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..."