Moved

If you're wondering why I haven't updated this blog in forever, here's why. I've moved to a different blog. For most of you, reading my xanga will tell you everything you'll ever need to know about me. Keep in touch!

God bless,
Martha

So...life has been busy around here. Jacque and Erin left last Monday, and then I had a couple days with an empty room. I made no attempt to clean it, though, and the week flew by. Then Friday came, and I had to clean my room at least a little bit before Jessica came. She's here for until next Monday or Tuesday!

I haven't started school in earnest, but I've been busy packing up books and papers from last year. I've been doing some physics lessons and a little history in addition to practicing, but the packed schedule won't come for another week or so. I realized earlier today that the longer I put off starting school, the later I'll be working next spring. That means I graduate from high school a little later. :( But I think my recital is May 3, so mark your calendars, everyone! One of the pieces I'll be playing is coming along pretty well, but the other one needs a lot of work.

Since I've decided to get out of bed before 9:00 tomorrow morning, I guess I'll be heading off to bed in fairly short order. God bless!

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." ~~Ps. 63:3

One Last Time

I am suddenly very anxious to start the school year. Too bad I don't even have my books ordered...

Woops...forgot to sign up for the ACT.

I have definitely not been looking forward to school until now.

Note: I know I haven't finished describing Horse Creek, but I might get back to it...maybe. For now, here's something that I read the other day from The Confessions of St. Augustine:

"When I name forgetfulness and at the same time recognize what I name, how do I recognize the reality unless I remember it? I do not speak of the name's sound but of the thing that it signifies. If I had forgotten that, I would surely be unable to recognize what the sound should impart. When I remember memory, memory itself is present to itself through itself. But when I remember forgetfulness, both memory and forgetfulness are present: memory by which I remember and forgetfulness which I remember...

"Therefore, if forgetfulness is retained in memory not through itself but through its image, surely it was itself once present so that its image might be acquired. But when it was present, how did it inscribe its image on memory, since by its very presence forgetfulness wipes away whatever it finds already noted there? Yet in some manner, although this manner is incomprehensible and inexplicable, I am certain that I have remembered forgetfulness itself, whereby what we remember is destroyed."

Tuesday--Day 2

Tuesday morning came, and everyone wanted the shower. I waited until 7:40 to crawl out of bed, but I was through the shower and dressed for breakfast with minutes to spare! After breakfast some of us headed back to our room to make our beds and clean up the room a little for room inspection.

Tuesday morning's session included an examination of Psalm 24. We learned that everything in this earth belongs to God as said in verse one. We are not worthy to ascend his hill because only a perfectly righteous one may do so. However, we receive the righteousness of God and can then ascend, just as Jacob did.

For morning recreation there were two games: Annie-over and Ultimate Frisbee. I played both. When Annie-over sort of died out, I joined the game of Ultimate Frisbee and even helped make a point!

Greg talked about the kingdom of God in the second morning session. The dom in kingdom refers to the fact that God rules over his dominion, or place where he rules with authority. Second, the rule of Christ is everywhere or universal.

After lunch, we had quiet time. First we had fifteen minutes in which no one was allowed to talk. Then we all divided into our little groups for skits. In my group was Betsy, Jerusha, Tirzah, Molly, Lydia, Emily, and me. We sort of figured out what we were going to do, and then we got dressed for organized recreation.

Organized recreation was kickball. We sat around waiting for many of the girls to get dressed and finally started without them. Once everyone was there, a total of three games were played. the Asian Invasion team lost both games they played.

Jerusha, Lydia, and I played some pool before we decided to go canoeing. I quickly grew bored of trying to canoe in a straight line, so then we went swimming. The water felt great.

Free time ended, and supper passed. John McFarland spoke for the evening session on the Reformed Idol. I'll write another post on that. Pastor McFarland also led campfire. He had us listen to Steve Green. He warned us that we should spend make an effort to spread the Gospel and reach others for Crhsit. For if we don't tell others about Him, who will?

After campfire, I lost a ping pong game to Olivia and won an air hockey game against Taylor. Then I watched the Skittle game that was going on before we all gathered for

Thus was the Tuesday, the second day of camp.

Horse Creek--Day 1

Since I have so much to say about my week at camp, I thought I would break the days up and write about only a little at a time to make the posts shorter. So here is what happened on Monday.

Monday morning came, and I was nowhere near ready to go! I woke up pretty early (okay, okay, about 7:15) and started my laundry. Andrew came over about 8:00 and asked me to print off the schedule for camp, so I did that in between loads of laundry. Then I hastily stuffed clothes into my bag and started piling stuff into the car. Just before we left, I remembered my toothbrush!

We finally got on the road about 10:30. On the way we stopped at Walmart for spray paint and a kickball. We also got pop and Pringles to keep us occupied during the drive. For the next two hours, Lydia and I followed Andrew's car through multiple work zones before we pulled into Miracle Hills.

Once there, we unloaded all our stuff and greeted everyone who came in. Lydia, Molly, Emily, and I tried out a foosball table that seemed strange. Once Emily and I won that game, we walked farther into the room. We discovered a normal foosball table! Evidently, the first one was designed for left-handed people because the players were "hitting" the ball the wrong way.

At 3:00 everyone gathered for an opening session. Our speaker, Greg Stiner, led us through a meditation of Psalm 145. We saw God as the King. First, He is the king seen throughout the creation. Second, he is the king seen in the Bible, His Holy Word. Finally, God is the king as He is known in time and space. Greg concluded by encouraging to know and live to God as our King and Savior.

We then broke for free time and supper. After supper, Andrew, my brother and the camp manager, explained to everyone the rules for the week. Then we were divided into teams, which we would be on for the rest of the week. My team was called the Asian Invasion, but there were no Asians on the team! I thought the name was very random, but everyone else seemed to approve of it... Other teams names were Psychotic Penguins and Rambunctious Babble Buffoons.

After this meeting, we had campfire. Matthew led the songs, and then Andrew led campfire. He told us about his grandmother. Grandma is in the nursing home now, and she doesn't remember very much anymore, but she is still happy. She is content to let Grandpa be "her memory." Life pretty much passes her by as she sits in the nursing home day after day, but she is still a witness for God. Those of us who go in to see her are encouraged by her cheerful smile. We can encourage others in the same way. We may not know why we're here on earth or what our purpose is, but we can always glorify God.

Later, the senior girls gathered for devotions. Barb, our counselor, first handed out folders, construction paper, and markers. Everyone was encouraged to draw about their day. I sort of doodled around on my paper, but I really preferred to write about it. Next, Barb had everyone separate into pairs and wash each other's feet. Then she plopped a box of nail polish on the floor so that we girls could paint each other's toenails. I declined and went to bed, but the next morning I saw evidences of this activity as several girls sported flashy orange polish.

Thus was the first day of camp.

Driving

I admit it. I'm a horrible backseat driver. But have you ever noticed differences the various reasons people become nervous when they are in the passenger seat?

For example, I prefer to drive on the white line or close to it. Before I was able to drive, my grandma always told me this story about a lady who ran into Grandma and Grandpa's mailbox because these two kids were racing on the highway and didn't get out of the way in time. The lady had two choices: hit one of the oncoming cars or hit the mailbox. She chose the mailbox. I didn't know it would, but that story has drastically affected my driving. I have this fear of getting too close to the middle line and accidentally hitting another car as we meet. Therefore, when I'm in the passenger seat, I keep thinking that the driver is too close to the middle of the road and should move to the right some more before they hit someone. When I'm driving, I gravitate toward the white line.

On the other hand, my mom tends to drive down the middle of the road. She believes in driving on the road and would hate to lose control and go sliding into the ditch. When she drives, she drives as close to the middle line as she can. When I'm driving with her, she gasps every time I get too close to the side of the road.

We all have our differences, and driving habits are only one manifestation.

Take My Quiz on QuizYourFriends.com Can you Ace my quiz? Yes! No Let's Find Out!

When life doesn't go your way...

...the time has come for an attitude adjustment.

O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
~Psalm 119: 97~

After a Rain

The pond is so full that it's pouring into the overflow tube!
The water is almost up to the dock.

And it makes for great fishing! :)

Nora Practices Diligently

Lists

I like lists. Why? Because they help me organize my thoughts and tell me what needs to be done. Once I write everything down that I need or want to do, I can decide which ones need to be done first without forgetting the rest. And once I have something done, I can cross it off the list and completely forget about it! While some lists name long-term goals and take forever to complete, others contain tasks that I do every day for school.

Here are several lists that I am currently building or using.

1. School

• piano: practice 1 hr
• English: Ch 6, pre-writing: Step 1
• English: Ch 6, pre-writing: Step 2
• lit: Act V, Scenes 5-8: RG Q's 9-10
• physics: mod. 12 test
• history: ch 21 test
• Bible: begin researching Augustine's life
• adv. math: lesson 71, probs. 16-30
• English: Ch 6, pre-writing: Step 3
• lit: begin book report for Macbeth by deciding on thesis
• physics: organize notebook and prepare for 3/4 test

2. Miscellaneous

• vacuum my room
• wash sheets
• order filters for the Roomba
• laundry
• run w/ Brandy

3. Pieces for Senior Recital next year (just suggestions)

• “Prelude” by Rachmaninoff
• “Rustles of Spring”
• “Fantasia” by Mozart
• “Tea for Two” (duo w/ Eric or Lydia)
• “How Great Thou Art” arr. by Marilyn Ham
• “Stars and Stripes Forever” by Sousa (trio w/ Eric & Lydia)

4. Papers I should be writing

• biography on Augustine of Hippo
• article about the Great Depression (including an interview of someone who lived then)
• I-Search paper for English comparing radio stations
  
• report on Macbeth
• Oh, yes, and a short article for The Cyperus.
  

Sad News...sorta

This morning Lydia, Brandy, and I ran down to the Fairview park. Once there, I noticed that they'd taken one of the basketball hoops down. And it was the better one, the one on the east end! I really hope they replace it before the spring picnic because otherwise I would not be happy!

Spring '07 Youth Retreat

*Note: This is somewhat long, so don't worry about it if you don't make it all the way through.

Early Saturday morning, my siblings and I, with all our luggage, piled into Andrew’s little Neon for the trip to Sterling. In the backseat, Eric and I slept most of the trip. We finally arrived in Sterling around 10:30—just in time for the opening game.

The game involved a couple packages of Starbursts, and each player received two different colors of Starbursts. If he got an orange one, he had to tell an embarrassing story, though the rules did not say the story had to be about himself. The second color of Starburst was pink: if someone got this, he had to name a special talent of his. Yellow was the third Starburst, and someone who got it had to name a place he would like to visit and why. Finally, the red Starburst represented a pet peeve.

Stan Copeland held the group captive for the next couple of hours as he discussed Exclusive Psalmody and why it is important. He stressed that psalm singing is a method of evangelism and that all the psalms point to Christ.

Exclusive Psalmody is also a method of worship, especially worship that God has commanded. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary describes the word worship as coming from the Middle English worshipe, which means “worthiness, respect, reverence paid to a divine being.” Stan said this is played out in the way we treat those around us.

The reason we sing only psalms in worship is that it’s the only way God has commanded us. Stan said, “If God had wanted something, He would have said, ‘That’s what I want.’” In other words, what is not expressly commanded in the Bible is forbidden. Some people may ask about non-Psalm but biblical texts. Stan gave three arguments for not singing them in corporate worship. First, we are not commanded to use them; therefore, we should not. We would be reading into the text to find what we wanted if we were looking for a reason to sing them. Secondly, these “songs” were spoken and not sung. Nowhere do we find any indication that these words of praise were set to music. Finally, no psalms were written in the New Testament. Instead, they were all quotations taken from the Book of Psalms. For example, 1 Peter 3:10-12 is a quotation of Psalm 32: 14-16. Stan concluded that since God hasn’t explicitly told us to use anything besides the psalms to worship Him corporately, we should not disobey Him by lifting un-inspired, man-made worship to Him.

Stan spoke in the second session shortly after lunch. Here he spoke more along the historical lines of psalm-singing. As a side note, he pointed out that when people try to use Psalm 150 as an argument for singing music other than the 150 psalms, they are taking those verses out of context. Psalm 150 speaks of praising God with “tymbral and dancing.” However, unless we are willing to use all of the instruments—and only them—as well as dancing, we shouldn’t try to use them in worship. Also, these instruments are associated with sacrifice, the sacrifice that the priests offered up for the people. Fortunately for us that refers to Old Testament worship, for Christ offered up the ultimate sacrifice, thereby giving us a new method of praising Him.

Next, Stan pointed out that psalm singing is historically a mainstream position. For many, many years only the psalms were sung in church. Several times people tried to introduce other songs, but councils always opposed these suggestions. In fact, it wasn’t until the Second Great Awakening in the nineteenth century that hymns and gospel songs became popular. Men such as Charles Wesley wrote out songs that were easier for these relatively illiterate people to sing so as to learn more about God.

Throughout both sessions we sang various psalms that pointed out Christ. Psalm 51B spoke of the “God of [our] salvation and how He frees us from guilt. This obviously points to our Savior. Psalm 51D, stanzas six and seven speak of our mental health tell us that the Lord will sustain our minds. These words are applicable today and give us, from God, the words we need to praise Him.

Most of the afternoon after Pastor Copeland’s talk consisted of playing at the park. There everyone could play Ultimate Frisbee or volleyball or just walk around. I almost immediately joined the game of Ultimate Frisbee, and we supposedly used a floating Frisbee. Well, it did float, but it floated away from the edge of the lake...four times! Anyway, my team (Mr. Yost, Alex, Nathan, Logan and I) pulled ahead of the other team (Andrew, Garrett, JD, Josh, and Jessie) 7-2 before they pulled a 6-1 run. Fortunately, though, we found the strength to beat them 10-8 before they made any more goals. After the game was over, a game of soccer was started, and I just sat on the sidelines and watched.

Back at the church we ate the most amazing pizza ever! Maybe I was just really hungry, but I thought it was really good. As we waited for more pizza to arrive, we listened to Keith Mann give us a “word from the sponsor.” He talked about the wise use of Internet and cautioned us to be careful in the use of it. So many people assume different personalities when they log on, and he warned us not to lose the morals we keep in real life. Also, he encouraged us not to get too caught up in new technology. The constantly newer and better technology that enables communication around the world so often disconnects us from the community. Keith told us to spend more time with real people than with people over the Internet.

After supper everyone walked down the street to the Sterling College gym. There we played Capture the Flag, dodge ball, and kickball. During Capture the Flag I spent most of my time running around on the opposite side of the “field” or in jail, but it was a lot of fun. Then we played dodge ball, and though I tried to run away from the ball, it usually caught up with me pretty quickly. Finally, we played kickball, where I played left field (a place where fewer balls were kicked). I also made it all the way to second base, the only time I made it past that “kicking box.” I also played a couple games of Knock Out before we left the gym and walked back to the church.

At 10:00 all the girls were shuttled away from the church, and I went to Ginger Reed’s house with my sister and Molly and Emily Pilling.

The next morning in Sabbath School Andrew pointed out three applications that we could learn from singing the psalms. First, worship is special. God gave it to us so that we could bring honor and glory to Him. For example, God gave the Israelites many details how to build the tabernacle in the latter part of Exodus because He wanted His children to know how to worship Him. Secondly, we must worship in both spirit and in truth. In Revelation 2: 4-5a, the members of the church in Ephesus are warned, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” If we fail to worship in one aspect, then we fail to worship in the other. Finally, Andrew pointed out that all our worship must go through Christ as our Mediator. Hebrews 8 speaks of Christ as the new High Priest who offers intercession for our sins. Without Him our worship would be too full of sin for God to accept. However, because of the sacrifice He made on the cross, we are able to worship in spirit and in truth.

Then we had church, and Reverend Derek Miller’s message was taken from John 11: 7-10. Jesus went back to Judea even though there were men out to kill Him. He went to show people the light.

After church we had an amazing dinner prepared by the congregation in Sterling. Eventually, everyone parted and traveled their separate ways, where many will remain until the next retreat in June.

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

It's springtime!

Family...Lots of It!

A Trip to Cabela's

Today, Dad took Eric, Lydia, and me to Cabela's. Lydia drove us all down there, which in itself was an adventure! :P Anyway, here are a few pictures of our excursion. In case you're wondering, we didn't go to KC just to go to Cabela's. It was a major attraction for a couple of us, but Lydia and Dad had a class to go to for Lydia's pump.

Anyway, I had a blast today not doing school and riding in the car listening to music and talking with my family. We also visited our aunt and uncle and saw their new apartment, so that was fun, too.

Here are a few pictures from Cabela's. You can view even more on my photobucket site if you want to.

Watching the Geese

An Enjoyable Evening

Tonight four Scoby kids traveled down to Denison for a CY party, where we watched Facing the Giants--a very enjoyable movie. I'd heard lots of good things about it, but nothing was like seeing it for myself. Although I don't think the acting was spectacular, the rest of the movie (the plot and theme and enthusiasm and humor) definitely made up for it. Everyone loaded up on Mountain Dew, the popular beverage of the evening.

Then we came home. During that time the great philosophers in the car (I'll let you decide who they were) discussed varying aspects of onomatopoeia, palindromes, hyperboles, and pronunciation. It was a humorous ride to be sure.

Now I'm back home and watching The Incredibles with a few of my siblings, so I'm off!

Sabbath Rest

This year I have been making an effort to read the Bible through in a year. There are times when I've have much difficulty in getting my passages read, and sometimes I don't even start! However, I'm using a Bible that has arranged passages chronologically so that the readings flow more easily. I'm not so distracted by the verse/chapter numbers and keeping track of how much I've read.

Right now I'm reading in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy--specifically the laws concerning sacrifices. It dawned on me that God required a lot out of His people. He chose these people for Himself, and He wanted them to reflect that. He didn't want them to act like all the other people out there; He wanted them to be special.

Then I thought, "If God required a lot out of His people then, shouldn't He require a lot out of us today?" We live in a society that live for themselves. Events are scheduled for Sundays, and we rarely take time out of our busy schedules to talk to our Heavenly Father. God used to punish people who dishonored the Sabbath day with death. Today, everybody gets away with shopping or playing ball on Sunday.

Even if others do as they please on the Seventh Day, we as Christians should respect God and honor Him on His holy day of rest. God spent a long time dictating to Moses the numerous laws and statutes that He expected the children of Israel to follow closely. They had many details to pay attention to. Perhaps we can honor Him at least one day out of seven--not that much time considering how much was spent a couple thousand years ago.

Valentine's Day Program

Today I went to a nursing home. I used to be very, very uncomfortable with nursing home residents, but it's gotten much easier to associate with them. They love it when our homeschool group puts on a program every Valentine's Day! Even though we were a little late this year, a few residents managed to applaud our efforts.

One elderly man, when we were singing and walking among the audience, said to me, "You have a warm heart." Later we walked down the halls to give treats to the residents who weren't able to make it to the program. One lady was astounded that we had something for her! She loved it! Another lady didn't know if she wanted anything. She ached all over, and there was nothing else to it. She ached all over, and she didn't think she'd like Chex mix. We gave her some anyway, hoping she'd feel better soon so that she could enjoy it.

Because of the weather and other reasons, we had a very small gathering. However, it was very enjoyable, and we all had fun.

Today...

• is Monday.
• it's snowing (as evidenced by the above picture). I'm enjoying watching these huge, fat flakes tumble out of the sky to the ground.
• I gave myself a paper cut.
• I got the water in my bathroom back. *sigh* I have my own bathroom again. :)
  
• is almost Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day our homeschool group always goes to a nursing home and sings goofy songs, putting on a mini-concert. I'm playing "Little White Donkey." Then we hand out treats and valentines to all the residents. Last year it was 60 degrees outside. This year we might actually have snow on the ground!
• "...is the day that the Lord has made."
  

Skating Party

Saturday night our church had a skating party in Topeka. Almost all of the Scobys (plus Brandy and Austin) went and had a wonderful time! Here are some pictures of the occasion.

LimboKyle

I could say she was skating really fast, but really, I couldn't take very good pictures, and my camera was mad at me. :)

Lydia and I stayed over at the Baybutts, and I really liked this shot of Hannah.

Happy Kansas Day

At piano lessons today my teacher showed me the song she wants me to play next year: "Prelude" by Debussy. I was astounded at the number of glissandos and cadenzas in there--she has that much confidence in me? It does look like a fun piece. I just hope I'll play it well.

MAACS...it went pretty well, but apparently it didn't go as well as I thought it did. There were six people competing, two of whom were Lydia and I. Two of those people used music, and when you use your music, your rating drops a point. Later, I learned that one of those placed second--beating Lydia and me out. It makes me wonder what my score was.

And...I'm very busy with school. Afternoons fly by before I'm even fully aware that they've arrived!

We have snow! It snowed about eight inches Saturday night, but we made it down to church anyway. The roads cleared off very quickly. Then yesterday evening the Rippes came over and we went sledding.

That's the extent of what's worth repeating. I hope everyone is staying warm in their houses this month!

Year in Review

I know the change in years has come and gone, but I thought it might be fun to give you a review. At the prompting of Austin, I've decided on a few books and movies that I really enjoyed this year. Below are a few lists.

Books of:

• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
• Reunion by Karen Kingsbury
• A Moment of Weakness by Karen Kingsbury
• The Truth Seeker by Dee Henderson

Movies:

• Dunstin Checks In
• Firewall
• Miss Congeniality
• Ladder 49
• Flightplan

Please note that these lists are in no particular order.

Since I'm constantly teased for being a blonde, here is what my year looked like (just kidding):

January - Took new scarf back to store...it was too tight.

February - Fired from pharmacy job for failing to print labels...bottles won't fit in typewriter!

March - Got excited - finished jigsaw puzzle in 6 months...box said "2-4 years!"

April - Trapped on escalator for hours...power went out!

May - Tried to make Kool-Aid...8 cups of water won't fit into those little packets!

June - Tried to go water skiing...couldn't find a lake with a slope.

July - Lost breast stroke swimming competition...learned later, other swimmers cheated, they used their arms!

August - Got locked out of car in rain storm...car swamped, because top was down.

September - The capital of California is "C"...isn't it?

October - Hate M &M's...they are so hard to peel.

November - Baked turkey for 4 1/2 days...instructions said 1 hour per pound, and I weigh 108!

December - Couldn't call 911...there's no eleven button on the phone!