My Status as of 12/30 is...

I'm sitting at the dining room table right now here in good ol' Fredericktown, Missouri. My uncle and aunt, Larry and Tina, are up from Harrison, Arkansas, and my grandparents are just about to leave for their home. Larry and Dad have been playing their guitars and singing old hymns with my grandparents. I just found out that Larry can play the harmonica--and very well at that! I knew my grandpa could, but I didn't know my uncle was not bound to the guitar.

Anyway, for you ladies out there, I have been looking at wedding dresses with my sister, mom, and aunts Tina and Mary... No, I'm not engaged, but I like to shop for bridal gowns. I'm one of those girls who constantly has some kind of idea of what her wedding will be like. I'll probably have it all planned before I even meet the man. That's okay. As of right now, my favorite bridal designer is Maggie Sottero. My favorite gown is called Rosemary Leigh (fall 2006 line). It's a $900 dress at The Bridal Shop. Nine hundred dollars for a dress is ridiculous. One can find a nice $400-$500 dress at David's Bridal, but I figure if I still like the dress when I am engaged, it will be much cheaper.

Sunday my sister and I head back to St. Louis. I'll pack for Passion then and early Monday morning, we'll be on our way to the best New Year's party! Um, I mean conference.

Prayer Request Update

If you don’t know the situations and are confused when reading the following, read my previous posts “’Revive Me’ and a Request for Prayer” and “Prayer and Praise for Dad.”

My mom had another doctor’s appointment today at Barnes Jewish, and it did not go well. After trying to heal her foot from the outside, the doctors decided to try healing from the inside. That didn’t work either. Her bones are shifting in her foot, so her doctor is going to try to heal her foot from the outside again. If that doesn’t work, they will have to bore out the bone(s) in her foot. In other words, they will have to amputate. Please, I urge you, continue to pray for her fervently. If you just have a shred of faith, pray for her without ceasing, please. Thank you so much. Please pray for the rest of our family as well; this is tough for all of us, especially my mom.

Status on my dad: His arm was doing better after seeing the chiropractor, but it is on the fritz again. His hand will shake, he cannot stop it, and he has trouble writing. He is planning on visiting the town physician soon. Also, Dad is still very fatigued from the diagnosed upper-respiratory infection. He does not usually sleep well, and he has not had much of an appetite. I know he does not feel well when he is quiet, and he’s definitely quieter than usual! Thank you for your prayers.

God will move. Surely he will get much glory out of all this.

Psalm 42

Culture Shock

The wait is over; Christmas break is here! I have finished my first semester of college at Missouri Baptist. It is the third official weekday of break, and it has become clear to me that I am in the grip of culture shock. It is amazing since I am just 100 miles away from what is now familiar. The people are different (my social life has currently dwindled to two people apart from Facebook), the food is different (not everything I eat is all natural, that's for sure), the slang is different (the two people are my parents), and the pace is different (slooow). I used to enjoy the slow pace, but I have become so accustomed to being on-the-go in St. Louis that the outskirts of Fredericktown are boring to me. I never realized how different city life is from country living until I experienced it--until now.

Don't mistake me when I say the outskirts of F'town are boring. I absolutely love living in the country. I grew up in the country, and nature is one of the ways I connect with God. It is not nature that I am talking about here. It's too chilly to sit outside comfortably and take in the beauty of God's creation. I am talking about relationships and activity. It is virtually non-existent here compared to life in St. Louis. I just need to adjust.

I am trying to get something going with my friends from high school. They're bored too. We've gotten a taste of life outside F'town, so life inside F'town just doesn't seem the same home we left. Or maybe it is...

I am sure I will adjust eventually. Of course, then I will have to readjust once I go to Atlanta. That's right. Passion07 is almost here!

I have the opportunity to use these two weeks of downtime to refocus on God. Immersing myself in the Bible, reading Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper, and committed praying are on my list. Of course, writing the list is easier than accomplishing the tasks on the list. If you know me well, you know that reading is not my specialty, and I am not very disciplined. I'll let you know how it goes.

I hope your Christmas vacation is going well. Whether I do or not, I encourage you to use your time wisely and effectively. Merry Christmas, and God bless you.

"Take Every Thought Captive to Christ," Part 1

I've had something on my mind lately. In the midst of finals, church, Christmas break, Christmas, and upcoming Passion07, I have been consumed by thoughts of... I can't even write it. I'm not ready for it, but I desire it. It occupied my mind severely last year, but God helped put it in perspective. Now it's back. It's like an addiction eating away at me or something.

I was reading Chapter 2 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin Raphael McManus today when I read that when God transforms a person's desires, they become godly desires. Could this desire I wish to bury be a godly desire? If it was, why do I have it now? I'm not in a position in which my thirst would be quenched (not that I know of anyway).

Sometimes I think that my desire is not being met because God wants me to give it to Him and focus all my energy on Him--and then maybe He will meet the desire. Psalm 37:4 comes in play again: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." McManus explains it very well. I recommend your reading it. It could be broken down like a scientific chain:

Love God. --> Delight in Him. --> God transforms your desires. --> He gives you the desires of your heart because they are holy--they are His desires.

So this is the question: Is my desire--that consuming something--a godly desire? It is such a struggle when I try to take my thoughts captive to Christ. The struggle is in the mind. I need to change my focus to Him. He is my happiness, my life, right? Why not think on Him all the time anyway? Why do I keep holding on to something that doesn't even measure up? One word: Flesh.

Hey, Moody Blue!

Have you ever felt like you've been riding an emotional roller coaster? That is how I felt today. This morning I barely ate breakfast--sign number one that grumpy Kristi would be on her way. I ate my snack at 8:00 when I got to work, so until lunch at noon I "starved." Needless to say, I wasn't much company at lunch.

My not eating enough breakfast was just part of it though. I was also very tired today. I am a night owl, I confess, and I haven't been going to bed until the wee hours all week. My adrenal glands, I'm pretty sure, hate me by now, and I became kind of delirious today.

Okay, so right now I have two reasons for my moodiness... That's all I have besides being generally discontent--which I shouldn't be--and extremely apathetic because it's the end of semester. For whatever reason, it seemed like one minute I was cheery, and the next minute I wanted to either cry or punch something.

I'm going through something right now, which I will keep on the down-low, so maybe today was my subconscious way of handling it... I don't know; only God knows. This Scripture definitely makes me think right now:

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Prayer and Praise for Dad

Prayer: Please pray for my dad. He became faint at work last night and started blacking out. He was taken to the emergency room and was diagnosed with an upper respiratory viral infection. He was not given any antibiotics because the infection is viral, not bacterial. He is supposed to see the doctor tomorrow morning and isn't supposed to return to work until the doctor gives permission (though he was saying he was going to work tonight--He better not have gone!). This explains why he has not had an appetite the past week or two and has not been sleeping well.

Praise: Also, Dad has been losing sleep over a pinched nerve in his shoulder/back. He has visited the chiropractor a couple times, and his latest visit seems to have helped him significantly. His arms (which were sore/going numb) are feeling better.

Thank you all for your prayers.

A Joyful Account of Friday Night

I am so joyful right now. I love Jesus.

The MBU Christmas Concert was tonight. It went well of what I saw/heard. I missed all the singing groups like Allusion, Chorale, Chamber Singers, etc., because I had to go back to prep for concert band. We concluded the show.

All in all, it was a good and fun experience. I think we performed well, hopefully all for the glory of God.

Anyway, after the concert, my roommate, my folks, and myself went to Steak 'n' Shake in Manchester--the same one at which Lauren's birthday gathering was--and ate a good meal. We had fun there too.

This is random, but I really like the song "Search Me, Know Me" by Jonah 33. My David Crowder Band station on Pandora Radio plays it quite often. It's great. I recommend "Something's Broken" by Willie Herath too. Some great harmony is going on in that song.

Anyway, so I am joyful. I love Jesus. Goodnight.

Ah, geez...

I actually wrote this Tuesday, December 5, but my wireless connection was down.

Today has been one of those testy days. After my music lesson, I walked to my roommate’s Honda to retrieve my wallet and pay my private instructor for the metronome she had given me. She was waiting in her Honda (ironic), so I was hastily searching for my twenty when I remembered that I had used it for food at Wal-Mart. I’ll just have to write her a check. I found my pen in the front pocket of my purse, placed the keys I had been holding in the seat, grabbed my checkbook, and wrote out a check for twenty-three dollars. I was in such a hurry I didn’t even bother putting my wallet and checkbook back into my purse. I quickly locked the passenger door and returned to my teacher’s vehicle to deliver the check.

After Chapel I went to Big Red again for my flute and music because concert band sectional rehearsal was about to start. When I arrived at Big Red’s chilled metal body, I pulled the keys from my right jeans pocket and looked in shock. These aren’t Dana’s keys! These are Rachel’s keys! When I had checked to make sure Dana’s keys were in my pocket I felt Rachel’s keys and assumed they were the keys to Big Red. The black key with the fun red flower keychain was sitting in the front seat with my things, and I was officially locked out of the car.

I borrowed one of the spare flutes from Dr. Cox’s office for sectionals (Thank you, Dr. Cox.) and read from Allyssa’s music. (Thankfully, our piece has only one flute part, so it was the same music I was used to reading.) I didn’t get to eat the lunch I had brought between band and journalism, so my sister lended me money to get some snacks from the bookstore. A woman was buying several items in front of me, and I was, therefore, late for my journalism class. (Of course, if I would have left the Records Office sooner instead of shooting the breeze with my sister and a friend, I wouldn’t have had that problem.) At least I didn’t need anything for that class because we are watching a movie.

Because of this event today, I have made myself susceptible to minor irritations. I've gotten nit-picky, critical, and impatient. Snippy, actually, is a good descriptive adjective right here. My sister, unfortunately, has received the butt-end of all this. My sincerest apologies.

I have Old Testament History homework to finish now. It’s going to be a long night most likely because I did not work on my assignment as much as I had opportunity to yesterday and over the extended weekend. I am really learning the consequences of my actions. I am convinced, though, that God in His mercy will enable me to come out on top by the night’s end.

12/07/06--Actually, God was merciful, and I did come out on top. I enjoyed my night very much and finished my assignment. Reading the Bible and journaling over it is great homework to have! God and I spent some quality time together, and He gave me a cheery mood and an optimism throughout that I know only by Him I had.

Oh, and Big Red now has a spare key.

I Love the Holidays!

Some quick Hovis Thanksgiving highlights:

• My cousin Shelby playing with the Flarp silly putty and refusing to acknowledge Shawn's presence
• My dad making fun of Shauna (and vice-versa) throughout the entire Thanksgiving dinner
• Going out with my friends to El Durango then to the swings where Deidre threw up
• Shawn living on his throne (aka the green recliner)
• Dad and Larry on the guitars
• Spice carrot cake anyone?
• Shopping with Shawn

Okay, so that has been out of my system for a while now. It's the Christmas season! I am very excited about Christmas this year. Hanging of the Green helped kicked it off at MBU. Allusion sung some songs, In Charactre performed a short take, and then everyone stood in the Mabee Great Hall, counted down from five, and watched all the lights come on across campus. After refreshments and visiting, the Spirit Wing/Closer/Faithful concert began. It was great! Fantastic performances, Robyn, Lauren, Jenny, Rob, and everyone!

Things got even better when the Worship History and Leadership class led Chapel last Thursday. Keith and Jeremy led worship (hooray!) and the speaker (I regret not knowing his name) brought the Christmas story to life with a fresh perspective. He focused on Isaiah 9 about the coming Messiah and gave some background using a Greek word and explaining briefly how to use the study helps in study Bibles. I was really glad he shared that information with the student body because it is so important and can be so helpful for all of us students. In short, Chapel was awesome.

The Christmas Chapel is coming up this Thursday featuring Spirit Wing. I am looking forward to it.