Groundhog Cantaloupe

Almost exactly a year ago, I was chased by a groundhog while I was in the very back of our yard mowing. I completely freaked out. To this day I have always been a little jumpy around groundhogs. We seemed to have started out with one groundhog about a year or so ago. Then there were two. Now, we believe there are three. They all seem to share a certain trait. They are in love with cantaloupe. Rhine and all. They completely adore it.
We've tried and tried to catch them for a very long time. But today, today was a new day. We caught one of those big hairy suckers. One of the three has been bribed by cantaloupe, and has now relocated his home.

The big guy, or girl.

It had scary teeth

Ha, it looks like a pancake :)

"I'm watching you"

Dad getting it out of the truck.

Run groundhog run!

Be free :)

I hope this was a more happy post this time for those of you who said you about cried on my last post =]

 ~Believer in PRTC

Hopeless

I hate the feeling of leaving somewhere that you left a little piece of your heart.
Dearborn. Dearborn,Michigan.
I love those kids. Those girls at the mosque, they aren't going to heaven unless someone shares God's love. That little boy, that was also named Ali. His huge blue eyes and curly brown hair made him unique, maybe God's going to use him someday. The lady who's husband got let go, and hasn't had any work for 10 months, they have four children who are all beautiful. That sweet girl at the mosque who always had a smile on her face, until she was centered out and made fun of. Whats going to happen to her self-confidence when she gets older?
Hopeless.
Hopelessness.
I'm devastated. They're so blinded by the Devil. But they just don't see it. They don't see that there is an opportunity for a relationship with God the Almighty.
Oh, but the power of Yahweh's name.
I pray He will do great things.
~Believer in PRTC

A Night at the B's House

While at the B's house you will experience lots of things. But these are just three of my favorite things. (sang in a Sound of Music tone.)

One of my favorite(est) kittens, Lucie. Also known as Little Lu, and Chubbylumkins. But only I call her those names. Actually, shes the only one of a litter of four kittens that survived. But the only other one, besides Lucie, that I got to see was Azland. (Both named by me.) Azland was only seen for a day and a half. Sadly, the poor little guy-or girl, they were too young to tell-most likely died. Their momma, Poly, who is a stray, didn't have enough milk for them. Being the creative mom she was, she stashed both of the kittens on the roof, in the drop off to the gutter. I was actually the one who found Little Lu. She was still left on the roof when we had Azland. Poor little girl is about four months old and this small. But she is adorable. Her favorite thing to eat is pop corn, go figure.

Lucie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then, seeing as the B's haven't lived in the USA for their whole life, there is always LOTS of different types of food to try. This last time I got to try poffertjes. Yes, you may be confused. It took me about 10 minutes just to find the way to spell them. These things are like pancakes, but sweeter, smaller, and Dutch. The first picture is after flipping them over, and the second is after we drowned them in powdered sugar. They were oh, so. good. I would go live in Holland just for these things.

      Waiting...

Oh so yummy.

(Sorry for these last photo's quality, they were taken with my phone.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Photo by Katie.

(Sorry Katie, I "stole" your photo.)

And last, but certainly not least. You find friendship. These three are pretty much family. Joseph (obviously the boy.) and I joke all the time, and without him, my blond moments would be a lot less embarrassing, but never would be as funny. Then there is Anna. Who I can beat in Slap Jack, and Cow Racing. We seem to always have our best moments when we are slap happy together around two or so in the morning. Then there is Katie, and all of you guys know her. She my best bud, my partner in evil shenanigans, my fellow photographer, and my bestest friend.They all love each other, even though Joseph won't admit it all the time. I love you all.

Thank you B's.

~Believer in PRTC

Three Weeks Minus One Day

That's all that's all that left until my bestest friend Katie gets home :)

I can not wait!

~Believer in PRTC

"I hear You say,


'My love is over. It's underneath.

It's inside. It's in between.

The times you doubt Me, when you can't feel.

The times that you question, 'Is this for real? '

The times you're broken.

The times that you mend.

The times that you hate Me, and the times that you bend.

Well, My love is over, it's underneath.

It's inside, it's in between.

These times you're healing, and when your heart breaks.

The times that you feel like you're falling from grace.

The times you're hurting.

The times that you heal.

The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal.

The times of confusion, in chaos and pain.

I'm there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame.

I'm there through your heartache.

I'm there in the storm.

My love I will keep you, by My power alone.

I don't care where you fall, where you have been.

I'll never forsake you, My love never ends.

It never ends'."
 
Tenth Avenue North
 
~Believer in PRTC

Stories

I was inspired (Yes, at 1:10 in the morning) by Katie's blog post about stories. How often have I realized that I have a story. My own story. My story that's part of God's story. That's just one of the things that I re-learned at camp.
It's not MY story.
It's HIS story.
His story is way bigger then mine. My story is just the tiniest part of God's story.

I have a brother that I've talked about before. He has a story. His story is inspiring, and he's my roll model that I've learned so much from. He's so happy, even though his life hasn't been easy. Granted, he's not perfect, who is? He loves God. He doesn't follow other people, but is a silent leader. I love him.

Then there's my Mom and Dad. Both of them have come from "bad" pasts. Not because of things they've done, but because of things done to them or things that there families have done. No, they haven't forgotten but they have moved on. My Mom loves God, and so does my Dad. Even though life hasn't been easy, they both inspire me because they've overcome their past.

Then there is me. What is my story?
...my story. The fact that I have a story makes me think, and think hard.

Whenever I think story, I think of some kind of battle that has been won. A problem that gets fixed. Some one's past revealed, but still finds forgiveness in spite of the bad deeds that they did. There is all one thing in common with all of those ideas. Something bad happened until a thing was done that made things revolve into something better.
That's what all of my family's stories have done. They're all honoring God with them as well. So what am I doing?
What is my story?
~Believer in PRTC

30 days.

For the next 30 days (actually 27 now) I will wake up and play Our Godby Chris Tomlin. A challenge set by Louie Giglio.
"And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us, and if our God is with us, then what can stand against?"
~Believer in PRTC

Sometimes

Sometimes I wonder what I would have done without my faith.
Most of the time I ask why my faith isn't stronger.

Sometimes I can't help but be hurt.
But I try to love those who hurt me.

Sometimes I know I don't do the right thing, if fact I do the opposite.
Though, I am so glad that my God is a God of forgiveness.

Sometimes I feel so alone.
Then I remember, God is always there.

Sometimes, I question my belief in Him.
But He always reminds me that He's real.

Sometimes, I wonder why I'm not doing everything that I possibly can to make my faith stronger and grow closer to Him.
~Believer in PRTC

Wall-E

I was watching Wall-E a few nights ago, with my family and some friends. As I normally seem to do, (only if I've seen the movie before) I started thinking. Throughout the whole movie what is the one thing that Wall-E wants?
Love.
Doesn't everyone want to find love though? I think there isn't anyone who doesn't want to feel wanted at some point and time, if not always. But doesn't love always come with hurt? One of my favorite quotes- “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” C.S. Lewis. I think I've used it before, but it's so true. God's love is the only thing we can cling to without our hearts getting broken. His perfect love.
I really have no clue why I'm pointing this out. Something inside of me, I guess.
Weird to think, I'll be gone when this is posted. :)
~Believer in PRTC

Student Life!!

If you're reading this right now, I'm most likely on my way to Florida for a pretty amazing week! Student Life 2010 is here!! Louie Giglio is our speaker! Chris Tomlin is our worship leader!! And Matt Redman is going to be doing a concert!!! I will get to meet all three of these people!!!! :D I am SO SO SO pumped about this week! I mean, it's in Florida for Pete's sake! Daytona Beach here I come! I'll take lots of pictures to show everyone :) Have a great week everyone! I've scheduled a few post, so you might still hear from me. I am so excited!
Ta ta for now!
~Believer in PRTC

Serve Drama Team

This skit related to my life, so well. The one on Thursday put me in tears. I have to give you a link, because the person who put them up blocked me from sharing them. Hopefully, you have a facebook, and are willing to check this out.

Serve Drama Team

Let me know if you can't open it.
~Believer in PRTC

Oh My, We're Related.

I was glancing through some pictures and found this one.

Yes, tis my brother and me :) Funny day.

~Believer in PRTC

I Heart Faces : Teens Only

Couldn't exactly decide which one to enter, but I settled on this one :) Enjoy!

Believer in PRTC

What Would I Say?

Love146
what would you say?

Dear Love 146,

I heard about you almost exactly a year ago from today. J.R. was speaking about you at a camp in Alabama I had gone to. Immediately it brought back a story I had not wanted to be reminded of. As a matter of fact, I had gone to the camp that week to try and shake the story that I had been told previously. But I guess God sure does have other plans. I felt the need in my heart to find out more about you. Following the service, I walked straight up to our speaker, J.R.. I asked him, what can I do? Being 14, I felt like the little kid who doesn't know anything, and seems to always ask the silly questions. He told me more about you, and told me to go look at the website that was created for you, to try and save you. I thanked him. He told me later in our conversation that he was encouraged that I was willing. Willing to do something more. I'm so, so sad to hear that you haven't been found. My heart still breaks at the mentioning of you. I want to help, I want you to be found. I want slavery to be GONE. I wish you were able to live a life like I have. I'm so blessed, and sometimes I forget it. There have been other girls who have been saved though! All because of you. I wish you would have been saved. I hope that you're still alive, even. I want God to save you. I want you to know that God loves you. I want you to know, I'm not giving up. I am going to do whatever I can to try to help you, and others. Know that I've never forgotten about you since I've heard your story. I pray for you, I wish I could tell you that I love you, someone cares about you. You aren't someone who is worth nothing. There's a Man who died for you. Someone who loves you. Past, present, and future. Please. Please, know that there are people who are fighting, everyday, to try to find you. And to rescue girls, who are like you. I hope to maybe hear that you are safe someday, soon.
Sincerely,
~Believer in PRTC

Thought I'd Share

WHEN A SOLDIER COMES HOME

....he finds it hard....

....to listen to his son complain about being bored.

....to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes.

....to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work.

....to be understanding when someone complains about a bad night's sleep.

....to be silent when people pray to God from a new car.

....to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower.

....to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying.

....to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they're afraid to send their kids off to summer camp.

....to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather.

....to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold.

....to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog.

....to be civil to people who complain about their jobs.

....to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year.

....to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house.

The only thing that's harder than being a soldier....



....is loving one.

May God bless my friends, and those I don't know who serve faithfully.
~Believer in PRTC

Downstairs

Here's something that's fun-describing the room your in.
I'm sitting on a the farthest left side of the couch. Downstairs. Right next to my brother. My brother is next to Joseph. (Katie's brother) And Josh (another friend of ours) who is laying down is next to him. It's actually a rather funny picture. Joseph has a black and orange striped blanket on top of him, while Josh is wearing a towel (no worries, there's also a swimsuit) and laying with a pillow under his head on Joseph's knee. It's quite funny. Jessica is somewhere on the ground, not to sure where, I can't see her from where I am. As well as Anna is sitting on a mound of pillows next to me. We are down in the "man cave" watching Marley and Me. As I found out, a rather awkward movie to watch with three teenage guys. Right in front of me is a white square table almost directly symmetrical with the fireplace and the t.v. on top of that. The fireplace is beautiful. It's got a lot of stone placed randomly throughout the whole shindig. A dart board is to the right of it, hanging on the wall. Last night I totally whooped Joseph in a game. Minus the permanent hole in the wall. Zach's guitar is to the left of the fire place, and then all of the electronic things beside that. Then, the fuse ball table, that no one has played with...yet. I'm sure we'll fix that tonight.
I'm to lazy to try to describe anything more. Ha.
We got two new amazingly, awesome, spectacular jet skies!!! They go SO fast! I'm in love...
See ya,
Believer in PRTC

Our Journey

Well, I'm up at the lakes for the weekend. We had a very eventful ride here. A car trip that was only supposed to take 2 hours, ended up taking 5. Crazy right?
Our boat's trailer's tire blew...apparently no one seems to want to carry the size we needed. Eventually we found one (after about a hour of searching) and changed it.

And by we, I mean the three teen guys who are with us.

The before tire on the ground and the new tire on and changed.

Needless to say, we were all very glad we prayed for safety on our ride up :) Gladly, we got here.

That's it for now, I'll post more later!

~Believer in PRTC