You gotta have faith

Posted on July 5, 2005 by Sarah

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
~Hebrews 11:1

Sometimes I get doubts and fears that some things that are very special to me are going to be taken away from me. At the end of August I will be auditioning for the University Symphony Orchestra at UNC again. Everyone has to reaudition every year, and we have chair auditions after every concert. This, of course, keeps everyone practicing, and things are uncertain all the time. I was TOTALLY amazed and overjoyed that I made the orchestra last year, and I definitely want to be in it again this year.

My fear is that I won’t make it again because I’m not a music major (but I do have a minor). There are 10 new violin majors coming in next year. The violinists would be yelling at me if they knew I was saying this (because they did last spring), but I still can’t make that fear go away. More than almost anything, I want to be in the orchestra. It’s my favorite thing ever!

Just as I did last year, I am putting my faith and my trust in God. He knows whether I should make it or not, and I know His will is best. Hebrews 11:1 encourages me because I am hoping to be in the orchestra, but right now I can’t see whether I will be or not. I’ve had trouble getting motivated to practice violin, but I’m starting to get more excited about it. From now on, I will be practicing HARD because I want to be in UNC’s Symphony Orchestra!!!

Categories: Fear/Anxiety, Spiritual Growth | Leave a comment

4th of July

Posted on July 4, 2005 by Sarah

Happy 4th of July!

Every year since 1996 it has become a tradition for my family to go see the Longmont Symphony Orchestra play in Thornton on the 4th of July. I, of course, always love to hear the orchestra play, and the fireworks show is TONS better with music. :) The orchestra used to play during the fireworks, and it was AWESOME, but the past couple years they haven’t. They want to see the fireworks too, and I guess I don’t blame them. If I were playing, I would want to see them. Anyway, it was a fun night. It was a mess getting out, but it was fun. :-D

Categories: Just Life, Music | Leave a comment

Closer to God

Posted on July 2, 2005 by Sarah

Last Sunday, Pastor Jeff said that God sends us trials and hard times to draw us closer to Him and to make us long for heaven. I’ve been realizing more and more lately that that’s true. During the hard times, I grow the most in my faith and I learn to rely more on God, and I do find myself looking forward to my eternal home in heaven.

The past two nights, my family has gone on bike rides. We always go in the evenings when the sun is going down so it’s not too hot. The sunsets are always beautiful, and when there are clouds in the sky, the sun’s rays shine out in bright streams. I like to call it a “doorway to heaven,” and I wish I would have gotten a picture of it so I could post it here. But since I don’t have a picture, I’ll just end with a couple Bible verses.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverence.”
~James 1:2-3

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
~Colossians 3:1-2

I often get distracted by the things of this world, but I am so thankful to have good friends who are there to help me keep my focus on God.

Categories: Perspective, Spiritual Growth | Leave a comment

Here a rose, there a rose…

Posted on July 1, 2005 by Sarah

It’s rose season! This morning I walked around the neighborhood taking pictures of the most beautiful roses. :) This is a collage I made from some of my pictures. I just thought I would post it because I absolutely love roses!!!

“Sometimes you need to stop and smell the roses.”

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The Holy Scriptures

Posted on June 29, 2005 by Sarah

Every morning when I wake up, I grab my Bible and my little “Our Daily Bread” devotional book. Yesterday morning’s devotion was about how people are always wanting to add or subtract from the Bible. “In every era there has been a spirit of the age that challenges our acceptance of the Scripture” (ODB, 2005).

It surprises me how controversial the Bible can be. Many people want to add extra things to the Bible because they think there are important things that aren’t in it. The biggest example of this that I can think of is The Book of Mormon. To the Mormons, this book is just as important and special as the Bible. Other people feel that they have to take certain things out of the Bible because they don’t agree with them. “Christians” who have premarital sex may feel that the parts of the Bible that rebuke that action and call it sin should be removed.

There are huge consequences for adding or subtracting certain parts of the Bible. Revelation 22:18-19 says, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Instead of adding or taking away from Scripture, we should pray that the Lord would show us where we are wrong. Every part of Scripture is important.

Our Daily Bread. (2005). No alteration needed. United States of America: Radio Bible Class Ministries.

Categories: Spiritual Growth | Leave a comment

One child

Posted on June 26, 2005 by Sarah

I love to read, and right now I’m reading a book titled One Child by Torey L. Hayden. This is truly an amazing book. It’s the story of how a teacher changed the life of a child who was wild, unreachable, and abused. I already love working with children, but this story is really inspiring. Also, while reading this book, I am realizing that it is practical for everyday life as well. Many times we will have people in our lives who need patience, attention, and most of all, a good friend. Although we as humans can’t change the lives of others, we can use the love of Jesus to reach them. Through us, He can change their lives.

Categories: Teaching | Leave a comment

The ways of old-fashioned women

Posted on June 25, 2005 by Sarah

It’s amazing how much the culture in America has changed over the years. Women used to always know how to cook, clean, sew, and care for children, and girls were taught those things at a young age. But today it is not rare to find a woman who can’t do at least one of those things.

Before this summer, I didn’t know how to cook, and I’m still not very good at it. It really is important for a woman to know how to cook, especially when she gets married and has a family of her own. John videotapes weddings and makes DVDs of them, and recently I was watching one with him that he made to make sure it turned out okay. He mentioned that the bride didn’t know how to cook, but the groom did, and he was going to teach her. That is sweet that he is going to teach her, but it still seems a little strange for the wife not to know how to cook. I’m very glad that I’m learning now before I meet my future husband so that I will already be a good cook by then (at least I hope so!).

Probably a big reason for so many women not knowing how to cook is fast food restaurants. It’s so easy to just run by somewhere on your way home to pick up food. There are also so many pre-made dinners that you can fix quickly (which are not a bad thing, by the way). Sometimes I wish that I could live back in the old days when women did so much work at home. Even though I do want to be a teacher, once I start my family I just want to be a stay at home mom like my mom. :)

I don’t know, it just seems like women were stronger back then. They knew all about caring for their family the way I think that women should. I know women think they have more power today because they are getting higher into business and politics and stuff, but I like the way women were in the pioneer days. Becca and I used to always pretend we were pioneers, and I still often think about how life was back then.

Categories: Just Life | 1 Comment