you need to give her words of encouragement or help support her!

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One last thing, I'm currently blogging from the library as my laptop is in the shop because it freaked out. Ok, well that's probably not the technical term, but it's either an Operating System problem or a hardware problem. ITS can fix the OS problem in a couple of days... a hardware problem may cost money and I'll have to go through Sony & figure it out. So PRAY that it's an OS problem and they can fix it quickly! Otherwise... I'll be spending a lot of time in the library.

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Just kidding about the one last thing... I have one more thing to ask for prayer about! I take the GRE tomorrow (yikes!) for Grad school! Pray for me!

God bless!