I was a sophomore in high school. Around break time whispers started going around--a plane hit the World Trade Tower, a missile shot into the Pentagon...nobody really knew what was going on. At lunch time (after 12:30 EST) they called us all in for a meeting and told us briefly what was going on (waiting so long was the decision of the head of upper school and virtually every teacher disagreed with him about it). After school we went to my mom's work and watched fuzzy images on a little tv there of two towers falling. Over and over and over.
Our world has shifted so radically since that day. Two wars, economic chicanery, mounting debt. If 9-11 was a wake up call, it seems our country hit the snooze button, continuing on as we always have done, and at some point, we'll cross a line from which there is no return--if we haven't already.
Thank God that He endures in the face of untold challenges and crises. And that He is merciful and if we return to Him, He is gracious and compassionate and quick to forgive. Thank You, Father, for who You are!
Ten years. A lifetime and then some.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Dear God,
I would really love it if the temperatures would cool off some (like twenty or thirty degrees), so the giant scary bugs will stop coming into my room!
Love, Beth.
Love, Beth.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
my mama is a wise woman
Mom's words of advice to a friend on how to keep a marriage running smoothly for 30+ years.
"The first thing is to keep the Lord Jesus the center of your home. He has to be first in each of your hearts, and first in your home. One of the most important things is that we both agreed never to do anything that would lead to ...adultery - no flirting, no having dinner with colleagues, no emotional involvement with someone else. We chose to love each other until death do us part. That means there's NO DIVORCE, and since we both want to be HAPPILY married, we work on the relationship because we have no "back door" - no "way out if it doesn't work out". We did not approach marriage as "trying it out". We married for life. Period. Another important aspect is that we want peace and harmony in our home, so we will do what it takes to have that. We trust each other, and work to make sure we do not act in a manner that would betray our trust. Remember: the #1 thing EACH one of you needs is RESPECT. If you respect each other, you will never do anything to embarrass your partner, but you will uphold, defend, and believe in your spouse, even when no one else does. We are also best friends. I will never tell a girl friend something about my husband that he would not want told. Ron is my best friend, and I have chosen to keep it that way, even when girlfriends tried to get closer to me. Nope - he's my best friend. And, after all these years, we still flirt with each other! :) Hope this helps!"
"The first thing is to keep the Lord Jesus the center of your home. He has to be first in each of your hearts, and first in your home. One of the most important things is that we both agreed never to do anything that would lead to ...adultery - no flirting, no having dinner with colleagues, no emotional involvement with someone else. We chose to love each other until death do us part. That means there's NO DIVORCE, and since we both want to be HAPPILY married, we work on the relationship because we have no "back door" - no "way out if it doesn't work out". We did not approach marriage as "trying it out". We married for life. Period. Another important aspect is that we want peace and harmony in our home, so we will do what it takes to have that. We trust each other, and work to make sure we do not act in a manner that would betray our trust. Remember: the #1 thing EACH one of you needs is RESPECT. If you respect each other, you will never do anything to embarrass your partner, but you will uphold, defend, and believe in your spouse, even when no one else does. We are also best friends. I will never tell a girl friend something about my husband that he would not want told. Ron is my best friend, and I have chosen to keep it that way, even when girlfriends tried to get closer to me. Nope - he's my best friend. And, after all these years, we still flirt with each other! :) Hope this helps!"
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
pur water
I read this a couple days ago and got really excited, so I just had to share. A big corporation helping make clean water more accessible, and helping educate people about waterborne diseases? Yes, please!
http://blog.worldvision.org/causes/pur-genius/
Also, please pray I get some work this week. I've been told not to come in the last two days! Yuck!
http://blog.worldvision.org/causes/pur-genius/
Also, please pray I get some work this week. I've been told not to come in the last two days! Yuck!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
today I worked...
...a full 9 hours, and thereby doubled my hours for the week (and then some!). Also, I scored a half-gallon of organic milk for only a dollar! YES!!!
Friday, June 24, 2011
work, work, work
I worked a whopping 3 hours today, for a total of 7.5 hours this week. Normally I've been getting over 20. So. I think the Lord is trying to teach me to trust Him. I hope it's working!
Also, I have been in Texas for four months, as of Wednesday. Despite the difficulties, it feels more and more like home. I kinda like it here! :-D
Also, I have been in Texas for four months, as of Wednesday. Despite the difficulties, it feels more and more like home. I kinda like it here! :-D
Thursday, June 23, 2011
I was so tired today...
...I lay down for a "short nap" and wake up three hours later, having slept straight through prayer at church!
Drat.
Drat.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Texas
I haven’t written since I got to Texas (except in my journal). It’s been a rough journey, and for a while the only words I had to write were not ones I wished to share. Things haven’t turned out anything like I hoped or expected. In some ways, they’ve been worse, but in other ways, they’ve been so much better. The Lord is teaching me, expecting me, forcing me to trust Him for provision, for my care. Each time I needed somewhere to go, He’s opened a place for me. When I was at the breaking point of either getting a job or going back to North Carolina, He provided one. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it’s what I needed, and I’m there for this time for a purpose. He is so good!
The last four months have been a bumpy road through intense discouragement and disappointment and frustration, but they have also been characterized by the budding of new friendships, a newfound family, and learning to trust the Lord in new, unique ways. Even in the hardest moments, when I wished for the security of what I left behind and struggled against the temptation to return to that, I knew I was where I was meant to be, and I didn’t want to leave.
I certainly don’t know the fullness of the purposes for which the Lord called me here to Texas, but I don’t want to leave until every bit of it has been fulfilled. Whether that means staying here for a few months, a few years, or the rest of my life remains to be seen, but my stubborn self is planted here and not budging till it’s time to go. I don’t know what next week looks like, or next month, and certainly not next year, but…judging from the last few years, if I knew what was coming, I’d probably run away and hide. : ) I haven’t liked much of the last few months, but you know what? Things are getting better, they will get better, and I’m not going anywhere. As long as the Lord keeps opening doors, I’m here to stay.
love, Beth.
The last four months have been a bumpy road through intense discouragement and disappointment and frustration, but they have also been characterized by the budding of new friendships, a newfound family, and learning to trust the Lord in new, unique ways. Even in the hardest moments, when I wished for the security of what I left behind and struggled against the temptation to return to that, I knew I was where I was meant to be, and I didn’t want to leave.
I certainly don’t know the fullness of the purposes for which the Lord called me here to Texas, but I don’t want to leave until every bit of it has been fulfilled. Whether that means staying here for a few months, a few years, or the rest of my life remains to be seen, but my stubborn self is planted here and not budging till it’s time to go. I don’t know what next week looks like, or next month, and certainly not next year, but…judging from the last few years, if I knew what was coming, I’d probably run away and hide. : ) I haven’t liked much of the last few months, but you know what? Things are getting better, they will get better, and I’m not going anywhere. As long as the Lord keeps opening doors, I’m here to stay.
love, Beth.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
erm, hello there!
After a month long hiatus from blogging, I am BACK! I was sick for most of December [blegh!] so I didn't get much accomplished, and since then I have been pretending to pack for my upcoming move to TEXAS!!! [which was supposed to be last week but since the entire southeast got frozen over by that dumb snowstorm, I've been slightly delayed. but anyway.]
However, things seem to be coming together for housing and I think a job will be forthcoming [because the Lord has always provided one when I needed one before] and I am just really, really excited about this upcoming season of life. Because it's going to be good and beautiful and I am going to grow and change and all that is very, very good. I look forward to new friendships, deepened relationships, pouring into and being poured into, community, coffee, love. I am excited to work towards creating the sort of life I want to live, to becoming the woman I want to be--more in tune and in line with who the Lord has created me to be.
This is going to be fun! :)
However, things seem to be coming together for housing and I think a job will be forthcoming [because the Lord has always provided one when I needed one before] and I am just really, really excited about this upcoming season of life. Because it's going to be good and beautiful and I am going to grow and change and all that is very, very good. I look forward to new friendships, deepened relationships, pouring into and being poured into, community, coffee, love. I am excited to work towards creating the sort of life I want to live, to becoming the woman I want to be--more in tune and in line with who the Lord has created me to be.
This is going to be fun! :)
Friday, December 17, 2010
five years, and finally
Five years ago today (December 16th, 2005) was the culmination and celebration of something that remains one of my proudest accomplishments. Five years ago today, I shook the hands of Ron Luce and David Hasz, posed for pictures and said tearful goodbyes. Five years ago today, I graduated the Honor Academy.
I never wanted to go to the Honor Academy. I was terribly frightened as I walked away from my parents and friends to board the plane that day. I didn't think I could do it--didn't think I was capable of withstanding the physical exertion and level of discipline required at the HA. I thought only amazing, "super-Christians" would be able to succeed there and complete the program. It took the Lord hedging me in to get me to even apply, and it took more maneuvering on His part to get me there and keep me there, in the face of nearly constant financial difficulty. But stay the course I did, with His help and grace, and I found myself finishing what I had started that cold January morning.
The night of graduation, I chose to spend my last night ever in the dorm, sleeping one last time on my bed. I was alone--everyone else had left or joined their families in hotels. I didn't mind. I don't really remember what I did, only that my dad came to get me the next morning. We loaded up the last of my belongings into our little rental car (a new Ford Taurus with which I remain terribly unimpressed), I looked one last time around my room, and we walked out of Carey Hall, got in the car, and started the trek around the loop, stopping one last time to check out at the guardbooth before pulling onto the road and heading for the hotel in Lindale.
The one thing I remember most is the profound sense of "knowing" that permeated my entire being. I knew, that I knew, that I knew, that I would be back someday. I didn't know how or in what capacity--certainly not when--but I knew I would return.
I am excited--nay, elated--to report that after five years of loving and longing for Texas, I will be returning there shortly after New Year's! YAY!!! This is something for which I have longed and prayed and hoped, and I cannot express my excitement. I'll write more about my decision to return later, but for now it is enough to simply say, "I AM moving to Texas!"
May His holy name be praised.
I never wanted to go to the Honor Academy. I was terribly frightened as I walked away from my parents and friends to board the plane that day. I didn't think I could do it--didn't think I was capable of withstanding the physical exertion and level of discipline required at the HA. I thought only amazing, "super-Christians" would be able to succeed there and complete the program. It took the Lord hedging me in to get me to even apply, and it took more maneuvering on His part to get me there and keep me there, in the face of nearly constant financial difficulty. But stay the course I did, with His help and grace, and I found myself finishing what I had started that cold January morning.
The night of graduation, I chose to spend my last night ever in the dorm, sleeping one last time on my bed. I was alone--everyone else had left or joined their families in hotels. I didn't mind. I don't really remember what I did, only that my dad came to get me the next morning. We loaded up the last of my belongings into our little rental car (a new Ford Taurus with which I remain terribly unimpressed), I looked one last time around my room, and we walked out of Carey Hall, got in the car, and started the trek around the loop, stopping one last time to check out at the guardbooth before pulling onto the road and heading for the hotel in Lindale.
The one thing I remember most is the profound sense of "knowing" that permeated my entire being. I knew, that I knew, that I knew, that I would be back someday. I didn't know how or in what capacity--certainly not when--but I knew I would return.
I am excited--nay, elated--to report that after five years of loving and longing for Texas, I will be returning there shortly after New Year's! YAY!!! This is something for which I have longed and prayed and hoped, and I cannot express my excitement. I'll write more about my decision to return later, but for now it is enough to simply say, "I AM moving to Texas!"
May His holy name be praised.
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