Moving...

I've decided to move. I spent the past few days setting up the blog over on Wordpress, moving some posts and stuff and getting things ready over there...

So now...
my blog can be found at www.drumofadifferentbeat.wordpress.com

I won't shut this one down, I'll just not use it any more.

So, I can say farewell to the annoyances of Blogger... (not that wordpress is without them, but there aren't as many as on blogger).

See ya
Ky

Wordpress.

As you see in the poll over there ---> , I'm thinking of switching to Wordpress.

Why?
- I like the layouts, how organized it is, the fact that you can have more pages, that things show up changed right away instead of waiting forever like Blogger does...

Why not?
- As Autumn said, comments are slow.... this would be ANOTHER move of my blog address, making it even harder for people to find me who've lost my blog, and I'd want to move all of my blog, old posts, etc, included. Don't know if that's possible.

Autumn: I just logged out and posted a comment on the Wordpress blog and it didn't seem too slow. Maybe it's just that I'm still getting started, and maybe it's cuz I'm using a different layout than most people.

Anyway, that's the up and the down of it all, tell me what you think.
www.drumofadifferentbeat.wordpress.com

Ky

Love.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Karl started a topic on love this morning on our H20 Yahoo Group.... thought I'd re-post something I posted on love, and kind of sum up what Karl and others have said on the Yahoo Group.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast,it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

In this verse, the original Greek definition of word love, meant a selfless consideration of the well being of. This therefore means that if we love someone, we desire for them to grow as a person, that we care for them for reasons that are not selfish and that the love is real and from the
heart, not just an outward display.

The Bible gives a lot of references to how Christian should love one another. For example, in Mark 12:31 Jesus says in his talk of the greatest commandments:
"love your neighbour as yourself"
He also says to "love the lord your God with all your heart"

Also, Jesus Himself said that God is love. There's no definition needed outside of that; everything that love is was and is reflected in God and ultimately in the love shown in the cross. "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends..."

The world's definition of love: To be made much of. To know you are
"loved" by how many friends you have, how much people put you up.

Real love: Real love is not making much of someone, love is doing
whatever you have to do in order to enthrall someone with what will
make them happy forever!

That's what God does. He makes us happy forever by letting us see His
glory and we are most satisfied in Him when He is most glorified in us.

I know this has been kind of all over the place with random thoughts about love, but just remember that Valentine's Day isn't just about mushy cards, chocolate, and roses. It's more than that.
And the way Valentine's Day started was more than that, too. February 14th was a pagan holiday for Juno, goddess of marriage to the Romans and was a pretty big deal...then the emperor (Claudius II) ordered that all marriages and engagements of men in the army be broken off because the men were unwilling to go fight otherwise. Christianity was also still outlawed at the time. Valentine was a Christian who secretly married the couples and provided shelter, as well as telling them about Christ. Valentine was caught and tried, and refused to worship the emperor. He supposedly fell in love with the jailer's blind daughter, to whom he sent a letter and who regained her sight on the day of his execution (true by several accounts but still a legendary part of the story, there's no way to really know but it's not
completely relevant). He was martyred on the feast day (Lupercalia), which is February 14th. Thus, Valentine's Day. It all links together. So it isn't so silly after all - it's about sacrifice, marriage, martyrdom, and God's love.

And finally, my application of 1 Corinthians 13:
Love.
Learning how to love can be so tough sometimes... love is patient... love is not envious.... it does not insist on its own way.
Today started out beautifully.
Then I messed up big time in Chemistry.
Forgot to do my proofs in Geometry.
Didn't get my chores done.
Then I was impatient with Nate.
I had a disagreement with mommy.
I wanted to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.
And then there was a bit of jealousy for something I won't specify.

Love.
What is it?
Not this.

May God go with you today and every day and let you know His love more deeply so you can love others more deeply and glorify Him even more!
- Ky

Loving a person just the way they are, it's no small thing
It takes some times to see things through
Sometimes things change sometimes we're waiting
We need grace either way.

Oh love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Make us whole.

There is a love that never fails
There is a healing that always prevails
There is a hope that whispers a vow
A promise to stay while we're working it out
So come with your love and wash over us
- Loving A Person/When It Was over - Sara Groves

(BTW, there's another post down there in case you haven't read it yet... on Excellence. And 2 down is the campout).

Excelsior!

“Excelsior!” is probably one of my favorite Latin phrases. It means “even higher” and is something I mutter to myself daily. Every day I have to remind myself I can do better, that my all is not 95% on a chemistry test, it’s 100% on a chemistry test. That although an A is still a good grade, I’ve done better, and I can do it again.

Thomas Edison said “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.”
In order to achieve excellence, I can’t just get the idea and sit back doing nothing. Rome was not built in a day, neither will I be the best oboist in a week, or even five years – and most definitely not if I don’t work at it.
Okay, I bet we all already know all that. You can’t expect your math to do itself, you have to do it yourself.

Before you think I’m about to go of into doing hard things again (though I kind of will), I just want to tell you why I’m writing this and challenging you to excellence. I read it in my Perspectives notebook a few days ago. Part of the reading started off with stating that many are searching for the meaning of history. Then George Eldon Ladd, the writer of this article, said that the philosophy of progress is no longer accepted because people know society cannot attain a perfect society. Current events have made the concept of progress intolerable and unrealistic.
Sounds like the world is saying “who cares about your homework, progress is pointless because we’ll never get to a perfect society.”

Is this the worldview we as Christians want to have? NO!
Take a look at Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
- Philippians 4:8

Is slacking in your duties because “you don’t feel like” giving your all acceptable? Is this lovely? Commendable? Worthy of praise? Honorable? Excellent?
What about giving 100% some of the time… say… in chemistry or geometry but not in logic? Is that acceptable?
No way!
We must give 100% 100% of the time, not 95% 80% of the time! Not even 99% 99% of the time! I’m not one to tell you guys this, I struggle with it every day.

As Christians, we need to think about – and do – what’s honorable, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. This calls for change in our lives, change in Christian culture in general. Compare a lot of Christian fiction to fiction written by atheistic/secular authors. Which one is more exciting and more appealing to the reader?
Sadly, it tends to be fiction written by secular authors.
Compare Christian films to films that come out of Hollywood? Which one has better effects and better actors?
Again, it tends to be the films from Hollywood. (Praise God, though, although there’s a lot of bad stuff coming out of Hollywood, recently there have been more films coming out that have a Christian perspective – like Facing the Giants, The Nativity Story, The Ultimate Gift, and Amazing Grace).
Okay, people. Something’s wrong here. If the world is producing better stuff than Christians are, Christians are going to start swerving and laying aside some morals to watch or read things that aren’t completely wholesome. We do not want to compromise our faith for the sake of books or movies. Take a look at what’s coming out of Hollywood these days! Half the films I hear of coming out or see reviews for when I go to www.kidsinmind.com to look up a movie are R-rated and filled with violence, adultery, and bad language. Even the majority of ones that don’t support Christian morals. They’re about self, about what you can do to make yourself “happy” but that’s a whole nother post in itself.
So what do we do? Like the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival is trying to do, we need to encourage Christians to write excellent books and make better films.
This isn’t going to happen by sitting around watching the evil flow out of Hollywood. Let’s DO SOMETHING! Let’s strive for excellence in our schoolwork now, and develop habits that lead us to excellence in whatever we do. We can encourage Christian authors and filmmakers to do their jobs better, to create good rather than poorly imitate the world.

Whatever is true.
Whatever is honorable.
Whatever is just.
Whatever is pure.
Whatever is lovely.
Whatever is commendable.
If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise:
Think about these things.

There's a promise, too: "And the God of peace will be with you."

- Ky

Campout.

Internet's back up.

Thursday dance was pretty awful, none of us did very well and basically everyone else didn’t practice. *sigh* Next week should be better. At sewing we had mostly hand sewing, so we finished the Silver Chair and then talked for a little while.

Oasis was fun. The Orange team (GO US!) did really well on the team challenge, the message was really good, and afterwards was fun – we got to help clean up some, and Philip taught me a new pattern on the 4X4.

Friday after Church we all changed and got loaded up and drove out for the Jr. High Campout! We set up tents first, then loaded up into different cars to go duning or sand skimming. I went sand skimming… for those of you who don’t know what it is, you’re towed behind a car on a byriani plate. It’s really fun, kinda like sledding on a flat surface. Then we got back to the camp and got ready for dinner. While they were cooking the meat, Sarah and I walked around with Ben and James (giving Ben a "cake" and being superheros - he was Donatello, James was Wonder Wonder, Sarah was Pinky, and I was Green-Green), played Frisbee with James, ate, and went out into a bigger area to play capture the flag. I was on offense and actually did something this time. :P Erich and I snuck over to the opposing side because they weren’t guarding one side at all, then I managed to get into the safe zone by the flag. Eventually Stefan got over and made a run for it with the flag and we won. Yay. Go purple Up-Down Potatoes.

After a short devotional on boldness and some time singing, they played Mafia. Sarah and I didn’t want to play and stood around playing Cat’s Cradle and being annoying. We went to bed and after a lengthy conversation about dreams we fell asleep.

At 5:54 in the morning we woke up, and at 6:15 we tried to collapse one of the other girls’ tents, but it didn’t work because the ends just stuck in the sand instead of falling. None of us could get back to sleep because we were so cold, and Alicia, Sarah, and I watched the sunset then walked down and played with Ben for a while before breakfast.

Then people wanted to play Mafia more, but no adults wanted to narrate, so Sarah and I did. It was fun.
People went sand skimming and duning more, but we played Frisbee and Capture the Flag, then we packed up, ate lunch, and drove out. Daddy let me drive part of the way, and I went over 50KPH. (rather impressive if I can say so myself, last year I wouldn’t go over 40).
We stopped for ice cream on the way back, and then finally left for home.

When we were packing up we found a praying mantis:
(you get to see how much I bite my fingernails here... :P)

Now I’m sore from sleeping without a pillow (and our tent was on a slant so our heads were below our shoulders) on sand, sunburnt, tired… and I want to practice oboe but people are napping. Grr.

Sarah and I have been talking a lot about Csehy, and I’m not as nervous anymore. I’m starting to get really really excited, and although I know there will be a few awkward moments and things sometimes that just can’t be avoided.

We got our Surge applications in Thursday… so India, here we come!

- Ky

Shehan: I was putting him out of his misery! That’s not killing him!

“Me and Kyleigh are the only ones who have picked songs so far.”
“And me.”
“And me.”
“And me.”
“Okay, me and Kyleigh, and me and me and me.”

Hey y'all...

Well, Thursday night began a wind/sand storm and a bit of a really really cold weekend.
Some cables somewhere in the ocean snapped... so we've been without Internet and now we've managed to set up dial-up.

Anyway...
Life is looking up. :)
Perspectives has been great, so has Oasis, dance, etc... oboe and school have been pretty good, and guitar and piano great.
What else is there to say? :P

Thursday after dance I stayed at the C's and we watched The Silver Chair and then we picked up the Bc's and went to Oasis.
Friday we went to Ibn Btutta mall after Church and then I got dropped off at volleyball (nobody else wanted to play in the cold and windy weather).
Saturday I practiced piano and didn't really do much.
Sunday we went to a monologue on the life of Abraham Lincoln, and we had Well Group.
Monday I had oboe (which is going great, minus the dynamics...) and then I went over to the H's. Sarah and I watched VeggieTales and read some funny things, then we went to Perspectives.

I would write more, but I only have 4 minutes of internet time left on dial-up, so I'll write more later.
- Ky


"Dad, you're putting way too much hot sauce on!"
"It's not that hot."
"Yeah, it was in the fridge."

"I don't know, three or four cookies each."
"Could I have a mole of them?"
:P

PURE

This is something I wrote off of my notes from our latest series at Oasis. It was only 2 weeks long, but I wish it had been longer. :)
If you don't have the time to read it all at once and really think about it, please break it up into the two parts I've separated by the -----
Sorry about how spaced out it is, Blogger was being annoying.

Purity: God’s Standard For Our Life

“ Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." …Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
"All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever."”

(1 Peter 1:13-16; 22-25a)

Quick definition:
Standard: a set of beliefs that shape your life.

As Christians, we want to live according to God’s standards for our lives. But in order to do so, we must know what God’s standards for us are. Verse sixteen of 1 Peter 1 says “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” God has called us to be holy because He is holy. To be holy is the same as being without sin, without anything cheapening your life. We were created to be without sin, but we fell and cannot reach God’s standard on our own.

Many then think that God has set up do’s and don’t’s for us so we can attempt to reconcile our fall. Do’s and don’t’s just make us push at the boundaries. Instead of looking at what we can’t do, look at God. Turn your back and the hindrances of the world and embrace God for who He is.

But be prepared! Holiness and purity are not of this world.

The people who love purity are God’s children and warriors for the purity they love. We protect family and friends because we love them. If we love our purity, we will protect it. And what must we protect it against? We must protect our purity against the things that are attempting to darken our purity. These things scream at us to be impure like them. Say NO! and look at God.

Do you love your purity? Are you fighting to protect it?

-----

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23).

So what do we do to protect our purity? The answer is right there in Proverbs 4:23: “Keep your heart with all vigilance.” Some translations say “guard your heart,” which is probably a simpler term than keep your heart. Guarding your heart is like protecting your life, for “from your heart flowers the wellspring of life.” And it’s like a spring of clear water, because if you defile it a little, you defile it all because the sin gets circulated.

To guard your heart with all vigilance, you must ask God what you should and shouldn’t let in, then make sure that only what should go in goes in. Ask yourself two questions:

1. Will this propel me toward holiness or will it slow me down?

2. Does this fit in with my desire to be holy?

As an example of thinking things through, I’m going to use dating.

Quick definition:

Dating: (according to Wikipedia) the act of going out on dates whereby one person socializes with a potential lover using a process that involves scheduled, usually exclusive, meetings of two people with mutual interest in one another.

So what exactly is wrong with dating?

Dating is shaped by culture, media, movies, and untrustworthy influences. People think it will make them happy, so they pursue false relationships. For themselves? False relationships? *warning light*

The two dating have the inability to commit to the situation. They think love is an expression. But love is a commitment. 1 Corinthians 13 love is REAL love – patient, kind, bears all things, is not self-seeking.

Because it’s not real love, the casual expression used when people say “I love you,” while dating is a lie, thus making you a liar.

< The person begins to steal love and affection from you that you should be giving to God.

If you truly love purity, you won’t put yourself in a place where you break it by lying and falsely committing.

The world makes dating seem like a way to “fill” a “need.” If there really is a need, fill it with GOD, not man. Man will leave you more empty than before.

There are two main kinds of relationships in the Bible:

Parents and Children

Husband and wife.

Until we’re ready to be married, we should not even consider dating.

When you are ready to be married, make sure you guard your heart even better.

Keep God first and don’t let those feelings in until it’s time.

Until you can commit to 1 Corinthians 13 love, what the world calls love is just lust. Think about it. Is lusting protecting your purity? NO!

So what do we do instead of dating?

Make the choice of who and when with God and purity as the standard. Put God first.

The world likes to attack us with things like “How are you going to find him?” and “How will you manage talking to him?” (that one’s simple… speak his language and know he exists…).

Answer the world with your faith and trust in God. He’ll take care of everything in His own good time. Don’t expect to pray and then find the guy and be married before you’re 22. It might happen, but often God makes us wait so He may be glorified even more in our lives.

Closing thoughts:
Don’t let the media distract you. BE ON GUARD
If you’ve truly given your heart to God, He has to let you give it to someone else.
Ask questions about all parts of your life, evaluate your desires. Would you do this if Jesus were right by your side?
Opening your heart is like stepping out into an open street. If you don’t go carefully, you’ll be hit hard and ruin your life.
Your heart is precious, but it is capable of evil (Mark 7:21) Keep it from being vulnerable and easily reached.

Be asking yourself:

What does this want in my heart?
What will it do to me?
Is this something I should brush away in my pursuit of God?

What does a pure relationship look like? (whether with opposite genders or the same gender)

What does practically applying purity look like?

over'n'out
Ky

"Eew, Sarah, I just ate some of your hair."
"What'd it taste like?"
"Garlic bread."

"So I heard you had a bit of 'Girl Talk' at your Well Group last night."
"Well it wasn't necessarily Girl Talk."
"Then you had some guy talk?"
"Haha, Philip."
"They're opposites..."

Trust.

Trust...
It's what God's been teaching me about this week, seeing as I've been worrying a lot.
Life's been a little overcrowded balancing school, music, social life, and taking Christine places the past two weeks. Then to add to all that, Monday night started the Perspectives course at Church. It's going to be a great course, but it's intense and long.
We've been working out some summer stuff, Cait and I will [Lord willing!] be going to India over spring break on Surge Serve. And I'll [again Lord willing!] be going to the first session at Csehy All that adds a little stress, trying to get new passports for India and improving as much as I can on oboe before Csehy.

Well, although all this has been fairly small worrying... God's been teaching me a lot about trusting Him...

Although I'm still nervous about camp and being possibly the only oboist, being a newbie there never having played in an orchestra, not knowing how to read music to sing, worried I might not even make it into the orchestra and get stuck in the handbell choir... etc etc etc... God will work everything out and I'll still have a good time.

Although India's a big place and not the safest country and we need new passports, Visas, funds to go... God will provide safety, money, and the time we need.

Although sometimes I want to have control of my future, God's the one who has it all worked out, and I just need to "Trust and obey, cuz there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

I've started the Perspectives course at Church.
Wow. One week into it and it's already rocking my world. It's intense and it's tough, there's a lot of reading and a lot of stuff to get my head around, but I really like it.

Update: Our passports are being renewed, and they should be done in time for the Surge deadline. :)

Anyway... my week has been normal, dance started up again, sewing's going well, school is eeehhhh... the talk at Oasis was REALLY good, this week I plan to write something off of my notes, basically re-constructing the message. And I can't wait for Monday, Sarah and I have decided that between Perspectives and Oboe while I'm at their house we're going to discuss it within our own personal lives. :)

- Ky

"Okay, so you have magma and the sun. Which one is joy and which one is happiness?"
"The magma is joy because it's inside of you..."
"Okay, what else do we know about magma?"
"It explodes."

E: It has something to do with David.
P: Bathsheba!
Esther: PHILIP!!!

P: Hey, mom, what's the name of that guy... the donkey... you know, stubborn fool?

Mrs. H: Nabal?

E: Isn't that a body part?

P: Wait, how'd we get on this subject?

I've been feeling rather cooped up lately. Wednesday there was no rain like there was on Tuesday, so I couldn't go out running in it again (though that was amazingly fun!), but the roads were still flooded in some places so we couldn't really go anywhere.

I've discovered what's bound to be my favorite band, at least musically. Some of their lyrics are pretty, most don't make too much sense and are not secular secular, but not Christian. The band is made up of a cello, guitar, bass, drums, and a keyboard (with vocals, of course).

They're called Broken Iris.

A few of their songs actually sound a bit depressing lyric-wise, but they're absolutely gorgeous. My favorites by them would have to be New Hope, Colorful Mind, and The Scar. Actually one of my most recent favorite quotes is from The Scar: "Never fight unless you're willing to die."
I will warn you, though, much to my surprise, one of their songs (The Eyes of Tomorrow) has a swear word in it.

Wednesday daddy came home from Japan... and guess what he brought back for me?
A 4X4 Rubik's Cube!
Goodness that thing is torture. It's fun, though, just really tricky. I've not gotten past the first layer yet. >.< style="font-style: italic;">The Prydain Chronicles, which arrived with Christine as a VERY late birthday present. Taran Wanderer kind of set off my wandering again, though not really wandering, more of just my cloaked absurdity... I mean, I'm the only person I know who completely loves their music, Rubik's cubes, Lord of the Rings, cloaks, writing, dance, and can be completely drawn back and silent one moment and rather talkative the next.

Thursday morning after school I went with Nate and Candace to the H's for music lessons. I did geometry during their lessons, then Esther and I talked for a little while and she brought out Philip's new cubes (He got a 4X4 the other day, too! And a 2X2). I solved the 2X2, then Philip and I were discussing the 4X4 and he gave me some verbal help. Then mommy dropped me off at the C's for sewing, and afterwards we talked and watched part of the Silver Chair until we went to Oasis... which was just a movie/game night because the bus was canceled because of rain. The movie was Faith Like Potatoes, and I'm still deciding if I want to watch the rest of it or not. Sarah and I watched the first half hour, but then didn't like where it was going and didn't really think it was all that wholesome so we played cards, but a little later kind of started watching again and it looked a little better.

Friday at Church Philip helped me some more with the cube and Sarah, Hannah, Esther and I were playing with the 3X3. In the afternoon I just sat around and cubed (not really getting anywhere), and then we went to volleyball... which was okay on my part, we won our games but not really any thanks to me. Afterwards we talked, played Kent, and Sarah, Philip and I played around with the cube for a while.

Saturday afternoon Nate had his first baseball game of the season. He did a wonderful job pitching, but his team didn't win. :( Then we went to Global Village for a while. Global Village is basically a bunch of pavilions with things from all over the world in it. It's really neat just to walk around in, and being outside was really cool. We took a few pictures and videos there, I'll hopefully have them up soon. I got fuzzy toe socks and a Zebra mask.
---
"What's going on tomorrow?"
"People will be breathing, eating, walking... some will die."

"When you put the mask on, you act like a zebra."

"Madam, I have beautiful material to make ball gown!" (a Pakistani guy in the Pakistan pavilion at Global Village... selling Pakistani material... not at all our idea of "ball gown" :P)
---
Over'n'out
Kilo-Yankee
---
Illiteracy for those who don't see
The gates that untie avid arrogance
Your ground felt so firm I short handed myself
Never again will I give in

Right into hate right into lies
Right back where we've been before
A privilege no more now that we've lost

The Scar buried within mankind
The will that defines all of right from wrong
Now fight unless you're willing to die
None but the obvious state this

Struck with a punishment that would last for an age
Finally it's all black and white
Much more simple to answer

Heroes will rise
Enemies fall
Right back where they've been before
A privelege regained
A gift that you own

Pay no more mind
To the agony from the burn
Let yourself climb
To a height never reached before
Open to find
A path to the pure inside
Now is the time
- The Scar - Broken Iris

A rather dreamy all over the place post.

I've been feeling rather like the title up there ^ .

I'll try to compress my thoughts and put them in order enough to make a legible post.

I finally got pictures from Christmas uploaded... here are a few from my Well Group Christmas party.I love the angles on this one... then look at the person in the middle... haha, H!

We were going to take some nice pictures to send to our friend in the states... but...
We did get a few nice ones, but on those ones the lighting on my camera was bad so they didn't turn out too well.

Shall we dance?

Stormy skies... and the Burj Dubai rising above everything else.

It's been raining. And today it's not just been raining, it's been pouring. In some places it's so flooded people are basically unable to go out. Here in the compound there are places the water is ankle deep. I'm so happy that my cloak is waterproof... otherwise mom would have never let me tramp around out there for an hour. It's not quite as exciting and doesn't have nearly as much scope for the imagination as running all over gramma's field does, but 'twas fun nonetheless.

Well Group was canceled because roads were closed because of security because President Bush was in Al Ain coming to Dubai... so instead we went to Festival City and got ice cream at Marble Slab (they had peppermint... yum!) and then went shopping for a little while (ugh for most of it, but there was one store I liked, I got a really nice shirt there for not too much).
Monday we didn't go out at ALL because basically ALL the roads were closed.

Today I've had about 50 story ideas running through my head, jumbling everything up. I know they can all come together in some way, they all have strange cloaked wanderers like myself in them...

This week has been rather jumbled.
Sunday I woke up with a small flu and slept all day.
Monday I took a nap.
Tuesday I was feeling strong enough to do all of school and went biking.
Wednesday Christine came - she's spending 2 weeks here with us while her school has basically an month of one subject - she's came to do a paper on the Burj Dubai.
Thursday we went out to the desert with the H's. The site was a mess, so we cleaned it up, then I went up on a dune to wait for the H's. Sarah, Esther and I watched the guys play Frisbee for a little while, then went "exploring," striking heroic poses every now and then just for the fun of it. After lunch we climbed back up the dune and made a few plans for possible pranks at the Jr. High campout.
At Oasis Pastor John talked on purity and holiness. It was a really good talk, and I can't wait for his practical application of it all next week.
Friday after Church Mr. K took us out to lunch at Little Caesars and then we came home and I made a cake for Hannah's birthday. After Volleyball we secretly (sneakily) decorated it and then brought it out to sing happy birthday to Hannah.
Saturday (bounces at the memory of Saturday) we went to Mall of the Emirates for a little while. I had Oboe-wan with me because we'd scheduled an oboe lesson for 4:00... so after going in a massage chair and through the black hole in Magic Planet (the black hole is a bridge through a tunnel that there's a screen with moving stars on it... you get REALLy dizzy and feel like you're going to fall off... 'tis fun!) mom picked me up and we drove over there.
And... I loved my lesson! The teacher (mr. Peter) is a great oboist himself, and he's very patient and encouraging... and what I'm really happy about is that I've not been butchering my tone or anything of the sort!

Well, I know this has been short... but today I spent a lot of time practicing music and so I've barely gotten anything apart from school and music done!

- Ky

Desert Challenge 2007 - Renovate - Notes

Well, I finally got around to typing them up. Was gonna do it yesterday but got hit with some sort of flu. Not fun.
Still feeling a little tired and sick, but well enough to practice music and do chores and school rather than sleeping all day.

Desert Challenge 2007 – Renovate – Notes.

Main Sessions:

Opening Session:
Speaker: John Welkner
Passage: Matthew 7:15-29

Renovate: the process of improving a structure.
Follow Jesus’ teaching and your house will be on a rock and you will be wise. Don’t follow his teaching and you become a fool.
When storms in life come, fools will fall apart.

So what’s His teaching?
Examine the fruit of your life. What does it say about you?
v. 21-23 – What if that’s me?
His teaching is the will of the father.
Am I His? Or am I not?
(Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37-39)
Love what He loves, hate what He hates, can’t serve two masters.
We want a heart that takes God’s side, admits imperfection, hates sin, and fights the world.
If God hasn’t changed you, He hasn’t saved you.
God is the ONLY renovator of your life. He doesn’t make mistakes or do only half the job. He completes and changes us.
If there’s no renovation, we must repent and believe.
God has to possess your heart before he can change it.
Does He have your heart?
- The world has nothing for me. Only knowing Jesus is my life. –

Main Session One
Speaker: Carlos Devitis
Passage: Ephesians 3:13-21

- You don’t renovate something perfect.
- Peter’s letters are prayers for the Churches.
- Context – gospel is for ALL people everywhere. Groups then were very finite and defined. The Church wasn’t.
- Renovation isn’t something you do alone. We’re renovated together (as iron sharpens iron)
- We claim to love others SO MUCH, but we fight, let others down, etc…

Renovation begins with God’s love and heart for you.
2 Reasons God’s love in Renovation is Good:
1. Because Renovation begins with God, it means we can trust him with EVERYTHING. Proverbs 3:5-6
If we are in control, we let ourselves down. Trust Him with ALL your heart, every single area. When life is critical – every moment – lay down what you want and let someone bigger take control.

2. Because God loves us so deeply, we have incredible purpose, value, and worth. John 3:16 tells us WE MATTER!
If being a part of a sports team matters, being a part of God’s team REALLY MATTERS.

Concluding thoughts: Jesus saved us TO LIFE, not from death. When our identity is wrapped in Christ, we live so much higher than we could on our own. Sure, we may have more pain, but our joy is GREATER!

Main Session Two
Speaker: Carlos Devitis
Passage: Ephesians 3:16-17
Review: Renovation starts with God’s heart for you.
But it’s also your heart for God.

What does someone whose heart is wholly God’s look like? Matthew 14:23-36.
Somebody who sees what God is doing and wants to do it, too.
Peter’s the disciple who really follows God, because he wants to do what Jesus is doing. When he sinks while walking on water, the word Jesus uses for doubt is “why’d you look at me AND the waves?”

- Renovation is obedience.
Jesus is worshiped when we are renovated.
Obedience: what God commands/asks us. What we ask God.

What is God doing around you? The disciples weren’t doing anything, Jesus was.
Renovation continues when you have a heart for God.

Main Session Three
Speaker: Carlos Devitis
Passage: Ephesians 3:20-21, Matthew 5:13-16
- Your Heart for Others -

You have the opportunity to renovate your world.
Get rid of junk before renovation.
We pile brokenness and sin into our backpacks. It circulates over time and causes us to be bitter.
We must get rid of it! What are you carrying around that doesn’t need to be there?
He’s a renovator forever and ever.
If you follow Christ, you need to think you’re always the right person, in the right place, at the right time.
Salt and light = good deeds.
Deeds = anything connected to what you do and how you live.
To renovate – take what we do and put it out front Get creative and take it out.

How you live – explanation and demonstration.

Clearly understand we’re not here to judge

Stop poorly imitating the world and create good.

Closing Session
Speaker: Neil
Passage: Ephesians 4:1
God has a plan for you, even though you’re a mess. Don’t just sit and wait for it. For God to carry out that plan, He needs our hearts.

Even if you’ve stopped believing in yourself, God always believes in you. He’s 100% for you. He’s got a broken world to fix, and through him we can do all things.
What am I doing in my life for the world around me?
Compassion isn’t a project – it’s an act of love until it becomes a lifestyle.

- preach the gospel on all occasions and only sometimes use words.-
John 20:21
You can change the world through Christ.
What are you going to do about it?

Mega Tracks

The Body of Christ
Speaker: Pastor Kyle
Passage: Ephesians 2:19-20

1. Who we are in Christ.

Who were we BEFORE we came to Christ? Strangers and foreigners. V. 19
Stranger: a person with whom one has had no personal acquaintance.
Foreigner: a person who comes from a foreign country, who doesn’t owe his allegiance to the country.
We’ve all been strangers and foreigners in the household of God.
Therefore… the rest of the passage speaks of how Jesus’ blood makes us citizens of the household of God.
Citizen: a person entitled to the protection of the country and owing loyalty to that country.
Different backgrounds, different jobs, one body of Christ held together by His cornerstone.

2. Our role in the Body of Christ.

Build on the foundation Christ has laid. Don’t start a new foundation.

3. The importance of belonging to the body of Christ. Become a dwelling place for God, corporately and individually. 1 Cor. 6:19 (Mr. Kyle had us all write our names on cups and build a pyramid with them) Alone we’re just a single cup. Together we can start to build something.
   

We are chosen to belong to one another and to Jesus.
If we can join together, we can do much more.
EVERY CUP HAS A PURPOSE IN THE STACK.
Join forces and the problem looks smaller.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t get along with them, the citizens of the household of God build on the same foundation.
Joseph was always a servant, even in prison. Understand our role in Christ, understand belonging to Christ. WORK! Things WILL happen!

Value and Worth
Speaker: Amy Kellogg
Passage: Ephesians 2:8-10.
- Where do people get their value? (mirror, friends, stuff, achievements, talents, money, popularity).

Our problem is that so many people and commercials tell us that having something, doing something, or relationships make us truly happy. But really those things are temporary and will let you down.

-What’s God’s job in this passage? (He saved us, created us anew, planned things, and gave us things).
- What’s our job in this passage? (believing, not taking credit, doing the things he’s planned for us).
Who comes first? God or you? Sometimes we think we come first, but God made us and we are His masterpiece.
God knew all about us before we were born.
He made us with great care and value. The creator makes a creation valuable, not how it looks.
God gives us a name and makes us just how He wants us. He puts specific things in us so we are UNIQUE.
He wants us to live to the full ability He’s created us to do.
Sometimes we feel like anything BUT a masterpiece. But God’s chipping away at a block of wood to make a full masterpiece.
Michelangelo’s David was once a block of rock.
Pray about what God has put in you.
Then pray about how to testify and live your life.

Surge Tracks:
1. The Family Room – Family Life
Speaker: Donny
Passage: Romans 12:1-3

Relationships are why Jesus died.
Family relationships are important because family knows you best.
God will change a relationship even if you don’t want it to change.
Honor: treat with kindness and care. Doing nothing to harm one’s customs. Accept and think that rules are important.
Relationships aren’t about us.
- call yourself a Christian, how do you relate to your family?

2. The Living Room – Social Life
Speaker: JW
Passage: 1 John 2:15-17
There’s something taking control of our lives.
It’s a battle we fight every day.
What are you letting control you? The fleeting, or the eternal?
Imagine a battle, two sides preparing for war. You’re standing in the middle, both sides groping for you. One side is the world, ads, friends, food… the other side is God, the author of life.
The world is trying to take you away. Fight against the world.

3. The Library – Influences
Speaker: Chris
Passage: Proverbs 1:7, Philippians 4:8, Luke 6:44, Romans 12:2, Matthew 12:35
What influences you and gives you knowledge?
Are we being changed/transformed by the world or God?
These things affect our mind, heart, soul.
Whether you encourage or put down shows your heart. Heart à mouth.
Are your thoughts Philippians 4:8?
Is what your friends online say or what God says more important?
Do you choose your influences by God’s standard (Philippians 4:8) or Man’s standard?

4. The Exercise Room – Our Health and God
Speaker: Brad
Passage: Mark 12:30
What’s the most important thing? Loving God (Deut 6:5).
Offer our bodies as Holy Temples for God.
Choices we make with our physical bodies affect our spiritual lives (lack of sleep = lack of attention to God’s word)
2 Common mistakes – segmenting lives (setting exercise apart from faith), obsessing about exercise (idolizing it).
1 Timothy 4:8 = right perspective.

5. The Bedroom - Secrets
Passage: Hebrews 4:12-16

1. Hidden sins aren’t secret to Jesus.
2. Jesus allows our secrets to hurt so he can bring us relief. Forgiving frees you from anger. Not forgiving says you’re greater than Jesus cuz He’s forgiven you.
3. Relief from Jesus allows His grace and glory to shine in us and through us.

The road to relief is confession and companionship.

6. The Bathroom – Self Image
Speaker: Mr. and Mrs. P
Passage: Luke 15:1-7, Ephesians 2:9-10, Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139:13-14, Galatians 4:6-7.
What words would you use to describe yourself?
We’re individually crafted by God, a masterpiece.
God’s seeking us – we’re sought and bought by Him.
We’re His children – our daddy is the king.
What difference does this make if it’s true?
Make God’s voice bigger than the world’s, it’s what really matters.
Whose voice will you listen to?
Romans 12:2.

7. The Kitchen – Appetites and Desires.
Speaker: Kyle
Passage: Psalm 37:4
It’s possible to have your heart’s desire – if you delight in the Lord.
He will give you Himself – enough to fulfill your desires.
The world makes you think they can give you your heart’s desire. It’s pleasing to the eye, but leads to destruction.

What you put in is what you crave.
Alcoholics crave alcohol, etc…

One side of you desires violence and sin.
The other desires love and joy.
The side you feed gets bigger (Larry Boy and the Big Fib)
If you crave God’s presence, spend time with Him.

Small group notes:
Just a few things I gathered from things Donny said... You can control your influences - if your influence is 10% from God and 90% from the world, the world is going to have a bigger impact.
Make Jesus your best friend, you'll do what He does and go where He'd go. If you're not comfortable going somewhere with your best friend, and Jesus is your best friend, then you'll go where He wants you to go.
We're witnesses - to speak the truth, not to judge or force people to change.

Pegs: People were walking around "pegging" people - a clothespin with a verse written on one side, along with the words "read it, think about it, pass it on!"
These are a few of the references from pegs:
- Leviticus 19:18
- Romans 14:1
- Philippians 4:13
- Titus 4:12
- 1 Corinthians 6:19
- Matthew 5:3-12

Over'n'out
Kilo-Yankee

This weekend.

Tomorrow ends Christmas Break.
I'm okay with that.
This break was a good break, fun, albeit busy... which is why I've not gotten DC notes up yet.

Tuesday and Wednesday we didn't do much (leastways, not that I can remember...).
Thursday we went to Safa Park with a bunch of people. The guys (as usual) wanted to play Touch Football, so we tolerated that for a little while, then left the game to play Ultimate Frisbee. We played baseball for a little while, then ate dinner. Jonny had brought his guitar, so we had a short time of worship before we left.
In the evening we went to the Ba's house for Naomi and Jeremy's wedding shower.

Friday after Church and volleyball we went to First Friday Prayer and Praise. Afterwards Cait and I went to the C's for a game night. We walked up to get shwarmas at a nearby cafeteria, then walked back and ate ice cream and played Settlers of Catan... making up sound effects for all of the cards. Sheep was "Maa maa." Wood was "Chop chop." Wheat was "swish swish." And we couldn't think of a good one for ore.

Saturday we went out to the desert with the C's, the M's, Jeremy, Lisa, Chris, and Nathan. After we drove out to the site, we played volleyball for a while, then ate lunch and sat around talking and watching the guys have a melee with the larps. We packed up camp and drove to a big dish-like thing, basically a flat circle on the bottom with steep slopes on 3 1/2 sides. Mr. M took us all out to a ridge and we went over it... the best part was right as you went over the lip and started to dip. (Yes, I rhyme. Some of the time). Then we drove home and I washed the car and got ready for school tomorrow.

URGENT prayer request: You've probably heard about some of the unrest in Kenya... a Kenyan woman in our Church has 2 brothers in Kenya. One was taken by the government (I think) and tortured. They let him go, but he's in pain and really weak - and the hospitals are too full to take him. The other brother was shot a few days ago and is now in the ICU. Please be praying for both of them, as well as the rest of Kenya.

- Ky
----

Nathan: Aaah, goodness, I keep hitting the ball out of the court.
Philip: Don't you mean more like badness?

Nathan: *sarcastically* You scared the life out of me.
Andrew: So you're a walking corpse?

Lisa: I have a maa maa... will anyone trade me for chop chop or swish swish?

Andrew: Oooh, look, a maa maa and a chop chop. Anyone hungry? Take the maa maa and go chop chop!

... *deep breath*...

Wow.
That's really all that's on my mind right now: wow, God is amazing. Wow, He's given me great friends. Wow, I have so much joy...

Desert Challenge was this weekend, and it was definitely challenging, but in different ways than last year. (DC is a 3-day youth conference for youth in our area. The messages are amazing, worship is really powerful, and this year and last year I strengthened so many relationships - with friends and with God).
Anyway. I guess first I'll tell you what all we did, then I can talk about what God did.

The first day after check-in and orientation we had lunch and chill-out. Various times during chill-out we played signs, mau, Kent, Air Hockey, Uno... Sarah, Vashti and I played around on the piano a few times, just because we missed playing our music. Saturday night was the No-Talent Show, which usually has some really good acts with one or two cheesy No-Talent acts. Cait and I did a dance to the song "Glory to Thee" by Michael Card.
During the Main Session that night, we performed our Candle Dance for everyone... but with it came a bit of learning. All morning we'd been getting frustrated because they hadn't told us when we were doing it, then suddenly we were doing it that evening, didn't have the music, candles, anything for it. So people rushed to the C's to get them... when we were going to do it there was problems with the music which was a major embarrassment, but not anyone's fault. Neil said we'd do it tomorrow and they'd fix the music before then, and within the next ten minutes they'd found it and we were doing it.
I have to say, though, failing so many times and getting so frustrated with it then suddenly getting it and getting it better than any of our practices - brought sooo much more joy on our part.

Sunday we had small groups within our Church group, and a bunch of chill-out, sessions, food, etc... we had Afternoon activities, and I played outside games and then went into the Labyrinth (a prayer room) for the last half-hour. We had Surge Tracks in the late afternoon, which were 8 short, 8-minute talks about different areas of our lives (based on My Heart, Christ's Home).
In the evening the Acoustic Lounge (basically a Talent Show) was running, but we played Kent and other games instead upstairs in Chill-out. After the main session Alicia and I talked for a while, then we prayed with Sarah Y and Vania for a few minutes.

Monday went by quickly, we had small groups again, then a closing session and clean up. We played the cup game for a while after lunch while people were waiting to leave or be picked up. Kianna and I had a really good talk about how we were going to apply what we'd learned.

So, then, what did I learn?
I did get a lot out of the messages, but the 4 main things I learned (about) were:

Worship - Worship, in a way, gained a whole new perspective for me. It became just me and God in a room with music. And I also started worshiping not just through song, but prayer, reading my Bible, and just listening with my heart.

Joy - I can't express the joy God filled me with at DC and continues to fill me with now. I felt so blessed and so loved by Him and knowing all that fills me with incredible joy. I also found how great my joy is when I take the time to sit and be with God. I long to spend time with God every day, but as it says in Romans 7,

"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."

Service - God reminded me to serve my friends and to respect and honor them, not to go overboard in teasing, etc... to serve everyone in every way and at all times, letting Christ's love shine through me by my actions.

Humility - Well, the Candle Dance not working definitely put all four of us down a little. It reminded me to accept circumstances and bear with them... and to live them out. I think (not that we were proud, I didn't see that in Cait, Elisabeth, or Hannah... and I pray it wasn't in me), that we needed a reminder that things can go wrong and God is in control - and we're under Him and need to "Humble [ourselves] in the sight of the Lord."

So how am I going to apply all this? It comes in the form of six New Year's Resolutions:

1. I resolve to spend more time in God's word and being with God, thus spending less time online and in the world. I want my influence to be 100% God, so it is not overrun with the influence of the world.

2. I resolve to strive to do my best in anything and always push myself as high as I can go, be it in school, music, relationships... etcetera.

3. I resolve to serve others more, and serve others for their benefit, not my own.

4. I resolve to not go overboard in anything, especially teasing and be willing to stop an argument when it begins to go too far, even if it may mean a slight defeat.

5. I resolve to let God into all rooms of my heart, not holding anything back from Him.

6. I resolve to grow closer to my family, loving them more and getting to know them better.

Brett Harris's Resolutions from 2005 I think are very good and would encourage you to read them.

For New Years Eve we went to the H's for a game night. We talked for a while, then played Pictionary, Foosball, Pirateer, and Pit. Then we drove to the C's and walked to the beach, where we waded out on a sand bar and watched the fireworks. Sarah wanted to watch the ball drop, so although we didn't have a sparkly pink ball and weren't in Times Square we did it anyway, with a ball of sand.
Johnny was playing his guitar and singing worship songs quietly with Philip, and I spent a few minutes walking on the edge of the water and praying and thinking.

Well, anyway.
Happy 2008. God bless your year!

Over'n'out
- Ky
----------

"Being a stranger means... well, you're a stranger."

"You guys have all these funky games... [list of other games] and then there's monopoly meets Hexagon... (Settlers of Catan... :P)"

"If you don't like me, tell me! Don't try to kill me with rubber balls covered in duckies!"

“Being in Church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than being in MacDonald’s makes you a cheeseburger! It’s like walking in and saying, ‘hey everybody, I’m a CHEESEBURGER!’”

"Hey, J, wanna come play Pit with us?"
"No..."
"If you don't we'll dig you a pit!"
"SARAH!"
"Ummm..."
"Wait, can it have water in it? Then I could go swimming..."

Dear Mary.... Love, God.

I wrote this on Christmas Eve after the Christmas Eve service. I didn't fall asleep until almost midnight, not from excitement, but from sheer joy... I've been feeling so much joy lately, and I want it to keep going and going and going all year around. That's my Christmas prayer for this year, joy in me and in the world...

Anyway, this was partly inspired by an episode of Down Gilead Lane and partly by Mr. P's message on Christmas Eve... I used the song "Mary Did You Know?" and Luke 1:26-55.

"My Dear Mary,

Do not be afraid. I have a special message for you, my child. These things may sound strange, but be comforted - I am in control and have good plans for your future.
I know you are "only" a fourteen-year-old girl living in the small town of Nazareth. Yet you will fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah,
"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
And they shall call his name Immanuel."
Do not fear, Mary, I know you are a virgin and betrothed to be married. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and you shall bear a son. My power will overshadow you, and this is how the child will be born. He shall be called Holy, the Son of God.
I know it does not seem possible, but she who was called barren has conceived. Your relative Elizabeth, even in her old age, is in her sixth month. And her son shall prepare the way for the Son of God.

Mary, did you know, that this will bring you shame? Did you know that you might raise this child on your own? That your husband and family might be shamed and reject you? Did you know you could be stoned? Mary, did you know, this could bring great pain upon you? That your baby boy, has walked where angels trod?
Mary, did you know, that this son of yours, will deliver you? That He will rule the nations? That you will be embarrassed by his teaching? That you will watch him die before your very eyes, and you will bury him?
Did you know, your son will be worshiped? That he will bear the weight of the world on his shoulders? That he will walk with the Lord? That he will walk on water, give sight to the blind? Mary, did you know, your son is the Great I AM?

Behold, My Child, you have found favor with God. I have chosen one unlike the prophets like Moses and Abraham to fulfill prophecies and my perfect plan.
You have faith, Mary.
Will you believe nothing is impossible with God?
Will you remember that I have done great things to you?
Will you magnify the Lord and rejoice in your savior?
Will you remember that I have chosen you for my purposes?
That I love you?

Mary, did you know, this child you bear will break your heart and make it whole?

Have you such faith that you will be my servant, even through this?
Remember, Mary, nothing is impossible with God.

I love you.

- God."

Christmas night we went out into the desert, which was fun, although a little cold, which made it hard for me to run, so Sarah and I talked and sipped hot chocolate.

Wednesday the R's (including Nathan, back from uni for break) came over, and we talked, watched The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob and played Apples to Apples.

Today (Thursday), we went to the beach in the morning. I waded in the water some, played volleyball, and Octopus. It was fun, but rather tiring. The R's (whole family!) came over for dinner in the evening, and we played games and Rachel and I went outside for a while.

Apart from that, I've just been loading songs onto my ipod and reading some.
Saturday is Desert Challenge! Yay!

Over'n'out
Kilo-Yankee
---

Philip: Who's this from?
Me: It's from orange.
Philip: Should I open it first or throw it in the fire first?

Me: Nobody wants our subs...
Sarah: We must be scaring them away.
Me: Yeah, we're scary. RAWR!
... now whenever we serve at volleyball or someone looks at us strangely, we comment on the fact that "We are scary." :P

Life and Yo-Yo Ma.

Where have all my commenters gone? :P

Thursday night was the Christmas party/banquet at Oasis. Originally it had been casual, but a lot of us "rebelled" and sent out a message that it was semi-formal like it always is. Leah wanted to do my hair, so I let her play around with it... we had candle dance practice before the banquet, and then we helped set up, moving chairs and tables and couches around, setting candles out all over the place... we played a few games before dinner, then near the end of the group White Elephant they needed helpers over making Subs for dinner, so Sarah and I went. We buttered a few pieces of bread, then when people started coming through, we put them together for them. Then Pastor W. read a poem by John Piper. It was called Paul, Malach, and Tabitha. After that we sang Christmas carols and cleaned up some before going home.

Friday after Church Sarah H. came over, and we watched Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave, then sat on the couch cross-stitching for a while. Volleyball was okay, my serves are getting better, but my wrists are tiring really quickly, so after 4 serves it hurts to much to keep going with that hand. We played Bible tag (like TV tag, but with Bible names, etc...), Pit, and Spoons afterwards, then we came home.

Saturday was rather boring, we basically just sat around cleaning, wrapping presents, doing a few other things that needed to be done.

Sunday I made Molasses Crinkles and got ready for Well Group in the afternoon. Well Group was Formal; I wore one of mommy's old dresses, we were supposed to have one shabby thing, though, to remind us we're sinners and to keep us humble even in getting all dressed up... so I wore mismatched socks. :P We sang Christmas carols, played Four On A Couch, held baby Luke, ate, revealed Secret Santas, and then played mind games. Daddy was late picking me up, then he was sitting around talking with Mr. H, so we played Mad Dash and Pit until we left.

Monday well... originally, Daddy had Christmas off. Buuuut his flight sims got canceled so he's on call for Christmas. So spur of the moment on Sunday night we decided to do Christmas on Christmas Eve. So that's what we did! It was a lot of fun, and then in the evening we went to the F's for dinner, singing carols, and playing games before the Christmas Eve service... which was amazing. If the Church puts it up on their website, I'm definitely downloading it.
To avoid further questioning, I got:
- An I-pod.
- The Mission Soundtrack
- WOW Worship (Yellow)
- A Precious Moments Snowflake Ornament.
- Jennie B. And the Pilot (It's a story on CD...)
- An Itunes Gift Card
- Money from my grandparents
- Pajamas
- BUBBLE GUM!!!
- FRISBEES!!!!

Books:
- Alone, Yet Not Alone
- They Loved To Laugh (one of the best books... EVER).
- The Wedding Dress
- The Shepherd's Cross

Movies: (these are the family's)
- Bride And Prejudice
- The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (GO RABBI JACOB!)
- The Best of Victor Borge
- Bugsy Malone
And there's one more I don't know the name of... Tim and someone... they're comedians.


This weekend I "discovered" Yo-Yo Ma. I'd heard about him before (Philip is Chinese-American and plays the cello... just like Yo-Yo Ma. And Yo-Yo Ma sounds JUST like Mr. H, Philip's dad). Anyway, he's an amazing cellist... and makes me want to play cello even more.
He's not just a good cellist, though... it's kinda hard to explain, feeling it myself sometimes, but it's almost as if he becomes a part of the music, and really FEELS it, not just plays it. I think that's what makes him so different from the rest of the really good musicians.
At the end of this summer I was trying to decide on a new instrument to pick up, and basically my conversation with my mom went like this: "Hey mom, Can I play oboe?" "Ky, no." "Can I play harp?" "Too expensive." "How 'bout cello?" "Cello's too big." At that point I was about to start wailing. :P Then we found out the Hans have an oboe... so I got to do oboe... though I still want to do cello.

I have an amazing experience I want to share with you... Okay, so I've held babies before. This time was different... no idea why. I held Luke W. after Church today. He's one of the most adorable babies I've ever seen. To hold his tiny little body in my arms, watch him yawn... to marvel at the awesomeness of the gift of life. I just looked down at him and didn't want to let go. It also reminded me of the frailty of life... it's so small, so easily broken. But it's so beautiful and wonderful at the same time.

Pastor W.: I gave him a mohawk this morning so he'd look cool, but everyone says he still looks cute.

Kenneth: *with mayonnaise and ketchup with a hotdog* Oh, wait, I'm supposed to eat this.

Jonny: May I have the ketchup?
Me: Eew.
Jonny: *putting ketchup on his hot dog*
Me: Eeeeew... that's disgusting.
Jonny: Mmm, more ketchup.
Me: Yuck.
Jonny: You don't like ketchup, do you?
Me: Nope.

Cait: I can't figure this out, I typed it out right...
Me: Cait, that's a three, not an E.
Cait: What? I thought it was a backwards E.

More soon... I shoulda gotten this post out sooner, but it's getting REALLY long and I hate really long posts.

Love,
Ky

God, Hold on Just a Minute.

Daphne is a new believer that goes to our youth group. Her parents really don't like her being a Christian, but thankfully they let her go to Oasis and Well Group, and sometimes Church. This past week she was at Church and came and sat with us. The thing I want to say, though, is that her simple faith challenged me so much... to me my faith is real, but I often am uneager and think of reading my Bible and praying just as another task to fulfill every day. As I watched Daphne, though, I felt so ashamed... I've seen God do amazing things in my life, for many years, but the only way I thank Him is by spending time for my devotions in the morning doing the Rubix's Cube?
I think Denis nailed it at My Story Night, when he said, "God has done so much for us, but we tell him, 'hold on God, five more minutes, let me finish this level of my video game.' Half an hour later, 'oops, God, I forgot to do my math homework. I'll get to you soon, though...' Imagine if God said, 'hold on a minute, Ky, before I can give you courage to go talk to Karin, I have to settle some business with the angels.'"
God has given us so much... so why don't we give Him our all in return? He lets us live, gives us life - one word from Him and we'd be dead.
So give Him your life... fully.
Give Him the glory... all of it.
Don't let the world take any, it doesn't deserve it. When we see God for who He really is, we'll see the world as what it is - a place full of death and decay... not worth a single minute except to save it.

Come they told me

A new born King to see,
Our finest gifts we bring
To lay before the King
So to honor Him
When we come.

Little Baby
I am a poor boy too,
I have no gift to bring
That's fit to give our King
Shall I play for you!
On my drum.

Mary nodded
The ox and lamb kept time
I played my drum for Him
I played my best for Him
Then He smiled at me
Me and my drum.
- The Little Drummer Boy (minus the "pa rum pum pum pum"s).

We have more than "pa rum pum pum pum"s to give Jesus... we have our lives, our hearts, souls, mind, strength...
I want all of me to be wholly His.
All of me.

Over'n'out
Kilo-Yankee.

A whole week...

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were not very exciting, just the usual school and WellGroup, Monday night I worked on my sewing project some, but then the machine started acting up.

Wednesday can be summed up in this quote: "I have had a wonderful [day]. This wasn't it." Started out fine, geometry went well, so did Chemistry... then we went to a Charity Bazzar and were there for a while and got back and I still had music, my chores, reading, and doing all the things that I wanted to do... so I got kinda stressed out and was in a rush and basically everything went wrong for a while, until I got to music practice, which always makes everything better (as long as my oboe reeds cooperate). Surprisingly I still got a lot done - made a few Christmas gifts, and managed to get everything done except reading.
Things I learned: attempting screamo while singing "White Christmas" gives you a headache. It also makes Cait start laughing uncontrollably... or maybe that was my over-rated screeching... Why did I learn this?
Because Cait and I recorded this...
Don't worry, we're usually not QUITE that weird...


Thursday we didn't have dance, so we practiced the Candle Dance at the C's house, then ate lunch and had sewing. After sewing Elisabeth had a Wind Band concert that we went to before going to Oasis. We finished our Jesus of Nazareth series, so as soon as we're done with that in WellGroup, I hope to get my notes up from it. We had a Human Foosball Tournament, dividing up by suburb, and our suburb won. Afterwards we helped with take down, and a little hook on an umbrella (which was supposed to be for hooking parts of the umbrella together), hooked my toe... so it was bleeding for a while and a bit painful, but we wrapped it in paper towel and tape.

Friday I was going to do live Nativity at Church, but things didn't quite work out. Cait and Mommy did it, though. Volleyball was okay on my part... most of my serves were good (YES!), and I got a few good hits in, but most of them didn't go so well. After volleyball was the Annual Christmas Carol, which, like last year, was wonderful. The orchestra played the same version of Joy to the World (which I absolutely LOVE... it starts out with just the cello, then flutes join in, then saxophones, and then violins, finally the whole thing... absolutely gorgeous).

Saturday we were just at home, the R's came over for a little, while and then I think I was reading.

Sunday the Y's were here from Bahrain, and we were planning on going out to the desert, and we did, but never got very far because the other 4-wheel drive was a 4-wheeled 2-wheel drive (meaning the 4-wheel drive didn't work, so it wasn't strong enough to drive in sand). On the way home we got ice cream at the gas station and ran into Dragon Mart to get my Secret Santa gift for next week. Sarah came with me to Well Group, which went VERY well, I learned a lot... and I plan on scanning pages from my book rather than typing up notes, because it will work better.

Monday I solved the second layer of the Rubix's Cube, and almost got the third, but it screwed up. We went to Safa Park to Christmas carol, but before everyone got there, we were climbing around on a big netted-like thing and playing soccer and frisbee. Then we sang... 'twas fun.

Today (Tuesday) was a wee bit stressful, I was trying to finish school AND the Rubix's Cube at the same time... and I'm a rather task-oriented person, thus wanting to finish both before doing anything else...

Math book: Kimberly wants to make an angel food cake. Each cake uses 1 1/2 dozen eggs. If Kimberly has 6 dozen eggs, how many cakes can she make?
Nate: None. She doesn't have any flour. But if she DID... she still wouldn't be able to, because she doesn't have any sugar.

Elisabeth: It was cracked, and it continues to be cracked.

Everyone: Hi, Mr. and Mrs. P!
Denis: Yo, what up, dude?

Denis: I've figured out I can play [volleyball] with my hands in my pockets.


'Nother post soon.

Over'n'out
Kilo-Yankee.