Lists

Random list:

• Calipari to Kentucky – nice… now Kentucky can have a coach that recruits thugs to represent the school
• Calipari currently lives in a PINK house (seriously, google it)
• I think my new favorite contestant on American Idol = Kris Allen! He comes across so much as a cute, pure-hearted, god-loving guy! He is a 23 years old and recently married his high school sweetheart. And to confirm my & Katherine’s suspicions… he is in fact Christian. He leads his churches’ praise & worship team and does ministry at his local state university. *We totally called it*
• Pet peeve = people sending out emails to an entire class (lecture class mind you) asking to get notes because they "overslept"... Seriously? Just ask a friend in class.
• Carolina is in the Final Four whoot whoot
• Tomorrow is Bible Verse Wednesday! I’ll be honest, I haven’t gotten this week’s totally memorized. Sad, I know.
• I have 1300+ views (wow!)
• Jonah's home!!!! Praise God!

Reasons YOU should start a blog:

• Share what God is doing in your life. This helps you a) recognize when God is working in your life and b) spread His glory for others to see.
• Be brutally honest for all to see – this may make you feel uncomfortable, but I’m willing to bet that we’re not that different from each other after all… AND in tough times, the Christian blog network can be a huge source of encouragement and support
• Share what God has put on your heart – it might just be on someone else’s too!
• Update folks on the happenings (however boring they may be) in you’re life – Got a new job? Bought a new house? Made an A on your exam?
• Make recommendations – Good movie? Good book? Good restaurant? Nice sale?
• Connect with other Christians – find encouragement and support, start prayer groups, (intercessory prayer works can go both ways you know)
• Share funny things that happened during your day – everyone needs a good laugh now & then
• Write run-on sentences, make endless lists, and have horrid grammar… well, maybe that’s just me.

So, when you do start your blog, let me know and I’ll add you to the blogs I follow on my sidebar – then my readers can check out your blog too! SWEET!

God bless!

Fireproof

This weekend I watched Fireproof with Parker & his parents. It is SO, SO, SO good! It was made by the same church that made Facing the Giants. If you're not familiar with these movies, they were made by an awesome church and they rocked the charts of Hollywood, you should check them out. Fireproof is about a fireman named Caleb Holt (played by Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains anyone?), the only professional, established actor in the whole movie) who fights to save his marriage after his dad gives him a book called The Love Dare. While it certainly has a Christian basis, I think it's a good movie for anyone to watch. I think everyone who has thought about getting married, is getting married, or has gotten married should watch this! It's so good! It just might make my Top 5 list! Maybe even my Top 3!

There is also some great websites for the movie and for "Fireproofing your Marriage." They have resources for married, remarried, dating, and engaged couples! Even if your relationship isn't on the rocks, they have really good resources for just strengthening your love. My favorite is The Love Dare - it's the book Caleb's dad gives him in the movie, and it is sold in stores. You can look at a sample here (at the bottom). Oh gosh guys - it's so good! Seriously, check it out.

The movie plays on the fireman analogy, saying things like "Never leave your partner behind" and "Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes, you will be able to withstand it." It also talks about marriage as a covenant instead of a contract. I think this movie is more relevant to society than Facing the Giants - 1 of 2 marriages end in divorce! Definitely, definitely watch it!

I thought I'd include a movie trailor to get you interested! Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of my blog! Enjoy!

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!